Suggestions for the Alpha and Stand Alone.

[Alamandorious 2]

Alright, easy enough; noticed that the Debug window is gone in the game...for alpha, -bring it back-. The reason for this is that it supplies valuable data concerning zombie spawns, health, humanity, and other such important factors that, when something goes wrong in the game due to a glitch, can be noted down for the purposes of a detailed report which, in turn, helps -you- correct issues. By disabling it in Alpha, you're really only hurting yourself. Beta, I can understand a bit more since it's more stress-testing, and gameplay testing than bug finding (although there's still enough bugs to be found in Beta), but in Alpha it is vital for well-rounded reports.

I've seen and heard of a few alarming suggestions that will hinder the sales of the game once it's on the market.

Realism: Yes, this game should be as realistic as possible...the fact that it IS so realistic is part of its draw. However, there's a fine line between a healthy dose of realism, and overdoing it. The game is still a game, and people are going to be curious about it..and not everyone is a hardcore realism fanatic.

The Hud: The current hud is great. It offers information that is not readily available, while being vague enough that the player has to make guesses. Some would argue the hud makes the game 'unrealistic', that it should be removed: No offense, but that is a DUMB idea. The difference between the game and real life is simple; your queue for hunger is not the sound your belly makes, but how it feels. Ditto with coming down with a cold, having an infection, a broken limb, thirst...it's all stuff we FEEL first. The game doesn't offer you a tactile sensation; we haven't gotten that far yet with technology. Instead, you have to take visual queues to be more effective. Some audio ones to enhance the visual ones is ok, but to be forced to rely -solely- on audio queues doesn't cut it...for example, say the gamer's machine is in the living room, and there's lots of noise, or he/she has been told by significant others or parents to keep the volume low. Suddenly...the audio queues can't be used. Bam, frustrated gamer.

If you take away the visual elements of the HUD for the standalone, you will be limiting your market to hardcore simmers and hardcore gamers...a smaller market than average gamers by far (and by average I'm talking about those people that are a little more into games than the casuals). Their reaction will be decidedly negative with the lack of information, and thus any hopes of making a decent amount of income will be rendered moot. You will even lose what little bit of the casual market that might be interested in such an involved game.

3rd person view: I know it's an option for server admins to take that view away. I personally don't use it; I prefer 1st person mode...played the original Doom back in the day, and shooting zombies with a shotgun in 1st person mode brings back memories of good times. Some people might want it removed from the game entirely, because first person is more 'realistic'...which it isn't. In real life, unless your peripheral vision sucks or you walk around with blinders on, your field of view is 180 degrees...in this game, and every FPS game I think, your view is 90 degrees...so the arguement of 'realism' to have this removed is moot point, and keeping it as an optional thing means that those players that like 3rd person views in games can go to servers and use it, again increasing the marketability of the game.

I suppose at this stage this is more of a 'what not to do' list than a to do. To be fair, I can't really contribute much to the 'to do' list because so many people have put out so many good ideas. This is my response to some of the more inane ones that seem to be being heard more than the good ones. I will, however, contribute two 'positive' suggestions:

Vehicle spawns: We know people LOVE to horde vehicles...in places that would take hours to reach on foot...that are -technically- off the map...so I would like to see code that allows only a certain number of vehicles within a certain radius of one another, and that if that number is exceeded or the vehicles are taken 'off map', that they despawn and respawn in one of the nominal vehicle spawns. Also, some of the lower-end vehicles (old mountain bike, ATV), should have more plentiful spawning, seeing as neither are particularly good, and both leave you highly exposed (admittedly, the one time I was shot on the bike was my own damn fault; I rang the bell as I drove by somebody fueling up the Bus at a gas station >.< Couldn't resist >.<), and don't necessarily offer the best speed for travelling, although they're a darn sight better than being on foot. Also, if the vehicles aren't -used- within a certain time limit (say 48 hours), that they return to one of the nominal spawns.

Attack Helicopter: We already have the fun transport helicopter in-game; people tend to freak out a bit when they hear it incoming. I think it would be fun to have a real attack helicopter in game...make it have a single, solitary spawn point...one of the big airfields. Make it take more fuel, consume fuel faster...and make its ammo spawns rare (starts with 0 rockets, relatively few bullets)...it would be a really awesome reward for someone, or a clan, to have fully re-armed, re-fueled, and repair one. Concidentally, add a ground-to-air missile weapon, also rare, but more common than the ammo for the helicopter, so that people can fight back against it. This suggestion is a bit of a silly one, but it would still be cool to have.

Well, that's all...hope these suggestions get taken. All in all, still one of my fave games to play...even with the one battleye incident I've had (got unbanned, yay me!).

[HERCULESJON (DayZ) 2]

The debug menu is not gone, you just have to go onto game options and turn it back on. The only bad part is that when you turn it on the Ear and the Eye dont work.

[Alamandorious 2]

The debug menu is not gone, you just have to go onto game options and turn it back on. The only bad part is that when you turn it on the Ear and the Eye dont work.

I stand corrected on that. Thanks for the info :)