Bullet_Magnate

Many of us are probably familiar with the Expanded Helicopter Events mod -- I use it every playthrough now. One feature it includes (that I didn't fully appreciate at first) is indication of the sight / sound of distant objects (like helicopters, planes, and supply drops) with a directional indicator on the edge of the screen. This indicator uses an icon, color, and a pointer to show the object's identity, direction, and approximate distance. It occurred to me that such screen-edge indicators could be a good way to compensate for the player's limited (and, frankly, unrealistic) field of view. Even using combat mode to maximize view distance doesn't really help much. Buildings and vehicles would be visible to a person much sooner than the current vision / display function currently allows. The most obvious application would be screen-edge indicators showing buildings and cars the character should be able to see, but that the player can't. (This would probably help A LOT with the issue of suddenly coming upon wrecked cars, etc, while driving fast ...). This could be used for other things, too, however, that would have interesting implications in both single- and multiplayer. For example, what if a campfire or building fire created a plume of smoke made visible for long distances by such an indicator? What if distant gunshots had an indicator making it easier to figure their general direction? Some tinkering would be required to keep this function from becoming cumbersome, however. For example, if you were in an area with lots of buildings and vehicles (like Louisville), the sheer number of "seeable" objects off-screen might result in a large, visually cluttered number of indicators. Maybe it could be toggled on and off, or maybe be briefly activated by a "scan the horizon" action or something similar ... Just food for thought. I think the idea has a lot of potential.

I wonder ... would it be possible to rotate view if you limited the rotation to 90 degree increments (so the map remains 2d, viewed from the same overall angle)? Seems like that would definitely be easier than smooth 3d rotation (which would presumably require an entirely new engine). Not sure ...

Was just thinking not long ago that it's ... interesting that you can be massively hemorrhaging from a neck wound, but instantly stop it with ... a band-aid. XD Love the game, but yes, little things like this can definitely shake immersion ...

Yup, that's why I'm thinking the chance would be *very* low, even early on, with higher applicable skills and advantageous traits making it near-impossible ...

Before PZ players find vehicles, a lot of times they have to do extensive amounts of walking, often with poor footwear. Might be interesting if walking for extended periods of time could result in increasingly severe foot injury (blistering, etc), with bad enough blistering resulting in reduced movement speed / limping / etc. Walking endurance could improve over time, increasing the amount of walking required before injury begins.

Slowly backing up while swinging away at zeds is pretty much a universal tactic in PZ. Seems like there should be *some* risk, though -- however slight -- that as your character is backing up, he / she will stumble, and possibly fall. The character would be distracted / afraid / swaying back and forth due to the fight, which would make a stumble more likely. Maybe the Lightfooted skill could reduce the chance, while other things could aggravate it (e.g., the Clumsy trait, or a panic moodle). This would actually help compensate for the unfair advantage the character receives from the player's "bird's eye view" -- for example, there's never a risk that the character, while fighting in an unfamiliar environment, will back over a folding chair he forgot was behind him (since the player can see all previously-seen environmental obstacles, regardless of field of view).

I like this idea. Should apply even outdoors, if you're close enough to the discharge (for anything other than .22LR). Could also inflict the "Hard of Hearing" negative trait . . .

Was clearing the Spiffo's in Riverside today and discovered there were no toilets in either bathroom (screen grab of one of them below). Didn't include coordinates but there's only one Spiffo's in Riverside, so far as I know ... Edit: I do use mods, but nothing that changes / would affect the map, so far as I am aware.

There is a sandbox option to turn off the main map, which limits you to marking up the maps you find as loot in-game. I always do this. Sounds like it might largely achieve what you are looking for ...

Interesting idea -- I'd like to see the possibility of having upper floor tiles in burned buildings collapse / disappear under a player's or zed's weight ...

Seconded. Definitely need some more realistic options for stopping self-immolation ...

I use a mod that randomly determines zombie speed, with 1% being sprinters. Even at that low percentage, the tension ratchets up by a mile. Every time I deal with a mob, the question of how many sprinters I'll have to deal with floats in the back of my mind. Since adding it, every player death I've had has been that damn sprinter I didn't see catching up with me and hitting me from the back or side. I hate it with a passion, and I'd never play without it again. XD I honestly think this hits the nail on the head as far as the core issue with the UI. Whether it ends up being "just right click on it" or not, there needs to be a consistent, simple, "point-of entry" action that lets players explore the potential uses of everything they can see on the screen (even if it just jumps them to a purpose-built UI window for the thing they're messing with). That action could then be featured in the tutorial. I suspect this would reduce a lot of the complaints about the UI.

Seconded on the pop tarts. : )

Assuming the "fake dead zeds" stay in the game ... Would be nice if there was an option to administer a "coup de grace" -- or killing blow -- to "dead" zeds to ensure they stay that way. Could require having an appropriate tool / weapon equipped. After the first time my character sees a "dead" zed reanimate, you can bet as a precaution from then on he'll bash every one of their heads into raspberry Jell-O / spike their brains with an icepick / etc etc ...

Have I got some good news for you ... I've used this mod for a while and had no issues with it. You find the P38 attached to dog tags so you can wear it around your neck, but you can also remove it from the dog tags to stick in a pocket or pack. The mod also adds Swiss Army knives and (renamed) Leatherman tools -- definitely worth getting.

Seconded. (For the record, I always massively extend erosion time in sandbox ... )

Not a huge issue, but it would be nice if the hay piles / bales on the map could be: (1) A source of straw for use as tinder / fuel, making pillows and mattresses, etc.; and/or (2) A place to sleep (it used to be fairly common, as I understand it, for people to sleep in a pile of hay out in a barn when no better option was available).

The thing is, there are a ton of negative character traits that run directly contrary to this. In theory, you could play a character that is asthmatic, clumsy, deaf, feeble, obese, prone to illness, nearsighted, thin-skinned, underweight, and unfit -- not exactly a "great genetic makeup" that would predispose someone toward survival. But, given the degree of customization the game offers -- even IF the medical system is expanded to include things like, say, coronary problems -- you'll never *have* to play a game where your character will just "randomly die of a heart attack." First: the change I'm proposing would only make a character vulnerable to such an event if they had certain negative traits (e.g., obese, unfit) -- so, don't use those traits. Second: risk of an attack would be tied to high exertion -- so if you do choose to use those traits, just ... avoid over-exerting your character (which is good advice in any event). The game purports to be a brutally unforgiving and *realistic* simulator of what a "real" zombie apocalypse would be like -- including for survivors who are fat and out of shape (as evidenced by the negative traits noted above). If it really is what it claims to be, it would make perfect sense to include conditions like this one; and people who didn't want to deal with the possibility could easily avoid it through trait selection and/or avoiding triggering activities. On this note, that may be true for relatively trivial eye injuries like minor scratches, but if an eye suffers extensive tissue damage or is completely gouged out, I guarantee it's not going to be fully functional again any time soon -- or possibly at all. Also, note that I'm not proposing that eye injuries be likely, just that they be possible -- I'm not proposing that every random slap from a zombie should send the player's eyeballs flying out of their head. : ) My understanding is that the skin is a pretty effective barrier against infection, so most blood-transmitted diseases won't get through as long as the blood doesn't come into contact with broken skin (or possibly get in the eyes / nose / mouth).

Much as I love the game, I am increasingly annoyed by the fact that ONLY sport type tires seem to spawn in the brown doorless sheds / barns (i.e., the ones with an open doorway or side). This has always been the case, even before I started using mods -- so I don't think it is a mod issue. These brown sheds are usually on farms or in industrial areas. While I can understand finding the OCCASIONAL sport type tire (apparently owned by a farmer / workman who's into fast cars), it seems to me the VAST majority of tires found there would be for "average Joe" trucks and/or sedans (i.e., heavy duty and regular tires). As someone who (1) strongly prefers utilitarian vehicles in PZ, and (2) seems to be constantly in need of spares, I really find this ... TIRE-some. : )

Kinda trivial, but this annoys me ... seems like when you hang a sheet on a window, it should START in the down / closed position. I think most people that do this are quickly slapping something over a window to prevent being seen, which means they would (and easily could) hang the sheet in this way. It's annoying to have to take the extra step of closing the curtains *every time* I hang a sheet. I honestly can't remember one time in 800+ hours of play where I hung a sheet and didn't immediately close it.

I like the idea. In the mean time, there is a mod that does this -- called "Please Don't Feed the Zombies," I believe.

Actually, I agree least one of the items listed in the response, though meant facetiously, is worth considering -- and some of them (surprise) already exist in the game to an extent. HIV and herpes are obvious "no's," considering the devs have made clear sex will not be simulated in the game in any way. Schizophrenia is rare and complex enough that I doubt it's worth the effort of simulating (though, perhaps unsurprisingly, there is a mod for that). BUT ... fever already exists in-game, in that if a player gets sick (with the Knox virus or otherwise), his temperature can elevate. Numbness is also at least implied when the character's body temperature drops. I'm assuming there's some negative gameplay effect from being chilled, which in effect would simulate stiffness / numbness and other debilitating effects of cold. That leaves heart attacks and rabies. The above quote sums up my position on medical stuff generally in the game. Expressed in more detail, if a medical condition is: (1) Something a person in a PZ scenario would have a realistic chance of suffering, and (2) It would have meaningful gameplay effect (i.e., cause significant health reduction and/or palpably impair the sufferer in some way), and (3) It can be well and playably simulated without inordinate work on the devs' part; and (4) There are no contrary considerations of ethics, propriety, etc., that militate in favor of exclusion (as with, e.g., things sexual and/or scatological); THEN (5) It should be CONSIDERED (however briefly) for inclusion. NOTE that this is just my standard for when a medical condition should be CONSIDERED -- that is, when I basically think it's worth the devs' time to at least THINK for a few minutes about whether it's worth including. As far as I'm concerned, that's the whole purpose of the "PZ Suggestions" forum. I think heart attacks meet this standard, while rabies does not. Heart Attacks: Clearly, people in a PZ scenario could easily suffer heart attacks, particularly if they are older, overweight, out of shape, etc. (factors already reasonably contemplated by certain negative traits -- and potentially a new trait, "Heart Condition," could be added). Heart disease is already common in the U.S. (particularly in ... you guessed it ... Kentucky), and heart attacks would be even more common in a PZ scenario (as susceptible persons are forced by circumstance to rapidly engage in an unaccustomed degree of physical exertion under extreme stress). A character suffering a heart attack would clearly incur potential injury (or death) and impairment. Attacks would actually be far more dangerous in a PZ scenario due to lack of available medical care. Heart attacks could be simulated relatively easily by giving severely overweight / unfit characters a small chance of suffering an attack during periods of high exertion / stress, which would result in immediate severe pain followed by death in minutes / hours (unless mitigated with rest and/or appropriate medication). There are no overriding concerns warranting exclusion. Accordingly, I believe heart attacks should at least potentially be considered for inclusion. Rabies: The devs are planning to add animals, including carnivorous and omnivorous mammals -- which theoretically could be vectors for rabies. Rabies has significant physical symptoms and, left untreated (likely in PZ), is virtually always fatal, typically within 2-10 days of manifestation. Currently, however, rabies in the U.S. is relatively rare: each year only about 45,000 people in the entire U.S. (about 900 per state) are treated for it, and fatalities are virtually nonexistent due to ready availability of treatment. This is in part due to aggressive pet vaccination programs in the United States. In the rest of the world, domestic dogs are the primary vector, while in the U.S., it is various small wild mammals (with bats and skunks being the most common infectors in Kentucky). Vaccination programs would obviously cease in a PZ scenario, but it is unclear how soon wild dogs and similar animals would become a significant infection threat. Presumably simulating rabies-infecting bites by other small, wild animals would simply amount to blatant "death by RNG." Rabid animals become erratic and aggressive, which makes them more of a potential threat to players -- BUT would also require changes to the animal AI model as well. Simulating the severe mental symptoms and complex treatment of victims would be challenging; these aspects might have to be simplified or omitted. There are no overriding concerns that would warrant exclusion. However, given its relative rarity and the complexity of simulating (1) its behavioral changes in animals and (2) its symptoms and treatment in humans, I do not believe rabies should be considered for inclusion. (In addition, from a gameplay perspective, it might seem odd to have a second blood/saliva transmitted fatal disease "competing," in a way, with the Knox Virus.)

Here's another potential short-term fix: there are mods that allow both (1) drawing on the map, and (2) sharing map annotations. And of course, there are the existing map symbols / notes, plus a bunch of others that can be added with mods, along with the ability to resize map notes and symbols. With all this, it should be possible for players (esp in a long-term MP game) to come up with their own rough coordinate system, mark it on a map, and share those annotations. Might suffice until something more formal is added or modded into the game ...

Here's a lore-friendly solution: in addition to the maps already in the game, add findable military maps that include grid coordinates (using the Military Grid Reference System (MGRS), or an approximation). These could be simplified -- that is, NOT show details a real MGRS map would that are irrelevant to PZ (e.g., elevation lines). This makes sense, because military units operating in the area would definitely have these maps available, and similar maps would be available in outdoor stores. These could be found / looted where military / survival / camping gear is found, and could potentially include a large overall map of the play area. (Note that outdoor stores typically sell U.S. Government Survey maps, which use a different grid system. But, I can't imagine it would be worth trying to model two entirely separate coordinate systems, so I'd say just use an MGRS-based system.) I like this idea because I'm not a fan of the overall map function, ONLY because it feels unrealistic (I can't imagine most people carry a giant, detailed map of their entire region in their back pocket all the time). I always shut the map function off in sandbox settings, and rely on found maps for navigation / annotation. HOWEVER, this would be a lot of work to add, and would address one very specific matter only a narrow slice of players would probably use. So, it feels to me like it might be better as a potential mod.

This is similar to something I suggested a little while back -- mentioning only to draw attention to the level of interest in adding this as a feature.