XB2001 - Game Mechanic Assingment Update

So I expanded upon the original idea of a crafting mechanic for DayZ and went onto more detail, after which a classmate then read through it and gave me feedback on it and what his thoughts were which were very helpful as he pointed out things that I hadn't fully thought through. The mechanic is as follows:

Game: ArmA: DayZ

Mechanic: Weapon Crafting

Description: DayZ is a post-apocalyptic survival game based on the ArmA engine that sees players scrounging around for weapons and supplies, hunting, gutting and cooking animals and even salvaging vehicles. However within a post-apocalyptic setting it would be easier for a knowledgeable person to simply craft themselves a weapon from various weapon parts and other scrap metal that would be lying around, as opposed to finding a fully function M4.

This mechanic would fit into the game as it fits the setting as it has with past free-roaming games such as the Fallout franchise and Skyrim, as they offer the player that extra level of freedom.

This mechanic would give a lot of players a fighting chance at survival as currently, players start with no weapon and must risk coming into contact with zombies to find a decent weapon. Additionally keeping a good supply of ammo is very hard and so a crafting system would help players make their own ammunition and weapons like a harpoon gun whereby they are able to retrieve their shots, allowing players to fight in different ways and be more ready for a fight.

Currently within DayZ there already is a scrap metal asset as well as a jerry can and random clutter just as old tin cans and empty whiskey bottles. With people already used to scavenging around buildings for loot I feel that this mechanic wouldn’t feel too alien to a player as it is quite similar.

Weapons within the game don’t necessarily fit into the post-apocalyptic feel either with fully automatic assault rifles with under slung grenade launchers, light machine guns and high powered sniper rifles. Whilst it does make sense to find these weapons within a military base it doesn’t make any sense to find these weapons within a fire station

A great idea – I agree that while the ArmA base game is a great realistic military simulator, and the DayZ mod benefits from this, the weapons and vehicles are not hugely likely to be found in a school or fire station. Therefore this mechanic would definitely fit smoothly into the game as it stands without a major uproar.

I like the idea of players pooling their resources to create a powerful weapon between them, perhaps to hold off nightly zombie attacks. It would also encourage player vs player interaction, as every item in the game becomes even more valuable.

How might this mechanic affect item respawn rates? With the items in game having more use than they previously did, will this cause a shortage? Or will more items have to be introduced into the game space?

Some more clarification on the way these weapons are crafted would be nice – is it similar to minecraft/terraria where anything can be crafted as long as you have the materials, but you need a wiki open to find out what those materials are? Do you have to find recipes? Or would it be a more open ended experience, ie combining two tin cans to make a tube, and then combining that tube with lighter fluid to make a crude rocket launcher?

Additionally, some information on the UI of this would be awesome – do the players need to find a work bench, or are the items created from the inventory? What would the UI look like? Will this make players vulnerable to zombies and bandits?

Overall I think this is a great idea, although the experience may lend itself better to melee weapons than ranged. However, I think the potential design challenges in creating makeshift junk weapons are awesome, and would be really exciting for an artist or modeller. You could describe some possible “scrapheap weapons” here for extra clarification.

Very constructive feedback from my classmate and he really did help point out things I hadn't even considered such as UI and whether schematics would be necessary.. I shall improve upon my mechanic assignment with the final hand-in and blog post.