After quite a few hours playing Epoch Mod I thought it would be nice to give some feedback on my experience.
First of all the game is already pretty smooth considering it's an alpha.
It's well promising and I am pretty excited to play the final result of development.
The graphics are great and though the map is not as good as Chernarus in some aspects there are others in which it's better.
Can't wait to se the underwater/underground potential being fully taken advantage of.
As for now... this is my list of thing I like and dislike (in no particular order):
LIKE:
SPAWNING/TELPORTING: I don't know if it will be kept in the final release but the spawning/teleporting idea is not bad.
Sure, it's really unrealistic, more of a fantasy game than a war/sruvival game, but It gives the player the opportunity to get back into action faster. A good solution for the problem of being on foot when fresh spawn and gives more variety of paths the players can choose when respawning.
STAMINA/FATIGUE: great idea. Could be developed even more by introducing maybe drugs or something like that. Maybe when hurt stamina should drop because you get weaker?
And more...
INTERFACE: having played DayZ Epoch this interface is a dream come true... drag and drop!! YEAAAH!! :P
(tho I got used to dayz epoch interface and I kinda liked it too lol... but at first it's really disorienting)
SNIPING/SCOPING: it's much more difficult (compared to arma 2) to aim since the scope keeps moving even if you're crouching or prone. Much more realistic, much more balancing. Snipers will have a much harder time hitting long range targets. Expecially if they are moving.
Sometimes it's even too difficult but I'll discuss it in the things I don't like
GROUPING: seeing where your mates are is really nice. Maybe less realistic but it gives the possibility for tactical playing almost from the start. Could be tuned by allowing to see the position of very far away group mates only if both have a gps and a radio... but it's not that OP as it is now. It can be kept as it is now I think.
ANTAGONISTS: they need to be fixed and tweaked but they are already nice and sometimes they really make me nervous and scared. Sometimes they are bugged or don't behave logically (example: sappers don't follow or run away for no reason) but other times they are really good and add a good thrilling atmosphere to the game experience.
Once I was hearing a sapper noise... couldn't find it to kill and couldn't hear the footsteps... then it then it suddenly appeared from behind a house running at me. I was I had just the time to turn and run away before it exploded. BOOM! Almost killed me and I was :o
It was a tough situation, but being aware of the surrounding and with good reflexes I managed to survive. Very satisfying gameplay!
Another time a cultist was following me all the time. I had no weapon and every time I stopped it was behind me staring at me and starting to cast fire. Scary!
Another time, a cultist again, came to me. I was behind a house and just heard the foot steps. Thought it was a player and I sneaked behind a wall to see, ready to shoot, and the cultist was just standing there staring at me and started whispering. Creepy! (luckly this time I had a LMG and the basterd didn't last long ^_^ ).
EXPLORING: there is so much to see and exploring is a really important part of the game. It need something more but I'll write about it later.
CLOTHING/GEAR: there are nice clothes and gear to find. Weapons are nice and even though there are not many they come in good variety. Some attachments are great, like the nightstalker scope. When I found it I was like ooooh! :o
Also like the fact that most of the scope have double mode for long and close range. It's modern warfare, I'm no weapon expert but I don't think there are many scopes that don't have this nowadays.
VEHICLES: good variety. Haven't found a chopper yet but I found some cars/trucks and they are good.
What else...?... well I'll add stuff later if I think of something else. Now it's time for the things I dislke...
DISLIKE:
LOOTING SYSTEM: it surely has to be tweaked and tuned but as it is now I don't like it much :(
I like the fact there are trash piles / trash bins and more stuff to loot that's not inside buildings. But I don't like the loot spawning inside buildings because sometimes I find like 100 (exaggerating) empty buildings then suddenly one full of furniture to loot.
From the role playing point of view it can be justified by the fact that everything has already been raided and you have to find the only few places that have not been explored yet but... it's frustrating sometimes, and it makes me feel like I have to enter every damn house or I could miss the one with loot inside.
When I'm fully geared and just exploring it would be nice to just choose some buildings to enter and scavenge and having a good chance to find at least something.
I don't know if I managed to explain myself... sorry for my not too good english but I hope it's understandable.
Also, sometimes the loot is too random and it's impossible to find what I'm looking for.
I don't want to find stuff too easily, I like the game experience being difficult but when I explore a whole city looking for some drinks and find only 1 it feels a bit too few...
Also, if we accept the fact that there is stuff left around, then there should be a logic in where to find stuff.
Need a weapon? Going in some kind of buildings I can probably find one or better ones. Need clothes? Go find some clothes store or look into houses...etc...
Also I'd like to see hospitals where I know I can find medical stuff (and others know ppl are going there to find it and maybe wait for their prey) or supermarkets where to find food/drinks/tools or clothes shops since there is more clothes variety in Epoch Mod...etc... (yeah like in dayz epoch, but even more developed).
The cities are just full of very similar building with no identification except for churches and chapels.
The only exception should be trash piles which should contain anything... and maybe contain even more stuff. Maybe less valuable stuff but still useful when put together (example: pieces of clothes that can be crafted into something... a clothing, headgear... or half empty mags...rotten food than can be cooked and made edible...).
It would also be nice to find clothes or backpacks or vest with something inside already (food, gear...)... if it's possible to implement it would be great.
EXPLORING: as I said I love exploring and it should be better rewarded. Don't know how it would be possible... maybe making special crates or other containers/trash to spawn randomly in remote areas. It's already like this for vehicle, 'cause in remote areas it's easier to find them because less players get around, but some other kind of reward would be nice too. Maybe implementing some timer in the loot chart so that if a player gets to an area where no one has been for some time then he can find better, more rare, loot...
I am not a programmer and I have no idea of what can be or can't be done with the mod.
TRADERS INVENTORY: whilst is nice the idea of traders having to sell only the stuff that's been sold to them by other players, it's also sometimes not really fun/rewarding. I see that in the future this could lead to more players interaction, having players that go to trade zones (if they will be safezones) to sell valuable stuff to other players or to buy it. But I think totally empty traders are too much. They should have at least some basic gear, food and ammo on them. Maybe not everything. But players should know that by going to a trader, even one that's in a remote position, they will probably find at least the basic stuff.
TRADERS DISTRIBUTION ON MAP: I guess the actual distribution is like that, concentrated in the central area of the map, so that players can cross their paths and be preys or hunters.
But when in remote areas it would be nice to have at least a chance to sell the stuff you've found or buy something you need like ammo or tools without being forced to walk all the way back to a trader or to base. Maybe not marked traders could be the solution. Or wandering traders that move around and you can find only by chance... Maybe moving traders with guards that you can either attack for loot or be able to talk to peacefully depending on your reputation.
and this leads me to...
NO REPUTATION SYSTEM: really? It was one of the best parts of dayz epoch though it wasn't developed enough and in the end being a hero (which is more difficult) wasn't really enough rewarding and everyone ended being a bandit. Is it going to be implemented in the future? It could be nice when combined to the previous thing I was talking about. Traders that wander around and attack or be friendly depending on the reputation. There could also be other kind of AI spawning/wandering around and being hostile or friendly depending on reputation (some vigilantes that help heroes or bandit groups that are friendly to bandit players...).
SNIPING/SCOPING: I don't know if it can be modified by the mod but aiming down should make aiming more accurate and scope move less. A couple of days ago I was on a military tower and I saw a player walking on the ground close by. I tried to shoot him and couldn't hit even when he stopped to shoot back because the scope was moving too fast. Ended up being killed and losing all my gear. I am not the best shooter in the world and I have some fps issues sometimes, but still I think it was really unrealistic for me to die in a situation like that. Or at least it should happen very rarely. The problem is that the protection barrier that is on top of the tower was so high I had to stand up to shoot down and that way my scope moved too much.
In real world I could have stabilized myself by leaning on the barrier and that way I wouldn't have moved my scope anymore.
Some similar mechanic, or something that simulates it, should be implemented (if possible).
OK this is enough for now... I have to go.
But I will add more if I have more ideas some time later :)
And sorry for the long post but it needed some explanations!
TL;DR: there are some things I like others I don't! Don't be lazy and read/comment :P
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