My top issues with Epoch (building and locking)

[zombieland78]

 - Door lock combos: should be remembered once put in, resets on server restart. Fix bug where you get the option 'unlock' and 'open door' but not 'lock' ( you have to unlock it by entering the code, THEN you get the option to lock. Not 100% sure I've remembered the steps but it's something along the lines of having to re-enter your combo to lock it). Same thing goes for safes/lock boxes.

 

* addition to locks, it would be nice if you possibly had auto lock/auto unlock for vehicles when you have the relevant key in your tool belt. Or at least have the option to enable it/disable it.

* Vehicle keys: PLEASE have a better method of key naming. You could set the col/4 digits or give the key a code name. I and my team mates are  forever scrambling around looking for keys among keys that are dead/out of use/in use/god knows what. Really annoying.

*ability to set your own combo locks. Many bases have several doors and lockables. Be good to have your own codes that are easy to remember.

 

- Tool belt items and storage: any kind of feedback whatsoever so that you don't delete tool belt items upon adding them to a full container. Same for any full container actually, not just tool belt items. So many lost vehicles (keys)! This also happens with backpacks and guns.

 

- Improved building: 

 

* improved building snapping: option to snap to 90 degree angles (or compass points, west, east).

* option to view at a distance when placing walls etc.

* an option to move walls forward and backwards before placing (sometimes you can't place a wall because it means walking forward/backward and there's an object in your way.

* option to adjust a placed wall rather than pull it down e.g. upon roll-over 'adjust wall' and then your keypad can shift it a unit left, right, up, down etc.

* improved accessibility to remove placed walls. If you're tagged as friendly with the person who built a wall, you should both be able to take down any buildable object. Presently have to constantly get admins to come into our base to take down walls/floors etc.

* moving a wall around shouldn't kill other players who are standing nearby if it happens to pass through them.

[FJack]

Although I agree all your points can be annoying, there are little tricks sometimes to help.

For the combo lock on doors they lock themselves to open doors / unlocked doors to avoid some douche from removing the lock. So before being able to remove the lock you need to enter the combo. Kind of like locking the lock to avoid someone from stealing the padlock.

When a door is actually locked the latch is closed and there's no option to open, only to unlock. I kind of like that.

Like you, I really hope a new perspective is added to be able to properly see and place building & crafting items. Until then here are some tips that could help...

1. Holding a pistol instead of a primary weapon allows smaller movements, as well as holding your primary down in safe mode instead of shouldering it.

2. Standing up, crouching, going prone changes the distance of the object you're placing from your characters body. Allowing to increase or decrease the placement distance. Flipping the object can also bring it closer / farther from your body.

3. You can change your perspective by double tapping the minus key on the numpad. If the perspective returns to the original choose a weapon without a scope or switch to the sight instead of the scope if the weapon has both (i.e. ACOG, RCO etc).

Hope that helps.

[Mercules]

It takes all of ten seconds to write down what key goes to what vehicle. That solves 95% off the key issues you mentioned as you quickly know what keys no longer function and can toss them out and can know what key you need to pull out of a safe at a glance at your notes. 

As for locks, the game does remember the last door you locked/unlocked. 

[zombieland78]

If you were just one person that method might work, but when there's a small team of you and you have a dozen vehicles and the one time you forgot to write it down etc. that's what a suggestion for a UI upgrade is for - to improve and streamline things. It may take all of 10 seconds to write that down but when you have 20 keys to look through it's still a ball ache.

 

As for locks being remembered - no they don't. Only sometimes. I have to re-input codes repeatedly when locking/unlocking the same door or safe.

[Mercules]

I have NEVER had to re-input a code unless:

1. I logged out and logged back in.
2. Server restarted.
3. I entered in a code for a different safe/door.

If you are experiencing something different it might not be Epoch but maybe some other add on.

As for having multiple people...  Google Doc. 

Changing the naming structure isn't going to help you if your team is so disorganized, it will just mean that instead of 8ee3 (Yellow) they are going to have to remember (Purple Duck) belongs to the armored SUV. Basically it sounds like a lot of work for something that isn't going to change anything. Look for a server stating they have the option to change keys or have a keyring. Make every key the same. Sure if someone kills one of you they have access to ALL your vehicles, but it would be more convenient for you and apparently prevent "ball ache".


It looks like you are asking for a LOT of work for rather minor issues with reasonable work arounds already existing out there. The removing of items is something they are already tweaking but "ownership" of an object in the DB structure is going to be something they can't change without making a new DB table and changing every existing call out there in the code. It would be a big overhaul. 


Maybe Epoch on Arma III will have some of what you are looking for since they are building that from the ground up which makes it easier for these type of changes to happen.

[Mrthuglink]

I've had the issue of doors needing to be re-locked/unlocked A bunch, Pretty much every time I go AFK in my base for about 10 I have to relock/unlock my house to regain access.

[zombieland78]

I was on tonight with a buddy (two year Epoch veteran and game developer) and we had a chuckle at the proposed notion that locks and keys aren't a total pain in the ass. They are.

 

First thing I did tonight was unlock/open the door of my base. I turn around to lock it and I get the option: 'open' or 'unlock door'. I choose unlock, put in the combo AGAIN and then it gives me the option to lock it. Same thing happens with safes. So let's say 3 doors, few safes, few lock boxes. Spend a significant amount of game time on that just to open your base/leave it. Plus the added little locking animation you have to wait for.

[RimBlock]

 - Door lock combos: should be remembered once put in, resets on server restart. Fix bug where you get the option 'unlock' and 'open door' but not 'lock' ( you have to unlock it by entering the code, THEN you get the option to lock. Not 100% sure I've remembered the steps but it's something along the lines of having to re-enter your combo to lock it). Same thing goes for safes/lock boxes.

 

etc...

 

It would be nice to be able to mark dead keys.  That would make it a lot easier to know which ones to throw away.  Having an array of live keys populated on server start that is modified to keep a running track would not be too hard to do.

 

If you had / have multiple vehicles keys in 'the real world' then how do you / would you manage them ?. 

 

Keys are not 'objects' so do not have their own records in the DB.  They are stored as items so the only information you can store is the item name.  Epoch has apended a unique code to the end of the item name and as it is auto-generated there is less chance of duplicates.  This, is not so easily readable for humans though...

 

Putting in your own codes for locks seems fairly reasonable.  Would take a bit of work coding but not a massive job (without checking the code).

 

Agreed that dropping items is a massive PITA.  The items usually spawn a little bit away from the item it fell out of but can fall though the floor or be very well hidden in grass etc.  On the other side, you can purchase unlimited quantities of items from wholesalers (if you have the gold) regardless of item slots.  They just keep adding.  I have had over 40 crates in my inventory.  Changing this is a fairly major undertaking though as a large proportion of the scripts in Epoch would need investigation and probably changing.

 

Snapping could be improved but again it is quite a lot of work.  Items currently snap on the vertical at 90deg or in line with the item it is placed next to.  I would love to see snapping walls to floors / ceilings.

 

Doing an auto-unlock of vehicles is not really possible with the current setup as the menu options are reactive to whatever you are looking at.

 

For the unlocked doors requiring a code, but not everytime, sounds like the menu system is getting a little confused. This tends to happen more if there is a lot of stuff in the actionitems or damageitem scripts and / or the server is running a bit slow as the scripts may not complete before focus changes and the menu items get fully refreshed.

 

You seem to have a few ideas and with your Epoch veteran and game developer friend, why don't you put in a GitHub pull request and work on a mod to fix those issues.  You could then publish it for everyone to benefit from and the Epoch team may even add it to the standard release.

[Mercules]

I've had the issue of doors needing to be re-locked/unlocked A bunch, Pretty much every time I go AFK in my base for about 10 I have to relock/unlock my house to regain access.

 

 

I was on tonight with a buddy (two year Epoch veteran and game developer) and we had a chuckle at the proposed notion that locks and keys aren't a total pain in the ass. They are.

 

First thing I did tonight was unlock/open the door of my base. I turn around to lock it and I get the option: 'open' or 'unlock door'. I choose unlock, put in the combo AGAIN and then it gives me the option to lock it. Same thing happens with safes. So let's say 3 doors, few safes, few lock boxes. Spend a significant amount of game time on that just to open your base/leave it. Plus the added little locking animation you have to wait for.

 

 

Are you sure the issue is Epoch and not whatever add-ons to the action menu the owner/manager of the server has put in? I am not experiencing your pain on the three servers I play on. 

I love the belief that 5 minutes is "significant amount of game time". That would be 5 minutes to open safe A, grab what I need out of it, lock it, open safe B, grab what I need out of that, lock it, unlock and open inner door, close and lock inner door, unlock and open garage door, drive out vehicle, close and lock garage door. 

Some part of me wonders if you are not making it harder on yourself by doing things like opening three safes, going through all three of them looking for things and then needing to input the codes for all three safes again because you didn't unlock, grab, lock them one at a time. 

[dknight903]

Will there ever be a fix to allow a MTVR to fit threw the garage doors?