Squad Identification

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

I think everyone who gets involved in squad-based interaction, especially combat, has been there at least once: in the heat of the moment you turn and see three players when you only expected two. You have a split second to decide who your friends are and who the hostile intruder is.

 

The situation in SA is a bit better than it was in the mod, because now we have hats, masks and backpack colors to coordinate and help identify our friends, but the options still feel somewhat limited - especially when you consider that certain headwear is more functional than others (i.e., thinking specifically of the ballistic helmet).

 

I hope to see options in this regard expand significantly to allow people to identify their squad mates quickly and effectively.

 

I also think expanding these options will add a very interesing secondary strategy to the game - carrying a variety of clothing around so you can try to quickly change clothes to look like groups you come across, then infiltrate them in a daring look-alike raid.

 

Some ideas:

 

1) Armbands

There are tons of colorful shirts, pants and hats scattered around the map. Let me rip them up to create colored strips of cloth. A strip of cloth can be tied around the arm or hung from the belt and give people a distinctive flash of color.

 

Ripping up a shirt could produce more strips than hats; strips could stack up in groups of 5 or 10.

 

2) Iron-on/sewn-on patches

Patches for backpacks, jackets or even pant legs. These could be simple and crude - again, made up of colored patches torn from other clothing OR they could be actual military patches (such as this) which could appear among military loot or be harvested by killing infected military personnel, then applied to our gear to help give our squad personality and a unique look.

 

3) Face paint

Let us use clay, crushed berries, shoe polish or dyes found on military bases or on infected military personnel to apply a variety of face paint patterns. Could wash off over time or w/ water. We should be able to look like this badass.

 

4) More masks!

Masks are great. Not only do they look awesome, but if there's eventually some way to visually identify players (such as the one I posted here), masks will become very sought-after by criminals as a way to conceal their identity.

 

5) Headbands, helmet bands

Strips of cloth tied around the head or the base of a military helmets. Again, simple strips of cloth put to good use. Imagine a strip of cloth wrapped around a helmet, such as here, but a color of the player's choosing.

 

 

 

I posted a similar (much shorter) thread back in the mod days, before we even had colored hats!

 

Other threads with similar ideas: 

Item suggestion: Face Paint from seniorshred

Arm bands(Ways to tell who's who) from l0ki

Customizable I.D arm band from Tweaker hunter

Simple Buddy System from Tig.fairy

Editable Clothes - Clan system - Reconize system from TaranGamesic

Suggestion: Clan Insignia for shoulder sleeves and hats/caps; tattoos even from laughs

Like to See Squad.xml Added from Dobrowney

Face Painting from dinostaRR

 

If you have posted or read a similar thread which isn't listed here, please PM me and let me know so I can keep this list running.

Edited January 31, 2014 by ZedsDeadBaby

[kovie20@gmail.com 125]

Cool Idea, but how about constant communication on your position via TS/Vent/Ingame?

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Cool Idea, but how about constant communication on your position via TS/Vent/Ingame?

 

Certainly helpful and obviously a big part of squad tactics, but it doesn't completely solve the problem. There's a reason real world military units use things like IR Strobes to identify friendly units. Communication is no substitute for instant visual target verification.

 

If you have more than two people in your squad, you cannot "constantly communicate" or you just end up with a bunch of unintelligible noise and people talking over each other.

 

Even if your squad members know your position relatively accurately, all it takes is another player at roughly the same position to make that information unreliable. What's your move if I tell you I'm coming up the road from the south toward the fire station and you peek out and see two people coming from that direction? Now suddenly you're stuck asking "Left or right? Wait, my left? Or yours? You have the mask right?" *BLAM BLAM* too late.

Edited January 6, 2014 by ZedsDeadBaby

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

I've seen a few more people suggest face paint as means to identify friends. I think it would be a great addition, even if just a few patterns were available.

 

Paint could come in containers and be consumed like food or water, say 20% per application (so one tin could paint 5 faces).

 

 

Edited January 8, 2014 by ZedsDeadBaby

[Combine (DayZ) 247]

I like the ideas. Especially armbands or similar.

 

As for sown in patches, I would also like to point towards this (kinda vital) thread / idea:

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/162124-like-to-see-squadxml-added/

 

This basically lets players add their own patches to vehicles and clothing alike without any dev effort (other than enabling this thing). You can't customize (patches) more than that, so that's a big plus. Anyone could make and use a group logo or something else, like a medical patch to imply there's a medic at work.

 

That might be one of the steps in customization and identification. Obviously there'll be more clothing but one could combine. Squad.xml (custom patch) + armband + certain look + facepaint = perfect look / identification.

Edited January 8, 2014 by Combine

[Koala :3 116]

I've seen a few more people suggest face paint as means to identify friends. I think it would be a great addition, even if just a few patterns were available.

 

Paint could come in containers and be consumed like food or water, say 20% per application (so one tin could paint 5 faces).

 

 

 

 

As long as if i can paint cute pink butterflies on my cheek, I'm all for it :3

[mphilippa 43]

Was talking about this with a friend last week, would be a brilliant idea 

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

I think patches would be a great addition - for backpacks, helmets, pant legs, even the sides of vehicles.

 

Not only would this allow for quick identification of squad mates, but it would allow other squads to quickly identify their rivals or enemies.

 

Some of the best times I had during the mod days was when my squad set up on another clan's server, and kicked off a months-long rivalry. Our clans vied for control of the map, stole each other's vehicles, found each other's tents, engaged in firefights, etc. We even had various truces and ceasefires, which almost always ended when someone got a little trigger happy after a beer or three.

 

People have mentioned squad.xml which let people do this in ARMA. I think it's a good idea to use this functionality to allow people to design their own patches, but I do think that some kind of effort should have to be done in game in order to secure them. You shouldn't just get them for "free," right?

 

Also a really big fan of the "Tank Destroyer" patch. My grandfather was in the 773^rd Tank Destroyer Battalion during WWII, and this was his patch. He had it hanging on the wall in his basement, and it makes me proud to see it. I would love to have it on the side of my jeep in DayZ:

 

[XA3 17]

nice one, all ideas are brilliant!)

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

List of related suggestions continues to grow.

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Weekly Friday bump (17 JAN).

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Weekly Friday bump (24 JAN).

[ZedsDeadBaby 2287]

Weekly Friday bump (31 JAN).

[rybec 339]

Cool Idea, but how about constant communication on your position via TS/Vent/Ingame?

I don't think you know what it's like to be on TS with more than three other people. Especially when your guys are telling you all about this really cool can of sardines they found.

I have a couple people where we end up being more efficient and effective as a two man team anyway.