Deadside: Faction System

Overview

Implement the faction system/structure used in the Breaking Point mod Revival of Deadside

My view on the current state of Deadside (as of 7/9/20)

The game is in no way, friendly to lone-wolf / solo players. It can be very disheartening at times, going up against large geared groups of players or flocks of ai. Deadside’s end-game is essentially a stacked safe-zone storage, many roubles, and typically a mega-base. The game’s combat suffices to entertain the player-base only so long. There needs to be a structural change and implementation of a new system. Rather than adding new accessories, points of interest on the map, or new weapons / events.

1 Deadside is lacking in longevity

Sure, new weapons, locations on the map, base parts, or hell even vehicles would be nice. But I with all honestly, don’t think that would keep nor grow the already suffering player-base. I think the core structure of the game needs a rework because after playing 30 hours of this game (mixed from solo and with differing groups of friends) the game still felt empty. Other than the cool moments where you’d team up with randoms at a safe zone or chat in proximity chat, the game ended up being a grind for gear / rinse and repeat cycle.

2 Deadside is the perfect platform for a detailed faction system!

I dislike the kill-on-sight meta that results in pvp-focused games like Deadside. I wish there were more dynamic to it where it could make situations far more interesting.

Bad Pixel needs to introduce something that will make the title differ from survival-pvp games alike. Deadside is essentially a watered down DayZ without the zombies and a simple economy.

Now I feel that the combat holds its own. The gunplay is fresh and I’ve ran into some fun fights so far. But that only lasts so long, and bringing in new gear won’t change the fact that this game is seriously lacking objective. What I mean by that is, boiled down, the (pvp-based) player seeks wealth and better gear to be the most efficient killer they can be. Some may just play casually and try to even role-play but that only goes so far in this game. Basically, if you have gear outside of a safe-zone, there usually isn’t much time for chatting among other players.

3 My experience with the Breaking Point mod (Arma 3)

This idea sprung from my experience 5~ years ago which entails a vast and countless amount of hours sunk into an Arma 3 mod called Breaking Point. Now I’m not going to dive too deep in the mod’s history, but I will explain the fundamentals in-which made the mod flourish.

This mod unfortunately no longer has any servers (that I know of) running. The Devs attempted a kickstarter 3 years ago, missing their goal. Sadly, no Breaking Point standalone. But I seriously think that Bad Pixel can take elements from this mod and implement them into Deadside!

The one unique feature that kept me playing the Breaking Point mod was its innovative faction and leveling system.

There would ultimately be 3 main teams in the world,
the Good being:

• Rangers

  

• Nomads
• Survivalists

  

• (Engineers were never finished).

The Bad:

• Hunters

  

• Outlaws

and Neutral being the

essentially follow this illustration
(sorry for the chinese text, I couldn’t find a better picture)

Basically the good were only incentivized to kill the bad or independent (that class was barely used and was optional for players who didn’t want to side with anyone, though I’ll get into that later when explaining the hunter). The reason follows as if a Ranger for example killed a fellow Nomad, they’d then lose class points or experience which would be difficult to obtain. Then regressing their efforts to level up their class and reap benefits. If a class were to lose enough points resulting in them entering the negatives, they’d be marked as a traitor and essentially would lose their hat. Other players of the same side would then be able to kill them at no loss of points.

This system worked very well to fight against the kos meta that Deadside basically follows. Where in Breaking Point, the player (if not a hunter) has to identify their target before firing (if they want to progress their class, that’s still the players choice) Though the player could still theoretically kill anyone they wish if they’re a traitor ranger, nomad, outlaw etc. The problem with doing so is they wouldn’t get bonus gear as a fresh spawn.
Each class had 3 levels and each level would have their own distinct look (except independent – the class is basically pointless) The Hunter in particular is the ultimate kos class. They receive no penalty for killing any class and are actually always given points for kills. Furthermore, killing higher leveled players would result in receiving more points. For the Outlaw class, their only penalty was if they killed another fellow Outlaw, so they were a gang of their own.

4 Adding the Faction System

First off, Breaking Point was a zombie survival game. Where as Deadside include AI that roam the map in specific locations. With the addition of a similar faction system used in Breaking Point. I feel that there could be faction sided AI where some are Peacekeeper AI, which don’t attack players apart of the good faction (given you’re not a traitor) . Then there are Outlaw AI that don’t have aggro on other Outlaws but do on anyone else and then there could be straight Bandit AI that kos anyone. Also for balancing purposes if one of the same faction were to try to kill the AI for its loot / gear, they would have their class points or xp deducted respectively to deter exploitation of AI being non-hostile.

This crappy map I made could serve as potential locations for the Good factions new safezone or Outlaw faction safezone. This could further add dynamic to the game and new faction exclusive weapons could be bought and sold.

Additionally, I feel that since its already so easy to obtain a firearm in this game, the player might as well spawn with their own gear set and gun (different for each class). Of-course not giving the player anything out-worldly destructive. In exception, the hunter should be the only class (no matter what level) that shouldn’t start with a firearm, due to its lack in kos penalty.
Again here’s this picture for reference:
Disregard the dog, that was never actually in the mod. (dogs were but not as you’d spawn) But I do feel there should be an overtime healing component of the game, rather than tediously crafting rags. Also one which works in combination with a out-of-combat timer. (where the player couldn’t heal if taken damage in a certain timeframe.)
Essentially the level of a class (non-hunter) could start with varying supplies, possibly a backpack, and a firearm of sorts (mostly handguns) But for the nomad, Breaking Point gave them a varmint rifle which was a .22lr rifle which did low damage.

Conclusion

I enjoyed playing Deadside but felt it got stale rather quick (the fact that all my friends got bored and stopped playing could also attribute). I feel the game is in-need of a structural change that would set it apart from other pvp/survival games.
I feel the whole faction system of Breaking Point is innovative and hasn’t been done correctly in any standalone game. Deadside could be that game to pull it off, I really see the potential and feel that It would bring in flocks of new players, experiences, and even role-play situations. Furthermore, afterward they could implement so much more content to complement the system. Lastly by doing so, the game would benefit long-time players and give them more to work towards in the end. I just feel like Deadside (after it loses its fresh appeal) ends up in a rinse and repeat cycle for an unrewarding grind of gear. I really want to see the game flourish and think this would be a great idea. Anyone that took time out of their day to read all of this must either really care for the game or had played Breaking Point back in its golden years when servers were poppin’

Please, if you agree with this idea, up-rate this guide so that it may one day be seen by the devs and they take it in mind.

I attempted to contact them and posted on multiple suggestion forums but am doubtful they’ll see them (due to the fact that they’re russian and idk how they translate or read english posts)

Anyways, I’m out

Always open to feedback, drop suggestions or any ideas on how they could pull this off below!

rip breaking point </3