5 lives on DayZ

[Failhorse]

There has been some talk of DayZ. Some of my RL friends play. And I was gifted the game (it's a mod for Arma 2) and decided to play. When I first started, I played on a private server with all friendlies. It's fun to play with people you know. But you are genuinely missing part of the game with all friendlies. Mainly what happens when true human nature and douchebaggery blossom into a gigantic clusterfuck. But the private server did help me learn the game a bit. So foolishly I decided to start playing on a server with 49 other people. This may have been a mistake to start with. But when you want to learn, go balls deep.

You start the game somewhere on the coast. You only have a flashlight and a few food items. No map, and if you're new, no clue where you are. The map is huge. It can take hours to walk the whole thing. Ergo, the best zombie walking sim award. Luckily it was night where I am physically located, but the server had its hours reversed so it was daytime in game. Yes the game follows the time structure of where it's located. Daytime outside means daytime in game. Nights can be hard. Very hard. If there's no moon and you don't have a light. You will not be able to see the gun in front of you.

Life 1
This is a pretty sad state of affairs. It lasted apx 2 minutes. Keep in mind you will die. A lot. The average life in game is a little over an hour. I knew I spawned west of a major town called Cherno. I knew I had 2 options. Bolt for the woods and hope to come across a hunting stand. Or walk my way down the train tracks. Eventually I'd run into 2 barns. In those barns I'd find some useful items... Hopefully. This is also the first life I learned that crawling isn't all it's cracked up to be. During the day zombies have a better line of sight. Even crawling they can spot you. I got into the first barn, found nothing but empty cans and some ammo for a weapon I would not probably find. On my way to the second a zombie spotted me. I ran to the 2nd barn. Again no weapon. I was trapped and screwed.... Then dead.

Life 2.
Spawned in Elektro. This is another major town. The server I joined, this town also happens to be where the bandits like to hang out. My goal was to walk the coast until I could get safely into the woods. I was sniped while crossing a road. People are dicks. Total time playing 3:35 seconds.

Life 3
This life is where i decided as long as I'm on my own I wasn't going to crawl. Zombies will chase you endlessly. But if you weave in and out of buildings ( the are glitched and can only walk while inside buildings) you can easily get gear and get away. So that's what I did. And it worked out. I had found a ton of food and some light medical supplies. I had a decent weapon (a crossbow) it was silent and i had a bunch of ammo. While clearing a town I came upon a dead player. His weapons were gone. But for whatever reason they left a tent. And he had a map. Tents are nice as you can pitch it somewhere hidden and store your gear. I figured now that I had a base, I should probably get some better medical supplies (blood and morphine for broken bones ect) I was close to Cherno so decided to raid the hospital. Cherno can be as dangerous as Elektro. Lots of goodies, and too many players fighting over them. When I got into Cherno I guess I lucked out. Maybe 12-15 players around. But busy fighting each other so I popped my needed items and took off. There's a nice house that was between my tent (base) and where I currently was. Decided to drop the items there, and go scavenge for more. I saw over chat that someone took out a sniper on this argo tower by the Cherno rail depot. Normally it's not to smart to go over there. 5 good sniper positions. But I was still desperate to get a better weapon. And usually the guys who take these snipers out are well armed, so they leave everything on the dead body. On my way I take a bit of damage from a zombie. I lost enough blood to start getting the shakes. This isn't good. But continued on, got up the 3 flights of ladders. Yep, loaded dead body. But his weapon was gone. I did get a GPS and a compass.

Then my phone rings. Work call, had to log out. Now remember i am standing on the most popular sniper perch in the game.

45 minutes later I return. You come back into the game where you left off. So I spawned onto of the tower. Basically on top of a sniper. I crawl close. Notice on the edge, 1 level down another sniper. They must be working as a pair. And both need to die. I see over chat they've injured a couple people, and it was time to put a stop to it. I hit the first guy and kill him right off. Leave the body and goods and climb down the ladder to the 2nd one. They must not have had vent. While you're dying you can't talk or chat. I decide to play a game with the 2nd guy. I ask him if he's a "friendly" which freaks him out. I tell him if he moves he's dead. Tell him to drop all his gear. When he does I tell him to move and go down the ladder. When he gets to ground I figured he needed a little more punishment. Smoke grenades are fun. This guy figures after I walk off the tower he can go back and get his shit. But smoke grenades have other purposes. The sound attracts zombies. So I throw one by him. He has no gear and off he runs. I grab what I can. Some new weapons a few blood packs and some other random shit. I climb down and drop stuff off in my house. Sadly, the other items I left there must have de-spawned.

Now my first major mistake. I know people are assholes. You always hear over chat "any friendlies in blah" and the jokes happen afterward. No one is friendly. And my friends, and the youtube videos told me to trust no one. But this guy who was really close to me needed blood. I also needed blood. I was still shaky. I told him I'd come unarmed with 2 blood packs. He said he had just spawned and was sniped. So off I went. Keep in mind I told this guy that I would come with nothing but the blood. I arrive and give him a transfusion. I drop the 2nd blood pack. And a couple seconds later I take an axe to the face. He had it equipped to his tool belt so it didn't show being held/ or as a weapon. A few seconds later I hear " oh you really didn't bring anything with you."


Life 4
I respawn. I know I'm north west of Elektro. That's a long walk back to my shit. Best part. A message pops up that the server will be restarted in 5 minutes. So anything not in tents will be gone. 4 hours worth of work gone. This server doesn't let you respawn or suicide (to get a new spawn) so I was fucked. I run and lose. My shit is gone. Server restarts.

At this point I say fuck it and let the zombies eat me. It would have taken me 20 minutes to walk back to my tent. And wasn't worth it.

Life 5
I have no clue where I had spawned. But I know I was stuck in a building. This game being an alpha. Shit like that happens. Other side effects. Zombies can sometimes walk through objects. I got eated.


Overall it's a great game. Think GTA4 in size and scope. But all the ped's are zombies, and finding a working vehicle is hard as hell. So you have to walk.. .EVERYWHERE!

Play with friends.

[Ichise]

Wait, on life 4 you say you Axed his face after the transfusion, or vice versa? Don't see how you died from killing him...

But yeah, I've seen a few friends play and it definitely looks fun. What game is it a mod of again?

[Scooty]

Wait, on life 4 you say you Axed his face after the transfusion, or vice versa? Don't see how you died from killing him...

He gave him the transfusion, and then he got killed.

But yeah, I've seen a few friends play and it definitely looks fun. What game is it a mod of again?

Arma 2.

[NBC011795]

But yeah, I've seen a few friends play and it definitely looks fun. What game is it a mod of again?

Arma 2.

To be more specific, Arma 2 Combined Operations

http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4638/

[Failhorse]

I've come to a conclusion on the game. Many are trying to explain or give the game a back story. I solved it. You are NOT trying to survive a zombie apocalypse. You are already dead and you're in hell. Why? Well for one you always respawn. More importantly. Everywhere you go there are empty bottle of Jack Daniels. It's hell. There's no liquor.

The end.

[MournfulOdin]

Wow, that actually makes so much sense.

[Failhorse]

I really enjoy this game. Not have a purpose less survival is fun. I'm sure that could possibly get old. I read up on the standalone that's going to be released and they'll be tweaking a lot of the crap that is currently in the game. I also found out about bear traps. They hurt. What sucks about an alpha game and being a mod... Hackers.

The game is going to follow the Minecraft pricing structure. It's going to be released as a standalone in alpha and as it gets better the price will go up.

Aside from stupid and hackers. By stupid- you can break a leg by walking over the wrong rock. There are plenty of try-hards. Luckily most stick to the cities. So wilderness life can be relatively simpler. Well, unless your crawling to a grocery store, get spotted by some assholes, and then they run you over.