DayZ - Persistant, Open World, Perma-death, Multiplayer Zombie Survival

[Crispy]

I need to buy a gaming PC.

So this is a mod for ARMA 2, the ultra hardcore infantry simulator. It takes place in 225 square km of completely realistic landscape, towns, roads, forests, mountains etc. You spawn with a basic pistol and a tin of beans. You need to eat, drink and fend off the zombies, so you rummage through abandoned buildings for loot. You can talk to the other players and team up. Or you can shoot them. If you're persistent and work with your team, you might even be able to cobble the bits together to repair a car.

Rock Paper Shotgun have an excellent couple of pieces on it:

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/10/thank-you-for-the-dayz-part-zero/
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/05/14/surviving-in-day-z-part-two/

Interview with the developer:

http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/16/d...es-arma-2-created-gamings-best-story-machine/

It sounds incredible. Completely player-driven stories of real depth and complexity. Trust and fear and paranoia and camaraderie and success against the odds.

I really need to buy a gaming PC

 

[tommers]

Sales of Arma 2 have increased by 5x since its release.

I also need a gaming PC.

 

[editor]

I'm not a fan of blasting people into a zillion pixels, but the graphics sure look sumptious

 

[Crispy]

Sales of Arma 2 have increased by 5x since its release.

I also need a gaming PC.

Something small and inoffensive I can put under the TV...

ed: arma 2 is three years old and has deliberately simplified graphics due to the huge playing area. If that impresses you, then you ain't seen nothing compared to this year's top-spec games!

 

[mauvais]

ArmA has always been ace, if slightly less than polished. This sounds good - will be interesting to see how it integrates.

 

[Mungy]

sounds like i'd enjoy it, but i have no experience of this kind of shooter. so i downloaded arma2 free. kept getting shot by people i couldn't see in a DIY scene or whatever they call it. unless i can get my head around it, it ain't gonna be worth me spending money on it

 

[grit]

I have a few mates playing this, they are really enjoying it by the sounds of things.

 

[Crispy]

sounds like i'd enjoy it, but i have no experience of this kind of shooter. so i downloaded arma2 free. kept getting shot by people i couldn't see in a DIY scene or whatever they call it. unless i can get my head around it, it ain't gonna be worth me spending money on it

There's a single player campaign isn't there? You can cut your teeth on that...

I keep reading stories from this game. I want to play it! Wanna play it! Waaah!

 

[Mungy]

There's a single player campaign isn't there? You can cut your teeth on that...

I keep reading stories from this game. I want to play it! Wanna play it! Waaah!

it was single player. managed to shoot a couple of the enemy, went over to steal their stuff and was shot at by enemy i couldn't see. i am pants-man, the worlds crappest FPS player

 

[Mungy]

well, i bought it. first start it was midnight and i could see fuck all. lit a torch and shit meself
logged into a daytime server and wandered up a forest hill. wandered along and down to a house and found a can of pepsi. back up a hill, found an interesting looking shed but far too many zombies about, so wandered off back up the hill. had to stop to read to my daughter

 

[XR75]

It sounds like an improvement over the basic co-op.More games could do with multiple or ambiguous sides.

 

[Mungy]

update: 1 hour in. wandered near town, killed my first zombie, then another 4. more zombies coming so I ran away very fast. zombies following, occasionally hitting me. i'm running up hill and making panicking frightened sounds. I think fuck this, stop running and turn around. 2 zombies run past me and stop a few feet away, seeming to ignore me. 2 head shots and they are down. hear more zombies behind so I start legging it back up the hill to the tree line. someone shoots me and i am dead

 

[bouncer_the_dog]

It looks wicked.

Seriously thinking about taking a punt on it.

 

[joustmaster]

update: 1 hour in. wandered near town, killed my first zombie, then another 4. more zombies coming so I ran away very fast. zombies following, occasionally hitting me. i'm running up hill and making panicking frightened sounds. I think fuck this, stop running and turn around. 2 zombies run past me and stop a few feet away, seeming to ignore me. 2 head shots and they are down. hear more zombies behind so I start legging it back up the hill to the tree line. someone shoots me and i am dead

more updates please..

 

[Artaxerxes]

Love it so far, might be going a bit to far with latest patch though, players have to not freeze to death... oh dear.

Managed to avoid to many other player encounters so far, had a tense moment while scavenging in Chernogorsk but we kept polite. Then after he vanished around a corner a few minutes later a dozen zombies turned up, possibly chasing him, and then they spotted me.

Bleeding from a bite I had to run out of the city, attracting yet more zombies, clambered up a nearby ladder and picked them off one at a time, one bullet, one zombie, only problem was I rapidly ran out of bullets and the zombies kept on coming. Finally down to my last clip the zombies stopped showing up, lay there amidst a pile of the dead and just waited, listening to the distant groans on the wind.

Bandaged my wounds and scavenged what I could, then left the town, I'd avoid them from now on and just do best to scavenge on the outskirts of them.

 

[mauvais]

Not very good at the moment IMO. Tried to give it a go yesterday and spent a good 90% of the time trying to find a working server. The night is great for ambience but the pitch black is pretty terrible for gameplay. It's got atmosphere in spades but feels a bit tedious at times. Oh quick, your tax return is due and you have to scavenge for backdated VAT receipts to survive. Meh. I'll stick with it though. It should be a bit like STALKER if it works.

 

[joustmaster]

I have installed the arma2 demo, just to get a hang of it first. Seems like an ok game.
Will probably buy it and install the mod as soon as the sun is less nice.

We will need to get some u75 players together and work as a team..

 

[rubbershoes]

Can you employ zombies as cleaners?

 

[UnderOpenSky]

I'm not a fan of blasting people into a zillion pixels, but the graphics sure look sumptious

They look pretty dated.

 

[grit]

All of my mates are playing this but for some reason I'm not happy to pay 25 quid and download 15gigs to play a mod...

 

[Crispy]

They look pretty dated.

I don't think ed keeps up to date with advances in graphics technology

Arma 3 is looking very nice btw.

 

[joustmaster]

All of my mates are playing this but for some reason I'm not happy to pay 25 quid and download 15gigs to play a mod...

yes it is a bit expensive. i thought it was the 15 quid one, but you need the CO version.

 

[Crispy]

You can bet it'll be in the steam summer sale.

 

[bmd]

All of my mates are playing this but for some reason I'm not happy to pay 25 quid and download 15gigs to play a mod...

It's £8.95 here - http://www.gamesrocket.com/download/Arma-II-Operation-Arrowhead.html?ref=101&currency=GBP

Here's how to install it - http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/05/21/how-to-install-arma-2s-day-z-mod/

 

[Crispy]

You need the original Arma 2 and Operation Arrowhead

 

[bmd]

Oh right, I thought that as Arrowhead is the standalone expansion you could get away with just that? Pretty sure they were saying on the RPS boards that was the case too. That link from PCG seems to agree with you though.

 

[grit]

Oh right, I thought that as Arrowhead is the standalone expansion you could get away with just that? Pretty sure they were saying on the RPS boards that was the case too. That link from PCG seems to agree with you though.

No I'm afraid you need the arrowhead bollocks too.

 

[ohmyliver]

Oh right, I thought that as Arrowhead is the standalone expansion you could get away with just that? Pretty sure they were saying on the RPS boards that was the case too. That link from PCG seems to agree with you though.

I've heard that you can use the arma 2 free version with the paid arrowhead extension, and DayZ will run. However your mileage may vary.

 

[Crispy]

I've heard that you can use the arma 2 free version with the paid arrowhead extension, and DayZ will run. However your mileage may vary.

Reports are that performance is degraded, and textures/models are lower res

 

[Radar]

£15 for the steam version ATM if you buy it from the studio themselves.

Not as cheap as from the gamesrocket, but 1) It's on steam dammit & 2) You're supporting the authors directly.