DayZ an Arma II mod you have to try!

[FlowerChild]

New flash: FlowerChild lays on floor of gas-station praying for dawn to arrive.

Stay tuned for more details...

P.S. This is some seriously spooky shit. Spawning in the middle of the night didn't help, but I'm still alive ;)

[kregoth]

That because the servers are real time, So if it's night time for you then the game will be at night too :P I like that night is hard as hell to see in, and the fact that it real time day/night makes it a lot more immersive!

[FlowerChild]

Play for the night ended with me crawling along the shore, half blind from blood loss due to my gas-station hide-out not being quite as safe as I had hoped.

Seriously...paranoia inducing. I'm going to love this :)

[kregoth]

I want to hear more of how you survived FlowerChild, I imagine after you get better your going to have a lot of interesting stories. I may be able to grab the expansion at some point soon, hopefully by then I can get a chance to try out this awesome mod. How has your experience been so far?

[jorgebonafe]

This sounds really fun, but... Is it playable for other countries? I mean, I remember bought some unreal tournment a couple of years ago, but there were almost never servers in Brazil, and the foreign servers had so much latency it was impossible to play...

[rhacer]

FC, I love seeing references to Ultima Online.

I read a review of it in Wired just after it was released and called my wife, who was out and about and said "Please bring me home a copy." She did.

My oldest was three when I started playing. He pretty much taught himself to read, but one of the things that helped a lot was him sitting on my lap while I played UO "What's that say Daddy?", "What did she say Daddy?", etc.

[kregoth]

This sounds really fun, but... Is it playable for other countries? I mean, I remember bought some unreal tournment a couple of years ago, but there were almost never servers in Brazil, and the foreign servers had so much latency it was impossible to play...

It's all server based and they all persistent and player owned. I believe there are several servers in your area :)

[obl1terat1ion]

EDIT: didn't have the game updated

[FlowerChild]

I want to hear more of how you survived FlowerChild, I imagine after you get better your going to have a lot of interesting stories. I may be able to grab the expansion at some point soon, hopefully by then I can get a chance to try out this awesome mod. How has your experience been so far?

Well, I only got to play an hour last night after the epic download process, so you know the story so far. Will keep you guys updated on my progress, although I get the impression that death is imminent. I can hardly see the zombies until they're right on top of me due to the blindness thing, and I don't appear to have any medical supplies that help with it (I suspect I'm in need of a transfusion).

Maybe if I can find some food though it will help me heal. That will be my next task I suspect, maybe returning to the gas station where things went bad for supplies.

BTW: I was just thinking about the "zig-zagging zombies" thing, and I suspect I know what it is. I don't think it's an intentional design decision, as much as it's interpolation on their movement in order to reduce the communication bandwidth used for them.

In other words, if their AI only updates based on player position at certain time intervals, then they keep moving along a predictable path so that no further data need be communicated about their state. Then, when the AI updates, their target may change, or the one they're after may have moved, so they may suddenly appear to shift direction.

I think it may have been more of a concession to make the game possible online rather than a desire to have more intelligent zombies or whatever.

[FlowerChild]

You know I think I can say this, if there is a reason you haven't said anything for a few days, it's because I mentioned a new game :P I seem to cause you a lot of distractions!

BTW, on this point:

Hehe...don't sweat it man. Playing the kind of games you recommend, which inevitably offer me new gaming experiences, ultimately only serves to make me a better designer, and make the mod better in the long run.

In this case, if BTW SMP doesn't improve from me playing what is now on the cutting edge of anarchy gameplay design, it's time for me to turn in my designer card ;)

[obl1terat1ion]

first death, new rule NEVER,EVER travel on byways.

[FlowerChild]

That because the servers are real time, So if it's night time for you then the game will be at night too :P I like that night is hard as hell to see in, and the fact that it real time day/night makes it a lot more immersive!

Actually, in practice, this "feature" is a total fail.

What's happening is that the vast majority of people don't want to play at night. So, when it's night-time in Europe, all the European players jump onto the North American servers (time of day is based on server time), and the opposite is also true.

What this means, is that the day-time servers are totally overloaded and impossible to join, or totally glitched out, while the night-time servers are virtually empty.

One of the developers posted on the forums today that it's actually a technical limitation preventing them from having shorter day/night cycles because a lot of people are complaining about the above, but I personally don't see how that could be true. Frankly, if I were on the project, I'd just make it day all the time until a better solution is found, because as it is, it is making the game nigh unplayable.

I can't even get a game going during daytime hours (I managed to play for about 10 minutes on one before I think the server crashed). I understand that they're currently getting a huge influx of new players due to the publicity they've received, but they're also going to lose a lot of them if they don't adjust to this.

So yeah, not the least bit immersive man :)

[FlowerChild]

Yeah, after investing significant time *trying* to play this mod, I can not say it is currently worth it at the moment.

Just waaaay too much hassle to get a game going and stay connected once you do. I suspect their servers are being brought to their knees by the massive influx of players.

At present, I can't seem to play for more than 10-20 minutes before things crap out. When I can play, it's usually only during night time which makes the new player experience rather hellish (to the point of not really being fun as I don't think I've ever played a game this dark), and I'm having to spend a good hour or so trying to connect to various servers for those brief bouts of play.

So yeah, just not fun unfortunately. I think I'm going to put this aside for a couple of weeks and hope that they get things stabilized.

[johnt]

Seems like it could be fixed by creating some incentive to play at night, rather than the day. Like, random ammo drops or something that only come in at night. You could always create some crazy lore reason for it, like the whole thing being an Soviet-era experiment gone mad, like Lost or something.

[FlowerChild]

Seems like it could be fixed by creating some incentive to play at night, rather than the day. Like, random ammo drops or something that only come in at night. You could always create some crazy lore reason for it, like the whole thing being an Soviet-era experiment gone mad, like Lost or something.

Man, funny you should mention that, as I was thinking the same thing last night as I was falling asleep.

I think extra drops alone might not fit the "realism" feel of the mod though, so I was then thinking about perhaps increased zombie numbers at night, but with fucked awareness (or maybe at night they revert to being shambling zombies as opposed to running) in combination with having *some* forms of loot on zombie inventories.

Anyways, yes, I agree with the basic concept that increased reward at night would also be a way to deal with this, whatever form that reward takes.

[kregoth]

I think the day/night cycle should all be tied to a single time zone and reduced to around 6 hours or so. The whole jumping around servers to avoid night would be solved if they all where using the same time zone.

In regards to the server cashes, they are trying to fix it! I think the persistence across servers is a great idea, but when it goes down all servers go down, being tide to a system like that is generally a bad idea. I would disable that system until it's been tested enough to handle all the load it current is getting, I would rather have the mod working on all servers, instead of working through 1 server that can't handle the player load.

I finally got the money to buy AO I just not sure if I want to buy the vastly cheaper download version from amazon @ 50% off or pay the full price for the steam version, I prefer it all through one source :( Hopefully steam will follow suit and put up the games with a similar sale soon. I don't want to have to mess with 2 different services for re downloads and patching :(

Here are the links for the cheap amazon version for those who want to save some money, just be warned you CAN NOT activate amazon version through steam!
Arma II: Operations Arrowhead Only puchase this if you already own Arma II as buying the expansion is the same as getting Combined Operations if you already own the original :)
Arma II: Combined Operations This is the base game and the AO expansion get this version if you do not own any Arma II games :)

[FlowerChild]

I think the day/night cycle should all be tied to a single time zone and reduced to around 6 hours or so. The whole jumping around servers to avoid night would be solved if they all where using the same time zone.

I think you should try it before judging it man. I've tried everything including knocking the gamma all the way to max, which is an absolute last resort for me as I consider it to be cheating, and I simply do not find it playable at night. It isn't any fun.

*Maybe* if you have a developed character that's fully equipped with a chem-light and/or flashlight you might be able to reasonably play at night, but spawning fresh in darkness is just zero fun after you get over the initial panic of it and realize you just can't really play effectively.

Someone actually put out a single-player mission that uses the mod files, and that's what I'll probably be playing during night-time hours now.

Supposedly the moon will be coming up in 10 or 11 days which will make it more playable at night, although I think that's a poor alternative to a design solution.

[kregoth]

I think the day/night cycle should all be tied to a single time zone and reduced to around 6 hours or so. The whole jumping around servers to avoid night would be solved if they all where using the same time zone.

I think you should try it before judging it man. I've tried everything including knocking the gamma all the way to max, which is an absolute last resort for me as I consider it to be cheating, and I simply do not find it playable at night. It isn't any fun.

Supposedly the moon will be coming up in 10 or 11 days which will make it more playable at night, although I think that's a poor alternative to a design solution.

After watching videos and reading the dayz forums I can say that night time in the mod currently is horrid, I agree with you on changing or adding some incentive to make night time playing much more viable. The server hopping to avoid night time just shows how broke it is, but then again the mod is ALPHA!

*Maybe* if you have a developed character that's fully equipped with a chem-light and/or flashlight you might be able to reasonably play at night, but spawning fresh in darkness is just zero fun after you get over the initial panic of it and realize you just can't really play effectively.

Someone actually put out a single-player mission that uses the mod files, and that's what I'll probably be playing during night-time hours now.

You beat me to it I just discovered that post myself, then later discovered yours as the last reply :P and will probably end up doing the same "though a LAN version would be fabulous"

My internet speeds suck ass 8 gig download for me is going to take over 10 hours. I am still excited to play this mod, hopefully tomorrow I will get the chance to play maybe even get the chance to try and join up with you lol :P

[FlowerChild]

After watching videos and reading the dayz forums I can say that night time in the mod currently is horrid, I agree with you on changing or adding some incentive to make night time playing much more viable. The server hopping to avoid night time just shows how broke it is, but then again the mod is ALPHA!

Ok, if independent games that are already released to the public using arbitrary designations like "alpha" annoys me, you can imagine what it being applied to a mod does :)

The mod is still in development, and I of course can relate to that more than most. I'm certainly not berating the developer for it being broke, but it *is* broke, and in its current state, not very playable.

I did get a solid couple of hours of day-time play in today ending in my first gun-point encounter with another survivor. After me repeatedly saying "please lower your weapon" and getting no response, the tension built to the point where I pulled the trigger first (I suspect "Flower Fired First!" t-shirts will be all the rage this summer). Missed with my first shot, and he apparently fired at the same time as my second as I saw him collapse as I was dying myself. Either that or he had a friend nearby that I didn't see that fired on me when I opened up.

Anyways, was quite the moment :)

I am still excited to play this mod, hopefully tomorrow I will get the chance to play maybe even get the chance to try and join up with you lol :P

That would be awesome man :)

[DaWhiskers]

Got my first couple of hours on this last night, and after watching a video or two on youtube by a new spawning player playing at night, decided I would not shy away from a dark server.

Spawned, dived prone, and checked an external map to get a bearing based on the location displayed briefly when you first spawn, and made a decision to head along the coast towards one of the smaller towns.
So its, pitch black (nearly, I can just about make out the shoreline so can follow it), I'm jogging along the coast, in a crouched run, in the pouring rain, and then it happens....

Pfishhhhhhhhh and a red glow, someone is nearby and has thrown a flare. I freeze, taking a knee, and watch...

Nothing....

I turn to look around a little more, and I can hear something rustling. I stop, the noise stops. Just as I start turning I hear the noise again. Is my turning causing the noise, is the person that popped the flare crawling past me, no response on chat.

The noise sounds again, but I'm not moving, so its someone else moving nearby... My heart is picking up pace as with no response to chat I dont know if they are friendly or not.

About 3 minutes pass and the noise has stopped. Another flare pops up in the distance, its in the direction I was planning on heading so I slowly move after it.

Following the coast, I can vaguely make out some sort of dock by its silhouette. So I stop and try to get some bearing on where the buildings are.

Pfisshhhhhhhh, another flare goes off ahead of me. Then another, and a third.

There is a low moaning noise too...

By the flare light I can see a couple of Z's shambling about. I bide my time and wait for them to shamble out of my path, and crawl to the dock. The first flare dies, so I continue along, getting about half way along, and another flare goes off behind me.

I turn, still on my belly, watching to see whats going to happen.

There, from the shore, a survivor, slowly moving across the path I have just travelled. A Z spots him and heads towards him, he drops it, but the noise has attracted a Z crawling towards his flank, and he's not noticed it. I have the Z in my sights, is he going to spot it?? I wait, keeping the Z lined up, it gets closer to him. I make my choice and finally pop the Z in the head. The survivor turns instantly in my direction, not knowing I was there. I quickly type into the chat to tell him about the crawling Z and so we at least agree on a truce, and head to a shed to start looking for supplies.

We both died shortly afterwards, and I wont go into the details, but that really hits the spot for a good game with me. The tension and paranoia early on, the moral decision, of whether or not to shoot the Z or even the Survivor, really felt as though I had real choice in the game, not just do this or that for the storyline.

Anyways, hope to maybe get to run with some of you guys on this mod, as I believe it could be a real blast :)

[FlowerChild]

The first time I played at night (which was the first time I played too), I quite enjoyed it as well. Was very tense, and had a real horror-movie vibe going on.

The thing is though, as you continue to play, you realize that you really need to move inland to survive. Most of the isolated buildings along the coast are picked clean of supplies, and if you try to move into the cities, you're in for a world of hurt from both zombies and players.

Moving inland means traveling *very* long distances, virtually blind. Once you get away from the coast, you can see very little at all, to the point where I'm unable to even see a road directly at my feet with gamma set to the max. You can pop flares, but they are in very limited supply, and they put a huge target on your head. Otherwise, you can basically just see the horizon, which means once you're on rolling terrain, or in a forest, you really can't see squat in your immediate vicinity.

If it's cloudy, or if you're in a forest, this also means that you're lacking in visual cues by which to orient yourself (one nice touch though is that the night sky has an actual star-map going, so you can orient by the constellations if visibility is good), and good luck finding a compass after spawning under such circumstances.

I did a fair number of night-time patrols when I was in the military, and I'd say this is easily more punishing than the real thing. Except under the very worst of circumstances (like I remember being completely blind *once* when on patrol in the middle of a swamp with dense foliage overhead on a moonless overcast night with my glasses completely fogged from humidity) your eyes do adapt to the dark and you'd be surprised how much you can see. I even tried staying away from in-game lights for an extended period to see if night-vision would start kicking in, but no dice.

[jorgebonafe]

I wonder if they could even fix something like this, I mean, the night vision, like on Half Life 2, where you can see better in the dark after a while.. This is probably a limitation of the engine.. Short of adding a moon like he said, what else could he do in that case?

[FlowerChild]

I wonder if they could even fix something like this, I mean, the night vision, like on Half Life 2, where you can see better in the dark after a while.. This is probably a limitation of the engine.. Short of adding a moon like he said, what else could he do in that case?

I think the moon already provides light in the game..the moon just rises and sets on a realistic schedule, and it isn't out right now. One solution would be fixing the time of the month so that it's always out, or just upping the amount of ambient light in general.

I'm not at all familiar with Arma modding, so I have no idea what's possible in the engine. However, there's gotta be something out of the variety of possible solutions (up to and including temporarily setting it so that it's always day).

I really don't doubt that something will be done about this. My points are strictly about how the mod plays right now.

[Ulfengaard]

Downloading Arma II now. Visited DayZ website and saw:

Murders: 102279


What the?!? As if it weren't bad enough that Aunt Bess is gnawing on my leg?

Can't wait to get into this mod. Probably be all set tomorrow. :)

[FlowerChild]

Arg! It appears the thread related to the single-player mission was deleted from the DayZ forums for reasons unknown.

Anyone got a link to the site?

NM, got it: http://kronzky.info/missions/arma/dayzsp/