wlj

http://store.steampowered.com/app/221100/

I see all kinds of hype everywhere about this game DayZ. It is like a mainstay on the front page of Steam. It is supposed to be a very hardcore and realistic zombie apocalypse simulator.


Anyone play this? How is it?

Krayzie

be prepared to be force fed rotten kiwi and disinfectant by other players.

starseed1981

No. The reason why is simple: 97.5 % of that community are jerks. Same thing with Rust.

Nausicaa

I've been playing it on and off since the mod was originally released a few years ago. The mod was pretty fun at first, but quickly became overrun with assholes and was ruined by some poor (IMO) design decisions.

The DayZ standalone has improved many of the technical quirks of the mod, but is still bare bones in terms of gameplay. The world is basically unpopulated with zombies right now, and the ones that do exist don't even appear to be programmed yet. There is no discernible AI and sometimes you can walk right past them and other times they chase you.

Melee is also broken.

I would not recommend DayZ at all right now, as it is a very incomplete alpha. It boggles my mind why so many people are buying and playing. Basically all you can do now is walk around and collect items.

When it's finished, it will be okay, but not for everyone. The ARMA engine is still quirky even though they've modified it, and the controls aren't as smooth as most people are probably used to. The concept is fun, but it's also an incredible time sink. You can spend hours walking around doing basically nothing, then get shot and have to start all over. The joke is that DayZ is basically a hiking simulator, since you spend 90% of your time running through forests.

If you're looking for a more conventional zombie/survival experience, there are probably better single player games out there you can play. Project Zomboid, Dead Island, etc.

fumanstan

Most of my friends at work are playing this right now, and all of them seem to be having fun with the ridiculousness of it.

Seems a little slow for me, and without really any progression seems like it would get boring for me quickly.

lopper

Every couple of years a PC only title comes out that really makes me want to build a gaming PC. A couple years ago, it was the Star Wars MMO. This year, it's DayZ.

I know it's alpha, buggy, and full of assholes, but it still looks like it will eventually be a lot of fun once everything starts getting ironed out.

So I'm beginning my research, looking at all-in-one kits at newegg, tigerdirect, and other sites. There's no rush, so I'm hoping to have the money saved up by April to start this project.

covenant

I played the original mod for about 4 months. It was awesome for that first month or two. Then they turned off global chat and it became an open world gank fest. That last month i played it as a camping sim. I was geared up and just tried to stay away from everyone and live off the land. If you play it realistically you can survive a long time. Eventually I got bored and waltzed into Stary and was promptly sniped. Never logged back in after that.

Maybe when the game is complete I'll give it a try. But not now.

wlj

When you log off do u keep all of your gear or do you have to start over each time you play?

wmansir

You keep your gear. Your character state, inventory and location is saved on a central server so if you log into a different server you spawn in the same place and condition as when you logged out. Of course, a sizable number of the players being assholes, this means it's exploited all the time. Players often log out during combat and server hop to get easy loot, sniping spots, etc. I read that they are beta testing a patch to address the problem.

Nausicaa

I was also bothered when they eliminated the bandit skin. It wasn't a perfect mechanic, but at least it created some level of team based gameplay where you could easily identify "bad guys".

They need to add a lot more to this game which encourages team play. A class and squad system is badly needed. Also deep base building mechanics. They should also get rid of most high powered weaponry and replace it primarily with melee weapons and a limited number of guns that are very rare. Absurd how easy it is to find high powered machine guns and sniper rifles.

Right now, other players are always the biggest threat, and there is little to no benefit meeting up with strangers. This ruins the balance of the game. Survival ATM basically means just avoiding other players as long as possible. Not really a thrilling experience.

If I want this kind of gameplay, I will just play something like Sir You Are Being Hunted, which in its basic single player state is already far more tense and exciting than DayZ ever was.

flashburn

The idea of Rust intrigues me, but in it's current state I know I'll hate it. I'll probably give it a try once it's in a more complete state. Pretty much the same goes with DayZ.

wlj

i downloaded Dayz over the weekend but only played it for a few minutes. I died twice. I was chased by zombies pretty much right after I spawned which was surprising, I thought that Zombies were supposed to be pretty scarce in the alpha. i did get annoyed with some of the buildings, alot of them had doors that wouldn't open. Pretty aggravating when trying to hide from a zombie only to find out the door is not accessible.

wlj

This game has been a mess each time i have tried it. I think my playtime is only about 2 hours total. I haven't played it in a couple of months. Last night I spawned, there was a zombie right at my spawn point and I died. Next spawn I was headed to search a house and was attacked by a zombie in the house. All of the sudden the zombie turns around and runs like a bat out of hell THROUGH the wall. I was like "well whew, I am glad i didn't have to keep punching him" All of the sudden BAM!! i am attacked from behind by the same zombie. He teleported back somehow. I just cut the game off. Maybe I am in the minority but i have had terrible experiences the few times i have played


anyone here having a good experience? I haven't even been able to play enough to deal with what is supposed to be the main frustration -- assholes.

Oliver Clothesoff

Same experiences here. I get chased down by a zombie from which there is no escape. I can't outrun them and they walk through walls into houses. I suppose they are not able to go up steps, but by then I'm bleeding and helpless, so I end up quitting. I can never make enough progress to be able to survive or fight back.

If I do make it to a town or cluster of homes, everything is picked over and abandoned. Maybe that's a problem with the server's I've chosen.

Anyway, it feels like I wastes $25. Maybe the real game will be ready soon?

wlj

i pretty much agree with you. i can't even get to somewhere to start looking for loot. I am attacked by a zombie almost immediately. All I have is my fists and It takes ALOT of hits to kill a zombie. By the time i do kill it, I am already bleeding profusely and die soon. I tried to outrun the zombie last night, but he seemed to be a dead Olympic track star because he chased me down very easily. I am sure fans will say, "it is supposed to be hardcore!!". So far my experience sucks. I think you should at least start with a stick or something that you can fight with.

flair

I've put about 200 hours into the game. Mainly play with a group of 5 or 6 guys every Thursday. We've pretty much done it all at this point. Rolling a new guy can be a bit tricky at first, but if you know what buildings to search and what to look for, you can get healthy and plenty geared in an hour.

Yeah, the game is plenty broken in many ways, but that is half of the appeal for us right now. Hell, yesterday I was booted from a server, respawned, and was face to face with my own character. I killed the dupe, but that killed me. Whoops. All in good fun even if my guy had 20 hours worth of time and gear.

A lot of players are complete jerks, we are too at times, but every once in a while you get some human interaction that is insanely interesting that I've yet to experience in any other game.

Oliver Clothesoff

I wouldn't mind interacting with some jerks. It would be a change of pace. I was looking forward to playing the lone wolf type and making it true survival. I'm real interested in this type of game, but I guess I don't have the patience for an alpha.

Looking forward to H1Z1... maybe that'll be more polished.

mhg83

Pretty sure in a real life survival post-apocalypse there are bound to be some Jerks.

wlj

not familiar with H1Z1...is that an abbreviation or the actual name?



I would love to play the game long enough to have ANY human interaction, good or bad. I am serious, i get wasted by a damn A.I. zombie right away each time i play. I still maintain you should start with a stick or a rock or something rudimentary to use as a weapon.

Nausicaa

H1Z1 is the actual name. It's a new MMO zombie survival game being developed by SOE using an expanded Planetside 2 engine. So far it looks less "realistic" than DayZ, but will probably end up being much more complete and fun to play. Servers will support more players and there will be expansive base building mechanics, as well as a massive, ever expanding game world. With this engine they can just keep adding chunks to the map. Recently they revealed some snowy locations which look really great.

DayZ is still hampered by its engine and that will probably always be the case. I love the Arma series, but it just seems like they really can't make it work for this type of game. That zombies are still apparently moving through walls is really bad. If you like DayZ I would just buy Arma III and play the Epoch and similar mods. A lot more fun IMO and Arma III performs and looks so much better.

flair

Huh. I don't think I've ever died from zombies. Run far from town, they won't follow. If you start bleeding, tear your shirt into rags and bandage yourself once the zombie is out of sight. If I don't have a decent melee weapon or gun, I usually don't bother killing zombies. Hell, even if I do have a gun I rarely waste bullets and attract attention by shooting. Look up what houses to look for in town for loot, should make things a whole lot easier.

wlj

I tried this again last night. I chose a server that had heavy loot in the label and I was able to find a few things. However, this time around zombies just seemed to appear out of thin air almost like they were teleported right in front of me from the starship Enterprise. Running from them didn't work, these were evidently jamaican track star zombies who also had nightcrawlers teleport abilities. I have still yet to see another human player. I have uninstalled it. I will try it again in a few months. I just feel as if I wasted $30. Yes, it is in alpha and bugs are expected, but with the popularity the game has I felt that the game would still be very playable.

mhg83

So Creepy

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="//www.youtube.com/embed/PLveMFmNTmw" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Oliver Clothesoff

that's the kind of stuff I was hoping to come across in the game, but I still have not seen another human player on any of the servers I've tried. Granted I get 2 hours of playtime max before I end up pulling the plug or getting killed.

covenant

Tried out the Breaking Point mod for Arma 3.
Exactly like the Dayz mod for Arma 2 except it has all the Arma 3 improvements. Runs great, has alot of great options: like a buddy system, different roles, and tame-able wild dogs.

Takes place on Altis which is a huge map and unless you want to you'll never run into anybody else.
But I ran into the same problem I do with all these dayz mods/games. Once I'm geared up I don't have anything to do but pvp. And I don't care for pvp. Makes me wish for a single player dayz where I can build a shelter and do missions like Skyrim.