So how many of you have been playing DayZ? How are you finding it?
I realise the game is only available on early access, but my twitter feed seems to have exploded with people talking about/playing/discussing DayZ.
I’m talking, of course, about the new standalone version.
DayZ is the sort of game that appeals to me in terms of the stories that are shared, but I’ve never actually hunkered down and gone through the process of trying to play it. Mainly because I’m in dire need of a gaming PC, but also because it seems like a real time investment and um… I started Dark Souls again.
But anyway, how are you all finding the game? Is it something you would recommend? My feeling from from what my friends are saying is that DayZ is really an ‘experience’ game. It’s not really fun from moment to moments, but it’s an incredible experience.
I’d love to hear your thoughts.
Comments
23 responses to “Community Review: DayZ”
Love it. I think it’s great but if a real world apocalypse happened I wouldn’t fear the zombies nor the loneliness. Just damn idiots trying to make me drink disinfectant.
Played many hundreds of hours of vanilla DayZ mod and it’s variations like Epoch and Overwatch, and I’m pretty happy with standalone so far. It looks the goods, the guys have done amazing work with the Arma 2 engine. It’s not quite Arma 3, but it’s still very, very pretty. The changes to Chernarus are very cool, but often you don’t see it until you head inland to places like Zelenogorsk and Stary Sobor. The cities have changed a lot, new layouts, buildings, the works. There’s new military bases scattered around, barracks are far more common so you don’t just end up with everyone heading to NW airfield to farm the barracks and fire station. The addition of being able to enter 90% of buildings in the game, as opposed to probably 30-40% from the mod is welcome.
I’ve seen some people complain they can’t see where the work into the engine and Chernarus have gone, but I don’t understand. Either their expectation are absurdly high, they don’t have their graphics turned up high enough to see the changes, or they’re just hanging around the coast, where not a lot has really changed.
I’m loving the complexity of the inventory and item/weapon systems – you can find an M4, with ammo, and every attachment under the sun, but if you don’t find a magazine, you’re going to be manually chambering a single round every time you fire it – of course, the Mosin Nagant is not subject to magazines, so gun plus ammo, you’re ready to go. Some complain the system is a little too fiddly or ungainly, but I like it as is. I wouldn’t want it to get any more complex, but I don’t want to see it dumbed down.
There’s some particularly annoying glitches present, but in all honesty, I haven’t seen them occur too often. As always it’s alpha, and it’s being changed constantly – if it stays where it is in terms of the quantity and severity of glitches and bugs, I’ll be fine. There’s a lot of features and refinements incoming, so as is, there’s not a lot it does better than DayZ mod at all, but the potential is very clear.
Definitely play with friends. Playing this alone will get boring very quickly. You’re far more vulnerable by yourself, and playing with other people can make the game a lot more entertaining, ie, holdups and kidnapping/torture, as well as just backing each other up. Safety in numbers, and all.
Lastly – don’t be afraid to head inland. The coast is the least interesting place to be, for the most part, and 75% of most server populations are there. You’re far more likely to run into dickery hanging around the coast. Spawn, find the nearest village/cluster of buildings, grab some food and drink, clothes, maybe an axe – then head inland. You’ll find more interesting locations, generally better loot, and more of it. All the coastal towns get picked clean, but inland, there’s far more untouched territory. It also adds to the tension once you’ve got a few real items and a weapon and then you see someone. Suddenly, you’ve got more to lose and that’s when this game shines. Hanging around the coast playing deathmatch is fine if that’s your thing, but trust me, people who do that are missing out.
Are you guys ever going to do a piece or review/community article about RUST?
I find the people are nicer, there is more sense or an idea of a ‘community’ that seems to be the theme of it all, rivalry between said communities, fighting for resources and areas and friendships being made out of mutual respect “I see you just mining away, I’ll just let you be”
each server hold about 200 people.
so many good stories and scenarios just check out the tuna bandits on youtube.
As far as i’m aware RUST is far more playable than the standalone version of DayZ. face punch could even release it as it is if they really wanted to and it’s only in alpha…
So why not?
I’ve lost count of how many times I’ve spawned in Rust and had my face smashed in by another fresh spawn with a rock, or some relatively new spawn with a hatchet. There’s naught to gain by killing me, but they do it anyway. Trying to get materials from the rock/metal nodes is also a no go – if anyone sees me trying to gather materials from a node, I’ll get attacked, almost every single time. If it’s none of these things, it’s some tool with an M4 murdering everyone in sight. I think it’s got it’s own massive potential, and I keep going back to try periodically, but right now it’s just frustrating.
People in DayZ can be dicks as well, but I find it easy to avoid. There’s more to lose and it’s far easier to lose it, so people in DayZ are more paranoid and likely to say ‘I don’t want any trouble’ and move on.
It really depends on the server you join, there’s a time and place for everything at the end of the day the goal of the game is survival.
tbh I have yet to be killed on the basis of ‘just because’ let alone kill another player lol
I find that most people who have that “KILL ON SIGHT” mentality are those who came over from DayZ
I think it’d work better if the landscape was a bit different. The map at present is far smaller than I’d like, and it’s nigh on impossible to find a spot that’s quiet or someone else hasn’t set up shop near. I think the map is going to get bigger? I hope it does, and there’s some more variation in the landscape. I think that’d make a huge difference. I am enjoying Rust’s potential, and if I could actually get a start, I’d be enjoying it far more.
The alternative is to join a server with low population, but that to me feels like it’s missing the point. I won’t join a 200 player server, because it’s just carnage. 30-50 sits better with me, but I still always end up getting murdered.
Yeah since it’s only in early alpha the map is rather small though it does take a good few hours to get from one side to the other, I believe the full map (on release) will be about 20 times bigger than what it is already, pretty mind boggling when you see it on the wiki.
If you play for a few hours you get to know where things are and where you are in relation to map, it does get easier the more you play.
I find it’s best to join a server that has just started or had a recent wipe as everyone is too busy trying to setup base and gather resources, you also get to know everyone and start to build mutual respect towards each other. If you build small, smart and somewhere remote like in a mountain you will find that no one will bother you as they would be busy raiding bases near roads or high traffic area’s.
Just to keep on topic here is a pretty good review in regards to the future of DayZ (standalone)
“Has all the potential in the world, but this potential will never be realized due to the game’s horrendous engine; the RV engine is perhaps the worst engine in the world, and us old school DayZ mod junkies have been telling Rocket this since day one. Yet he decided to go ahead and use the engine anyway. Who knows why.
So what exactly is wrong with the engine? Well, for one thing, occulsion culling is completely broken and can never be fixed. Essentially, everything in the world (in the direction you are facing) fully renders. That means something several miles away, behind several walls and structures, is fully rendering. Why? Because the individuals who made the RV engine are utterly clueless. The engine also doesn’t fully support SLI or multicore processors and never will. So you can have 3 GTX 780 Ti’s and and overclocked Intel i7-4930K and guess what? You’ll still have under 30 frames per second in medium to high density areas. It’s nearly 2014, and this is just plain unacceptable. You also have to deal with the absolutely horrible controls and the terrible melee (the engine does not support melee at all, so melee will never work as it should).
I’m sure a bevy of insufferable fanboys will respond with the same old “it’s alpha” excuse, but sorry, this game has been in alpha for over 18 months, and the mod has been in alpha for far longer than that. If absolutely zero optimization issues have been fixed over the span of 18 months, then I think it’s safe to say that the whole “it’s alpha” excuse is totally moot. The game will never be fully optimized because of its terrible engine.
There’s obviously a market for a zombie-themed survival MMO, as evident by the massive sales DayZ is making. Unfortunately, most of us duped into spending 30 dollars for this game will sooner or later realize that even though “it’s alpha” the current state of the game is probably not too far away from the final retail version of the game. If Rocket had a clue or two, he would have sold his intellectual property to a developer that actually knows what they are doing.”
I don’t think posting someone else’s review of DayZ SA is going to validate or prove anything. I was talking about things I don’t like in Rust, not which is a better game. A discussion. You bought Rust into this, a DayZ SA community review. But have fun.
Hey buddy, I think you got the wrong idea on the nature of my replies/posts.
All i did was address your replies in regards to RUST, The review that I posted is not mine but a pretty good insight on what going on in the backend of DayZ (it’s from steam reviews)
Almost everyday there is something posted about DayZ, I was just saying I’d love to see some more articles about RUST
Yeah some of the severs with large populations (approaching 100 or more) are difficult. I am finding servers with about 25 people on them tend to be more balanced with the current map size.
Also, I have a “secret” base way out on the edge where there are no resources. It is behind some rocks and only visible if you climb around right on top of basically. I then have temporary bases closer which I use for runs down the road looking for cool stuff. When I want to collect woodpiles and rocks, I go back out towards the edge of the map near the edge of the resources and do it there where it is quieter and always check for oncoming jerks in between collecting. I only carry what I need depending on my current mission because I know I could be murdered at any time. Your base remains when you die, so if you have backup equipment stashed there you can rearm and go back for revenge quicksmart.
I think I need a better concept of the map layout. Hard to know where’s ‘out of the way’ and where’s not. If you build a hut, and die – when you come back is it still ‘yours’, as in you can unlock it/access it like you could before you died?
You place down a sleeping bag (ie in ur base) and that’s where you will respawn next
Only you are able to open and close the doors (and people you want to share it with) to your base so you essentially will always own it no matter how many times you die or go away.
At the start.
Find the coast (hardly anyone around the coast), once you find the coast try and kill a pig or two with your rock.
Take cloth and food from Pig – Food is important at the start.
15 cloth = Sleeping bag
80 wood = Wooden shelter and wooden door.
place shelter somewhere you think is a good area (hidden yet close to resources)
place sleeping bag in shelter, Build a wooden storage box which takes 30 wood.
All this can be done in about 15 minutes.
Once you have established yourself you can pretty much do anything, make a bow and arrow etc…
Well that’s good. Was worried all that work would go to waste – which would be a bit silly, I guess. As well as leave hundreds of abandoned buildings scattered around the map on every server.
I want to play this but find it difficult to justify $30 for an early alpha.
/cheap ass
That one early access game, Wasteland I think, was $60 though. Tell ’em they’re dreaming.
This,
come on, $30 to do work for them?
Good game but DayZ should really be called “Shoot first” as 9/10 people will shoot anything that moves VS talking, exchanging, teaming up.
I’d suggest (hope) in the real world people would clump together, share resources, organise shifts for watch, etc. Sure there would be limits (i.e. town water supply).
ATM the game doesn’t promote any of that (i.e. a body should attract Zombies, you should have to sleep and hence risk losing everything if someone isn’t watching over you, etc)
Anyhow my two cents.
Day Z is actually quite a fun game despite being in Alpha. At the moment it appeals to my sense of adventure, rather than survival, due to the never-ending search for loot at a relaxed pace. Being new to the game, I have started on low population servers and looking up youtube videos for beginners should really be compulsory. I spent my first hour trying to work out the buttons and not even realising that items on the ground weren’t permanent fixtures.
The bigger problem I have experienced, reduced after several video and controls tweaks, is that this is the first game in a while that I have experienced major motion sickness. After one playthrough, I actually dry-reached and had to take paracetamols to stop my head spinning.
Are there actually zombies in this game? Serious question – I’ve read dozens of articles about this game and I have never seen a single mention of a zombie!
I’m really intrigued by the open-world scavenger/survivor premise, but if it’s mostly just getting shot by people way better than you it doesn’t sound like a game I’d want to play.
There are zombies, but the zombies are almost an afterthought at this point. There’s a lot less than there were in the DayZ mod, but that’s likely to change. Zombies can be killed with a single hit from a fire axe, but smaller weapons are much harder – zombies are an issue without an axe, one you’re better off running away from.
Other people are the real highlight, and the major threat by far. But they can also be your biggest ally, which is what makes the game fun. The game at times degenerates into a kill simulator, but depends on the server, and only if you’re silly enough to hang around the starting areas.
If you don’t dig being killed by other people, I’d pass on this. I’ve only ever died to zombies once, in probably 50 spawns. The rest of my deaths have been by violence at the hands of other players, or falling off something very high.
I’ve played through about 4 lives, roughly 30 or so hours and I’m loving it. I did, however, play a bit of the mod. I wouldn’t recommend it at this stage to players completely new to the franchise as a lot of intended features are not yet implemented or are buggy as hell. If you’re new to it and don’t mind some bugs and that, then yeah, go for it. Otherwise, I’d say avoid for a few new patches or wait for beta. Still heaps of fun!
Very Short Review: Fun game, however there are some severe bugs. There is also lack of content and things to do e.g. vechiles, missions etc.., however this game has MASSIVE potential, look forward to playing the Beta
Bought it. Played it for a few days. Quit. Griefers paradise.
My Day-Z experience:
All the servers I could connect to were all synched to a RL day/night cycle. Given that I could only play at night, it was always pitch fucking black and I couldn’t see shit.
Not so much for the snipers and campers who would kill me within a couple minutes of spawning, even if I was crawling around on the ground everywhere at snail’s pace in a bid to avoid the teleporting zombies who can walk through walls.
After half a dozen times getting murdered by (a majority of the time, unseen) other players within 1-5 minutes of spawning, I uninstalled the game.
(One exception: I survived five minutes or so and was able to make it to a house to loot a clip of ammunition and tin of food, before being mobbed by a dozen zombies. Bleeding and dying, I crawled toward the road, where I met another player who immediately moved to try and heal me. I had to try to escape him, saying in local, “Don’t waste your resources, I’m done for! Save your supplies, take mine!” It took a little while to convince him to mercy-kill me.)
Soooo… that was a fair waste of money.
@transientmind
The servers aren’t synced to real time, the current hive is configured to night time only (I haven’t played with the most recent patches so might be different now). Look for servers in the browser running Dayz_code, rather than DayZ_code – those are running in day mode.
I spent about 15 hrs in the game over the past weekend. First impressions were that it’s missing a lot of stuff from the mod, most notably Zombies. The first 10 or so hrs I played I didn’t see a single zombie on any of the servers. The upside meant I could gather an awesome arsenal of loot… Although being a relative newbie (I played the mod for about 10hrs) I made the mistake of teaming up with someone I didn’t know and as soon as my back was turned they executed me and took all my gear.
Since then I’ve actually been on servers with loads of zombies, unfortunately for me I haven’t gathered any real loot on those servers so I’m stuck running from zombies. Which would be fun if only they didn’t glitch through everything, I would actually enjoy hiding in a house with zombies at the door waiting for me to come out but at the moment I can’t find any way to escape them as they just glitch straight through all the doors and often through the walls too. The graphics are meant to be much better than the mod but sadly I’m playing on a laptop so I have to have everything turned way down which makes it look horrible but it’s the only way I can get a steady framerate.
overall though I think if I had a decent gaming rig and they fixed the zombies acting like ghosts thing I think i’d be having a really good time with this.