DayZ - Arma II Mod (PC)

[gschwendt]

I posted about this in the deals thread but the more I read about it, the more I realized it needs it's own thread.

First off, you'll need Arma II: Combined Operations ($15 on Amazon right now)
Then you'll also need to download the mod itself DayZ (free)

This game is a persistent (you log out, you keep your loot and respawn at the same spot) open-world online FPS set in a zombie apocalypse. You're spawned on a beach with minimal supplies to try to survive. From there, you have to figure out how you want to live. Do you want to head to a military base to stock up on weapons, find a farm to get a farmer's shotgun and lay low, or just survive off of killing rabbits and finding lakes/rivers to resupply your water. Do you spend the time to fix up a car or have the patience to walk from A to B.

You also have to decide how you want to carry yourself... do you become a bandit that shoots everyone he sees or do you find others to team up with in order to survive. All while worrying about zombies that can't see very far but they can hear any noise you make (gun fire, running, etc.) To me it sounds a lot like the online lobby of Red Dead Redemption (just with all of the other goodies).

It sounds awesome.

I'm downloading Arma II now and will install later today. If anyone is interested, I should be on with it either later tonight or sometime Saturday evening... just look for me on Steam (gschwendt).

You can read Rock Paper Shotgun's experiences with it here: Part 1, Part 2 (excellent reads even if you don't do any PC gaming). As well, they have an interview with the creator.

[gschwendt]

The game is realistic enough that you need to use the Big Dipper in order to help find the North Star if you don't have a compass.

[DariusLock]

Damn, Arma2 looks damn good as it is. Whats the player cap online? Wish I had a gaming rig, laptop can't cut it.

[gschwendt]

Damn, Arma2 looks damn good as it is. Whats the player cap online? Wish I had a gaming rig, laptop can't cut it.

Looks like each server is capped at 50. Right now there are 51498 characters alive (some might be online, some might be signed off). You can see various stats on the homepage of the mod.

[gschwendt]

Pretty cool "story" here:



Funny video here, advance to 6:30 (backstory, guys spend 3 hours fixing up a bus, pick up a friendly hitch-hiker, then these events happen)

[gschwendt]

Various screenshots

[gschwendt]

It's definitely fun. So far all of my adventures have pretty much been solo missions but they say it's even better if you can team up with other folks (strangers or otherwise).

Two stories.


On one of my first run-throughs, I decided I was going to be completely cautious and prone crawl everywhere I went when in a town (where there are more zombies). I get to this town trying to find a building to scavenge through for a better weapon. However, once I get into the middle of the town, I realize that there's zombies everywhere so I stay prone in the grass and just try to crawl around the backside of houses. I finally get to the end of the row of houses and to a street I have to cross. Only problem is that there's a handful of zombies in the area and the moment I try to crawl across, they would likely spot me. So I decided to wait them out and hope that they would wander off. Low and behold, they decided they wanted to start walking in my general direction. So I'm laying there, not moving at all as these zombies shuffle past me. The entire time, I felt like the scene from Walking Dead where they're hiding under cars as the herd comes through. Definitely one of my tensest gaming moments ever.



Then, late last night, I'm going through this bigger town (later found out it's called Elektro) and for whatever reason there are less zombies. I'm climbing up ladders to try to find the rooftops and see what I can find, not really finding much of anything. So I continue to crawl around and see a sort of convenience store. I start making my way there but stop to let some zombies clear out. While I'm proned near a fence, I hear a zombie shuffling near me... it's a zombie crawling towards my direction. He gets near me and doesn't spot me at first but then I quickly hear a grunt to tell me that he's spotted me... as soon as I hear that, I shoot him a couple of times in the head and try to make a break for it. Once I shoot him, several other zombies in the area grunt and start chasing me. I finally manage to kill all of them (probably 5 or so), all the while trying to make my way across the street to the store. As I hit the street, there's one zombie left chasing me and at that moment, I hear a click (out of ammo). I get stuck while trying to get into the door of the store (bad mechanics) and manage to barely escape inside to thankfully find a Winchester shotgun. I pick it up, load it, and manage to kill the zombie then go hide in the backroom hoping no other ones are around.

Continuing on, same run-through, I find a stockpile of stuff in the store (sniper rifle, better pistol, food, etc.) so I'm feeling pretty good. I decide that since I'm stocked up, I want to get out of the town and make my way to a less populated area, maybe meet up with some other folks to team up with. Thankfully, the store is on the edge of town so I don't have to go through the middle of town to get out. Only problem is that there are a lot of zombies surrounding the town. I get outside and find some grass to hide in and start crawling away. I start to hear some gunfire in the area but I don't see anyone and they're not shooting at me so I try to ignore it. I manage to get about 200 yards or so from the town and crouch behind a tree to see if I can spot the shooter. As I do that, I see this guy running around with a trail of zombies chasing him... too many for me to try help him, plus if I do, he's likely to just turn and fire on me once I do save him. About that time, he must have spotted me because he started running in my direction. I hoped he hadn't spotted me so I laid in the grass only for his zombies to spot me as he runs past so they start attacking me as well. I get up, try to run back to the store and make a stand but I end up dying as I get to the backroom of the store... where I found all that loot

[ryby6969]

LOL, wish there was something like this for consoles. I do not think my laptop could handle the game.

[DariusLock]

LOL, wish there was something like this for consoles. I do not think my laptop could handle the game.

Same here.

[JBHuskers]

Found this one on the mod page. Damn. I wonder if my CPU can handle it.

So this is just a generic military game, but with the mod it turns into a completely different game with zombies? Is the zombie mod basically a large ever growing game with unlimited missions?

The website says average life expectancy 28 minutes

[JBHuskers]

Requirements:

•ArmA II: CO
•DayZ Mod Files (Available on the downloads page)
•Balls

For the CPU requirements:

Minimum Specifications:
OS: Windows XP / Windows Vista / Windows 7
Processor: Intel Core 2.4 GHz or AMD Dual-Core Athlon 2.5 GHz
RAM: 1 GB (2 GB for Multiplayer)
Hard Drive: 20 GB
Video Card: Nvidia Geforce 8600GT or ATI Radeon 3650 or faster with Shader Model 3 and 512 MB VRAM
Additional Info: Unknown

I have all of it except I'm not 100% sure what video card I have.

[morsdraconis]

I have all of it except I'm not 100% sure what video card I have.

To find out, depending on your version of Windows, go to control panel and change it to list view or small icons and then open up device manager. Under "display adapters" will be listed what video card you have.

[JBHuskers]

ATI Radeon X1200

Found this

ATI Radeon Xpress X1200 is hardly apt for gamers.

[SmoothPancakes]

Yeah, as much as I would love to play this, it would kill my laptop.

I have an Intel Core 2 Duo 2.53GHz/2.53GHz with a NVIDIA GeForce 9800M GTS. Looks like I'll have to wait until I eventually get around to building a gaming PC rig in the future.

[DariusLock]

GAHHH I guess I'm gonna bite the bullet one day and buy a PC gaming rig. Any suggestions or anyone willing to do all the work and tell me a final price lol?

[SmoothPancakes]

GAHHH I guess I'm gonna bite the bullet one day and buy a PC gaming rig. Any suggestions or anyone willing to do all the work and tell me a final price lol?

I've heard it can be cheaper to build a rig from the ground up than buy one. I don't know a damn thing about the inside workings of computers (I can deal with the actual OS and whatnot with the computer on, but as for the technical aspects of computers and laptops, I have not a damn clue), but it's something I'm going to look at doing down the road.

[JBHuskers]

I am just not a PC gamer overall. I'd rather play console. Not getting a new computer any time soon, so I'll just have to sit this one out.

[morsdraconis]

I could build you a computer if you have someone to actually put it together for you (though it's really quite easy to do yourself - It's very straight forward).

How much do you want to spend? I can build you a PC for ~$700 that would be amazing if you're not worried about needing a monitor (HDTVs are the shit for PC monitors).

[DariusLock]

I could build you a computer if you have someone to actually put it together for you (though it's really quite easy to do yourself - It's very straight forward).

How much do you want to spend? I can build you a PC for ~$700 that would be amazing if you're not worried about needing a monitor (HDTVs are the shit for PC monitors).

600-700 would be fine, I got a 52" HDTV so that's fine. I can also put the computer together, I'm just shit when it comes to picking out the parts.

[morsdraconis]

For $722.92 (plus $12.22 shipping) you could have this computer which will run ANYTHING you want on max settings without any issues at all:

CD/DVD Burner (not sure if you need one or not) - $17.99
Computer Case (not sure if you need this either) - $49.99
AMD FX-8150 Zambezi 3.6ghz Processor - $199.99
500gb Sata 3.0 Harddrive (again, not sure if you need this) - $99.99
16gigs of RAM - $99.99
Motherboard - $59.99
730w Powersupply - $59.99
Geforce GTX 550Ti (Fermi) 1gb PCI-Express 2.0 Video card - $134.99

That would be right in line with what I currently have (better video card and processor than what I have and twice the amount of RAM) and I have absolutely no complaints at all. If you didn't need a DVD burner, the case, or the harddrive, you'd save a good $150 on that price.