ninjacalypse

The map could use more work and it's going to get more work but as it stands right now...I think it's beautiful.

There are objects that spawn in the back corner of the top bunk beds in the military barracks that are impossible or near impossible to get. I found a tac vest on the top bunk in a military barracks and it was impossibly out of reach. I had to repeatedly vault, open the inventory, and then right click take in like a split second window to get it which took like 10 minutes before I was successful. There's constantly loot that's out of reach in town houses.

I think Turk answered most of your questions. A lot of this stuff has to do with the fact that many features aren't fully implemented yet in DayZ SA. There's a Survivor's Guide linked in my sig below specific to the DayZ Standalone Alpha, that should answer a lot of other questions you may have. Also, as far as optimizing FPS goes there's a fairly decent video here, although apart from the mentioned settings you would probably want to lower your resolution a bit as well.

Going off the mechanics of the mod, zombies will probably hear you before they see you, especially if you're running around. I don't know about the whole "don't look at them, they'll aggro" thing because I've eyeballed zombies up and down that were very close by and they just stood there like idiots while at other times zombies very far away would start chasing me. There are a lot of glitches right now with zombies, such as them being able to clip through walls, solid objects, the ground/floor, etc. So to avoid situations like that, like Jamz said, if I come to a town or a place where I know there are going to be zombies I'll run in an open area to aggro them and then kill them with a fireaxe or gun purposely so I don't have to worry about them floating through the floor of a house I'm trying to loot. If the doors are open to a house, the zombies will normally attempt to path through the doorways but if you're behind closed doors they have a tendency to float through walls and end up stuck halfway through the floor trying to kill you. They don't seem to be able to make it up stairs or second floors though. If you're in mid-sized towns, large towns or a military base/airfield then zombies will spawn there, regardless of how you creep around so just be aware of that.

With minor food/water maintenance...HOURS.

Rocket has mentioned in the past that they were aiming for 150 player servers for the standalone. It may end up being less than that. Regardless, the Alpha was just released 10 days ago. If you're playing on a full or near full 40 slot server, there will be more than enough player interaction for the time being. Want to make friends? Just go to Balota or NWAF/NEAF. But really...just go to Balota. Happy party time fun guaranteed.

You mean the server hosts aren't taking action? In this database sharding scenario though couldn't private servers that break the rules be blacklisted?

There's a guide below on optimizing FPS in DayZ for lower range computers. Additionally, you would probably be playing at a lower resolution than what is shown i the guide.

I've been using my Ipad but the map on DayZDB is really laggy on the browser. It's one of those google type maps for those that aren't familiar with it. Printing it out would probably be a sight better. A step up from that, would be getting an actual foldable map print although Chernarus will probably be going through some changes so I think I'll hold off on that for now. Heh, no probs. It's all good. Yeah, I stuck it up on the wiki too since it was a mostly empty page at the time that said "put guides here" so...that's what I did, aside from the videos that someone else has been putting on the page like, "How to use a flashlight" which I think is a little minute for one single video but it's all good.

Speaking of proselytizing in DayZ this gives me a great idea. Wearable spaghetti strainer in-game, so we can spread the noodley word? :P

I've got a supermarket, an armory and a pharmacy but most importantly...I found a can opener. :P I feel like I'm in a good place right now and I don't have any desire to spawncamp noobs on the coast or camp Balota so...I'm good. :P This isn't anything spectacular of course but it was all done without server hopping. I did have to play on a second server though while my preferred server was down temporarily a couple times. I actually almost starved to death at one point while I had a bunch of sardines and beans but nothing to open them with but I managed to find a splitting axe right before I starved. Of course, we're still in Alpha so there will be a lot more content added and I could still more exploring I could do. I think I might actually try and fix one of these computers though so I can check my Facebook account and water my crops! :P

Hey, thanks! I appreciate it! I tried to find a guide like this myself when I started the DayZ SA that was specific to the SA Alpha, only found scattered tips here and there so I put this together. SA isn't tooooo different from the DayZ mod but it's different enough and there seem to be a lot of people who are brand new to DayZ entirely so I figured this would be helpful.

If that happens...then the fun can begin again! :P

What I don't get is how when you use something besides a can opener, it's like, "You spilled some." My first thought is, "So?" If we're talking about the end of days and I'm starving, you better believe I'm gonna eat half a can of spaghetti that fell on the floor.

I added some additional notes under status effects. The only issue is right now many status effects along with the various ways to cure them aren't implemented entirely or properly.

It's funny, When I started this character I spawned on the coast near Balota. I figured, what the hell, nothing to lose. I heard a lot of gunshots. I get to the compound, no ones there and suddenly after taking a quick look at the player menu quite a few people have just left the server. I find a dead body, with the body holster, pistol and fully loaded magazine and a bunch of other random stuff. Apparently, they all got scared and combat logged before looting the body right before I got there. Go figure.

Rocket has already addressed this saying that loot, especially military loot would be undergoing balancing, i.e. "less is more."

Lol, true endgame. :P

Lol, no...for this reason:

Murphy's Law seems to behave erratically in DayZ but in my experience, If you're looking for a can opener, you'll find food but have nothing to open it with it. If you need food, you'll find lots of can openers.

Lolwut? Make someone eat beans for my own sick amusement? I thought people only did that with disinfectant. I really just have too much food.

I don't know if that's planned but if it is it has yet to be implemented. I actually pre-opened them because I was hoping to come across some poor, destitute and starving survivor that I could gift them to.

Hilarious.

But...wait...I'm friendly!

I've got saline/bloodbag kit in the medkit. I don't need all that other fancy whatnottery for my M4. Fireaxe works just fine anyway. :P