So, I just recently found out about this DayZ mod and being a fan of the ArmA franchise, I grabbed a copy and got it up and running. My first run I just finished after 2 hour and 15 minutes of playing, with my untimely death. Not really knowing anything about anything related to DayZ, I picked a server near my location (PL) and jumped right in. Spawned near a town, on a beach. I couldn't tell if this was the north coast or the south, or any direction... found out quickly that I didn't have anything except a backpack, painkillers, bandages, and a flashlight... no watch, compass, or map to be found. So I move over to these rocks and brushes that were close by and crouch... inspecting the town and getting my first eyeful of zeds. After messing with the controls for a bit, and remembering how to toggle stances, I contimplate entering the town or heading towards woods, to hide from raiders/zeds. I didn't even get a chance to finish that thought before I hear a SHREAK and a zed, faster then I ever thought possible start steamrolling down at me. I'm like OH SHIT WHAT THE HELL THESE THINGS ARN'T SLOW! and start making a bolt to another town... running full steam constantly pressing 1 and 3 on the numpad to see if he's still behind me. I keep running, panicked as I see a house at the end of a row with a functioning Ural! I'm thinking 'Oh yes! I can ditch this guy AND get me some wheels!'. Bolting, I speed myself even further and zoom in with the RMB... BAMN 3 zombies start pouring out of the house and around the truck, and start steamrolling to me, as well... I check, that zed is still on my ass like as if it was covered in A1... and seeing that i'm in a rock and a hard place, I start bolting towards the ocean; thinking... 'well shit, zombies can run fast in this mod, but i'm betting they cant swim!' WRONG. WRONGGGGGGGGgggg111!. I jump into the water and start swimming for my life, and look back in dismay as the zeds... seemingly looking around confused, start pushing into the water and swim after me. 'OH shit noooooooo, I'm too pretty to die like this!' So I start swimming further out to sea, pushing my character. BUT, after a while, I notice I outrun the shit out of zeds in water! So I proceed to swim to shore further away, and catch my breath... while looking at the zeds slowly trying to get to me, but they're so far away and they're swimming so slow that they don't pose a threat. SWEEETNESS! I found their Achilles' heel! So, then... I look around and look for possible routes of continuation, I see a larger town in the distance... along with that house with the ural, and the beginning town I was at... and this boat dock house that was close by. So, I attempt to raid that boat dock house, creeping up on it very slowly and scanning for zeds. None to be seen, but the house was uninteractable... Damn... Make my way to a light house a bit further away and take a look around from the top of it. I see a set of houses and a port town after them in the distance and decide to move up there. Figuring I'd need supplies, I move to the houses first, taking care of avoiding zeds, when I see... OH SNAP, A dead player, and next to water! I look around, and watch houses and hills for a good minute in shrubs, to make sure it's not a trap... because if I were a raider, that would be a perfect way for me to ambush someone, and slowly make my way to it. I identiy the body and loot it. Damn, starter gear... but hey, at least an extra pair of bandages and painkillers, and as I finished looting, a Zed I didn't notice before comes barreling down at me... and I jump into the sea again and swim for my life. I get away from that zed and emerge on shore again a close distance later, and make my way to a hill to observe the houses and enterance to that port town... when I see a curious sight. I see a player hauling ASS past the houses along the side road, being chased by like... 5 zeds. I laugh my ass off and hide, as I couldn't help him and I didn't want him to run in my direction. Plus, he could be the guy who killed that other player. Well, apparently I didn't hide well enough cause one of those zeds see's my A1-covered ass and thinks i'm on the menu. *SPLASH* This zed was a bitch to outrun in water... first time ever in my short time did I have a problem... that I was getting tired. Apparently, you can only swim and run a certain amount of time before you get really tired. I'm actually surprised, because I took frequent breaks to escape this issue... until I noticed... I was thirsty. Oh. So I swam to that port town, towards the docks... figuring I needed food and water or I'll die; and how pathetic would that be... You die from not eating in a world full of zeds and pvp happy players. So I make it to shore and I'm completely dismayed at the site I see before me. A long, LONG streach of blacktop with a couple of containers and 2 dock cranes... FULL of zeds, with no way around them. I contimplated swimming again, but I noticed there was no way out of the water that connected with the main town from here without backpedeling and running into MORE Zed at the towns enterance, AND being cut off from sea in the event of being swamped. So... I went prone and slowly dragged myself accross that entire blacktop. It was the most intense 10 minutes of my life... constantly looking at zeds to see if they'll notice me... and not going to fast to make too much noise/be noticable... and I learned then and there, that if I wanted to enter towns... I needed to be prone, as this was almost like God mode to these Zeds. They didn't see you! And from a short distance too... I could make out the blood on their faces... Crossed over to the other side and started heading left into town, taking my sweet time on my stomach to avoid detection... and to look for houses to enter. I managed to find one on the edge of town, somewhat near the sea with 2 enterances; "Sweetness, that way I won't get surrounded and I have an escape route." And enter the house. By this point... my water icon is flashing and I'm stealthly walking around the 2 room house. Zed outside everywhere and I hear their moaning... I jump into one of the rooms and I see.. GOOD GRAVY... STUFF! and pour myself on to the supply piles..... full of crap. :( Empty tin cans, ammo for weapons I didn't own, and useless items. The only good things I got out of both rooms was a Watch (Jesus was I happy... I saw that it was 2 pm... and had plenty of daylight left [was convinced night was coming]), 2 heatpacks, and a can of Coca-Cola... which I chugged down like Ambrosia. I collected the ammo, hoping to barter with someone if I found any... for food or maybe even a hatchet; and made my way outside. Ended up being chased into the ocean by another zed... swimming to shore, chased into the ocean AGAIN by ANOTHER zed, swam to shore... OCEAN, shore, OCEAN, shore. At this point I was convinced this mod was just a swimming simulator, with the amount and time of swimming I had to do to survive... and I kept thinking 'Jesus... how the hell do people survive in the mainland? I mean... seriously... without the ocean, I'd have been dead a long time ago'. Kept moving out of town and into fields... where I heard gunshots. "Oh shit... players. I hope they're friendly". But the gunshots are far away... so I keep moving to this next town I see, real stealthy like. Once I made it to this big town, I decided not to enter it... thinking I should get a good vantage point from a large hill close by and check for 2 enterance houses. And I climb up, and at the summet of this large hill... I see 2 tents. This puts me in a weird position. I immediatly go prone and look around. I don't move an inch for a good minute, and slowly make my way to some shrubs, watching the skyline in all directions and looking behind me. I call out "Hello? Anyone there? If you are, don't shoot.. I'm looking to trade and be on my way." No responce. So I cauciously make my way to the tent and attempt to loot one...and loe and behold... A HATCHET! JESUS H CHRIST! I HAVE A WEAPON, I'ts ON NOW. I quickly check the other one, reload the hatchet (LOLOLOL) and make my way to the town, checking the horizion as I moved. Got close to street level and was scanning for zeds, when all of a sudden... I see a player, crouched facing me, in the streets. And before I could even hit a key... *BAMN* screen goes grey, I fall... and die. Game Over. 2 hours gone down the drain.... and I just.... JUST got my hatchet. I didn't even kill a single zed. And that guy made off with all my gear and my DAMN WATCH!!!!!!! FFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUU..... forget it. So... that was my extremely long post about my first life. Next time, I think i'll join up with a few people instead of going solo; and with what I learned about stealth and sneaking... I'll be able to last for more then 2 hours (I hope) in my next run.
