Some questions from a potential victim

[maelstorm 0]

Hoi!

I'm interested in this game but before buying ARMAII, I've some questions. I hope I can get some answers!

1. Buying http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4639/ (Arma II Combined Operations) on Steam is all that I'll spend money on? Do I need the other packs? (british something something on Steam, a few DLCs) Or even if I don't need them per se, do I get any benefits if I have them?

2. I've had trouble with Steam mods in the past. Is downloading the game on Skype then finding files on DayZ forums etc enough? Is setting up the game problematic?

3. I've seen some minimum and suggested systems but as an old gamer, I know for sure that they can be very deceiving. Also, I haven't really followed hardware changes for years (getting recommendations from friends) so I wanna ask, how is the optimization? I got a GTX 560Ti and an i5 processor. Will I have unpleasant surprises?

4. How active is the game? I mean, the players? It seems active! I'm from Turkey, so I'm thinking of EU time zone.

5. How exactly does the server system work? Do I need to find servers? How likely are password-protected servers to accept people? Are good ones "premium"?

6. I've read about hackers. How bad are they? Do they make the game unbearable? I mean.. a hardcore survival game can be ruined by hackers badly!

These are the first questions from the top of my head. Thanks for any answers in advance and pardon any language mistakes as I'm not a native speaker.

[Leadon77 94]

Okay so you get ARMA II Combined ops, then look for DAYZ Commander (easy way to launch Dayz) and yes it works with steam. Game is fairly active, your PC is fine, hackers suck but aren't horrible just play on lower pop servers or private hive and you should have very few problems with them. Dayz Commander finds servers for you, anything else??? Dayz commander gets you the mod and the extra maps and has alot of extra features very easy to use.

Edited October 24, 2012 by Leadon77

[Odin. 34]

Google "Can I run it" and go to the system requirements lab website and find ARMA 2 CO in the drop down list and it will run a scan of your machine (it's safe so don't worry) and it will tell you whether you will be able to run it or not, ARMA 2 CO is all you need but you can buy the British and PMC packs if you like which will make certain things in the game look better but you don't need to have them to actually play the game, it's fairly easy to install just use either DayZ commander or the six installer for the simplest ways, at the moment I would avoid high pop public servers because there is a good chance of a hacker being present but low pop and private hives are usually ok.

[archnoodle 3]

Your computer specs look perfectly good, hackers are usually on big servers with tons of people- you probably want to avoide those anyway because of all the potential enemies. A small-ish server should be good. Also, most hackers aren't that great at hacking so they probably won't be able to ruin the game horribly. If their experienced though, I suggest moving to a new server or staying far away from them. (not that that's easy!!)

The game's definitely active. The servers are player-owned.

Oh and you just have to buy ARMA II: Combined Operations and as the others say buying the other ones just make a few items look better- not much of a difference and if you want to save money just buy the only thing you need.

You can find good servers usually pretty easy enough. I don't know how likely password-protected servers are to accept you, as I don't play on them, but I'd guess it depends on the server.

;)

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Thanks,

Me

[fathairybeast 246]

The shit pertaining to installation is how I've installed the game on 2 separate occasions (no issues)

1. Yes, Combined Ops is all you need. After you download them (something like 15GB combined) run Arma II, then run Arma II: OA. You can simply let it run to the menu screen then quit out. This is supposedly necessary for dayz commander to be able to recognize the game directories.

2. Just download the games on steam, then go download Dayz Commander. Once you have dayz commander, find the install/update button in the upper right of the gui. Update/Install the current arma II patch and Dayz itself. Now you're ready to launch the game. Just double-click a server name via dayz commander and you'll join.

3. I can't see why that com would have issues running the game smoothly. I was running the game on an I3 2330m, 2.2GHz, 4 gig, HD3000 integrated graphics laptop for months (graphics nerfed, but it still ran).

4. Seems active enough. I haven't played it since the beginning, but there are always loaded servers to be found.

5. Yes, you find your servers. Use the filter option on dayz commander. Avoid incorrect dayz patch versions. Incorrect arma versions are less problematic. Full servers are more hacker prone. If there is a symbol that resembles a dufflebag to the left of the server name that means it is not connected to the hive (i.e., if you spend time equipping your character it will not transfer over to other servers, just that one). Private hives are usually more admin active, thus usually less hacker prone, but there are exceptions.

6. Hackers usually troll the more populated servers. On low population (less than 10) servers I only ran into a hacker once - he forced me to take an m4a1 CCO SD, NVGs and a ghillie... not bad for a run in with a hacker.

Don't get too attached to your gear. You'll lose it all, a lot.