Another Guide to setup DayZ...

[RawR_Rampancy 82]

This is a post to show you how to install DayZ, the way I have installed it, and this will only cover the Steam Version, not retail, but I'm sure that this will work for it as well, now let's get started:

1. Buy Arma 2 Combined Operations from Steam (or use your retail copy it's up to you)

ARMA 2 C.O: http://store.steampo...d.com/sub/4638/

REMEMBER YOU NEED BOTH ARMA II AND OPERATION ARROWHEAD, SO BUY COMBINED OPS, I CANNOT STRESS THIS ENOUGH!

2. After Installing ARMA:CO download DayZ Commander, it's not necessary to use this program, but it's worth to have on your hard drive in order to easily install any other DayZ mods you'd like without any hassle, I myself have used SixUpdater and still have to prefer DayZ Commander over it, so since we're installing DayZ, USE DAYZ COMMANDER!

NOW BEFORE YOU DO ANYTHING DONT FORGET TO LAUNCH ARMA 2, ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD, AND ARMA 2: OPERATION ARROWHEAD BETA FROM YOUR STEAM (or retail place thingy) TO VALIDATE STUFF, AND THAT'S IT'S ALL UP AND RUNNING AND STUFF! (Thanks to PK Richie for reminding me!)

3. Alright so you now have ARMA:CO and DayZ Commander! Now let's setup a shortcut so you don't have to open DayZ Commander to play DayZ (You can also use it, if you prefer it over the Arma server finding thingy, it has all these neat filters you can use!)

-Navigate to your Arma 2 Operation Arrowhead folder you can find it like this: (ex. this is my path: "D:\Games\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead" your setup might be different!!! )

-Go to your "Expansion" folder -> "beta" folder -> Create a shortcut to Arma2OA.exe on your desktop

4. Alright you have everything setup, now we just need to install mods!

-Open DayZ Commander

-Click "install/update" in the upper right corner

-Update DayZ Commander, Arma 2 (beta patch; you can also manually do it here http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php) and install any DayZ mod in the "mods" section (if your installing DayZ, install DayZ.)

(You will have to check periodically for updates, it may seem annoying but it's not at all, this is Arma for you!)

5. Now you have the mod installed, and a shortcut made we're going to go over Maximizing Performance and actually playing the mod.

-Right click the shortcut you made on your desktop earlier (The Arma2OA one, to make it easier, just rename the shortcut to "DayZ")

-This should be in "Target": ""D:\Games\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" -beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion -nosplash -maxMem=2047 -world=empty -skipIntro -noPause -winxp -cpuCount=4 -exThreads=7 -maxvram=512 -window""

This is MY setup NOT yours!!! DO NOT COPY AND PASTE THIS.

Now let's break that down for you:

-"D:\Games\steamapps\common\arma 2 operation arrowhead\Expansion\beta\arma2oa.exe" (this is the .exe the shortcut will launch, if you did it correctly it will Launch Arma 2 OA Beta Patch! Good Job, if not leave a reply or look back in the tutorial)

-"-beta=Expansion\beta;Expansion\beta\Expansion" this is basically saying "Hey, I'm launching the beta patch!"

-"-nosplash -maxMem=2047 -world=empty -skipIntro -noPause -winxp -cpuCount=4 -exThreads=7 -maxvram=512 -window" This will be the bread and butter for maximizing your FPS here's a detailed breakdown for each one:

"-nosplash": everyone needs this one, so copy and paste without quotes into that sucker, it get's rid of the crappy animations no one needs to view at the beginning, loads faster

"-maxMem=<#>" Defines memory allocation limit to number (in MegaBytes).

256 is hard-coded minimum (anything lower falls backs to 256). 2047 is hard-coded maximum (anything higher falls back to 2047).

Engine uses automatic values (512-1536 MB) w/o maxMem parameter.

"-world=empty": can also be set to -world=Chernarus, empty will load the game faster

"-skipIntro": self-explanatory, just use it, loads faster

"-noPause": if you tab out, your game won't pause decreasing load time, use it.

"-winxp": forces Arma to use Directx9 or something like that, try it, may work may not

"-cpuCount=<#>": put how many CPU's you have, if your PC shows 8, but you have dual core, chances are it's only really 4 CPU's, google and make sure, increases FPS

"-exThreads=<#>": Change to a number 0,1,3,5,7. This will override auto detection (which use 3 for dualcore and 7 for quadcore).

"-maxvram=<#>": your graphics card's max memory. Defines Video Memory allocation limit to number (in MegaBytes).

"-window": runs in window, increases FPS.

ALRIGHT, now ya gotcha stuff all maximized or whatever, play around with numbers, see what get's you the best performance.

Now open up from your shortcut, go to Expansions, click "Arma: Dayz Mod" or "DayZ" or whatever, enable, restart the game, and kill some Bambi- I mean band- Zombies.

did I mess up? Leave a reply if it helped...or didn't!

Images for stuff:

Hope this helps anyone!

Edited June 18, 2013 by RawR_Rampancy

[PK Richie 507]

You missed an important step :P You must launch ArmA 2 and OA BEFORE you can play Dayz.

It will also install BattlEye then.

For retail the steps are the same but you have to manually install the 1.62 game update.

[herrjon 478]

Yep, you have to run Arma II and Arma II: OA to menu screen before DayZ will work.

I do have to disagree with your feelings about DayZ Commander being "useless" beyond the downloads though. It allows you to easily browse and filter servers based on settings important to DayZ, easily shows which servers are public and private, lets you favorite fairly painlessly, automatically launch the mod you want based on the server, and just overall looks nicer than the in-game interface, at least for me.

[RawR_Rampancy 82]

You missed an important step :P You must launch ArmA 2 and OA BEFORE you can play Dayz.

It will also install BattlEye then.

For retail the steps are the same but you have to manually install the 1.62 game update.

Thanks! Completely forgot, will fix!

[RawR_Rampancy 82]

Yep, you have to run Arma II and Arma II: OA to menu screen before DayZ will work.

I do have to disagree with your feelings about DayZ Commander being "useless" beyond the downloads though. It allows you to easily browse and filter servers based on settings important to DayZ, easily shows which servers are public and private, lets you favorite fairly painlessly, automatically launch the mod you want based on the server, and just overall looks nicer than the in-game interface, at least for me.

Thanks for the feedback! I should really take that dayz commander is a lot more useful to others, I'll fix it :3

[Archaos27 0]

When i Install latest beta patch it says : CD Key error

[boneboys 7988]

When i Install latest beta patch it says : CD Key error

This is a Guide, not the TroubleShooting Forum.