My first impressions - DayZ Mod Vet

[Sterling (DayZ) 22]

Steam library states that I've played two hours so far of the standalone, feels more like 10 minutes, that's how fun this is. 

 

I'll divide my opinions thus far up into sections, and write small sentences / summaries explaining them, doing my best to compare this game to the mod, the goods and the bads. Before I begin, understand that throughout this entire session of gameplay, I played at night on a 35/40 man server.

 

Zombies / AI

 

The biggest difference I've noticed thus far is between the zombies. First of all, the zombies have different designs than presented in the mod, I've only noticed two of these designs however, but they definitely look more "zombie-like." The zombies themselves are very scarce, traveling throughout a good chunk of Cherno, I only stumbled upon 4 zombies. No zombies were encountered in the woods, and a few more were found around the North Western Airfield (I died, spawned near Vybor, and headed straight to NWAF). The zombies didn't react to the utilization of my flashlight, but they did react to firing gunshots. In general, they're A LOT slower than they were in the mod, making running away very doable, but they're extremely persistent. In all three of the zombie quarrels I've participated in, I suffered bleeding, which wouldn't stop on its own and resulted in my unconciousness, and 20 minutes later, my death. Due to this, I believe that unless you have bandages on you, it's the best bet to play it stealthy when dealing with zeds. One last thing, zombies tend to glitch through the walls and fall halfway under the map (to where only their torso and head are above the ground/floor) resulting in their no longer being a nuisance. 

 

General Gameplay

 

The game feels just as clunky as it did as a mod for Arma 2. This is very unfortunate, walking through buildings can be annoying and awkward. Switching through weapons and items has proven a bit awkward as well, it's overall just like it was in the mod really. One difference I've noticed is that there are medical kits that can be found, and these kits contain things like bandages, water pellets, blood bags, etc, the medical kits themselves are items that literally go into your inventory, so it's like a health-backpack within a backpack. One new addition to the game is the need to equip a battery to a flashlight, and this is probably something similar that must be applied towards other items (needing an item to get another item working). I had a M4A1 for a while, and I noticed that I had the ability to remove the different parts of it, the muzzle and what not. I died shortly after acquiring it unfortunately, but I believe that one could be able to replace these things with enhanced parts (silencers / scopes). Players are now able to equip all different sorts of shirts, shoes, pants, and helmets / hats.  Items now come in different qualities, varying from refined to badly damaged, not entirely sure how this plays out quite yet but I imagine it could impact the use of long-kept items, you might need to perform maintenance on them. I noticed seeds were in the game, perhaps one can grow their own food now? Overall, the game feels like it did in the mod, but it now has quite a few more additions to make it more interesting. As of so far, I have yet to see a single vehicular item / vehicle in the game. 

 

UI / Interface

 

The inventory system is completely different. You're able to select which items you wish to put on your equippable slots (1=flashlight, 2=shovel, 3=fire extinguisher, etc.). Things like the server browser are the same as the Arma 2 Mod's server browser. In the Mod, we were given a status box on the right side of the screen that told us our noise level, sight level, hunger level, thirst level, temperature, and our humanity (are we ruthless killers or friendly medics?). All of this is gone, and now we receive messages fairly frequently telling us that our character could use a drink, is bleeding, could use some food, etc. 

 

Stability

 

The game runs a lot better than it did as a mod for Arma 2, which isn't saying much. With an I5-2310 2.9 Ghz Sandy Bridge CPU and a Sapphire 7850 2GB OC Edition 1100 Mhz GPU, I'm able to run the game on Normal Settings at 1920x1080 Resolution with frame rates between 35 and 45 frames per second. People typically say that they're getting better performance with this standalone than they were getting with the mod, so that's something. I've noticed that the view distance is much larger compared to the mod and the general atmosphere feels much more significant. 

 

The Community

 

​During DayZ Mod's prime, the community was very diverse. You had your killers on sight, but you also had quite a few "friendlies," as well as the occasional "survivor who wants little to do with other players." After this prime had ended, nearly everyone was a killer, friendlies were exceptionally scarce, and the typical gamers felt pushed to behave in this senseless killing manner. Happy to say that within my couple of hours of gameplay, I've encountered an extraordinarily diverse group of individuals. Some completely tried to ignore me, some actually befriended me and offered their services, some have even added me on Steam, and of course a couple of individuals possessed the old kill on sight mentality. This variation in gamer behavior really makes a difference in your own experience in this game. 

 

My Current Standing

 

DayZ Mod: 6/10

 

DayZ Standalone when compared to DayZ Mod: 8.5/10

 

DayZ Standalone compared towards every game ever: 7/10, with potential to get higher

 

DayZ Standalone when playing with friends: 9/10

Edited December 17, 2013 by Sterling

[tehNuka 14]

Zombies - placeholder

Lootspawn - placeholder

UI - placeholder

Status indicators are missing

Settings (like how fast u hunger) are just copied from SVN to public release

Terriblle character control

 

Not the best alpha release ever

Almost unplayble

Hope for the soon hotfix

Edited December 17, 2013 by tehNuka

[Sterling (DayZ) 22]

Zombies - placeholder

Lootspawn - placeholder

UI - placeholder

Status indicators are missing

Settings (like how fast u hunger) are just copied from SVN to public release

Terriblle character control

 

Not the best alpha release ever

Almost unplayble

Hope for the soon hotfix

 

I wonder how the game would've been if they released it last year as intended... 

 

I wouldn't say it's unplayable, not anywhere near as bad as DayZ Mod is. 

[marcjpb 5]

Zombies - placeholder

Lootspawn - placeholder

UI - placeholder

Status indicators are missing

Settings (like how fast u hunger) are just copied from SVN to public release

Terriblle character control

 

Not the best alpha release ever

Almost unplayble

Hope for the soon hotfix

 

Quick question : Are you one of those player that wanted to release no matter what states ? If so, why are you complaning, you got what you wish for. If not, why the heck did you buy the alpha when the issues your listing were known ?

[Alll420 14]

Steam library states that I've played two hours so far of the standalone, feels more like 10 minutes, that's how fun this is.

I'll divide my opinions thus far up into sections, and write small sentences / summaries explaining them, doing my best to compare this game to the mod, the goods and the bads. Before I begin, understand that throughout this entire session of gameplay, I played at night on a 35/40 man server.

Zombies / AI

The biggest difference I've noticed thus far is between the zombies. First of all, the zombies have different designs than presented in the mod, I've only noticed two of these designs however, but they definitely look more "zombie-like." The zombies themselves are very scarce, traveling throughout a good chunk of Cherno, I only stumbled upon 4 zombies. No zombies were encountered in the woods, and a few more were found around the North Western Airfield (I died, spawned near Vybor, and headed straight to NWAF). The zombies didn't react to the utilization of my flashlight, but they did react to firing gunshots. In general, they're A LOT slower than they were in the mod, making running away very doable, but they're extremely persistent. In all three of the zombie quarrels I've participated in, I suffered bleeding, which wouldn't stop on its own and resulted in my unconciousness, and 20 minutes later, my death. Due to this, I believe that unless you have bandages on you, it's the best bet to play it stealthy when dealing with zeds. One last thing, zombies tend to glitch through the walls and fall halfway under the map (to where only their torso and head are above the ground/floor) resulting in their no longer being a nuisance.

General Gameplay

The game feels just as clunky as it did as a mod for Arma 2. This is very unfortunate, walking through buildings can be annoying and awkward. Switching through weapons and items has proven a bit awkward as well, it's overall just like it was in the mod really. One difference I've noticed is that there are medical kits that can be found, and these kits contain things like bandages, water pellets, blood bags, etc, the medical kits themselves are items that literally go into your inventory, so it's like a health-backpack within a backpack. One new addition to the game is the need to equip a battery to a flashlight, and this is probably something similar that must be applied towards other items (needing an item to get another item working). I had a M4A1 for a while, and I noticed that I had the ability to remove the different parts of it, the muzzle and what not. I died shortly after acquiring it unfortunately, but I believe that one could be able to replace these things with enhanced parts (silencers / scopes). Players are now able to equip all different sorts of shirts, shoes, pants, and helmets / hats. Items now come in different qualities, varying from refined to badly damaged, not entirely sure how this plays out quite yet but I imagine it could impact the use of long-kept items, you might need to perform maintenance on them. I noticed seeds were in the game, perhaps one can grow their own food now? Overall, the game feels like it did in the mod, but it now has quite a few more additions to make it more interesting. As of so far, I have yet to see a single vehicular item / vehicle in the game.

UI / Interface

The inventory system is completely different. You're able to select which items you wish to put on your equippable slots (1=flashlight, 2=shovel, 3=fire extinguisher, etc.). Things like the server browser are the same as the Arma 2 Mod's server browser.

Stability

The game runs a lot better than it did as a mod for Arma 2, which isn't saying much. With an I5-2310 2.9 Ghz Sandy Bridge CPU and a Sapphire 7850 2GB OC Edition 1100 Mhz GPU, I'm able to run the game on Normal Settings at 1920x1080 Resolution with frame rates between 35 and 45 frames per second. People typically say that they're getting better performance with this standalone than they were getting with the mod, so that's something.

The Community

​During DayZ Mod's prime, the community was very diverse. You had your killers on sight, but you also had quite a few "friendlies," as well as the occasional "survivor who wants little to do with other players." After this prime had ended, nearly everyone was a killer, friendlies were exceptionally scarce, and the typical gamers felt pushed to behave in this senseless killing manner. Happy to say that within my couple of hours of gameplay, I've encountered an extraordinarily diverse group of individuals. Some completely tried to ignore me, some actually befriended me and offered their services, some have even added me on Steam, and of course a couple of individuals possessed the old kill on sight mentality. This variation in gamer behavior really makes a difference in your own experience in this game.

My Current Standing

DayZ Mod: 6/10

DayZ Standalone when compared to DayZ Mod: 8.5/10

DayZ Standalone compared towards every game ever: 7/10, with potential to get higher

DayZ Standalone when playing with friends: 9/10

I am a veteran infestation player and I can tell you this game is way better kicks warz ass, I mean infestation, just need to find friendly players two players tried to kill me and I ran like heck from the third guy I seen. He looked mean lol

[Fold 14]

When you're bleeding, drop your shirt on the ground scroll and rip to shreds. Then go to your invent and use those shreds to bandage.

 

You won't find vehicles, they aren't implemented.

 

I agree, I'm disappointed the gameplay is still clunky and quite frankly I'm not anticipating this to be temporary.

[RespawnCake 6]

I wonder how the game would've been if they released it last year as intended... 

 

I wouldn't say it's unplayable, not anywhere near as bad as DayZ Mod is. 

I don't know why people wanted game to release in december 2012,just couple of months more when mod came out.It would be just copy of dayz mod turn into standalone just for the sake of easier installation. One can't really expect 3-4 month would be enough for development.

I'm glad they didn't release a year ago.I think in year long time they had they made game look so new and fresh and most importantly all those things like AI zombie,graphics,map,server achcitecture add whole new level.

Bottom line,i'm glad they didn't just release dayz SA year ago just to make it as dayz mod without complicated installation but that they actually take time to develop game properly for the future

Edited December 17, 2013 by RespawnCake

[Vagrent 23]

I quite like it, I dis agree that its as clunky as the mod, it isnt.

Just need to get used to it.

Wish the zombie sounds were updated :( also door noise.

Like the inventory system.

But I would like to see some status bars, I have no idea what my levels are, just get constant messages whining that I am hungry, like an annoying child on a car journey.

I'm hungry, my mouth is dry, I feel tired, I feel gay, ect :D:D

[nickholder85@gmail.com 19]

I have to say I'm extremely impressed by the amount of accessible buildings are in the game. I really didn't think there were that many, but it makes searching a small town so much better, going from house to house and seeing what I can nick is great.

 

I personally really like the zombies now, they run much more fluid and generally behave better with the environment. I feel that my player is a lot more fluid when moving and transitions between standing, crouching etc feels much more streamlined. Select weapons when moving and using the space bar to hold up an item works great too.

 

I'm most impressed by the UI though, especially considering this is only the alpha release. I have noticed a few bugs where just a white model of the item stays in the quick bar that's no issue really. I really like the colour coded hints when dragging an item over another. I like that now you can swap out a backpack and easily drag and drop items from your old one into the new one and also replace parts of a weapon by simply dragging and dropping a weapon butt over your existing one. The UI is really well done.

 

My only gripe is selecting items from the quick bar as sometimes it takes a while for the animation to kick in (such as drinking/eating) and selecting weapons. Sometimes I cancel it not knowing that it's about to kick in.

[rocket 16567]

I think this is a pretty fair assessment of the current situation, and well written. Good reading for anyone considering buying the game at this stage. Many important things to be worked on still.

[FroztyReaper 46]

I wonder how the game would've been if they released it last year as intended... 

 

I wouldn't say it's unplayable, not anywhere near as bad as DayZ Mod is. 

Beans for you!

 

Really dont think its unplayable. Not to many alphas under my belt but consider this the least flawed. Its a joy to play and explore. The occasional bug doesnt feel as bad.

 

Had alot alot alot alot alot alot worse game time on others.

 

AGAIN ROCKET! THANK YOU AND YOUR ENTIRE TEAM!

[Panicbutton 0]

The Community

 

​During DayZ Mod's prime, the community was very diverse. You had your killers on sight, but you also had quite a few "friendlies," as well as the occasional "survivor who wants little to do with other players." After this prime had ended, nearly everyone was a killer, friendlies were exceptionally scarce, and the typical gamers felt pushed to behave in this senseless killing manner. Happy to say that within my couple of hours of gameplay, I've encountered an extraordinarily diverse group of individuals. Some completely tried to ignore me, some actually befriended me and offered their services, some have even added me on Steam, and of course a couple of individuals possessed the old kill on sight mentality. This variation in gamer behavior really makes a difference in your own experience in this game. 

 

Probably because weapons are pretty scarce right now.  This behavior will surface once weapons and vehicles become more prevalent.  Its always eaiser to steal than it is to earn   :)

[Sterling (DayZ) 22]

Probably because weapons are pretty scarce right now.  This behavior will surface once weapons and vehicles become more prevalent.  Its always eaiser to steal than it is to earn   :)

 

Hand to hand combat is very doable, and items like Shovels and Hammers are pretty common throughout the land making killing on sight, even from the get go, a fairly accessible option. But I suppose you could be right, once players get a better grip on the changes and controls and maybe do a bit more in the way of finding guns, we should see more killers pop around. 

Edited December 17, 2013 by Sterling

[Merrick362 (DayZ) 263]

I have to agree with most of this. I've already done many different things, from holding up a player and slipping food and a pistol into his bag, sniping a hatchet wielding maniac to protect a friend, and (my favourite), handcuffing a player, stealing everything including pants and shoes, and saying "sort it out".

I love the inventory system, once you get the hand of it, it's very intuitive. I HAVE noticed though, that when I place a first aid kit or ammo can on the ground they sometimes jump 10-15 feet away. Not a big deal normally, but when I'm in cover during a fight trying to get my my mosin rounds out, running out into a field chasing my bullets is a little wierd.

I've noticed other bugs, but that's what the feedback tracker is for.

More than anything else, I want to cogratulate Rocket, Matt and the rest of the team on getting the alpha out the door! It's a hell of a milestone!

[Sterling (DayZ) 22]

I have to agree with most of this. I've already done many different things, from holding up a player and slipping food and a pistol into his bag, sniping a hatchet wielding maniac to protect a friend, and (my favourite), handcuffing a player, stealing everything including pants and shoes, and saying "sort it out".

I love the inventory system, once you get the hand of it, it's very intuitive. I HAVE noticed though, that when I place a first aid kit or ammo can on the ground they sometimes jump 10-15 feet away. Not a big deal normally, but when I'm in cover during a fight trying to get my my mosin rounds out, running out into a field chasing my bullets is a little wierd.

 

Your stories and adventures are the pinnacle of what DayZ is all about.

 

Definitely some weird looking bugs, I haven't personally encountered them, but I haven't actually tried to utilize those functions quite yet.

[Sterling (DayZ) 22]

Figured this could use a bump.