Loving the Standalone......real apocalypse feel.

[drewsta 74]

Just a take on my experience so far with the Alpha Standalone, I'm really enjoying it! The things that some players are not liking are the things that my personal gameplay is enhanced by. My character which I had slightly personalized spawned somewhere on the coast which was nothing new, yet something was different? The gameplay was super smooth and the graphics looked somewhat better in a noticeable way. The double shadows of the terrain still appear if I try using antialiasing so I left it disabled for now, hopefully a fix soon. It was quiet, very quiet, the wind and the waves were there as well as the birds and other effects but not one survivor or living dead to be found. I'm already thirsty and I'm still getting my head around the new user interface. Going from house to house was a real buzz because most of the houses that weren't enterable in the mod definitely are now. Scavenging is hard and all I could find was rotten fruit and a battery yet my thirst was growing fast, "shit" my view is slowly starting to grey out. I found a damaged can of soda and that will do fine for now I thought but quickly found out that it barely touched the sides on the way down and I was still thirsty! I stumbled on through Kamenka and made for the nearest water pump and then I saw it! A lone Zed stumbling by himself in a new animation slowly making his way away from the water pump. I'm all about the realism when I play so I waited for my moment to drink. It didn't take long to realize that clicking drink once was not enough so I basically spammed the drink button and eventually my character said I was full. I'm now getting hungry too and I haven't even left the first town so ransacking every nook and cranny looking for food yielded me a fresh kiwi fruit and a can of spaghetti!  I nearly died of starvation just doing that so there is a real sense of urgency to find your next meal and stock up on gear and supplies, death will follow swiftly if you don't. Still no survivors and only one or two dead walkers seen as I came across a new military base that has been added. I forgot about my clothes and how they deteriorate over time and found some new additions like, new boots, a hooded top with more pockets to put things in. Things now get more interesting as I can now carry more stuff and believe me that's a good thing when your initially picking up anything you because loot is scarce compared to the mod. Also I was unsure of what crafted with what so I grabbed everything I could. Finding a few cans of food was great but not being able to open them really was depressing and I was real hungry. There are a few ways now you can open a can, finding a knife was my savior. I liked the fact that you don't have to just eat the whole can but rather eat it in percentage portions as to keep some for later, very handy. Once you learn how to stay on top of the food and water scenario, things do get a little easier.

 

It was now night when I logged back on and I needed to keep moving to survive which was a real thrill and the fact that I hadn't come across a single survivor gave a real apocalypse sensation around me. 300 meters out of the nearest town I stopped and grabbed a knee, something on the road ahead.  I had encountered my first survivor since starting........... and he was dead which was a sad moment really. Looking around first before a quick check of his gear I found a nice clean trappers hat, an old shirt which I made into rags and some duct tape. The hours past and I have acquired a Mosin rifle with ammo plus lots of goodies for crafting and have enough food and drink to last for awhile so I was feeling quite elated when I saw the torch flickering around up on the hill!  37 of 40 players online and I have just seen one of them. I can't begin to describe the uneasy feeling of watching a torch wave around and slowly descend the hill into town after being alone for so long, so I crouched behind a large rock on the opposite hill and followed them through Mosin iron sight.  Who were they, where did they come in from and more importantly are they  armed? Thoughts of "KOS" and players yelling "friendly" then open firing at first chance came to mind. Perhaps they were injured and needed help or on their last legs looking for that elusive piece of food? Shooting them down in cold blood is not my thing and never has been but make no mistake, get in my way and cause trouble I will pull the trigger to survive. So I watched on with enthusiasm as they jollied from one house to another scavenging what ever they could but totally oblivious to how exposed they were with that torch on permanantly plus being watched through the end of a rifle at times. I chose not to interact as I was strangely enjoying being alone and I had worked bloody hard to get my gear to it's current state. 

 

The standalone is delivering a much better experience than the original mod at this time for me and I look forward to the updates. The bugs that are present don't bother me and I simply embrace the Alpha stage. I have since come across other survivors and found them to be friendly yet cautious which feels right given the apocalypse scenario. I do feel that killing each other really hasn't become the norm and have not experienced KOS at all. That's not to say that desperate times call for desperate measures and that killing will occur just to claim gear or survive as it would in a real scenario, just that most people are more than likely at a similar level of threat and haven't found a weapon yet or just want to team up for mutual gain. Bandits and murders are plentiful in some areas I'm sure but I'm yet to encounter that, its just a matter of time.

 

Surviving like I have is fantastic, a challenge and a lot of fun even though I have had little interaction with others or Zeds. I have seen a hoard of 17 Zeds near a railway once, glitch or for real it was bloody scary! Just really adds to the whole Idea of what Dayz is about. Apocalypse........stay alive......watch your back.

[Zedertone 378]

:thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :thumbsup:  :D  :D

[Stonedknight 26]

Having the same feeling. Was very frustrated my first few lives because of death from headaches and what not. Got all that figured out now and loving the game. 

[Jock McScottish 216]

Drewsta my good man, I enjoyed reading that post. However, im not sold on standalone yet, character wipes and buggy gameplay have made me decide to sit tight a while longer, and continue with the mod, which is still full of players on vanilla and great fun!

 

Im sure the standalone will end up being brilliant, but for now im sticking to the mod, it just seems the cons outweigh the pros of playing standalone at the moment. Cant deny your post is tempting me to abandon the mod though and dive into this buggy but brave new world...

Edited December 22, 2013 by Jock McScottish

[DemonGroover 8836]

Since this is about the SA and not the Mod i will move it for you.

[fortran 246]

Agreed, the SA is really beginning to capture the right "mood" that everybody was hoping for. As it develops hopefully that will become even more exaggerated. Ignoring the new weather and sky system, just the fact that like 95% of the buildings are enter-able now really changes things so much and not even in regards to having to forage for loot. It's that feeling that every door you open could be your last, or every town you enter you could be being spied on from a hundred empty windows that really sends a chill through you when you come near a place where civilization used to flourish. 

 

So far loving it, as I said, I really hope that feeling becomes even more amplified as development continues, because as it is now it's pretty spot on. 

[Jock McScottish 216]

 It's that feeling that every door you open could be your last, or every town you enter you could be being spied on from a hundred empty windows that really sends a chill through you when you come near a place where civilization used to flourish. 

 

Damn, that line has sold it for me, enuffsk is enuffsk and a cant stands no more!, I have to purchase this brilliant but buggy bad-boy tomorrow :)

Edited December 22, 2013 by Jock McScottish