My first Dayz playthrough...

[JigMcGalliger 1]

I'll start by saying I barely know how to play, here is what happened on my first blind playthrough of Dayz... it was not pretty.

 

I joined a "friendly" server without 30 people, spawned near no one, and couldn't find any water or weapons in my first area (I still don't know exactly where I spawned, somewhere south of Gorka, sun is on the south side if I'm not mistaken). I found a single piece of sealed of food with what looked like a pop-top, so I assumed I didn't need any kind of can opener, though I couldn't eat it. I kept searching and found nothing in this area besides two books, not even rotten food. I eventually found a zombie; I tried evading it through the buildings and closing the doors... well zombies walk right through the doors I closed... awesome. So I ran for about 5 minutes until I got far enough where he stopped chasing. The controls were foreign to me so I quit for a second to look them over and change them to my pleasing (I wanted to chat with people and never saw another person, no global chat sucks, though the controls say there is a global channel).

 

When I returned my shoes, a book, and my canned food were gone for no reason (someone please explain why that is) and two female zombies were closing in on me. With no supplies I ran, ran, ran, and ran some more. I ran for about 20 minutes until I came upon a junkyard, tried searching for ANYTHING there; but, nope, nothing. I had made a good deal of distance between the zombies and myself though the natural need for water starting taking its toll; my character became dehydrated from all the running and I was trying to follow a path between these huge power lines and a small road, I was headed north in search or supplies or people. After about another 20 minutes of running (I know, so boring; but, I had to press on) I finally saw some my first glimpse of humanity since outrunning my first zombies and a town with nothing in it... some buildings far, far in the distance (I learned the zoom controls!) so I made my way there, meanwhile my character is now hungry. When about 100 meters from the town my character became very dehydrated and could no longer run, walking only... I started to panic. I hope and I can make and just keep chugging along like the little engine that could.

 

Coming up the hill I see a sign in Russian which I soon found out was Gorka, my new haven... or so I thought. I come up on the first house on the south end of Gorka, I find a soda can, I drink it as fast as I could and my character is now only fairly thirsty, I search the house and find some cargo pants (for reason unknown to me I kept my old pants, I am glad I did). I go in the next house to find more soda and some antibiotics... my first ray of hope! I check the barn out back and find a wrench and a bike helmet; I equip them both for the hell of it.

 

Before I can turn around there is a zombie rushing towards me inside the barn. I whip out my wrench and run outside to keep some distance. I found this town, it is mine! I CLAIM THIS! So I fight the zombie tooth and nail with a damn wrench, I couldn't really tell if I was hitting him or not (someone elaborate how combat works, it seemed like my swings were just not hitting). I started bleeding but kept pounding away, he went down after a while, which seemed like forever. So I go through my inventory just clicking away at stuff seeing what I could do... PANTS!!!! I found on a whim that I could turn my old pants (I luckily kept) into rags; I applied the rags and ate two antibiotics. The game states I am no longer bleeding and my wounds look better... Whatever that means. I drink the next soda can which for some reason subsides my hunger (can someone explain that?). So I won the fight without dying, luck is on my side.

 

I keep my eyes peeled for more zombies making my path through Gorka avoiding them as best I can. I continued my search and eventually find some rotten fruit, more books, and a fire axe. Woot, finally! This is a weapon worth defending myself with. At this point I discard any ruined items and keep searching. For some reason I become sick, I never ate anything bad and my wounds looked "cleaner" (can someone explain that one). I finally find 4 water purification tablets, another ray of hope! Still no water though. I try searching for more stuff and a random zombie comes running around the corner at me, he hits me once and in one fell swipe of my axe he goes down. Not bleeding, so I presume I am ok, though still thirsty and sick. While I keep looking two more zombies pop up right around the corner, I take one out in a single swipe while he hits me once and I start bleeding again. The second one takes 3 axe swings (again the combat seems wonky) and doesn't go down... I go unconscious mid-fight. Uh oh...

 

So after regaining consciousness my game bugs out and leaves me prone sliding forward endlessly leaving me unable to take any actions, I saw a rabbit run past; but, alas, I can't take any actions. Two minutes after the sliding bug the game timed out and disconnected for some reason. Not what I expected would finish me off, not the starvations, the dehydrations, the sickness, other humans, OR the zombies. What a jip!

 

Ha! Well it was kind of cool while it lasted (maybe 100 minutes, half of that was just running thirsty and alone); I just hope I can find ANYONE or even some decent supplies the next time I play. I hope this game gets better, it's hard to justify 2 hours of playing for nearly nothing interesting happening and ending with bugs. Though It was fun to play through blind and just experience it raw. What do you guys think? Did you have a similar first playthrough? Was it just as heart wrenching and distasteful? Do you have any hints for me? Do you want to play with me?

Edited January 11, 2014 by JigMcGalliger

[marsmars 155]

First time I played I also didnt know what I was doing,

 

Anyway here are some basic tips:

 

Weapons/Zombies: Like you realized, the firefighter axe is a good weapon. Its pretty common so use it as soon as you find it. One hit and zombie dies. You are faster then the zombie so make sure it does not hit you - hit the zombie, if you miss then retreat a little, then hit again. If zombie hits you, after you kill it or run away drag your shirt to the inventory and turn it into rags, use rags to bandage yourself

 

Symptoms: see this guide to see what each symptom means and how to cure:

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/159492-great-guide-for-new-players-tells-you-what-each-symptom-means-and-how-to-cure/

 

Loot: If you find a construction site (like in Berezino) there are always backpacks there which will let you carry like up to 35 additional items. For food, look for supermarkets. For first aid, look for hospitals. Those are in big cities, but small towns you can still find random loot. Usually though its best to make it to a big city. But be careful because many players go there

 

Anyway once you play a few more times you should start getting more grasp on the game and be able to survive better

[tw0st3p 0]

Saw your post on kotaku and the post about setting up a group.  I set one up if your interested.

 

http://steamcommunity.com/groups/Cultaku

[JigMcGalliger 1]

Awesome, thanks. The symptoms thing should help a lot. I figured most supplies were in cities, I never found enough water to trek my way there this time. Cultaku FTW!

[BadAsh (DayZ) 1513]

Also villages and towns of more than a handful of houses always have a waterpump somewhere. Keep looking for it until you find it, and then drink 20-30 times to really quench that thirst for a good long time. You will quickly learn the positions of the waterpumps at the nearby spawn towns, because it is essential you drink before doing anything else, then you should head out to one of the inland towns for loot (the spawn towns are usually looted anyways, unless the server has just reset).