How Much Time Has Passed Since The "outbreak" Happened?

[nudelwalker 99]

How much time did pass since "Day 0", since the Infection hit and the civilization went down?

 

Days? Weeks? Or even years?

 

I think this is an important question, because so many things in DayZ don't fit together in terms of how much time has passed.

 

There are

• broken down cars, already became really rusty - maybe a year since Day 0? more?
   
• plants breaking through pavement & sidewalks - many months must have passed since nobody anymore cuts away all the grass&plants that grow in the towns
   
• fresh exotic fruits like bananas - maybe 1-3 weeks since the outbreak (ignore apples, they could grow in chernarus anytime)
   
• Infected/Zombies - We know they are not dead, but just infected people. So how long would they survive, run around? The biggest number of them would maybe die away in the first week, because all the normal people are gone from the towns, leaving only the Zeds to themselfs, and they don't seem smart enough to care for their everyday needs. So only some of them, who manage to eat a survivor, could be thought of as able to survive more then a week. Then again some of them may just die to beeing stupid, having horrible accidents. Anyway: After 2 weeks, most of them should be dead, leaving only a few scattered beeings around (so the current Zed population actually fits). After more then a few weeks, most of them if not all should be gone.

 

So somehow none of this fits together. Did I forget something?

 

TL,DR: how much time do you think did pass since Day 0?

Edited January 28, 2014 by Styrias

[Motey13 5]

I'm saying years. December 2010 as a matter of fact. That was the most recent time that December 1st was on a Wednesday. The calendars I've seen on desks in peoples abandoned houses are on the month of December, but the year is obscured. However the first was on a Wednesday that year. Also possibly 2004 as well.

[CrniVarg 18]

 

How much time did pass since "Day 0", since the Infection hit and the civilization went down?

 

Days? Weeks? Or even years?

 

I think this is an important question, because so many things in DayZ don't fit together in terms of how much time has passed.

 

There are

• broken down cars, already became really rusty - maybe a year since Day 0? more?

   

• plants breaking through pavement & sidewalks - many months must have passed since nobody anymore cuts away all the grass&plants that grow in the towns

   

• fresh exotic fruits like bananas - maybe 1-3 weeks since the outbreak (ignore apples, they could grow in chernarus anytime)

   

• Infected/Zombies - We know they are not dead, but just infected people. So how long would they survive, run around? The biggest number of them would maybe die away in the first week, because all the normal people are gone from the towns, leaving only the Zeds to themselfs, and they don't seem smart enough to care for their everyday needs. So only some of them, who manage to eat a survivor, could be thought of as able to survive more then a week. Then again some of them may just die to beeing stupid, having horrible accidents. Anyway: After 2 weeks, most of them should be dead, leaving only a few scattered beeings around (so the current Zed population actually fits). After more then a few weeks, most of them if not all should be gone.

 

So somehow none of this fits together. Did I forget something?

 

TL,DR: how much time do you think did pass since Day 0?

 

 

1. Cars rust faster if they were on fire or have the first layer of pain removed. It does not have to be over a year, could be weeks or months.

 

2. Bananas - not every single bit of the game is realistic.

 

3. What do we really know about the virus/bacteria/parasite that is causing people to act the way they act? It could be the disease is slowing down their metabolism to the point they don't need to drink or eat for months, or it altered their bodies to feed themselves otherwise. Until we know more about the disease we cannot answer this question.

 

EDIT:

 

Also it can be that it's a different time frame all together. They never said that this outbreak is happening now. It could be the year 2000 for all we know.

Edited January 28, 2014 by CrniVarg

[janol 65]

This was recently discussed...

 

I'd say what I said then: only few days.

 

Characters are assumed to be new to the whole situation. World ended, you wake on beach or where ever.

 

Also fruits.

Also, the "zeds" would not be able to survive for years.

etc.

[frosti 2165]

1-3 days top.

 

ps.

 

 

I'm saying years

 

If it was years or even months then we would not find single firearm anywhere or food.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Frosti

[louist 163]

The devs have thrown too much contradictory evidence in to make any real call.

Bananas, unrefrigerated, will last about a week. Since there aren't magic banana pixies delivering fresh bananas to all these random houses, the outbreak must be within that time frame.

Yet, those cars are rusted wrecks, lacking any wheels or upholstery, seem to be years old. (Yes, a fire would speed up this process, but the only evidence of a fire is the International Hotel, which was hit by a frickin' plane! Everything else is nearly untouched.) So I don't buy the "every car in chernerus was magically burned and/or utterly removed of paint when everything else was spared" theory.

A car sitting exposed to the elements can go for years without looking that bad. As I recalled in an earlier version of this post, my grandparents had an old derelict car sitting without maintenance on their property for years and years, and it didn't look half as bad as anything in game.

Edited January 28, 2014 by louist

[Gimpylung 40]

This was recently discussed...

 

I'd say what I said then: only few days.

 

Characters are assumed to be new to the whole situation. World ended, you wake on beach or where ever.

 

Also fruits.

Also, the "zeds" would not be able to survive for years.

etc.

 

Are our characters from Chernarus? Them spawning on the beach could imply they washed up there.

 

(I'm just trying to justify using external maps, coz if my char is Chernorussian, then he'd know his way about and an external map simulates that)

[frosti 2165]

 

Bananas, unrefrigerated, will last about a week. Since there aren't magic banana pixies delivering fresh bananas to all these random houses, the outbreak must be within that time frame.

 

And how about guns in military areas or police stations (firestations...)?

 

They will last hours, max few days before they got all taken.

[janol 65]

Are our characters from Chernarus? Them spawning on the beach could imply they washed up there.

 

(I'm just trying to justify using external maps, coz if my char is Chernorussian, then he'd know his way about and an external map simulates that)

 

No matter where they are from - but it would be quite queer if so many foreign people constantly washed on the shores.

 

In any case, they would have hardly spent years on sea without any information about the world.

 

And, remember, this was supposed to have been a global event.

[Hethwill_Khan 233]

The Life after People series drops some insight on food, buildings, etc and how much time they would endure without human maintenance, consumption and all other interventions.

 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL8115CA6F1D3A4807

 

The fruit can be plausible, given we have flourishing orchards in game, so just "anyone" could leave fruit anywhere.

 

Cans endure. But the cereal boxes are the mystery solving thing.

Edited January 28, 2014 by Hethwill_Khan

[Admiral_69 78]

Honestly, it could be years if 99.9999% percent of the population was infected... There would be almost no one to loot the firestations / army depots.

Plus, in my opinion, these locations already look like they were looted along time ago anyways. I have found, based on in game experience, that looters only take what they need + can carry. Thus, what we have leftover are the scraps.

Guns are extremely durable. If this was immediately following the outbreak, weapons would be everywhere. Lying in the middle of the street when people were overrun.

One only need look at Eastern Front pictures from WW2 battlefields to grasp how, when there is no one to clean up (or no available labor) bodies with their gear are abandoned on the field. Heck, there is a thriving eBay market for "recovered" WW2 battlefield relics, including guns.

[DerDuderich 149]

I was just about to open a new thread on this issue.

 

I really goes on my nerves, because in every suggestion thread there are so many different opinions. Some people claim the "end of mankind" was just days ago, other people say it was 5 years ago. If we really care about 'realism' that much, there should be a definite answer to this question asap.

 

I personally would sag: Maybe 4-8 months since the breakdown of society. But that's just the opinion I get from running through Chernarus.  

 

So please, anyone with insider knowledge or a team statement: Contribute! :)

[cysinyard 12]

 

• broken down cars, already became really rusty - maybe a year since Day 0? more?

   

• plants breaking through pavement & sidewalks - many months must have passed since nobody anymore cuts away all the grass&plants that grow in the towns

 

 

Ever been to Detroit?    Day 0 could have been yesterday.  Morgan freeman already surmised this!

 

[Danny_Boooy 61]

Nobody knows. That's the point. Your game experience is the story for Dayz. There is no other story. That's how it is going to stay.

[Window Licker 504]

Personally I'd like a back story to what happened, more I'd like fans to write journals and diaries and actually have them published in game, so we would have a chance of stumbling over them.  I feel it would add to the immersion and then I'd actually learn to read so I could enjoy them.  Also I'd like a mountain of gold and a black unicorn.

[Nocturnal (DayZ) 85]

It never even started.

 

The indigenous folks of Chernarus are just that crazy.

[GoldenKade 73]

Are our characters from Chernarus? Them spawning on the beach could imply they washed up there.

 

(I'm just trying to justify using external maps, coz if my char is Chernorussian, then he'd know his way about and an external map simulates that)

That's the point... They washed up on the shore....

[mgc 92]

As there will be loads of Z around (eventually), i would say a week or so after zero hour. Thats more than enough time for the Z to infect loads and for everybody else to gtfo in a hurry.

[HunterJay 81]

A few weeks to a year.

[Atheon 31]

Why cars look rusted and crappy.... = so you can distinguish them from driveable ones. DERP. :D 

[hippocrates311 4]

http://www.dayzrp.com/t-dayzrp-official-background-refined-edition

 

if you like rp read this, and if you go off of this story we are past the 15 days. so it could be anywhere from 15 days to 1yr or so... and yes the cars from the 80s would rust without maintenance... 

[Crooked Hauser 258]

I like to play that the outbreak hasn't started yet and that I'm Marky Mark Wahlberg and all the screaming weirdos are obsessed fans. And then I act very poorly, grow an ugly beard and then die.

Edited February 18, 2014 by Crooked Hauser

[Timecharge 28]

i would assume no more than a week or two because there is still fresh fruit

Edited February 18, 2014 by Timecharge

[helcol 174]

It never even started.

 

The indigenous folks of Chernarus are just that crazy.

This explains E-V-E-R-Y-T-H-I-N-G that is happening in Dayz. I mean EVERYTHING!

[soulfirez 901]

hmmm id say just days after infection the cars are merely what was left run down and rusted before this is a very poor ex soviet block country . the fruit the ceral the rice bags(all not eaten by rats or bugs yet. the place is generally run down.. we have just washed up ashore ( yes i know we keep washing ashore but what you want us to only spawn once at launch if you die thats end of game completely...

 

Whats left there is from the people fighting the out break as mentioned guns left in offices on the floors of houses... the blood stains on walls floors are still red blood, stains turn brown after a short amount of time so all in all id say pretty much a day or 2 after out break..