A few small, easy to implement suggestions from a newer player :)

[raiderlove86 3]

Upon first playing, the general appearance of DayZ was more of a ghost-town rather than a land overrun by zombie infection

*I would suggest a few more theatrical appearances, such as dismembered body parts, more blood on the walls, maybe an intestine trail or two. It would have more of a horror feel to it I think :).

 

When I first started (and even still now) I get lost as to which direction I'm going in. I even found a compass at one point and it didn't seem to even work. I started to wonder if I had friends who were playing, how hard would it be to find them?

*I suggest maybe starting everyone with a basic map that shows their position and the general positions and names of the cities so that I could say, "hey... meet me in town X" and my friend could meet me there and once there we could find our way to each other.

 

I was knocked unconscious by another player and when I recovered I literally stumbled around in grey fuzziness for half an hour which I feel is REALLY extensive. I had no food, no water and I could not even find a door because of the disorientation.

*I think 5 minutes would be sufficient time for a would be attacker to get away and for you to be left helpless. Any longer than that is just annoying and I actually just walked away from my game at that point. I wanted to play but it wasn't even fun :(.

 

I understand what an Alpha game is and its actually impressive what has been accomplished so far! I love the game, but theres little small things that need fixing to not only give it a more Zombie Armageddon feel, but to make it consistently enjoyable and less confusing for newer players :)!

 

Thanks for listening and feel free to put in your thoughts and input fellow survivors!

[crazykage 1063]

I understand your frustrations, OP, but frankly, I and many others would say no to these ideas.

 

You will, with time and experience, learn the lay of the land (I rarely need a map) and the theory of gameplay.

 

You have a unique position: You haven't played the mod (I assume by your post), which means you have little to no background knowledge of the game, and have JUST started S.A. This means that for you, the adventure, discovery, and learning have just begun. Your first eventual success (healthy, well fed, decently equipped character) is not far behind after that, and with that, your first taste of adrenal fueled fear as the paranoia kicks in and you begin to jump at every sound and shadow. Then a chill down your spine as you hear the report of a rifle, the disappointment of the death screen, followed finally by a sense of slight relief that the paranoia and fear is OVER, and you can start fresh.

Its a brutal game for a beginner, OP. It can be brutal for the more experienced too.

 

Welcome to the jungle....

[raiderlove86 3]

Lol! Good description. I can understand 110% where ur coming from! Especially having played the game for a long time, you probably have no issues with the things mentioned. As a new player though, I can see things that other people who haven't played the Arma mod can also see. It was difficult to jump into this as a standalone game since I've never played, don't know the lay of the land and if not anything else, I'm worried that this will scare any new players off because they don't really understand the game, where they're going or how to connect with friends. It must at least be slightly more beginner friendly... I don't even know the name of the town I start in, where it is oriented on the map (north, south, east or west) and I've had it happen twice where ive gotten turned around and walked back the same direction I just came by accident because I had no bearing of direction. From a beginners standpoint, I understand how to play. I get the drink, food, how to equip items, you need can opener to open cans, etc etc... but if I cant even find my way around it makes progressing in the map shaky at best. I don't want a radar or anything, just a basic mall-type map saying "YOU ARE HERE. X VILLE IS EAST OF YOU, Y VILLE IS NORTH OF YOU AND THIS IS WHICH WAY UR FACING!" ^_^.

[raiderlove86 3]

I think the general needs of the game may have changed as its now a standalone game and people who will be buying it likely have never played or maybe never even heard of Arma II (such as myself) and will not know the cities, controls, map layout, etc.

Edited February 12, 2014 by Beastmode

[crazykage 1063]

As said OP. With time, you will have zero trouble navigating your way around. First, you will start to recognize certain locations as you spawn at them over and over. Next, you will remember what towns or buildings or whatever lay nearby and in what directions. Eventually, you will begin to recognize that certain structures spawn certain types of loot with certain frequencies, enabling you to gear up and feed yourself with greater speed and efficiency.

 

Eventually, you will develop a sort of "stomping grounds", an area you frequent consistently due to constant deaths from lack of experience (or bandits). As you expand outward, you will become familiar with more and more areas. Eventually, you will even begin to recognize the Cyrillic road signs, even if you cant read them (example: I know that "Cobop" means "Sobor", indicating I am either in "Starry" or "Novy"-"Sobor").

 

And one day, you will realize, that you essentially know the finer points of the map like its tattooed to the back of your hand.

 

Besides, you can also use this excellent tool:

http://dayzdb.com/map/chernarusplus#4.070.039
 

[Daemonkid 493]

Nah man. You'll enjoy the game a lot more if you play it like a true freshie. 

I remember my first day in dayz. It was so great not knowing a thing. Running around scavenging, dying. When you learn the game first hand it's so rewarding because YOU learned it all, you put in the time and effort to improve. The transition from freshie to veteran will feel so great, trust me.

Just keep at it and you'll become a grizzled survivor in no time.

[The Batman 75]

DayZ has a harsh learning curve that seems to put a lot of new players off that just want to get in, get geared and kill people. There's nothing wrong with that and it's a valid complaint, but that learning curve is 80% of the fun of DayZ and it is a never ending one. You'll always notice or do something you didn't know before that will aid you in the future.

 

Having played DayZ since early mod, my earliest memories of the game are being hit once by zombies and having my legs broken. There used to be like a 99% chance that your legs would be broken on hit from a Zed. Plus they would NEVER stop chasing you and had ridiculous aggro ranges. Those were the days. But I think the people, such as myself, that played back then have a distinct advantage because they learned to play cautious and stealthy because they absolutely HAD to.

 

Things like map knowledge come with time. My advice to you would be to study a map of Chernarus and learn where the south and east coast towns are and what they are called. As this is where you will be spawning, you can check road signs in game to get your location and know where you need to go. From there, you can learn your inland places and soon enough you'll know how to get pretty much everywhere. The map is huge but there's only really a few places that are of any significant interest.

 

Good luck out there.