Where the F#%@ am I?

[pilgrim* 3514]

You missed out the 'ALL' option - as Boneboys points out

 

plus the other suggestions made in the thread, these are good suggestions..

 

The only one I don't do is number 2, When I'm outside the game I look at the online DaYZ map and think about what I could try tomorrow (kind of like reading this forum, it's an extra DayZ activity, but it's not inside the game).. I dont do that in the game. I have a general memory of the map and if I get it wrong then that's my problem (like IRL ?) I'm supposed to know the ground, the objectives, the dangers.. I'm not searching for OUTSIDE help..And the in-game maps don't help me a great deal except for placenames, but just that CAN be very helpful..I'll pick one up, look at it somewhere quiet, and then drop it again...  because even after all this time, a placename roadsign can confuse you.. where the hell IS that ? But in FACT When you're on the ground (in the middle of HERE and NOW) you don't need a map, you need to see where the trees are, where you must cross open ground, which way the roads are heading, the steepnes and direction of the valley, where there is water, you NEED situational awareness, but it's all written there on the real ground you can SEE around you.. if you're not sure about what is over the next hill, you cross the hill and check what's on the other side.. you watch the treeline when you cross open ground, you keep an eye on that village, you listen (turn the damn music off), you look over your shoulder a LOT..

 

For "navigating" you want all these techniques you mention in the poll.. you combine them ..because, for instance, it's a lot easier to get lost or turned around when there's no sunlight (eg in the rain) and now with exposure death possible, that's exactly when you don't want to make direction mistakes.. so you use ALL the techniques.

Mainly if you're navigating by 'survival techniques' you must develop a sense of how much off-course you are, so if you are heading East, make sure you're not "more or less" heading east.. take your deviations into account (to check a house, to fill a canteen, to stay inside a treeline) .. if you're going East buty in fact you"re averaging 12-15° off course, you won't easily get to where you want to be. So a compass can make life easier, you don't NEED one but why stress yourself? So pick it up if you find one, and maybe save yourself on a freezing-rain day when those distinctive hills are all whited-out.

 

I dont use "other device" maps .. I think that's silly.. In the game I simply use EVERYTHING I can. But - - -  who wouldn't ??

Edited October 8, 2014 by pilgrim

[foxdie_01 121]

Took a couple of weeks to learn the new north, but i know almost exactly where i am within 5 mins of spawning 90% of the time these days, When the re-introduced the southern spawns I still remembered where i was from my Mod days, i tend to use the DAYZTV map purely to scout the decent buildings in the new unfamiliar villages.

Edited October 8, 2014 by foxdie_01

[Tegla (DayZ) 112]

I mostly know by memory by now, but sometimes i check the road sign to confirm my location (i dont know the northern villages well enough), then use a compass to head roughly in direction i want to go.

Also, DayZDB map

[StarLord (DayZ) 39]

You missed out the 'ALL' option - as Boneboys points out

 

plus the other suggestions made in the thread, these are good suggestions..

 

The only one I don't do is number 2, When I'm outside the game I look at the online DaYZ map and think about what I could try tomorrow (kind of like reading this forum, it's an extra DayZ activity, but it's not inside the game).. I dont do that in the game. I have a general memory of the map and if I get it wrong then that's my problem (like IRL ?) I'm supposed to know the ground, the objectives, the dangers.. I'm not searching for OUTSIDE help..And the in-game maps don't help me a great deal except for placenames, but just that CAN be very helpful..I'll pick one up, look at it somewhere quiet, and then drop it again...  because even after all this time, a placename roadsign can confuse you.. where the hell IS that ? But in FACT When you're on the ground (in the middle of HERE and NOW) you don't need a map, you need to see where the trees are, where you must cross open ground, which way the roads are heading, the steepnes and direction of the valley, where there is water, you NEED situational awareness, but it's all written there on the real ground you can SEE around you.. if you're not sure about what is over the next hill, you cross the hill and check what's on the other side.. you watch the treeline when you cross open ground, you keep an eye on that village, you listen (turn the damn music off), you look over your shoulder a LOT..

 

For "navigating" you want all these techniques you mention in the poll.. you combine them ..because, for instance, it's a lot easier to get lost or turned around when there's no sunlight (eg in the rain) and now with exposure death possible, that's exactly when you don't want to make direction mistakes.. so you use ALL the techniques.

Mainly if you're navigating by 'survival techniques' you must develop a sense of how much off-course you are, so if you are heading East, make sure you're not "more or less" heading east.. take your deviations into account (to check a house, to fill a canteen, to stay inside a treeline) .. if you're going East buty in fact you"re averaging 12-15° off course, you won't easily get to where you want to be. So a compass can make life easier, you don't NEED one but why stress yourself? So pick it up if you find one, and maybe save yourself on a freezing-rain day when those distinctive hills are all whited-out.

 

I dont use "other device" maps .. I think that's silly.. In the game I simply use EVERYTHING I can. But - - -  who wouldn't ??

 

I'll agree, but that's why I made it multiple choice. Any-who, I print off colored maps on bigger paper and just set it on my desk almost like a calendar.

 

It didn't start out that way. At first I would travel up and down the coast, from Cherno to Rify, and I can remember thinking “Wow… What a massive world.” Almost in a sense like I wasn’t ready to get off of the coast. Later, I looked at the map via an iPhone app "Bean Coast". I would figure out what town I was in, which direction another town was in, and base my movements off of the coast line. I later got into using a compass. Eventually even that became problematic. You can't really use the app with one hand, which was hard while trying to navigate without taking my finger off the [W] button. So I decided to print a map out on 11X17 inch paper. I can glance down while running for a correlation of roads and such without having to get in a safe place to get my bearing.

 

On the other hand, a friend I play with is really bad at navigating, so when we’re trying to meet up I’ll find a safe house, close the door, and minimize the game. I’ll pull up a map and give him turn-by-turn directions. I have some more poll questions I’m going to ask soon. I think these kinds of polls can give other people good ideas and help them realize that others are bad ideas. So I just hope you guys can find some kind of value in them! I know I am.

[jacksparrows 31]

I can't read a map very well and I am always lost. I wander aimlessly in the hopes that I find something interesting. 

 

Why is  there no option for always being lost?

 

..on the other hand I did happen to stumble into a heli crash and geared up quite well right before the .49 wipe.  >:(

[Death By Crowbar 1213]

I use:

1. Road signs.
2. Compass (or sun).
3. Landmarks or geography (coast, radio towers, etc)
4. Dual screen with the map up on the right for reference:
   

[StarLord (DayZ) 39]

 

I use:

1. Road signs.
2. Compass (or sun).
3. Landmarks or geography (coast, radio towers, etc)
4. Dual screen with the map up on the right for reference:

   

 

 

haha wow, props to you!

Edited October 8, 2014 by StarLord

[JPWiser 251]

Dayzdb.com for quick references, otherwise a compass and memory

[chompster 171]

I Alt-Tab out of the game then use this map.

Make sure no one is around or have a mate cover you while you're in cover and crouching/proning before you tab out though.

why alt-tab when you can Shift-tab and open the steam-overlay browser? thats what i do.

[pillock 850]

I dislike using out-of-game resources like maps.

 

Besides, the in-game map is more user-friendly. When you find a map piece that's spawned as loot, the view when you first look at it is always centred on that location, so you instantly know where you are. Similarly, a map in your inventory centres itself on your current location when you first log into a server. So once you have the in-game map, it's pretty difficult to get lost unless you do it on purpose. (I actually think using this method feels like a bit of a cheat, and should be removed at some point - maybe so it centres the view on some random location instead.)

 

In combination with the compass, it's pretty easy to navigate, even if you don't recognise places through experience. If I don't have a compass, I'll use the sun - which is roughly in the south, I believe - or identify terrain features around me and compare them with the map.

 

I remember it being an enjoyable challenge to figure out where I was and where I wanted to go using only in-game assets, before I'd played the game enough to recognise the towns by sight - using a combination of roadsigns, the map and the Russian Cheat Sheet book. I kind of miss the fact that I don't need them so much any more.

[fluxley 2228]

Knew i'd spent far too much time in Chernarus when i started being able to navigate to anywhere on the map at night with just the outline of the horizon to guide me.

 

Loved when i first started playing the mod, the world felt so huge back then, not knowing what was going to be over the next hill was a great feeling, enjoy it while it lasts.