Tried H1Z1, tried Aftermath, please halp

[omera 1]

So far, I've tried both H1Z1 and Aftermath in search of one of these post-apocalyptic survival horror type games but I've been thoroughly disappointed with both products, being basically useless for anything but their alpha-test stage. I understand Dayz is the precursor to any of these, and supposedly the most complete. I want a game where I can get involved with an active group, and I doubt much organizing of any value has occurred on the other 2 (5???) titles. 

 

So heres my questions:

 

1. How have the updates been the past year?

2. How fun is the zombie aspect?

3. What is the best format to play DayZ in?

4. Invite me to your bandit clan cuz I want to force feed people rotten food for their can of beans

[D1_Keyzer 3]

Hi,

 

- Age?

-Timezone/Country?

- Do you have Teamspeak/other VOIP installed and a microphone/headset?

 

Just a tip when you ask someone to invite you, makes it a whole lot easier for anyone to consider if you would be interesting for their group/clan

 

Best of luck!

[gannon46 788]

we get updates frequent enough for my taste. zeds are being worked on they are out of the game pretty much now but should make a return soon i usually think of them on vacation at the beach. 

take a look at the status reports as well as the twitchcon vid from brian hicks, he talks about the next coming months and stuff shows heli and some other interesting things. I too have been down the same road crap survival games but dayz and project zomboid IMO are the way to go just gotta have some patience. goodluck feeding someone rotten stuff and hope you enjoy the game. 

Edited September 28, 2015 by gannon46

[omera 1]

Age: 21

Timezone : EST

 

I can get teamspeak however I lack a mic.

[Noctoras 409]

So far, I've tried both H1Z1 and Aftermath in search of one of these post-apocalyptic survival horror type games but I've been thoroughly disappointed with both products, being basically useless for anything but their alpha-test stage. I understand Dayz is the precursor to any of these, and supposedly the most complete. I want a game where I can get involved with an active group, and I doubt much organizing of any value has occurred on the other 2 (5???) titles. 

 

So heres my questions:

 

1. How have the updates been the past year?

2. How fun is the zombie aspect?

3. What is the best format to play DayZ in?

4. Invite me to your bandit clan cuz I want to force feed people rotten food for their can of beans

 

1. they are getting somewhat slower, much bugfixing - I doubt DayZ is further than comparable games at present.

2. Zombies have been removed from the game for the time being due to performance issues (-> see 1.)

3. ?

4. Force feeding will not work. It is all about KOS (kill on sight) these days. Either your screen goes black saying you are dead or you make someone else's screen go black saying he is dead. Other aspects of the game are negligible and redundant at present. Current updates (refering to point 1.) focus on expanding the gun number from 40 to 42 and add new vehicles so you can get to your shooting hotspot quicker. New content currently is rather few and far between.

 

Welcome to Chernarus.

Edited September 28, 2015 by Noctoras

[Funkmaster Rick 373]

Updates used to be a lot faster, but the past few months they've been working on some rather big chunks of the project - while the updates come less often, then tend to bring at least one major component of interest, or fix long-standing problems at the moment. DayZ is on the up-and-up, in my opinion.

 

Zombies, when they get added back, are actually quite fun and interesting. They have animal intelligence at best, but retain a surprising amount of their social skills; they can call out to eachother and notify nearby zombies of the presence of tasty, tasty brains. Their ability to detect people is constantly being fiddled with, but in their last incarnation it was very possible to sneak past them, and it was fairly obvious when they'd caught sight of you and it was boogie time.

 

I never took much note of Aftermath, but H1Z1 made an impression, being that it was basically Sony's attempt to sweep the rug out from under DayZ and steal its fledgling playerbase by offering a more complete game right away. In the end, though, it's an entirely different game - H1Z1 focuses on cartoon violence, DayZ focuses on hardcore survival.

 

That being said, DayZ is still in alpha. The next few months are poised to deliver some of the tastiest updates in a long time, so the game will be vibrant for a while, but it still has the distinct tang of something unfinished. Animations are clunky and often cumbersome, graphical lag is extremely common - a good rule of thumb is 60 FPS in the wilderness, 40 in any village, 20 in any town or larger area. Downtown Chernogorsk, the main population zone pre-infection (and maybe even post-infection), delivers a routine 10-15 FPS in some of its most crowded parts. The new renderer that is expected to solve this issue is due very shortly, but it can still be a bit of a trip if you're not used to it.

 

Banditry is rife. If you're not speaking to someone on TS or some other VOIP solution, they're going to kill you and eat your face. Friendly interactions are rare at the moment, though they do happen. You should be advised that while DayZ makes an effort not to discourage any particular playstyle, you should not expect the days of Kill Everything Banditry to last forever.

[Noctoras 409]

 DayZ focuses on hardcore survival..

 

hardcore survival on canned food, which is about as rare as sun in a desert :P  sorry, I just couldn't resist when reading your appraisal hymn ;)

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

WarZ2 released?!!?!  OMG OMG OMG OMG

[chrithu 59]

So far, I've tried both H1Z1 and Aftermath in search of one of these post-apocalyptic survival horror type games but I've been thoroughly disappointed with both products, being basically useless for anything but their alpha-test stage. I understand Dayz is the precursor to any of these, and supposedly the most complete. I want a game where I can get involved with an active group, and I doubt much organizing of any value has occurred on the other 2 (5???) titles. 

 

So heres my questions:

 

1. How have the updates been the past year?

2. How fun is the zombie aspect?

3. What is the best format to play DayZ in?

4. Invite me to your bandit clan cuz I want to force feed people rotten food for their can of beans

 

1. So what did they get into the game this past year? Prototypic vehicle crafting and driving. More guns. More Outfits. More Backpacks. Agriculture. Have to disagree with some of my preposters: As far as Zombie/survival Games go DayZ is definetely NOT the most complete of the bunch. 7 Days to Die is. And at the pace the Fun Pimps add new working features to their alpha build they are gonna be in quite a lead by the end of this year.

2.: The Zombie aspect never was fun as long as this game (mod or standalone) existed. They never were a challenge. As some here mentioned right now they aren't even in the game.

3.: Well go watch youtube: best way to play DayZ is get a group and basically be as much of a douchebag as you can be trying to trick other players into giving you stuff and then killing them or just straight out go and kill other players. I am not calling this PvP on purpose.

4.: Not actively playing at the moment.

 

To be fair though: In order to have a chance to ever perform better than the Arma 2 Mod they had to make significant updates to the engine which took them quite some time, whereas 7 Days to Die for instance is based on modifications of the unity engine that existed already and had this type of gameplay in mind.

 

Truth be told though: Right now I wouldn't recommend to get DayZ Standalone, at least not if you're looking for a game that's playable/ (nearly) complete. If you want to get a feel for how the finished game will probably feel get Arma 2 and the DayZ Mod for it (also have a look at the spin off mods, DayZ Origins was a fun attempt at adding sort of story content and also has a nice vehicle crafting and base building system). If you like that consider getting DayZ standalone now because the final release will be at a higher price.

 

If we talk Zombie Survival Games in general though I gotta point at 7 Days To Die again: Besides aiming at a similar feature set as DayZ they also plan for mod support, which shows right now in alpha already: there are numerous servers with custom rules, custom features and custom balance settings. And they are planning on adding Steam Workshop support to make using mods as easy as possible. The only real advantage of DayZ over 7 Days to Die that I see is that combat and especially PvP combat will be a lot better in DayZ because it is based on a tactical shooter engine, whereas 7 Days To Die uses a Voxel engine mod of unity, which comes with heavy restrictions as far as number of supported players goes. In all other aspects (zombies posing a threat,equipment progression, base building, performance, pace of development) right now 7 Days to Die is the better experience, while sharing some shortcomings with DayZ (survival aspects outside of combat are too easily overcome [Hunger/thirst might as well be patched out in both games the difference would be barely noticeable]).

[Herkyl Puuro 52]

1. How have the updates been the past year?

 

Didn't play much in past few months, but looks like during this time they managed to got rid of some bugs, which could kill your guy for no apparent reason. In couple weeks that I've played now, I've only died if shot by another player, so that's very cool. Looks like they are going to add a bunch of new vehicles in the next update, that can change the game in a big way.

 

2. How fun is the zombie aspect?

 

Not much fun now, as there are almost none in the game, but what I hear they will return reworked - so I'm expecting them to be more fun than they were previously. I slightly disagree with 31ROY, as zombies were enough a challenge so they could ruin your gear, or even kill you with a single blow at least in update .55, which I played last before returning.

 

3. What is the best format to play DayZ in?

 

Not sure if I understand what you mean by format, but if you're talking about how to play the game, then you can try to play in different ways in different servers. It's a rich world, there is no single best way to play. For example, you can learn to play very stealthy if you play lone wolf in a popular server. That skill then will benefit your teamplay too.

 

4. Invite me to your bandit clan cuz I want to force feed people rotten food for their can of beans.

 

Not in a clan, so no can do.

 

As there are no zombies you might want to wait before buying it, like update .59 or .60. But given that the map is big you might also want to have some experience before the zombies return.

[Noctoras 409]

In couple weeks that I've played now, I've only died if shot by another player, so that's very cool. .

 

Shows how much of a "brutal survival game" it really is ... ;)  If there was no PvP, you would have a hard time dying.

 

31ROX was spot on on the zombies, to date they have never been a real threat.

[Surviv0r1969 151]

Shows how much of a "brutal survival game" it really is ... ;)  If there was no PvP, you would have a hard time dying.

 

31ROX was spot on on the zombies, to date they have never been a real threat.

watch this then say they wont be a threat, and this was just balota and not all of them 

[Noctoras 409]

so much of a threat that you colelct them like stamps in a album :-)

[Herkyl Puuro 52]

Shows how much of a "brutal survival game" it really is ... ;)  If there was no PvP, you would have a hard time dying.

 

31ROX was spot on on the zombies, to date they have never been a real threat.

 

I wasn't talking about brutal survival game, I was talking about earlier bugs which could kill your character for no apparent reason, which don't seem to exist anymore. Besides why shouldn't I have a hard time dying in PvE situations? I've been in very interesting situations in rl, and survived.

 

Zombies were enough a threat in 0.55 to have people complaining zombies being "too hard" even here. As said, a single blow could ruin your jacket/pants with everything inside, cripple you, or even kill you. To avoid this you had to avoid zombie attacks, so if you were smart enough to avoid them easily, then congratulations, but not all will agree with you or 31ROX on zombies not presenting a real threat.

[chrithu 59]

I wasn't talking about brutal survival game, I was talking about earlier bugs which could kill your character for no apparent reason, which don't seem to exist anymore. Besides why shouldn't I have a hard time dying in PvE situations? I've been in very interesting situations in rl, and survived.

 

Zombies were enough a threat in 0.55 to have people complaining zombies being "too hard" even here. As said, a single blow could ruin your jacket/pants with everything inside, cripple you, or even kill you. To avoid this you had to avoid zombie attacks, so if you were smart enough to avoid them easily, then congratulations, but not all will agree with you or 31ROX on zombies not presenting a real threat.

 

Yes they increased the damage that zombies do and that was too much in the view of some players and too cheap an attempt for others. But that's actually an issue of balancing/difficulty setting. The problem is that it's too easy to avoid getting hit by zombies, because they know only one strategy: choose target, follow target, launch attack at target if close enough, which in all fairness is the same thing they do in 7 Days to Die. Knowing that attracted Zeds will come at you in a straight line makes it easy to dodge them. Then there is the fact that you can outrun the zeds as a last straw. That's one point that 7 Days to Die handles better, if the zombies run at night they do so faster than you do and aren't restricted by stamina. Another thing that makes Zombies feel more of a threat in 7DtD is that you have roaming hordes that are magically drawn to your base even if you're away and they can damage it. Have yet to see a Zed attack a tent in Dayz, speaking of which the base building in DayZ is still pretty barebones compared to 7DtD. And last but not least DayZ always had issues with Zombie respawn after a city was cleaned out. 7DtD has them relentlessly respawn in cities so fighting them will never end.

 

Having said that, I am aware that the guys at Bohemia know that Zombies need work and they are working on it. So the final game will have Zombies that are a threat. No question about that.

 

In the end it comes down to one question anyways: Do you want good and deep PvP? Then you need to go with DayZ quite frankly. I have playtested a lot of the alternatives and if we talk just the combat mechanics and the interaction between players possible, DayZ hands down is the best of the bunch by a large margin. But if base building, character progression, a deep, resource gathering based crafting system and cooperative PvE survival is more your thing (which as it turns out is the case for me) then 7 Days to Die is at least worth a look and for me personally the better game for that.

Edited September 29, 2015 by 31R0Y

[omera 1]

I'm debating between Zomboid and Day-Z. Day-z seems to be the best bet, I don't know how active multiplayer is on zomboid but I wish there was a more persistent character aspect there. Zomboid seems close to Night of the Living Dead style barricade survival-horror. 

[chrithu 59]

I'm debating between Zomboid and Day-Z. Day-z seems to be the best bet, I don't know how active multiplayer is on zomboid but I wish there was a more persistent character aspect there. Zomboid seems close to Night of the Living Dead style barricade survival-horror. 

 

Woah they are some pretty different games except for sharing the Zombie aspect. Project Zomboid as a design pillar is out to kill you on it's own and as such incredibly hard with a very steep learning curve. It emphasizes the survival and PvE aspects whereas DayZ is designed around player interactions. As one of the influences that inspired Dean Hall while he made DayZ though, Project Zomboid is great to show off what a difference it makes if the survival aspects (hunger/thirst/tiredness/illness) actually play a large role in gameplay. It pretty much shows by example what people on this board mean if they say that DayZ's survival gameplay is still a ways away from being just that, survival gameplay.

 

I haven't done much online in Zomboid, but as I understand it most people play that game coop and not PvP, because frankly you neither have the ammo nor the safety from zombies to concentrate on PvP.

[OrLoK 16185]

Hello there

 

If you dont like Early Access Alphas then I cannot recommend DAYZ to you.

 

Its in EA. Its Alpha. Its a work in progress. Do not expect a finished fully playable game. Expect bugs. Expect broken aspects of play. Expect missing game mechanics.

 

If you can cope with those you will find the dev process really interesting but its not for everyone.

 

 

Rdgs

 

LoK

[chrithu 59]

True indeed, Orlok.

 

But in my view it's hard to generalize. You know in my experience there's EA and then there's EA. Steam's Early Access program has some shining examples of EA done and used the right way (from my point of view) and sadly for the most part is full of games/devs that are barely more than tech demos far away from a state that could be called an alpha worthy of public testing.

 

There are some EA games out there that are a lot of fun to take part in because updates hit the players with as little bugs as possible and as much feature changes as possible. Those shining examples do not use their user base primarily as a QA department but actually for feedback on features, and that's what EA should be about. Having to sift through a shitload of bugs first to then give feedback on the actual features is what tires a lot of people out.

 

Devs gotta learn that those crying for faster updates do much less damage if kept waiting than those people being flooded with buggy barely playable release after buggy barely playable release. Those are the ones that will at some point start expressing their displease through negative reviews on Steam.

[Noctoras 409]

good points, Roy

[DaveAzoicer (DayZ) 135]

Shows how much of a "brutal survival game" it really is ... ;)  If there was no PvP, you would have a hard time dying.

 

31ROX was spot on on the zombies, to date they have never been a real threat.

 

Welcome, I see that you're new here...

 

Seriously, zombies have been a threat at occasions, mainly due to bugs. But they were hilarious.

How abount near infinitely spawning at you?

Insane damage/health?

See and hear you from across several hundred meters?