The Rules of Zombieland

[beanyundead 0]

Hey everyone,

Day Z is a challenging game. Beautiful, inspired and challenging. When I first started playing I had no idea of the game's depth, primarily because every match often ended with me being shot, stabbed or eaten an average 45 minutes in. The problem was compounded by the fact that I could find very little advice regarding the practical side of play (my fault not the community's- I should have looked harder). I really feel for players who play the game once, get mercilessly destroyed and never want to play again. They are missing out big time on what has become my favourite game ever.

I put together; through research and play, the first 15 rules of Zombieland, which my friend and I now follow religiously. This is the list I would liked to have had when I first started.

There are many advice threads out there but I thought I'd start a new one as a homage to Ruben Fleischer's film 'Zombieland' by posting the beginnings of 'the rules of Zombieland'. If this has been done before then I apologise (took a quick look did not see anything like it).

Remember, these are the rules I use. Rules 9 and 10 might be considered by some to be controversial. Maybe. Anyway, like them or hate them, these are the first 15 rules of Zombieland. Feel free to add to them. :)

BeanyUndead

Rules of Zombieland

1. Never stand-up or run unless a zombie is chasing you. Crouch or crawl everywhere.

2. If a zombie is chasing you, run into a house. Zombies cannot run inside structures. This will allow you to run out the other side of the structure while the zombie is still ambling slowly along. Some structures only have on exit point. They are better than nothing but you will have to angle around the zombie within the room. This can be dangerous but better than facing said zombie in the open.

3. If you are with a friend, have a rallying point pre-arranged just in case you have to run from zombies so you can find each other again. Do not lead the zombies back to your rallying point. Die first.

4. Do not fight pursuing zombies in the open when they are moving fast.

a. Shooting a zig-zagger will result in many misses and loss of ammo.

b. Hacking a zig-zagger will result, more often than not, in a bleeding wound from a zombie as they tend to get at least one hit in (in my experience but I have seen axes deployed to great effect. I watched a player hack down more than twenty chargers without getting a scratch. Be warned however, it is dangerous).

5. Quietly axe zombies that have entered a house in the back by circling around them out-of-sight. Take your time with zombies in structures.

6. Do not try to help a friend by shooting a pursuing zombie. You will just hit your friend.

7. If your friend is being chased by a zombie, let him go. Do not pursue. You will only attract more zombies and worse, perhaps even lead to the spawning of more zombies. He/she will eventually get back to the rally point.

8. Guns are for bandits and axes are for zombies. Not always the case but good as a general rule. Guns attract more zombies so using them against the walking dead should be a last (total emergency ‘oh my god I’m going to die’) resort.

9. Consider not walking around with your gun out. If you are ambushed by bandits, chances are you are dead anyway. If you manage to get out of the ambush, then you will have time to pull your gun out. Then again, having my gun ready saved me recently from a sniper (lucky return shot) so....When moving with a deployed firearm, consider that is has the following effects:

a. Allows the returning of fire when you contact a bandit to the front (a rare eventuality).

b. Allows zombies to be engaged in the open (which you should not be doing anyway early in the game)

c. Makes anyone not a bandit nervous enough to shoot you should you point your weapon in their general direction.

10. If somebody points a gun at you, even if they are just turning around, shoot them after yelling a warning or run! Best to yell a warning for them not to turn around though through voice chat. Do not shoot unarmed people or people armed with axes unless they are trying to harm you. Remember to feel bad if this happens. Remember, trust nobody.

11. Have a base of operations, which can double as your rallying point, preferably near a CBD. This will allow you to conduct raids into the city while still having a fall-back position where medically challenged players can rest while the other members of the team hunt for supplies.

a. Bases should be large enough so as to facilitate the walking of zombies.

b. Bases should ideally be defensible with three entrances.

c. Bases should be as ‘out of the way’ as possible with regards to the CBD. (Not in the centre of town).

d. Bases should always be regarded as temporary.

12. Your first objective is to get water, second a hatchet, third food, forth a tent, fifth a vehicle and sixth a fire-arm. The tent is the golden prize for it allows you to store items in ‘cashes’ that remain after you have logged out (on the same server, not server to server yet). Everyone wants a gun and yes they are awesome, but do not prioritise them. They, in the early game, do more harm than good. Not only that, a bandit will follow you if he sees you have a gun.

13. Your global objective is to obtain a vehicle, preferably a military vehicle like a HUMVEE or jeep as these carry a lot. Vehicles allow you to stay mobile and to conduct quick and efficient raids into towns. You will need to repair a vehicle by accumulating parts. You accomplish this in the following order:

a. Find a car (if it’s rusted out you cannot use it but if it is intact you can).

b. Set up a ‘temporary base’ near the car as per rule 11.

c. Unload all food and water into one pack (or onto the floor if you are feeling confident in the server) to free up space for the car’s components. If you have a tent by this stage, set up a cash in the woods nearby.

d. Go and raid buildings for the following items an bring them back to your base:

i. 1 Engine Part

ii. 4 wheels (two for motorbikes)

iii. 1 Scrap

iv. 1 Fuel Tank Part

v. 1-6 Jerry Cans of fuel

e. Assemble the car and drive. Do not assemble the car until you have all the pieces. Each piece is needed. Leaving any single piece out will lead to disaster. That includes the single piece of scrap as your car will explode should it even touch a tree without it.

14. Your end game (at the moment) should be to have a ‘set-down area’ (a permanent base) out in the woods somewhere, away from anything valuable where you can store your vehicle. This is where you will pitch your tents and begin to dig-in for the long haul, happy in the knowledge that anything you scavenge will be waiting for you in the tent, safe and sound, the next time you log onto the server (assuming nobody finds it).

15. Accept death before playing. It is a hard game!

Edited August 1, 2012 by BeanyUndead

[WilkyWilks 44]

Tip 1, don't copy paste black text onto a forum with a black background.

[boxman80 964]

Personally I feel that players who play once and rage about the game and then quit it aren't the types of player we want in the community anyway - I'd say this mod isnt aimed at them and they should just go and play Left 4 Dead or something which is a bit more action geared. If you don't get what Day Z is about either before you play it or upon loading into the map you are playing hte wrong game. This is aimed at true fans of the zombie genre.

[Bobcomss 189]

Pretty much what I do :D

Be helpful to new players though, good work :D

AJ

[beanyundead 0]

Tip 1, don't copy paste black text onto a forum with a black background.

That's why they call you a survivor! :)

[ramatakahn 38]

"9. Do not walk around with your gun out."

LOL Yeah right.

[OoieGooie 11]

Personally I feel that players who play once and rage about the game and then quit it aren't the types of player we want in the community anyway

As a new player, I can understand what you mean however some rage isnt to do with the fact they just die.

For me, calling this a zombie game is a bit of a joke. The zombies are just annoying. You could replace them with dogs, aliens or walking coke cans with teeth. Their animation and interactivity with the player as a whole is just bad.

Night time is unplayable. Even in real life, your eyes will adjust to some degree. Even boosting the brightness doesnt help. Again, bad. I gave up on nighttime when I walked off a building (which was actually pretty funny).

Hackers. Even as a new player, I'v had issues with them. These guys are the worst griefers in any game possible althogh thankfully I don't die from them much. This reason is enough to want to quit though due to all the time it can take to gather supplies etc. They can also confuse the hell out of new players. If these people really want the game to work, they need to play fairly. Not push new players away.

Looting is rather annoying. You need a real map to find what building you can loot, or at least, what area they're in. As time go's by you start to learn where things are but its not quick to pick up without a map. When I found out you couldnt get into any house or building I was somewhat dissapointed.

This game has little in regards to realism except for that one death. Injury's with blurred vision are all well and good but as a gamer, annoying. If I get to the stage where I can't tell where I am or going, I just kill myself. Same with broken bones. I could crawl around for hours looking for a cure but somtimes, its just faster to die.

You can't start with a friend. Co-op doesnt really exist yet and with the slow load times trying to start a new game with my brother is nothing but annoying. Iv given up DayZ for other games multiple times as I just couldn't be bothered.

Sorry to go on about negatives but the game is in Alpha and there is a lot to fix. There are also great moments in the game (like finding your first machine gun) and I like how you make your own story instead of having it spoon fed to you. I just feel there are more negatives then positives but this game will be great one day. That I am sure.

[BT_Fae_HB 24]

Interesting rules, would be ideal if there where some way of enforcing it or some form of fragemented government force who would hunt down relentless bandits in an attempt to allow survivors to form some form of survival society.

But sadly I've had too many people shoot on sight with me or sniper me from afar, so I'm basically shouting friendly don't come any closer you take one more step towards or come up those stairs and I'm taking the head shot.

You stop and there is some form of dialouge then we might get somewhere.

Edited July 30, 2012 by BT_Fae_HB

[UndeadAssassin 23]

FAIL :facepalm:

[beanyundead 0]

As a new player, I can understand what you mean however some rage isnt to do with the fact they just die.

For me, calling this a zombie game is a bit of a joke. The zombies are just annoying. You could replace them with dogs, aliens or walking coke cans with teeth. Their animation and interactivity with the player as a whole is just bad.

Night time is unplayable. Even in real life, your eyes will adjust to some degree. Even boosting the brightness doesnt help. Again, bad. I gave up on nighttime when I walked off a building (which was actually pretty funny).

Hackers. Even as a new player, I'v had issues with them. These guys are the worst griefers in any game possible althogh thankfully I don't die from them much. This reason is enough to want to quit though due to all the time it can take to gather supplies etc. They can also confuse the hell out of new players. If these people really want the game to work, they need to play fairly. Not push new players away.

Looting is rather annoying. You need a real map to find what building you can loot, or at least, what area they're in. As time go's by you start to learn where things are but its not quick to pick up without a map. When I found out you couldnt get into any house or building I was somewhat dissapointed.

This game has little in regards to realism except for that one death. Injury's with blurred vision are all well and good but as a gamer, annoying. If I get to the stage where I can't tell where I am or going, I just kill myself. Same with broken bones. I could crawl around for hours looking for a cure but somtimes, its just faster to die.

You can't start with a friend. Co-op doesnt really exist yet and with the slow load times trying to start a new game with my brother is nothing but annoying. Iv given up DayZ for other games multiple times as I just couldn't be bothered.

Sorry to go on about negatives but the game is in Alpha and there is a lot to fix. There are also great moments in the game (like finding your first machine gun) and I like how you make your own story instead of having it spoon fed to you. I just feel there are more negatives then positives but this game will be great one day. That I am sure.

Um, nothing of what you described exised in my experience but fair enough. Sorry your experience has been so bleak :( I kinda intended this thread to contain advice, in points, about how to survive for new-comers. These discussions regarding player motivations, game reviews and rage-quitting might belong on another thread. Just my opinion.

Edited July 30, 2012 by BeanyUndead