Mapfinding

[peponf 0]

I know thanks to the forum that before adventuring up north it's better to have the map with you and, yes, the couple of times I tried to leave the coast without any guidance I ended up lost and unable to find even a farm or a lake to get food and water. But maybe that's because it was night time on the server, so don't start calling me idiot.

The thing is I never stumbled upon the map (lots of watches, though) and I searched towns throughly, what am I doing wrong?

And more important, is it really useful by it itself or it needs the GPS as well? I know I could rely on the fanmade maps, but seems to me that's a little bit of cheating. Yeah, I'm a sucker for rules, sorry.

[Smithburg 4]

What servers are you looking in? I've notived the NY servers are fucking barren. But the virginia ones tend to have more stuff

[peponf 0]

I'm from Spain, so I tend to use European servers mostly. Anyway, thanks for the tip.

[TeaLeaf 5]

It's totally random if appears but check supermarkets, restaurants and office buildings. Those buildings have the most "civilian" spawn points which may spawn maps.

The above comment about servers making a difference is probably just coincidence.

[boomnet@blueyonder.co.uk 17]

There should be a map at every bus stop....

[secretagentman 0]

It's funny (and sometimes a bit frustrating) with the random chance of finding different loot that sometimes certain items seem entirely elusive even though they're relatively common. Personally I've never seen a pack of matches yet! Happy hunting though

-Cyd

[peponf 0]

The other day I found no less than four boxes of matches and two hatchets in like fifteen minutes. Useless to say I ran to the forest and started enough fires to burn the whole country down.

[antorugby 0]

Everytime I need a map and a compass I go into Cherno and check the restaurants, and always found them.

The Gps is useless if you know how to read a map.

[paecmaker 0]

I have found map a few times, mostly in cities(restaurants and supermarkets).

I have never used a gps because if I got a map I for most of the time already know where I am.

[Olandsexport 1]

As stated above, grocers are great for finding all sorts of cool equipment. The red buildings that look kind of like school halls also have watches, maps, and compasses. A little bit of patience and some luck is all that's needed.

[aragos 1]

A couple of basic map reading hints, from an old Army guy :)

1) If you are lost, but have a Map: Find the highest point you can. The numbers on the map are the elevation numbers. If the point on the map says "385" and is surrounded by circles, it is a mountain top or the highest point in the area.

2) Sun rises in the east and sets in the west. Face toward the sun, in the morning, and that means North is to your left, and South to your right.

3) Night. Best time for a new character. Spawn in, crouch, and run for the woods. Cities are killers w/o NVDs. Just get out of the spawn area and get inland. The open plains in the far West aren't bad for fast movement. Get to a wooded area and either wait for dawn or respawn in a day server. Night is, quite simply, the safest time to move. The problem is getting lost. Luckily, the game uses real world sky graphics as well; look for the Big Dipper, follow it down to the end--the North Star. Once you know North, you can figure out your direction and location. Keep in mind that it takes about 2-3 canteens to make it across the map. Consequently, if you are running and run out of water, you have moved appox. 1/3 of the map. Pace count (counting steps) doesn't seem to jive with the map, so that method is probably not the best for measuring distance.

4) Roads and landmarks. Best ones are intersections. Several online maps have translations of Cyrillic to English on the maps. That will help with roadsigns. If you are lucky and have a compass, you'll never get lost if you find a road. Understand there are different kinds--'hardball' (e.g., the Yellow Brick Roads) are the ones with dashed lines and asphalt. The second are improved dirt/gravel roads (lighter yellow on the map). The third are trails and unimproved dirt roads. They will be an outline of the road.

5) Great land marks for orientation. Powerlines: In DayZ the world makes a bit of sense--powerlines run to and from power stations. Power stations sometimes have Fire Houses, which have supplies. Not a bad way to get armed up quickly. Keep in mind, others have thought of this too. Water Towers: They look like Lollypops on the map. Only some villages/towns have them, but that makes them valuable to id a town from a distance. Ruins: Castles and ruins are easy to see, and are normally on the tops of mountains/hills. Very valuable for id'ing your location. Keep in mind that castles have loot, so they tend to draw people and usually have a contingent of Zeds.

6) When in doubt...--run in one direction only. You'll hit a road, trail or other landmark sooner or later. If you try to follow woodlines or ridgelines, you can easily end up running in a very, very large circle. Many of the villages,until you get used to them, look completely different from different angles--you may think you are at a new place but have really just spent the last 10 mins. running in the woods.

Hope it helps!

[c.chris.perry@gmail.com 17]

http://picacid.com/arma2/loot_en.html That will tell you where everything spawns. Looks like maps have a chance to spawn almost anywhere.

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6) When in doubt...--run in one direction only. You'll hit a road' date=' trail or other landmark sooner or later. If you try to follow woodlines or ridgelines, you can easily end up running in a very, very large circle. Many of the villages,until you get used to them, look completely different from different angles--you may think you are at a new place but have really just spent the last 10 mins. running in the woods.

[/quote']

Not always, I listened to a clanmate as he ran in one direction for an hour, saying that the woods were getting thicker and thicker, until he realized he had run into the wilderness of the edge of the north side of the map. If possible run south or east (use the sun), then you will at least hit the coast at some point.

[peponf 0]

A couple of basic map reading hints' date=' from an old Army guy :)

[/quote']

I'm gonna print this right now. Man, this game is amazing.

[fishodeath 0]

Yea, it may be "cheating", but I tend to just use the online maps. I don't feel too bad as someone who's survived this long and has the kit you spawn with should have a map. Or I pretend he's a local and knows the area. Plus the online maps seem better/easier to read.

If I'm lost I'll find then follow a road (from the woods/field, not ON the road...) until I find a road sign, then look it up on the map to see where I am. From there navigating via landmarks is pretty simple. Having a compass makes it a cakewalk.

[jackofblades72 17]

Fun fact:

ArmA 2 lets you set waypoints with even only a map. To my knowledge, GPS is simply luxury.

Shift + Left Click anywhere. Doesn't work on all servers. This should make your life twenty times less stressful. Only you can see the waypoint and it shows up on screen.