Joining a server for the 1st time

[Nite (DayZ) 1]

Hey guys,

So after watching numerous videos of this mod on youtube, I finally decided to take the plunge and buy arma 2 / download dayz.

I downloaded the 1.7 patch and after some tinkering finally got it running, the problem I have is when joining servers. I either get stuck on the retrieving data screen or I get the black loading screen.

Any ideas ? I've been trying to join a server for the last hour with no luck :|

[Tarman 4]

I had terrible problems setting the mod up for the very first time.. and used to get the same problems as yourself.

I was told I was simply running the wrong version of arma2.

So after much fidling about, i think I got it down, using a tool provided by one of the devs (not official).. I was helping my friend setup DayZ also, so I sent him an email.. If anything there can help.. then good =)

But its also worth noting that not all servers run the same verison. You may be best to filter by build number (visible on main menu)

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Heres what to do... Though I'm not sure if the story will be different as you are running the free version of Arma 2; but i'm confident it won't cause any problems.

First off... Go to you're steam folder and make a BACKUP copy of arma 2 operation arrowhead folder; stick it on you're desktop or something,.. incase something goes tits up during installation, you have a nice clean installation to fall back on without having to redownload 10 gigs again.

http://forums.steampowered.com/forums/showthread.php?t=2705492

Follow the instructions on that post.

Download the simple installer; online or offline, doesn't matter, offline comes with all the files in a single download, online gives you an installer that downloads the files when you run it.

Once you've downloaded that, go to this site http://www.arma2.com/beta-patch.php

and download ARMA2_OA_Build_XXXXX.zip (top of the page)

Install the exe in the zip file, and you should be good to go.

The simple installer will give you 2 desktop icons (batch files). One called DayZ and the other DayZbeta.

Run the beta one.

The game will start in windowed mode, but you can ALT+Enter to full screen once it reaches the in-game menu.

You can tell if you have installed the mod properly by looking in the top right corner, it should say @dayz, EXPANSION, beta and maybe a couple others.

If that doesn't work, resort to you're backup copy of operation arrowhead and try find a walk-through that works.

[terex 322]

Wait a few minutes, make sure you are joining a 1.7 server with at least 10+ people in it so you know it is a working one. Servers are kinda iffy today, getting flooded?

[Lukio (DayZ) 24]

Hey Nite

adding

-world=Chernarus

to the startup parameters has helped me cut down on the loading message thing. It will basically load the Chernarus map during startup so it won't have to load in the background when you are connecting. Sometimes I still have to wait around 20-30s but then I usually am in-game.

[Nite (DayZ) 1]

I am currently launching from Steam so have -mod=@dayz added in to the launch options.

Would I add the above command after that one?