solo sandbox goodness

[stellarfirefly 2]

In investigating the steps to set up a private server, I set up a local instance and started messing around in it solo. And surprisingly enough, I've been having quite a bit of fun with it for some time now. DayZ makes for an excellent sandbox platform for just messing around. For the challenge, I've imposed some restrictions on myself:

• Set for your choice of difficulty. It's rather fun with no crosshairs, no range on HUD, etc.
  

• No using external maps on websites. In-game map only. No using waypoints, and self-location turned off. It has really taught me to both use a compass and to identify location based upon terrain features. If I know where a town's grocery or hospital is located, it's either because I remembered from online play, or I actually performed some recon. Getting from town to town is by following roads or power lines. And there's just no way that I have memorized every vehicle spawn point. Finding even an Old Bike is a joyous occasion.
  

• No increasing brightness/gamma. Nighttime is dark as pitch, and scary as hell. I regularly light up a good chunk of major cities by tossing flares all over and I still get jumped from the darkness. (Imagine that, using flares and chemlights for their intended purpose because they aren't "shoot me, I'm here" signs.) Lightning is actually your friend... until the thunder rolls around and makes you miss that nearby zombie's sound.
  

• One life. I'm not quite up to this yet, but in time I'm going to force this rule on myself. If I die, unless it's because of some bug or glitch, then I'm going to drop the database and start completely clean.
  

People keep insisting that playing this way is no fun, but it's obvious that they are simply imposing their idea of fun upon others and assuming everybody is the same. I like sandbox games, and I'm actually having a blast. As for the concern that there is no objective or point, well, just like any other sandbox game you can always set some up for yourself. Mine are often:

• Long term: Collect at least one of every firearm in the game. And of course, enough storage space to keep them all. (Very challenging with only one life.)
  

• Long term: Collect at least one of every vehicle in the game, at least as much as possible since there's no guarantee that they all spawned. Fully repair them all. (As with all long-term goals, very challenging with one life.)
  

• Load up with a single LOUD weapon and as much ammo as possible, then unload on zombies at a major city. See how many you can take out before you either die or run out of ammo. Preferably the latter.
  

• Survey the entire map. Recon all cities and mark out significant locations such as groceries, hospitals, industrial complexes, military structures, etc. For a real challenge, find and mark as many deer stands as you can without using an online map. (Sadly, can't do marking with the in-game map yet. Markers seem to disappear with server restarts. Gotta print a map out and mark that.)
  

• Invite a friend or two into your game and mess around. The game is actually far easier when blood transfusions are available to you, though. Living off of hunted animals with limited pack space is a challenge. So if your friends also want a challenge, disallow the use of blood packs.
  

...Or just use the game for practice. Find and repair a helicopter and fly it. Get some sniping and zeroing practice when you find a good scoped weapon. Test the game mechanic limits for zombie hearing and sight. Explore the map and look for good infiltration, recon, and sniping points. The sky is pretty much the limit.

[Humaine 3]

I've had fun with my own server as well. messed around, building campsite, outposts... repairing vehicles ive found. After repairing and filling up my helicopter, I got it off the ground and went to find a clear area near a gas station to refill. I used Auto-Hover at first, so I could get use to the controls. Turned it off.... immediately flipped upside down and crashed into an island... lol... need more practice! lol

[Toilet 204]

Meh, not even trolling but I really fail to see the point of this game without player interaction.

[stellarfirefly 2]

I told my friends that I finally posted this, and so of course they want me to add all of the ideas an scenarios that they've come up with as well. :)

• Do the one-weapon mass zombie kill thing mentioned above, but at NIGHT. Obviously, no bright/gamma up.
  

• Rebuild any vehicle (motor vehicle, not an Old Bike) within N hours. The idea is that the area is about to be nuked in N hours, and there's no way you can run out in time if on foot. This one actually depends too much on luck in finding a vehicle in the first place, IMHO.
  

• Limit yourself to only 2 weapons for the entire game: One common weapon and one rare weapon. It is actually easiest if you choose a hatchet for your common weapon, or at least something for which you can find ample ammo like a Makarov. (She actually tried out a 1-weapon limit at first, but that sucked for high-end arms. Ever try to farm a DMR with nothing else?)
  

• Simply see how many zombies you can kill before you die. Personally, I haven't yet broken 350. I need practice. :(
  

• Build a Tent City. Just farm tents and create a giant refugee camp. I have some weird friends.
  

[Dayzo 182]

Any tutorials or websites with regard to setting up a local server?

What are the key ingredients?

[stellarfirefly 2]

Meh, not even trolling but I really fail to see the point of this game without player interaction.

Yah, sandbox games are not for everybody. Some people need either other players, or specific quests provided by the game itself.

[stellarfirefly 2]

Any tutorials or websites with regard to setting up a local server?

What are the key ingredients?

The very basics may be retrieved from https://github.com/ShadowDuke/Saintly-DayZ

There are a few little caveats and gotchas but it is for the most part straightforward when following the instructions there. There are other packages available, but Saintly and Saintly-Lingor are the ones that I use.

[Toilet 204]

Yah, sandbox games are not for everybody. Some people need either other players, or specific quests provided by the game itself.

Yeah, don't need quests or any bullshit like that. I just feel the game is far too easy with just the zombies as the protagonist. And by player interaction I don't mean for pvp necessarily. Some of the best moments in video games for me have come from the tense stand offs in this mod. I would much rather have those moments than set "fix all vehicles" as a challenge for myself.

If you are determined to play on a server by yourself or with just a few friends, why not 100 head shots out of 100 kills?

Still, it won't beat the adrenaline from bumping into another player.

[stellarfirefly 2]

I understand, and it's what I meant by "need... other players", whether for PvP or cooperation. Pure headshots is certainly a goal one can set, though the current game is too glitchy to make it much fun; the zombies jerk around so fast that they can essentially dodge bullets. :) And I'd imagine most people will just keep playing on the first missed headshot anyway, instead of suiciding and starting over.

I certainly like DayZ multiplayer with bandits as well, so I would never want that to go away. But I am certainly glad that a sandbox experience, whether solo or with friends, is also possible from time to time.