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  Day Z is a zombie survival modification for "Arma 2" and it's stand-alone expansion "Operation Arrowhead". It is currently in early alpha and frequently updated. You start spawned on the coast of Chernarus, a fictional post-soviet state based on satellite photos of the Czech Republic. You're given little but a gun with only a few clips, some flares and small amounts water and food. From there, you must do whatever it takes survive. Be it scavenging in abandoned buildings looking for food or weapons, to fighting hoards of zombies with your friends. Perma-death is always on. Meaning if you die, you must restart as a new character with starter gear and in one of the semi-random spawn locations. Should I buy Arma 2 + OA just for this mod? Arma 2 and to a lesser extent OA, are both buggy, confusing to learn and awkward at times, but if you can look past it's flaws, you'll find some of gaming's most amazing and memorable moments.  Zombies are fast, can climb and swim. They have to stop to attack however. It's best to shoot them as quickly and accurately as possible when they're after you. Go for body shots. They can also be found playing dead on the ground, be careful you don't get too close or they'll bite. The undead can only hurt and kill you, there is no infection mechanic. Once they notice someone, they'll enter a rage state with a howl/yell, give chase and never stop. Some zombies have been known to not give off any vocal ques, making them stealthy. "Monkey" zombies are a special type of undead who move along on all fours. They're slow and much easier to kill than regulars. Loot is rare and extremely valuable. Weapons, ammo, food, water, medical supplies, flares, navigation and lighting equipment are all essential for survival. These can only be found in settlements. Towns, cities, farms, etc. The bigger the settlement the better the loot, but also the higher concentration of undead. It's all about risk vs reward. Are you going to raid the outlying farms for the basics? Or are you venturing into a city of undead with fellow survivors for the best gear? The type of loot you find is dependent on the settlement. Military outposts contain military-grade equipment, hospitals contain blood packs and medicine, barns and houses have winchester shotguns and rifles with scopes, etc. PVP is an everchanging affair. You can team up with fellow players and go for strength in numbers, or hunt others for their supplies. Players who frequently shoot others are deemed "bandits" and given a different skin to make them distinguishable. Giving you an idea who's trustworthy and who's not. This is measured via a "humanity" counter. If your humanity drops below a threshold, you become a bandit. You can drop your humanity by shooting other players first (shot players are given two minutes to fire back without penalty). You raise humanity by healing others. Weapons are custom and varied. Civilian weapons like rifles, crossbows and pistols are standard. But this being a post soviet state, AKs and other military grade firearms can be found. NVG are some of the rarest and most sought after pieces of loot. Giving you an extreme advantage in the night, NVGs can be countered with flares and laying low. Crossbows while fairly weak, have reusable bolts and are silent to both players and zombies (everyone within a couple miles will hear your gunshots and where they're comin' from). Vehicles are a pain in the rear end, but offer unprecedented bonuses. They always appear broken down (except boats) and in need of repair. You can find repair parts scattered among the other loot. Various cars, trucks, jeeps, humvees, helicopters and boats are all obtainable. The commitment a vehicle requires will reward you with mobility far surpassing that of every player on foot, with some land vehicles having additional cargo space to store items, and a few helicopters come with heavy defensive firepower with ammo at the ready. Emplacements will appear in later versions. Sandbags, tents (already in-game) and possible safe zone(s) are yet to be added but on the devs "to do" list. There's currently a "entrenchment tool" in the form of a spade in the game, but it requires an engineer pack and I have no idea what those do together. Provisions include food, water and soda. You start with a refillable water canteen that can be filled at any water source (even the ocean for some reason). You have an easy to understand color guage on the right side of your screen. Green means you're all good. A red water icon means thirsty, red meal icon means hungry, etc. Next to those you also have a blood drop icon which includes a plus + sign when bleeding. Navigation is important. Maps, watches and compasses are very valuable. To know which way is north, what time it is, where you are and knowing where you need to go can save you a lot of time and better keep you away from zombies. GPSes are rare but also in-game. Medical system. You can bleed, break bones and experience pain. Lose too much blood and your screen will turn a white hue and you'll pass out and fall over frequently. Break a bone and you can't walk much less run. Under pain you'll shake uncontrollably, making aiming in first person difficult. Blood is regained from blood packs or by eating food. Pain can be stopped with painkillers. Bleeding is healed with bandages. Broken bones are fixed with morphine. Bleeding can also be seen visually by everyone (it's pretty dramatic). Once you're incapacitated, an hour glass will let you know how much time you have left before death. If a nearby player has the appropriate supplies, they can revive you. Day/Night cycle. Right now the cycle goes by a 1:1 time frame. All servers imitate real time. If it's dark where the server is located, it's dark in-game. Night-time is a very different game from playing in the day with sunlight. Zombies are the same, but it's generally pitch fuckin' black. Which is why you start with flares. Take notice that flares also make you a giant target to everyone else. Stealth plays a large role. Zombies are very vocal about being alarmed. You can get pretty close to them by moving slowly and staying low. You have an ear and eye icon on the right side of your screen that tells you how much noise you're making, and how visible you are. You can also throw empty whiskey bottles and smoke grenades to create a distraction. Hunting is the safest way to collect food. To do so, you'll need matches to start a fire, raw meat taken from an animal, a knife to gut the animal for it's meat, and a weapon to kill the animal. Cooked meat is the greatest healing and food item in the game.  Why don't they add more servers? They're always full! They have been. There were four servers in the beginning. That number has since skyrocketed to ten+ in less than a week. Everyone's trying to keep up with the mod's popularity, but it's not easy to do because of the money involved in running a server. The quickest way to get into a server is to click "join" in the server list for the server you want to join, then after you get the "number of players are maximum" message, just keep hitting spacebar or the enter key. What's the deal with zombies? Arma 2's engine tells civilians to run in random patterns to reach their destination. This means zig-zags, curves and sometimes straight towards you. Because of the engine, civilians can also glitch through walls occasionally. This has nothing to do with the mod. I don't have a compass; how do I know where to go? Arma is spergy heaven, in that the sun raises in the East and sets in the West. Use this and the maps in the PGS thread to navigate. At night you can use the North star. It follows the same path as the sun. Why do some servers require a version number I don't have, and how do I get it? Connecting to beta servers is simple. First things first, go to the ArmA II Beta Patch website and grab the latest version listed at the top. Once downloaded and ran, it will install like a mod, into its own addon folder. Go to your operation arrowhead install directory, then locate and edit "_runA2CO_beta.cmd" in notepad. Near the bottom you will see a few lines pointing to the beta executable and two -mod strings. Add ";@DayZ" to the end of the first, then save the file, and run it. Create a desktop shortcut to it if you'd like. Note: Because this uses a different executable, I don't know how to get it working with the steam overlay. I haven't had luck simply adding -mod strings to my launch options in steam, I've always had to run through the cmd files. -A Lamer How do I tell what vehicles are repairable and what aren't? "Wrecks" are for decoration and cover and can be discerned from their hosed up state. Usually missing tires, doors, etc. Repairable vehicles will allow you to get in them even when broken. Over time, you'll be able to tell from a distance what's a wreck and what's repairable. It's hard to refill my canteen, and when I do I lose my pack? These are both bugged to poo poo. You generally need to be at least waist deep but not swimming in the ocean to get the "refill canteen" prompt. To refill it in ponds and lakes, you must swim. This has the side-effect of sometimes losing your pack. This seems random as I've swam fine without losing anything at times, while losing my poo poo instantly at others. It's a better idea to drop your canteen and use strictly soda because of it's abundancy.   To run Dayz, you need Arma 2 and the expansion Operation Arrowhead. You can get them separately, or bundled together as Arma 2: Combined Operations. You can also get Arma X: Anniversary Edition, which includes Arma 1 and 2 with all expansions and DLC. If you only intend to play Dayz, you are best of buying Combined Operations. Buy Arma 2 Combined Operation. The developers online store has it for $ 27.55 USD. https://store.bistudio.com/arma2-combined-operations Or Steam has it for $29.99. http://store.steampowered.com/sub/4639/ Buy Arma X: Anniversary Edition. The developers online store has it for $55.11 USD. https://store.bistudio.com/armax-aniversary-edition Or Steam has it for $59.99. http://store.steampowered.com/sub/8701/ Once you own the games, and have them downloaded and installed, you need to download the Dayz files. Remember, these update ALL THE TIME, so check back often to make sure you are up to date. http://armafiles.info/dayz/ I have linked directly to the site, because they change there file hosting as much as they update the game, so just click on the "DayZ Mod Files" text to get to the latest host. Fellow goon dvorak is also keeping the files mirrored and he will do his best to keep them up to date. Thanks! http://dl.dropbox.com/u/190044/%40DayZ.7z  To install Dayz to the the Steam version, follow this guide. quote:1.) Make @dayz folder in To install Dayz on a non steam install, follow this guide. quote:1.) Make @dayz folder in There are also programs you can use to auto install and update, but I don't use them because I like to keep things fresh. Two guides have been posted in this thread for two different programs, I'll quote them here. marxismftw posted:To use the Arma II Launcher (http://www.armaholic.com/page.php?id=8241) semper wifi posted:To use 6 Updater... To check servers, use Day Z Commander. http://www.dayzcommander.com/  Trailer. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_rYnjStazTQ Somewhat of a LETS PLAY. Very funny and a good example what a fun group can be like. Please take note that this is a very early version of the mod being shown. The combat is nowhere near that laggy, nor do you start with a revolver anymore. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KRpPIyJDSEQ  Feel free to make suggestions for the OPPrivate Thread Large thanks to tehsid for contributions rizuhbull fucked around with this message at Jul 18, 2012 around 21:44 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 10:20 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 12:47 |
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I watched "The Days Ahead" and it's hilarious. I don't know how people would even move at night considering how dangerous it is during the day. mune fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 11:00 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 10:38 |
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This looks awesome. Guttered I didn't pick up Arma 2 when it was on sale...
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 11:02 |
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Yes...... just yes. So is there a standard goon group/server everyone plays on?
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 11:18 |
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SniperX posted:Yes...... just yes. So is there a standard goon group/server everyone plays on? Maybe we should make a steam group.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 11:40 |
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This mod is pretty fun, but if you want to play with friends, be prepared to do a lot of walking. Also one of the developers works for BI, and said that the mod currently works with ARMA 3 as well.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 11:41 |
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VarXX posted:This mod is pretty fun, but if you want to play with friends, be prepared to do a lot of walking. Also one of the developers works for BI, and said that the mod currently works with ARMA 3 as well. Does that mean there are randomized spawn in locations and you actually have to find each other.... sounds brutal.... I like it. rizuhbull posted:No. You have to play on one of the creator's official servers unfortunately. I think there's like five U.S. servers, and some European and Australian ones. Yes a steam group would be good and that's too bad about the servers. The college gaming club gets pretty sparse in the summer so I probably could've hosted one
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 11:50 |
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SniperX posted:Does that mean there are randomized spawn in locations and you actually have to find each other.... sounds brutal.... I like it.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 12:08 |
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That'd be awesome if anyone wants to try. I think because of the saving system. It's supposed to save your stats, equipment and location every five minutes to the developer's servers. But it's so glitchy at this time I wouldn't rely on it. You can carry over your character to any of the servers though, so that's pretty cool.SniperX posted:Does that mean there are randomized spawn in locations and you actually have to find each other.... sounds brutal.... I like it. Here's the group... http://steamcommunity.com/groups/dayzgoons We'll probably have to keep joining different servers because of the mod's popularity. They get crowded during prime time hours. I'm not doing poo poo today, so I'm gonna hop on. Let me know if anyone needs help installing the mod. It's incredibly easy as far as Arma mods go. rizuhbull fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 12:12 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 12:08 |
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That's awesome to hear that the Devs are open to hosting at least. We've got a few servers that are just going to be sitting/are sitting idle, and a lot of the guys play Arma 2 mods on a regular basis.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 12:17 |
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The only thing I don't like so far is its a 1:1 day/night cycle. I'd rather it be half that. That way it wont punish people playing at weird hours. Also. I have a spare 30 slot vent server doing nothing. I've now set it up for DayzGoons. IP: 208.100.16.48 Port: 3784 Pass: lljk Feel free to use it. Its much nicer then the ingame voip IMO. tehsid fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 12:37 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 12:26 |
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tehsid posted:The only thing I don't like so far is its a 1:1 day/night cycle. I'd rather it be half that. That way it wont punish people playing at weird hours. Also if you use anything other than the direct chat (locational voIP only people near you can hear) the server collectively loses it's poo poo so this is great for actually communicating over long distances as a group. rizuhbull posted:You can team up with fellow players This however is complete bullshit.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 14:47 |
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I just had a very good, if short run. I started off on the coast, as you do and made my way to the town I could see not far from me. After knocking off my first Zed, I had a look around to find none of the buildings could be entered. Bummer. So I walk a little a hill I saw in the distance, to find a barn, and small shed. Inside I find a crossbow, but no bolts, some food and drink. Happy with that, I go to make an entrance. I must have forgot to walk or something, because 4 or 5 Zeds run right into my face, as I walk out the door. I take them out with only a little damage taken. But my revolver ammo is running low. Like, 2 shots low. So I take the long, safe route to a small town I can see. No Zed's as far as I can tell. I make it there alive, and find two bolts, and a rifle with a little ammo. Fantastic. I see a radio tower on a hill not far from my position, so I decide I should use that to check out the area are me. Just as I make it to the top, I see a what I assumed to be a player, running from and easy 10 or more Zeds. They where to far away to help and knowing my luck and the player base, they would have shot me after I tried to help. But either way, watching that from a safe distance was hilarious. After I watch said player die a horrid death, I made my way to a small town no far from my position. One zed down, two zed down... three... No ammo. poo poo, I should have paid attention. As I notice this fact, a zed runs into me. So do his friends. I die, to what I can only assume to be the know dead players 10 zombie friends not 20 meters from where he died. That will teach me for laughing. tldr; I died, and it was fun. This owns.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 15:34 |
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Looks a little too realistic. a 1:1 day night cycle sounds like it's really poo poo. Then again, what time of year is it? Also, it sounds like it needs vehicles. Chernarus is big and hilly. I might still give it a try though, even though it sounds way too hardcore realistic. edit: gently caress re-read op, and needs Combined ops Doctor Butts fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 15:52 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 15:44 |
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There are vehicles, but they are extremely rare and need parts to be repaired.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 15:52 |
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Some developer needs to turn this concept into a full fledged game. This could be awesome with a better engine. Coop zombie survival in an open world map with RPG influences? YES!
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 15:54 |
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rizuhbull posted:Kilroy has a series called "The Days Ahead" which gives you a good idea of what the mod's about. Be warned, he cries a lot. Are the zombie sounds actually C/P of the Left 4 Dead zombie sounds? That's pretty distracting. This mod really came out of nowhere though, I'm actually considering buying ArmA2 just to play it. My last ArmAesque experience was fumbling around with the ridiculously hard Operation Flashpoint.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 15:55 |
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So, how do you install this? When I try to go onto their website its "secure" and needs a password.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 16:43 |
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^^^^^ http://www.mediafire.com/dayz SolidSnakesBandana posted:Are the zombie sounds actually C/P of the Left 4 Dead zombie sounds? That's pretty distracting. This mod really came out of nowhere though, I'm actually considering buying ArmA2 just to play it. They sure seem like they're straight from L4D. Its not really so much distracting as it is terrifying. A single suprise zombie can wreck you and bring a horde down on your head in seconds. Right now I wouldn't spend money just to play, though. Game is fun but buggy as hell and sometimes has 3 updates per day.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 16:47 |
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This sounds exactly like the right mix of extremely innovative and broken that I've always come to expect from ArmA II. Definitely trying this out tonight.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 16:53 |
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dvorak posted:This sounds exactly like the right mix of extremely innovative and broken that I've always come to expect from ArmA II. Definitely trying this out tonight. Try a russian or Australian sever if you play at night. It is DARK at night and you don't start with a map, compass, or watch. You literally don't even know what direction your headed unless you can navigate by the stars.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 17:14 |
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Colour me interested.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 17:52 |
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What's keeping me from dropping a couple of flares at the top of a large structure and murdering everyone who comes to investigate from the darkness around it? This seems like a good idea and something I would do.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 17:57 |
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YOURFRIEND posted:What's keeping me from dropping a couple of flares at the top of a large structure and murdering everyone who comes to investigate from the darkness around it? This seems like a good idea and something I would do. Absolutely nothing! Your character model is changed into a bandit model and that's about it.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 17:58 |
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I'm dickin' around in NY4 right now I think. Gonna make the castle in the north my evil lair of nefariousness. Just look for my name in the players list.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 18:11 |
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YOURFRIEND posted:What's keeping me from dropping a couple of flares at the top of a large structure and murdering everyone who comes to investigate from the darkness around it? This seems like a good idea and something I would do. Outisde of someone shooting you first, or the zombie horde attacking, nothing. You'll probably need a good rifle and it seems like finding good stuff takes forever. But if you want some empty tin cans or a car windshield I have some good news for you.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 18:13 |
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YOURFRIEND posted:What's keeping me from dropping a couple of flares at the top of a large structure and murdering everyone who comes to investigate from the darkness around it? This seems like a good idea and something I would do. Hah, it's like you're one of the Psychos from Dead Rising. "Who would do such a thing?" Apparently you.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 18:14 |
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Is there a lot of teaming up or is it mostly everyone running around solo and dying horribly?
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:36 |
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folgore posted:Is there a lot of teaming up or is it mostly everyone running around solo and dying horribly? From my limited play time there are a fair number of small (2-3 people) groups and a bunch of solo bandits. Not everyone will shoot on sight, but you'd better assume they will. Combined Ops you need Arma2 and OA together vvvvvvvvvvvv Shalebridge Cradle fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 19:54 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:42 |
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So this is just Arma 2 right? I don't have to reinstall Operation arrowhead or anything do I? I might actually reinstall Arma 2 for this.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:51 |
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Okay this is basically the game I've waited my whole life to play, I hope not being familiar with Arma 2 and never playing multiplayer anything isn't a handicap!
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:53 |
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the black husserl posted:Okay this is basically the game I've waited my whole life to play, I hope not being familiar with Arma 2 and never playing multiplayer anything isn't a handicap! Its probably going to take you half an hour to figure out how to throw a flare or change weapons. You're going to walk for an hour and get killed with one shot from a player you can't even see. Its actually pretty great.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:56 |
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Maybe I glossed over it but I can't seem to find any info on what the actual goal of the game is. Is it just to hoard the most stuff? And then try not to have it stolen by other players? Kinda reminds me of Minecraft PvP in that regard.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 19:59 |
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the black husserl posted:Okay this is basically the game I've waited my whole life to play, I hope not being familiar with Arma 2 and never playing multiplayer anything isn't a handicap! Play the tutorial for OA to get used to the tiny weirdness of the ArmA2 UI and engine. Once you learn the tiny details, like the context sensitive action menu, it plays just like any other FPS. Be prepared to be disoriented and shot when you spawn though. Plus no map an compass apparently... Going to try playing tonight. I hope my experience with Foxtrot Uniform helps me navigate the eastern parts of Chernarus.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 20:02 |
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blackguy32 posted:So this is just Arma 2 right? I don't have to reinstall Operation arrowhead or anything do I? You need OA as well. Fun story, I finally got to do more than get shot not even a minute after I spawned. Though, I was shot AT. I spawned in some nowhere village I can't remember the name of, followed by hearing gunshots and bullets landing by me before the intro text had even vanished. Pissed off that I was about to be spawnkilled for a third time in a row, I started firing wildly at my attacker with my revolver. I'm not exactly sure why, but this caused him to panic and make a mad dash out of town. I thought maybe he was getting a new vantage point but I wasn't shot at anymore after that. Come to think of it I should have tracked him down and finished him off, he probably had something valuable he really really didn't want to lose. OrangeSoda fucked around with this message at Apr 27, 2012 around 20:08 |
| # ? Apr 27, 2012 20:04 |
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Shalebridge Cradle posted:Its probably going to take you half an hour to figure out how to throw a flare or change weapons. You're going to walk for an hour and get killed with one shot from a player you can't even see. Awesome this is what I love doing in games and I hate getting a compass. I just hope nobody calls me a bad word online cause thats why I usually dont play multiplayer.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 20:09 |
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Oh god, this looks loving incredible. A shame Arma 2 doesn't have much in the way of melee combat though.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 20:11 |
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SolidSnakesBandana posted:Maybe I glossed over it but I can't seem to find any info on what the actual goal of the game is. Is it just to hoard the most stuff? And then try not to have it stolen by other players? Kinda reminds me of Minecraft PvP in that regard. I've been doing mostly lone wolf hunting and raiding towns when I have the ammo for it. Hunting rabbits with a winchester can be remarkably fun and intense when anyone can run into you in the forest.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 21:14 |
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The only thing keeping me from this is that I don't have the money for OA til payday. Are there any coupons kicking around, maybe? If not, I'll just have to wait a couple weeks. It'll give it time to get some more polish.
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 21:15 |
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| # ? May 20, 2013 12:47 |
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Switched.on posted:The only thing keeping me from this is that I don't have the money for OA til payday. Are there any coupons kicking around, maybe? If not, I'll just have to wait a couple weeks. It'll give it time to get some more polish. Well it is slightly cheaper on sprocket than steam https://store.bistudio.com/arma2-operation-arrowhead/
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| # ? Apr 27, 2012 21:22 |
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