A thread for DAYZ / Rust / Nether

Only v recently found out about these games, which all seem like slight variations of the ultimate greatest game of all time: STALKER. Just about to d/l DAYZ now, prob give Rust a go in a few weeks and am chomping at the bit for Nether (gameplay video looks incredible).

DAYZ: http://www.fastcompany.com/3025201/most-creative-people/dayz-a-murder-simulator-psychology-study-and-zombie-game-tests-your-emo

RUST: http://www.gamespot.com/articles/rust-is-the-latest-steam-early-access-game-to-make-loads-of-money/1100-6417232/

NETHER: http://www.pcgamesn.com/indie/nether-dayzstalker-mashup-makers-project-awakened

So, who's playing any of these? Any thoughts?

There's also Survarium from some of the team behind the (sadly) aborted STALKER 2: http://survarium.com/en but we're looking at about a year before it's released.

And Lost Alpha which is an epic mod of the first Stalker game and sounds incredible but it's fan-made and been in the making for about six years so who knows if it'll ever come out: http://www.moddb.com/mods/lost-alpha

Keeping with the zombie thing, I finally bought Last Of Us the other week, been playing it a bit but about to sack it off for DAYZ because it sounds so great and more my thing (open world, not strict narrative like LoU, more brutal, less hollywood). Not sure if this (and Rust) are the kind of games where early adopters end up doing better than late-comers, stashes of weapons, best space to set up camp, etc.

Big concern now is if my 5 year old pc will be able to run these properly without blue-screening. If not, it'll be time to blow a grand on a new pc just to play all these.

Qu: did anyone play the DayZ mod for Arma 2 and is it different enough from the standalone version to be worth playing? Is it better/worse? And are Arma 2 & 3 any cop for someone who craves anything STALKERlike?

Not played day z yet, though I am keen. Was inspired by the "it puts the lotion on its skin or it gets the hose again" steam review that was doing the rounds to have a wee go on rust a few weeks ago and it was brutal. Extended periods of scrabbling around without seeing anyone, just trying to work out wtf was going on, only to be killed as soon as I found another person. Definitely don't have the time to put into these games right now, but I imagine they could be really good fun with a friend or two.

Very much enjoying reading about these at the moment, a lot of people are emphasising the social experiment aspect. There was a new blog set up by someone off of one website (kotaku or rock paper shotgun maybe, on phone so can't check) about either rust or day z (again, can't check) where she came to the conclusion that the best way to play these was to be as cooperative as possible, only killing others when they forced you to it. I think I broadly agree that the most interesting possible scenarios lie in this direction

Not read enough to know what the current consensus is on the early access model and it's possible implications, but certainly I'm enthused about it right now. These two, starbound and the other new one that's selling fast on steam atm seem to be the biggies but there are other little oddities out there like sir you are being hunted which could gather traction.

Goes without saying I suppose but I would much, much rather put up my dollar to help indie developers get their ambitious/weird/intriguing projects off the ground than just stick more money in ea's pocket, or whoever. Of course the danger of early access is that the developers pander too much to the demands of the hardcore early-adopting element at the expense of accessibility. But eh, didn't seem to hurt minecraft none

first 30 mins of dayz has been a frustrating experience:

a) im flung into the game at night-time so it's completely dark and i can't see anything or work out what to do.

b) after 15 minutes of panicked running into blackness i finally work out how to turn the flashlight on and it's almost useless. points in a weird off-left direction (possibly trying to emulate how people hold it in real life) so i can't see what's in front of me. when i finally get to a building walking through doors or up and down stairs is a major pain in the arse.

tried a few different servers but they're all at night. wonder if the whole dayz world follows the same clock? can't help thinking i'd be having a lot more fun if it was simply daylight. going to read a bunch of 'starters guides' now to see if i'm making any dumb errors with all this

yeah the social experiment thing seems fascinating. i really don't know what i'll do when i meet someone so i'm excited to see how i react. initial thought is that i'll try to work with people as much as possible as i'm a complete newcomer but i wonder if this'll change further down the line when i know my shit

oh yeah, and all the controls were tagged to silly keys so spent another 30 minutes changing them to my usual set-up with first-person games like this (left-handed so all my functions are tagged on the right hand of the keyboard, insert, del, arrow keys etc). a huge amount of keys to alter, a real wearying task

Ok sorted all that nonsense above, now heavily involved in this game and love it. Can't wait for the ironed-out proper 1.0 version, mind. Hopefully it'll have some actual planned missions rather than just plunging you into chaos but if not, hey, still awesome.

Tips for people starting out though: keep trying new servers until you find a daylight one. Night-time is no way to enter Dayz. If you're left-handed be prepared to spend about an hour reassigning keys and re-reassigning them when you figure out what's what.

nether is useless to me at the moment - no way of changing key-bindings and im left-handed so bah. looks great though, can't wait til they get it all finished. anyone know the average time scale for things like this? will dayz, rust, nether etc leave alpha and become 'full' in 3 months or 6 or 12 or what?

as for dayz, it's taking up so much of my time right now, pretty much everything i wanted from a game. i was interested to see how i'd react when coming across another player - would i help them out or instantly kill them? i couldn't tell until it happened. turns out i was a kindly player, giving up food and water to those who needed it, cheery chats about where in the world we're from etc.

just now i was geared up to the teeth, a big gun with a bayonet, the all-important fire axe, loads of food, water, etc. in the distance i saw a zombie chasing a guy who had nothing except the t-shirt on his back. ran over half-thinking 'shall i wait til the zombie kills him and see what he has on him?' but then thought better of it and slaughtered the zombie. had a quick chat with the guy, he was from the uk too. told him where to find the zombie-slaying fire axe and bid him well and started off down a road to another town. then i see him out of the corner of my eye running over to me, i groan thinking he wants to team up and i don't want that when all of a sudden BANG BANG 'you are unconscious... you are dead'. he'd killed me with the fire axe i told him to get.

i was stunned into silence until i remembered that the gun i was carrying was actually one i took of the body of another player who i sneaked up on and bludgeoned to death with a crowbar a few hours earlier and managed to suppress all memory of. goes around comes around i guess.

but yeah what a game. im blowing a grand on a new pc just so i can play this with all the settings turned up to max.

(and the guy who betrayed me is called 'st4rgasm', i vow here and now to track that fucker down and murder him in his sleep)

Okay just installed this. But can't connect to anything, keeps saying "bad version"

?

that's weird, it's working fine for me. all i can suggest is google the problem, the dayz msg boards are pretty comprehensive so you might find help there. once you've sussed the game out in a few days let me know and we should meet up on a server - same goes for anyone else on here. v surprised this game hasn't had more traction amongst ilxors, seems like the most ilxy game ever what with all the 'deep hidden meaning' stuff etc.

as for nether, seems a bit dumber, more blam blam kill monster, but nothing wrong with that and looks pretty, slicker than dayz. still can't get properly into it though because of the key-binding issue - i know it's alpha but come on, ability to change the keys should be one of the first things on offer!

Got it working. Only had time for quick half hour though, will play properly at some point this weekend though.

my advice: go in blind, spend a couple of hours just running about sussing things out, don't read any tips or anything.

having said that, there's a few things that you should know that'll make life a lot easier (skip now if you don't want minor gameplay spoilers):

1) first thing you need: a fire axe. kills zombies with one hit, no other melee weapon does this.
2) to kill a zombie you need to circle it, keeping hitting right so you're moving around it then at the right time swing your axe at it and boom one shot kill. i died so many times at the hands of zombies before realising this.
3) eat and drink as much as you can straight away until it says 'you are stuffed', you start at a v low energy level so it's important to get that up as soon as possible.
4) roads always lead somewhere. early on i made the mistake of running across fields and through woods for literally hours and got nowhere.
5) start on one of the friendly or low-pop servers if you don't to ease your way in. oddly, a lot of the german ones are all 'pve' (player vs enemy) and 'friendly'.
6) if you're under attack from a sniper or chased by zombies there's a way of making sure you don't die, if say you're kitted up and don't want to lose it. it's frowned upon by most players but hey needs must at times - just log out the second you realise you're gona die. takes a few mins to log back into a new server and you'll be cursed by other players though.
7) USE THE MAP. took me a cpl of days before i bothered working out the map but v glad i did, opens up an entirely new way of playing the game. you can easily suss out where you are by finding the nearest road sign and working out the position of the buildings. http://dayzdb.com/map/chernarusplus

there's a ton more things you need to know but that's the most helpful stuff for people starting out.

cool thanks for all that

Played a fair bit yesterday and enjoyed it. Although I did come a cropper from some guys who pretended to be friendly and then proceeded to thump me to death. Had no weapons or anything at the time.

So simply now I just don't trust anyone in the game and will use that map to get me some weapons.

Food is really rare isn't it. I hope in future developments we get to hunt for our own food. Most of the time I die from starvation.

Yeah I found a fire axe really early on and its great for single zombie killing. I also found a hacksaw but I used that to open tins instead!

And yes what the fuck is going on with the night time, can't see anything at all and none of the flashlights or lamps work.

you need to drag the battery in your inventory onto the torch then turn it on but yeah don't bother with night time, unless you're using it to loot (less people on a night server so more chance of finding stuff).

i think in future versions there'll be animals in the woods to hunt. you can use hacksaws to open cans but screwdrivers and knives are better (you lose less food) and if you ever find a can-opener you've probably found the rarest and most valuable item in the entire game!

i used to die from starvation a lot but you soon learn how to work around it. best bet is to guzzle everything you see straight away until you get the 'stuffed' indicator, then you can travel from village to village without worrying about thirst or hunger. your aim should be to get the 'healthy' and 'hydrated' indicators as soon as possible.

forgot to say above, second after the fire axe should be a backpack so you can store food and cans of drink. as a general rule it's best to just head north away from the towns and villages on the coast as most people spawn there so it gets looted quickly, and plenty of badboy bastards go and tool up then head back to those cities to blow new spawns away - which incidentally is what i'm on my way to doing now. my initial lofty ideals about only helping people have gone out the window - i've not seen another human for days and i'm dying to blow someone away with my magnum, just to see how it feels.

finally reached my busy seaside town. ran around for 30 minutes, no sign of anyone. got to the main strip before you reach the sea and was considering running into it just to see what happened, when out of nowhere i see a gangly guy pelt it past me down the road. no helmet, basic black t shirt and jeans, clearly not been around long. im wearing an evil clown mask, an assault vest, military pilot helmet, magnum strapped to my chest, a moisin armed with bayonet sticking up from my left shoulder and a bloodstained fire axe on the other. no wonder he shit it.

i chase him for a good 10 minutes. why? because he was running. caught up to him and was about to pull out my magnum and blow his chest open when he turned to me, hands by his side and said 'uh hi'. this threw me a bit. i paused and asked where he was from. 'wales'. i said where i was from and it went on all awkward like this for a while. real skewed power dynamic that neither of us was comfortable with. him wondering if i was going to kill him (surely must, you don't CHASE someone for innocent reasons) and me thinking 'damn i can't kill him now, ive heard his voice and know where he's from. he's practically human. went on a bit like this then the guy simply said "you can shoot me in the face if you want". i said 'really?!', he said yeah sure, said he was sick of this one. took a few steps back, faced him dead on, pulled out my magnum and fired. twice in the face, once in the chest and he went down. i scavenged his body but he had nothing except a torch and dirty t shirt.

i stand back and look around, wondering where to go next when all of a sudden another guy comes running right up to me, i gasp panicking until he says 'lol me again!' - his new spawn must have put him super nearby. i start to talk to him, to tell him where to find an axe when he interrupts going 'hey woah there's a guy there watch out' - in an instant - BOOM my new friend goes face down on the dirt, dead again. i run toward this invading murdering bastard, gun raised, bayonet at face height. he spots this and runs off behind a fence. i reach the fence and look around. no sign of him. i run the length of the fence, vowing to avenge my friend's death until i look across the street and there he is and he sees me. he raises his gun. i raise mine. we both shoot. 'you are unconscious'. game over.

haha damn that's rough

Met a guy in passing who just told me "Hey there's a hard hat in that green house, see ya". So I felt that I had to go get it just to be polite. Trouble is it's bright red. So then I had to run around with this fucking bullseye red hat on head.

Died of starvation so don't have to worry about it now.

So if I change servers I keep my stuff?

haha why is he telling you to get a hat? you should just nod and carry on, fuck a red hat

yeah if you change servers you keep everything, except if you click on a 'hardcore' server you end up newly-spawned again. but if you log back into a normal server your old guy & goodies are all there. what server are you hanging about on mostly? for the first few days i'd say keep to the 'friendly' and 'pve' (player vs enemy) ones, just to get your bearings and to build up some weapons.

i do have to warn you ste, i will shoot you in the face when we first meet.

as for nether, much more gung-ho and less psychologically draining but still fun. finally worked out how to keybind, so for all you lefties:
https://forums.playnether.com/showthread.php?7077-How-to-Keybind&highlight=bindings

protip: just search your entire c: drive for "NetherInput.ini" and change the details in each of those (should be 3).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hV8U-iMxzNw

^ totally doing that batshit yellow box thing

game seems ripe for all manners of weird shit

does the voice chat fade in and out depending on distance?

Not played for a while, am waiting for a microphone at the moment. I need to get back into multiplayer gaming on my pc

NI, I'm on generic UK servers mostly, not sure which one right now. I'm trying to stick to the quiet ones so I can at least get some stuff without getting killed.

amon, dont think the voice chat volume depends on distance. im guessing once you're in a certain perimeter it just switches on and stays at a constant level - could be wrong though. im having trouble with my mic, can't get it to work and not sure how to do it. i just spent a few days mooching about an abandoned ship in the north-west bay so finding it rare to come across people to help out, though the other night i came in late, drunk and ended up in a nearby village with two guys, one german one portugese. they had nothing but the clothes they were spawned in, seemed lost and in need of guidance so i took them under my wing and we all went off sprinting down the beach in the sun on the way to cherno ready to axe open some bandits but then my internet connection dropped out and i lost them and now i'll never know what happened to those plucky european dudes :(

ste, give us a shout when you've got to grips with it it all and we can go set some sneaky traps for shady lols (you stand naked on a highway while i hide behind a bush and pick off any dumb good samaritans)

what properly cracked me up about the yellow box bit above is that when the guy hands it over you see what's inside (it automatically shows you)... and it's just a few sticks of wood

trying to work out what's what with it, like when i log out does my guy remain in the game for 30 seconds or so? what about if there's a power cut and my pc goes off, is that the same?

haha in that box video it seemed like the voice faded out as they were running away, and then they were trying to whisper when hiding inside the building

http://forums.dayzgame.com/index.php?/topic/7954-voice-text-communication/

Direct communication - Those who are near you hear voice coming from your character. Character's mouth moves when you talk. Voice fades over distance and cuts off at 80 meters.

voice fading is such a gr8 detail to me, so immersive

do you play this, amon?

Found the can opener :)

So now I don't spill the beans anymore

no i don't have windows :(

what server you on ste? im gona come hunt you down and take what's rightfully mine (a can opener)

earlier today i chased a guy down the beach in the sun for 40 minutes, waving my fire axe in the air and laughing while he ran for his life. i've become a truly bad fucker in this game. it changes you, man, it changes you

installing rust right now - i hadn't seen thread until now but the concept looks interesting so i'll give it a shot. i am scared.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PXTQhNQw9wo

come on ilx, is no one else playing this? cannot. get. enough.

no S.T.A.L.K.E.R. thread weirdly, so gona put this here. and while the whole east european post-apocalyptic chernobyl goodtimes game doesn't seem all that popular on ilx, it's worth mentioning that the ~decade in the making mod of stalker shadow of chernobyl is finally out and it's fucking awesome:

http://gameupdates.org/details.php?id=5770

buggy but completely free and completely brilliant (if you loved the orig stalker games, metro 2033/last light, dayz, fallout 3 etc)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OeMWzfh944c

dayz coming to ps4

when's it coming to osx?

omg

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dYirOC_3HSg

these videos are about 10x better than the actual game

also, scouse guy gets betrayed by everyone :(

everything i've read says the standalone game is poor compared to the original mod. i guess the devs aren't doing much to help that

i did enjoy the game, spent a good few weeks playing it constantly. there's something lacking though, didn't keep me hooked beyond that. plus there's been a huge drop-off in users of late and without a bunch of people to stumble across the game's useless. some combination of this and stalker would be my greatest game of all time though.

For me the updates made the game less playable on my machine, it was okay other than that. Zombie combat was pretty bad though.