What are you playing?

[BillyG]

About to try Day Z.

[B_Metal]

I like the idea behind that, but not sure about it's execution.

[BillyG]

Remind me to discuss tomorrow. Must slumber.

[BillyG]

OK, so Day Z is everything I feared it would be...but also more than I could have imagined.

It's a PC game mod. So it has some jank. There are several install options, and it took me a bit to find the right/smart one to use (Six Updater). The server list is daunting, and aside from number of players, "difficulty", and possibly a general location you can't tell how the server is set up. We were looking for a daylight server, because the game will otherwise run based on local server time. Yeah, the game isn't a ton of fun as a noob when it is pitch black and your monitor already sucks and doesn't display dark areas well. Also, you could get a lot of servers running other versions of Day Z which of course you can't connect to. It seems like a lot of people are running an older version where you start with a pistol and two mags. You no longer start with anything on the current version. In all, it took me about 90 minutes to get it up and running, and another 15 to find a decent server (or one where the admin just randomly booted me when I joined).

So we got into a Texas server that luckily was set to dusk, not quite night time. And man. This game is something else. I thought the STALKER games did a good job in making you feel like you were out there really surviving, but in STALKER you start with a gun and some supplies. Not here. I was dropped off on the coast, where I could see a small house on a hill and a town in the distance.

I crept up the hill, finding some zombies patrolling. The house could not be entered. I waited for the zombies to move on, and followed the small dirt road into town. Turns out to be quite decent size city. Outside the city was an electrical plant I climbed up to get a lay of the land. I could see a church, some mining elevators, and lots of buildings to be explored. My buddy knows the map well, so he started towards me.

Outside the town there were a few scattered houses, but there were also about 20 zombies. Belly crawled from house to house trying to find one I could enter. Finally got a jackpot, scoring a Lee Enfield (don't use this unless you must, the loudest rifle and zombies will flock to you) and some food. When I got out of the house I saw that a fire had been lit nearby. I asked my friend about the fire.

Should I go there? Is this from another player? Will there be equipment there? Do zombies stay away from fires?

His response? "I don't know. I've never seen a fire and I've played every night for the last couple weeks..."

Well. Fuck.

So belly crawl to the fire. Nothing except some really good looking lighting effects. Now I am close to town though. I stay in the grass as far as I can, until I come to a large intersection. Zombies all around, but if I stay quiet I can sneak by. Except I didn't see the zombie behind the car!

So I bolt away, finding an open gate. I duck behind it and slam my body down prone into the grass. Zombie comes sniffing, but I am ninja. He finds nothing. I sneak back towards town. A grocery store!

Holy shit. The sense of accomplishment. Going through the shelves and the back room I found an embarrassment of riches. So much food, a 1911, ammo, a 12g shotgun (I had to leave because I had no ammo for it, and you only get 1 primary weapon until you find a larger pack) and a watch.

I head out the back of the grocery store, hoping to find a relatively safe place to log out. I wait for a zombie patrol to move on, then make my way for a big two story house across the street. This house turns into another bonanza. 12g shotgun ammo, a Makarov, more food, drinks, and heat packs. Turns out most servers turn off the body heat option because it's a huge pain to deal with so I dump those.

Meanwhile my friend was killed, and annoyed by the stashes I lucked upon. But the final insult was the pair of binoculars I found on the stairs where I logged out for the evening.

So yeah, this game is pretty amazing. It will annoy you getting it set up, but once you get going and especially pair up with someone it's not like anything else.

[Abraham Smashington]

Man, that Star Wars Kinect game is ass. Glad it was free, but good lord is it bad. However, the dancing minigame is actually pretty fucking fun and silly.

[B_Metal]

OK, so Day Z is everything I feared it would be...but also more than I could have imagined.

It's a PC game mod. So it has some jank. There are several install options, and it took me a bit to find the right/smart one to use (Six Updater). The server list is daunting, and aside from number of players, "difficulty", and possibly a general location you can't tell how the server is set up. We were looking for a daylight server, because the game will otherwise run based on local server time. Yeah, the game isn't a ton of fun as a noob when it is pitch black and your monitor already sucks and doesn't display dark areas well. Also, you could get a lot of servers running other versions of Day Z which of course you can't connect to. It seems like a lot of people are running an older version where you start with a pistol and two mags. You no longer start with anything on the current version. In all, it took me about 90 minutes to get it up and running, and another 15 to find a decent server (or one where the admin just randomly booted me when I joined).

So we got into a Texas server that luckily was set to dusk, not quite night time. And man. This game is something else. I thought the STALKER games did a good job in making you feel like you were out there really surviving, but in STALKER you start with a gun and some supplies. Not here. I was dropped off on the coast, where I could see a small house on a hill and a town in the distance.

I crept up the hill, finding some zombies patrolling. The house could not be entered. I waited for the zombies to move on, and followed the small dirt road into town. Turns out to be quite decent size city. Outside the city was an electrical plant I climbed up to get a lay of the land. I could see a church, some mining elevators, and lots of buildings to be explored. My buddy knows the map well, so he started towards me.

Outside the town there were a few scattered houses, but there were also about 20 zombies. Belly crawled from house to house trying to find one I could enter. Finally got a jackpot, scoring a Lee Enfield (don't use this unless you must, the loudest rifle and zombies will flock to you) and some food. When I got out of the house I saw that a fire had been lit nearby. I asked my friend about the fire.

Should I go there? Is this from another player? Will there be equipment there? Do zombies stay away from fires?

His response? "I don't know. I've never seen a fire and I've played every night for the last couple weeks..."

Well. Fuck.

So belly crawl to the fire. Nothing except some really good looking lighting effects. Now I am close to town though. I stay in the grass as far as I can, until I come to a large intersection. Zombies all around, but if I stay quiet I can sneak by. Except I didn't see the zombie behind the car!

So I bolt away, finding an open gate. I duck behind it and slam my body down prone into the grass. Zombie comes sniffing, but I am ninja. He finds nothing. I sneak back towards town. A grocery store!

Holy shit. The sense of accomplishment. Going through the shelves and the back room I found an embarrassment of riches. So much food, a 1911, ammo, a 12g shotgun (I had to leave because I had no ammo for it, and you only get 1 primary weapon until you find a larger pack) and a watch.

I head out the back of the grocery store, hoping to find a relatively safe place to log out. I wait for a zombie patrol to move on, then make my way for a big two story house across the street. This house turns into another bonanza. 12g shotgun ammo, a Makarov, more food, drinks, and heat packs. Turns out most servers turn off the body heat option because it's a huge pain to deal with so I dump those.

Meanwhile my friend was killed, and annoyed by the stashes I lucked upon. But the final insult was the pair of binoculars I found on the stairs where I logged out for the evening.

So yeah, this game is pretty amazing. It will annoy you getting it set up, but once you get going and especially pair up with someone it's not like anything else.

Don't you have to buy the game that DayZ mods? I've not looked into it that much other than to watch a vid of a guy playing it.

[Abraham Smashington]

You do right now, but they just announced a stand alone game.

[BillyG]

Yeah, you need ARMA 2 Combined Ops. But like Rob said, they announced a stand alone game, but I would bet it's probably a year off. They're going to keep developing the mod which is a pretty good sign the stand alone is a way off.

[BillyG]

If you're interested start here. http://www.reddit.com/r/dayz/

Lots of good info, threads, videos.

[B_Metal]

Cool, I liked the mood of the game from what I saw on the vids, will have to wait for a while to make a purchase but seems like it may be pretty fun.

[Fil]

MGS4. Yeah I'm that guy. Trophies.

[Abraham Smashington]

picked up Dead Island, Ultimate Marvel Vs. Capcom 3, and Stuntman last night for under 50 bucks. Not too shabby. Dead Island is cool if not really rough around the edges, MvC is great with the new characters, and I swear I'm the only person that really enjoys Stuntman.

[Abraham Smashington]

also picked up the Avengers table for Pinball FX 2. Some really fun stuff.

[BillyG]

I tried to play Dead Island, but I think I lasted about 45 minutes. Just couldn't get into it. Stuntman..the original PS2 one. Goddamn it. I bought it the same night as Eternal Darkness. I kept going between shitting myself and wanting to destroy my controller.


Last night's Day Z was amazing.

So my buddy told me the town he was in was to the west. So I headed out west. He has an actual map printed out hanging on his wall. After running for about 30 minutes, finding an Alice pack (10 more inventory slots!) he asked what was taking so long. Turned out I should have been going east. Fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck. So I turned around and headed back. This time I had a map that was tucked in the Alice pack, so that helped me have an idea of where I was.

So on my way back to my buddy I stayed near the coast, previously I had stayed closer to the hills. I wanted to check for food and drinks on the return trip though. So I came across a warehouse and pier. Lots of offices and possible loot. But then I heard people talking. Oh shit. I see two guys skulking through the area. I hid in a corner between a loading dock and the warehouse. I was positive they had seen me entering the area, because they were going room to room searching very quickly. I would pop my head out every once in a while to see if I could find them.

Then...gunfire! Oh shit, what is going on? I've got cover on 3 sides and they're not in front of me...so they aren't shooting at me. Fuck this. I'm running for it while they are distracted. So I get up and fucking BOLT, looking behind me every 50 yards or so. Once I've got a big lead I stop worrying about the guys, because I saw they didn't have sniper rifles.

But then fucking bullets start flying past me. What the fuck!? Drop to my belly and stop moving. A couple more shots, but they aren't hitting me. Nearby is a thicket, so I jump up and dive into it. More shots, but not coming near me. After about a minute of silence, and not being able to find the guy with my binoculars I just get up and run, zig zagging along the coast. This must be the guy those other two were shooting at.

After a long haul back, I met up with my buddy in town. I scoped out from a hill, trying to find him. He ducked into a building so we weren't both moving and missing each other. So I move into town, and a zombie comes right at me. So I blast it with the pistol. My buddy comes running out from a building, and hatchets a zombie right in the fucking head saving my life. We exchange some inventory, and call it a day.

Tonight we head north.

[B_Metal]

Nice.