Rocket
19 DEC 2013

The source of the big delay in getting DayZ out was because of the new architecture that we built. As part of this, we spent a great deal of time making very efficient and new ways of doing things. Many of the problems of ArmA for security were by design, doors used by the application to achieve its needs. In ArmA these could not be closed, in DayZ we no longer need them. We thought we had closed some of them, but we found one and we've fixed it. However because some people will have spawned items, we decided to wipe the database to provide a clean slate.

All existing characters have been killed, if you are currently logged in when you next join your character will be dead.

This is all part of the testing process, we've identified some additional areas of security and enabled some we had left off so we could really see the holes in the architecture without having to rely on the higher tier security measures. Because the vulnerability would allow a player to create items (and they had been) we have decided to wipe the whole database. We could not announce this, as we didn't want to encourage those exploiting to try and figure out a way of leaving items on the ground. We have killed all characters in the database, who existed after all our servers moved to the new version (0.29).

Please Note: It is more than likely that we will, much like other software, be continually identifying and patching these kinds of critical security vulnerabilities.

Important updates like this WILL attract database wipes during the alpha process.

MordorHQ Forum
19 DEC 2013
phreec

When you spawn you're actually already hungry and thirsty, just not critically. When the hunger and thirst messages start appearing that means you're around 30% or so. Above that there are no indicators at all except for when you're stuffed.

A tip is to find a pond/river/well and keep drinking (first person, scroll wheel) 'til you get a message saying something along the lines of "I feel completely full" or "My stomach feels more stuffed than normal". With all that water in you you'll last much longer before you start seeing thirst messages again. When it comes to food it's a different story though as there are no infinite natural sources for it, only loot...

Some initial observations, tips, and impressions.

It is bare bones (no tents or recoverable vehicles observed).

Once a single player loots a structure, the loot is gone. I dehydrated/starved to perpetual unconsciousness at least twice due to lack of consumable loot. The requirement to drink and eat is much more frequent as compared to the DayZ mod. Find a can opener. It worth its weight in gold. Start playing after a server restart, if you are in a high traffic area. It would be good to know if anyone has picked up on a pattern for the server restarts. It takes longer to get anywhere as you are inspecting structures that were previously un-enterable.

Believe it or not, there is still a lot of work to be done with the zombies. Breaking line of sight and jogging does not really work. You have to sprint away from them.

Crowbar and baseball bat seem to do about the same amount of damage. Go toe to toe with a zombie and you are fighting with a bat, you will take some damage and need to be ready to bandage. The axe does more damage. Firearms, ammo, and backpacks are very scarce.

Have a shirt ripped up ahead of time and you can consolidate a least three torn clothes into one inventory slot to be used as bandages. I have not returned from unconsciousness even after two epi-pen stabs on one occasion.

Issues during the initial start of the game. Set up your video, gameplay, and controls ahead of time. Inventory can be changed from "Tab" to the "G" button. The Look button can be changed from the "Left Alt." If you keep the space bar as "weapon up," you may find yourself in a boxing stance or treading water and have a skip step when walking and running. Simply, toggle the space bar again to resume normal movement. Reduce the head bob effect. When you configure the appearance of your character click the "Set Default" button, otherwise you will get a different character consistently. For the server browser, go to the top left and click "Internet" to have the server choices populate.

Set your expectations low as this is really in Alpha status. The developers are still refining the basics.

Go to:
http://img.dayzdb.com/map/chernarusplus

--DayZdb News--

DayZ standalone introduces much more complicated hunger and thirst mechanics compared to the mod. Instead of your hunger and thirst being satisfied as soon as you eat or drink anything, each type of food and drink restores varying amounts of energy and can add or remove water. Additionally, your stomach can only hold a limited amount of food and water.

Examples
When you eat a box of cereal, it restores around 1000 energy, and drains 250 water. Eating sardines only restores 333 energy, but adds close to 100 water. Drinking a can of soda restores a bit less than 150 energy and adds over 300 water, while drinking from a canteen doesn't give any energy, but adds 1000 water.

Effects
When you have less than 100 energy, you start losing health and blood. However, when you have a ton of energy and plenty of water (3500 and 3000 respectively), you start regenerating blood. Once your blood is refilled, you regenerate health instead.

Dehydration is much more dangerous than starvation: you lose five times as much health and twice as much blood. Once you accumulate a water deficit, it can be difficult to recover from it if you wait too long.

Status Messages
While they don't tell you exactly what's going on with your character, the status messages that pop up can still help you figure out what you need to get yourself healthy again. Keep in mind that there are other effects that share some of the same messages, so this is by no means a conclusive way of diagnosing yourself.

Hunger
When you're hungry, you see the following messages:
"I feel tired", "I feel run-down", "I feel worn-out", "I feel like taking a nap", "My stomach grumbles", "I'm feeling hungry", "I want to eat something", "I feel hungry"

When you're very hungry or starving, you see these messages:
"I'm extremely hungry", "My stomach grumbled violently", "I'm starving","I feel exhausted", "I feel extremely tired", "My head pounds", "My head throbs", "My head hurts", "I feel dizzy", "I feel light-headed", "I feel faint", "I feel unsteady", "My stomach grumbles", "I'm feeling hungry", "I want to eat something", "I feel hungry"

Thirst
When you're thirsty, you see these messages:
"I feel tired", "I feel run-down", "I feel worn-out", "I feel like taking a nap", "My mouth feels dry", "I feel thirsty", "I'm thirsty", "I need a drink", "I feel like having a drink", "I want to drink something"

When you're dehydrated, you see these messages:
"My mouth feels dry", "My head pounds", "My head throbs", "My head hurts", "I feel dizzy", "I feel light-headed", "I feel faint", "I feel unsteady", "I feel exhausted", "I feel extremely tired", "I feel thirsty", "I'm thirsty", "I need a drink", "I feel like having a drink", "I want to drink something"

Being Stuffed
You can also eat and drink too much and overfill your stomach. Once you see these messages, if you keep eating or drinking, you're probably going to end up vomiting.

• My stomach feels absolutely stuffed
• I feel over-fed
• My stomach feels much more full then it's normal
• I am close to vomiting
• I think I'm going to vomit...
• I'm going to vomit...

--DayZ Wiki--
Check out the commands page for key bindings beyond those listed in the menus
- If you are bleeding but have no bandages, remove your shirt and right click it to tear off a rag - this can be used to stop bleeding.
- Use "Tab" to view your inventory.
- You spawn with a Flashlight and Alkaline Battery (9V). Drag the battery onto the torch to power it. Drag the torch to your hand to wield it. Pressing space aims the torch ahead at the sacrifice of movement speed.
- If you can't find any servers, try clicking the "Internet" tab - it may be defaulted to LAN.
- Turn your gamma up from the menu to see better at night.
- For a map of the new: Chernarus.
- Use the number keys 1 - 0 to cycle through your weapons.
- Pressing space lowers/raises your weapon accordingly. If you aren't carrying anything space will ready your fists to punch.
- Hold down right click to zoom in.
- Holding Alt locks your movement, allowing you to look around while running without changing direction.
- If you are in need of rest sitting on the floor for a short while will help.
- Thirsty? Look out for Water Pumps in urban areas. Ponds and water pumps work for refilling water bottles. You need to have the water bottle/canteen in your hand, and you have to go into first person and look at the water to get the option to fill it.
- Unconsciousness is currently glitchy. If you fall unconscious try exiting the server and re-joining several times.
- You need a Can Opener to open canned food. Knives, axes etc. don't work.
- To get an icon off your hotbar, drag and drop the icon onto itself.
- Pay extra attention when looking for loot, some loot isn't immediately obvious.
- Bandages/rags for bleeding, Morphine Auto Injector for a broken leg, Epi-Pen for unsconsciousness, Blood Bags for low blood/health
- Avoid the coast unless you're looking for trouble. Head in-land after spawning.
- Poor framerate? Go to Documents > DayZ and open DayZ.cfg in Notepad. Change GPU_MaxFramesAhead and GPU_DetectedFramesAhead to = 1.
- To avoid bad health, stay away from unclean water, rotten fruit, etc. and wear warm, dry clothes. Cleaning your wounds with alcohol helps to avoid illness too.
- If you are bleeding but have no bandages, remove your shirt and right click it to tear off a rag - this can be used to stop bleeding. Note: This does not work if your clothes are damp.
- Getting tired? Keep hydrated and eat. If you are in need of rest sitting on the floor for a short while will also help.
- If your head hurts, you need to drink water.

The Escapist
Respect Your Gamer
14 DEC 2913
by Johan Andersson, Paradox Development Studios

As a game developer, you really need to know your gamer - by which I mean, the person that you want playing your game. What does he or she want? What will make them fall in love with the games you create? If you know your gamers, you know how you can both fulfill their wishes and surprise them. You can give them things they didn't even know they wanted. There isn't one big market for everything when it comes to games. But in a world where people keep saying that the PC market is dying, we at Paradox Development Studio are increasing our sales for every strategy game we make. This is in large part thanks to the games we create, which I think get better every year, but more importantly because of how we treat our gamers.

Loyalty is the most profitable long-term concept in the world, and loyalty isn't just given because you want it, but loyalty and respect are given when you return it. "Do to others what you would want them to do to you," said a very wise man in Roman Judea about 2000 years ago, and that is as true today as it was then. Treat your gamers as you want them to treat you and you'll end up successful. (Of course, having a good game is damn helpful.)

We take pride in paying attention to our audience, and let that guide much of what we do. It helps enormously if you as a developer are part of your audience, as you can then add in that extra quality. If a developer is not enjoying the game they are working on, then the gamer won't be buying it either.

I personally believe that any meaningful flow of information must go both directions. When you communicate with your gamers through forums, Twitter, email, Facebook or other venues, it is very important that you as a developer reply to their comments and answer their questions as often as possible and as openly as possible. No one knows your game as well as you do as a developer. Make sure you and your team talk directly to your gamers, answer their questions and listen to their feedback. A gamer that is heard is far more likely to listen to you as a developer when you want to give them information.

If you just give gamers information, and don't respond to their feedback, they will end up detached from you and not feel any loyalty. Gamers have lots of ideas, and in a nurtured community that is open, honest and creative, those ideas mature together with input from other gamers. Gamers need to feel that they can give suggestions on improvements that are actually being listened to. If you listen to them, creativity will flow and it can inspire the development of completely new features for a game. We created our Ruler Designer DLC for Crusader Kings II completely based on gamers' ideas from our community, because they wanted to create their own rulers. Our upcoming Europa Universalis IV expansion Conquest of Paradise is strongly influenced by our gamers' feedback that the excitement of exploration was lost, since everyone has a rough idea of where the new world is when beginning to play. This made us dare to take a leap of faith and create an option for a completely randomized new American continent in an otherwise historical game. We regularly have votes, polls and question threads to find out what our gamers want. The gamers are the ones playing the games. Of course they should be able to influence the future development of those games.

Taz,

You could use the script/code option (<> or "code" in between the brackets) in the above menu to display script/code without the script/code being enabled

Matt Lightfoot
12 DEC 2013

How can I buy DayZ

DayZ is on only available via digital distribution via;
- Steam
- Bohemia Interactive Store

Installing and launching
- Install in Steam
- After the game has installed open steam game library
- Select DayZ from the list
- Click the Play button

What if the game doesn't install an update or becomes corrupt?
- restart steam
- verify cache
- restart computer
- reinstall the game

If this doesn't collect dxdiag.txt and dayz log file and submit to bugtracker.

Bug reporting
◾http://feedback.dayzgame.com/
◾Read the overview on required information for reporting issues - here
◾Register or login then report issues.
◾Search before submitting.
◾If you found your issue already submitted - vote up, do not ignore. Comment is less useful than your vote.

How to change game version
◾Open steam
◾Go to games library
◾Right click on DayZ
◾Select "Properties"
◾Select "BETAS" tab in the properties menu
◾Then select the desired version from the drop down box
◾Close the menu and the game should update/backdate to the requested version

Recommended System Specs
◾OS: Windows 7 SP1
◾Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 or AMD Phenom II X4 940 or better
◾Memory: 4 GB RAM
◾Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 with 1 GB VRAM or better
◾DirectX: Version 9.0c
◾Hard Drive: 14 GB available space
◾Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible

Is Steam required for DayZ?

Yes, Steam is currently required to run DayZ and to browse for servers.

DayZ is new to me what is it?

DayZ is a gritty, authentic, open-world survival horror hybrid-MMO game, in which players follow a single goal: to survive in the harsh post-apocalyptic landscape as long as they can. Players can experience powerful events and emotions arising from the ever-evolving emergent gameplay. There are no superficial tips, waypoints, built in tutorials or help given to players. Every decision matters, there are no save games, no extra lives, every mistake can be lethal. If you fail, you lose everything and you need to play again from the beginning with nothing but your wits, and your two hands. Fight the hostile environment, where every other player can be friend or foe and nothing can be taken for granted.

I can't see any servers what should I do?

Please click the internet tab at the top and ensure your ping filter is set appropriately.

How do I know if DayZ has received an update?

We will communicate large update via our social media channels and Steam Announcements. All updates will automatically download and be installed via steam.

Rocket
16 DEC 2013

Everything you wanted to know about DayZ's Early Access

So we're finally here, and the Alpha is out on Steam Early Access, I'll try to cover off on some of the key stuff that will help you survive the process. The first most important thing:

Do not buy the game yet!

The release of our Alpha is about getting those who want to be involved from the ground up, up and into the process. What we do encourage you to do, is to read reviews, watch livestreams and lets play videos, and talk to your friends. The alpha is going out into large scale testing for the first time, this means many things (mostly bad) will happen such as nasty bugs, connection issues, lost loot, etc... Our aim right now is to present the bare-bone architecture and check that works, getting some feedback on the direction in the process.

Why not do a free alpha?

Not only does it make the project financially viable, but it means those participating in the alpha are those who have made a financial commitment. It also limits the numbers to those willing to part with their hard earned cash.

How will it be developed and updated from here?

We will be pushing builds to steam on a regular basis, be it monthly, weekly, or even daily as the need allows. Initially after release things will be quite chaotic, yet another reason to wait for a bit before purchasing to ensure the best experience. Updates will include not just bug fixes but also

What is the pricing model?

The game will get more expensive as it moves through its development, starting out fairly cheap and rising in price as its matures and more features get added. When you buy it once, you will have access to the whole DayZ Game. No decision or information exists about DLC or anything like that, but we can confirm that DayZ will not feature in-game purchases.

How can I run my own server?

We want to allow private hosting, which includes passworded servers, but we are finalizing changes to our database that will allow us to run a little data instance just for that server. This gives the best of both having a database and having a private community, without those private communities affecting the main database.

Important bugs and issues

Zombies
* Zombies clipping through floors/walls
* Zombies hitting through upper floors from the ground floor
* Low zombie numbers
* No zombie respawning

Zombies are a work in progress they are a very active area of development, we consider the current implementation a base level to commence further testing. Their AI was completely redeveloped, which means we need to come up with new (more efficient) methods of their interaction with the world, such as collision, as the ArmA way is not designed for thousands of AI to operate at once on this scale. This will be one of our most active areas of development.

Audio issues
* Loud opening of cans of drink
* Ambient animals making zombie noises

Due to the many changes to architecture, we have not been focused on audio. While some changes have been made we just hired a dedicated audio designer who will be teamed up with an audio programmer to completely revamp the way sounds work. We feel sound is very important for DayZ so we are really committed to this.

Map Issues
* Fences and objects clipping through buildings
* Loot sunk into the ground or floating

Pleased bug these up in the feedback tracker with accurate map locations and images. This be difficult without a map but posting images around the forums or other communities might bring others who recognize the location.

Loot Distribution
* Loot not spawning in every building
* Loot not well balanced

Balancing the whole world is very difficult. We also plan to centralize distribution of key items so there will be a global economy. For now, you have the basics and while this is not ideal it is enough for testing. We look forward to our exciting features with this!

Loot/Action Delays
* Loot taking long to take
* Splitting piles of loot not working properly
* Item out of sync in inventory

We heavily optimized the netcode but in some cases, we cut too deep. We will be isolating these as we go, but we already know this can occur (particularly obvious when first spawning in).

Game Exploits
* Combat logging protection not working

Currently many of our features such as queued loading, combat logging timeout, etc... have been disabled as there is the possibility that they will cause additional strain on the central server. Once we know that we can handle the load we will begin implementing these. We do expect this will be a long process, and we'll be working with the community to identify effective ways to deal with this. In the meantime, it is going to be