Arma 2: Combined Ops (ARMA 2 Base game now free!) (Zombie Mod!)

[CmdrSlack]

Well, I guess it depends on what it means by "legacy." I assume that means "shit deployed in a different patch version." I hope it also means "shit deployed by someone who subsequently died." That would be nice.

[Mrbloodworth]

Day Z Part 1: Baked Beans - Yogscast

[Mrbloodworth]

This game has more users than some MMO's.

We're registering between 10,000 to 12,000 new player keys a day. So either there are heaps of ArmA players who have been hibernating, or sales are very high and a verification of that would be to check if ArmA2:CO is still on top at steam.

[CmdrSlack]

Looks like 1.7.2 is live.

UPDATE : 9 JULY 2012

Affected addons:
* dayz_code    1.7.2
* dayz    1.3.1
* dayz_equip   1.3.4
* dayz_anim    0.3

Developer's Note:

Changelog:
* [FIXED]   Infected hear perfectly through objects (noise reduced by 50% through an object)
* [FIXED]   Animal bodies despawn way too fast (now despawn automatically after 2 minutes)
* [FIXED]   Corrupted update data causes people to spawn in debug forest (now will not save corrupted position data)
* [FIXED]   States where animal might stop walking around (now should walk around more)
* [FIXED]   Animal AI routines consuming large amounts of FPS (now in line with Infected AI routines, reduced FPS usage)
* [NEW]    Player Syncing system replaced (increased performance and ammo quantity tracking)
* [FIXED]   Error reports are almost invisible (has now been fixed)
* [FIXED]   Daylight calculations causing slight FPS issue
* [NEW]    Visibility now smoothly alters based on sun, moon, cloud, rain, and fog state
* [NEW]    Aubility now dampened in rain and increased by fog
* [FIXED]   Object cleanup causing significant (huge) performance issue on servers (reduced by up to 50%, means more players + zombies possible)
* [FIXED]   Use of "allMissionObjects" causing performance issue on clients (new engine command "entities" used to improve FPS on clients)
* [FIXED]   Too easy to break legs due to infected (reduced probability of leg damage, reduced amount of leg damage)
* [FIXED]   Inspection of dead bodies does not work (fix only applies with ArmA2 Beta 94033 and above)
* [NEW] Exponent driven probability introduced into visibility calculation
* [FIXED]   Hatchet/Crowbar requires reloading ( https://dev-heaven.net/issues/34903 )
* [FIXED]   Unlimited Wire fence/Sandbag/Tank Trap Bug ( https://dev-heaven.net/issues/34283 )
* [FIXED]   Duplication Exploit on object pickup ( https://dev-heaven.net/issues/34031 )
* [FIXED]   Not full magazines disappear when you reconnect ( https://dev-heaven.net/issues/33998 )
* [FIXED]   Dead bodies still have the heart beat for low humanity ( https://dev-heaven.net/issues/35050 )
* [NEW]    Set Bear Traps that break player and infected legs, kills animals, when activated
* [NEW]    Authentication process streamlined with new ArmA2 Beta commands (publicVariableServer and publicVariableClient)
* [NEW] Authentication for duplicate IDs supportive of the new beta patch (ArmAX users)

[Kageru]

This game has more users than some MMO's.

We're registering between 10,000 to 12,000 new player keys a day. So either there are heaps of ArmA players who have been hibernating, or sales are very high and a verification of that would be to check if ArmA2:CO is still on top at steam.

Yeah, it's getting amazing media. The interest will fade and the numbers will collapse though. The games half baked and will take a long time to mature, the play-style is punitive / PK heavy and the foundation is unstable.

* [NEW]    Set Bear Traps that break player and infected legs, kills animals, when activated

And the developer is crazed.

[CmdrSlack]

Oddly enough, it's just non-punitive enough to be fun.

Yeah, fuck up once and you are normally dead. However, the game makes it feel as if, with just MOAR PRACTICE, you could survive to find the shit to unfuck a bad decision.

I've done it once. I made another bad decision, and well, no second chance.

The basics of survival seem to be:

1. Get the fuck away from the coast. Yes, you can try to use one of the video quickstarts and do the "sprint thru Elektro/Cherno" thing. To be honest, I've not had much luck as  I am prone to panic shots when I need to loot and then shoot to take down a horde of zeds that I just pulled to the supermarket in Cherno.

2. Find a weapon first. Then tools + canteen. Then spare food. Then get to the hills.

3. You can sometimes loot meds, including morphine, at deer stands. There's loads of deer stands.

4. Use a low-pop server to gear up. If you are playing solo, there's no incentive to stay on one server for a character's lifetime. If you want to learn the basics of DayZ, find a low pop server. It just makes sense.

5. Use the knowledge of the player base to help you figure out what works best for you. See my point about blitzing Cherno above -- that shit doesn't work for me.

You're right, the game won't appeal to most people. Hell, this is way harder than I'd normally tolerate. But there's something about it that triggers my Skinner Box response.

[UnSub]

This game has more users than some MMO's.

We're registering between 10,000 to 12,000 new player keys a day. So either there are heaps of ArmA players who have been hibernating, or sales are very high and a verification of that would be to check if ArmA2:CO is still on top at steam.

It's US$15 on Steam, correct? Ignoring those who may be pirating Arma2, it's not necessarily about how many people start playing a mod, but how many people keep playing it. Especially with a mod developer who at times seems to take glee in making life harder on the player base.

[Mrbloodworth]

With that amount of growth, there is no chance people will not filter into the already existing community and mod base.

I bet the BI guys are really happy right now.

[Yoru]

The basics of survival seem to be:

1. Get the fuck away from the coast. Yes, you can try to use one of the video quickstarts and do the "sprint thru Elektro/Cherno" thing. To be honest, I've not had much luck as  I am prone to panic shots when I need to loot and then shoot to take down a horde of zeds that I just pulled to the supermarket in Cherno.

2. Find a weapon first. Then tools + canteen. Then spare food. Then get to the hills.

3. You can sometimes loot meds, including morphine, at deer stands. There's loads of deer stands.

4. Use a low-pop server to gear up. If you are playing solo, there's no incentive to stay on one server for a character's lifetime. If you want to learn the basics of DayZ, find a low pop server. It just makes sense.

5. Use the knowledge of the player base to help you figure out what works best for you. See my point about blitzing Cherno above -- that shit doesn't work for me.

I use a combination of the above. If I die, and am not in a Patrick Bateman AxeMurdering mood, I head for a low-pop server. First order of business is the industrial spawns, where I get a hatchet - both a vital tool and an excellent starter weapon.

Next, I hit Cherno. There's a chain of pubs that people rarely hit in the south-central of the city, like 6 of them in a row. I hit those and try to find, in priority order: a Czech or Alice pack, a water bottle (preferably 2), a ranged weapon & ammo.

Once I have, at the very least, a 16-slot pack, 3 sodas or 2 canteens, 3 cans of food, and a weapon of some sort, I GTFO of Cherno and head for Berezino, hitting deer stands on the way. The deer stands usually provide a long gun and some meds.

In Berezino, I hit the southern supermarket and pub first, prioritizing the remaining survival tools: knife, matches, compass. These are usually easy to find. I "upgrade" my sidearm to a Makarov once I find one, and kit out my sidearm ammo slots with 2 bandages and 6 Mak mags, with 2 spare of each in the pack.

With those acquired, the Berezino hospital's roof is farmed to get 3-4 blood bags and 5 morphine injectors. Finally, I farm the two supermarkets and the office building until I have a full rack of survival tools (compass, watch, matches, knife, binocs) and 2 canteens, with occasional trips up to the military tents to try to find a silenced weapon and/or a STANAG weapon such as the M4A3 CCO or M16A2. Once either of those are acquired, the military tents are off-limits.

Fully kitted out, I go all Bear Grylls in the wilderness, accumulating a cache of 3+ steaks and begin hunting heli crash sites, vehicles, tent cities and other players. Occasionally I'll hit a supermarket or large house in the minor towns on the off-chance that I can find a ghillie suit, and deer stands on the off chance of finding a Coyote Elite pack.

Last weekend, I found a heli crash that yielded a coyote elite pack, two Bizons & six mags, a nightvision FN FAL & 3 mags and some standard guns. Pity my buddy got cocky and ran off into Berezino with a Bizon/3 mags and the FNFAL/3 mags, only to get sniped when running balls-out across an open field.

Still have my Bizon though, and it's quite sweet. Killed a dude silently whom I saw near a gas station. Poor bastard didn't know what hit him.

[Surlyboi]

My pattern is similar.

Depending on where I spawn, I make a run either through those same pubs in cherno, followed by a run at the apartments, and then up to BZ. If I spawn outside of Elektro, I hit the power station at the outskirts and then head north, again toward BZ.

If I don't find anything in BZ, I'll head either for the NW airfield or the secret tent city that I found out in the wilds on a certain server. Once I've got a decent kit, I do the same thing, look for helicopter wreckage, etc. Once I've got a decent scoped weapon, I head back toward the coast and look for the occasional douchebag to snipe, or complete noob to help out.

[Kageru]

Sadly playing "Hermit Survivalist" is insanely boring once you gear up.

The video interview of the designer telling a story in which a group of weaponless, careful, new players got crippled and then systematically capped by a silent veteran and summarising it as "cool emergent game-play" just makes me realize it's not the game for me.

[Surlyboi]

Yeah, there's nothing particularly emergent about that, other than the potential emergence of psychopathy. That said, people that pull that kind of shit are my primary target at this point.

[Yoru]

I find that once I get the to Hermit Survivalist stage, one or more of my buddies have died due to bugs or encounters gone wrong, so I always have someone to help gear up. Today we aborted a raid on the NW Airfield when one of our guys found a heli crash site.

We found a ghillie suit, another Bizon & two mags, and a box of medical supplies on it. I put on the ghillie suit, and it deleted my primary and secondary weapons, and their associated ammo inventories. Fortunately, I kept my toolbelt and backpack, and had nearly run out of ammo for my Bizon, so it's not too big of a loss. I was able to replace the medical supplies from the heli's box, replaced the Bizon with the M14 I had stashed in the pack, and I'll just have to hit up a few supermarkets/houses to find another sidearm and sidearm ammo.

Looks like ghillie suits are bugged at the moment, so be careful putting them on.

If we ever reach the theoretical "everyone geared up" stage, I imagine we'll just end up trying to murder people at the airfield for NVGs and get killed in the process. We rarely play for more than an hour at a time, so finding vehicles is mostly useless; they're always stolen before we log back on, and by the time we find one and repair/fuel it, it's time to log off.

I would dearly love to get an efficient offroad vehicle and troll the wastelands for tent cities though. Wrecking hoarders' careful work makes my day. I have raided many an in-map tent city for all its good gear.

[Mrbloodworth]

I personally look forward to more organized group activities being added. I also mostly help friends that bit the big one on attempts to enter or scavenge areas, its been mostly what we do, also the search for ammo is always on going.

[CmdrSlack]

Right now, I'm trying to find the most abundant source of wild animals/location for finding them. I managed to get myself all of the basic survival gear (matches, knife, hatchet). Unfortunately, I also am down to about 3k blood. I have two blood bags, but nobody to transfuse me, so a hunting I will go, I guess.

Also pissed that I dropped my canteen somewhere. At least I have sodas.

[Surlyboi]

If I can get on early enough tonight (i.e. before the wife gets home) I'll see if we can hook up and I'll do the blood thing.

[Yoru]

Right now, I'm trying to find the most abundant source of wild animals/location for finding them. I managed to get myself all of the basic survival gear (matches, knife, hatchet). Unfortunately, I also am down to about 3k blood. I have two blood bags, but nobody to transfuse me, so a hunting I will go, I guess.

Also pissed that I dropped my canteen somewhere. At least I have sodas.

I head up to the northernmost row of grids, just north of the treeline but before the map turns into The Beyond. It's generally empty of players, so it's relatively safe. You can see forever and easily spot goats/cows/sheep. Load up on steaks, hit a nearby copse, have a barbeque.

[Thrawn]

Wonder if ARMA:CO will be on sale at all for the Summer sale on Steam.  Reluctant to pickup at $30 since Day Z is still alpha and very buggy, but at half off I'd grab it in a heartbeat.

[Yoru]

Wonder if ARMA:CO will be on sale at all for the Summer sale on Steam.  Reluctant to pickup at $30 since Day Z is still alpha and very buggy, but at half off I'd grab it in a heartbeat.

It's currently 25% off at the Bohemia Interactive online store; I would be surprised if there was a Steam sale, given that it's pegged the sales charts for 2 months straight.

[Kageru]

I think that's a good bet. It really has enough people to stretch server capacity and test content anyway. And this way Bohemia gets a bigger cut.

It's pretty likely to become a stand-alone product at some point, if the popularity is sustained, at which point it might appear on steam and discounted.

[Yoru]

I think that's a good bet. It really has enough people to stretch server capacity and test content anyway. And this way Bohemia gets a bigger cut.

It's pretty likely to become a stand-alone product at some point, if the popularity is sustained, at which point it might appear on steam and discounted.

Looks like we're sort-of wrong. ArmaII:CO is up on the Steam Summer Sale for 20% off at the moment.

[CmdrSlack]

But if they're 20% off, will the beans taste as good?

[Mrbloodworth]

Russian beans > Wall-mart beans!

[Yoru]

But if they're 20% off, will the beans taste as good?

I look forward to dining on many beans for the Bean God.

Got killed at the NW Airfield trying to gear up some friends. Okay, we got greedy and farmed. Some dudes with DMRs dropped us, we got one of them to our four. Respawned. I found a hatchet almost immediately and ran into another dude at the military tents in Cherno.

He found out that it's hip to be square.

[NiX]

Looks like we're sort-of wrong. ArmaII:CO is up on the Steam Summer Sale for 20% off at the moment.

Wait for the daily deal. It will happen and all hell will break loose.

[Kageru]

To warn potential buyers. It is buggy (both Arma-II and the mod, especially the current patch), in very early stages of development, primarily about PvP (with full loot) after the gearing process and the developer is crazed.

It comes with extra servings of "potential" though, there's nothing quite like what it could become.

[CmdrSlack]

Is anyone up for attempting to play together this weekend? I'm trying to figure out whether I should nab TS, mumble, skpye, or all three. I haven't had to do voice comm in a game in a long while.

[Furiously]

I would be. But Yoru would just kill us all.

[Slayerik]

Tempted. Not sure I wanna pony up the cash just yet...maybe when I get my HC barb killed....

[CmdrSlack]

I would be. But Yoru would just kill us all.

Unless we killed him. And took his beans. Retribution beans are the tastiest, I've heard.

[Thrawn]

Arma 2: CO $20 on Amazon today. 

Do I bite or gamble on a better sale on Steam....

[Yoru]

I would be. But Yoru would just kill us all.

Unless we killed him. And took his beans. Retribution beans are the tastiest, I've heard.

I wouldn't mind trying a run with you gents at some point, but I'm UTC+2 and generally busy during weekends, which makes cross-continental play tricky.

[Yoru]

How about another story from the Bean God's Altar?

I was running around Cherno today, taking a break from Bear Grylls-style play for the quicker pace of the cities. I, and my friends, had scrounged up some nice kits by farming the pubs and medical tents. We all had decent sidearms, but chose to mostly run around with hatchets. The silent death of the hatchet means you don't alert every jerk in the country when killing zombies.

With three of us together and hatchet-armed, we heard gunshots from a nearby pub. The slow, measured fire of a man shooting zombies, as opposed to the panicked pitter-patter of PVP. We stalk over and I hear a dude using a toolbox and eating beans upstairs. I have an idea and tell my friends to follow my lead.

I switch on my mic in Direct Chat. I put on my best "scared newbie" warble and greet the man. Turns out he's a taciturn German. I assure him that we're friendly and just looking for food and ask him if he's seen any. He says no and begins to leave. I send my friends around and they block the front door, with me behind him.

I ask him if I can ask him another question.

I ask him what he thinks of Huey Lewis and the News.

Three axemen charge, hatchets a-swinging. He raises his Lee Enfield.

Four men die in Cherno.

[Mrbloodworth]

He raises his Lee Enfield.

Four men die in Cherno.

 

[Surlyboi]

You forgot your plastic suit there, Bateman.