Friday, October 12, 2012

Night and DayZ, Session Three

Welcome back to Night and DayZ, the log of my journeys in DayZ -- entirely after nightfall. Last session, we followed our wayward survivor as he made his way from the Balota airstrip into Chernogorsk. The objective: find a bigger backpack. The result: a resounding success!

Next, our survivor is hoping to find a sidearm and possibly a silenced weapon. This search will take him out of Chernogorsk and into the wilderness. Read on to see if he is successful!

Session Three, Star Time: 1:54 AM


My main priorities for today are to find a sidearm and get out of town. I would also like to find a silent weapon; a crossbow seems most likely, though I would be extremely happy if I stumbled across a silenced firearm. It would also be fantastic if I could find a tent: I love the idea of finding a secluded area on the map and setting up a camp for myself. Tents are also very useful for storing extra items; yet I digress!

The first thing I notice when I login is that the barbed wire I set up across the entrance of the church has disappeared; I'm not sure if barbed wire has a limited amount of time it can stay deployed before disappearing or if someone destroyed it. Either way, I am anxious to get out of here as quickly as possible.

Session Three, Map One
Before I leave, I do a quick sweep through the church (1 on Map One, above). I find a steel bolt (ammunition for a crossbow), a can of soda and a Makarov with mags. I snatch the steel bolt, down one of my water bottles to make room for the soda (glitching the bottle out of existence in the process), but leave the Makarov behind. In my past experiences, the Makarov isn't powerful enough to warrant carrying so I decide to stick with my flashlight until I find a better weapon. Yes, even I have standards!

As I leave the church, I decide to retrace my steps from the day previous: the buildings around the church seem to be well stocked so perhaps they will hold something useful. I am not disappointed as, when searching through the café (2 above), I discover: a compass; a map; a box of matches; numerous cans of food; and an ALICE pack.

Finding the ALICE pack is extremely exciting to me: besides the Coyote backpack (not to be confused with the Coyote patrol pack, which you start with), the ALICE pack is the largest in the game, featuring four more slots than the Czech backpack. As I had heard horror stories of backpacks glitching if you don't equip them properly, I drop my current backpack before donning the ALICE pack. I retrieve all of my items from Tim's backpack and fill the rest of the spots with various stuff from the café before continuing on my way. It seems I'm off to a great start.

I make my way to the fire station (3 above), being as slow and methodical as always. Upon arriving, I find the back entrance blocked by a length of barbed wire I cannot vault, so I am forced to circle around the front of the building. This concerns me as it speaks to the presence of other players, though it also emphasizes the necessity of a toolbox; with a toolbox, it is possible to destroy barbed wire, allowing for clear passage.

I search through the fire station, finding regular supplies and, more interestingly, a Remington 870 (flashlight). It is a very rare shotgun, and the equipped flashlight is certainly intriguing, but I opt to stay with my assault rifle. I leave the fire station and make my way to Matt and Tim's house (4 above); inside, I find another Lee Enfield, again leaving it behind in lieu of my M16A2.

It's also at this point that I realize how many Makarov mags I've been running across. I'm starting to regret my decision of leaving the small pistol behind but ultimately know I made the right decision. I steady myself and head on, towards the supermarket.

Crossing the road to the supermarket was nerve-wracking (5 above); it is a wide road and there were plenty of zombies about, so I had difficultly choosing whether to crouch-walk or crawl across the road. It may seem like a silly thing to worry over but, given how close the zombies were, it was a serious decision. Ultimately, I decided to crouch-walk; crawling would make me less visible but would also take twice as long, and I couldn't spare that sort of time. The decision forces me to wait an extra minute until the road is clear enough to cross safely.

Inside the supermarket (6 above), I find a Czech backpack (now inferior compared to the ALICE pack), two steel bolts (which I pocket) and a bunch of food and drink. I replenish my hunger and thirst and consult my map. It seems the best way to get out of town while still heading towards my objectives is to head north towards the railway station. It is a route that will keep me within Chernogorsk for a bit longer but may offer more in the way of supplies.

On the way north, I sneak inside a toolshed (7 above), hoping to find a toolbox. Instead, I find a fourth steel bolt; hopefully I will find a crossbow to use them with soon! Continuing further north, I enter the railway station (8 above) and scan the building for supplies.

Inside, I find a revolver with two boxes of rounds, which I greedily snatch up: ideally, I would've liked an M1911 as a sidearm but the revolver is a close second choice and easily better than the Makarov I passed up earlier. I convert the two M1911 clips I had in my pack into .45 ACP clips for the revolver and load the weapon. But that's not the best thing inside the railway station.

I also discovered a ghillie suit.

For those who don't know, a ghillie suit is a piece of clothing you wear that looks like leaves and grass. It's very effective camouflage as it makes you very hard to detect in the wilderness, which is exactly where I'm heading. I am so giddy I don't think to check the DayZDB entry on the ghillie suit before I don it.

Sadly, there is a glitch with the ghillie suit: when you don the suit, it is possible that the game may revert you to a previous backpack, destroying any items you held in your current one. So, after donning the ghillie suit, this glitch transforms my brand new ALICE pack into the old Czech backpack I procured off Tim. Luckily, the only items I lose in the transfer were three steel bolts and a full water bottle, but it is still a nasty hit to my inventory (especially considering I was hoping to find a crossbow). Ah well.

Deciding Chernogorsk has given me plenty for the time being, I decide to redouble my efforts to get out of town. Just across from the railway station, I spot some powerlines running into the forest: I decide to follow them as I make my way north, heading towards a farm that will hopefully give me a crossbow.

Session Three, Map Two
The ghillie suit makes a noticeable difference in my visibility; the sound and vision meters on the side don't register a thing as I crouch-walk across the fields, carefully sidestepping zombies as I make my way to the treeline. Once I am a respectable distance from the shamblers, I stand and sprint into the trees, officially leaving Chernogorsk behind.

I follow the treeline for some time, circling around to the northeast before hooking back west towards a farm. Before breaking cover, I scan all directions (1 on Map Two, above), making sure I am alone. Not even seeing any zombies, I sprint across the field towards the barn, only slowing when I reach my destination.

Having reached the barn, I holster my M16A2 and pull out my revolver, opting for a smaller weapon for the up-close fighting. I am on edge as, when I approached, I could clearly hear multiple zombies snarling and groaning, but I see nothing until I am about to enter the building.

Inside the barn itself, crouched in the far corner, sit three zombies. It appears they are standing on top of a weapon but, in this dark and at this range (from 2 above), it is impossible to see exactly what it is. Deciding to test the effectiveness of my chemlights, I crack and toss one, hoping to throw it inside the barn. Instead, it hits the roof of the barn and falls just outside the entrance.

Cursing my luck, I steady myself as two of the zombies shamble over to investigate. Knowing that the revolver is a fairly powerful weapon, I wait for the zombies to stop moving before putting a single shot into each of their chests. Alas, the power of the weapon is not enough to drop them, though my concealed position within a bush -- thanks largely to the ghillie suit -- does not alert them to my presence. I carefully line up shots for their heads and drop them with two more shots.

At all this noise, the third zombie has finally been alerted and shambles over to investigate. I try to aim for the head but have to fire five more shots before he drops. Cursing my lack of accuracy, I check their bodies before heading inside the barn (3 above).

Unfortunately, the weapon I spotted was merely a hatchet. Considerably disappointed at wasting resources for nothing of use, I decide it's time to call it a night. Not wanting to log out (and, consequently, log back in) inside a barn that held three zombies only moments before, I decide to rush out into the hills. I sprint for a short distance before falling prone in the long grass of the forest (4 above).

Before logging out again, I take inventory once more, seeing what had changed from the previous day:
  • M16A2 M203 
    • 6 clips of 30-round STANAG ammo (five full, one at 22 rounds)
    • M203 HE
    • M203 smoke
    • M203 flare white
  • Revolver 
    • 3 .45 ACP clips (two full, one at 3 rounds)
  • Czech backpack
  • Ghillie suit
  • Can of baked beans
  • Can of sardines
  • Bandages (7)
  • Blue Chemlight (9 remaining)
  • Road flare (10 remaining)
  • Heatpack
  • Binoculars
  • Morphine auto-injectors (2)
  • Painkillers (3)
  • M9SD Mags (2; both full; I seem to be holding onto these in the event I find a silenced M9. Finger crossed!)
  • Smoke Grenades (2; one green, one white)
  • Can of Coke
  • Water bottle (full)
  • Steel bolt
  • Hatchet
  • Flashlight
  • Military flashlight
  • Hunting knife
  • Watch
  • Compass
  • Map
  • Box of matches
Next session, I aim to search the barn once again, hoping to find a crossbow. After that, I will head northwest towards Kozlovka (hopefully for a tent) and, ultimately, to Green Mountain. I imagine the compound atop the mountain will be a common haunt for bandits and other players but I trust that my nighttime sessions will make the site be largely deserted. Hopefully.

It would also be fantastic to find some night-vision goggles, though I imagine those won't be found until I reach either the central town of Stary Sobor or the military airstrip far to the north. Regardless, they will eventually be a necessity if I aim to stay in the wilderness for long stretches of time.

Log Out: 2:52 AM

Will our wayward survivor last long venturing into the wilderness, or will he fall victim to hunger, thirst or, even worse, bandits? Check back next session of Night and DayZ to find out!

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