Every Tuesday, DayZ Diaries recounts Andy's adventures in post-apocalyptic survival sim DayZ, where beans and friends are frequently in short supply.

Last week I decided that, if I'm ever playing DayZ alone and I run into another player, I'll kill them on sight. Harsh, yes, but the only way to make sure I don't get punched in the head by a fresh spawn with nothing to lose. So there I am, running down the coast towards Kamyshovo, when I spot a survivor up ahead. Not taking any chances, I drop to my knees and shoot him with my Mosin. The way I see it, a bambi is just a bandit who hasn't found a gun yet.

Then I hear a thud. I turn around and there's an unarmed player in a t-shirt swinging his fists at me. Either he just spawned or he snuck up on me while I was busy with the other guy. I pull out my Magnum and fire at him, but he's moving too fast. One bullet grazes him and he starts to bleed, but the other five miss completely. Never fire from the hip. "Nice shot, homie." my assailant mocks, running in circles around me. "Ooh, so close!" I try to equip my axe, but the animation freezes my character in place and a fist connects with my head while I'm vulnerable. I'm knocked unconscious and I hear my gear being looted.



Maybe I deserved that. Not just karmically, but because I was sprinting around in the open like an idiot, rather than sticking sensibly to the treeline. The biggest mistake you can make in DayZ when you have a gun is feeling invincible and letting your guard down. So I spawn back at the beach once again - this time near Berezino - and start looting. After a careful hour of sneaking from house to house I have a backpack, an axe, and a nice haul of food and drink. I decide to head north to the wrecked cargo ship, then to the town of Svetlojarsk.

I'm on the outskirts of Berezino, near the lumber mill, when I hear the ping of a ricocheting bullet. Someone's shooting at me, but I don't know where from. I take a hit and start bleeding, but I manage to escape into a row of backyards before they can finish me off. Through an alley I see the gunman and his buddy on the main road. They're decked out in military gear and fully armed. "I think I got him." one of them says over voice chat. "Yeah, you did," I respond, knowing I'm safely hidden behind a wall. "But you're a terrible shot. Asshole."



Realising that I'm foolishly mocking a man who's carrying a big gun, I make a run for it. After a few minutes of nervously checking behind me I'm certain they haven't given chase. I can see the cargo ship in the distance perched on the edge of the eastern shore, so I keep pushing on. Then I spot another player on the road directly in front of me carrying a shotgun. I consider running away, but decide that it's probably smarter to let them know I'm not a threat. I approach, expecting a face full of buckshot. Instead, I get a cheery hello.

"Do you need any assistance?" the stranger asks. It's finally happened: I've met the only friendly armed player in DayZ. "No, I'm fine," I say, giving a wave. "Thanks!" We silently part ways and he continues towards Berezino. "Wait!" I call to him. "There are two guys up ahead with guns. They shot at me, but I survived. Be careful." "Oh, thanks. You too." Did I just save his life? It's entirely possible, and now I'm having a crisis of conscience. If I had a Mosin I would have shot him the instant I saw him in the distance. I would have murdered the nicest man in Chernarus in cold blood. I feel like the bad guy in the movie who has a moral awakening and turns good. I swear, from this day forth, I will never shoot on sight again.

Andy is documenting his every death in DayZ on dayzdeathdiary.tumblr.com, and recently devoted the latest entry in his Other Places video series to Chernarus. Here it is, rendered in the slightly plushier Arma 3 engine.

The experimental beta branch of DayZ is enjoying a new raft of features and fixes, a continuation of Bohemia's battle to wrestle DayZ from wonky-as-balls-but-still-great to just 'great'. The team are patching on two fronts, adding long-planned features and coming up with adaptive fixes to alter the way alpha players are currently exploiting the game. It means that as well as machetes and better sawed-off shotguns, there will soon be time penalties for swapping servers too quickly.

That ought to deter players who hop onto an empty server to raid the loot-heavy airfield, and then hop back to a populated server to use their gear on hapless bambis. That sort of thing makes our resident DayZ fan, Andy, very angry indeed. He may take solace from the fact we'll soon be able to paint our crash helmets different colours, point, and clap, though the full hokey-cokey emote is sadly yet to materialise. Full notes below.

For more on DayZ check out Andy's weekly adventures. As mentioned in the notes below, the final version of the patch is planned for release as early as Wednesday next week.

DAYZ PENDING UPDATE CHANGELOG
Branch: Experimental
ETA to Stable: 5-7 February 2014
Version: 0.33.114782

Known Issues:
- Spawns: Loot is not spawning in military tents
- Spawns: Some structures in Svetlo currently do not spawn loot
- Server: Servers under load can delay actions from the client
- Only 4 dynamic light sources will be rendered at one time currently

What are experimental/stable branches?
In your steam application settings, you can choose a "beta branch". This allows you to opt in to our experimental branch to try it out.

Does my saved character get affected in experimental branch?
No. It runs on a different database, so any changes will not affect your character on stable branch.

I can't find a slot while on experimental branch!
Only a small number of servers run this branch. You will need to change your game back to the stable branch and play on a normal server

Can I join a stable branch server wil experimental branch client?
No, you would need to change your client back to stable.

When will this be in stable?
We expect stable to be updated before the end of that week (by 7 February 2014).

Why has <insert any bug> not been fixed yet when there is new content coming in?
While priorities are very important when assigning work, there is a limit to how many people can work on a complex task without making it even more complex. Also, many of the team are focused purely on content/design so while the important stuff is being fixed, they continue to provide content and design updates.

Is mouse acceleration being fixed?
It is not fixed in this update, but we plan to make control changes. It is not as simple as turning it "off" as the speed your character turns is not dictated by the mouse itself, but your movements combined with the type of weapon you have, how tired you are, etc.

New:
- Actions: chambering SKS round from pile, loading 10 rounds from pile
- Actions: You can uncuff other players with the hacksaw
- Actions: Cannot use an item (e.g. drink/eat) if it is "Ruined"
- Actions: Interactions with items reworked. Drinking/Eating/etc... more robust and user-friendly
- Actions: Restrained players cannot use inventory or action menu
- Animations: Player now can take and hide rifle in crouched run
- Animations: SKS reload animations
- Crafting: FNX45 pistol can be chambered with single round
- Crafting: Opening cans with combat knife added
- Crafting: Opening cans with machete added
- Crafting: Painting Motorbike Helmets to Black and Green
- Effects: Magnum revolver ejecting shells when reloading
- Effects: Magnum revolver sounds - gunshots, reloading
- Effects: Mosin ejecting shells when cycling
- Effects: New Mosin sounds - gunshots, cycling, reloading
- Gear: Improvised courier backpack added
- Gear: Machete added
- Gestures: Clapping Gesture added, default F5 key
- Gestures: Pointing Gesture added, default F6 key
- Login: Player queuing system introduced. Penalty waiting time added for switching server or disconnecting a server quickly.
- Server: Player spawns now cached by engine directly, increasing performance
- Spawns: Added Bubble goose jackets into the loot spawns
- Spawns: Added SKS rifle, speedloader, ammunition piles and boxes and SKS bayonet into the loot spawns
- Systems: Hunger and Thirst slightly modified.
- Systems: Notifications added to UI for hydration and high energy
- Zombies: Different types of Military zombies now have tougher attack values and improved durability
- Zombies: Engine dynamic obstacle checking (zombie, another player)
- Zombies: Svetlojarsk zombie spawns added

Fixed:
- Action: morphine injection can be used on other player effectively fixing his broken legs and item correctly positioned in hands
- Actions: Keys won't disappear after uncuffing
- Actions: loading ammo works for sprayed Mosin variants
- Actions: Read/Writing notes with paper and pen now works again
- Actions: reviving with epinephrine or defibrillator works also if player blood is below 500 units of blood
- Animations: fixed an issue where reload in prone would leave some residue sound clutter at the end of the reload animation
- Animations: Weapon reloading for magazine was not working properly when no magazine fitted
- Animations: Rifle Aimed Walk Updated, diagonal animations fixed
- Animations: sidesteping through doorway with rifle while crouching should not cause the player to get stuck now
- Config: Berries have more nutrition now
- Crafting : You can no longer saw off sawed off shotgun
- Crafting: Can spraypaint M4 to green or black
- Crafting: Damage is now transferred when items are painted
- Crafting: Improved Backpack creation only possible when Courier Bag is empty (previously items accidentally deleted)
- Crafting: Weapon cleaning kit can't be used when it's "Ruined" and won't reduce condition of a gun
- Effects: Dazed effect plays again when a player is hit/damaged/shot
- Effects: Some effects were not active locally when a player was restrained
- Fixed: Missing texture error dz\weapons\data\weapons_damage_metal_smdi.paa
- Fixed: Popping up texture error for beret models
- Gear: Spraycans won't deplete after relogging
- Gear: Book, radio, pot, pan, gas canisters, matchbox, paper, firewood and stone can be placed in hands
- Gear: Headlamp beam raised slightly
- Gear: Painted items now retain their previous quantities (i.e. Magazine ammo won't reset)
- Gear: Various item descriptions and notifications fixed for grammar, typos, more detail
- Gear: ZSh-3 Pilot helmet fixed and updated
- Gestures: Taunt defaults correctly to F4 key
- Graphics: "god rays" could cause overloaded post-processing and graphical corruption
- Graphics: fix of removing shining object from hand (switch off)
- Graphics: Roads have per pixel lights
- Graphics: Dynamic lights should be now defined with "radius" value which is maximum radius of light in meters
- Loot: Splint position in hand was wrong now corrected
- Spawns: Drastically lowered chance of backpacks spawning on the construction site
- Spawns: Loot spawn tweaks in some civilian structures
- Weapons: Mosin recoil increased
- Weapons: Sawed-off shotgun can be loaded with ammo (was broken due to changed inheritance)
- Weapons: Sawed-off shotgun: reduced size in inventory, reduced spread
- Zombies: Better filter/check of attack hits directly in engine
- Zombies: Military zombies made tougher

Hotfixed:
- Engine: Irregular crash of server in corpse garbage collector consequence of this is that the bodies will not disappear if other player is in vicinity

Every Tuesday, DayZ Diaries recounts Andy's adventures in post-apocalyptic survival sim DayZ, where beans and friends are frequently in short supply.

In last week's diary I spoke with some relish about my first foray into the thrilling world of cold-hearted banditry. But then the update happened and my character was reset. So here I am, back on the beach in a t-shirt, thirsty, unarmed, and helpless. But I don't mind, because some of the best stories in DayZ emerge when you're at the bottom of the food chain.

I'm in Berezino. The town has already been emptied and all I manage to scavenge is an axe, a backpack, and a few cans of beans. As I'm looting the supermarket, I run into another player. He's a fresh spawn too and sounds friendly enough over voice chat. "Do you want to go to the north-east airfield and get some better loot?" he asks. I agree, and we head inland.

We make small talk on the way, exchanging names. I don't have a compass, but it feels like we're going in the right direction. We poke our heads in a few buildings along the way, but they've been picked clean too. The server is full, so I'm not surprised. We hike for about five minutes until we hit a dirt road, when a figure suddenly emerges from a bush.



"Put your hands up." I comply. I don't have much choice with an M4 pointed at my head. The bandit handcuffs me and orders me to drop to my knees. I'm wondering why he isn't bothering with my new friend, who's been lying prone this whole time. Then I realise what's happening. They're working together. "That'll teach you to trust people!" the betrayer laughs, stealing my axe and backpack. I'm angry, but also impressed. I'm angpressed.

They uncuff me, but rather than suffer the indignity of trekking back to Berezino in my underpants, I ask them to kill me. My former friend refuses, saying they're 'nice bandits', but his friend approaches, silently loads his pistol, and pulls the trigger. Now I understand why so many people kill on sight in DayZ, even when confronted by a seemingly harmless bambi. There are more back-stabbing bastards in Chernarus than Westeros and Deadwood combined.

My pride is hurt, and I'm more paranoid than ever, but I'm still not willing to kill on sight. Interacting with other survivors is half the fun of DayZ for me. I start a new character, and after a successful raid on the north-west airfield with a friend, I'm geared up again. I have a Mosin, a long range scope, a case of ammo, and one of those neat-looking military berets added in the update. My friend logs off, so I go for a wander along the south coast.



As I'm running along the highway connecting Solnichny and Kamyshovo, I end up with three fresh spawns tailing me. They ask to tag along and I agree, not for a second considering them a threat. I have a gun after all. We run into a zombie and I take it down with my axe, but it gets a hit in before it falls. "Dude, you've been hit!" says one of the bambis. "You better bandage up!" Foolishly, I do, and as I'm locked in the animation, he starts punching me in the head.

I pull out my axe. "Sorry! I just wanted your loot!" I swing at him, but he's running in circles, still punching. Then another bambi joins in. In the confusion I kill all three of them, including the one who wasn't attacking me. "Nice try, idiot." I curse over voice chat. I'm still bleeding, and the colour is draining from my screen. I bandage up and continue heading west, this time with my rifle loaded and primed. As Roger Daltrey once sang, I won't get fooled again.

This is the turning point for me. After 75 hours of Dayz - of near-constant treachery, deception, and duplicitous dickery - I've decided that enough is enough. From now on, when I'm playing solo, I'm killing anyone I see. Even if you're a bambi in a t-shirt, you're going down without hesitation. Chernarus has ruined me. I'm Christopher Walken at the end of The Deer Hunter: a dazed, dead-eyed shadow of my former self, numbed by the horrors I've seen.

Andy is keeping track of his every bitter demise in DayZ, you can follow those at DayZdeathdiary.tumblr.com.

Besides discussing his climb up Everest, DayZ developer Dean Hall shared a bunch of interesting information about his game on a Reddit AMA today. Most important is that Hall thinks that DayZ will be playable, meaning more stable and with more features like cars, base building, and more weapons, in about six months. As it is, he thinks DayZ is about 20 percent finished.
Here are the most interesting things he had to say.
About greater goals in the game, fortifying structures, clearing mines, running a power station:
"Yes, this kind of endgame stuff is quite key to what we want to do. However, in order to do this we have to perfect the architecture which is what we are doing now. Certainly I think underground bases and advanced vehicles will allow some of this really exciting and 'Eve' style play."
About improvements to voice functionality:
"Well kind of everything. The quality. Allowing more types (whisper etc...). How zombies react to it. And also particularly the animation and how it plays when your character opens his mouth to speak."
About improving the engine (which relies heavily on the CPU) to use more of the GPU:
"Yes. It is easier for us to optimize DayZ in some ways, because DayZ's focus is very narrow. ArmA is an incredible game and ArmA 3 is no exception. It has massive scope and a huge demand on AI and many other things.
Many of these things can cause problems for MP gaming, and that's what I'm all about really.
We have reports from Intel, AMD/ATI, and Nvidia. These give us ideas for how to optimize the client. Let's just say there is huge room for improvement."
About adding different kinds of shelters:
"We have a plan for camping. Playing that mod for Skyrim (survival mod, forget its name) is GREAT inspiration and I hope we can do everything it has."
(Frostfall is the mod in question.)
About whether the game will have aircrafts:
"Yes. I think helicopters and small aircraft will be important. But they should be very complex to maintain."
About additional content after release:
"Yes. There will be content updates and such for DayZ for a long time, I believe. However that would be up to Bohemia for the most part. I'm not sure I would (not want to) be super involved with that."
About when we ll see vehicles and bases:
"Vehicles will be done based on the architecture we are doing for items/weapons now (i.e. attachments). So it's in progress really. We are replacing the physics system for items (throwing, etc...) and this new middleware will be used for vehicles also.
Bases will take longer. Barricades will happen first."
About Rust:
"I have tried rust. I think it's great. I think Garry is fing talented, deserves all the success he has/is getting. Overall I'm just really proud that something I did inspired a great designer like Garry to do something else."
About when Bohemia decided to make DayZ standalone:
"I was already working ArmA 3 as a multiplayer designer. I got invited to meet Marek Spanel (CEO) at his house to discuss DayZ when we had about 20,000 players."
A polite but cryptic answer to how much money he makes from DayZ:
"Saying specifics can be tough, I think (but I'm not really sure why, it just seems like it's rude to say how much you earn or bragging or something).
But I get a royalty, and I get paid. I also sold (assigned) the rights for DayZ to Bohemia so I was remunerated there too. Compared to royalty rates for other 'artists' and such I am probably doing very well. Compared to game designers (who mostly don't get royalties) I'm doing extremely well.
My royalty rate is not insignificant (it is fairly significant)."
About features he would like to implement but can t with the current technology:
Procedural terrain, limitless environment. I don't think its impossible with current technology but I don't think it's possible within the scope of the project."
About Early Access:
"I think it's great but there are massive icebergs sitting around it waiting to be hit. I think some projects are going to hit those and those issues will need to be addressed. It helps because it gets rid of the publishers dictating what the people find popular. You guys say what concepts are good, not some fat guys driving bugattis."
On games he wants to develop in the future:
"I really have a focus on multiplayer games, that allow the player to choose the groups they form organically with the freedom to do most things. I like games that have a persistent ongoing nature. These are the games I mostly want to focus on. Can't really offer to many more hints because I don't want someone else to make it before I can start!"
And about JayZ:
"Jay-Z's lawyers tried to get us to stop using DayZ and change it to ZDay, actually. We declined. But it did make me laugh."

All of the obvious questions have been answered, but Hall is still replying to users at the moment. You can find the full thread and get your questions in here.

One of the worst ways to die in DayZ is being shot by an unseen player. There you are, minding your own business, merrily looting a building, when some invisible bastard kills you with a Mosin. I ve always cursed those players, but last night I became one.

I m scouting the Balota airstrip with a friend, Tobias. We ve just cautiously looted the military tents to the south, and the area seems clear of players. I have an M4 with a pristine ACOG, he has a Mosin with a pristine long range scope. Next stop, the hangars.

We creep through the treeline, taking it slow. Then, directly across from us, we spot two players in full military gear sprinting past the AT tower. They look armed, so we go prone in the grass and watch them for a while. They loot the hangars, kill a couple of zombies, then head towards the barracks. This is when we decide to make our move.



We sneak up the airstrip until we re parallel with the barracks. Tobias aims his scope at the door from the treeline and I push forward, hoping our oblivious targets are still busy looting. Crossing the runway leaves me exposed, but halfway across there s a patch of grass. I m wearing green, so I go prone and train my ACOG on the entrance. My heart is racing.

Suddenly, one of the players appears at the door. I fire a burst from my M4 and he falls to the ground. He s dead, but his partner understandably panics and runs back into the barracks. With Tobias still providing cover with his Mosin, I stand up and sprint towards the building. I circle it slowly, looking through the windows, but there s no sign of him. I have to go in.

I enter the barracks and inch forward. As I turn the corner towards the stairs, I see the player at the top of them. He has his M4 pointed at me and fires a few rounds. Miraculously, none of them hit me. I leave the building and sprint around the back. If he follows me Tobias will get him, but he doesn t. About five minutes pass without any signs of movement. Maybe he logged out?



Then, just as we re beginning to let our guard down, he makes a run for it. He s moving too fast for Tobias to take the shot, but I appear from behind the barracks, fire my M4 from the hip, and take him down. I ve played the game for 60 hours now, and this is the first time I ve not only survived a firefight, but come out on top. I am the invisible bastard.

Looting the bodies, we realise that our victims had modded M4s and enough ammo to supply a small guerrilla army. We help ourselves to their supplies and scurry back into the trees. The adrenaline rush and preceding tension of our attack is one of the most exhilarating experiences I ve had in DayZ so far, even though I probably just ruined someone s evening.

I ll never become the asshole bandit who hunts fresh spawns on the coast for sport, but this encounter has given me a taste for PVP that I ve never had before. Usually I avoid trouble and stick to the trees, but now I have a thirst for blood and beans. I do feel a little bad about killing those guys, but they would have done the same to us if they had the chance right?

Tension! Betrayal! Vomit! Our DayZ stream had it all. For over three hours yesterday afternoon, the PC Gamer UK team journeyed across Chernarus. Along the way, we met friends, fought foes, and even encountered a couple of the game's developers. We were also hunted mercilessly, as viewers of the stream triangulated our position and set out on their own adventure to take us down. If you couldn't join us live, you can catch up with the full broadcast thanks to the VODs embedded below.



Part 1, Andy's PoV: Hiking Simulator 2014



Part 2, Tom's PoV: The Hungry Games



Part 3, Phil's PoV: #KillBen2014



Part 4, Chris's PoV: The Final Ascent



If you were there, thanks for joining us. As you can probably tell from the stream, we were genuinely surprised by how well it went, and came out of the experience with a great story to tell. Stream sniping can be a major problem - but here it was a welcome threat. In a game based on anonymity and the unknown, having a clear and present danger provided an amazing context for our journey to Green Mountain. It was a pleasure to be murdered by you all.

Edit: Apologies for the abrupt ending. We're making some changes to the stream set up, so in future we'll have less dead air if the streamer goes down. We'll be trying again with another run at 2pm.

Today, the PC Gamer team is taking a break from fighting words, to instead fight some zombies, bandits, and those oh-so-deadly ladders. We're playing DayZ today from 2pm until... well, until we die. It could be a short stream. Hopefully it won't be. You can track our progress, as we weave between towns, cities and military bases, by heading over to our Twitch channel, or just watching below.



Here's who's taking the trip:

Sam Roberts
Chris Thursten
Tom Senior
Andy Kelly
Ben Griffin
Phil Savage

Andy's taking POV on the main stream. For Chris' alternate perspective, head to his Twitch channel.

We can't stop watching videos of the horrifying, hilarious and fascinating adventures of DayZ players enjoying the shonky but somehow-still-really-entertaining alpha. Last week we rounded up a few of our favourites, but they keep on coming, so it's time for a second compendium. Read on for an explosive game of DayZ roulette, a dance-off at gunpoint, a couple of good samaritans and another weird cult.

DayZ roulette
Anyone up for a friendly game of gas station roulette?


Suicide prevention services
We've been enjoying the Friendly in Cherno channel, detailing the ongoing efforts of a nice guy in DayZ trying to be nice, with varying degrees of success. Here he stands around in Berezino, trying to talk dissatisfied new spawns out of jumping to their deaths.


There can be only one
In the real world turning up dressed in the same clothes as a friend is always awkward, but rarely results in an axe-fight to the death. In DayZ, almost all situations, awkward or otherwise, result in an axe-fight to the death, here at the behest of a troop of well-armed bandits. Would you fight or flee?


DayZ dance-off
Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like you've been held up by two guys with assault rifles who won't let you go until you've made them laugh.


Worldstar Hero
Witness the legendary bravery of this new spawn taking on a bandit.


Firefighter saviour
Any object in DayZ can be used to help the weak and defenseless, even a fire extinguisher.


Another dark DayZ cult
The last time we did one of these video round-ups, we shared the adventures of the Wiggle Cultists. They are hard to replace, but here are some Scary People With No Trousers cultists to tide you over.


Coastal Run Timelapse
A player runs the entire Chernarus coastline and recorded this time lapse of his efforts. DayZ sure is big.

We can't stop watching videos of the horrifying, hilarious and fascinating adventures of DayZ players enjoying the shonky but somehow-still-really-entertaining alpha. Last week we rounded up a few of our favourites, but they keep on coming, so it's time for a second compendium. Read on for an explosive game of DayZ roulette, a dance-off at gunpoint, a couple of good samaritans and another weird cult.

DayZ roulette
Anyone up for a friendly game of gas station roulette?



Suicide prevention services
We've been enjoying the Friendly in Cherno channel, detailing the ongoing efforts of a nice guy in DayZ trying to be nice, with varying degrees of success. Here he stands around in Berezino, trying to talk dissatisfied new spawns out of jumping to their deaths.



There can be only one
In the real world turning up dressed in the same clothes as a friend is always awkward, but rarely results in an axe-fight to the death. In DayZ, almost all situations, awkward or otherwise, result in an axe-fight to the death, here at the behest of a troop of well-armed bandits. Would you fight or flee?



DayZ dance-off
Work like you don't need the money, love like you've never been hurt, dance like you've been held up by two guys with assault rifles who won't let you go until you've made them laugh.



Worldstar Hero
Witness the legendary bravery of this new spawn taking on a bandit.



Firefighter saviour
Any object in DayZ can be used to help the weak and defenseless, even a fire extinguisher.



Another dark DayZ cult
The last time we did one of these video round-ups, we shared the adventures of the Wiggle Cultists. They are hard to replace, but here are some Scary People With No Trousers cultists to tide you over.



Coastal Run Timelapse
A player runs the entire Chernarus coastline and recorded this time lapse of his efforts. DayZ sure is big.

I m with a group of friends in the southern coastal town of Kamyshovo. We ve been running down the coast for what feels like hours, and we re all dying of thirst and/or hunger. Then, up ahead on the main road, we see another player. We all point our guns at the stranger, even though we don t have any ammo, but he waves and says he s friendly. Amazingly, it s Chris. By sheer chance, I ve bumped into someone I know in the vast expanse of Chernarus. He s in dire need of food and water too, so we decide to hike west towards the city of Elektrozavodsk to try and find life-saving beans.

We reach the city and search the houses and apartment blocks for supplies. There are a few zombies, but Chris makes short work of them with his fire axe. Encouragingly, there don t seem to be any other players around. I spot a pump behind the church and we gather around it, filling our bellies with delicious, probably infected, water. Our health restored, we go scavenging in a nearby fire station. Chris finds a Magnum, and I look in vain for M4 ammo.



Then, suddenly, I catch a glimpse of someone in full military gear with a rifle. There s a player here with a gun! I announce over public voice chat, because I m an idiot. I lose sight of them almost immediately, but now everyone s in a panic. We circle the station and we can t see anyone, so I think maybe I imagined it. Another friend of ours is trapped at the top of a smokestack somewhere in the city. He can t get down because there are zombies at the foot of the ladder, so we decide to go and help him.

We re sprinting along the main road which is a really, really bad idea in DayZ, especially in somewhere as heavily populated as Elektro. Then I hear a crack of gunfire, and my friend Emily is shot. She falls to the ground, then I do. Blackness. I load up Chris s stream on Twitch and, thanks to the delay, see Emily die again, but Chris bolts into a nearby apartment before he knows what s happened to me. Our attackers sprint down the street towards our bodies. They ve been stalking us this whole time. Then, just when he thinks he s safe, they shoot Chris through the window. We re all dead.

Chris leaves, but Ben joins me when I start a new character, along with two other friends. This time we decide to head inland, away from the coast, and well away from Elektro. We work our way through the countryside, from Solnichniy to Dolina, gathering supplies. We have a pretty nice haul. Enough to keep us fed and watered all the way to the north-west airfield, where our plan is to pick up some decent weapons if we don t get sniped the instant we approach, that is.



Along a dirt road, I spot a lake. We take advantage of it and fill up on water. While we re waiting for the others, Ben approaches me, and I see a message flash up on the screen saying that I ve just been force-fed a rotten banana. I have a funny taste in my mouth. my character says. I have food poisoning. Ben laughs over voice chat, not realising that he s just signed my death warrant. I scour Dolina for charcoal tablets, but in my 20 hours of playing the standalone I ve never once come across any. My character moans as the sickness gets worse. Thanks, Ben. Thanks a lot.

Incredibly, while we re looting a house, he tries to do it AGAIN, this time with a kiwi fruit. But his plan backfires and he accidentally eats it himself. I m furious, so I take out my fire axe and kill him, cursing him over Skype. I could have watched him die slowly of the same ailment he gave me, but I was feeling vengeful. I loot his body and leave him for the zombies. The rest of the group are fine, but I m done for. The sickness is eating away at me. I get on my knees and ask them to kill me and end my suffering. They pummel me with their axe and baseball bat, and I see blackness once again.

Chris recorded his stream of the adventure, so you can see it from his perspective here.


These aren't the first times Andy's died in DayZ, and they won't be the last. He's documenting every bitter demise on his DayZ Death Diary - a chronicle of DayZ at its most melancholy.