History VideoGame / DayZ

* StealthBasedGame: In many ways. The player can lower their profile and move slowly and on soft surfaces to avoid their chances of being seen or heard. Distracting objects like flares, or even empty soda cans, can be thrown to lure away zombies and let the player slip by. Weapon sounds are a major consideration as well, since light and noise attract zombies. Plus other players might be attracted to the sound of gunfire and be looking for an [[PlayerKilling easy mark]]. Recent updates have [[OhCrap removed any starting weapons]] from the player's inventory to encourage this.

* WithThisHerring: The most recent update spawns new characters with no weapon and minimal supplies

''[[http://www.dayzmod.com/ DayZ]]'' is a [[GameMod mod]] for the video game ''{{ARMA}} II'', converting the realistic military sim into a post-apocalyptic zombie-survival simulation.

* GameMod: One that managed to singlehandedly make ''ARMA II'' extremely popular.

** [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon Albeit they also have horrible range,]] [[PixelHunt bolts aren't that easy to retrieve]] [[GridInventory and single bolt takes whole inventory slot.]] Also, with introduction of melee weapons they don't even monopolize totally silent effect anymore.

* AwesomeYetPractical: Crossbows are somewhat slow and have moderate power, but are completely silent, have reusable ammunition, and can kill a zombie in a single headshot.
** [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon Albeit they also have horrible range,]] [[PixelHunt bolts aren't that easy to retrieve]] [[GridInventory and single bolt takes whole inventory slot.]] Also everything kills anything with a headshot and with introduction of melee weapons they don't even monopolize silence effect.

* {{Griefer}}: The nature of the game encourages this, really. Why else kill newly spawned players, especially when your specced out in high-grade military gear?

At the moment, the game is still in alpha, so bugs are to be expected. Regardless, ''[=DayZ=]'' has given ''ARMA II'' a huge boost in popularity, shooting it up to one of the top ten games on Steam. On August 7th 2012, the official blog announced that ''[=DayZ=]'' would become a standalone game to be released sometime in 2012.

At the moment, the game is still in alpha, so bugs are to be expected. Regardless, ''[=DayZ=]'' has given ''ARMA II'' a huge boost in popularity, shooting it up to one of the top ten games on Steam.

* CoOpMultiplayer/CompetitiveMultiplayer: The game walks a balance between the two. On the one hand, pretty much everyone is liable to kill you, if only because they're afraid you'll kill them. On the other hand, teaming up with others makes things much easier, especially in terms of having someone to watch your back. Fixing vehicles also basically requires teammates, in that the vehicles tend to spawn in high traffic areas, often because of the vehicle, and the items needed to repair and fuel them take up large amounts of space.

** You can find a lot of Coke and Pepsi but Mountain Dew, ''forget about it''.

* CrazyPrepared: [[PlayerCharacter You]] if you happen to be even a halfway decent survivor. Ammo counted to the bullet for your weapons, morphine for broken bones, painkillers for trauma and, well [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment pain]], bandages for bleeding, all balanced out with food and water along with munitions and other misc. supplies in a very limited inventory space (12 slots primary, 8 secondary weapon bandolier, and 24 tops in a backpack. Oh, and it's a damn [[GridInventory grid style inventory. A small bottle of painkillers take up the same space as a STANAG magazine for an AR platform rifle.]])

* CrazyPrepared: [[PlayerCharacter You]] if you happen to be even a halfway decent survivor. Ammo counted to the bullet for your weapons, morphine for broken bones, painkillers for trauma and, well [[DepartmentOfRedundancyDepartment pain]], bandages for bleeding, all balanced out with food and water along with munitions and other misc. supplies in a very limited inventory space (12 slots primary, 8 secondary weapon bandolier, and 24 tops in a backpack. Oh, and it's a damn [[GridInventory grid style inventory. A small bottle of painkillers take up the same space as a STANAG magazine for an AR platform rifle.)

* StandardStatusEffects: In addition to food and water, players may also need to scavenge for supplies to deal with these, such as heat packs for hypothermia, morphine for broken legs, antibiotics for infections, bandages to stop bleeding, and painkillers to... [[ExactlyWhatItSaysOnTheTin kill pain]].

* CallAHitPointASmeerp: See CriticalExistenceFailure below.

* DeliberatelyMonochrome: Happens at low blood.

* EverythingsDeaderWithZombies: Natch

** [[ShortRangeLongRangeWeapon Albeit they also have horrible range,]] [[PixelHunt bolts aren't that easy to retrieve]] [[GridInventory and single bolt takes whole inventory slot.]] Also everything kills anything with a headshot and with introduction of melee weapon they don't even monopolize silence effect.

* DoomyDoomsOfDoom: Sums up much of the feeling of playing the game. The game is unbearably tense and features a soundtrack with heavy use of the ScareChord. Combine that with the CrapsackWorld where people kill each other over tins of beans and you have the makings of a truly Doomy experience.

!!''[=DayZ=]'' provides examples of the following tropes

* DeathIsASlapOnTheWrist: Averted. [[NintendoHard Hard]]. You will lose everything you looted and respawn at the starting location, probably far away from any friends you may have been with. However, you can store equipment in a tent to resupply yourself; but you better pray no one came across it or [[ObviousBeta that the server doesn't delete it]].

* HollywoodDarkness: Averted ''hard''. Nighttime is extremely difficult to navigate, requiring the use of flares, glowsticks, flashlights, or night vision to see where you're going. The first three give away your position to zombies and other players alike, so night vision goggles are some of the most sought after items in the game.

* WizardNeedsFoodBadly: Characters need both food and water to survive. Occasionally certain status ailments will require different medicines as well.