A New Genre: Zombie Apocalypse Survival Simulation

   It seems with the popularity of Walking Dead and DayZ that there is a new genre of videogames branching out of the normal Survival Horror. What genre you ask, Zombie Apocalypse Survival Simulation. Yeah yeah, but there are so many Zombie survival games, how is this a new genre? Simple, it's an actual representation to what a Zombie Apocalypse may be like that. It's not some arcade shoot everything with infinite ammo game.To get what Zombie Apocalypse just look at DayZ.

   DayZ is AWESOME. However, it is so difficult to get into a game. It's 50% server searching, 40% playing and 10% worrying about getting disconnected everytime you see that damn broken red chain link. It's "alpha" yeah, I understand. Personally I'm thinking it's an experiment while Bohemia finishes up Arma 3 and any final DayZ release will be on that engine. Hell, i've read Rocket was moving his things to the Bohemia offices so maybe he's working with them for a full on Arma 3 engine Day Z release.

   But until then, we still have a flawed but awesome game to play. But it's not the only one anymore. Here comes, The War Z. Originally being designed as a Zombie Survival MMO with quests and unlocked areas. But after DayZ they made some design changes to reflect what is making DayZ so popular and design changes that seem to be on players wish lists. Either way it'll be interesting to see how it plays and maybe even get Rocket to make DayZ even better now that their will be competition.

    Check out this IGN article on The War Z.

A Punisher Fan Film

It's amazing what fans can do. Even with a limited budget. But what if someone famous is a fan and can put some money into their projects. To start there was this Concept video Mortal Kombat Rebirth that was made to pitch for a new Mortal Kombat movie. It was done with a realistic dark and gritty take. Likely taking a cue from Batman Begins and going over that dark line where Batman would not, because, well, it's Mortal Kombat

This is old news really, but nothing happened of it for a while until fans were loud enough and eventually heard, resulting in great series of web videos called Mortal Kombat Legacy. And now there is a possibility of a movie or at the very least another season of videos.

Which brings us to The Punisher. I've never seen War Zone. I didn't care much for the idea of it after having embraced Thomas Jane's portrayal. Yeah the movie had it's flaws, John Travolta and the core Origin story. But what it all boils down to is, Thomas Jane was flat out awesome as The Punisher. And he loves the character to a point... well... just check it out.

"I wanted to make a fan film for a character I've always loved and believed in - a love letter to Frank Castle & his fans. It was an incredible experience with everyone on the project throwing in their time just for the fun of it. It's been a blast to be a part of from start to finish -- we hope the friends of Frank enjoy watching it as much as we did making it." -- Thomas Jane

Here's hoping the studios see what this means to the fans and realize, that through its flaws, however few there were, there was greatness to be had with Thomas Jane's Punisher. I'm hoping for a revival. I guess in this day where reboots are such a huge thing, this may be one I'd be able to support fully without hesitation.

Also:


Also, also, if you have an hour:

Honestly, it's insane that Firefly only came back for a single movie and not revived completely.

My Transmog: Hunter

This one is gonna be a quick post. Not gonna bother with links for the moment. I'm tired and falling asleep as I type this, then I'll schedule it for the morning. Anyways, here is the Transmog set I've been working on. It's a brown color scheme going with leather hide looking outfits. Only problem there were'nt any shoulders that went well with this set. Until I saw the season 11 PvP shoulders. At which point I had to get geared up to run Twiligh dungeons. and here are the results.

 Unmasked. Thinking about possibly hiding helmet.

Actually kind of goes okay with our guild tabard's current color scheme thanks to the grey in the shoulders.

A Hunter's Weekend.

There was no DayZ fun to be had this weekend. That is on hold for the time being. So what did I do then? Well, for starters, I've started watching Burn Notice on Netflix. Another show that I sometimes enjoyed the few times I caught it, but yet, never allowed myself to make time to catch it every week. As far as shows that I absolutely will watch weekly, that method belongs to How I Met Your Mother. Everything else I can wait for Netflix/Hulu or DVDs.

  What about gaming? This is a gaming blog right, so what games did I play. Well, I played World of Warcraft of course. And as the title suggests, I mostly played my Hunter. Now, when I first made the decision to finally get my Hunter to 85, I had absolutely no intention of gearing him up. I just wanted to get him to a level where if I had encountered a rare tameable spawn, I'd be able to tame it.

   But late one friday night I finally found a possible Transmogrification set that I'd actually be happy with for him. Only one of the pieces belongs to the season 11 PvP set and since I don't PvP, my best bet is Valor to Conquest trade. So that's it folks. I've spent my weekend first gearing him up to the point he can run the Twilight Dungeons, skipping the horrific regular set of Heroics and maxing out my weekly Valor point collection. Now all I need is to wait for the reset then I'd be ready to share my Hunter's transmog look.

   Also, I manage to pick up a few rare spawns on Bradailann. My favorite being the Metal Panther from the Firelands whom I've renamed Ravage. Honestly the only truly suitable name for a metal cat.

A DayZ Fourth of July

After waking up after lunch I spent early afternoon watching DayZ videos. Afraid to play the game because we as a group decided to wait till we can all play together. So last we actually played was 4 maybe 5 days ago and I've been itching to play more and more after each video. Occasionally I would log on and check the construction building I am in for goodies. Well this time, after too much waiting I urged Kev to run through the Chernogorsk with me for a quick scavenge. We were doing alright, heading out with Hatchets, Kev found a Makarov. Then we made it to an apartment building where we found a fresh survivor. I made the call to let him live after failing to get a response in direct communication. I really do not want to be that guy that kills on sight. I have hopes for a game where players will help players. So we check the rooms and get to whatever goodies before he could. I never let him out of my sight though.

I watched as he hit the market across the street at which point I pointed out there were hatchets over there and told Kev we need to keep an eye on him. But, he never picked one up, I saw him stop at a few other loot points, but not once did he stop at the hatchets. Then he ran off, I felt it was peculiar, but decided to let it go. Next thing I know I hear a shot fire. Kev shot at someone who came around with a gun. Then more shots were fired and Kev is down. I head down stairs and see the other guy is bleeding and he shoots me, I'm down but not out. Hourglass is draining and I'm watching this guy as he is looting Kev, but sadly when I came to I finally bit the bullet after a valiant effort to hatchet him in the face.

Several questions running through my head at this point. Was it the same guy? Did he find a gun and is that why he passed on the hatchets? Did he come back to shoot us? Would he have shot us if Kev didn't shoot first? Should I just blatantly murder people because it's possible they might come back and murder us as soon as they find a weapon?

Oh well, doesn't matter. Time to start anew. We start fresh and we both spawn just outside a big city, unsure of which ones though. I'm making my way on the outskirts and after recognizing a few buildings I recognize I'm at Elecktro...whatevers. I hear gunshots in the distance and stay vigilant. Then over vent Kev is muttering about being low on ammo and zombies are still coming. Apparantly he was lucky enough to already pick up a double-barrel shotgun. But he got tagged and lost a lot of blood and is holed up in a station building that has a tower that is basically a stairwell with an attached warehouse that recognize as a power station.

As he states there was another zombie, I hear another gunshot, so I ask him if that was him firing. The whole time I been hearing his gunshots. He and I spawned on opposites sides of Elektro. Sweet, so I make my way toward the power station on the outside only to find it empty and after talking to Kev found out that he was at another one inside. Before meeting up with him I loot a supermarket picking up an ALICE pack, an M1911, an extra makarov that i throw in the ALICE pack, a Map, compass and watch. I also have a Remingtion Pump action shotgun with no ammo, yay, only because I chose it over the crossbow with 1 bolt, minus the bolt since I couldn't find it to pick it back up after shooting a zombie in the head.

After looting the market I meet up with Kev, distribute some foods and we make our way to the hospital where I administer the much needed blood transfusion he needed and pick up extra supplies. Next to the hospital is another building and I see through the window another ALICE pack. So we hit that spot only to find it unable to be picked up. I don't remember what happened first but at this point I had to shoot a zombie but we also here a gunshot. When the gunshot was fired that wasn't from me, both Kev and I shout over vent, "was that you?", and we both respond "no, not I". At which point we decide it was not safe to stick around. We figured whoever it was heard ours and was possibly making their way toward us. So we bolt and make for some trees where we dealt with a few zombies but was able to get free and eventually watch the town for player movement.

After seeing a swarm of zombies go into one building we wait a bit then hit up the supermarket, this time together. Kev picked up an ALICE pack and a Lee Enfield that he tossed in the ALICE pack for Darraxus should we meet up with him. And at this point we considered ourselves well stocked and head to Chernogorsk so we can get that Construction building where we wait once again for all three of us to log on and continue our journey. Only this time we won't just have mere Hatchets.

EDIT: HOLY WALL'O TEXT BATMAN! Fixed, had it in HTML mode and not compose. So all the breaks it looked like I was putting in in reality was not being put in.

DayZ have your attention now?

It's awesome, I don't blame you. The stories that come out of the game are amazing. Forget the movies, forget the books, play the Zombie Apocalypse for yourself and see how you fare. But first, here are some helpful resources I've found very helpful.

Index of Helpful Threads and within this index, a must view thread is the Gear/Inventory thread that explains one of the most confusing parts of this game for beginners.


A Chernarus Map is a big thing to get familiar with. There is an in game map, but you need to find it first, something i've never done yet. Some of the maps are basic while there are a few with possible loots spots and their building types. Choose what fits you.


Now, here is something from sacriel42 I wish I had found a lot earlier. A very informative Basics video. Definitely a must watch for beginners. It's nice seeing what is being done as he explains it.
 


Now you're familiar with the basics. Where do you go? Where is the good stuff? Let sacriel42 once again show you.

Survival at it's best.

   I find myself on a beach, exposed with nothing but a Flashlight, bandage and some painkillers. I walk up a hill to get a look around and see a construction site outside an industrial city. As I make my way towards the skeleton of a building I hear a fire crackling which puts me on my tip toes. Sneaking through the building I find it's been deserted, a barrel fire left unattended surrounded with barbed wire fencing. Soda left all over, they must have left in a hurry. Their loss is my gain. I find a hatchet in the stairwell as I make my way to the rooftop to scout the city. In the middle of all these rusted earthy toned buildings I spot a clean looking white building. Could it be a hospital? Only one way to tell. But first, there is a cow and I'll soon be hungry. After severing the cows spine with my hatchet for a quick clean humane kill I cook the meat up and store it in my bags for my journey.