Suggestions for finding civilization?

[Doctor Selethos]

Hey everyone. I'm going to be honest, I'm completely lost.

For the past two hours I've been sat prone, in a bush smashed up against a tree, staring desperately at a road hoping someone will drive by. One person I believe ran by, but he was being chased by about twenty zeds, so I thought it best to not intervene as I have no weapons, food, or water. Every house I've approached was either covered in zeds, empty, or closed off.

In short, how in the world can I figure this out and not, you know, die cold and alone and thirsty? I've looked for signs but there are none around for me to be able to tell where I am.

I'm completely new to DayZ, and was just wondering if there was an easier way to navigate without a map or GPS.

[Sidewinder]

Well the clouds travel east and when you spawn in it should say where you spawn on the map, use this with outside knowledge like a dayz map to try and gauge where you can travel

Hope this helps

[TrilbyAsh]

Pick a direction to follow and start running that way. Follow roads where you can, you're more likely to bump into people. If you come across a village, crouch and start to walk into it, to try and find enterable houses. You should find yourself some decent things to keep you going. But always stick to roads, if you want to interact with people. That's the easiest way of finding people.

[Guest BoobManReub]

Staying put won't get you anywhere, you need to keep moving. I suggest playing on a few normal DayZ servers to get the gist of things before RP'ing, but it'd be interesting to get used to the game while in character. Stick to roads, and look for a map

[Doctor Selethos]

I actually kind of wanted to get used to the game in RP mode. My character is a scientist (Like me, woo!), and I know that I personally only have the basic survival skills that common sense lends me. I want myself, and the character, to actually go through learning the ropes.

Also, that cloud tip is SO helpful! At least if I know where east and west is I can get a general idea of where to start running. I was looking for the moon, but then realized that I couldn't see it anywhere. Although my thirst is nearly empty. I hope one of these zombie infested houses has something to drink. Thanks for the tips!

[pal10]

You could use streets, electric wires, the mountains, the clouds, the sun or the sea as a basic way of orientation. try to get used to the different kind of buildings you can loot. try to find a basic weapon to defend yourself if there is no other way to escape. stay silent and keep your head down. get used to dieing, the apocalypse can be unforgiving. Get used to being robbed. Get used to steal from camps or cars, it might save your life.

[Sir Doctor]

Follow the coast road east and you'll be sure to come across someone. If not at the end of the road you may find some safety

[MrStevetic]

Movement is life man.

When it's daytime on the server it's afternoon, so the sun is in the west, and at night, it's towards dawn, so the moon is in the south west.

Check the buildings you enter. If you have zombies after you, more than one entry/exit is preferable. A must if unarmed.

www.dayzdb.com/map is a good clear reference map, with both Russian and English spellings of town names to help you better navigate.

[Griffin]

Look up at the clouds they always head east. Run East until you hit the coast and then run north until pass Berezino in between Rify and Berezino is the SASR HQ full of friendly people, traders and even fishing competitions sometimes. Voila civilization!

[Trimbly]

The large electrical lines lead to just out side of cherno and elecktro and depending on what direction you follow you can get to the sobors they are the best thing to follow when you just get started but I say get a map and compass and learn to navigate using them.