DayZ

[Jedi]

Here's something i found on another forum im at:


Taken from dayztx.com
Survivors,

Huge news coming down the pipeline. A few days ago there was a AMA (ask me anything) session on Reddit where DayZ creator ‘Rocket’ talked openly about the upcoming changes to ‘DayZ mod‘ and ‘DayZ full‘.

The DayZ full alpha is on the road-map to be released at the end of 2012. You may not notice it at this point but, this is huge news. Just wait till you finish reading this post and see all they have plans for.

It seems like DayZ will too mimic the way the hugely successful Minecraft was launched. Meaning that they will start selling tickets into the alpha at a steep discount for all the early birds out there itching to take the worm. I heard it would start around $15 and work its way up to $30 when its ready for the full launch.

One of the things I really like about DayZ is how much impact the players have on the game by posting their thoughts and suggestions on forums. By saying they would focus more on improving the game architecture before they work on features, it really shows how they listen to complaints and want to fix things for us.

One of the biggest out of the box changes will be the new map, ‘Chernarus Plus’. The map will be more focused on DayZ gameplay which means there will be more buildings you can rummage through and it will be easier to tell which buildings don’t have loot. I’m guessing they will probably look a little more dilapidated or destroyed than the ones with goods inside. Check back soon for a tutorial series I’m working on to help those of you that are currently having problems with this.

There are also talks of more melee combat which I personally have been waiting for. I hate holding a hunting knife in my tool belt and not being able to come up behind a zombie and silently slice their throat from ear to ear and watch as their coagulated infectious blood run down their shirt and permeates the air with the putrid stench of un-death…or, you know, stab a player in the back…Sorry, I had a moment there….I love stealth kills…

The Dogs update I posted about last week, was also mentioned to be released as part of the next big DayZ mod patch v1.7.3. They seem to be continuing the tradition of using the mod as a platform to test their ideas then seeing how players react to the changes before making their final decision on whether or not to keep it for DayZ full. Rocket added, “Expect them to track, to warn you of danger, and to follow you. And then get shot. And then you QQ.”

The folks over at DayZHQ created a great list with all the highlights from the AMA. Thanks for the heads up fellas!
General Information

Target for release is by the end of the 2012 working year.
The release will be for the public alpha version, i.e. not the stable release.
The standalone will provide the dev team with absolute freedom, and they will utilize many aspects of the Real Virtuality engine, not limited to the ArmA 3 version. It will be their own branch of the engine.
Alpha will be heavily discounted, and the end product will never be a fully priced retail product. Rocket mentions that he can’t picture a price over 25 euro (30 USD) for the final.
No pre-ordering, but there will be a premium/collector’s edition available with swag like art prints and concept work.
The game mechanics will stay as they are now.
Focus will be on re-developing game architecture first, and then development of new features.
There will be no “endgame”, but rather continued gameplay decided by the individual player. Kind of like Minecraft before The End was introduced.

New features

A new map, “Chernarus Plus”.
Chernarus Plus will have more interactive (enter-able) buildings. Non-interactive buildings will be easier to spot.
Hand combat, in addition to the melee weapons we already have.
Dogs can be a survivor’s companion. “Expect them to track, to warn you of danger, and to follow you. And then get shot. And then you QQ.”
There will be no safe areas on the map.
A quiver for crossbow bolts.
Weapon and gear degradation.
A diary system, allowing other players to see notes left by you when you’re offline, not around, or dead.
A robust web interface, as previewed at Rezzed earlier this summer.
Narrative that will describe the virus background.

Improvements over the mod

More weapons. Many of which are custom, “find at home” style weaponry. Cricket bat, anyone?
Zombies will not switch to walking when indoors (once pathing for zombies is fixed and their lifecycle is implemented).
More clothing and player customization, including colors and face.
The humanity system will be fine tuned.
More robust weather system, redesigned from scratch.
Zombies will be much more frightening.
Improved broken limb system.
And entirely new hive syncing system.
Improved anti-cheat measures.
Improved player UI. The inventory is being reworked from scratch.
The female character will be feature complete.
Better performance, including faster loading.

Future plans

More islands other than Chernarus, created by either the dev team or the community. Players will travel to them by boat or air.
Increase max player count. 100-200 would be easily achievable, but any more would require a larger map.
More wildlife. “Horses would be cool too.”
Animations will be improved.
There are vague mentions of a revised server hosting scheme.
Add “methods that allow players to create their own systems for things, so if they wanted to create such a system they could”. So perhaps think about Garry’s Mod and how players can program in aspects that affect their own gameplay. Not sure on this one.
Underground “bases” and other construction, but Rocket mentions that it’s a pretty ambitious endeavor to develop.
Group play and faction support.

Current DayZ mod version

The current mod version of DayZ will continue to be updated, and will become more open.
Dogs will be coming to the mod (in the next update, v1.7.3) before the standalone.
The possibility of private hive servers.
Lingor Island may be coming to the mod.

Let me know what your thoughts are in the comments below and thanks for reading!

-TX- Joe