Just when you thought Rocket man would possibly throw in the towel, out he came, from his holiday cave, to speak to the masses on DayZ.
December came and went, the projected release month for DayZ standalone. The press, fans, and curious gamers all pondered the missed launch. No word. Then came the WarZ fiasco, which in turn, greatly disturbed Dean Hall, lead designer for DayZ standalone. As a result, he questioned the possibility of continuing his work within the industry and the project itself. Fear settled in. The aftermath? Alas, the smoke has cleared and DayZ is still here; with a fresh update for the interweb.
“We did have to be out by the end of the year - and we’ve failed to achieve that,” said Dean “Rocket” Hall today, via the DayZ blog site. “DayZ Standalone isn’t here because we had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly, packaged simply, and sold - to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way we all dreamed it could be.” Hall adds.
Moving forward, the DayZ dev teams plans to host a closed test set to begin any day. The test will include 500-1000 people, most participants from the community, to focus on the architecture of the game. As soon as notable fixes have been remedied, then a public release is set to be scheduled.
As for things that are completed on Rocket’s massive to-do list was the inventory system. The cumbersome version in the mod sits atop many complaints and was a top priority entering development. The new system is said to be “groundbreaking” and is poised to “fundamentally change the DayZ experience.” Hall described this refinement in greater detail: “You scavenge for items now, as individual parts, picking up pieces rather than piles, looking for cans on shelves or under beds. The new system opens the door for durability of items, disease tracking (cholera lingering on clothes a player wears…), batteries, addon components, and much more. If you shoot a player in the head to take his night vision, you will damage the night vision.”
Additionally, players can expect a drag and drop feature with actual 3D models versus 2D images. Furthermore, players will be able to add clothing and items to their character via the inventory screen. Yes, in 3D. Coming as no surprise, the UI is being heavily influenced by Minecraft. Expect the system to be self explanatory and simplistic.
As for the DayZ’s setting, Chernarus, progress is slow going, due to the imprisonment of lead architect, Ivan Buchta on charges of espionage - if you can believe that. Other than this setback, DZ is alive and kicking strong. This title, on paper, looks to be nothing short of innovative. When will we see it on our PC monitors? I’m inclined to predict a late February, early March release, but don’t quote me.
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