DayZ stand-alone alpha shooting for December

DayZ creator Dean Hall has said that the stand-alone alpha will hit this year, likely in December, and that it will be inexpensive. He also made some comments about the competition with fellow zombie-survival title The War Z.

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The stand-alone version of DayZ might just barely squeeze into its goal of releasing this year. Creator Dean Hall recently said the alpha will probably hit in December, and on top of that, claimed it will be "cheap."

"It has to be out before the end of the year," he said at the Eurogamer Expo. "Not just because we've committed to it but in order to achieve what we have to do. It has to be. There's no 'we hope it is'; it has to be. And it's going to be cheap. We've decided that we don't need to sell a heap of units in order for us to be OK with where it's going. The more units we sell of it the more ambitious we get, because the project has the better resources."

He said that releasing in December would allow the team to move onto "more ambitious features" in January and February. Hall made some remarks about The War Z, which is set to release this fall. "Maybe they will make a better game - I don't know. Maybe what they're doing is not cool to me, but the way I look at it is what are my options? What could I do? I could stand up here and be very critical of anyone who does a clone copy of the game. What would that actually achieve other than making me look like a dick? It's not going to result in a better game.

"I guess what I'm saying is what I feel isn't important. Maybe that's what leadership is: saying my feelings aren't important here - my feelings are often selfish. I have to be realistic about it and say the responsibility is on me to make a good game. And that's just life."

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  • reply
    September 28, 2012 8:15 AM

    Steve Watts posted a new article, DayZ stand-alone alpha shooting for December.

    DayZ creator Dean Hall has said that the stand-alone alpha will hit this year, likely in December, and that it will be inexpensive. He also made some comments about the competition with fellow zombie-survival title The War Z.

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      September 28, 2012 8:32 AM

      hey day z guy, you mad bro? its not like you invented the zombie game genre

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        September 28, 2012 8:38 AM

        Is this a serious post?

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        September 28, 2012 9:25 AM

        No no, I'm sure two PvP/PvE hybrid open-world zombie games with a very similar look, feel, and gameplay experience were in development at the exact same time.

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          September 28, 2012 10:48 AM

          Clearly you've played both then?

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            September 28, 2012 10:58 AM

            One need not be Ceasar, to understand Cessation.

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            September 28, 2012 12:49 PM

            [deleted]

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              September 28, 2012 1:48 PM

              its kinda like saying titan quest, diablo and dungeon siege are all the same game. and indeed they are similar. you never heard any of them complain about the other guy copying their game.

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            September 28, 2012 1:07 PM

            You mean War Inc?

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          September 28, 2012 12:52 PM

          Like it or not, Day Z has some serious flaws. I like Day Z's realism, but I like the features that are planned for War Z better. The economy and safe areas sounds great. If War Z keeps all of the realism of Day Z and adds the features that are planned, it will be a superior game IMO.

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            September 28, 2012 5:36 PM

            The feeling of the game is going to be similar to BF3 according to the developers.

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        September 28, 2012 7:02 PM

        Dean Hall has said many times he didn't invent the zombie game genre but he wanted to do something special with it, and he has. He has made a survival game around a zombie game that is compelling on so many levels.

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      September 28, 2012 9:31 AM

      Before I comment on what Hall is saying - how much of a copy is the war z of day z? For what he is saying to have any merit, it must be a blatant rip off?

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        September 28, 2012 9:44 AM

        from the war z vids i've seen it's pretty similar though it looks a bit more arcadey (slightly less "realism") than Day z but i don't really know. i'm just some dude on the internet.

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          September 28, 2012 10:54 AM

          you know, I can hang with a bit more arcadey version of day z

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          September 28, 2012 7:03 PM

          I feel your right on. WarZ from what i've read is a mod from a game called War Inc. that was registered after the DayZ mod came out.

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        September 28, 2012 9:56 AM

        It's very similar.

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        September 28, 2012 12:05 PM

        A better name would be KIRF Z.

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        September 28, 2012 12:54 PM

        Who cares. I mentioned this in a War Z thread- Minecraft took Infiniminer and added a bunch of awesome to make a way better game. That's how shit rolls sometimes.

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      September 28, 2012 9:48 AM

      OSX version or gtfo!

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      September 28, 2012 9:55 AM

      glad he's making it cheap..I wasted $30 on Arma and expansions to play the mod.

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        September 28, 2012 10:21 AM

        How is it wasted? ArmA 2 is a great game by itself. There are also plenty of other great mods besides DayZ. Also, rocket has repeatedly said that the mod version of the game will still be supported.

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          September 28, 2012 12:30 PM

          I don't think Day Z is worth $30 in its current, buggy state. I know a lot of you have definitely gotten your money's worth, but I was totally miffed after my first couple experiences that I had payed $30 for a game and an expansion that I'll never play.

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            September 28, 2012 12:55 PM

            pretty much this. When I tried playing, i had an entire day to devote to gaming which is a rarity nowadays, and had nothing but lag, lonely gameplay, and crashes. It was miserable.

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              September 28, 2012 1:00 PM

              I'm kinda pissed I spent $30. I should get the Alpha for a dollar. :P

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            September 28, 2012 1:44 PM

            I think if you played with our large group then it was a much better experience. I played the damn thing for a month straight and loved every minute of it - even the buggy parts.

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              September 28, 2012 1:55 PM

              yeah..all i know is that when i actually got a chance to play without crashing after 5 minutes, I ran north for 25 minutes and got extremely bored because there was nothing going on.

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            September 28, 2012 3:34 PM

            I got far more enjoyable and unique gameplay out of dayz than I've gotten out of gw2 and D3 combined. It was well worth the low price I payed during the steam summer sale. nyah :-P

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        September 28, 2012 2:03 PM

        DayZ mod was worth the $30 I spent on it.

        Heck finally something new stood apart from a world of the same-o . It was the same with Natural Selection in 2007-08 for me. NS saved me from the humdrum commercial crap.

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        September 28, 2012 4:33 PM

        I would rather play arma2, as a tactical military sim, its the best in the business.
        It is really hard to shake off what CoD has taught us, but once you play by
        arma's rules, you see how great it really is.

        I tried getting into the series since OPFlashpoint and though it was clumsy and boring,
        but it wasn't until arma 2 that it finally "clicked" with me.

        when day Z came out I gave it a chance but didn't like how nothing was explained to
        the player.

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        September 28, 2012 7:05 PM

        Not sure how you wasted 30$ if you have put time into the DayZ mod. Dean Hall has said he is going to keep the Mod going even after the stand alone game is released because he knows people payed money for Arma 2 to play it. I think that is admirable and the fact that he wants the Alpha build stand alone to be cheap so more can play it is nice to see.

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      September 28, 2012 10:17 AM

      stand-alone alpha will hit this year, likely in December, and that it will be inexpensive

      It better be free for a fucking alpha

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        September 28, 2012 10:20 AM

        it's going to be minecraft model so no it won't be free. if you want free you can continue to play the Day Z mod.

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          September 28, 2012 12:30 PM

          Day Z costs $30.

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            September 28, 2012 12:41 PM

            The Day Z mod is free.

            Arma II costs money.


            see the difference?

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              September 28, 2012 1:23 PM

              No because you need Arma II to play Day Z. So that means Day Z costs $30. What you are saying would be valid if I could download Day Z and play it without having spent $30 previously.

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                September 28, 2012 1:58 PM

                DayZ is a mod.

                DayZ mod is free to people who own Arma II CO.

                In order to play DayZ, you need Arma II CO (The Game) which charges $30 for Arma II CO (The Game). The money is for the game, not the mod.

                That's what a mod is, it's the same for all mods, and all mods are free provided you have the game it's built on.

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                  September 28, 2012 2:02 PM

                  It's not like people don't understand this. The reality is a lot of people bought Arma II for DayZ but had and have no interest in Arma II itself and wouldn't have bought it if not for the Day Z hype. For them DayZ is essentially $30.

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                    September 28, 2012 2:06 PM

                    Then if you understand it, understand that you spent the money on Arma II CO.

                    Going by that logic, why aren't people saying they got Arma II, Arma II OA, and DayZ for $30?

                    A mod is a mod is a mod, they're all free.

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                      September 28, 2012 2:09 PM

                      I got this really clunky European military sim for free when I bought Day Z.

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                        September 28, 2012 2:13 PM

                        it's the other way around pal.

                        And you didn't just get DayZ, you got access to all the mods on ARMA II CO platform.

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                          September 28, 2012 2:21 PM

                          Why are you being so obtuse? Given the average gamer, it costs them $30 to play DayZ. Full stop. They don't care about Arma II or other Arma II mods. They didn't pay $30 to play those games, they paid $30 because they wanted DayZ. That's the entry cost for the mod right now.

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                            September 28, 2012 2:24 PM

                            Then they should know what they were doing.

                            Bought a game to play a free mod.

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                              September 28, 2012 2:34 PM

                              yeah I'm pretty sure anyone hardcore enough to be interested in DayZ is well aware of how mods work dude

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                  September 28, 2012 2:07 PM

                  Well...duh, no shit. I understand that Dean Hall isn't collecting $30 from every person who logs in to a Day Z server.

                  The fact remains that a huge chunk of people (probably the overwhelming majority of DayZ players) have no interest in playing ArmaII. They had to buy a pre-requisite in order to play this "free" mod.

                  This argument is getting semantically retarded. For me and I would guess 95% of the rest of Day Z players, Day Z cost us $30.

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                    September 28, 2012 2:12 PM

                    I got ARMA II CO to play DayZ too, why is it that I can have some perspective on it?

                    I know what I was doing when I paid the money, that I was buying a game to play a mod. It meant that I bought Arma II CO and that it entitled me to play every single mod available to it.

                    I don't understand why you feel like they owe you something?

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                      September 28, 2012 2:21 PM

                      You probably don't understand that because I never said or implied it.

                      All I said, before this went to retardville, was that I paid $30 to play Day Z and felt like it was not worth it in the end. I've posted about why in greater detail. If it makes you happy I can tell you that I don't think ArmaII is worth $30 either.

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                        September 28, 2012 2:32 PM

                        I really don't care either way. Just that for the 1.2 unique DayZ players, every single one either already owned ARMA II CO or bought ARMA II CO to play the mod.

                        This is a very critical point. Like all modders, Dean Hall doesn't directly benefit from making the mod, he did it on his spare time.

                        Spending money on a retail product infers that you're entitled to certain customer support, which you do, for ARMA II CO.

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                    September 28, 2012 5:19 PM

                    kind of like when counter strike came out, it was free, but you had to purchase half life to play
                    that free mod.

                    so people paid for half life to play CS which was free

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        September 28, 2012 7:08 PM

        If it was free then they couldn't continue to develop the game. It is going to be like Minecraft and be built around the community over the next year or maybe even a few years. 15$ to 20$ to be part of something special is exciting to me. Dean Hall's plans are ambitious and i'm happy to see the changes over time. Underground fucking building system! Yes PLEASE!

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      September 28, 2012 12:07 PM

      Unless they can handle the hacking, it's going to be popped wide open day one and it is INSANE how many cheaters exist now.

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        September 28, 2012 12:38 PM

        I'd totally start playing consistently if the hacking and worst of the exploits stopped and a bunch of shackers started back up.

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          September 28, 2012 2:00 PM

          Well, that's one of the biggest point of going standalone, curb the hacking, the teleporting, the thunderdoming, the invincibling...

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            September 28, 2012 3:45 PM

            They have bigger problems than just Arma2 scripting, though.

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          September 28, 2012 7:09 PM

          Hall says that is his #1 priority for the stand alone. Hackers can suck a bag of dicks

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      September 28, 2012 12:12 PM

      http://i.imgur.com/7Txu3.jpg Aw yeah.

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      September 28, 2012 12:50 PM

      I've said this like 3 times. Why is no one doing this with the Source engine and L4D assets?

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        September 28, 2012 1:19 PM

        [deleted]

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        September 28, 2012 1:40 PM

        presumably because the Arma2 engine is way better suited to this and L4D zombie textures are like completely unimportant

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          September 28, 2012 3:01 PM

          I'm just saying, the assets are there, they look good, and the physics and movement is fantastic. Maybe map size is the limiting factor but the Source engine is really light on system requirements. It seems like it would be way easier to develop on given all of these facts.

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            September 28, 2012 3:05 PM

            physics and movement are really ancillary to the other systems the Arma II engine provides, to say nothing of the existing map it provides. If things are going well you're not constantly running and gunning

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              September 28, 2012 5:31 PM

              What systems does the Arma Engine II provide that are used to an advantage by Day Z?

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                September 28, 2012 5:54 PM

                All the movement systems (crouch, prone, etc and independent look and move controls), the realistic physics systems for things like bullet trajectories, draw distance, scale and lighting (it does a spectacular job of making things harder to see at a distance and in low light that feels realistic and not just a cheap effect) and probably others I'm unaware of as someone with minimal experience.

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                September 28, 2012 7:07 PM

                [deleted]

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        September 28, 2012 1:47 PM

        You could - I think the map is a bottle neck. It needs to be large enough to make the encounters with other players infrequent enough that it doesn't turn into deathmatch.

        One of the reasons Day Z was so successful is that they built the mod ontop of a game that already had the level done.

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        September 28, 2012 2:14 PM

        Doing it in the latest CryEngine would be better.

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          September 28, 2012 5:33 PM

          Isn't it more resource intensive though?

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          September 28, 2012 5:43 PM

          I think saw a post on Reddit of someone making a mod for Crysis 2

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        September 28, 2012 7:12 PM

        someone might but can the source engine to a 225 km2 map like in DayZ. Maybe it can but i'm guessing it's a lot of work. But there will be clones soon enough, maybe some better. Progress and stuff

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        September 29, 2012 9:58 AM

        Have you ever seen an open-world Source game?

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        September 30, 2012 3:02 PM

        Source engine sucks balls for big areas.

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      September 28, 2012 2:47 PM

      Good news. I've given up on the alpha right now because of the hacking and the janky way of having to update it. Hopefully he'll have a good update system in place where it will automatically update ala minecraft(I suspect this as he's said he wants to mirror minecraft's development). Day 1 buy for me when he releases it in December!

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        September 28, 2012 3:36 PM

        Use Day Z Commander. It is not janky to update with that. I used to hate launchers but it is pretty damn solid.

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      September 28, 2012 3:57 PM

      [deleted]

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        September 28, 2012 7:14 PM

        I agree. I play on low player count servers now just because there is less chance to get hacked. Can't wait for stand alone

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      September 28, 2012 5:58 PM

      Playing tonight in two hours if a few players want to join. Get team speak 3 and dayz commander and hit me up here. I'll check before I log on 7:30 arizona time-

      Hopefully the video will be up soon for the Q and A from the eurogamer expo with the creator of DayZ- My new gaming hero- Dean Rocket Hall

      http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-Ktffj7TNVo

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        September 28, 2012 5:59 PM

        7:30 PM arizona

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          September 29, 2012 9:19 AM

          Found a bus in Electro by the church last while playing with friends last night. Had to fight off a sniper while fixing it and two bandits but it's fixed now. After getting out of town my friend, who was driving, was shot in the head and thrown from the bus, grrrrr....that sucked! luckily my other friend jumped in the drivers seat and hit the gas. We made it to a safe place and filled filled it with gas. Hell Yeah! If anyone wants to go for a bus ride tonight let me know.

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      September 28, 2012 7:16 PM

      Moar zombies or GTFO.

      I thought Day-Z was going to be interesting but it seems more like a 'lawless assholes in Eastern Europe' simulator more than anything to do with the zombies.

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        September 28, 2012 7:20 PM

        [deleted]

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        September 28, 2012 8:14 PM

        i think that there are plenty of zombies. i die way more often to zombies than to people even onfully populated servers (lingor or Chernarus).

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      October 4, 2012 1:31 PM

      I hope WarZ is unhackable. DayZ is so rife with hackers that I don't even bother anymore. It's really a shit product to be honest, at least for players just looking to have some fun.

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