DayZ - The paid Alpha you were waiting for

Though I think the page is already down…

24€. Around $30?

KEY FEATURES IN ALPHA

Chernarus - 230 sq. km chunk of post soviet state, featuring deep forests, cities, villages, abandoned military bases, and more..
Up to 40 players per server
Persistent player profile - Key player data is persistent across all servers.
Inventory – Combine various clothing items, equipment and carry all of the items that you will need to survive the harsh new environment in the open and intuitive inventory system developed to answer the needs of crafting and character customization.
Crafting - In the apocalyptic world of DAYZ, resources are sparse and every useful bit should be utilized. Items or equipment can be improved, turned into something else or fixed using the new crafting mechanisms.
Weapon customization – Use customizable firearms with authentic ballistics and weapon characteristics as well as melee weapons to protect yourself against all the dangers a survivor may face.
Customizable clothing – Customize your survivor with a multitude of new clothing items that can be scavenged from the remnants of civilization, which provide various degree of protection against the elements, infected, and other survivors.

DEVELOPMENT ROADMAP

DAYZ is currently in early alpha and we see a lot of work ahead of us in order to make it the true authentic multiplayer experience we want it to be. Current version is including only small subset of game mechanics and serves mostly as test bed with core technology that should serve as basis for future additions and improvements. Currently planned key future features are:

Playable vehicles
Wide variety of native animal life
Player created constructions in the environment
Extensive interactions with the environment and crafting options
Streamlined user actions and interface
Upgraded graphics and physics engine (including ragdoll, etc.)
Control and animations expanded and improved for fluidity
Support of user mods

We estimate that reaching Beta version with all key features present will take more than one year from current stage. All features and plans listed here are subject to change, we may add or remove features as seen fit during development process.

Thats…a bit crazy - Originally the game was set to release LAST christmas, and now they estimate hitting Beta in a year?! What the heck happened?

Originally, they were going to take the free mod, put a slightly prettier Chernarus, and sell it for $20 of whatever. That was the plan when they said it would release in Winter 2012.

Later, they scrapped that plan, and decided to make it a real game, with more features, bigger scope, more secure, better zombies, etc etc… and then also more years of development.

In particular, I think they noticed the mod wasn’t being viable for a real paid release, because in that moment it was being under attack of lots of hacking/cheating. But to improve the security, well, that wasn’t an easy fix, as the Arma engine isn’t built for security or for systems as network-intensive as Dayz. So they had to re-think the concept of how the client-server infrastructure works in the engine, re-engineer it for some more appropriate for Dayz, and well, here we are now. Now it uses a more “MMO like” system where the server is the one that directs everything and the simulation runs there, with the clients only receiving the parts they need (which in theory, it should mean less lag).
And while their system engineers were doing that, they also changed the UI, the crafting, new weapons, new wound system, new buildings, new items, etc.

Rocket says a lot of things. I think that he might have been very, very optimistic on their release date.

Trailer

That all sounds good. I’d rather they take longer and get it right, although the latter part of that statement remains to be seen. shakes fist at ARMA3

A funny snapshot of Steam right now

The three games are:

-indie
-in early release (alpha or beta)
-with survival and crafting mechanics
-with focus on or exclusively online.

edit: also, don’t think “I’m selling you” the game, from what I’ve seen in streams, the game is half a year away from being something decent.

Someone finally knocked off Starbound!

I wonder if Steam is tracking keys registered on Steam (like the ones purchased from Humble Bundle, e.g. mine), or actual keys bought on Steam itself. Either way, great to see folks are hungry for this game.

Rust actually does feel like DayZ with crafting! Seems pretty cool.

If you played it you’ll know why its also known as “The penis game”…I weep for humanity.

I watched a stream of this and it seemed like 70% of it was exciting things like emptying magazines to examine the bullets and then (weeeee!) reloading them, followed by a nice nature hike to an empty grocery store.

I must be missing something.

The exciting moments in DayZ feel every so more intense because the majority of the game is so low key. It’s the opposite of the trend where a game is turned up to 11 the whole time. So when DayZ goes to 11 it REALLY feels like it.

When you know you’ll have to scrounge for hours to get a new gun and ammo… you really take care looking around that corner when you think you heard something. It’s an experience that isn’t often found in games.

Yeah the moment you hear a noise and hit the ground waiting for someone to show up for half an hour only to realize its your imagination, thats true horror.

Then you get up and walk a bit and you get shot by the guy that was stalking you.

There is also a ton of pvp griefing where people who exploit the system try to figure out where new people spawn and kill them with their rifles. In general, it brings out the absolutely worst in people, and its FULL pvp and there are no PvE servers.
Most servers are either run down by hackers/glitchers or gangs of russian griefers.

Yup. It’s the same for the Arma series, really which is why it’s such a natural starting point for DayZ.

Check ammo, enjoy the serenity of walking to an objective, listen to the radio static and the far-off sounds of vehicel movement - BLAM BLAM BLAM KABOOM WHUP-WHUP-WHUP BLAM SWOOSH BLAM ENEMY SPOTTED 700 METERS!

I like some nature hiking before zombie apocalypse. The minute I have to wiggle the mouse to unroll some toilet paper in the inventory I’m out.

Don’t give them ideas.

According to this http://maruksp.tumblr.com/post/70324805302/first-day-of-dayz-alpha-hours-passed-24

It sold 172500 copies alredy, nice.

If I were to buy DayZ alpha for $30 would that $30 go towards the final game when it is complete (ie. if the final game sells for $60, will I then be able to purchase it for $30)?

Any perks for buying into this alpha other than early game play and development?