So DayZ has launched on Steam in the form of a well warned 'early access'.
It's available here: http://store.steampowered.com/app/221100/
Man, Dean seems to be really stressing to people the fact it's an alpha. I suppose people for some reason completely ignore the terms alpha and beta in games these days and he certainly receives enough hate for nothing so it's nice to be clear.
Steam pulled the trailer though very last minute accorded to Dean on twitter. He was a bit disappointed by that, and I don't really understand it but whatever. It's still on youtube.
I bought it anyway, I'll install it when I get home to my desktop. May or may not be a mistake but I'm willing to take the risk. I like Hall's view on developing products.
I have the extra cash and I enjoyed the mod so much I just said I'd go for it. I may even help expose flaws to make and even better end product. I'll be waiting a couple of days to play it though since I have so much work on.
Wouldn't mind hearing about how it is like everybody else is interested in.
I've played in several Early access games so far and i Moderate on the War of the Vikings steam hub and let me say that there is a large portion of people that HAVE NO IDEA what alpha, beta, or other testing phases mean. If i had a dollar for every thread saying "How dare you release a game in this state of unfinishedness, raking in money you should be ashamed" or something to that effect.
Then talk to the other mods and admins making it crystal clear the difference including a warning that if you create an OP with "How dare you release a game in this state of unfinishedness, raking in money you should be ashamed" your thread will be deleted. Unless you want to keep the trolls on your website for revenue purposes like most websites do?
Apparently it's using a modified version of the game engine Real Virtuality 3. Here's to the modification being optimization. I just downloaded it, I'll report back how it runs on a 3ghz amd phenom quad core radeon hd7950. (P.S. Arma 2 and 3 run like shit for me)
We do, including writing an explanation before locking said thread so that it can be easily viewable and a list of guidelines for posting and reasons for the forum... the problem is said people don't READ at ALL before posting because on all EA games on steam there's a freaking description at the top stating it's Early Access (not the bad EA) and that it's not fully finished.
Man, I have seen a lot of people who seem really pissed about the final release of the standalone being in such a poor state. It's basically broken and it's very bad practise to even have dared to ask money for it...
I'm a broken record online saying 'early access alpha' haha.
Some people are just refusing to see it as what it is clearly labelled as. Saying 'yeah it's an alpha, but it should be playable' yet alphas aren't playable really (hence the label).
There are some arguments out there about this practise of buying games on early access, specifically on steam steam with respect to their failures to policy what they allow to be sold, though. They is a lot to be annoyed about there with things like x rebirth and the particularly bad the war z (debatable) scam. A lot of people have been burned or feel the practise isn't best on the whole.
I can see a lot of reason it that. I knew I'd be getting DayZ standalone though, particularly since I have a decent bit of faith in Rocket's integrity. So for me it's a special case. So yeah, it's tough for people to see past other very poor releases and just judge it for what it is. I mean they stained so much in explaining how early access alpha the whole thing is but what can you do, some people have already decided.
A nice video from the youtuber JackFrags. Very simple stuff for the most part, but the look at the inventory is nice and a couple of new things and keyinds.
so far this version of the standalone game is terrible. I understand it is in alpha but the game was supposed to be released last year before 2013 I do not understand how so little progress was made in a year long delay. Honestly the game got worse and nothing really got better only changed.
For reference I have been playing dayz since the mod originally came out and I was thrilled when I saw the alpha on steam. I was very upset when the game originally was delayed from its 2012 release date.At the time the developers were planning on fixing some bugs and making the game more stable then releasing it as a standalone game which would have been great. But then they "saw more potential" and delayed the game"
Well that potential was a buggy inventory system even buggier zombies and really low loot spawns, so low the game is almost un playable. You usually die of hunger before you find anything useful which does not make for a very fun game.
My final verdict is that the game is too little to late , it lost its hype from last year and now returns with a horribly buggy game. I understand its an alpha release but my point is the developers had the game basically finished from the mod all they had to do was fix the glitches and add some stabilizing features but instead they took the game in a new direction and ruined it. The game is no longer about a finding gear on the coast and surviving against bandits and zombies, it's now about hoping you find a few useful items from the limited server loot table then hope you don't die from random bs such as zombie running through a wall or falling off a building. The game is also way to complicated now with too many items and item conditions, and the inventory system is way to complicated.
I understand this is an alpha but for the time they had and the level of work already completed the standalone game is pretty bad and has little enjoyment to be had
my recommendation is keep playing the mod and wait and see if the standalone gets better because the standalone offers nothing better than the mod.
That is one of the big issues here i believe. People simply have no clue what alpha/beta means and even though in the case of DayZ it is stated VERY clearly people obviously still don't get it. I wonder if releasing an alpha on steam like this is doing more good or harm to the game.
Well for one, you're clearly missing the obvious. It's an alpha. That's why it's buggy.
Also, you're ignoring the blatant fact that making games is fucking hard. Especially with a team the size of Rocket and his guys. AND it's an MMO wich makes it even harder Making games is hard and people need to cut game devs some slack.
Is it just plain old vanilla DayZ? Because having gotten used to Epoch and having all that base building and trading/currency etc. going back to vanilla DayZ would just feel empty and boring. Will/is base building etc. in the SA?
Well the stated road map includes building and that. It also has a bit of crafting and that all ready like adding batteries to flashlights or sharp objects to open canned food.
From the steam store page:
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 - Rich server / client architecture developed from scratch.
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
It has a few bugs here and there, but in all honesty....for an Alpha...it's pretty damn good. As of right now, bandaging and food/drink consumption is hit and miss, and the Zed animations are much to be desired but not bad. A LOT more loot. All kinda' new stuff. It is a bit unnerving to spawn in and have Zombies agro on you right away but in all honesty, BF4 was more messed up at full release than this is at Alpha.
It could have been better. Most of the controls are either taken straight from the mod or can simply be found in the key bindings menu. And the inventory is pretty straightforward and easy to figure out.
What would have been better would be hints and tips for actually surviving. Not many people probably know that you will regain blood if you fill your stomach to 100%, especially since you start getting hunger messages at < 20% stomach capacity. Not only that, but blood bagging is far more complicated. We gave my friend a blood transfusion by taking blood from another, but he passed out right after and wouldn't wake up, even with epinephrine. Blood types are apparently a thing, but we went into it without research and ended up putting him into a coma.
There are other things (like how to load ammo into a Mosin) that even a veteran of the mod wouldn't be able to figure out. There's probably a cooking system that makes use of the gas stove and cooking pot which increase cooked food's effectiveness at satisfying hunger. There are just so many things that you need to know and would have a harder time figuring out yourself. Things that should have been included in the video.
Survival in Standalone is far more complicated than the simple annoyance that it was in the mod, and it is as much of a threat as zombies or other players.
