gaelicwarlord

This was the question I've been asking myself for a while now. Since really, I ever heard about the DayZ standalone. I thought it was all good and great for Hall to be added onto Bohemia's payroll and get his own team to oversee the development of this game, but I thought in the end, it was just going to be attempt to cash out on DayZ without offering us any real new features. With that being said, let me put this out there and get it out of the way before continuing further: DayZ Standalone does not have all of DayZ mods' features yet, and on one hand, what it does have dives in much more depth and immersion than any of the prior mods' mechanics had. This is an alpha, and that should be expected. Yet some of you, like me, were likely expecting something to show for the past 18 months? Are you someone who is thinking about testing that is skeptical as I was? This is why, you should purchase this game... In my first five minutes of playing DayZ, I noticed almost right off the bat a huge difference between ArmA 2 DayZ and DayZ standalone. Most noticeable is the engine. We're not exactly playing on the ArmA 2 engine, and in fact, we're not really playing on the ArmA 3 engine either. (which technically, are the same engines with tweaks.) DayZ's engine has been completely stripped down and reworked to better cater to a game of this scale and depth. In the past I haven't hardly ever been able to play ARMA 2 with a solid frame rate over 40-50 FPS. Which is considerably good... so you can imagine how surprised I was when I logged into the game, connected to a server, and found myself in the lush and beautiful version of DayZ's Chernarus with god rays and all, with a solid frame rate of 60 FPS. The playability of the game itself, I could already tell (especially when tweaking the settings) has broken away from ArmA's rather faulty spec system, and will cater to a lot more users, with a lot of different system specs. This is a great thing for DayZ, which will hopefully bring in more players than the mod did. As I was moving about, I noticed that animations were nicer, cleaner looking, all weapons you picked up could be visibly seen on certain parts of your body. (I had an axe harnessed over one shoulder, a rifle, on another, a pistol in my chest holster, a back pack) which all added to the immersion factor. It didn't feel like a cheap script from the mods we're used to in ArmA 2 & 3, it felt like I was playing a different game (even with the familiarity of Chernarus, from ArmA 2, I could swear I was playing a different game). The way the inventory system works, you get a detailed overview of each item, and interactive dialogues based on what actions you can perform with those items. This system will remind you of games like Resident Evil, which will both add a nostalgic touch, but also immerse you a little more than previous incarnations of DayZ mod. You are limited, even with thet largest back pack, you are limited to only a realistic amount of items to carry on you at a single time. This requires you to be very wise about how you pick and choose what things you will need to take with you when scavenging to enhance your survival, based on what items will only be a hinderance. Ammunition is a beautiful thing, but serves no purpose if you don't have a gun to fire it. Gathering an arsenal of tools and melee weapons is great, but all that weight and inventory space is going to be your downfall. However, I think the most impressive feat of the game thus far, even beyond the amazing improvements to the engine, and the greater level of character customization, and tweaks to the inventory and food systems, is really the overall immersion factor. DayZ gives you a reason to want to explore, even in a place where many of us have already feel we've been before. Houses are no longer empty, but filled with tattered and worn furniture, and I've seen myself slowly exploring each home and trying to put a story to each household and imagine who might have lived there. I've even thought to myself... hey, this place is kind of nice... maybe I should dig in, and lay low for a while, or set this up as a personal HQ. DayZ is not a finished game, and nor should anyone expect it to be. Dean Hall has put his money where his words are, and has even warned everyone extensively, that this is not a finished product, but rather a chance for you to enhance the development, not only monetarily, but as a voice among the playerbase as well. However, now that I have taken the leap of faith and went on a whim with my 30 dollars, I know I put my money towards a good cause. When DayZ launches, it is going to be great. And Dean Hall, has a design philosophy that leaves me feeling satisified that I am going to get an amazing product. And from all the upstart Zombie Apocalypse MMOs that have spawned in DayZ's wake, I can safely say, no one does it as well and to the quality that Dean Hall takes the approach. Give this game a chance. Its beautiful, its immersive, and it is well worth the money, making the jump from a mod player, to a standalone player. Give it more time if you need to, but I can faithfully say, Dean is going to deliver on his promises.

Its an alpha, and we're going to get wiped a thousand times over before release comes. What does admin abuse honestly matter at this point?

I really hope the same conventions are not enforced in the Standalone. I have a desire to host a large passworded server that is a private RP server, which will require different rule sets on PvP. If I can't set up my server to operate in a specific way I want it to operate, than there is absolutely no purpose in me renting a server.

Unfortunately, I'm paranoid as all heck, and trust no one. So I've encountered two players so far and it ended up badly for both of them. See, I did not have a microphone, and I wasn't going to articulate conversation through text, when the downtime could cost me my life and the fresh M4A1 I just picked up at the Bolota Airfield. I was in a barracks. Looting some med supplies and weapon mags when the first one came behind me. He was bleeding and was trying to bandage himself. I could tell as I turned with my M4 aimed at him, he had no idea I was in there until it was too late. I wasn't going to give him a chance to retaliate. POP. A second person came in behind him shouting, "Don't Shoot, friendly." Because I was unable to speak or communicate with him, I waited till he started walking up the stairs towards me with his axe in hand, and when I felt he was getting a little to close, I turned him into swiss cheese. KOS is a bad policy, perhaps. I'd love to interact with other players on a much friendlier basis... but I can't help but respect a simple truth... The wasteland that is Chernarus has not claimed me yet. Keep your distance. ;)

In theory, it could if the game enforced an always active 'Live Mic'. Meaning there is no possible way while in the game to mute your mic, and it was always transmitting.

I have to agree with this. It might not need a HUGE tweak, but I would like to see hunger and thirst a little closer to real time. Or atleast, maybe be able to change the hydration and food time scale as a server setting... for me personally, on my own server, I would love to go more for realism.

Interactive world objects: Namely, chairs and beds. It would be nice to find a shack to claim as your own personal paradise from the Zombie Apocalypse. Being able to sit in chairs to regain energy faster, or sleep on beds, to recover it even faster, would be a great immersion tool, and would also serve some cool RP purposes.

It is very playable and still great looking on low. Just because you can't jack up the settings should not deter you from getting the game.

This is always going to be a divided preference over the playerbase, and there will be a place for you and for them. Really, this doesn't need to be an argument, or even need to be discussed on the forums. It serves no purpose to you, are the game developers, to narrow the gameplay style down to a smaller number of players.