RaptorM60

If it ever came across like me being disrespectful to most of you here, I apologize. Not my intention. I reacted harshly to YetiBum's post, as that one was a personal jab at me and other particular members of the team. See my tweet from yesterday - I specifically asked everyone to be angry, be disappointed with what we say and deliver, but also to not go personal . That's not fair. So isn't to use words like cashgrab or suggesting we're liars. Despite the outcome not being what everybody wants, there are dozens of people working their asses off on DayZ every day, 5th year of Early Access, while we've had so many moments where it would be so much easier to give up and move on. Then it would be anybodys utmost right to call us these things. We do - time between 0.62 and 0.63 was also probably one of the hardest times for the dev team. And we did see this reaction coming - my comment in our internal systems on a proposed scale of the BETA/1.0 on August 27 this year was literally "I expect a shitstorm of epic proportions". We've still went for all this, because it's the best possible thing to do for DayZ, even though pretty much nobody likes it. The answer is in the post you quoted - "everybody now feels like we'll do better if we give you a 1.0 release 3, 6, 9... months later with more stuff - but after 3, 6 or 9 months, it's natural to expect even more than a mere content parity with 0.62, engine improvements, + basebuilding, for example" Also: "especially when we keep accumulating WIP features as I described, this could well be another disappointment, just arriving another 6 months later".

But it does. I've said that 3, 6 or 9 months later, the expectations of 1.0 will yet be higher than now, and we'll be in the same spot X months later, but with X months of added frustration. Also: 1.0 on PC has no repercussions on console releases at all. We're just going for a PC 1.0, consoles are not part of that.Our console inventory and user experience is not quite there yet. Console versions won't likely go for a 1.0 release anytime soon. I know it's tempting to think we're making this as a business decision, but you'd have to know Bohemia from the inside to know how we operate. We don't really have business people that call the shots, analyze markets, or anything of that sort that you would expect from a corporation. There are no investors at Bohemia. We're a company owned by the 2 people that founded the company 20 years ago. They made the money to run, and grow the business of Bohemia by developing games (and taking risks while doing that). We're very much a development driven company, not a company of quarterly business goals. Maybe, if there is one part of business thinking (but I'm now speaking my own mind, this is not something that we discussed on a team/company level), it's a worry that we only have so much time left to keep DayZ relevant on the PC gaming market. For additional context: I'm not just some random hired marketing person with no relation to this community. I've been a regular DayZ fan scrolling through these forums (and Reddit) as a fan before I joined Bohemia in 2015 (a different project back then). You do have to take my word for it, but I'd be the last to scam you or try being some sort of a con artist. What I'm telling you is totally honest, 100% of time.

Sure, as that's a legitimate question that will actually get us somehwere. A detailed answer is something we've spend quite a lot of time thinking about after we've read all of the feedback on the Status Report, it was the main topic on our today's morning meeting of Baty, Eugen, project lead David and me. We'd like to get that answer written up with Eugen. For now, let me just restate some of the points Eugen had already made elsewhere, and expand upon them: having a specific, locked feature set for 1.0 is essential in order to establish a stable game/platform we've now reached a point where we have the core set of features that make the core DayZ gameplay, and that's why the line has been drawn 1.0 with this feature set, and proper amount of bug fixes and stability, will be the best DayZ we delivered to date + modding support. That alone makes it worth a 1.0 release having that stable platform is critical now; further work with an unstable game is tedious for the team - it's frustrating when problems caused by multiple work-in-progress systems accumulate. Not dealing with that will make our work easier = results better being in the 5th year of Early Access is something neither players or developers enjoy. And let me tell you, especially the developers. We don't want people to burn out we're in a constant uphill battle with community (=your) expectations, it's a catch 22 that unfortunately originates from game dev realities, as well as our previous mistakes in estimating and managing expectations everybody now feels like we'll do better if we give you a 1.0 release 3, 6, 9... months later with more stuff but after 3, 6 or 9 months, it's natural to expect even more than a mere content parity with 0.62, engine improvements, + basebuilding, for example especially when we keep accumulating WIP features as I described, this could well be another disappointment, just arriving 6 months later, being the more frustrating for both the community, and for the hard working people here we don't have the perfect option where everybody will get what they want in the time they want it. Much like with the engine development road we've been through, we have the option that we know will lead us somewhere eventually. We'd be a bunch of dummies to not offer the perfect option to players if it was there. We're not dummies, as the perfect option is not there contrary to popular opinion, we read, evaluate and take seriously every bit of constructive and POLITE feedback no features are forgotten, work on new things continues on when we stabilize the platform

Oh hai. That would be me. Teach me, since you feel like you know better than I how I can do my job in my situation. I'm listening, my private messages are open and I like to learn :)

And yet you put it like it's the truth. Just to say it again: nothing like this ever existed for Game Preview titles. Publishing the game on Xbox has no repercussions on PC releases timing, or any repercussions on anything PC at all for that matter. BioHaze, please, stop typing random things on your keyboard, you've been on these forums for soooo much longer than I have, you can do better! :D

Man, I'm not sure where things like that come from but this entire sentence is utter nonsense. Nothing like this ever existed for Game Preview titles.

They have already been long announced as post 1.0 content - implementation of 2 wheeled vehicles is a pretty complex task. Trust me, we don't make any difference at all between what console or PC players want. We just make DayZ, and for all I know, everybody wants the same things anyway, no matter where they play ;) That's not correct. What we're doing with BETA and 1.0 is stabilizing the platform for further development. 1.0 is not the end, we leave nothing to modders (because modders can only work within the scope of the game itself). Quite the opposite: stabilized 1.0 is the beginning of the road for further development - with the big difference being that we will be building on a much more stable foundation. Fractures and defibrillators won't be in for BETA, the rest is all in and we'll get to tweaking and balancing the effects when we have the BETA build out. This has also been previously announced as post 1.0 feature - due to the time needed for implementation, the choice had to be made between base building or barricading for 1.0. Basebuilding got the priority (though in a way, you can also use the base building mechanic to barricade buildings - check out our Community Spotlight for examples of people playing with the early base building! :) We definitely want to get back to implementing them. This weapon type has a lot of fans and advocates internally, too :) We talked about bows, throwing, fishing and weapons in the Status Report ;) Binocs, rangefinder, compass, ghillie, spear, survival elements, cooking/fireplaces, most (if not all - it's a REALLY long list) of the clothes you know will be in. Tanning + leather clothes are something I need to double check but probably won't be in.

There's one issue to resolve in the code before we can push it into stress tests, but it should not be postponed ;)

How much does DayZ cost on Xbox One? DayZ is available for 39.99 USD / £31,99 / € 39,99. You can check your local price when the product page becomes available on the Microsoft Store. The price of DayZ will increase with the release out of Game Preview - the final version of DayZ will be available for 49,99 USD. Don't worry, if you buy the game now in Game Preview, you won't need to buy it again! :) Is there a trial version available? Yes! You are able to enjoy one hour of free playtime that you can use if you're not sure about the purchase yet. The trial version will run on its own servers, and will not have character persistence (meaning that your character progress will not save during your first hour, and will not transfer into the full Game Preview! How many servers will be available for the launch? As many as needed! We have a good, scale-able setup that will always run enough servers for everyone to join, there will not be a fixed number of servers available. We'll also have teams monitoring the server status 24/7 in the first days after the release to make sure everything goes smoothly! Can players start their own private servers on Xbox? Not right now, but we definitely want to have that option in DayZ later on. Are there cars, helicopters, and base-building on Xbox? Cars and base building were added in the latest update. Helicopters will come later after we release the final game. When do you plan a full release of DayZ? We want to leave Game Preview in Q1 2019, and release the game as a final product then. We will still continue the development after that, though - there will be new things coming to DayZ even after the full release!

Hi! Good suggestion - DayZ is not a UWP (Universal Windows Platform) title on PC, so right now we're not considering to allow owners of the PC version to get free access to the Xbox version as well. There are both technical and economic reasons. Being a UWP title is required for Xbox Play Anywhere, so we don't have a way to activate the product on Xbox without distributing keys - and those keys could end up being sold illegally. That's the technical reason. Now for the economic reason: It does sound like it's logical to just get the Xbox version for free since the content and gameplay is the same as on PC, but you also need to consider the costs of running the live environment for the Xbox version. Even if a small percentage of PC players used the opportunity, we would immediately use server time for these players, and that costs us money that we did not cover by sales on Xbox. We'd like to support DayZ for a long time after 1.0 releases on all platforms, and for that, we simply need to keep our business healthy - DayZ does not really have any other monetization beyond the game purchase itself, and while that's a good premium business model that we want to maintain, we have to manage the economy carefully.

0.63 Experimental is not, and was never announced to be a BETA version. This is a common misconception. BETA is 0.63 Stable. Lots of features, content snd polish will be added over the course of 0.63 Experimental, which will span across many different builds. The new animation system is a VERY RADICAL change in how DayZ plays and feels. It will become fully apparent only when you actually get your hands on it, but this alone takes DayZ miles ahead of the 0.62 build. It essentially feels like playing a different (better) game. It’s also the first version of DayZ that uses features written exclusively in Enforce Script, the new Enfusion scripring language that works more efficiently and reliably. Every game system that’s not a core engine module was written and optimised in that script, resulting in a better optimised and stable game overall. This includes improvements in network communication = better server performance, less desync in general (althought of course, during full load in public Experimental tests, we’ll discover some more areas that need optimisation).

@IMT you’ve just won today, thank you for understanding what we’re trying to do! ❤️

Gordon, I still think I did not get my point across - the “postponed” mark represents the fact that compared to our original list of initial Experimental release goals from a Status Report posted November 28, some things won’t actually make it into the initial (as in “the first”) 0.63 Exp release. This is an important explanation of a particular change in our goals. In other words, we decided that some features that we originally wanted (and announced) for the initial 0.63 release won’t be there. I feel like this had to be communicated. Therefore, I think it’s important to have the “postponed” included - perhaps in a different form/wording. Explaining game development is fun :D

@THEGordonFreeman Well yes, I was worried that POSTPONED will be a bit of a triggering word. Unfortunately, it all clicks together when you read that massive Status Report we posted on November 28 last year (which, yes, most people sadly won't read as it's truly MASSIVE). Obviously, the experimental list as posted today was originally written on November 28, and now we're getting back to it, saying how we're doing, and what are some of the setbacks compared to the original goals for the initial release of 0.63 Experimental. Just completely removing some things from that original list (say the throwing and leaning) would, of course, look like we "intentionally forgot" that we ever posted this as an Experimental goal. That's why we, quite honestly, marked them as postponed. Because that's what ultimately happened - it's likely these things won't make it in the initial Exp release, but soon after that in following builds of the game. Well, we'll try to explain a bit better in the following updates of the checklist :) Thanks to everyone who understands what our intntion was here with this checklist - and I appreciate that you are trying to explain to others, too!

I wouldn't say it has to be BETA necessarily, or what usually gets defined as BETA, but the point you made is one of the important lessons Bohemia Interactive has learned with DayZ: it's making sure we don't release a game too early in Steam Early Access. That's how our Bohemia Incubator initiative started (because the super early feedback is still important, but perhaps more effective with a very small community). https://incubator.bistudio.com/ But it's easy to say that now, with the 5th year of DayZ's Early Access in progress. I know our CEO Marek Španěl is often thinking about that decision (to release DayZ super early AND work on the technology along with the game) - at the end of the day though, who knows what would happen if a different scenario played itself out instead. At least now, we know it helped us advance in terms of technology, which will make DayZ a better game (and a better platform) moving forward.

Yes it is. It's tough even for me or Baty at this point to get answers, or Status Report contributions for that matter from our team as everyone is extremely busy. And that, unfortunately, won't change until something playable is out from the 0.63 build, because until then, there is a lot to do, and not much to discuss, or collect feedback on. We all just need to survive that part somehow. It's also a matter of "mental hygiene" for many. Logically, with our pace of updates for the past 18 months, there is little positivity left in the community. It's tough to know that your everyday dev work is already frustrating at times, and then you read shit about it on the internet. That doesn't help you focus on your work. That covers your "development has essentially halted" remark for example. I can probably understand why you think that (despite we keep on saying what's being worked on, and what are our goals). I know I've felt that at some point when I was not with Bohemia, but a DayZ fan just like everybody else here, but it's just NOT TRUE. Nothing's halted. I wish there was a better way to say it, or show it, as it's SO frustrating for me as well, but the only thing that can change that situation is a playable build. We don't have one yet that would cover our expectations for an Experimental 0.63 build.

Yes, we will release DayZ on PS4 :)

We got our web team investigate and they have found one possible cause of the issue, but it may still happen at some point - so please do report in case you run into that issue again. Thanks for reporting it BTW! Much appreciated,

@ClaireOpen is entirely correct. I'm sorry that you feel the need to get a refund, but 64 hours into the game and over a one year after purchase is way over the refund policy of Steam. If you decide to remove the game from your library, you won't be able to get it back and would need to purchase it again in case you changed your mind.

Important point, yes - that's why it's often also hard to get a clear answer from the design team. This will remain true even during 0.63 Experimental, literally even today, there was a somewhat heated debate in the design team about the damage values given by various guns (or ammo types) for example. There will still be a lot to do to make DayZ a game, not a game in development. But that's the fun part, and I think everybody is looking forward to all that balancing and tweaking (as opposed to waiting on a new piece of tech being written, and redoing things that were already sort of good, but broken by these tech changes).

Yes, thanks for the suggestion - as mentioned in the Status Report we're discussing here, it's something we're considering / planning to do this for Experimental now, and we will probably also always include that overview in each upcoming Status Report before the Experimental release (hopefully there won't be too many of those though :) ). The BETA list would probably be too long for every Status Report, but it's doable for Experimental. I'll try to talk to Mirek and see what he has to say, this is something I can't possibly answer correctly at the moment, sorry. Yes, there might be a couple new (or newly enterable) buildings even in the Experimental release, and yes our audio guys are working on improvements to the overall sound design when you're outside/inside a building.

In regards to bikes or motorbikes, indeed their decent implementation is a post 1.0 goal. To quote the key part of our BETA Status Report in regards to this: I know it's long AF (to be blunt), but I recommend reading through the Status Report as it really provides a good summary of our feature and content goals -> https://dayz.com/blog/status-report-28th-november

Oh man these are some very, very specific questions. As for 1), Peter’s general approach is that players should discover things in the game “organically” so I don’t expect too much documentation on mechanics so to speak. On the other hand, and this is meant to happen in BETA, the team wants to do an overall review of the game mechanics, features and their balance or influence towards the overall gameplay. To some extent, things will probably need to be disclosed and discussed, although you’re probably thinking on a very deep “DayZ specialist” level really so I can’t guarantee that. I may throw a word about this to Peter, but he’s really busy, no promises. Hopefully he should be more active externally when we release a playable 0.63 build. 2) Also a pretty detailed design question I don’t really know how to answer, one thing I can say is it’s definitely not a topic ATM, we have bigger problems to solve - like swimming or vaulting on 0.63 :) 3) I would not expect massive improvements or performance focused updates as with 0.60 or 0.62, but performance stabilisation is certainly going to be a massive topic for BETA. Can’t speak for your specific example but code optimization, final game settings and asset optimization will all play a role in making the game feel smooth. Hope that helps at least a little bit! :) it’s not always easy to answer really specific stuff or comment on things like “will A or B be added into the game” but I’ll do my best :D

Once again, thre is our Project Lead David who’s not so much in the trenches, but more of an HQ officer so to speak. Although that doesn’t make the battle any easier for him to stay within the military theme here. Otherwise, I can only agree with @Baker. - a good release is all we need now. Unfortunately, from my experience, unless the core members of the dev team have the time, skills and motivation to provide first hand insights into development, it will never really work with just some “random” guy in the middle.

No, sorry, we just know it'll happen at some point this year - stay tuned though, we'd love to share a bit more at GDC in March :) Yes, we'll release in Game Preview first. We will support both Xbox One X and Xbox One, the versions of the game will ultimately be the same, initially probably even run on 1080p both, with One X providing some additional FPS. We're not considering insider testing now.