My criticisms of DayZ mod/Standalone

[westonsammy 1]

Before reading this post, please remember that these are my OPINIONS, and i'm not saying any of this is 100% true or that anything said here is 100% false. This is just what I think.

Also before I begin, I would like to say that I think DayZ is a incredibly fun game, and I have spent many items scavenging for Mountain Dew and shooting up bandits.

DayZ mod:

MY criticism of DayZ mod is that it gets too much credit for what it has done with the ArmA 2 engine. I understand this isn't a problem created by Dean (Rather by the over-hyped fanboys), but it is a problem nevertheless. I have seen far too many people and even professionals call DayZ "One of the best mods of all time". I believe a better fitting title would be "One of the most fun mods of all time." Because compared to other mods for ArmA 2, DayZ has not really done much. The Undead Mod for ArmA 2 had already implemented zombies into the game, and DayZ WAS NOT THE FIRST DYNAMIC ZOMBIE GAMEMODE IN ARMA 2! In Febuary of 2012, about 4-5 months before DayZ mod's release, Craig, a modder for ArmA 2, released DZS (Dyanmic Zombie Sandbox) which was a mission (Not a mod) for ArmA 2 that featured a dynamic zombie apocalypse, with respawning zombies roaming towns, the need to scavenge cars and buildings for weapons, and in later updates the inclusion of food and water, along with hunger and thirst.

DayZ Standalone:

My criticism for DayZ Standalone is that I feel that it is being rushed, and that BI is not adding enough to the original mod. Why do I say this? Well first, lets look at the features that DayZ Standalone has so far demonstrated, and why I think some are good, and some are just lazy.

-"ArmA 2.5" engine (Includes Volumetric clouds and lighting): Although this really is just someone mashing together ArmA 2's engine and ArmA 3's engine, I can understand that creating a entirely new one is really not necessary.

-Building Interiors: Probably the most impressive feature of DayZ standalone, although still this wouldn't take much work. Modders for ArmA 2 have made (Without a dev team) entire sets of enterable buildings for custom maps (Celle, Emita, Taviana, ect) and ArmA 2 OA's Takistan had already done this.

-New zombie animations: Another one of the more-worked on features of DayZ Standalone, these are looking to be really nice

-Clothing models/Changing clothes ability: Already implemented into ArmA 3, it feels as if they have just ripped this out of that

-Slightly Altered Chernarus: Really, all they did was flood a small section of the coast (If BI let people modify chernarus like that, modders could have done it in a couple of hours) and copy and paste Utes, the other map that shipped with ArmA 2, onto Chernarus.

-Hacker prevention: For DayZ Standalone, this isn't such a big feat. The only reason DayZ Mod is so hackable is because its a MOD (You can look up the technicalities of why that makes it hackable). Vanilla ArmA 2 is much harder to hack and cheat from, and most "Hackers" on Vanilla ArmA 2 servers are just bastards connecting to a server that hasn't enabled sig check with a editing mod or such.

I'm sure they have planned more features, but so far their starting lineup doesn't look too good. Remember, this is now a GAME, with a dev team and all the resources BI permits them to use (Considering the mods popularity, I think that is a LOT). I will now list what I think they SHOULD have in DayZ Standalone, although I know its probably too late for them to implement these without a major delay in release. Also, if they have already planned to add some of these, please post in the comments with proof so that you can correct me! :D

-New map(s): As the DayZ community has seen, many ArmA 2 modders have been able to develop entirely new and unique ArmA 2 maps with their own custom buildings, complete with interiors and such, all by themselves. So why cant DayZ Standalone give us AT LEAST one new map on release? I expect them to create more maps after release, but as I said before, it feels like they are ripping a lot off of ArmA 2.

-New weapons/vehicles: So far DayZ devs have not announced any new weapons or vehicles for DayZ standalone, which leads me to believe they will have the same weapons and vehicles as DayZ mod. I feel that they should add a more "Civilian" weapon and vehicle pack to DayZ standalone, instead of the militaristic ArmA 2 one.

-Tons of new gameplay features: IE: fortification, advanced medical system (maybe similar to ACE?), easier ability to find friends/friendlies, dedicated leveling system (maybe based on bandit/hero reputation?), advanced movement system (especially with those new building interiors!), higher server capacity (Since its no longer a mod, Standalone could possibly handle 150+ player servers), mod support (Pretty sure Dean, a modder, will add this, but sort of distressed by the fact it hasn't been confirmed)

-Dedicated Website/Forums (Herp derp?): If BI can re-design the ArmA 3 web page in a week, they surely can make a DayZ Standalone one aswell, or at least put DayZ in the BI forums! XD

Anyway, that's about it. I don't want to distress people too much, i'm SURE they will add additional content in future updates for Standalone, so do not worry. I just think i'm going to be dissatisfied with the release, but will probably buy it anyway.

[thehero 119]

You do realize you made two threads exactly the same right?

[Hetstaine 10852]

^ lol ..anywayz..

My small bit,the deal with it being the 'best' mod is that it broke outside of the arma circle and into the mainstream. Most mods like this never make it out of a niche simulation community and many would not buy a game or series of games for say a single mission mod or a single campaign mod. Maybe it was just time for this sort of thing to hit mainstream gaming, i know i was as bored as three dicks in a tent with fps game offerings circa 2008 to current.

[MissSweeney 105]

I can't even remember when I fist heard of this mod, but I was obsessed with it in an instant. I only played my boyfriends Left 4 Dead game before this, but I saved until I had enough money to buy Arma 2 because I knew this mod was better than anything I'd seen or played. And despite it's ups and downs, I'm still proud to be a part of this community a year on, and am in love with the mod just as much as when I first played. I haven't come across a game that (in my opinion) is as good as this mod, and it's only a mod! The hackers were all part of the fun for me, as frustrating as they could be, because they were the only threat at the time. I thankfully came across very few script killers, most of the other hacks I could survive. Beating a hacker who tries to kill you and destroy your vehicle/heli is a pretty good feeling! Not much you could do about script killers, though.

...Why am I talking about this?

There was a point to this comment that was relevant to your post, but I lost it. Sorry

Edited February 27, 2013 by MissSweeney

[Hetstaine 10852]

lol :) ...that'll do Miss Sweeny...that'll do.

[Inception. 9443]

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/125886-my-criticisms-of-dayz-modstandalone/#entry1208984