Will SA alpha be in a worse state than the mod?

[JoeM (DayZ) 41]

I have watched a few videos, read a few articles and loads of people have been saying 'Do not buy SA Alpha when it is released unless you are prepared to play a very buggy game'. But I am thinking that I play the mod, surely nothing can be in a worse state than the mod. There are glitches left, right and center everything seems clunky and in fairness, quite bad.

But I still enjoy the mod, very much so. So I am just wondering if SA Alpha will be in an even worse state than the mod? Is it likely to have game crashes every 2 minutes with loot falling from trees and splatting you on the head causing insta death? Will helicopters from an entirely different game somehow end up in the game or will we get Jedi Knights from someone playing a starwars game ending up in NWAF? Ok, so those last two were clearly taking the biscuit. But just how bad will the Alpha stage be?

Anyone have any ideas?

[Death_Dealer 3155]

What do you not understand about pre-alpha?

[Maloney (DayZ) 26]

I very much doubt that it will be in a worse state than the mod, although do be warned there are rumors of Sith Lords landing spacecraft in the NWAF.

[JoeM (DayZ) 41]

What do you not understand about pre-alpha?

Well I was thinking that because the game engine was getting an overhaul and lots of new features, like the looting feature has been built up again from scratch. Will we get more glitches than we get now?

[Feral (DayZ) 622]

Stupid question that doesn't require a response

[Mos1ey 6301]

The people saying that the standalone will be buggy/not to buy the standalone more than likely downloaded/played the cracked February build and are assuming that it's current.

Of course there will be bugs and it won't be feature complete, it's releasing in alpha, I don't think it will be buggy enough to stop it being an enjoyable experience for people that enjoy the mod though.

Edited June 16, 2013 by mZLY

[NightmareGER 21]

The SA will be lacking certain features at the start. Vehicles will probably not be in until they did their recreation with them.

For Gameplay and Crashes.... well nobody really knows until we get the access to the Alpha.

But from what i have seen from the E3 videos it seems pretty stable.

For all we know the E3 footage was not a special E3 build so yeah i guess it is stable enough for people to test the current build.

Test the new system with more players and add valueable feedback to the Dev team then.

Edited June 16, 2013 by NightmareGER

[King Tubbs 224]

it is not a stupid question he dose not know what an Alpa is and has not kept up with all the news

in anwser to the question it will be worst and much better at the same time, most basic things will be fixed like zombie pathfinding and doors breaking you're legs things like that

but animations a loot, spawns, glitches and bugs will proberbly be worse to start with

the reality is that even the devs dont know what will happen when the game is released, the only way to find out what happens when 100,000 poeple play a game is to have 100,000 people play it

in short lots of things that are bad now will be fixed but there will be a whole new set of problems

[Fonebook 126]

Just like a great piece of art, software is never finished. There just comes a point where the creators stop and move on to other projects.

We have all been given the rare opportunity to participate in the formation of a new style of game. Perhaps fretting over bugs or glitches is the wrong approach. We can speculate all day but the meaningful discussion on the condition of the standalone cannot be had by outsiders, once it is actually released we can talk about it.

As an alpha build there will certainly be bugs and if you have some expectation of perfection, or even just high expectations of a work in progress, then maybe alpha testing is not for you. Anyone who is upset at what has been delivered, for free, is quite ungrateful in my opinion. And once the standalone comes out I fear the complaining will only get worse once real money leaves the pockets.

We, as a community, have the opportunity to prove or disprove the viability of making and releasing a game in this manner. Lets band together and remember that the mission is to help make DayZ the best it can be. It would be rather sad if this whole thing went to pieces because of people having unreasonable expectations.

[JoeM (DayZ) 41]

it is not a stupid question he dose not know what an Alpa is and has not kept up with all the news

in anwser to the question it will be worst and much better at the same time, most basic things will be fixed like zombie pathfinding and doors breaking you're legs things like that

but animations a loot, spawns, glitches and bugs will proberbly be worse to start with

the reality is that even the devs dont know what will happen when the game is released, the only way to find out what happens when 100,000 poeple play a game is to have 100,000 people play it

in short lots of things that are bad now will be fixed but there will be a whole new set of problems

Thankyou, helpful answer. I know it will be buggy, just wanted to know how it would compare to the Mod. But I guess it makes sense that current problems should be fixed and new problems will be created. I just now wonder how bad these problems will be.

[Ivanuvo (DayZ) 117]

For all we know the E3 footage was not a special E3 build so yeah i guess it is stable enough for people to test the current build.

Test the new system with more players and add valueable feedback to the Dev team then.

Rocket actually states in a video that the build being shown at E3 wasn't really an E3-ready build.

[Fonebook 126]

I just now wonder how bad these problems will be.

How bad they are is in the eye of the beholder. Mostly your expectations will determine how you feel about it. Just let go of your expectations and enjoy what you have, and will get going forward. Play the mod, post your constructive criticism here, and watch as things gradually improve.

[NightmareGER 21]

For all we know the E3 footage was not a special E3 build

I don't think i said it was?

[bfisher 561]

or will we get Jedi Knights from someone playing a starwars game ending up in NWAF? Ok, so those last two were clearly taking the biscuit. But just how bad will the Alpha stage be?

Anyone have any ideas?

These are not the beans you are looking for.

[HMS 115]

OP: Either we are all just commiserating together here, or you needed to ask specific questions. I mean, who the hell knows? The only thing we have to go by is videos we really can't go by.

I'll help:

Does anyone know if you will get killed because you have to wait this insane amount of time to put away a pistol and take out your main gun?

Does anyone know if you will stop all forward motion to do so? (I hope not - based on the nice fence jumping I saw)

[mdmonnik@deakin.edu.au 139]

I dont even understand wtf you're talking about, I dont even find many bugs in the mod and I play it A LOT. The standalone will be fine it's Sergey Titov and his bastards that are trying to disclaim it

[need matches 84]

Personally, after 1.7.7, I'm feeling like waiting to see, before purchasing Standalone, how different it is. I really want to be a pre-purchase and I'm willing to give everyone the benefit of the doubt. But suddenly I'm cautious. I'm not bashing 1.7.7, search my posts, but personally I find it...interesting.

[{420}Mr.Smiley 53]

Of course it will have some bugs and glitches, just like every game, it wont be perfect, i think it will have less but because they have the ability to make changes to the engine and what not that they can correct things that they cannot correct in the mod.

[phionamercy 8]

Thankyou, helpful answer. I know it will be buggy, just wanted to know how it would compare to the Mod. But I guess it makes sense that current problems should be fixed and new problems will be created. I just now wonder how bad these problems will be.

What you need to understand is that 'Alpha' is LOWER then a 'Beta'. "Alpha" and "Beta" do not mean you get "early access" to the game ... it means that if you get to PLAY Alpha or Beta that you are part of the volunteer critique and quality assurance team.

Basically, if you get in while the game is in alpha -- you are paying less money so that you can play, and help them find the things that are wrong with it... and then you *tell* them what is wrong with it, and if they agree with your assessments and those of other players ... they fix it. People complaining about what they showed at E3 ... don't understand, already how much better the fluidity of controls were and how much cleaner the shots were-- you have to realize:

It's PRE-ALPHA. And ALPHA means "Buggy". So when you buy 'DayZ Stand-Alone Alpha' or ANY GAME in 'Alpha'.. (like Minecraft!) then you are saying: "I know this game is buggy, and I want to help test it, so they can fix it because I know it will be worth it in the end."

DayZ, given the mod itself only STARTED a year ago ... has developed into a full blown game so fast that it's retarded. Blizzard has been developing the Titan project for what.. 5 years? And just scrapped it?

DayZ went from a mod to a full blown game being shown at E-3. Think about that~

If they can do that? Imagine what they can do with six months of us all play-testing it.