September Round-up: DevBlog, #DayZDaily, PAX, GDC China

[St. Jimmy 1631]

Hmmm... I see what you're saying but I would only pay $.99 for a DayZ without weapons or zombies.

Or you could wait that they get in the state where they add zombies?

[CapricornOne (DayZ) 379]

Hmmm... I see what you're saying but I would only pay $.99 for a DayZ without weapons or zombies.

 

Hence the tiered "minecraft" priceplan. 

 

There's a reason why early adopters get the game for cheaper - not because they're uber fans who've been f5'ing this thread since last December, but because they're acknowledging that the product is not complete and also not representative of the final product; hence why it's not worth 50 bucks...

[Dr. Goner 661]

They aren't releasing it without zombies though. They are maybe releasing the alpha alpha without zombies. The game won't be released for at least another year.

 

Don't consider whatever will be on Steam a "release" as such. :)

 

I'll consider what they release on steam the Alpha release since that's what they've been marketing it as. I didn't realize there was something pre-Alpha hence the definition of the word.

 

What I'm saying is, I don't think I would choose to contribute to the Alpha release if it didn't have zombies. But, I could be convinced. I'd have to see what all they were offering.  ;)

[Dr. Goner 661]

Hence the tiered "minecraft" priceplan. 

 

There's a reason why early adopters get the game for cheaper - not because they're uber fans who've been f5'ing this thread since last December, but because they're acknowledging that the product is not complete and also not representative of the final product; hence why it's not worth 50 bucks...

 

True and I admit I bought Arma 3 as an alpha and I also paid for the current build of Kerbal Space Program. They both lacked features but nothing as big as missing the entire AI. Like I said, I'd pay .99 for DayZ Alpha without zombies. It would be worth it to get in at that price considering the game would be lacking such an important feature. After all they are the central point of the entire game.

[Private Evans 1303]

just so that everyone can see what a buch of incapable programmers people are working at Bohemia.

 

DayZ without zombies ... common ...

 

guess it is time to stay away from the forums for a while  :facepalm:

[terrvik 2409]

What I'm saying is, I don't think I would choose to contribute to the Alpha release if it didn't have zombies. But, I could be convinced. I'd have to see what all they were offering.  ;)

 

Well, that's fair. I'll probably buy it early but not play until later in the alpha stage myself.

[Dchil 829]

I'm just wondering why the October first post is in the September roundup.

[Freeaze 2]

I'm just wondering why the October first post is in the September roundup.

Shhhh, don't say anything! Maybe he didn't notice!

[Dchil 829]

Shhhh, don't say anything! Maybe he didn't notice!

Maybe it means that Alpha release is so close that a October round-up thread is a waste of time. I mean when do you decide key bindings in a game? certainly not at the start.

#PURESPECULATION

Edited October 1, 2013 by Dchil

[TIC 1050]

Maybe it means that Alpha release is so close that a October round-up thread is a waste of time. I mean when do you decide key bindings in a game? certainly not at the start.

#PURESPECULATION

 

Kind of makes sense for a game like this to be released around Halloween ;)

[Mos1ey 6301]

So just because you don't like something thousands maybe even hundreds of thousand people have to wait? And why would it be like releasing without any weapons, in DayZ Mod it kind of worked from the beginning. There were never real zombies, not even close.

 

No, not because I don't like something. Because an integral feature is not in place yet.

 

Of course there are 'real' zombies in DayZ mod. Just because they're buggy does not mean they aren't there. What an awful analogy...

 

The whole point of an open alpha test is to test though right? If they decided they needed to stress test the core functionality without extra variables (in this case zombies), then what of it? The same can be said for weapons..

 

I think people are expecting a retail release and really need to lower their expectations.

 

Stress/network testing should be done internally. Even in an alpha build (especially a public alpha build) what could be considered the main gameplay feature should be in place IMO.

Edited October 1, 2013 by mZLY

[YZ250 248]

Ok so I have been avoiding the forums for a while because frankly I have gotten a bit sick of being told one thing and then another happening.

 

Most people (especially Fraggle) will know I am a fan of the game, and Dean as a whole, but I have been openly critical of the way in which this project has been managed.

 

But the blind rage and hate flinging about it just a bit annoying. People are being pig headed on both sides. It has been just over year if I am correct since Dean announced it would become a standalone. Please keep some objectivity while discussing the topic.

 

I am going to be honest, BI made a mistake, and despite his talents and vision Dean is and was not ready to lead a project of this size. Not due to lack of skill as a programmer/game dev, but management of an entire project is a huge task. Sometimes it takes a project manager with slightly less emotional investment to make sure these things stay on track. At the moment things seem rather chaotic. Don’t get me wrong there is a flipside to that when you have an outside body influencing the release of the game that has too much power. (look at sega and rome2, what a bunch of crap that was).

 

The issue is Dean has too much to focus on, and because he doesn’t trust anyone else its impacting on the timeline of the game, he NEEDS to be more flexible. He should be able to devote his time wholly to the game, but can’t, and keeps making promises like daily updates etc which he ultimately ends up flaking out on. This is not only damaging his reputation but its going to have a negative impact on the game and those who will buy it. He can’t adopt the “it will be ready when its ready” approach anymore, it just isn’t viable and will set him up for a flop. Interest will wane, and people will forget about it, and ultimately it makes him and the team seem lazy. Dean had a unique selling point before, he doesn’t anymore, there are zombie survival games left right and centre now. There is always value in taking your time and doing things right, but it is also of critical importance to try and get things done within a time frame.

 

The game will be amazing regardless, but he will lose money and a large portion of his player base if he doesn’t really start getting his team in gear. Superfically ( and to those who don’t realise the work done on the game) it is simply a tarted up version of the mod, with still very broken zombies. It’s going to piss off a lot of people if it is released with the game in such a state.

 

Gamers are fickle and hate being lied to, even unintentionally and I think suddenly going MIA is just going to further exacerbate the shit slinging.  I don’t deny this game is a massive project, but at the same time although a massive amount of work has gone into pretty much redoing the engine, it was still a basis from which to work, and understandably people are starting to doubt the amount of work actually being done due to what seems like a snail paced development.

 

Ultimately it will be an amazing game, but I truly feel Dean needs to salvage something of his reputation and try and quicken the pace of development before people lose all interest in it. Bigger and better funded studios are going to be picking up on the genre and if he doesn’t move he will get very quickly muscled out. 

 

 

Yeah but I think I posted pretty much the same thing 1 Page before your Post, repeated

 

 

 

Put simply from what I have seen from the begining is the total bad management of the Project . Rocket as the Lead Developer is out of his depth and BI should have put someone in charge of the Project , structured development, found out what resources they required etc ( I believe all this is now in place and happening)

 

Because i have a fantastic idea ,ie Game MOD, and BI then said YZ we want to make this Game a Stand Alone Release with you, WELL dont put me in fucking charge of it , I'm clueless to Game Development. I've got no Idea about PR, no Marketing Skills , I will ramble, say the wrong things. Over promise again and again. Hide from Twitter, Reddit, Facebook and Forums for a Month when the Target date I set wasn't achieved, with me never announcing ONE word. I will then make comments like " We will release the Alpha without Zombies if we have to " WITHOUT Zombies, a Zombie Survival Game without Zombies ?? Did I really say that ?

 

So you get my smart arse points I'm making. The SA Dev Team didnt have the right structure nor resources which answers a lot of the critics questions. HOWEVER is appears it does now with a sizeable Team, so things that you thought would do when you only had a Team of 6 , now when you have a Team of 20 you can say ok lets go back and revisit this or this and make it better.

 

Message is Take your Time DAYZ SA Team , and never consider me to Lead a Team :D

[Private Evans 1303]

my guess...alpha release in december (this year) ...beta release march/april  and final version august (2014 of course :P )... ...

Edited October 2, 2013 by Private Evans

[YZ250 248]

my guess...alpha release in december (this year) ...beta release march/april  and final version august (2014 of course :P )... ...

 

Would agree, well worth the wait

[TIC 1050]

Would agree, well worth the wait

 

I agree as well. A year later after their original release date would be perfect.

[Private Evans 1303]

yap...making a complete new game of this seize and quality from the scratch, with such a small team in ONLY two years seems like a good output to me  :)

 

Edit:  I personally will not play the game before Chernarus + is completely implemented anyway...but that's just me

 

cheers

[Wayze 549]

No, not because I don't like something. Because an integral feature is not in place yet.

 

Of course there are 'real' zombies in DayZ mod. Just because they're buggy does not mean they aren't there. What an awful analogy...

Nope, of course there are none real zombies in DayZ mod. You can't denie it, these things are nothing but annoying, I haven't died by zombies since more than a year now. It is not that they are buggy, they are just to weak and don't work. Sure additionally to that there are some buggs, but the core functionality in of the zombies in the mod is just awful. To be honest I don't see any difference between a server with zombies and without, just the fact that sometimes you got to run into a tree.

 

Also an alpha is there to collect data etc. so a time without zombies could actually bring significant results for the community.

[Mos1ey 6301]

Nope, of course there are none real zombies in DayZ mod. You can't denie it, these things are nothing but annoying, I haven't died by zombies since more than a year now. It is not that they are buggy, they are just to weak and don't work. Sure additionally to that there are some buggs, but the core functionality in of the zombies in the mod is just awful. To be honest I don't see any difference between a server with zombies and without, just the fact that sometimes you got to run into a tree.

 

Also an alpha is there to collect data etc. so a time without zombies could actually bring significant results for the community.

 

But it's undeniable that it would promote deathmatching, which the devs clearly do not agree with and are making efforts to minimise...

[gesundheitk 420]

But it's undeniable that it would promote deathmatching, which the devs clearly do not agree with and are making efforts to minimise...

I can agree with this point. I am not sure if this has been brought up yet, but habits in games tend to follow quite a lot. Starting the alpha with no Infected (or zombies, rather) would surely affect the game in the long run.

 

 

Are they still going to limit the key distribution to 50,000 players at first?

[geogeorgegeo@hotmail.co.uk 50]

Usually zombies are there to kill you after you faint and/or have been shot once in the leg or something. E.g. at 100% health, someone shoots your arm and you bleed, you run behind cover to bandage and a zombie hits you (or you shoot the zombies and more come) and knocks you unconscious and then they eat you and you die. That really sucks.

[Mos1ey 6301]

I can agree with this point. I am not sure if this has been brought up yet, but habits in games tend to follow quite a lot. Starting the alpha with no Infected (or zombies, rather) would surely affect the game in the long run.

 

 

Are they still going to limit the key distribution to 50,000 players at first?

 

I don't believe so. I think they're planning on providing unlimited keys from the get-go now.

[triggy89 171]

prepare for server overload!

 

Edited October 2, 2013 by triggy89

[SmashT 10907]

New devblog?

http://twitpic.com/dfqeh4

[triggy89 171]

New devblog?

http://twitpic.com/dfqeh4

 

even the mods ripping into the BI guys XD

[terrvik 2409]

For you guys who keeps saying BI are a bunch of incompetent idiots, here is your chance to fix that:
http://www.linkedin.com/jobs2/view/9100899?trk=vsrp_jobs_res_name