researching DayZ before i decide to play

[Ballistixz 12]

so ive been watching destinys stream and he has been playing Dayz for almost a month now. he has played it so much that i took a slight interest in it and wanted to possibly try it out. however there is one problem with that, i do not have arma 2 combined op. so in order to play this game i will have to fork over $30. Normally i do not mind doing this, but its apparent that the game is in alpha with a crap ton of bugs and glitches infesting it.

sooo, with that said i want to get some info before i decide to play Dayz. first off i want to make it clear that i am not interested in the actual game arma 2, im only interested in the Day z mod. now i know that might be controversial to some people, but the fact that im even considering to spend money just to play a FREE mod version of a game says alot about its popularity and its quality in terms of fun. so please do not give me the lectures about how great of a game arma 2 is because i do not care and i wont listen. if i ever want to play the actual game then i will, but this is about Dayz and not arma.

anyway, onto my questions.

1) i know arma 2 is in the alpha phase right now. so does that mean there will be a beta and even a "full/official" release?

2) what exactly is the future of this game? its longevity is very important to me because i do see ALOT of potential in this mod. do the devs have any plans on expanding this game beyond a simple mod for arma? perhaps release it as a full game with its own engine and storyline?

3) how long has this mod been available exactly? i know it's fairly new and recent, but exactly how young is it?

4) will new items/weapons/vehicles/etc be added to the game in the future? or is it basically limited by what arma 2 can do? (which i assume the answer is yes, but just in case ima ask it)

and that's all the questions i have for now, most of the questions i did have were found by lurking the forums. thanks ahead of time for answering my questions.

[guidez 180]

1. DayZ is in Alpha. ARMA 2 is a fully functioning and completed game series with missions, DLC's, etc. DayZ is simply a mod.

2. DayZ is whatever you make it to be. Your goal could be to survive alone in the wilderness, or get a group and put together a car. Think sandbox.

3. I think April'ish? Though Rocket has been thinking about it for years now.

4. New models and such can be appended.

[Ballistixz 12]

the first 2 answers doesnt answer my question.

thx for the last 2 answers tho.

[guidez 180]

Oh, sorry, only read the first parts, ;)

1. Yes, Beta will eventually come (assuming that version "2.0" of DayZ will be Beta). Not so sure about the "full release", since Bohemia is thinking about a standalone release of DayZ, which leads to...

2. I don't think we have much info on a standalone version of DayZ with a storyline and such. I almost imagine that the multiplayer aspect would always remain sandbox mode with no story, but if a standalone and thus single player version did come out, there would HAVE to be a story of some sort.

[amentes 0]

1)

DayZ is a MOD for a long-since-released ArmA 2, and its expansion Operation Arrowhead.

It is my understanding that DayZ will eventually see a retail release, quite possibly after being ported to ArmA 3, coming sometime in 2013.

2)

I don't believe this game will ever have an actual Storyline. Maybe it'll get some lore, but the concept is all about making your own goals and finding your own way. It's the ultimate sandbox.

3)

April sounds about right. You can Google the public release of the mod if you wish :)

4)

Using ArmA 2 as the backdrop has helped DayZ along, which is obvious from the crazy-low size of the mod itself. A lot of what you see in the current version is from basic ArmA, including the map you play on.

The map specifically is what makes this possible, as it's by far the largest playable area in videogame history.

That said though, new stuff has been added in the mod. So far not much, but we're still in the very, very early stages. A lot of manpower is being put into this mod, to the point of Bohemia, the studio behind the ArmA series, being involved as well.

[guidez 180]

And what I mean by "not so sure about full release" is that I am wondering if DayZ will finish with a full release BEFORE ARMA 3 comes out, which would probably require us all to upgrade.

[Toilet 204]

Even with the bugs dude it's worth it. Just gotta know what they are, and in most cases they are well documented, and can be avoided. As for your questions, the Devs are probably the ones to ask, but good luck with that, they tend to be super busy. I think this went public in April sometime.

[Ballistixz 12]

thx for the answers. it possibly being released as its own standalone game really interests me considering its starting off as a mod. hope it happens.

[species5021 28]

You dont need to fork over 30$, you can use the free version of Arma 2 but you will have to buy operation arrowhead.

For the rest just try it, the game is in an alpha state but everything works great. No need to go all market research on it.

[Arquebus 14]

Here is the market research you need to do, check the number one bestselling game on steam these days . Its a two year old strategy game from eastern europe. And its full price. And it has a mod called Day Z.