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In light of the responses to our recent Status Report, we would like to clarify some details we didn't make clear, and answer some of the most apparent concerns from the community.
We don't intend to reopen past topics nor debate what was said (and promised) over the years, but rather focus on the future of DayZ and highlight a few facts. Of course, the trajectory of the project has been adjusted several times over the years, and our communication didn't reflect these changes. For this, we sincerely apologize. Q: Why not announce the upcoming features?
A: The current development cycle doesn't allow us to communicate too far ahead of an update as we keep our schedule flexible, because anything can – and does – happen, and we need to be able to effectively deal with any unforeseen developments. For example, the duping and other database-related issues have taken up a lot of our time. We keep exploring and experimenting with what features and content we can revive in this post-release period, however, sometimes these ventures are unsuccessful. While some features won't come back this year, we want to assure you that feature development hasn't stopped. For example, we are currently working on the comeback of vaulting, together with the introduction of climbing. Q: What are the gains and consequences of the new engine?
A: The two core issues we faced at the start of development were security and performance – highlighted by both us and the community as the focus of our efforts moving forward. Those issues were never going to be fixed using the previous technology (RV). The decision to move to a new engine was mainly based on these two limitations, and this effort led to the creation of Enfusion (and its future iterations). It's very easy to forget just how broken the game really was back then, with this being a major factor behind delays. To break free from the chains of these technological limitations, we had to replace the script language and its engine to massively improve the performance and security of the game, as well as the renderer, which was a large contributor to the poor performance. However, we underestimated the amount of effort needed and thus dug a hole too deep to get out of. This meant we had to rewrite almost all of the gameplay elements from scratch, losing features and variation along the way. It's important to remember that there was no real way to iterate and improve in these areas on the old technology. Therefore, we were left with basically two choices: live with performance/security issues, and slightly improve them while expanding the gameplay, or go back to the drawing board and figure out the new baseline, but lose stuff in the process. We chose the latter... Was this the right choice? The new engine has dramatically improved the game (performance, authoritative server, persistence, etc.) and paved the way for our future developments. Q: Feature parity with pre- and post-beta?
A: While we all wanted to get there, it is clear that it isn't possible due to the above changes. The pre-beta was an elaborate and extended alpha of the game, but we had to cut it down to a manageable piece for its release, ergo many features have been relayed to the post-release backlog. Q: Will the rest of the year be only about fixing?
A: Bug-fixing will be our main priority – to stabilize the game for new content and mechanics. However, we are also working on new content for the core game; we're just not yet ready to specify any details. Q: Incoming DLC, paid content, and features?
A: The paid DLC mentioned in the Status Report isn't Survivor GameZ. And as Tim wrote, no previously promised features will be hidden behind a paywall*. If anything, they will be released as part of the supporting update of the game.
While we aren't ready to share details and specifics, as hinted on Twitter, the central piece is a new terrain, and it isn't Namalsk. Q: Team changes, new leadership, etc.?
A: Yes, some key project people have left the team to venture new territories, but all their roles are covered – mostly by people who have worked on DayZ for years. It's just that not everyone likes being as public as Eugen or Peter have been. Q: What about the limited communication over the past months?
A: With the release of DayZ, we decided to focus the communication on facts, and avoid any over-promising. It resulted in a smaller volume of information – more open to speculation but more accurate – and left out things which weren't yet ready (yes, issues might've occurred since the release). Our communication will keep evolving and improving this year and beyond. Q: Private servers for consoles?
A: We are preparing them in close cooperation with our partners and will communicate more as soon as we solidify the specifics. Feel free to share your questions here; we will include them in the FAQ we're currently putting together. *Changed for clarification
We don't intend to reopen past topics nor debate what was said (and promised) over the years, but rather focus on the future of DayZ and highlight a few facts. Of course, the trajectory of the project has been adjusted several times over the years, and our communication didn't reflect these changes. For this, we sincerely apologize. Q: Why not announce the upcoming features?
A: The current development cycle doesn't allow us to communicate too far ahead of an update as we keep our schedule flexible, because anything can – and does – happen, and we need to be able to effectively deal with any unforeseen developments. For example, the duping and other database-related issues have taken up a lot of our time. We keep exploring and experimenting with what features and content we can revive in this post-release period, however, sometimes these ventures are unsuccessful. While some features won't come back this year, we want to assure you that feature development hasn't stopped. For example, we are currently working on the comeback of vaulting, together with the introduction of climbing. Q: What are the gains and consequences of the new engine?
A: The two core issues we faced at the start of development were security and performance – highlighted by both us and the community as the focus of our efforts moving forward. Those issues were never going to be fixed using the previous technology (RV). The decision to move to a new engine was mainly based on these two limitations, and this effort led to the creation of Enfusion (and its future iterations). It's very easy to forget just how broken the game really was back then, with this being a major factor behind delays. To break free from the chains of these technological limitations, we had to replace the script language and its engine to massively improve the performance and security of the game, as well as the renderer, which was a large contributor to the poor performance. However, we underestimated the amount of effort needed and thus dug a hole too deep to get out of. This meant we had to rewrite almost all of the gameplay elements from scratch, losing features and variation along the way. It's important to remember that there was no real way to iterate and improve in these areas on the old technology. Therefore, we were left with basically two choices: live with performance/security issues, and slightly improve them while expanding the gameplay, or go back to the drawing board and figure out the new baseline, but lose stuff in the process. We chose the latter... Was this the right choice? The new engine has dramatically improved the game (performance, authoritative server, persistence, etc.) and paved the way for our future developments. Q: Feature parity with pre- and post-beta?
A: While we all wanted to get there, it is clear that it isn't possible due to the above changes. The pre-beta was an elaborate and extended alpha of the game, but we had to cut it down to a manageable piece for its release, ergo many features have been relayed to the post-release backlog. Q: Will the rest of the year be only about fixing?
A: Bug-fixing will be our main priority – to stabilize the game for new content and mechanics. However, we are also working on new content for the core game; we're just not yet ready to specify any details. Q: Incoming DLC, paid content, and features?
A: The paid DLC mentioned in the Status Report isn't Survivor GameZ. And as Tim wrote, no previously promised features will be hidden behind a paywall*. If anything, they will be released as part of the supporting update of the game.
While we aren't ready to share details and specifics, as hinted on Twitter, the central piece is a new terrain, and it isn't Namalsk. Q: Team changes, new leadership, etc.?
A: Yes, some key project people have left the team to venture new territories, but all their roles are covered – mostly by people who have worked on DayZ for years. It's just that not everyone likes being as public as Eugen or Peter have been. Q: What about the limited communication over the past months?
A: With the release of DayZ, we decided to focus the communication on facts, and avoid any over-promising. It resulted in a smaller volume of information – more open to speculation but more accurate – and left out things which weren't yet ready (yes, issues might've occurred since the release). Our communication will keep evolving and improving this year and beyond. Q: Private servers for consoles?
A: We are preparing them in close cooperation with our partners and will communicate more as soon as we solidify the specifics. Feel free to share your questions here; we will include them in the FAQ we're currently putting together. *Changed for clarification
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