The future of Day Z: Standalone Discussion

[Wrath (DayZ) 140]

Day Z Standalone

So unless you've been under a rock you'll know that Day Z is heading standalone. This is a very important time for the community and I think we should all be thinking about what we'd like to see and what we wouldn't like to see. Once work begins on the standalone, Day Z mod will be abandoned so it is important we voice our opinions on the future direction of our loved mod now rather than later.

If you've seen the latest news post, it talks about Rocket seeking partnership to take Day Z to a standalone product. What was surprising to me was that Bohemia hasn't grabbed the opportunity with both hands, grabbed their ghille, M107, and sat on a hill sniping off any other company execs coming to speak to Rocket.

Real Virtuality

What this means is that Day Z may be moved onto a different engine than the Real Virtuality engine which 'powers' the ARMA series. I personally dislike the idea of Day Z being on anything but the ARMA engine. I know it has its problems, its not as smooth as other AAA titles out there etc etc, but it really delivers a visceral experience and the visuals tend towards photorealism rather than the cinematic 'brown and bloom' of other titles, the ballistics modelling is second to none, and the scale of the landscape unparalleled. I can honestly say that I have been immersed in ARMA II/Day Z more than any other game, and a lot of this is to do with the engine/sound/lighting/scale and setting.

Where the ARMA II engine fails, the ARMA III (Real Virtuality 4) picks up. A look at the features of this engine, and a look at the few 'gameplay' videos of it on youtube are very impressive. ARMA III looks like it would be a _perfect_ base for a standalone Day Z. I really do hope Bohemia help Rocket with development so we may see Day Z based upon the RV4 engine.

Future Direction

Additionally, I am concerned that when big money is involved, Rockets creative direction is going to be dictated to some extent. All the more reason that I hope Bohemia stays on board, as they clearly acknowledge what Rocket is doing and the direction he is taking Day Z in. I know it will probably be tempting to give in to pressure when the money begins to say "lets open Day Z up to a wider audience", or "we don't want to ignore the COD fanbase"; these types of notions never end well.

I think the community needs to focus on the games direction as we do stand to end up with a game QUITE different to the current direction of Day Z mod.

Please add your own thoughts to this thread.

Edited July 17, 2012 by Wrath

[rhym3z 6]

I think judging by this mods popularity, it would be shocking if the standalone version didnt deliver the same open-ended experience like what we have now, as that is one of the main selling points with it.

So in saying that, i'd love it to use a different engine, the arma 2 one is horrific, it really is.

I dont think the one for arma 3 is going to be any better either.

Anything other than this engine plz god..

Edited July 17, 2012 by Rhym3z

[bryantjudoman 3]

I think this engine is great the realistic quality of the world is what is creating emotion. I bet the arma 3 engine will be more than up for the task.

[relentless@clear.net.nz 12]

If someone told me I could play dayz but the guns would shoot like call of duty I wouldn't be as keen. The arma engine does alot of things we take for granted.

[Benlandia 73]

Making this game on anything other than the Arma engine would be a terrible mistake. The game would not play anything like it does today.

[redsh1rt 24]

Can't see a stand alone version of the game dropping the Arma engine. The devs have knowledge of this engine, and I'm not even sure what others could do this job.

A stand alone would likely use the arma 2 (or 3 I suppose) engine with much of it's functionality stripped out. Players won't need an editor, or tanks, weapons, items etc. that aren't in the mod. This will allow much more of the code to be locked down and cheating should be less rampant. Then I guess they can build layers of functionality purpose built for DayZ (instancing for example), so the game wouldn't feel so cobbled and hacked together.

What the game does need though, is a map the max size the engine can support (Arma 2 supports 500km2 - current map us 225km2). Also need it to be an island to make boats more useful (also means players can spawn anywhere in a big circle around the map), and perhaps rivers.

[Sentinal (DayZ) 20]

Dayz should be on the ARMA engine, the only other engine I could see it on is one specifically built for Dayz but that will likely not happen.