Development Road Map?

[Bonse 0]

Hey guys,

I'm one of several thousand who purchased A2 purely for this mod.

Now i'm not usually into the whole zombie thing but this is an awesome mod with sexy potential.

The main problem i see is that the servers aren't big enough and maybe there's not enough to currently do, but hey it's early alpha!

Anyway, back to what i originally wanted to ask;

Is there any chance you could make up a road map of what your planning on doing etc with the mod and put it in the information section of the forum?

Many thanks,

Bonse (EU)

[rocket 16567]

I've been meaning to make this post for some time, but never really thought how to write it.

Pretty much this was just developed as a rough proof of concept and a "fuck you" to all those video game exec's who told me the concept would never work.

It wasn't designed to be fun, I made the announcement because development reached a point where I needed to capacity test it and see how it handled a load of 50 players at once.

Then all hell broke loose. I didn't sleep or eat, I just did my day job then all night code fixes.

Now things are a little more stable, we have people doing all the staff duties around the forums, answering emails, keeping the servers online - I'm not raging quite so much. So now some planning can actually be done.

My personal thoughts are that this is now at the point of criticallity where it will end up as a a game or part of another game, its only a question of when, by who, and in what engine.

So I guess, in reply, currently it has just been crisis mode and coping. I'm the biggest thing holding the mod/game back at the moment and that needs to change. Luckily the community is helping fill the void through providing servers and people getting involved (seems much more reasonable and positive than last week).

A plan will come out once the dust is settled, which will give more clarity to everyone including me. Lol.

[Bonse 0]

Nice, I appreciate the quick response.

I'm glad you are persistent in your ways, I'm more than sure that you will make some well deserved monies through this.

You mean to say you may think of developing this into a game in it's own right? (I noticed the post "IF this was a game...")

I think it does have the potential to be a MMO-Style game.

Do you think you can add such things as crafting, modding weapons, creating safe houses, creating TEAM BASES along with 100-150 man servers? Because if you can, you could be become a very well off man.

Again, good show sir, good show.

[oilman 72]

I do not think his intention is an MMO-Style game, at least, certainly not in the conventional sense of what an MMO is.

[Bonse 0]

I do not think his intention is an MMO-Style game' date=' at least, certainly not in the conventional sense of what an MMO is.

[/quote']

Yeah the term MMO is very often misconstrued - and yes i used it in the wrong sense, i dont mean thousands on a single server, sorry, my bad. I mean in the sense of advancing through the game with improvement of items etc.

[rocket 16567]

I generally think the MMO model, in a traditional sense, maximizes the studio's ability to make money. But it usually results in a shitty concept and where you see the designers getting overturned by marketing people and therefore the mechanics suffer.

I think most people sort of understand the initial concept I have for it, and have probably thought of it themselves. But there is alot of risk around it all, so we will just have to see what happens really.

[Freek314 32]

What about something similar to WoW, where there are large servers that hold a good deal of people but are not connected to each other? This would eliminate server hopping and a few other illegitimate activities (day-chasing).

I honestly think that for an alpha this game could legitimately be called 80% finished content-wise, unless you add dynamic events or special zombies. I'm sure you have much more in store for this game than I would believe, though.

[oilman 72]

With all due respect to Rocket (And I think he'll agree with me anyway), this isn't even close to 80% finished, content-wise or any other -wise.

[Freek314 32]

With all due respect to Rocket (And I think he'll agree with me anyway)' date=' this isn't even close to 80% finished, content-wise or any other -wise.

[/quote']

I'm just saying that it would be viewed as a legitimate claim. This game has some of the best emotion I've ever seen.

If rocket adds much more, he'll simply be going above and beyond completion to excellence.

[rocket 16567]

In terms of finished content - I think its about 20%, there are crippling bugs present, and I don't think there is enough to do to keep it interesting beyond a few days. The talent/skill stuff, faction systems, and other mechanics needed to round out the experience so that it has a more authentic "I need to do this with bros" feel too it - these are quite alot of work.

Technology wise, with access to some source, rather than hackery as a mod, would deal to some of the critical bugs pretty quickly. With some tidying of the netcode (Zambies don't need anywhere near as much attention from the server as actual AI soldiers) you could support many more players and zombies.

[Freek314 32]

In terms of finished content - I think its about 20%' date=' there are crippling bugs present, and I don't think there is enough to do to keep it interesting beyond a few days. The [u']talent/skill stuff, faction systems, and other mechanics needed to round out the experience so that it has a more authentic "I need to do this with bros" feel too it - these are quite alot of work.

Technology wise, with access to some source, rather than hackery as a mod, would deal to some of the critical bugs pretty quickly. With some tidying of the netcode (Zambies don't need anywhere near as much attention from the server as actual AI soldiers) you could support many more players and zombies.

I just creamed myself.

Also, I've logged 70 hours in six days. The emotion is what keeps me here. I've nearly cried at times after defeating seemingly overwhelming odds. Such relief has never been felt in a game before. The story of this game surpasses even the Mass Effect series, and the kicker is that there IS NO STORY!

[ghost_kage 5]

My personal thoughts are that this is now at the point of criticallity where it will end up as a a game or part of another game' date=' its only a question of when, by who, and in what engine.

[/quote']

I've heard rumors in game and around the forums that there are plans to port it to the Arma 3 engine when it's released. Is this true Rocket? I know its probably too early to tell based on your previous posts, but I figured we would all like to hear what YOU have to say about it, since as of right now I'm just putting it off as rumors. However, I'm sure everyone would love to see it on Arma 3.

[rocket 16567]

I've heard rumors in game and around the forums that there are plans to port it to the Arma 3 engine when it's released. Is this true Rocket?

I mean its no secret I have a hardon for both the RV engine' date=' and Bohemia Interactive.

But at the end of the day, this concept will only work as a "product" (hate saying that word) if its done properly. I'm yet to be convinced that any studio could stomach doing the concept properly. By properly I mean actually learning what "emergent gameplay" really is and realizing that most marketing people have no fucking idea what emergent gameplay actually is.

In fact, emergent gameplay is a lot less about the studio, and a lot more about the users. It requires a big leap of faith for a studio and I just don't trust studios to do this because they are mostly based on the antiquated hollywood film model which we all know isn't really working because it is focused on packaged, bite-sized, manufactured experiences that are easily controlled, merchandised, advertised, planned, and executed.

Okay I got a bit off topic.

Also, [b']please take my thoughts with a grain of salt. It is quite possible I have no idea what I am talking about. My experience is based, at least somewhat, on working with some really shitty companies like LucasFucks and Krome Stupidos. Luckily one of those POS is out of business now.

[oilman 72]

Hey now, LucasArts used to be good.

Way, way, way, WAY back in the day.

[rocket 16567]

Sorry, kind of derailed the topic.

tl;dr

Project needs to move beyond being reliant on me, I am holding it back. Had a plan its outgrown that. Needs new plan.

[chaostactical 4]

This is why you have US, rocket, the community to give you fabulous ideas.

i like what you are doing with it, and i know your busy as fuck ALL the time.

i've dealt with you on occasion, and i suggest these things;

listen to the community, we've been playing all kinds of games for years, and with a dash of our opinions mixed in with your professionalism, we could make this great.

your right also, this mod hinges on you, and your thought process, because you have to funnel all the ideas, projects, and patches through yourself, and thats slowing you and the mod down [not saying thats bad by any means, sir.], unlike most studios that have dozens of people that do your job, to speed things up.

but, keep up the good work, this mod is amazing, and i have a few suggestions ill send to mr.lightfoot to show you.

Cheers rocket,

Chaos

[Grey2ham 1]

Chaos' pid='9511' dateline='1336244257']

This is why you have US' date=' rocket, the community to give you fabulous ideas.

i like what you are doing with it, and i know your busy as fuck ALL the time.

i've dealt with you on occasion, and i suggest these things;

listen to the community, we've been playing all kinds of games for years, and with a dash of our opinions mixed in with your professionalism, we could make this great.

your right also, this mod hinges on you, and your thought process, because you have to funnel all the ideas, projects, and patches through yourself, and thats slowing you and the mod down [not saying thats bad by any means, sir.'], unlike most studios that have dozens of people that do your job, to speed things up.

but, keep up the good work, this mod is amazing, and i have a few suggestions ill send to mr.lightfoot to show you.

Cheers rocket,

Chaos

I'm going to say it Rocket. Ignore this listen to the community stuff. It makes you make bad choices in the long run.

"I must keep carebears happy, therefore i need the bandit skin".

"You cant have all the good loot spawning in one place".

"Zombies are too dumb"

All things people have said on this forum.

This is your baby rocket. Your idea is what will make it successful/enjoyable/monies. Stick to your dream. Authors don't write a book and then ask the community for feedback. "OMG DOBBY DIES". Fuck Dobby if that's what you want.

Get like minded people around you. May i suggest talking about it with BiS colleagues in the pub on a friday night. If they agree with your ideas for the mod, well then you got your imput.

Remember most of your userbase doesn't participate in the community it plays the game.

The freedom is the winning factor.

[rocket 16567]

Some of the posts have made me rage, badly. But there is alot of sense coming, particularly as people adapt to the idea of not making the usual "shove the story/mechanics down your throat model". So I think the requirement is somewhere in the middle.

I develop the structure and consistency of the world, with some input from you guys.

You guys develop the interior of the world itself.

Key things to remember:

> Game developers, quite often, don't play many games (seriously)

> Some of my ideas are shit

> Money fucks things up

I'm the kind of person who sinks a lot of time into a game, if it lets me control the world. So I don't mind consuming health when I'm offline. But for someone not like that (and I don't mean just the casuals -I mean people who have lives) - it was a retarded mechanic.

The reason the project is becoming successful is because we've all thought of the idea at some stage or another. And we're all sick of having stories and mechanics forced down our throats when the technology is there to make games what they SHOULD be. And not what Hollywood wants them to be because they're familiar with it.

[phisher34 12]

My first post on this forum, when there was 100 users or so was to turn to the community when the time is right.

I have followed up showing how this mod is generating sales for ARMA, which is incredible on its own.

Your 'anti-game' mechanics are exactly what a lot of people are looking for. Donations have poured into servers and I think if you opened a Kickstarter you would have a great chance of getting financing too.

However, what is great about making this a DLC for ARMA 3 is the community and engine are already friendly to the idea. This concept could not survive in many other engines. The ARMA engine is really perfectly tailored for a game of this size and scope.

EDIT: I think whatever you choose, keeping the community involved as much as possible will be important. Like you said, you can't one-man-band this thing together but you have had a lot of success already on your own.

[sorophx 25]

Technology wise' date=' with access to some source, rather than hackery as a mod, would deal to some of the critical bugs pretty quickly. With some tidying of the netcode

[/quote']

maybe it's time to approach the seniors at Bohemia and talk about full support for this project, and maybe even a release as a stand-alone title?

[qla 0]

Rocket, have you ever thought of starting a Kickstarter project for DayZ? I could see this project getting funded easily.

[choam 10]

First of all, apologies for my bad english, cause maybe I missunderstood something... As far as I know, this mod is bigger than expected, and rocket is now looking for something 'big', not just a mod, there's a topic about make Dayz as a stand alone/DLC/whatever...

I'm sure all of you know about outerra, you must, rocket... and there's a lot of good ideas on the concept of outerra itself, as engine, it can support many type of game, and there's actually people working in a milisim (Arma style) in outerra. As engine, is too soon for code, etc. But maybe you can talk to Cameni or Angrypig and see what cna they offer to you for your project, as pros, think about conecting to US Dallas server... actually, youre not just connecting to a server hosted in Dallas, you can play in Dallas, same for NY, London servers, France and so... Not just Chernarus in diferent allocated servers. Think about it...

Just a few thought guys, sorry again cause I'm not sure if this is an off topic, or it is apropiate.

[Bonse 0]

Rocket, I like you more and more every post I see, this is how devs should be.

I suggest sticky-ing this post cos it's got a lot of information in it, well worth the read.

If funds are maybe a problem, may you should put a donate button - i'm sure people would like to thank you for your efforts.

[drakenof 9]

This mod is popular because it's what people wanted for long time :

Huge map, freedom, multiplayer, survival and zombies. That's it.

[Dronin 5]

In terms of finished content - I think its about 20%' date=' there are crippling bugs present, and I don't think there is enough to do to keep it interesting beyond a few days. The talent/skill stuff, faction systems, and other mechanics needed to round out the experience so that it has a more authentic "I need to do this with bros" feel too it - these are quite alot of work.

[/quote']

I really dont see that we need talents and skills you greatly under estimate how much fun it is to play what you have already done!

The factions system, though... now then that would be awesome sauce. How you impliment it i have no idea its not like killing npcs can give + rep and no one wants to do shitty grind missions all day so we shall see.

I'm greatly impressed with what you have done so far, and ive already played this mod for well over 40 hours. IF and i know its a big IF you give us the option to donate, many like myself would send the odd pound or euro to help things along as a big thank you for the awesome experiences we have had when we get home from work in your game!

I wish you the very best for the future and I (along with the other 10,000 strong people, who enjoy dayz every day) support you fully (even if there is moan about logging in hungry and thirsty and you call us pussies)