EuroGamer - Sep 2012 - DayZ Developer Presentation / Article

[J.D 37]

DayZ developer Dean “Rocket” Hall has been going over his plans for DayZ at the Eurogamer Expo. “It has to be out before the end of the year,” he said. “Not just because we’ve committed to it but in order to achieve what we have to do. It has to be. There’s no ‘we hope it is’; it has to be.

“And it’s going to be cheap. We’ve decided that we don’t need to sell a heap of units in order for us to be OK with where it’s going. The more units we sell of it the more ambitious we get, because the project has the better resources.”

Hall mentioned that Valve, Eve Online developers, CCP, and Notch have expressed interest in helping out with early code, but the project has experienced a setback. The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece were responsible for building the updated version of Chernarus that’ll provide the setting for the standalone version of DayZ. “I just want to see them home,” he said. “Whatever I do to see them back is important.”

The fear of copycat games is one of the factors driving Hall’s determination to get DayZ out quickly. An audience member asked Hall about his thoughts on WarZ, which features many obvious similarities to his mod. “Should I sue anyone who ever mentions something to do with zombie horror – will that make a better game? And the whole premise of of DayZ, and the whole premise of our development is we’re going to make an awesome game. That’s what we’re selling. We’re going to price it low and lots of people are going to play it. If we compromise on that, we’re screwed.”

http://www.eurogamer...-says-dean-hall

EuroGamer hasn't uploaded the presentation yet but as soon as they do I will add it to this post.

You can find a video below from someone that recorded it on their phone.

Big thanks to smasht_AU for provding me with the video above.

Italian translation:

VG247 did an interview with Dean at EuroGamer (September) but has only just uploaded it now in January.

Edited January 15, 2013 by smasht_AU

[Jex =TE= (DayZ) 218]

The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece were responsible for building the updated version of Chernarus

:huh: :o >:( <_< :P

[Dancing.Russian.Man 1631]

Yeah? And?

(Asking about what's bad about the article regarding the price.)

Edited September 28, 2012 by Dancing.Russian.Man

[Sutinen 635]

The alpha will be out this year, they are doing it like Minecraft.

[kranky@dir.bg 27]

"The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece" - I thought this is some joke and funny PR - obviously it is for real. Anyone can find some news source concerning those two "James Bond" style agents?

[aussiestig 681]

It'll be out between the end of October, and the end of November.

It all rides on how well 1.7.3 goes. If rocket puts it out and it fixes a lot of bugs, without adding a whole shitload of new ones, and it's stable, then he'll push the standalone out on 1.7.3 as soon as he can.

[Michaelvoodoo25 3120]

"The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece" - I thought this is some joke and funny PR - obviously it is for real. Anyone can find some news source concerning those two "James Bond" style agents?

FREE THE BOHEMIAN 2

[aussiestig 681]

"The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece" - I thought this is some joke and funny PR - obviously it is for real. Anyone can find some news source concerning those two "James Bond" style agents?

It's not a joke at all, and they are facing up to 20 years in prison.

http://www.pcgamer.c...hout-substance/

Edited September 28, 2012 by AussieStig

[SmashT 10907]

The presentation was pretty interesting, new crossbow looks awesome. Can't wait to see the screenshots of Chernarus+. You can find the full article here but the video covers a lot more: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2012-09-27-dayz-standalone-release-this-year-says-dean-hall

In Summary:

- Securing the game from hacking/exploits is the number one priority with the game.

- New crossbow looks bad-ass, Rocket hints at a chainsaw.

- The game will draw on assets from all of BIS's games, talks about the helicopter mechanics from Take on Helicopters.

- Distribution will be a lot more streamlined, so they can push out updates a lot quicker/easier.

- The game is going to be a lot more optimized, especially the zombies themselves, which will presumably allow a lot more zombies at once.

- Focus on authenticity, tension and freedom. Survival vs Wild. He wants to make the players body and nature become the antagonist. Things like broken ribs, different walking stances depending on where you have been injured, diseases (Malaria, Dysentery, Cholera)

- Locations with more players will have more chance of spreading disease.

- New medical system.

- Zombies entirely redeveloped, both graphically, in terms of animations and AI.

- Weapons will have durability, they can jam, NV Goggles etc will need batteries, if you get shot in the head, the night vision goggles might get damaged for example.

- UI removed, talks about a vomiting animation and other cues to show you are sick.

- Chernarus+ is done, new towns, facilities, water fountains balanced, many more fully enterable buildings, eventually all will be enterable.

- Some images and/or video of Chernarus+ will be up on the blog shortly.

- New Crossbow, new melee items (some may come to the mod) also talks about a bow.

- More parts to vehicles, different parts for different effects, for example a battlebus created by adding certain parts to a normal bus.

- Timetable (Stable build out this year, November/December for a very low price point, January/February will see a lot of regular new content being pushed out.

- Working with community/private hives to try out new ideas in the mod.

Edited September 29, 2012 by smasht_AU

[puppetworx 474]

Dat crossbow, psyched for the 'stendalown'.

Edit #1: 'vomiting animation', fuck yeah.

Edited September 28, 2012 by puppetworx

[seanmcloughlin7 17]

"The two Bohemia Interactive developers arrested for espionage in Greece" - I thought this is some joke and funny PR - obviously it is for real. Anyone can find some news source concerning those two "James Bond" style agents?

They were arrested for taking pics of military strongholds but informed the greek officials that they were on holiday. Apparently the shots were of them posing and some buildings were in the background. I don't think it was them literally standing in front of the building deliberately taking pics of it

[boxman80 964]

It'll be out between the end of October, and the end of November.

It all rides on how well 1.7.3 goes. If rocket puts it out and it fixes a lot of bugs, without adding a whole shitload of new ones, and it's stable, then he'll push the standalone out on 1.7.3 as soon as he can.

I wouldn't even expect 1.7.3 any time soon as Rocket has already said he;s focusing more on stand alone release than anything else, and rightly so.

[boxman80 964]

Hope he was refering to my topic I brought up about the name of the stand alone title in his presentation :D lol

[seanmcloughlin7 17]

Damn after watching that video, the standalone sounds way different to the mod. Adding weapon jamming and durability, batteries for NVGs and if you shoot a guy with NVGs on it will damage them and you can't really steal them or use them well. Sounds like a good way to try combat guys who just kill for no reason or try to rob your stuff. If your gear is damaged while they attack you then it might stop them or make them think twice about killing you

[tweeter7483 4]

They were arrested for taking pics of military strongholds but informed the greek officials that they were on holiday. Apparently the shots were of them posing and some buildings were in the background. I don't think it was them literally standing in front of the building deliberately taking pics of it

Doesn't matter they were told not to take pictures of it and did. I feel sorry for them that they are going to jail, but this isn't something that should be championed because if it happened in pretty much any other country they would also be in jail. You just can not go to a Military Installation and start snapping shots especially when you've been warned not to.

[ATLAS3030 5]

just posted this on my blog

www.thelonesurvivor.co

Dean ''Rocket'' Hall talks standalone release and comments on DayZ look alikes.

The alpha build of DayZ standalone will be released before the end of the year, probably in December.

"And it's going to be cheap," creator Dean Hall said at the Eurogamer Expo today.

"It has to be out before the end of the year," he stressed. "Not just because we've committed to it but in order to achieve what we have to do. It has to be. There's no 'we hope it is'; it has to be. And it's going to be cheap. We've decided that we don't need to sell a heap of units in order for us to be OK with where it's going. The more units we sell of it the more ambitious we get, because the project has the better resources.

"I like to think we're taking cautious and sensible steps at the moment. I don't really like cautious and sensible. DayZ as a mod wasn't cautious and sensible. But our first few steps have to be that. And if we can achieve that in December, then in January and February we can start to do all the cool stuff, move to more ambitious features."

Dean Hall wants disease to spread through faeces in DayZ standalone.

Why the rush? Copycats. Dean Hall made a point of being "suitably vague to stop clones". That was a bullet point on one of his presentation slides. The most notable of these 'clones' has been War Z. An audience member asked what he thought about it.

"Obviously you feel lots of things," Hall answered, "and a lot of your feelings aren't legitimate. I feel like eating ice-cream all the time; it doesn't mean that I'm going to eat ice-cream all the time. So maybe it's natural to get upset, jealous, scared - those kind of things. I definitely think all of those things.

"Maybe they will make a better game - I don't know. Maybe what they're doing is not cool to me, but the way I look at it is what are my options? What could I do? I could stand up here and be very critical of anyone who does a clone copy of the game. What would that actually achieve other than making me look like a dick? It's not going to result in a better game.

"Should I sue anyone who ever mentions something to do with zombie horror - will that make a better game? And the whole premise of of DayZ, and the whole premise of our development is we're going to make an awesome game. That's what we're selling. We're going to price it low and lots of people are going to play it. If we compromise on that, we're screwed.

"I guess what I'm saying is what I feel isn't important," he added. "Maybe that's what leadership is: saying my feelings aren't important here - my feelings are often selfish. There are a lot of other really interesting, cool projects out there like The Dead Linger. How do you think they feel? They probably feel a bit s****y too. I have to be realistic about it and say the responsibility is on me to make a good game. And that's just life."

Dean Hall may have been "vague" by his standards, but by my standards he revealed a tonne of new information about (standalone) DayZ. The top priority is tackling hackers. That's "the" issue, he stressed.

Performance optimisation and bugs are other top priorities. Hall's even made friends with Valve and Notch and Eve Online maker CCP, who all want to see and help with early code of standalone DayZ before it goes live.

One setback is the imprisoned ArmA 3 developers in Greece. They were the two people making ChernarusPlus for standalone DayZ. And they're friends of Hall's. "I just want to see them home," was his coy (and he apologised for being coy) answer. "Whatever I do to see them back is important."

Hall's plans for standalone DayZ were vast. He mentioned diseases spreading through faeces and vomit; removing the user interface; using household weapons; allowing people to craft splints to help mend broken bones. Vehicles he said were a longer-term, "end-game" feature to implement.

But to try and summarise all Hall said would be to do him a disservice. He's a fast and charismatic speaker - a natural, in other words. Luckily his presentation was videoed, and will be watchable, once it has been "processed", below.



source: www.eurogamer.net

-Atlas

[sausagekingofchicago 4711]

Thanks OP. Looking forward to the Q and A session.

[Never 237]

I just want to know if Rocket meant to use the phrase 'Tease one out.." when talking about poo.

[HowardTheDuck 27]

When we can poop the first thing I'm doing is climbing 3 yellows and squeezing a few out - enjoy those refried beans!

[Zeppa 562]

Doesn't matter they were told not to take pictures of it and did. I feel sorry for them that they are going to jail, but this isn't something that should be championed because if it happened in pretty much any other country they would also be in jail. You just can not go to a Military Installation and start snapping shots especially when you've been warned not to.

Go and read the specific topic about this and articles. This is not for this topic and your post has errors compared to the official statements and info.

http://dayzmod.com/forum/index.php?/topic/92390-rockets-plea-help-free-arma-3-devs-from-greece-and-bring-them-home/

moving on->

Standalone sounds so awesome, cant wait.

Edited September 28, 2012 by Zeppa

[SmashT 10907]

When we can poop the first thing I'm doing is climbing 3 yellows and squeezing a few out - enjoy those refried beans!

Those flies aren't from a dead body, lol.

[mr_chabowski@live.co.uk 2416]

Fuck snipers! Now I have to be REALLY scared of towers and tall buildings....

*Hold "crouch" and tap the fuck out of spacebar* >:( "HRMMM......" > :lol: "Aah!"

[Heiduk 265]

His goals for standalone are sure sounding good, I can already hear the deathmatcher's in Cherno crying. The one thing I'm still not sure about is doing away with the UI completely. Has any other game that tries to convey as much status info as rocket is talking about, multiple types of trauma; multiple types of disease; multiple physical needs, ever tried to do it without a UI? I guess we will find out how it works.

Also, I gotta love the Jagged Alliance reference, maybe we can get a cameo from Ivan.

[hawc 63]

Oh god, please don't let notch anywhere near the code. I don't want useless mooshroms and stuff.

[wolfstriked 143]

So tapping space bar is how we will shit?Makes sense considering Rockets way of making the game harsher.My question though is what happens to the people that can't tap fast enough?Will they be irregular compared to people who can tap real fast and will that bring negative consequences?

And Please Rocket,make poo piles be like traps.You say your gonna add in all these risks of diseases from players dropping poo all over the major areas.Let it be so that if your walking along and hear a certain sound(like a squish sound would work)then you know that if you look down you will be standing in a pile of poo,upping your chances of infectious disease.Would love to tap a poo pile out in strategic places!!!