The DayZ development blog outlines the plans to bring the very popular ArmA 2 zombie modification DayZ into its own standalone game. It will follow the Minecraft model of fast updates and a discounted pricing model for supporters during development.

"That’s right, this is actually happening - DayZ will be developed as a standalone game, with me as project lead, by Bohemia Interactive. This is the fairy-tale outcome for a mod that many would have said impossible four months ago."

A new official site is will serve as the basis for news and information about the new game - it's just a placeholder at the moment but you can check it out at dayzgame.com. promoted/edited forum item

I won't be buying it, not if it's still using the arma engine anyway.

+1

I'll buy if it is a 10er or so. even though it looks like arse and all clunky. I really like the idea of the game so I will support

If Bohemia were paying any attention to this they would have signed these guys up for a commercial deal weeks ago. Valve would NOT have missed an opportunity to bring these guys into the fold (in fact, it would not surprise me at all to find out that Valve are talking to them).

Day Z is not a studio or a bunch of guys as far as I know. It's one NZ dude who actually works for Bohemia in CZ. So this is not a huge surprise that that are promoting him to lead this as a proper game. Should turn out pretty sweet.

I think people will be a lot less forgiving of it though if its a full game that they have to pay for. People are happy to overlook the flaws when its a free experimental mod, but you generally expect a lot more from a full game.

ARMA2 and OA are great games, but as with any simulator, the player needs to have an appreciation of realism and non-twitch gaming (COD) mechanics. Its not for everyone, but I personally loved the games before the mod. The mod is excellent, however, some of my best gaming experiences were with my friends in that buggy world.

The mod is still in Alpha, so I don't think its fair to rip the mod to shreds based on its current form....

Yeah i love the arma series, so i'm not worried which engine it uses. If it goes for the arma 3 engine that will be awesome.

Most likely will be, Rocket has already tested the mod on that engine and has said it works perfectly fine and apparently fixes a lot of issues that the current versions are having.

Rocket has already tested the mod on that engine and has said it works perfectly fine

One would have to be fairly naive to believe any claims of "perfectly fine" coming from that guy ...

I don't believe the bad company engine and the half life engine could not handle a world the size of chernarus.

I think ARMA is a great change from the in your face shooters like COD and BF....

The fact you have to think and not be obligated to get stupid experience points is refreshing... I don't why people always pick out the bad things... sure it's a little buggy. But you look at the budget they deliver this game and it's amazing for what you pay for.

Despite bugs etc... I find it really exciting the fact you have to zero your sniper rifle, rest for a while after sprint to calm your breathing to take a shot. Makes soo much sense...

100% agree with this at least. I couldn't imagine a more painful idea than bringing RPG elements like levelling, unlocking and achievements to an FPS.

It's the easy way to keep noobs hooked without having to actually make a good game that people WANT to play, but rather feel like they MUST play in order to complete everything just to have one up on their mates.

I don't why people always pick out the bad things... sure it's a little buggy

Because Arma II has been out for how long now? The bugs should have been fixed long ago.

I don't believe the bad company engine and the half life engine could not handle a world the size of chernarus.

Argh, this is the sort of statement that bugs me though, and I feel the need to have a rant, so I apologise in advance.

Yeah, out of the box those engines probably couldn't, but its not a HUGE amount of work involved to make it possible. You just don't see it often cos there isn't really a lot of games that need it, but all it really requires is a good method for streaming assets in on the fly rather than loading the whole level up front, and thats not really a crazy, cutting-edge thing to implement, even Diablo 2 streamed its levels and assets in on the fly 10 years ago. And thats all the technology for big levels is at its core, its streaming in the assets on the fly, combined with some good LOD algorithms for the terrain and such (and possibly some tricks like using imposters for far away stuff) and you're home free. I mean if Bethesda can do huge worlds like in Skyrim and Fallout 3 using the absolute piece of shit that the Gamebryo engine is, then you can do it with any engine I'm sure.

Thats not to speak to the ARMA engine's simulation qualities, I've never played it so it may be the best simulation ever, and if thats the main reason to use the engine then props to them for carving out their niche in the market. But if "it can play big maps" is the reason, then thats no reason at all, ESPECIALLY if the game is becoming a standalone product that could use any engine. Well, not that it really has the freedom to use any engine cos its owned by Bohemia, but you know, hypothetically.

The biggest drawback to DayZ isnt a bug... It's hackers.

My friend and I tried on a few separate occasions to spin a great adventure (Scavenging food, being forced to go into the city for medical supplies, trying to trade with other players). We spent hours, had heaps of fun and managed to get some decent guns and ammo. They required a lot of work to obtain (You start without guns now).

At any point, we could hide out in a forest or something and leave the server; DayZ is persistent, so when we next join, no matter the server, we would be in the same spot with the same stuff.

Then we would join a 'bad' server. Someone hacks, everyone in the server dies, we lose hours of stuff. We have to start again, there is no save.

It's akin to losing your save-game in an RPG: We spent hours EARNING that loot.

Its happened about 10 times now, so we are putting an excellent mod on hold until they can find a way to protect servers.

Then we would join a 'bad' server. Someone hacks, everyone in the server dies, we lose hours of stuff. We have to start again, there is no save.

If it's any consolation it's really hard to run servers. We have to go through some dumb rigmarole of a process to prove that our network is "good enough" for their game. It depresses me to think that while we're getting blocked from putting up highly reliable servers on the best network in the country run by professionals who do it for a living, people are getting screwed like you are playing on crappy servers!@#

Mephz more details plz :D

http://dz.petercashel.net/forum/

"Aus Private Hive" is the server on DayZ

Sign up/apply, play.

Zero combat ghosters (can't just move on another server because its a separate hive), hackers will just get banned from the hive. It's private hive and the admins scan logs and have zero tolerance for hackers/excessive dupers etc. so yah, much better than the bullshit public mess.

Thanks, sounds excellent!

At least there are good servers out there.

Also, once you have given the campaign a playthrough, the controls become second nature. Like I said before, its not twitch gaming; every action has to be calculated and pre-meditated. I dont have a problem at all with the UI or controls.