DayZ (video game)

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
For the original mod, see DayZ (mod).

DayZ
Director(s)
  • Dean Hall
  • Brian Hicks
Producer(s)Eugen Harton
Programmer(s)
  • Filip Doksanský
  • Miroslav Maněna
Platform(s)Microsoft Windows, Xbox One, PlayStation 4
Release
  • Windows
  • December 13, 2018
  • Xbox One
  • March 27, 2019[1]
  • PlayStation 4
  • May 29, 2019[2]
Genre(s)Survival
Mode(s)Multiplayer

DayZ is a

mod of the same name for Arma 2. Following a five-year-long early access period for Windows, the game was officially released in December 2018, and was released for the Xbox One and PlayStation 4
in 2019.

The game places the player in the fictional

outbreak. Later updates include the fictional Eastern European country of Livonia, ported from Arma 3
.

DayZ began development in 2012 when the mod's creator, Dean Hall, joined Bohemia Interactive to commence work on the standalone version of the game. The development has been focused on altering the engine to suit the game's needs, developing a working client–server architecture, and introducing new features like diseases and a better inventory system. The game sold over three million copies during its early access phase.

Gameplay

The goal of DayZ is to stay alive and healthy during the conditions of the

zombies, and other players if necessary. These are largely focused on a range of melee weapons, but a number of firearms are present, along with attachments such as suppressors and telescopic sights. Additionally, the game features dynamic events such as, military convoys (which contain extremely rare guns such as the LAR), helicopter crashes, (which contain rare weapons, such as the Famas and AUG AX) or gas attacks, referred to as Contaminated Areas within the game, causing players to bleed and vomit, eventually resulting in unconsciousness and death, unless they leave this zone and find suitable medical treatment. Characters may use an NBC suit and gas mask to prevent damage. There are two different static contamination zones: Pavlovo military base and the Rify shipwreck. Both locations contain high tier loot, such as the M4A1. Player interaction is a major part of DayZ gameplay. The game provides proximity voice chat and text chat. It also provides in-game gestures, such as waving, or putting hands up to indicate surrender.[9]

While travelling the map, players can also find various medical supplies, as the environment poses a range of threats to their characters. Illnesses currently present within the game include the common cold, cholera, brain prion disease, salmonellosis and more. It is possible to cure some of these conditions, but some can only be treated. If a player is shot or injured, items on their person may be damaged. When bleeding, the player must be bandaged quickly to minimize blood loss; excessive damage or blood loss will result in serious deterioration of vision and can render them unconscious.

The game includes a working horticulture system, with the option to both harvest wild plants and to grow one's own crops.[10] With this, the game also features cooking as a mechanic, as well as crafting. There is a functional basebuilding system that allows for both independent structures and the repurposing of already-existing structures found on the game's map. Vehicles are available to cut down on time needed for travel in exchange for maintenance if the player can find them.

Development

See also:
List of video games derived from modifications

Following the huge successes of the

hacking, and security.[14]

I hope I implement a lot of bad ideas... So that then, we know they are bad. Then we can remove them and move on... If we stick to safe ideas, this isn't going to become a great game over the next few months – it will just be a cool idea and I'll try and spend the next ten years going around conventions talking about how cool it was. I'd rather follow all the dead ends so I know what works and what doesn't.

—Dean Hall, lead designer of DayZ

One of the developmental focuses was making the world feel more realistic by increasing the number of enterable buildings.

server browser and patching functionality.[19][20]

Following the troubled release of the similar game

The War Z, Hall stated in a post on Reddit that the "whole 'saga' of the development made me seriously question if I wanted to be involved in the industry" and that he had considered leaving the DayZ standalone project.[21] The game missed its original 2012 release date, with a development update in January 2013 saying that the game was not yet released because the developers "had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly... to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way we all dreamed it could be."[22] The release date was rescheduled and an internal closed test began on the game, with it being announced that public testing would not be taking place until the server architecture was finalized.[23][24]

Development screenshot showing items (axes and cans of beans), in locations the player would expect to find them inside an abandoned building

In June 2013, Hall commented that the alpha release of the game would be a "very bare-bones" alpha in which the development team want a relatively low number of players providing bug reports and feedback.[25] The secondary aim of the initial alpha release is to keep the project funded for further development until the full release.[26] Hall has stated that he expects the beta release to be at least a year after that of the alpha.[27] The last tasks prior to the alpha release were network optimizations, referred to as a "network bubble", which would reduce network load on the player by only loading events which occur within their vicinity.[28][29] In October, Hall stated that the development team was on the final lap of development and that the team was "100 percent focused on getting the alpha out the door."[30] After release, the developers are focusing on server performance and stability, adding extra features such as animals and vehicles, and improving the controls and animations, among other things.[31]

Throughout the game's development, Hall has posted development blogs, attended video game conventions, and uploaded gameplay videos, keeping the community up to date with the development progress.[32][33][34] The second development video showed the animation team in a motion capture session recording new animations, as well as some interviews with the development team, and the third contained a large amount of in-game footage, showing new clothing items and a new area of the map.[35][36]

In March 2014, Dean Hall revealed that Bohemia Interactive had purchased a new development team,

Steam Workshop support, which grants players access to host servers, and a single-player mode of the game was also announced and will be added to the game in the future.[40]

In 2022, two UK production companies bought the film rights to create a feature film adaptation of DayZ.[41]

Release

The first publicly available development build was released on December 16, 2013, during the alpha development stage through

Xbox Game Preview on August 29, 2018.[45] DayZ was officially released out of early access for Windows on December 13, 2018, and for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in early 2019.[46]

Reception

The alpha release sold over 172,500 copies in the first 24 hours, totalling over US$5 million in sales.[51][52] During peak sales, over 200 copies were being purchased per minute and after one week over 400,000 copies had been sold.[53][54] The game reached a total of more than a million sales while remaining at the top of Steam's sales charts for two weeks in a row.[55][56] In an alpha review of DayZ, Rick Lane of Eurogamer commented positively on the new additions but said that the game may not be worth the current price until more features have been added.[57] On the other hand, Craig Pearson of PC Gamer said that he had good experiences in DayZ and that it was already worth the price.[58]

By May 2014, the game had sold over two million copies.

cannabis joint. This option was not officially in-game, and it was only available via community-made mods.[62] The ban was eventually lifted after Bohemia edited the game in order to fully comply with the Australian Classification Board.[63]

Awards

DayZ won the MMORPG.com award for Best Hybrid

PAX East 2013,[64] and it was announced as the winner of IGN's People's Choice Award of Gamescom 2013, beating 49 other games with 15% of the votes.[65] At the 2014 Golden Joystick Awards DayZ won the Best Indie Game and Best Original Game awards.[66]

References

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External links

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