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11 CommentsDayZ creator taking two-month sabbatical to climb Mount Everest
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Apr 15, 2013 04.15.13
Zombie survival title DayZ's lead designer Dean Hall is taking a two-month sabbatical from development to climb Mount Everest in Nepal, he announced on the DayZ blog. In a post from the Everest Base Camp at 5,400 meters, Hall wrote he has kept in contact with his production assistant Matt Lightfoot and other members of Bohemia Interactive in order to make approvals and receive updates on DayZ's progress. Hall wrote that community response to player-contributed stories is "massive," and that Bohemia is currently working to implement a structure through which "community written books" will pass through a kind of editorial process before being added to the world. These along with books whose copyrights have expired will be included in the game and readable for players. Usable radios...
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17 CommentsDayZ console release 'almost certain,' creator has met with Sony
By Jenna Pitcher on Apr 02, 2013 04.02.13
The DayZ standalone title may see a release on consoles if the game's PC launch is successful, the game's creator Dean Hall told The Escapist at GDC. "Certainly I think if we don't, for want of a better word 'fuck up,' the PC release then I would say a console port is almost certain," Hall told The Escapist. "I know a lot of people get really hot and bothered about it. Like, I'm not a console gamer, I'm a PC gamer, but I don't think it necessarily has to hurt things." Hall revealed to the The Escapist that they have met with Sony about DayZ because it is the "kind of game that Sony are interested in" and he went on to say that Sony are "obviously interested" in DayZ. As reported in March, Hall said that the game's alpha will not be released until after June. Polygon wrote about...
Authenticity vs. reality: designing DayZ
By Danielle Riendeau on Mar 28, 2013 03.28.13
Recalling his experiences in the military, including real-life jungle survival training, Hall originally created DayZ as a mod for ARMA II that prioritized the feeling of authenticity over realism. "That’s definitely something I believe strongly in," he said. "The situation being authentic, but not exactly real." A pillar of DayZ's design is the idea that the potential for loss provides a sense of real value. Players lose all of their gear when they die in-game, and every death is permanent. There’s no "leveling" or character progression aside from gear collected, so dying carries real, painful consequences. Hall argues that this keen sense of loss is integral to the game’s design and its success. "People instinctually understand risk," Hall said, noting that this creates a...
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8 CommentsDayZ's Dean Hall on the risks and rewards of an open development process
By Samit Sarkar on Mar 24, 2013 03.24.13
The makers of DayZ decided to be open with their fans from the start about the development process, and while they've hit some bumps in the road, they're learning from their mistakes and they wouldn't want to do it any other way. According to project lead Dean Hall, who created DayZ as a mod of Bohemia Interactive's Arma 2 before the studio hired him to turn the mod into its own game, he and Bohemia CEO Marek Spanel had the same ideas about how to make DayZ. "Marek really liked the process we had with the mod, in terms of communicating," said Hall in an interview with Polygon at PAX East 2013. "So that was where the decision was to be really open." Bohemia provides regular updates on the development process through a Tumblr page for DayZ, and Hall noted that while the community was...
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8 CommentsDayZ alpha will not be released until after June, creator says
By Megan Farokhmanesh on Mar 23, 2013 03.23.13
DayZ, the standalone zombie game that began as an Arma 2 mod, will not be released in alpha mode earlier than June, creator Dean Hall told Joystiq. Hall told the publication that the team has one final thing they're waiting on before release: the completion of the game's client-server architecture, which turns the title into a massively multiplayer online game. "We're going to review the situation in June," Hall said. "So there'll be no release between now and June. And we're quite hopeful that we'll go then. I know that people get really frustrated because they want to play, but I just think this is the best option." DayZ was previously expected to launch in 2012. After a delay due to major changes in the game's engine, it was tentatively scheduled for launch before April.
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8 CommentsArma 2: DayZ Mod now on Steam
By Tracey Lien on Feb 21, 2013 02.21.13
Bohemia Interactive' Arma 2: DayZ Mod is now available for download for free on Steam for those who own Arma 2 and the expansion Arma 2: Operation Arrowhead. The mod, created by Dean "Rocket" Hall for Arma 2: Combined Operations (the name given to Arma 2 and Operation Arrowhead packaged together) is a persistent multiplayer mod where players can go solo or team up with friends for survival in a world ravaged by an infectious disease. A recent update to the mod brought several new weapons, introduced new ways to get infected and made the "zombies" more adept at tracking down survivors. The free mod available on Steam is not the standalone version of DayZ. In a recent Reddit AMA, Dean Hall said that the standalone version is expected to release before April.
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20 CommentsDayZ mod update adds new weapons, infections and ways to attract zombies
By Dave Tach on Feb 05, 2013 02.05.13
A recent update for the DayZ mod to Arma 2 brought several new weapons, introduced new ways to get infected and made zombies more adept at tracking down survivors, according to a post on the DayZ forums. With update 1.7.5.1, players may now get infections from blood bags, unboiled water and newly edible raw meat. Zombies — or zeds, as they're called in DayZ — can now damage and open vehicles like the ATV, which can now be flipped to its upright position. The undead can also hear better and will come running when they hear trees being cut down. The update applies to the Arma 2 mod version of DayZ. In a recent Reddit AMA, Dean Hall, the creator of the open-world zombie shooter, said that he hopes to release the standalone version of DayZ before April. The developers also made a...
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9 CommentsDayZ undergoing server and customization changes, closed testing currently underway
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 25, 2013 01.25.13
Zombie survival MMO DayZ is undergoing big changes to its server setup, lighting system and player customization options, and a round of internal testing has begun within developer Bohemia Interactive, creator Dean Hall wrote in a post to the game's official Tumblr today. According to Hall, Bohemia has been working with Valve to make sure its new server system will work with Steam, and will ensure it is fully integrated and operational before launching a public beta test. In response to criticism that DayZ would launch on servers without "anti-hack mechanisms," Hall states that the game's servers will control the flow of updates between the server and client, and players will no longer receive all information straight to their computers, opening the opportunity to use cheats. "We are...
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10 CommentsDayZ creator says game should arrive before April, expresses anger at The War Z
By Dave Tach on Jan 17, 2013 01.17.13
Dean Hall, creator of the open-world zombie shooter DayZ originally built as a mod for Bohemia Interactive's PC shooter Arma 2, confirmed that his game is on track for a release before April, according to an AMA on Reddit. "Yes I think so, but anything could happen and usually does," Hall wrote in response to a question about the April release window. "We'll know more when the results of the tech test are out. Any dates before then would be pure speculation, and my last speculation didn't work out so good." In late November, Hall announced that the original 2012 release could be delayed because "under the hood so much is being completely rewritten" in the Arma 2 game engine. He revealed in late December that public reaction to the delay had depressed him and made him think about "not...
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4 CommentsDayZ standalone release to be rescheduled after an 'imminent' closed testing phase
By Alexa Ray Corriea on Jan 07, 2013 01.07.13
Public release of the standalone version for DayZ will be rescheduled after a closed testing period set to begin "imminently," according to a post from creator Dean Hall on the DayZ official Tumblr. "At Eurogamer I said that DayZ had to be out before the end of the year and that's come and gone," Hall wrote. "I still stand by that comment, to achieve what we had originally wanted, we did have to be out by the end of the year — and we've failed to achieve that." Hall said that the Bohemia Interactive has redeveloped the game's engine and wants to make DayZ "the way [they] all dreamed it would be" rather than an "improved slightly, packaged simply" mod. DayZ will open an upcoming closed testing phase to approximately 500 to 1000 players. The test will focus exclusively on the game's...
