DayZ just got a lot more interesting!
As most of you already know by now, creator of the popular zombie survival mod DayZ, Dean “Rocket” Hall, has confirmed that the mod will be developed into a standalone game with Hall as the development team leader, and the makers of the Arma series, Bohemia Interactive, as publishers.
Hall wrote on the DayZ dev blog that he realised “people will have many, many questions – but we wanted to let everyone know the announcement now. Over the coming weeks, these questions will be answered.”
However, here at Hostile Gamer we can’t wait that long, and we’re already speculating what features may actually be included in the standalone version of DayZ. With the restrictions of being a mod removed, the developers will have a whole range of different ideas to play with. The list is probably endless, but we’ve put together a list of things we’d love to see in the upcoming standalone DayZ game which is currently being developed. Here’s a list of the top 10 features we’d like to see in DayZ. They are in no way listed in order of priority or importance.
10. More extensive character customisation
This is one feature I have no doubt will finally be implemented in the final version of DayZ. The customisation at the moment in the mod is very limited, with players only being able to change their face, and whether or not they want to be male or female. What I’d love to see is a system similar to the likes that off Mount and Blade: Warband, where players have open item slots for each part of their body such as head, face and torso. This would make players more inclined to actually loot zombies and players, and will open up the possibilities for an endless variety of loot. Items could also have slight stat bonuses such as increasing the amount of blood the player has or keeping their temperature down. Although, if this feature is implemented, it should be done so in such as way that doesn’t take away any of the realism from the game.
9. Instanced “Dungeons”
This might be a bit ‘mmoish’ for some people, but I think it would be a great addition to the game. Players could team up and help to defeat waves of zombies kind of like the gameplay found in killing floor. At the end of the instance players could be rewarded with money or even items. Although I do think a levelling system would defiantly kill the realism of DayZ, and would be a step in the wrong direction for Rocket and his team.
8. Safe Zone Area
Imagine this, you’ve been out fighting zombies for the day and you’ve got your bag full of some useless loot that you don’t need. You also don’t like fighting in the dark. A Safe Zone would provide players with a place to rest, regain blood, get medical attention, pick up a group and even sell some of the loot you’ve gained from scavenging. A trading mechanic between players would also be a nice addition and would let players who find something useless, trade it with someone who would have some use for it.
7. Single Player
Single player was one of the most requested things from players since the release of the DayZ alpha. Although there already is a single player mod…for the mod, it still doesn’t have the same tension that came with not knowing whether you might meet a player round the corner and feels more like an empty multiplayer server. An actual campaign would be a great feature to stick in. Using the same controls as the ArmA series, with the same strategic and thought through gameplay of ArmA. And hopefully nothing like Left 4 Dead. A story line would also tell us why the hell there are a bunch of zombies running around hills in eastern Europe.
6. Construction
The ability to build a nice little cabin or a fortress in the woods would be a great feature to DayZ. Also, fetching timber and the required materials would also make for a nice little scavenge. And then to see you’re hard scavenging work paying off with a nice bit of defence from zombies and players. The more complicated the structure, the more materials you’d require and so forth.
5. Less Severe Death Penalty
The fact that if you get shot in DayZ, you don’t come back alive, appealed to some people whereas some opposed it. The major downside of it was that you could have an entire days, week or even month’s hard work completely wiped if you made one little mistake. I believe a better death penalty should be introduced, one that is not as severe as the old one, but one that is still enough to stop people from rushing around, losing their heads and going in all guns blazing because there are no consequences. I can’t think of what it would be, but the penalty for death in DayZ should definitely be less severe.
4. More extensive and reworked PvP
For me PvP is something that shouldn’t be discarded, it should be something that is a secondary feature in the game and something that shouldn’t grab focus from the main survival part of the game. Just liked the death penalty in DayZ, the PvP combat was liked and hated by the community. When I first played DayZ I thought when I finally met up with another player, we’d chat for a little and let each other know we friendly and then team up and go kick some zombie ass. However, anytime I met up with a player with intentions of teaming up or not being hostile, I would approach with caution and then be shot in the face and the other playing taking all my gear. There just isn’t enough incentive for players to group up. If teaming up was encouraged by implementing a whole lot of perks for groups, I think it would greatly reduce the number of ticked off players and enhance the fun of DayZ.
3. More locations
Don’t get me wrong, Chernarus is a great place to set a Zombie apocalypse, but running around the unchanging green fields and constant pine trees begins to get rather dull after a while. Some other locations to kill zombies in would be great. Perhaps more city locations such as Moscow (sticking with the eastern European theme) or even a wintry Siberian landscape.
2. More rewards for killing zombies
The only reason to kill zombies in DayZ is basically ‘to get them out of the way’ so you can get to the yummy, delicious loot. I’d like to see a system in place which gives players more incentive to go out and try to diminish the zombie population. I literately have no idea what that system could be however and if you have any ideas to what could be done to get players to kill more zombies in DayZ please leave a comment saying what you think.
1. Actions should have repercussions!
Bandits are one thing that tic me off in DayZ. I don’t think they are wrong for doing what they are doing, but I just think there should be something that stops them from edging away from the survival part of the game, which in my opinion, is what DayZ should primarily be about. Let’s say a player wipes out a whole party of guys just looking for some food. If constantly on his own without any human contact you’re going to go a bit nuts in the head. And so maybe factors such as insanity should be implemented into the game to stop players constantly camping out the good loot areas just to get a kill.
Well, that ends our top ten list. If you think we’ve failed to mention something or you think we’re completely wrong with one of these features please comment below and let us know what and why.
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Less death penalty in Dayz? That’s just about the stupidest thing I’ve ever heard in my entire life. We’re not playing World of Warcraft here. The satisfaction of killing someone who you know has put a lot of effort into a character is the most satisfying part of the game. Less death penalty’s in Dayz would make it too unrealistic and would ruin the game. If anything what they should do is reduce the hunger/water meters to make you not have to eat every 30mins.
While I can’t really say I agree with Alex on the satisfaction of ruining someones gaming experience. I wholeheartedly agree with his statement that removing death penalty is one of the dumbest ideas ever. I would ruin the game entirely. The perma-death is probably the most defining aspect of DayZ and removing it would make the game pointless. It just doesn’t matter how severe a penalty you add. Perma-death is what creates the unique situations in DayZ. Everything from the tender balance of trust that you feel when meeting a new friendly to the heightened fear of populated areas, zombies, bandits etc.
I mean I am usually not a big fan of perma-death in games, but DayZ is a different beast it’s what makes the game what it is.
Looks to me that the author really missed the heart of the game. Either that or the game just isn’t for him. I have to disagree with most of those ideas 100%.
Some of your list is bad.
Any different clothes should be purely cosmetic. Having a different shirt is advantage enough. That’s why camo outfits are prized.
Less severe death penalty? You gotta be insane. A huge part of the appeal is losing everything when you die and getting someone elses’ everything when you kill them.
And no, survival and PvP are equal parts important. If anything, there just needs to be more incentive to co-operate. And less incentive to kill on sight.
World of ZombieCraft? No fucking thanks.
There should be a NPC’s i think
NPCs smart, less severe death no, zombie kill rewards makes sense, safe zones would be camped for kills,and bandits will be dulled down by something like insanity or shaking screen after X player kills(cold blooded of course, would have to find away to determine that)
lame… you want to make the game easy….. wtf… the reason people like it is because its not easy….
i do like the idea of building but if we get safe zones… ill find you and you will not be safe in that said zone
I’m usually not a huge fan of Permadeath games but like the others, I too have to agree that the permadeath is the unique factor that makes DayZ what it is. Anything less would in fact reduce this game into a silly free for all with no substance. There can be NOTHING less than permadeath, end of story. I also like how you have to eat and drink, it prevents hoarding and always keeps you on the move to do something instead of just lazily lollygagging about.
Instanced dungeons are also a huge “NO NO!” absolutely NOT. This game is all about experiancing it with everyone all the time, there should never ever be instanced dungeons, EVER. If there are dungeons, they need to be open world so that whoever is doing them needs to keep an eye on the back as well.
If anything, they need to make Zombies matter more. I mean sure it’s the human element we’re afraid of but if this was a real situation, we should be afraid of the zombies as well. The Zombies need to mean more, whether it be more damage or chances of infection occurring. If I can just ignore the zombies most of the time then what’s the point in calling this DayZ? The Zomobies can’t be an afterthought.