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DayZ creator unveils new studio, RocketWerkz
Dean "Rocket" Hall has accomplished several great feats in his life; alongside creating the popular mod DayZ, which helped kickstart the survival genre of games, and conquering Earth's tallest boss (you may know it as Mount Everest), he can now add "starting his own studio" to his list of achievements. RocketWerkz is the name, and it'll be where Hall makes his games. Hall announced the news via Twitter, telling any prospective "programmers, artists, etc." to email him their information, noting that initial jobs would be on-site in Dunedin, New Zealand. Hall told Eurogamer in June that he wanted to create "a Valve in the South Pacific, if Valve focused on making games and not making Steam." Hall also said that he'll make himself available as work continues on the standalone version of DayZ, even after his departure from former employer Bohemia Interactive. [Image: Dean Hall]
DayZ's next six months to bring vehicles, bases and more
Vehicles, camping, hunting, base building and an improved stamina system are in the works for Bohemia Interactive's survival game, DayZ. Creator Dean Hall recently took to Reddit for an Ask Me Anything (AMA) session, where he revealed the upcoming additions to the game. The new features are expected to be available in-game sometime within the next six months. "Vehicles will be done based on the architecture we are doing for items/weapons now (i.e. attachments)," Hall wrote. "So it's in progress really. We are replacing the physics system for items (throwing, etc...) and this new middleware will be used for vehicles also." For those less inclined to murder their fellow humans, Hall also teased more PvE content such as hunting, camping, and base-building. Bases, Hall noted, will take longer to achieve. Barricades are expected to be the first step toward their eventual full implementation. Hall wrote on Twitter that there will be "experimental" patches for the game regularly, and that updates will be moved to stable status once per month.
DayZ alpha first-week sales exceed 400,000, dev outlines update plans
It's been an eventful couple of weeks for DayZ developer Bohemia Interactive, which has provided a state of the union update on the Early Access build. After launching on December 16, DayZ has sold over 400,000 copies on Steam and saw a peak concurrent user count top out at over 40,000 players. Bohemia Interactive issued three updates to the game so far and creator Dean "Rocket" Hall even outlined plans for feature roll-outs throughout 2014. Plans are to eventually implement better anti-hacking security, introduce cooking mechanics and even give players the ability to hunt animals. In an update issued in early December, Hall called the standalone Alpha version "a platform for future development" and stressed caution for those expecting a fully-realized product when buying the Early Access version. Hall has said he is considering Xbox One and PS4 ports, though nothing has been officially announced at this time.
DayZ creator stresses standalone Alpha is 'a platform' for the future
Dean "Rocket" Hall, creator of DayZ, cautioned that those who buy into the standalone game's upcoming Steam Early Access launch should not expect something on par with a fully realized, polished product. DayZ will essentially be "barebones" at the outset, he said in an update on the game's forums, pointing out that "some might be disappointed that this is not some feature-packed, graphically focused, masterpiece" of a game. "I really plead for anyone who is on the fence to take a skeptical approach - watch streams, read reviews, watch some let's play and form your opinion," Hall went on to say. "You could always come back to the game in three, six months time and buy it then." For Hall, Early Access presents a chance for folks who want to participate in guiding the game's growth. "For many," he said, "this is the opposite of what they want." Hall concluded that buying into Early Access is buying into "a platform for future development." DayZ will launch for PC on Steam Early Access, though Hall hasn't ruled out the possibility of Xbox One and PS4. No release date has been set for the PC Alpha, which has already been seen skulking around inside Steam's database.
The Firing Line: What DayZ means to core gamers
The death of the core gamer has been greatly exaggerated. Yes, MMORPGs (and gaming in general) have kowtowed to the influx of new-school players flush with cash but lacking time, and the genre has reinvented itself and turned its back on virtual world enthusiasts in the process. There's still hope, though, and so far it's not coming from any of the usual sandbox suspects in the MMO space.
