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Status Report 28 November 17
veröffentlicht am November 28, 2017
Brian
Greetings Survivors!
The last few months for DayZ has included a lot of review meetings. Both technical and gameplay design related - and now it's come that time where we have some solid information to share with you all on the upcoming 0.63 Experimental and Stable updates. Where we are with it, what we're looking at it being - and in short to offer some clear transparency to you all looking at it forward.
Some of this information might be frustrating to read, and some of it might get your own internal hype train running. The important thing from the information we will be laying out today is that you all understand where we are with the move away from legacy DayZ, and why we've made the decisions we have.
That said, I'll let Eugen take it away and guide you all through what we're looking at.
Eugen
Hello everyone. Being candid is the core of the relationship we have as a studio with you, our community. That includes openly talking about things that we know will cause a lot of disappointment and negative feelings. I'll start right of the bat with one such thing: unfortunately, there will be no other major release this year (that means we won't be releasing 0.63 on neither Experimental and Stable branches).
PLANS FOR THE REST OF 2017 & 0.63 EXPERIMENTAL GOALS
I'm going to be very straightforward: along with releasing 0.62 Stable, it has been our main internal goal to get 0.63 Experimental out this year (as mentioned in Status Report on April 18) - we have put pretty much all our resources on that task, but as of now, we already know that the scope we will be able to achieve by the end of 2017 does not represent a full DayZ experience, and therefore blocks the 0.63 Experimental release..
Large chunks of the core gameplay loop are just now getting more settled, but there are still core features that are heavily work in progress, or not implemented - for example vaulting, swimming, and vehicles - and unfortunately that means that despite all the progress we've made on the other parts of the game, this is still not enough for a potential Experimental release.
We do understand that all you guys want is to play 0.63 - and while it would be possible to have some Experimental 0.63 release this year that would be relatively stable and enjoyable for a short period of time, just releasing something is not a viable approach this time around. Both 0.63 Experimental and 0.63 Stable (= BETA) are key releases for us, as they are the last steps before we leave Early Access.
And since it's so important, we have a set of so called epic goals that are implemented into everything we're making for the game in the new engine. These goals are:
[li]Performance[/li]
[li]Stability[/li]
[li]Control[/li]
[li]Balance[/li]
We want to avoid any issues from lack of oversight in development or project architecture - for example we just want to make sure that our infected numbers and player numbers per server are as high as possible, and both DayZ client and server apps maintaining good, reliable up-time.
To get a better understanding of what still needs to be done on our end before we can push the first 0.63 Experimental, read through this bullet point overview of our focus areas. All of the listed features are in different stages of development, and a team or person dedicated to its completion. These are the features we want to see finalized before experimental release.
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EXPERIMENTAL RELEASE TO-DO
All of these work in progress features are in different stages of development, and have a team or person dedicated to its completion. This is the functionality we want to see finalised before Experimental release. Any existing 0.62 features not listed here or down below in future goals are either done now in 0.63, or in the phase of polishing and bug fixing.
NEW PLAYER CHARACTER
GAMEPLAY
GAMEPLAY
AI
UI
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I know the tone may be a bit grim, but from my personal experience as a gamer with DayZ, it's very hard to go back to 0.62 once you play even the broken internal version. There is a promise of many good things to come. Lots of things to look forward to for the first experimental release. Even if you look at the missing pieces above, that will be there. There is just so much to explore.
[li]new crafting[/li]
[li]new central economy[/li]
[li]new zombies[/li]
[li]new animals[/li]
[li]completely revamped ranged combat[/li]
[li]with much more manual control[/li]
[li]completely revamped melee combat[/li]
[li]with combos and evading mecahnics[/li]
[li]lot more strategy[/li]
[li]new and quite significant map changes[/li]
[li]diseases that mix things up[/li]
[li]injuries that change your movement[/li]
[li]new movement and stealth[/li]
[li]redefined spawns[/li]
[li]new damage system and hitzones[/li]
[li]for both players and animals[/li]
[li]new visuals for particles or blood[/li]
[li]amazing new animation system that makes everything so frickin smooth[/li]
[li]remade buildings[/li]
[li]more players per server[/li]
[li]more zombies per server[/li]
[li]MUCH less network issues[/li]
[li]Stability![/li]
[li]and SO. MUCH. MORE.[/li]
During the time between the release of 0.63 Experimental to the release of 0.63 Stable (PC BETA), we will add a couple more features that are missing from the list above. Namely vehicles, helicopters and base-building. We'll also keep adding weapons to get to our 0.62 standards
There are specific gameplay elements that we have talked about previously, for example melee with ranged weapons, or climbing over obstacles that are quite complicated, and are generally part of the overall vision, so we might be experimenting with those during the time between the first Experimental and BETA.
Although we are no longer waiting for any large technology implementation, there is still a lot of polish that we want to go through before we get it out. Realistically looking at the status of our internal build, and having about three weeks left in 2017, that is obviously not enough time to tackle all the things above. Because of that, our goal is to have the 0.63 Experimental out as soon in 2018 as possible, so that we can start gathering feedback, pushing further Experimental updates, and focus on the next major goal ahead: releasing the PC BETA build (= 0.63 Stable).
PLANS FOR THE REST OF 2017 & 0.63 EXPERIMENTAL GOALS
Let's just state the obvious: the PC BETA is not coming before the end of 2017. We tried to get it done sooner, but it's going to be 2018 folks. Both the BETA update and any further 0.63 updates, up to 1.0, will happen in 2018, which is shaping up to be one of the most important years for DayZ. That is as much as we are sure of yet. I'll be honest, it has been a long wait already - even for us - but that's all we got now.
DayZ BETA is not meant to be a feature complete game from our point of view. It's a start of a platform that will be extended by us, and can be extended by the modding community. When we kick-started DayZ, one of the most challenging projects at Bohemia, the aim was to bring both the game AND a new engine out to you - a complete game platform. Almost all company resources were focused there. It’s a giant undertaking that bit us in the ass, but we kept our focus on delivering that envisioned platform.
By saying platform, I mean an ecosystem where we are able to keep adding things and building the DayZ community from PC BETA onward. We have talked about a number of features over the years that we intend to deliver, but our strongest focus has been put on the core loop of the game. There, we need to get things right, otherwise it would be a giant waste of time. For all of us, and for all of you. So after the PC BETA of DayZ gets out, we will focus on polishing the core gameplay loop, and adding content - but until we reach 1.0, we want to stay away from expanding the scope of the game further by additional features.
Just to be clear: features mean large gameplay loops on their own, for example persistence, or the infected. By content, I mean particular weapon, car, or environment asset models. In short, content is anything that provides more options within given features, or provides more of general visual appeal.
For the PC BETA (again, that's the first 0.63 Stable update, and any 0.63 patches between that and 1.0 - there's no 0.64 or 0.65 planned), we've set a pretty clear feature and content goals. We're ready to share them now, let's start with features.
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DAYZ BETA FEATURES
With regards to features, anything that's already in 0.62 legacy build will be present in BETA. Features listed below are either completly new, or improved significantly over the legacy implementation.
PLAYER CHARACTER
INFECTED
ANIMALS
VEHICLES
GAMEPLAY
TECHNOLOGY
MODDING
SERVERS
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If you remember our 2015 roadmap, you probably think some features are missing. Taking a quick look at our goals for 2015 (when we originally wanted to reach BETA), that's correct - in order to not further hinder our plans for a functional core gameplay loop in BETA, we decided that some of those features will be added later in a form of free platform updates after 1.0:
[li]Vehicle modification[/li]
[li]Barricading[/li]
[li]Birds[/li]
[li]Aerial Transport (Specifically planes)[/li]
[li]Bikes/Motorbikes[/li]
The only feature we've decided to cut completely from our original 2015 feature list are animal companions. That plan was simply way too ambitious - we don't have the tech to create that feature to a certain quality degree now, and we don't see having that tech in a near future.
This decision to move some features after 1.0 surely deserves detailed explanation. Let's go point by point.
With vehicles, we are absolutely certain that we want to eventually offer more variety in them, but a system of modifications to vehicles adds additional layer of complexity to the entire vehicles feature, and it would only further limit the amount of vehicles we would be able to release initially with BETA.
Barricading is depended on a large piece of underlying code that we originally intended to have available much sooner, and so in order to progress further, we had to make a decision whether to initially support barricading, or base building - and base building won the "contest" as the more interesting option for BETA
When it comes to aerial transport, we do want to have helicopters in before 1.0, but making planes accessible would mean a lot of extra time in development, slowing down what everybody wants the most, and that is to play DayZ BETA. Planes will be making their way into DayZ, but not with BETA/1.0.
Then, everybody's favourite: bikes and motorbikes. We've said that before, but sadly, as weird as it may sound to a person not involved in game dev, creating single track vehicles properly takes a massive amount of animation and programming work that we want to invest into other parts of the game for BETA - such as achieving overall polish of features like the character movement, double track vehicles, or user actions.
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DAYZ BETA CONTENT
As far as content is concerned, we've had to make some more shuffling around, and the initial BETA release won't maintain a 1 to 1 parity with the content in 0.62 legacy version. That said, content is easier to implement than features or core technology, and the progress there will be quite fast during BETA/post 1.0.
BETA VEHICLES
BETA FIREARMS
BETA ANIMALS
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When it comes to content, we again follow a priority list from visual and gameplay standpoint. The process, however, also applies to all the content we have created for legacy builds, as it needs to be re-implemented for the new engine and new scripting language.
It's no small undertaking. We have been working on just this part for a little over two years already. However, we have to be realistic - there is some content that does not impact gameplay heavily, and thus has lower implementation priority.
The items and their variety must support gameplay first and foremost, so some things you love, or got excited about on our Trello board, will come later on. We have set up content teams for weapons already and they are making sure we get to closing the complete list as fast as we can.
Any previously announced content (be it from any official sources like our Twitter account, DayZ.com or the DayZ Trello board) and any content that's now in the 0.62 legacy build will eventually make it to DayZ - either as regular content drops during BETA, or as part of planned free content updates after 1.0.
1.0 GOALS, POST RELEASE PLANS & CONSOLE VERSIONS
We've covered what goes into BETA, and talked about some things that we want to add later on. Most of what'll be left to do after BETA and 1.0 is defined in the list below. Please do not hesitate to ask us (in this forums thread) about any feature/content piece that you feel was announced, but is missing in here. We will do our best to react to your input, as we may have lost track of some smaller things over time.
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1.0 / POST RELEASE FEATURE GOALS
As far as content is concerned, we've had to make some more shuffling around, and the initial BETA release won't maintain a 1 to 1 parity with the content in 0.62 legacy version. That said, content is easier to implement than features or core technology, and the progress there will be quite fast during BETA/post 1.0.
PLANNED FEATURES
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CONTENT FOR RELEASE BEFORE 1.0 / POST 1.0
For the rest, our goal is to get as close to 0.62 content as possible during all BETA updates, but we can not 100% estimate which particular weapons, animals or vehicles will be ready for 1.0. We're putting all the remaining content under one list for that reason.
FIREARMS
VEHICLES
ANIMALS
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Rest assured, DayZ is not a done deal after BETA and 1.0. As I mentioned above, DayZ is a game AND a platform, and we intend on keeping DayZ alive for as long as it's viable (take a look at our Arma 3 example - splendid 4 years of post-launch development and support!). We also have some fantastic opportunities ready for the modding community.
As soon as the PC BETA is headed in a way we like, we're still committed to bringing DayZ to Xbox, where we have a large community of gamers patiently (very patiently!) waiting for a truly hardcore online survival game. All of that will (and must) happen next year - meaning we're just about to start what could possibly be the most exciting year for DayZ so far. In short: DayZ will be out of Early Access next year, and we'll also finally deliver it to console players in 2018.
Make no mistake: this commitment is done taking all of our previous scheduling mistakes into the account. We're serious about it.
SUMMARY & CONCLUSION
2018 is going to be an important year for us in the studio, as our long term work finally makes its way out there. We sure take our time, but I truly believe that people only remember great games, and not how long it took to make them.
I hope that despite the somewhat disappointing nature of this Status Report (in terms of not having another major release this year), we still managed to hold on to the support from the most dedicated among you. We'd love to follow up with an open Q&A on our forums, where I and our community team will do our best to answer your questions regarding any specific features or content.
Before the end of the year, we'll also provide a video summary of this text, with some further details and footage from 0.63.
Thank you all for staying with us, Survivors. We're almost there - after all the excruciating wait, and all the tests of patience, there are some really good times ahead of us. In BETA we trust!
Quelle: dayz.com
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