Creator of the massively popular Arma 2 mod DayZ, Dean "Rocket" Hall, has announced some of the features we can expect to see in the standalone release of the zombie survival game.
Hall explained, in an interview with Rock, Paper, Shotgun, that the game will feature a Minecraft-like construction mechanic, as well as a Red Faction-like destruction mechanic, saying,
"So in Skyrim you walk up to a dungeon entrance, you look at the door, hit the button, and it transports you to that instance, that’s kind of what we are looking at for underground construction. So you would go up to the grate in the ground, go up to this hole, and you’d dig out that hole yourself. That instanced-style construction offers us maximum flexibility without too many strings. Also, having the construction occur in a separate world to the battleground is a good idea because it allows us to be a lot more creative. You could dig things out, Red Faction style, and expand that structure over time, maybe build a hydroponics lab, have a generator, air conditioning, concrete it, have it collapse, those kinds of things."
Hall also talked about the presence of pets in the game, which will take the form of the pre-existing dogs. Players holding onto spare meat can lure a dog into becoming a pet, and then use it to track zombies, other players or other possible threats. Pets will level up with the player, becoming more competent over time. Eventually, a pet will be able to chase the player down if pup and master get split up.
Additionally, the game will also have a rudimentary implementation of ragdoll physics. Hall explains that while the game won't feature the complex ragdoll physics of Arma III, it will contain something slightly more sophisticated than what's available in Arma II, calling it an "Arma 2.5" and saying that it will possesss real-time weather and other elemental features.
Finally, Hall explains why the standalone for DayZ won't have mod support right off the bat. He says that first, the game needs to be put on "lockdown" to ensure stability and security. The plan is to stop early hackers and cheaters in their tracks and make sure the network code is up to snuff so that people can start playing without any major obstacles.
To make up for this lockdown, Hall says that the original DayZ mod for Arma II will be made open to players, allowing for player-run servers and additional fan mods.
The DayZ standalone is set for release this fall.
