DayZ is now officially on the path to becoming a standalone game. The popular ARMA II mod recently surpassed 1 million players, a milestone which coincides with today's announcement that ARMA developer Bohemia Interactive, along with DayZ designer Dean Hall, will be creating a version of DayZ that functions independently of the games currently required to play it. It's quite the success story -- the mod has only been available for about four months -- and is a testament to what's possible on computers.
A quick glance at of DayZ might give the impression that it is nothing more than a dreary-looking zombie mod. Look a bit deeper and you'll find out there is a very good reason that, even with as many zombie games as there are out there, people are compelled to purchase a three-year-old military game best known to many as the source of footage mistook for an IRA film in a British documentary last year. More than a zombie mod, DayZ is an open-world survival mod that happens to be set in a world inhabited by zombies. You don't have a set of missions to complete or a certain finish line to cross; after awaking on a beach with next to nothing to your name, you're set into a huge world with only the goal of surviving. That entails more than just avoiding long drops from the top of a building or aggressive zombies; you also have to worry about your temperature, getting sick, and eating and drinking regularly. To take care of hunger you'll need to track down food somewhere in the world, illnesses require antibiotics, and having your temperature drop means finding the tools necessary to start a fire. These resources can be difficult to track down, and guns can be even harder to come by, which is a brave but sensible decision for a game that looks like a first-person shooter This in and of itself can be challenging enough, and you'll likely die helplessly more than a few times as you learn the ins and outs of the game. But you also have to account for the fact that you're playing on a server with dozens of other players who also have needs. Much like in a real zombie apocalypse, others may decide to be friendly and share resources with you, or they might see you as a threat and take you down the second the second you walk into their crosshairs. What makes this all the more significant is the game's use of permadeath -- die, whether by the hand of another player's hand or otherwise, and you'll lose all of your progress, forcing you to start over again from scratch on the beach.
In a way, it is almost like the EVE Online of zombie games. Unlike most games, where you're expected to complete particular goals, you're essentially left to your own devices to make your own fun and craft your own stories with other players. With no story in the game itself, this may not sound like the makings of a truly memorable narrative. In reality, this ensures no two playthroughs are alike, and the tension that stems from interacting with other players leads to an experience unlike anything else I've experienced in gaming -- all this from a mod that is still considered to be in alpha (and rightfully so, as it's not yet an especially smooth experience).
The mod will continue to be developed alongside the standalone version of the game which Hall, DayZ's creator, calls "the fairy-tale outcome for a mod that many would have said impossible four months ago." And he's right, as many of the details about DayZ don't necessarily sound like they would add up to a mod that a million people have now played. Yet here we are, with the game doing well enough to justify the development of a standalone game and ARMA II: Combined Operations (a bundle of ARMA II and the Operation Arrowhead expansion, which is also necessary to play DayZ) having been one of the best-selling games throughout this year's Steam Summer Sale.Development of the standalone DayZ will employ the Minecraft model, which is to say, it will feature "fast iterations with the community alpha available for a heavily discounted price." Minecraft began being sold not long after its development started at a discounted price, with those who bought in early receiving all future updates for free while being able to play the game and provide feedback before its official launch. Going this path with DayZ is a wise decision, and not simply because Minecraft proved to be such a remarkable success. With players already having experienced the mod and feeling like a part of the development process, it wouldn't make sense to suddenly adopt a traditional development model that shuts them out until the game is mostly complete. Why wait to release a somewhat final version of the game (it's hard to call anything "final" these days with the way games evolve post-release) when you can involve ardent fans in the development process (and get money upfront)? Doing so will only lead to a better finished product and more invested players who are in turn more likely to champion the game and encourage friends to check it out. The notion of PC gaming's death has been disproved and shot down so many times it seems silly to even continue to acknowledge it. Still, as someone who adores PC games, it's nice to have yet another piece of evidence for why anyone who suggests PC gaming is in decline is flat-out wrong; the NPD Group's inability to reflect DayZ's popularity in its sales charts doesn't change the fact that the mod has driven hundreds of thousands of sales of ARMA. Better yet, DayZ is also an example of something that is currently only possible on computers. Hopefully console manufacturers will one day open things up to the point where mods like this can also thrive on their platforms -- bringing an experience like this to more people can only lead to good things. Until that time, computer games will continue to be a bastion for innovative titles, particularly those which feature elements which deviate from the accepted standard of what makes for a commercially successful game.by chris pereira
