We now have an official developmental roadmap for DayZ's standalone release. We know what Bohemia has planned within the upcoming months and just how much it's going to cost in the end.
Bohemia let loose a press release indicating what the team has planned for DayZ, as well as news that the price has increased from $29.99 to $34.99. During the Steam 'Exploration Sale' the price will hover around the $29.97 mark. After the Steam sale ends the price will officially be $34.99 up until the game heads into beta, at which point the price will hike its way up to $43.99. The final price for the game is expected to be $49.99 when the game officially releases in 2016. Of course, that's a long ways off from now.
Brian Hicks, the Producer on DayZ, stated in the press release...
“2014 has been an immensely successful year for DayZ. We could have never hoped for so many people to join us for the adventure of Early Access development. As the team looks forward to our goals and features set for 2015, the vision of an open world sandbox where the player creates their own story and experiences comes closer to completion”.
2015 will be an exciting time for DayZ if the roadmap is actually maintained. Early 2015 will see new A.I., implemented for the zombies; the basic vehicle sets for players to scavenge around Chernarus and the implementation of the graphics renderer to help with load times, streaming and system resource management.
The early 2015 update will also see the inclusion of diseases... that ought to be very interesting to see play out within the community.
Second quarter of 2015 will see the addition of advanced vehicle mechanics, including repairs and vehicle mods. Dynamic events are also scheduled to make an appearance along with a dynamic animal ecosystem similar to Far Cry 4.
If Bohemia knows how to manage time like casual players know how to time-manage Diner Dash games then we'll see the first PS4 and Xbox One console prototype in the third quarter of 2015, along with traps and barricades. I imagine gameplay features will pale in comparison to the community's excitement for the highly anticipated console port of DayZ.
Fourth quarter 2015 will see Steam community integration arrive – I can only presume this means Steam Workshop support, in which case there are mounds of physical excitement taking place that my words cannot contain or portray with effective accuracy. Fourth quarter will also see the implementation of animal companions, this means gamers will be able to reenact Call of Duty: Ghosts with Rambo Lassie. The most important aspect of the Q4 2015 project roadmap is base construction.
We've heard Dean “Rocket” Hall talking about base construction quite a bit, but it will be a real delight to see base building finally make it into the game. Some players may wittingly joke about the slow progress of DayZ compared to other zombie survival games out there, but I have to admit that the “Rocket” and his apocalyptic astronauts are taking their time and paving the developmental road with righteous patience and precision. No complaints from me about that.
You can learn more about DayZ by paying a kind visit to the game's official website.
