New interview with Matt LightFoot

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The video is at the bottom, the text version is better as you don't hear all that enoying ts

Q: Will the control system be streamlined at all?
A: Well that is one of my jobs to look at the controls and such with standalone and how we can improve those, ultimately, you have got to consider how complicated standalone will be with extra controls and things like that so while we aim to improve them, how much we improve them by is still left to be decided.

Q: How in depth is the medical system, will being shot in the arm effect your weapon handling etc and how will the disease system work, what counter illness measures will be available?
A: Already with wounds if you get shot in the leg, you will move slower, if you get shot in the arm, you'll notice your aim gets thrown off, with standalone we want to expand on this and make it a more in depth experience, for diseases there is a whole new world of possibilities, people can spread diseases by using the same weapon from someone who had that diseases, or somebody coming in contact with a water source and passing their cholera to the water source, as for how to combat these diseases, depending on the disease depends on how likely you are to survive, so cholera for example assuming you have access to lots of fresh water, you'll increase your mortality rate but if you are inland and there are no fresh water sources then you are going to have a bad time, there will also be vaccines, so if there is a vaccine in real life for it there should be one in game, these are the things that we really would like to get indepth with, the diseases are yet to be implemented in the current build but it's something we have been planning for quite a while.

Q: Is the weather system being revamped, what progress has been made, what can we expect?
A: Originally in ArmA 2, the game got a fairly reasonable weather system but then that was totally revamped with Take On Helicopters with something called Simuweather off the top of my head which brought all all sorts of better weather effects, better volumetric clouds etc, this makes it more authentic and that's something we're hoping to port to standalone and will hopefully be working fairly well for release but we will see, that may be something we might have to delay if it clashes with anything.

Q: How will silences weapons and attachments in general work in the standalone?
A: This is something we want to do with weapons now being entities it's definitely possible since we can store variables for each weapon, what extent we do it meditated is yet to be decided, so with the initial release, don't expect to be able to take silences, scopes etc on and off. One of the more immediate things is We have started creating weapons that have are more likely to be found in the civilian population, those are things we want to bring out first.

Q: Are there any future plans to allow modding, custom maps etc?
A: Obviously we want to do it because that is how DayZ came about, but ultimately we need to way up what makes DayZ the best it can be and a significant problem with the mod was hackers, so in order to prevent hackers, it also limits how moddable it is, so on release there is going to be very little possibility of modding if any at all, obviously that is something we want to expand upon but ultimately we do not want to compromise the security and integrity of playing standalone online, especially in the short term, it's something we may reconsider in though in the long term.

Q: Will the system specs for the standalone be higher or lower then DayZ mod?
A: That's a good question, I'd say work off the same specs as the mod, we have made some significant efficiencies with it but whether we want to use those efficiencies in order to put more zombies in or do something else that's going to eat up resources to the point where we are back to where we started hasn't been decided.

Q: What can we expect in terms of zombie / AI pathing?
A: We're working on the zombies right now as we speak, the AI also has a lot to do with the map and such which we have been putting a lot of effort in, it may be something that may not be in the initial release but it is something that we will definitely improve in the not to distant future.

Q: How many servers do you expect at launch and what will their maximum capacity be?
A: We think that us hosting official servers isn't something that is going to be viable long term, how long do you host them, who admins them, how many do you host and is something that would take significant man power and resources and ultimately is something that hosting companies and players can do better, so we have and continue to approach some big server providers from the mod and ask them if they are willing to host public servers and in return they will have access to the server files but I don't have an estimation on how many servers there will be on release. Obviously we want players/groups/clans etc to be able to host their own servers how we can still ensure the integrity of that and how we approach server hosting by the community is something we have yet to look at, whether we run it like the mod where every server is approved and then block them from the hive if they do something untoward we can block/blacklist them.

Q: Will there be an offline tutorial?
A: No, there won't be. Well definitely not on release, possibly in the long run but it's not something we are immediately looking at because we think part of the draw of DayZ is that you are thrown into a world where you have no idea what is going on, it's like waking up in the apocalypse, what has happened, figuring things out is all part of the game. We might have a wiki.

Q: Will the view distance be locked/limited similarly to the mod or is it going to be extended?
A: We have thrown around several ideas, at the moment we would like to focus this on a server side level so that everybody on that server will have the same experience and you don't have issues with people ramping theirs up and having an advantage. We want a fixed experience for everyone on the server with things like view distance.

Q: Character equipment, weights and stamina?
A: Again that is something that we can look at now with weapons as objects, we can now fix weight, durability etc to them but again it's when we do it as ultimately what we want to do is release standalone and have the public foundation release then start doing hopefully weekly updates depending on how they go where we can do things like add scopes, weights, attachments etc. The new inventory system is still based on backpack size but it's better done with different items taking up different amounts of space.

 

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Q: Will humanity still play a part in the identification of bandits and heroes or have a different role?
A: I don't know, it's not something we have discussed recently, probably in the same capacity it currently does in the mod but we may expand that to helping people with diseases but that's something I will have to discuss with Dean.

Q: Is it possible to connect maps and are there any additional maps planned for the future?
A: First of all, is it technically possible to link maps? I believe so. I'm not a map designer but I am sure I have played a Zargabad map that had two maps linked together so I'm sure it's technically possible but you need to consider the lag, the vast amount of space that then needs to render and obviously the bigger the maps the more players you need on the server which puts more strain on the server and game. At the moment we are currently looking at instancing in terms of bases so that is probably also a good idea for linking maps. As for plans for the future, we would love to do new maps but obviously the bigger the maps the more work especially with the level of detail and quality Chernarus is. Chernarus took the map designers at Bohemia about two years, I'd say the father of Chernarus is Ivan who is currently in prison so we are also limited by that.

Q: What will servers owners be able to do in terms of server settings (Day/Night etc) and will they be connected to the public hive?
A: Initially we would like every server to connect to the public hive as we would like to see if we have solved the problems from the mod, long load times and things like that. So no we don't want servers to connect to their own databases, the level of control over the server is still to be decided, at the moment it's looking like there will be a fairly limited list of settings, view distances, first/third person etc, so they can customise them to some extent but can't do anything crazy and add hundreds of vehicles.

Q: Will server admins still need to follow some sort of Code of Conduct similarly to what we have/had with the mod?
A: It will probably be a new one and it will essentially be along those lines so that we can get a standard and so that we are able to block servers from the public hive if they are doing something untoward, initially servers will possibly be automatically white-listed though.

Q: Will there be different types of servers, PVE, PVP, Day/Night etc to meet the broad tastes of your player base?
A: While it's a good idea from a business perspective to cater to everyone, we want to push a fairly distinct design, if we listen to everything and did everything everyone wanted with the mod it wouldn't be what it is, it would essentially be ArmA with zombies and that doesn't really fit the design, so we've got to find a balance between what people want and what fits the design of DayZ, with that, things like PVE servers, we run the danger where people can gear up on PVE servers and then move to PVP servers, so from our perspective it doesn't fit.

Q: Will there be seasons within the game and expanded weather, snow and functional clothing?
A: In order for us to do seasons properly we would have to create a new map, which we would love to do but it's a lot of work and how we do that, we did discuss at one point about possible DLC to fund quick development of maps or put it on a slow burner where it could take six months, it's really a balancing act of the cost and what else we can do with those resources.

 

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Q: Will the clunky movement, avatar control in ArmA be improved?
A: This more has to do with the animations, so we have streamlined some animations with DayZ and constantly making improvements on issues we had with the mod where some of the animations are designed to be clunky moving around corners with backpack, gun etc

Q: Will there be any improvements in the games physics and animations, issues with floating down stairs, hitting a walking pace as soon as you hit an incline etc?
A: Not initially but it's something we want to look at, we are always looking for things like that but it's how as well like you can't run up a fifty degree incline to some extent so the walking is supposed to simulate that and also improving the zombie AI and path finding because they still aren't the greatest and that is something we are working on with new animations. The zombies look so much scarier, when we were looking at the build today Dean and I were laughing not out of fear but wow that's like 28 days later kind of thing.

Q: Will killer buildings, doors, trees, falling through walls etc be improved with release?
A: That's an issue with the skeleton and we are looking at changing the skeleton but that's a fairly big job to change for all the characters and it's whether we do that before or after release which we haven't really decided on yet. There are also contributing factors to that for example the building locations, what's beneath them and things like that but at the moment we have Sentry? working 24/7 on the map who has made some great improvements like with removing little things that effect the map and the building interacting.

Q: How are you going to manage players expectations and getting the message across to both testers and players on what to expect at the initial release?
A: We agree entirely and want to make it as clear as possible to everyone that it won't be perfect at the beginning, that's one of the reasons we are inviting community members to the closed testing since they understand what the mod has gone through.

Q: In ArmA 3, ragdoll physics are being implemented, can we expect to see that implemented at some point in the future?
A: Possibly at some point in the future, but not initially or any time near release, it will probably be something we would have to do from scratch due to the differences between ArmA 3 and DayZ.

Q: Will there be any form of grouping or spawn grouping system?
A: Yeh, again that is on the to do list for one of the iterations after release, to have some kind of method to encompass clans and groups in game whether it's certain coloured clothing or an identifying feature players can have and how we can encompass that into spawning and how far away players are from each other when they spawn.

Q: Will there be any changes to how vehicles are found to prevent vehicle hoarding etc?
A: Well one of the major issues is helicopter radar and being able to spot every vehicle on the map so one of our ideas is to make flying helicopters much more difficult, if you've played Take On Helicopters you will know they are exceptionally difficult to fly because there is an entire process to switch them on and keep the thruster at a certain level and stuff like that which is something we would like to carry over to DayZ, as to whether that's merged into the initial release or not is something that again is yet to be seen, removing the radar is obviously a first step but as for hoarding vehicles though if people have spent the time finding them then I think they kind of deserve them.

Q: If helicopters are made harder to fly, would that mean possibly more helicopters spawned on the map?
A: It depends, maybe fewer helicopters spawning and more difficult because what we wanted to try and do is encompass how difficult it is to fly a helicopter in real life and how easy it is in ArmA and how many players run straight to a helicopter because it's so easy.

Q: Are we ever going to see dogs?
A: Not in the initial release, more because we have to look at what they bring to the game and the time we would have to spend to get them perfect and the problems we always had in the mod was making them attack others and getting them to work correctly is such a big task for what limited gameplay they bring so there are a lot of things we want to do before that.

Q: Will muffins be a consumable item?
A: We haven't planned it but I am sure we can arrange something possibly.

Q: How is the disease and human waste element going and does it literally entail your avatar laying waste?
A: We actually motion-capped it and it was exceptionally hilarious, I'm sure we have pictures somewhere, allegedly it's what the military do according to Dean. It's squatting so you bring your knees up, you can't see anything vulgar, all you will see is your character squat and you may see some particle effects that look like human excrement and that's more to show diseases and things so if your character needs to start going more often maybe you have cholera or the bad hepatitis.

Q: Will the community be able to contribute to the standalone, modellers, map makers etc?
A: This is something that we have discussed and obviously because we are using steam there are questions regarding steam works and the possibility of that, ultimately that is something we are not going to utilise to start off with as we want to focus on a core design that we want to work around and do that internally, the best thing the players can do is play it and give us their honest feedback, with the technology test we will be creating a section on the forums for them to give feedback.

 

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Q: Are they infected or zombies? Will there be a variety of zombies?
A: They are infected, Deans brother (a virologist) prepared us a 12 page document on what the possible disease could be and it's awesome, reading that was like reading a prequel to 28 days later. As for different types of zombies we have considered the longer a zombie has been around the weaker it becomes, longer since it's eaten the weaker it becomes and things like that to add variety.

Q: What's the cost be of the standalone?
A: Between 15€ and 20€, at the moment it's looking to be about 18€.

Q: Will there be a scent mechanic for the zombies?
A: Well at the moment they are based on hearing and sight and at the moment there are no plans to implement smell.

Q: Any future plans to have stats, leaderboards etc (we saw concept art made by Joeyslucky at EuroGamer) since debug monitor has been removed?
A: Again we did have stats with the mod but because of the amount of requests to the database server it destroyed the server, absolutely obliterated it. It's something we would like to do again if we can do it within technical constraints then we will but as to when we can do that it depends.

Q: Are zombies going to be more difficult?
A: Sort of, zombies are more likely to run in more of a direct line (once we have dealt with the AI) but we will also increase the speed of them.

Q: Will in-game communication be the same as the mod, direct, side chat or some use of radios?
A: Initially to start off with we would like to see what happened with the mod so where you can only speak to people with direct chat, I think to be honest it made the game more tense and ultimately scary when you came across someone else talking, as for radios and things again that would be an iteration after release.

Q: Related to voice will we finally be getting the option to disable voice, especially on side-chat?
A: There isn't an option to do that currently but I will pass that along to Dean, I think side chat makes it slightly too easy.

Q: Is anything going to be done with the loot spawning system and loot farming?
A: It's going to be so much cooler, so much cooler, imagine you are in a workshop (that may have been added as a new building to DayZ), in that workshop is a table, that table has several shelves, there could be something on any of those shelves, you might have to look under beds, in cupboards, drawers so it will make looting much more difficult and inside the buildings as well they won't always be in the same place.

 

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Here is the video