Development on the standalone version of the DayZ mod has snowballed into more intense territory than anticipated. DayZ creator Dean Hall has posted an update on the DayZ blog to say that "The experience will be entirely new. There is virtually nothing that has been directly ported from the mod, everything has been redone. This wasn't our original intention (hence the December deadline) - but it has evolved this way. We're all glad it has!" Read on to find out what the team's been tinkering with.
Hall says that character development is "the absolute core of our current design efforts." New models for ethnic female characters have been added, and there's more to come. "Until initial release, the vast majority of our efforts will be with expanding options for developing and customizing your character."
Meanwhile, DayZ's lead programmer is shifting the multiplayer engine to a "server-client MMO mode," which will add a bit of much-needed stability. If you want to run games for your community, good news: "Private servers will be supported."
Designer Ivan Buchta has also rejoined the team after the Greece ordeal , and is working on renovating the DayZ's island. You can see the results in the latest DayZ screenshots below, spotted by Kotaku
