This week Dean “Rocket” Hall, creator of ArmA2 mod and eventual standalone game DayZ, answered questions on the Reddit community IAmA (a community for “AMA’s” — Ask Me Anything).
One of the most interesting parts of the Reddit exchange is where Dean revealed that rapper Jay-Z’s lawyers contacted them about changing the name of their game, after Redditor jeppeake suggested that he name his son “Jay-Z.”
Jay-Z’s lawyers tried to get us to stop using DayZ and change it to ZDay, actually. We declined. But it did make me laugh.
It’s not clear that there was any further movement by his lawyers to shut down DayZ or otherwise alter the games’ name, but it’s an interesting footnote in the history of the game.
Discussion in his AMA centered predominately around his increasingly popular game as well as his summit of Mt. Everest last year. Here are some choice questions and answers from the conversation:
Important_Opinion asks:
Hi Rocket, thanks for the AMA.
Have you considered putting something into the game that would take time teamwork and resources to achieve?
I was thinking of things such as getting a power station running, fortifying buildings, Clearing a disused mine shaft, etc.
Dean Hall (rocket2guns) responded:
Yes, this kind of endgame stuff is quite key to what we want to do. However, in order to do this we have to perfect the architecture which is what we are doing now. Certainly I think underground bases and advanced vehicles will allow some of this really exciting and “eve” style play.
DeathNinjaBlackPenis asks:
Hey Rocket. A few weeks ago you tweeted about how now you’ll be able to make games you always wanted to make that people said were too niche. Can you drop some hints as to what kinds of games you have in mind.
Dean Hall (rocket2guns) responded:
I really have to focus on multiplayer games, that allow the player to choose the groups they form organically with the freedom to do most things. I like games that have a persistent ongoing nature. These are the games I mostly want to focus on. Can’t really offer to many more hints because I don’t want someone else to make it before I can start!
SLUT_MUFFIN asks:
What’s been the toughest challenge you’ve been met with during the production process so far?
Dean Hall (rocket2guns) responded:
The hardest thing has probably to have kept focus on actually developing the game right. In other words, not getting distracted with everything outside of the development (PR stuff etc…) as well as getting distracted from the core design etc…
k0ntraband asks:
What has been more difficult: creating a stable and wildly entertaining game or climbing everest?
Dean Hall (rocket2guns) responded:
the game is much, much harder. Probably because the buck stops with me. When climbing, I wasn’t the leader. When something goes wrong with DayZ, I’m the one person who can’t avoid the issue or pass it on to someone else. While I certainly don’t do everything, I’m totally personally responsible for everything that happens. That makes me work very hard at it.
There are plenty more questions and answers on the official DayZ Reddit AMA, and if you’re a fan of the game or development in general, definitely check it out.
