The recent release of DayZ Standalone allowed us to see it’s its popularity in the form of sales. Many of those buyers would have originally played DayZ’s original iteration, DayZ Mod, a mod based around ARMA II . Since the standalone is essentially the product the mod was leading up to, it is safe to assume that many players will have moved on from the mod, with the hope of establishing themselves in the version of the game that the developers had intended. However at these early stages of development, there are a lot of features that are yet to be implemented.

The latest build of DayZ Standalone is yet to have a lot of features, such as vehicles, with a lot of players thinking of such features as “end game” content. This is one of the biggest things wanted by the consumers right now, it wouldn’t surprise me if when vehicles are introduced, the sales of standalone rise again. If we look back at the history of DayZ to its mod counterpart, we can get an insight to some of the things we could expect in the future of the Standalone. Though the vehicle system in the mod was a little finicky, and the slightest bump on a tiny bit of rubble could cause a 3 hour search for a replacement tire, it still allows players to explore Chernarus (or any of the player added maps) at a rate that changed DayZ from a running simulator, to a roadtrip Sim instead. The introduction of vehicles really make team work easier. The best reason for a vehicle is that if you do lose a team mate to the various dastardly ways of bandits, then you know that you can high tail it back to the coast to pick them up before they get the urge to rage quit.

However vehicles are not the only thing missing from the Standalone. In fact one thing that is yet to be confirmed in the full release of standalone is mod support. Though the game got it’s its beginnings from a modified version of ARMA II, it is currently unclear on the dev teams intentions for releasing the tools necessary to modify the final version. The story is completely different in DayZ mod. That’s right, mods of mods. We are stepping into the confusing territory of modception. The basic DayZ Mod had a lot to offer, but as the majority of the ideas were coming from a small team, it is easy to understand how many features wouldn’t be covered. However hand over the reins to the community and you are sure to get all kinds of features you wouldn’t have expected.

There are many maps that have been created/ported for DayZ Mod, unleashing a whole range of environments for you to survive the zombie apocalypse within. From a personal standing ‘Namalsk’ is one of the best. It moves you to a barren waste, with military bases dotted all over the snowy topped mountains that reside across the map. The bases are there with a reason though, as the story of Namalsk is that a spaceship had crashed on the island, and forced scientists and military to move in. There are bunkers that research is meant to have taken place in, and one huge alien secret that players are able to find. There are also other additions in the form of an enemy that made it’s its fame in the S.T.A.L.K.E.R. Series, the invisible and terrifying BloodSucker.

If all this alien mumbo jumbo isn’t your cup of tea, and you just want to stick to the basics, I.E. shooting zeds, then DayZ Origins may be more up your street. Origins adds a whole lot more bang for your buck, introducing all kinds of mechanics, some more literally than others. You can strip parts away from vehicles and place them on your own, making trashed cars something worth stopping to check out. Origins also adds a military base off the coast of one of the islands, with NPC soldiers that patrol the outpost. Obviously having guards, means they are there to protect something, in this case it’s a stash of weapons. Though nowhere near as tricky to take down as other players, the soldiers add a large threat to infiltrating the island, and that’s if you can even find a vehicle able to take you there. Once you have grabbed yourself a kit worthy of removing dead heads and bandits alike, you will be ready to find and take on Patient Zero, the original zombie. Zero takes a lot more damage than his zombie brethren, and though it is possible to take him down solo, the noise you make doing so will probably end up stacking the odds against you. The last feature that you will be overjoyed to hear about is the ability to build yourself a home to keep your belongings in. It makes a safe place for you to return to after any death, and allows you to stash yourself some second life bonuses.

If all these extra features are a bit too much and you just want a harder version of the mod, then something like DayZ 2017 is probably more up your zombie infested street. Adding not much in terms of gameplay, but plenty in terms of setting, 2017 is set 5 years in the future (from the original release date) and allows players to live a more gritty version of DayZ mod. The weapon count in game is way lower and the chances of finding military gear have been lowered considerably, to an almost impossible level. Even finding food is a much bigger ordeal as the setting has made everything way more scarce. Along with the difficulty increase, comes the addition of being able to eat each other. That’s right, cannibalism adds a whole new element to player killing. As starvation is a massive threat, sometimes you have no choice but to hunker down and chow down on your closest amigo. In fact the first time I died whilst playing 2017, is when a German guy had allured me over to him, and caught me in his ambush. I was in total shock as 2 Germans apologised whilst cutting my unconscious body into pieces, only to eat me seconds later. At this point I wasn’t even aware that cannibalism was in the game, so my eager move toward the German, in hindsight, was a rather goofy move to make.

There is are so many more choices for mods within DayZ mod, including mods that feature barricading, the addition of new player models and vehicles, some that add new buildings to the already established Chernarus map, or completely new maps all together. This list is a great place to learn about the choice of mods, and DayZ Commander is the go to program for ease of access. Commander allows you to browse all available mods, and install them quickly and easily, along with keeping your copy up to date.

DayZ Standalone is set to be amazing, and many issues the mod had before have been addressed. But whilst we wait for some of the more interesting features to be implemented, DayZ mod still has plenty to offer, and will continue to do so as it is currently the only way for the community to implement their ideas into such a great base of the zombie survival genre. While the wait continues for the DayZ’s Standalone to reach it’s its completion, it’s important to remember there is two sides to this game and there is plenty on the DayZ plate for you to dip your fingers into.