Update: DayZ Standalone has been released! Check out our DayZ section for more information and some very useful hints, tips and tricks.

According to DayZ creator Dean "Rocket" Hall, the standalone alpha release of DayZ is almost here. "It's very, very, very close," said Hall. "We need to get it out because we need feedback on the systems we've designed." The game will launch as a paid alpha, then as a beta until its final release. DayZ Standalone is aiming to fix everything that is wrong with the mod for Arma 2 and will add new exciting features. One feature is the ability to build things like in Minecraft. Another feature is a Red Faction-like destruction mechanic in the game world:

"So in Skyrim you walk up to a dungeon entrance, you look at the door, hit the button, and it transports you to that instance, that’s kind of what we are looking at for underground construction. So you would go up to the grate in the ground, go up to this hole, and you’d dig out that hole yourself. That instanced-style construction offers us maximum flexibility without too many strings. Also, having the construction occur in a separate world to the battleground is a good idea because it allows us to be a lot more creative. You could dig things out, Red Faction style, and expand that structure over time, maybe build a hydroponics lab, have a generator, air conditioning, concrete it, have it collapse, those kinds of things."

Here is the full interview with Dean from E3 2013: