“Put simply, DayZ Standalone isn’t here because we had the chance to go from making a game that was just the mod improved slightly, packaged simply, and sold – to actually redeveloping the engine and making the game the way we all dreamed it could be,” Hall wrote. The plan now, he says, is to “immanently” release a closed test for 500 – 1,000 people, before rescheduling the date for the public release.
“You scavenge for items now, as individual parts, picking up pieces rather than piles, looking for cans on shelves or under beds. The new system opens the door for durability of items, disease tracking (cholera lingering on clothes a player wears…), batteries, addon components, and much more. If you shoot a player in the head to take his night vision, you will damage the night vision. The changes to this inventory system are huge.”
Hall does note that progress on revising DayZ’s island home of Chernarus has been slowed, due to the arrest and imprisonment of Ivan Buchta on charges of espionage in Greece. “Luckily,” he notes, “through letters, Ivan is able to provide some input and insight into the development of the map. Regardless, the continued imprisonment of him and Martin Pezlar has a significant impact on our ability to redevelop Chernarus.”
http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/01/07/dayz-standalone-delay-explained-engine-improvements-detailed/