At long last, early access to the standalone version of Bohemia Interactive’s popular zombie-survival mod DayZ has begun.

The alpha build of DayZ Standalone of is now available to download on Steam or the studio’s official website for $29.99 or € 21.77.

Here’s what you get, and here’s what’s in store for the alpha:

DayZ Alpha Key Features

• Chernarus – 230 sq. km chunk of post soviet state, featuring deep forests, cities, villages, abandoned military bases, and more..
• Up to 40 players per server – Rich server / client architecture developed from scratch.
• Persistent player profile – Key player data is persistent across all servers.
• Inventory – Combine various clothing items, equipment and carry all of the items that you will need to survive the harsh new environment in the open and intuitive inventory system developed to answer the needs of crafting and character customization.
• Crafting – In the apocalyptic world of DayZ, resources are sparse and every useful bit should be utilized. Items or equipment can be improved, turned into something else or fixed using the new crafting mechanisms.
• Weapon customization – Use customizable firearms with authentic ballistics and weapon characteristics as well as melee weapons to protect yourself against all the dangers a survivor may face.
• Customizable clothing – Customize your survivor with a multitude of new clothing items that can be scavenged from the remnants of civilization, which provide various degree of protection against the elements, infected, and other survivors.

Currently Planned Key Features

• Playable vehicles
• Wide variety of native animal life
• Player created constructions in the environment
• Extensive interactions with the environment and crafting options
• Streamlined user actions and interface
• Upgraded graphics and physics engine (including ragdoll, etc.)
• Control and animations expanded and improved for fluidity
• Support of user mods

System Specs

Minimum:

• OS: Windows Vista SP2 or Windows 7 SP1
• Processor: Intel Dual-Core 2.4 GHz or AMD Dual-Core Athlon 2.5 GHz
• Memory: 2 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce 8800GT or AMD Radeon HD 3830 or Intel HD Graphics 4000 with 512 MB VRAM
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 10 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible

Recommended:

• OS: Windows 7 SP1
• Processor: Intel Core i5-2300 or AMD Phenom II X4 940 or better
• Memory: 4 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 560 or AMD Radeon HD 7750 with 1 GB VRAM or better
• DirectX: Version 9.0c
• Hard Drive: 14 GB available space
• Sound Card: DirectX®-compatible

More Screens

Also, note the official warnings:

“DayZ Early Access is your chance to experience DayZ as it evolves throughout its development process. Be aware that our Early Access offer is a representation of our core pillars, and the framework we have created around them. It is a work in progress and therefore contains a variety of bugs. We strongly advise you not to buy and play the game at this stage unless you clearly understand what Early Access means and are interested in participating in the ongoing development cycle.”

“WARNING: THIS GAME IS EARLY ACCESS ALPHA. PLEASE DO NOT PURCHASE IT UNLESS YOU WANT TO ACTIVELY SUPPORT DEVELOPMENT OF THE GAME AND ARE PREPARED TO HANDLE WITH SERIOUS ISSUES AND POSSIBLE INTERRUPTIONS OF GAME FUNCTIONING.”

It’s time to revisit Chernarus!