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For those needing context, The Day Before is a survival style game. (shooters usually, limited supplies, always hostile zones with NPC enemies and player enemie

by csydas 3y ago

For those needing context, The Day Before is a survival style game. (shooters usually, limited supplies, always hostile zones with NPC enemies and player enemies (usually) The genre is fair well established so there were many comparisons during development to existing games in the genre and some hiccups during development [0] and some ethical concerns [0]. Prior to the release, the Dev Team for the game released a statement preparing players that the game has issues, and trying to quash claims of the game being a scam [1] I have not followed this game's development personally, but when I first read about it on another forum this is the context I wish I had. 0 - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Before_(video_game)#Development https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Day_Before_(video_game)#De... 1 - https://twitter.com/FntasticHQ/status/1731680871856369689#m https://twitter.com/FntasticHQ/status/1731680871856369689#m edit: fixed formatting on citations.

Springtime 3y ago
Two additional specifics: it was the second-most wishlisted game on Steam prior to release and upon release customers discovered that it was essentially a different genre of game than was marketed, along with being buggy and much smaller in scope. This led to mass negative reviews and refunds and calls of it being a scam, which the company denied.
- rmccue 3y ago
  Also, supposedly large amounts of the game are basically just assets off the Unreal Marketplace, eg: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/american-city-packs-bundle https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/ameri...
  - myself248 3y ago
    That in itself doesn't seem particularly damning; what is the purpose of a marketplace except to save game designers from having to reinvent the wheel? Surely there's more to the accusation, but I don't see how "paying someone else to design part of your video game and then selling a game with those parts in it" would be in any way shocking.
    - numbsafari 3y ago
      Seems like a smart way to get the important parts of game play down and some traction and then have the money and capacity to focus on bespoke DLC.
    - duskwuff 3y ago
      On one hand, yes. Video games use stock assets. That part isn't surprising; other forms of media do the same (stock photos, sound effects, video, etc) and it's hardly remarkable when they do. On the other hand, it's also expected that the developer of a new video game bring some amount of new material to the table. A video game is meant to be a creative work with a distinctive flavor of its own, not simply a collection of assets -- and, from the sound of it, the latter is essentially what The Day Before is.
      - 0x457 3y ago
        You can make a fun game with minimal own assets. However, making a game that way shouldn't result in insolvency.
      - red-iron-pine 3y ago
        do we expect a chef to grow all of his own wheat, grind all the flour, sift it, and then make all of the bread? nah, unless it's a main push they'll buy from a B2B bakery down the street. even restaurants where most stuff is bought from Sysco can be pretty dang amazing, because the magic is the cooking and blending of elements. The Day Before is just hype and BS. the gaming industry is now bigger than movies and there is just as much graft and hustle as anywhere.
        duskwuff 3y ago
        > do we expect a chef to grow all of his own wheat, grind all the flour, sift it, and then make all of the bread? No. But -- to continue with the metaphor -- we don't expect them to be reheating TV dinners in the kitchen and calling them gourmet meals either.
    - ncallaway 3y ago
School-Cotton 3y ago
What is an asset flip?
- JohnMakin 3y ago
  It's basically this - purchase a bunch of "assets" (3d models, plugins, etc) off unreal marketplace, cobble them together with duct tape and superglue, and release it , hoping to at least recover the cost of the assets you purchased + profit.
- neogodless 3y ago
  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip > An asset flip is a type of shovelware in which a video game developer legally purchases pre-made assets and uses them to create numerous permutations of generic games and sell them at low prices. In this case, maybe not "numerous permutations", but throwing together the (presumably purchased) assets with the bare minimum components of a video game.
- starburst 3y ago
  Assets Flip is when you replace the assets in a game with other assets and sell it under a different name. Usually from a demo project or even from a complete game that was "stole". This game simply used a bunch of assets that were bought on the unreal asset store which is different and tbh completely fair especially with a small dev team.
  - duskwuff 3y ago
    As an aside, the studio's previous game, "Propnight", was a pretty blatant asset flip as well. The only difference was that it was an unambitious $10 hide-and-seek game; no one expected much from it.
spzb 3y ago
It's hilariously buggy too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRS-ilp_Sf4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRS-ilp_Sf4

by csydas 3y ago

Springtime 3y ago

Two additional specifics: it was the second-most wishlisted game on Steam prior to release and upon release customers discovered that it was essentially a different genre of game than was marketed, along with being buggy and much smaller in scope. This led to mass negative reviews and refunds and calls of it being a scam, which the company denied.

rmccue 3y ago
Also, supposedly large amounts of the game are basically just assets off the Unreal Marketplace, eg: https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/american-city-packs-bundle https://www.unrealengine.com/marketplace/en-US/product/ameri...
- myself248 3y ago
  That in itself doesn't seem particularly damning; what is the purpose of a marketplace except to save game designers from having to reinvent the wheel? Surely there's more to the accusation, but I don't see how "paying someone else to design part of your video game and then selling a game with those parts in it" would be in any way shocking.
  - numbsafari 3y ago
    Seems like a smart way to get the important parts of game play down and some traction and then have the money and capacity to focus on bespoke DLC.
  - duskwuff 3y ago
    On one hand, yes. Video games use stock assets. That part isn't surprising; other forms of media do the same (stock photos, sound effects, video, etc) and it's hardly remarkable when they do. On the other hand, it's also expected that the developer of a new video game bring some amount of new material to the table. A video game is meant to be a creative work with a distinctive flavor of its own, not simply a collection of assets -- and, from the sound of it, the latter is essentially what The Day Before is.
    - 0x457 3y ago
      You can make a fun game with minimal own assets. However, making a game that way shouldn't result in insolvency.
    - red-iron-pine 3y ago
      do we expect a chef to grow all of his own wheat, grind all the flour, sift it, and then make all of the bread? nah, unless it's a main push they'll buy from a B2B bakery down the street. even restaurants where most stuff is bought from Sysco can be pretty dang amazing, because the magic is the cooking and blending of elements. The Day Before is just hype and BS. the gaming industry is now bigger than movies and there is just as much graft and hustle as anywhere.
      - duskwuff 3y ago
        > do we expect a chef to grow all of his own wheat, grind all the flour, sift it, and then make all of the bread? No. But -- to continue with the metaphor -- we don't expect them to be reheating TV dinners in the kitchen and calling them gourmet meals either.
  - ncallaway 3y ago

School-Cotton 3y ago

What is an asset flip?

JohnMakin 3y ago
It's basically this - purchase a bunch of "assets" (3d models, plugins, etc) off unreal marketplace, cobble them together with duct tape and superglue, and release it , hoping to at least recover the cost of the assets you purchased + profit.
neogodless 3y ago
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Asset_flip > An asset flip is a type of shovelware in which a video game developer legally purchases pre-made assets and uses them to create numerous permutations of generic games and sell them at low prices. In this case, maybe not "numerous permutations", but throwing together the (presumably purchased) assets with the bare minimum components of a video game.
starburst 3y ago
Assets Flip is when you replace the assets in a game with other assets and sell it under a different name. Usually from a demo project or even from a complete game that was "stole". This game simply used a bunch of assets that were bought on the unreal asset store which is different and tbh completely fair especially with a small dev team.
- duskwuff 3y ago
  As an aside, the studio's previous game, "Propnight", was a pretty blatant asset flip as well. The only difference was that it was an unambitious $10 hide-and-seek game; no one expected much from it.

spzb 3y ago

It's hilariously buggy too https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRS-ilp_Sf4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YRS-ilp_Sf4