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[Men_in_Boxes]

Three members of the Embark ARC Raiders development team gave an interview at TwitchCon a few days ago. There's some pretty interesting nuggets here for anyone interested in the game.



Highlights:

- The PvE aspect of the game is very similar to how it was before it became an Extraction Shooter.
- Quests will never force players to PvP. Game is designed to attract "PvE players".
- Loot will be spawned in PoI environments that make sense thematically. Loot is not 100% random. Eg. If you want heals, head to the hospital.
- The No Wipe Expedition Project system is designed to get a large percentage of players involved. If you engage with the game "moderately" during those 8 weeks, you have a chance to reap the rewards.
- The retro futuristic aesthetic may have been inspired by developers ages. The studio wanted ARC Raiders to look 1979.
- ARC bots were initially designed to look "sleek", they dialed that back to highlight ARC weak points.
- Game used to have health bars and damage numbers. They removed them so players would feel immersed in the game.
- Mission Statement: Why make the game beautiful if you're just looking at the HUD?
- Enemy names are supposed to give players an idea of what they do. Eg Wasp, Hornet, Fireball, Pop.
- PvE will influence all maps. No player only maps.
- Augment system is one of the most recent additions to the game. (I anticipate this system will influence the bolded)
- Embark didn't expect the response to Tech Test 2.
- Embark is aiming for ARC Raiders to be a "10 year game". New maps, quests, enemies, weapons are planned.
- Scrappy is a rooster because the asset was lying around and they wanted to save time.
- The audience claps 2x for Embark Studios because they make fun games. I found this weird.
- One year ago, Embark started talking about what the next evolution of what ARC Raiders could be. They want to reuse the assets in a way that isn't Extraction (paraphrasing). Developer strongly implies that he feels it would be a waste if ARC Raiders remains...an Extraction game? This was probably the most interesting response in the interview as the other two developers nodded in agreement when he said this. This implies the studio already has a strong vision for what this means. Answer begins at 1:01:48 if anyone is interested.


Here's someone with experience in game development (allegedly) commenting on the above interview...

 

[Unrivaledx88]

Perfect the way it is . Love their response

 

[nemiroff]

That's mostly not my experience after playing it, and watching others playing it. I can't see much appeal here for PvE style players. It feels somewhat well crafted though, I'll give them that.

 

[PonyStation4]

Did they explain why hiding in bushes is useless? High vs low settings

 

[vdb]

I would prefer PvE only but I'll probably pick it up. The server slam was decent enough.

 

[panda-zebra]

- Quests will never force players to PvP. Game is designed to attract "PvE players".

The objective of a quest won't ever say "go kill 5 raiders", that should be a given. Doesn't really make much difference when it turns out it's the easiest and most efficient way to get good loot is let someone go rummage and scrounge for it and then kill them.
Not sure what they're offering is at all compelling to "PvE players".

- Embark is aiming for ARC Raiders to be a "10 year game". New maps, quests, enemies, weapons are planned.

That magic 10 year number - we might have heard that one before.

If you're making that kind of game with that level of investment, of course you have an outline of a plan of what it will look like many years from now. Hopefully they've got more than a few scribbles on the back of an envelope like Bungie seemingly had to cobble things together with over the years.

- One year ago, Embark started talking about what the next evolution of what ARC Raiders could be. They want to reuse the assets in a way that isn't Extraction (paraphrasing). Developer strongly implies that he feels it would be a waste if ARC Raiders remains...an Extraction game? This was probably the most interesting response in the interview as the other two developers nodded in agreement when he said this. This implies the studio already has a strong vision for what this means. Answer begins at 1:01:48 if anyone is interested.

That tells me they know what the game offers isn't enough and they know they need to expand on wht is effectively just one game mode in other games, but the whole deal in theirs. Probably means leaning more into the kind of game it was originally designed as, a looter shooter.

It's obvious why they flipped to extraction from looter shooter and it wasn't because "it wasn't fun" - it's because it's a lot more work and manpower, and there was hype around extraction back then. There's a lot less scripted, planned, controlled, narrative-driven work and flow in producing a decent sandbox that lets streamers and players make the case for a compelling game loop experience by just dropping them in it, instead of actually contriving one that works. Formulating a game, building and scripting those repetitive missions to be grinded endlessly, all takes time, effort, testing and iteration to get right, and arguably nobody even has to a truly effective extent.

 

[GymWolf]

Make it pve only and not extraction and i could give it a longer try.

Enemy design is generic as fuck but shooting them feels good.

 

[bighugeguns]

It's rare to catch Swedish video game people speaking on camera, special video, legendary devs. Hope their game does well.

 

[Forth]

All answers that made me smile.
I loved my time with the game and lucky for Bungie I'm now far more interested in Marathon.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

The objective of a quest won't ever say "go kill 5 raiders", that should be a given. Doesn't really make much difference when it turns out it's the easiest and most efficient way to get good loot is let someone go rummage and scrounge for it and then kill them.
Not sure what they're offering is at all compelling to "PvE players".

I've already read numerous responses from people saying "I don't usually like PvP games but this one just clicked for me". Embark is clearly doing something right. I'd also expect certain augments and gadgets to cater towards PvE playstyles in the final game. This is a killer idea and will help the game attract a much larger audience.

It's obvious why they flipped to extraction from looter shooter and it wasn't because "it wasn't fun" - it's because it's a lot more work and manpower, and there was hype around extraction back then. There's a lot less scripted, planned, controlled, narrative-driven work and flow in producing a decent sandbox that lets streamers and players make the case for a compelling game loop experience by just dropping them in it, instead of actually contriving one that works. Formulating a game, building and scripting those repetitive missions to be grinded endlessly, all takes time, effort, testing and iteration to get right, and arguably nobody even has to a truly effective extent.

Don't forget that PvE seems to put a ceiling on your game in terms of total reach as well as longevity. Embark seems to have made the right call despite all the whining.

 

[corgiix3]

these games interest me but i feel like every time i try them i just feel like i never have ammo lol. Like i want to fight players and enemies in these extraction games but i just have to look for ammo... scared to waste the ammo.. then i die and waste the ammo i had lol

 

[Xbox 360 slim]

Three members of the Embark ARC Raiders development team gave an interview at TwitchCon a few days ago. There's some pretty interesting nuggets here for anyone interested in the game.



Highlights:

- The PvE aspect of the game is very similar to how it was before it became an Extraction Shooter.
- Quests will never force players to PvP. Game is designed to attract "PvE players".
- Loot will be spawned in PoI environments that make sense thematically. Loot is not 100% random. Eg. If you want heals, head to the hospital.
- The No Wipe Expedition Project system is designed to get a large percentage of players involved. If you engage with the game "moderately" during those 8 weeks, you have a chance to reap the rewards.
- The retro futuristic aesthetic may have been inspired by developers ages. The studio wanted ARC Raiders to look 1979.
- ARC bots were initially designed to look "sleek", they dialed that back to highlight ARC weak points.
- Game used to have health bars and damage numbers. They removed them so players would feel immersed in the game.
- Mission Statement: Why make the game beautiful if you're just looking at the HUD?
- Enemy names are supposed to give players an idea of what they do. Eg Wasp, Hornet, Fireball, Pop.
- PvE will influence all maps. No player only maps.
- Augment system is one of the most recent additions to the game. (I anticipate this system will influence the bolded)
- Embark didn't expect the response to Tech Test 2.
- Embark is aiming for ARC Raiders to be a "10 year game". New maps, quests, enemies, weapons are planned.
- Scrappy is a rooster because the asset was lying around and they wanted to save time.
- The audience claps 2x for Embark Studios because they make fun games. I found this weird.
- One year ago, Embark started talking about what the next evolution of what ARC Raiders could be. They want to reuse the assets in a way that isn't Extraction (paraphrasing). Developer strongly implies that he feels it would be a waste if ARC Raiders remains...an Extraction game? This was probably the most interesting response in the interview as the other two developers nodded in agreement when he said this. This implies the studio already has a strong vision for what this means. Answer begins at 1:01:48 if anyone is interested.


Here's someone with experience in game development (allegedly) commenting on the above interview...

Under 10k in 12 months

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

Under 10k in 12 months

 

[Xbox 360 slim]

I want this game to be big; but i've seen it too many times. Look at the cycle for example.

 

[Men_in_Boxes]

I want this game to be big; but i've seen it too many times. Look at the cycle for example.

You'll be pleased. This isn't The Cycle.