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[th4tguy]

There is fake (all is rendered video created to look like gameplay) and then there is "fake", devs made a vertical slice where everything shown was specifically built just for the purpose of the video and nothing exists beyond the scope of the actions performed in the video but someone could pickup controls and run the character through the actions shown in the video.

If the second one, which from what I could tell is the case, that is pretty standard for the industry. Nothing to write home about.
If the first, then yeah that's not a great sign and could explain why the project was canceled

 

[kevboard]

you could clearly tell it wasn't fake. at worst it could have been a vertical slice that barely worked, but it was clearly a build that was playable.

faking gameplay with realistic player inputs is not easy and would have been obvious.

 

[poppabk]

you could clearly tell it wasn't fake. at worst it could have been a vertical slice that barely worked, but it was clearly a build that was playable.

faking gameplay with realistic player inputs is not easy and would have been obvious.

They have pulled it off flawlessly before:

Years later we found out this was faked, still hard to believe.

 

[mckmas8808]

The dev didn't debunk anything. He actually confirmed that it was fake. He is only arguing that it was not 100% fake.

Otherwise, what does "the hacking/deception is mostly real" even mean? What's "mostly real."

Also, the footage said "in-game footage". The dev confirmed it wasn't in-game, but it was "in-engine." The Witcher 4 PS5 demo was "in-engine." It is not real.

Really good point.

 

[SILKYSMOOTH30FPS]

it was not fake.

I saw that. Not 100% fake, just semi fake.

 

[rkofan87]

There is fake (all is rendered video created to look like gameplay) and then there is "fake", devs made a vertical slice where everything shown was specifically built just for the purpose of the video and nothing exists beyond the scope of the actions performed in the video but someone could pickup controls and run the character through the actions shown in the video.

If the second one, which from what I could tell is the case, that is pretty standard for the industry. Nothing to write home about.
If the first, then yeah that's not a great sign and could explain why the project was canceled

its 2 and imo i do not consider that fake.

 

[adamsapple]

I saw that. Not 100% fake, just semi fake.

Yes, like pretty much all trade show demos are, they all follow very tightly scripted things cause if the camera turns a little to the left than intended, it might break the coding of what they have.

eg, Naughty Dogs and The Last of Us 2's stage demo.

"Those were all real systems," Druckmann revealed to Kotaku. He went on to explain that an E3 demo is comprised of "complicated systems that are random" and it's the job of the developers to make "them deterministic." They do that by playing the slice many times and then choreographing it. "So we're showing off very specific things. But those are all real systems that players will experience when they play the game."

Bolded parts sound exactly like what this PD developer is saying.

The Last of Us 2 E3 2018 Gameplay Was Totally Real

Do you believe it?

screenrant.com

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Define "faked". Vertical slices that are edited down and played perfectly attuned to how the level was designed to show it off in the best light…is that fake? If so, then yes? But that's an odd definition.

Like mostly CGI passed off as in-engine vertical slice? That would of course be fake. But I don't think that's what that was.

Either way, I don't know why it matters now. They started working on the game in 2018, brought in freakin' Crystal Dynamics to work on it to help, and still had nothing close to a final product in seven years. That's just straight up poor management. No other way to spin it. Should've been canceled years ago, saved them a lot of time and money.

Same with Everwild. It was obvious in 2019 the game had no actual concept. Announced before any work had been done on it. 7 years later and finally a cancellation… just, yikes. Xbox has forgotten how to build and ship games, y'all.

Obsidian's like the only one that knows what the hell they're doing.

 

[rkofan87]

Define "faked". Vertical slices that are edited down and played perfectly attuned to how the level was designed to show it off in the best light…is that fake? If so, then yes? But that's an odd definition.

more or less what i said.

 

[SILKYSMOOTH30FPS]

Yes, like pretty much all trade show demos are, they all follow very tightly scripted things cause if the camera turns a little to the left than intended, it might break the coding of what they have.

eg, Naughty Dogs and The Last of Us 2's stage demo.



Bolded parts sound exactly like what this PD developer is saying.

The Last of Us 2 E3 2018 Gameplay Was Totally Real

Do you believe it?

screenrant.com

I said that the TLOU2 stage demo was fake 60sec into it when shown on stage. It looked way too good to be a ps4 game, and for the most part, too good for even ps5 standards. At least that demo looks amazing, visually and animations wise. Here, PD looked like a late Xbone game. All n all, both were fake, and only one of the two looked impressive.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

Yes, like pretty much all trade show demos are, they all follow very tightly scripted things cause if the camera turns a little to the left than intended, it might break the coding of what they have.

eg, Naughty Dogs and The Last of Us 2's stage demo.



Bolded parts sound exactly like what this PD developer is saying.

The Last of Us 2 E3 2018 Gameplay Was Totally Real

Do you believe it?

screenrant.com

In essence, this is like how basically most E3 demos of yore worked. Games come together many times in the final 6-12 months, so showing something at e3 the year before the game ships, behind the scenes things might be nowhere near there. And that's fine. That's how it works. Twilight Princess was just a mess of separate areas and systems. That final year after delaying into 2006 they figured out how to put it all together and try and form a coherent game.

 

[Dr. Wilkinson]

I said that the TLOU2 stage demo was fake 60sec into it when shown on stage. It looked way too good to be a ps4 game, and for the most part, too good for even ps5 standards. At least that demo looks amazing, visually and animations wise. Here, PD looked like a late Xbone game. All n all, both were fake, and only one of the two looked impressive.

E3 demos clearly state it's an unfinished work in progress and things are subject to change. E3 demos in particular in many cases were built just for the show, to drum up excitement. A lot of times they weren't indicative of the final game. But that's like, most games tho. That's why I'm not sure on simply cherry-picking PD and Last of Us 2. Neither of them are triumphant examples of disingenuous E3 demos.

Games always look better when they're first announced than when they do when they ship. Even with the death of e3, that really hasn't changed.

The 2017 Anthem demo at the Xbox E3 show. That would be an better example to illustrate your point. That game literally didn't exist outside of that made-for-E3 demo. There was no game, at that point. Whereas Perfect Dark had been in development for 6 years prior to the 2024 demo, and not only that, was being worked on not just by The Initiative but also Crystal Dynamics.

 

[tylrdiablos]

Fake or not... this seems like another reason to add Kotaku to your Windows Hosts file or whatever your preferred method of blocking a site is.

 

[Haint]

FYI, an Initiative dev has debunked this.

The footage was in-engine but heavily scripted, no different than most game play demos at these trade shows and/or streams.

It's another Kotaku L.

More of a W than an L, confirming multiple key gameplay systems were indeed "mostly fake" after (then) 6 years. What's more if they actually had any notable or worthwhile content beyond this small canned demo area, we can logically infer this "debunker insider" would be waxing poetic about all the other great content, or the nearly complete game MS just axed.

 

[Jigsaah]

But those games released and didn't waste 7 years of fucking nothing.

I said....fire....them

 

[Chittagong]

I said....fire....they/them

FTFY

 

[Negotiator101]

Define "faked". Vertical slices that are edited down and played perfectly attuned to how the level was designed to show it off in the best light…is that fake? If so, then yes? But that's an odd definition.

Like mostly CGI passed off as in-engine vertical slice? That would of course be fake. But I don't think that's what that was.

Either way, I don't know why it matters now. They started working on the game in 2018, brought in freakin' Crystal Dynamics to work on it to help, and still had nothing close to a final product in seven years. That's just straight up poor management. No other way to spin it. Should've been canceled years ago, saved them a lot of time and money.

Same with Everwild. It was obvious in 2019 the game had no actual concept. Announced before any work had been done on it. 7 years later and finally a cancellation… just, yikes. Xbox has forgotten how to build and ship games, y'all.

Obsidian's like the only one that knows what the hell they're doing.

Obsidian are doing unbelievable work lately, I'd say it's up there with Insomniac earlier in the generation. The Initiative basically failed even with CD helping and that's not good enough. As for Rare well they're basically a SoT studio now and I guess it's making enough to keep them around.

The Coalition will deliver 100% as will Playground with Fable and Forza. 343 I've lost faith in to be honest but I suppose there is some hope with the change to Unreal 5.

From the showcase is was Clockwork Revolution that really impressed me and it could be something special. It's certainly not all doom and gloom as far as the games are concerned.

 

[Jigsaah]

FTFY

Very funny.

 

[Killer8]

Fake or not, don't care - it was NOT the Perfect Dark I know and love.

 

[Panajev2001a]

More of a W than an L, confirming multiple key gameplay systems were indeed "mostly fake" after (then) 6 years. What's more if they actually had any notable or worthwhile content beyond this small canned demo area, we can logically infer this "debunker insider" would be waxing poetic about all the other great content, or the nearly complete game MS just axed.

Yeah, agreed. That was not really delivering the point some people thought it would .