The announcement of The Day Before attracted a lot of attention: the gameplay videos of the MMO survival game look more than decent. But how did a studio with not the most extensive experience take on such an ambitious project?
Disclaimer: This interview was taken in 2011, long before the game's eventual epic failure and the public disgrace of its developers.
The Yakut developers don't have many completed projects under their belt, but they're not exactly inexperienced. In 2018, the studio released the multiplayer action horror DEAD DOZEN and a much more interesting (albeit very short) adventure Radiant One, and in 2019, they created a really cool survival The Wild Eight. However, no matter how good Fntastic's previous project was, it's far from the ambitions of The Day Before.
The Day Before is the greatest product we've ever created at Fntastic. Almost 16,800 hours have passed since the first line of code was written, and we are truly happy that we spent this part of our lives creating the game of our dreams — one that we ourselves would play in the evenings over warm tea. We did not dare to take bold steps, we just do our job to the maximum and intend to give players the best product
Obviously, 16,800 hours include the work of the entire team, because it is known that work on The Day Before began two years ago. Do not forget that we are talking about a large-scale MMO, where there is room for shooting, stealth, crafting, camping, moving on transport, dynamic weather changes, survival and much more — Fntastic has a lot to do. But all of this also requires a solid budget…
The creation of such a large game was made possible thanks to our partnership with the publisher MyTona. We do not plan to collect pre-orders or go to Kickstarter
MyTona is another Yakut company that develops and publishes mobile free-to-play games, and with success. For example, Seekers Notes, one of MyTona's most successful projects, is in the top 50 highest-grossing games for iPad in the US. However, does this mean that the company can easily afford to finance an MMO that requires tens of millions of dollars? It is unclear. Of course, MyTona could have attracted funds from other investors, but questions about the financial side of development still remain.
If you focus on the gameplay videos, The Day Before is undoubtedly impressive. The first thing that catches your eye is the detailed American city. Of course, some people are tired of the setting since The Division, and many Russian gamers would not mind surviving not in post-apocalyptic America, but, for example, in frozen Yakutia. However, the developers have their own opinion on this matter.
We chose America because we believe that it has its own unique atmosphere, which was created by Hollywood. Imagine that you survive and run from hordes of hungry dead among abandoned skyscrapers, explore huge shopping malls and cozy shops. Can you imagine zombies in post-apocalyptic frosty Yakutsk? Even if they were wearing earflaps (laughs), it would still come down to surviving in the cold
From the gameplay videos, it is clear that the undead attack in crowds, behave actively and eagerly fill abandoned buildings. It is known that zombies will differ from each other, and encounters with them will become deadly tests.
Let's imagine that a zombie apocalypse has come to your city. Who will you see? A proudly walking three-meter zombie in a cloak or an ordinary person with pale skin and crazy eyes who runs headlong to tear you apart? For us, the second option sounds more plausible, so we divided the infected into realistic varieties, for example, by body type. Zombies react to sounds and rely on sight, and by the way, if you are overloaded, you will make more noise, and the chance of being heard will increase. Each encounter with the infected may be the last. It is important for us to convey the same sensations from meeting a zombie, as if it happened in real life
Not only enemies will differ in the brainchild of Fntastic, but also character builds. So far, the developers are in no hurry to reveal the details of the role-playing system, but they promise surprises.
We approached this differently than in other games. It is important for us to give the player freedom of choice and maximum immersion in the world of the post-apocalypse, not limited to classes and character parameters. We will tell you more about this in our future videos
It is worth noting that we will be allowed not only to shoot, but also to pass locations «by stealth». At the same time, according to the developers, the stealth mechanics will be at least decent.
There are two parameters that affect detection: hearing and vision. If you run headlong and knock down all the doors in the house, the noise level will rise, and you will definitely be noticed. At the same time, if the wind is howling outside at this time, it will already drown out some of your sounds
The changing weather in the gameplay video looks especially interesting: a light breeze gives way to a blizzard, which significantly complicates combat and forces you to seek shelter in a business center. It seems that weather conditions will play a crucial role in survival and will become allies in stealth play.
Dynamic weather and time of day changes, the appearance of a storm — all this is only a small part of the details that make the world of The Day Before realistic and unpredictable. Wake up in the morning and make yourself a cup of coffee over a fire, and at night, if you are lucky and it starts snowing, the wind will muffle all sounds, and you will be able to easily sneak into any place, even the most dangerous ones, unnoticed. The main thing is not to get caught in a storm, because even the best-equipped players will not last more than five minutes outside
The interface shows icons for energy, temperature, and dehydration — you will have to closely monitor these parameters to survive in the post-apocalyptic world. Everything is like in the best representatives of the genre.
You can drink tea from your thermos to quench your thirst, and if you suddenly get hungry, you can always roast your companion (laughs). The game has many impressive mechanics that make the survival process truly interesting and fun. Hunger, thirst, and temperature are necessary for real immersion in the game world. We made the frequency of replenishment as comfortable as possible, but ultimately it all depends on the player: how often he takes damage, what terrain he is in, what weather, what food he eats, and so on. It is important to monitor your indicators, for example, if the hero is exhausted, he will receive periodic damage until he eats
In the videos, the hero had to craft essential items. It seems that crafting will be a simplified mechanic (in the manner of The Last of Us — another clone of Minecraft you can't expect), but an important one.
You are unlikely to be able to create a spaceship, but you will definitely be able to make basic things for survival. We are for ease of learning and do not want to burden the player with thousands of crafted items. When creating the craft, we were guided primarily by realism and the degree of importance of the item and left only those that any person could make in real life if the apocalypse happened
In the hero's inventory, you could see a lot of different junk, like a comic book and a watch — some items will be needed not only for crafting, but also for sale.
As for comics, watches and other items, they are things for sale. But there are also things that instead of selling you can use inside, so to speak, for a fun pastime
Recently, the developers posted a new gameplay video, which is dedicated to driving transport — it looks no worse than in the best off-road simulators. Just in case, we clarified whether transport will be overboard in the final version of the game?
The game will not only have regular cars, but also armored vehicles. Just imagine: we are walking along the lifeless streets of the city, and skyscrapers that were once teeming with people hang over us, we have assault rifles of the latest class... and suddenly we see a humming armored vehicle, the crew of which also notices us! To fight such an enemy, a completely different approach will be needed
Already on the day of the announcement, gamers began to compare The Day Before with many other projects: the similarities with The Division and The Last of Us are especially noticeable. The developers have an answer to this, too.
This has already been in The Simpsons! Indeed, many people from all over the world note the similarities between The Day Before and The Division, as well as The Last of Us. It's great to hear that, because The Division's New York City is one of the most beautiful and atmospheric locations ever created in a video game, and the animations in The Last of Us are an undisputed benchmark for quality. So, of course, we're inspired by their strengths, but we're not trying to copy anyone. We are moving towards creating the best version of The Day Before that we could have
We must not forget that The Day Before is first and foremost an MMO, which means we will often have to fight with real players. In this regard, the project will not be like The Division with its black zones.
You can meet anyone and anywhere, there are no dark or white zones in the game, the whole world is completely open to you
The game runs on the latest version of Unreal Engine, and the graphics look just great. Will there be a downgrade in the release version?
We intend to raise the MMO survival genre to a whole new level! We are constantly improving the game, including graphics and animations, every week our team makes new breakthroughs to give players the highest quality game
At the end of the video, a promising «coming soon» appears. I wonder when this «soon» will come? Well, the developers' answer is encouraging.
We are racing at full speed to give players the opportunity to start playing The Day Before this year
Judging by the wording, we are talking about early access. How much content will be in it is unknown. However, even the most modest beta released in 2021 will be a real gift for everyone.
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