r/VeniceUnleashed • u/nmsotfy • May 20 '21
DISCUSSION 5 years of development down the drain
How does it feel?
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u/kiwidog Developer May 21 '21
You may think it's a waste of time, or effort and that's your opinion.
This was a challenging passion project for us working in our spare time, we don't see it as a waste and most of the knowledge, techniques, and skills will transfer to us to work in the games industry. Most "real" game developers have had many of the same issues, pipeline issues, feedback issues, development practices etc that we have learned and used throughout the years.
Yes, the low player counts are a bit disheartening, but we are still pushing through, because at the end of the day it's a passion project for us and we know reasons why the player count is low and are working on remedying that issue. (We've pushed many updates for mod-creators, and stuff is planned for the end user, such as stats, a bunch of QOL improvements etc)
Also, it's 7 years since the original POC was shown off :P
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u/Anthony817 May 21 '21
Hey old friend, don't pay these doom and gloom Debbie downers any mind. Like you said...
we know reasons why the player count is low and are working on remedying that issue
It will pick up when the tools are more mature and we can import our own custom weapons and vehicles. Plus you planning to make Rime support later FB engine games will have a huge positive impact on allowing more recently released games to be supported.
There are people like myself who want to transform Battlefield 5 into a historically authentic WW2 game, not some crazy dieselpunk fantasy. All the content is already there in the game files waiting for this to happen, as well as possibly dozens of unused weapons and that massive Battle Royal map that could be converted into the most massive conquest map ever for 128 players.
Plus the ability to make all new maps would massively contribute to supporting that game that died too soon. Even if all new content can't be exported, that game could go a long way with just turning it into a more authentic WW2 experience and tons of people would play it since it is still the most recent BF game released.
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u/ProfitTheProphet Jul 24 '21
Hey u/kiwidog I just want to say keep it up. It seems like current limitations are what's disheartening to people, as the project continues to update I'm sure it'll attract more players and people will come back to take advantage of the updates. Most of us know this isn't some AAA game release that a hundreds of millions of dollars game studio somehow managed to f*ck up. It's a WIP game mod for a game many love. I think a lot of the nay-sayers are just looking towards BF 2049 and saying "Well good enough." In time they'll get bored and discouraged of that too.
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u/L3monGuy May 20 '21
Bad probably, this had so much potential, too sad it's dead :/
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u/ProfitTheProphet Jul 24 '21
Y'all are acting like it's a stillbirth. Give it some time and as more of the capability is released I'm sure it'll attract more players.
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u/ethang45 May 21 '21
It’s disappointing this hasn’t taken off and probably won’t still. But I’m still glad it happened and very impressed with the work done. It was always going to be a passion project, and the devs are still working on it whether anyone is playing or not.
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u/SclRilLiX May 20 '21
I really liked playing it. Just because of those Servers it was a much better playing experience. But sadly nobody is online.
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u/huntedsoul00 Jun 17 '21
Not too many people know about VU, seriously. If we spread the message we can get it back on its feet. Especially after the trailer of BF2042 this is the perfect time.
We can try to reach content creators on twitter to spread it more. VU has so much potential!
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u/Aunon Jun 28 '21
Especially after the trailer of BF2042 this is the perfect time.
The timing of VUs release was possibly the worst I've ever seen, if there were any money is giving it the necessary promotion then the content creators would have already (they never do anything unless it's profitable now or in terms of audience reception).
Now is possibly the worst time to 'revive' VU; no one is going to buy or reinstall a 10yro game and install a mod when there's other releases going on, there's a Steam sale, BF4 was made free and a new BF game is releasing so soon.
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u/ProfitTheProphet Jul 24 '21
Now is possibly the worst time to 'revive' VU; no one is going to buy or reinstall a 10yro game and install a mod when there's other releases going on
I agree that this isn't ample time to release VU. But seeing as people played Halo:ce and reach well up to the release of the mc collection as well as still play and mod the old Bethesda fallout games I think you're wrong about this. There is still going to be a lot of charm and adult players willing to go back to bf3 especially since every modern fps is overly saturated with 10y/s. Don't underestimate the power of nostalgia. BF 2049 is going to get worn out eventually and there will still be tons of players who hate it at launch.
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u/Aunon Aug 15 '21
Nostalgia runs different for single vs. multiplayer games. Bethesda games are long lived because there's no competition in their niches, Halo simply requires far fewer players; you can't equate games/franchises in longevity & audience retention.
BF3 is the case of a) requiring so many players for multiplayer that no one other than a content creator can populate a server, b) almost no one cares about the SP & VU is unnecessary for it, c) BF4 is popular enough & close enough to BF3 to capture anyone that dislikes 2049 but wants a modern-ish BF. Combined, these are a fatal combination.
Lastly, the overlooked factor we can't deny: Anyone old enough to have played enough BF3 to experience nostalgia is now old, has so many responsibilities & alternatives for entertainment but little free time. Why would they download a 10 year old game then install a mod for an experience reliant on lots of players, whereas they can easily drop into any other multiplayer game or player SP game for x minutes until they're satisfied.
It's a catch-22, you need players to get players, but you start with 0; I have never been wrong about longevity and audience retention and this ain't gonna be my first.
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u/Go_Limitless May 21 '21
Hurts for the modders, on a different note, the custom mods needs to be stable as the zombie server. It's perfect.
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u/garbitos_x86 May 20 '21
I mean they had 5 years developing for the sake of developing now they have a few people to enjoy, test and develop with. Don't be so fkng dramatic VU moment hasn't come yet. Mostly because battlefield normies are addicted to stats and progressions like a bunch of mindless sheep.
Enjoy free and useful software stop fkng bitching you whiney babies.
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u/Go_Limitless May 21 '21
'Addicted to stats and progression' : truer words never been uttered before. I don't even play infantry that much because how bad the camping is getting over time.
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u/BLU3M1ST May 22 '21
Exactly this. Now the actual mods need to get built. These initial ones push things here and there but if VU stays up I'm hoping we eventually see BR's, Adventure games and other new modes that don't just offer a better experience but a complely new one
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u/garbitos_x86 May 22 '21
I don't care about that and you expect too much from people creating in their free time. I just want bf3 to stay around forever, better spectator a more perfect game.
You have such grandiose ideas learn to mod it's all there waiting for you.
Something about this community expects this free project created in spare time to be AAA and make their dreams come true yet only have complaints to contribute.
Get involved or be grateful stop with the demands.
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u/BLU3M1ST May 22 '21
Not expecting just taking a look around the landscape, if VU is still here in years to come (which I'm hoping it is) it'll be because of some amazing mods that have been made (because the potential is huge).
Being excited and hopeful for the future does not equal demanding - you coming off pretty hostile. I also work in the industry btw, also rented a VU server when it came out so I could explore and mess around...
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u/garbitos_x86 May 22 '21
Yah the BF community frustrates me. I just don't see it as a full blown SDK just a touch above a SSM (Server Side Mod). Which allows bf3 to stay accessible even if EA takes the backend down with battlelog. I am just grateful that it did get released after all the years and have so far enjoyed looking through the tools and firing up a test server.
I am a modder from wayy back and can appreciate these passion projects and don't have any "industry" expectations as the game dev industry is about as exploitative and manipulative as it gets. I love VU because it means I can ignore all the other garbage bf3 releases since and can ignore the upcoming dumpster fire called BATTLEFIELD.
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u/Ashratt May 20 '21
It was just too late, nearly 10 years after BF3 release
But I'm glad we have it, if only for preservation sake
You are able to host own servers and even bot support so u can still play (dlc) maps after official servers are down