Redfall - open world vampire slaying co-op FPS from Arkane Austin

[Gerrard]

The funniest quotes:

Following the commercially unsuccessful release of its sci-fi shooter Prey a year earlier, leadership across the company wanted to make something more broadly appealing. What eventually emerged was the idea to make a multiplayer game in which users would team up to battle vampires and perhaps pay for occasional cosmetic upgrades.

Oh you mean like this game?

Wow. Let's have a look at the studio behind the game.

TRIGGER WARNING RACISM

 

[Average Manatee]

Yeah, exactly like that team. Throw a third of the guys that left Arkane in with them, tell them to make the sequel open world, make it a semi-roguelike with the world being different every time you play (ala Mooncrash). Could have been good.

 

[copebot]

"We can't staff this game because applicants don't want to work on a garbage live service shooter, they're all interested in building a critically acclaimed single-player imsim instead"

"Obviously we can't have that. Just shit out whatever predatory microtrans trash will scrape the most money from our idiot customers"

If this had been a mobile game, it might have been successful. The biggest problem was in launching on platforms with such high customer expectations. It should have been a( free b( much lower fidelity c( more predatorily microtransaction-y and d( made for phones. There was no way it was ever going to be successful on the premium platforms.

 

[Spacer's Nugget]

Hopefully they return to Dishonored. Is Prey 2 even possible since all the fuss about the name? If Prey 2 will happen it will be vastly different I recon.

On Dishonored: I can see Arkane Lyon doing it, though only after they are done making a licensed game (Lucasfilm's the Mandalorian, I believe)

On Prey: It's dead, Jim.

 

[Tyranicon]

Ah, 2023, where



is better than most of the games released.

We'll take turns between this, the Gollum game and Forspoken. New slots always available.

 

[markec]

Hopefully they return to Dishonored. Is Prey 2 even possible since all the fuss about the name? If Prey 2 will happen it will be vastly different I recon.

Doubt there is any talent left there to make a any good games.

 

[Zed Duke of Banville]

Oh you mean like this game?

Wow. Let's have a look at the studio behind the game.

TRIGGER WARNING RACISM

Ghost Ship Games, the developer of Deep Rock Galactic, has already been acquired by a Swedish company.

 

[RobotSquirrel]

-Harvey Smith and Ricardo Bare are incompetent leaders
-Microsoft didn't do anything while Zenimax destroyed one of the most critically acclaimed studios of the world

Sounds exactly like Lionhead switch Harvey for Molyeneux. Will Microsoft ever bloody learn from history.
After Invisible War I'm glad this is Harvey's fate. He deserves every bit of it.

 

[DeepOcean]

Told you guise, Arkane is a husk on the current state. Only hope for them is if Microsoft pushes Bethesda out of the way, intervene hard and try to hire people interested into making immersive sims for Gamepass. Phil seems to have wisen up to Bethesda shenanigans and is speaking about improving "quality control" that is corporate speech to direct intervention.

I dunno if Harvey will lose his head because whatever factors were in play, he was responsible to say with all words the true state of the game and he failed his responsabilities to fight for his team, if the project was failing he should had been loud about it that part where his employees hoped their own project cancelled was damning of the whole thing. I think Harvey like many senior people on other studios start believing on their own nonsense and lose contact with reality, most damning was the expression the belief on "Arkane magic will be found in the end" that is an infamous belief because it was the same belief Bioware and CDPR believed before that blew up in their faces.

It is very tough for immersive sims, the only three routes still available is indies but indie games are always unpredictable and inconsistent, maybe a new Deus Ex from THQ Nordic but I dont trust the competency of any people who work on that publisher and maybe Microsoft salvaging things in Arkane for Gamepass because I see zero chance for a big publisher going the retail route with an immersive sim anymore.

 

[RobotSquirrel]

It is very tough for immersive sims, the only three routes still available is indies but indie games are always unpredictable and inconsistent, maybe a new Deus Ex from THQ Nordic but I dont trust the competency of any people who work on that publisher and maybe Microsoft salvaging things in Arkane for Gamepass because I see zero chance for a big publisher going the retail route with an immersive sim anymore.

Indies definitely, I think there's enough of us here and I've seen a few elsewhere that are going to attempt that genre, its mostly going to come down to the length of the games however as ImSims thanks to games like Deus Ex there's a high expectation of a 40Hour+ game, Deus Ex is long by most games standards (and was meant to be even longer if you can believe it). I Think the direction THQ will likely take will be the safest option which is just another Mankind Divided style game, not bad but its safe. Arkane being a gamepass developer will kill them faster than anything, there's a limited pool of money they get now and its a lot less than they were likely getting as a studio before, they also have no retail or steam sales according to figures meaning they're probably haemorrhaging funds as a studio but I think the whole Zenimax group was hence the sale, everyone is just a money sink they were using to boost valuation, it reeks of mismanagement.

Anyway it'll take time for the first Indie ImSims to start showing up because the nature of these games are weighty, they'll likely end up early access and likely episodic in nature because of how big a game they'd end up being, this is how I've looked at it, its also better that way because really such big projects should be developed along side the community to prevent stupid shit like what we've seen with Redfall happen (even moreso if there's multiplayer - again I say Multiplayer can be done for this genre but its one of those things that have to come afterwards. Redfall made the mistake just like with Fallout 76 being a multiplayer first game)

I've seen Deus Ex Multiplayer mods that really show the power it can have to be something amazing -borderline MMO stuff, really impressive really cool. But remember that Deus Ex multiplayer was a total afterthought and shoehorned in at the last second. You would not be able to make a good game if this was the core experience from the start, it had to be built on top of an already excellent base product.

Phil seems to have wisen up to Bethesda shenanigans and is speaking about improving "quality control" that is corporate speech to direct intervention.

Honestly I see it as more, Phil is telling everyone what they want to hear but having no actual control over anything. The mistake he's made is letting Zenimax have autonomy here because everything he says is going to be ultimately contradicted by Zenimax's actions. He's gotta put the boot on their necks.

 

[Morgoth]

Phil should stop apologizing and start axing Zenimax to make up for this fiasco.

 

[Kem0sabe]

Arkane going creatively bankrupt is nothing new, Deathloop was an abysmal failure whose only achievement was reviewing well with a certain subset of gaming journalists, especially those who don't actually play the games they are reviewing. Everyone else thought the game was garbage and it sold accordingly.

MS keeping their hands off the studios they acquire has backfired spectacularly every time. They need to reign in the incompetent management or risk the complete collapse of their gaming division.

 

[SharkClub]

Sales figures for Arkane games aren't exactly the most reliable way of figuring out their quality. Prey sold like shit and ended with Raph leaving the company despite it being a good game. Deathloop was fine, it wasn't some amazing ludo or anything but it was far better than Redfall and most of all it was a competently put together videogame which nobody is claiming Redfall is.

 

[markec]

 

[Child of Malkav]

Jesus, what a failure. By every metric.

 

[Tyranicon]

I have no fucking idea what that expression is supposed to be.

What were they even going for?

 

[Pika-Cthulhu]

I have no fucking idea what that expression is supposed to be.

What were they even going for?

View attachment 37023

Smug defecation face. Its the face you make when you are pooping in public but have prepared with an adult diaper, this is caught mid poop, you can see the strain in the eyes

 

[ScarredBushido]

arkane still comes out better since they haven't folded into besthesda....yet

 

[Child of Malkav]

arkane still comes out better since they haven't folded into besthesda....yet

Arkane is fucking finished. They'll shut down the studio and redistribute the staff to other Bethesda/Zenimax/MS studios.

 

[Fedora Master]

arkane still comes out better since they haven't folded into besthesda....yet

Arkane is fucking finished. They'll shut down the studio and redistribute the staff to other Bethesda/Zenimax/MS studios.

Good riddance.

 

[Joyvankek]

arkane still comes out better since they haven't folded into besthesda....yet

Arkane is fucking finished. They'll shut down the studio and redistribute the staff to other Bethesda/Zenimax/MS studios.

After both Fagfall and their other game, Nigger Loop or something like that, I think it's for the best.
I just hope we will see another studio filling the immersive sim void in the future.

 

[ADL]

27GB 1.1 patch today
Surprised a patch took this long to get something out when Deathloop's AI got massively improved in a week or two.

Today’s update for Redfall includes incremental improvements to gameplay, combat, AI, environment, stability, multiplayer, accessibility, UI, and various bug fixes.

---

A Note from Arkane Austin:

Fellow Vampire Slayers,

We’re grateful to see that millions of you have explored the quaint but dangerous open world of Redfall. Building a play space this large has been humbling to say the least. We recognize that we still have work to do, and we plan to address as much as we can, as quickly as we can.

Your feedback has helped highlight key areas for improvement:
- Enemy AI responsiveness
- Enemy encounter frequency
- Vampire combat efficiency
- Improvements to graphical fidelity

Today’s release is only our first patch and introduces a lot of incremental fixes that will improve Redfall. Once available, we will be sharing more information about future updates, including our 60 FPS Performance mode, on our official social channels @PlayRedfall.

We really appreciate everyone who’s been sharing gameplay clips and providing detailed feedback on Discord, Reddit, & Twitter – it means a lot! Thanks again for your support and patience. See you in Redfall.

- Arkane Austin


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GAMEPLAY

- Increased enemy encounter spawn rates across the open world
- Improved ADS (aim down sight) visibility when looking through sniper rifle scopes
- Breakable glass will now shatter on first impact from all guns
- When using additional ammo storage skills, ammo collected above the standard weapon capacity will now persist between gameplay sessions
- Players can move without interruption when performing melee attacks against enemies
- Bribón no longer idles in place after performing the Siren ability
- Devinder's Translocate ability is now more reliable when used in the Black Sun boss arena
- Updated various mission descriptions and mission summary texts across all languages
- Nests now unlock at the correct time when playing in New Game Plus (after completing *A Voice in the Dark*, and start *Giving You Tomorrow* | or in the reverse order)
- Added medical supplies to the path leading up to the Bloody Tom boss arena
- General mission fixes and improvements

---

COMBAT

- Fixed multiple instances of enemies appearing unresponsive in combat
- Improved Vampire melee attacks to increase chances of hitting players in motion
- Cultist and Bellwether enemies received general improvements to their combat behaviors, including faster reaction times
- The Rook is now more relentless and will now hunt down all living party members. Kill or be killed
- Rook Storm lightning bolts will no longer hit players through rooftops and most other unexpected situations

---

AI/NPC

- General improvements to human enemy navigation, including animation timing and responsiveness
- Dormant Vampires are now more susceptible to waking up from player-generated noise
- Enemies are now drawn towards the greatest threat during combat. This could be a player, Bribón, or an opposing enemy faction
- Improved enemy pathing options across open world areas in both districts
- Added mouth blood to additional Vampire facial variations

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ENVIRONMENT

- Players have higher chances of encountering additional and varied enemies while exploring the open world
- Enemies are no longer able to shoot through certain walls in the Fire Station
- Vampire Nest exit door will now appear correctly in the Shipyard heart instance
- Improved many instances of visual issues at a distance, including materials and model adjustments
- Mission Briefing sequences are brighter
- Improved lighting and audio processing in many interior spaces in both districts
- Skybox updates to prevent extreme star flickering
- General improvements to collision detection and asset placement throughout both districts

---

PERFORMANCE & STABILITY

- Fixed an issue that was preventing certain decal streaming textures to fully load in, causing them to appear blurry
- Resolved several situations where players could experience an infinite loading screen
- Improved framerate performance in Bloody Tom and Miss Whisper psychic spaces and boss arenas
- Players can now proceed past the Accessibility Menu on a new, unlinked bethesda.net account
- Improved lighting performance in psychic spaces
- Blood pool reflections no longer excessively flicker
- Optimized VFX particle counts, emitters, and spawn rates for the following effects:
- Shield and Inspiration enemy trait effects
- Environmental fire and smoke effects in the Bladewell Campgrounds
- Hero ability effects, including Layla's Umbrella and Jacob's Heart Stopper
- Bloody Tom's slam effect, and Miss Whisper's death effects
- Floating dust particle effects
- Grave Lock effects
- Psychic Echoes
- Nest area-of-influence effects
- Effects when placing Underboss skulls on vampire god pedestals
- Blood tree disintegration effects
- Optimized memory usage when using Jacob's Raven ability
- Black Sun's clothing no longer renders animated blue materials
- General improvements to stability

---

MULTIPLAYER

- Increased the chances of players encountering enemies with special traits in multiplayer sessions
- General improvements to stability and functionality in Multiplayer Lobbies

---

ACCESSIBILITY

- Left and right movement keys can now be successfully remapped to Left and Right Arrow keys to improve left-handed movement control experience
- Players with existing game saves will need to reset their Mouse and Keyboard bindings to Default in the settings menu before attempting to remap movement keys to the arrow keys
- Screen Narration supports additional paths for critical player communication:
- Invites and Friend requests
- Joining a multiplayer Lobby
- Clients leaving a multiplayer Lobby
- "Invalid Username or Password" error
- Additional bethesda.net menu screens
- Updated states of disabled UI elements once players Ready Up in a multiplayer Lobby
- "Let Games Read to Me" option on first launch for Xbox Series consoles is now enabled
- Adjusted the timing of several subtitles to ensure they display in the correct order
- Screen Narration settings will now persist between game sessions
- Added missing audio cues for Friends List section headers, and the Play Game button
- Adjusted text size scaling for Bethesda icons
- Contrast improvements for Ping text, multiplayer progression text headers, and Hero names
- Controls will no longer lock while the Text-To-Speech field is open
- Resolved instances where certain UI elements would lose cursor focus
- Added error messages and warning pop-ups for the following situations:
- Controller disconnections while on the Initial Input Screen
- Clients de-selecting Ready after the Host launches the game
- Players cancelling Friend requests
- Added missing subtitles to Archive entries for the Giving You Tomorrow mission briefing
- "Optional Details" is no longer a required field when reporting another player

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USER INTERFACE

- Tutorial blades are now more responsive when multiple are stacked on top of one another
- Settings will revert correctly during active gameplay when Cancelling in the Confirm Changes message prompt
- Enemies will no longer lose nameplates and health bar information when cancelling fast travel
- Weapons loadouts will no longer swap into weapon inventory when starting new game sessions in quick succession
- Safehouse keys have been added to the Key Ring
- The Rook Storm meter now appears more consistently in game, and in the Map
- General improvements to Menu navigation and feedback

 

[Spacer's Nugget]

When will Harvey and Ricardo be "patched" out of Arkane Austin?

 

[Harthwain]

I have no fucking idea what that expression is supposed to be.

What were they even going for?

Looks like RBF (Resting Bitch Face. Yes, it's a thing) combined with a frown. But I doubt they intentionally went for it. They are most likely just that incompetent.

 

[Late Bloomer]

Looks like RBF (Resting Bitch Face. Yes, it's a thing) combined with a frown

I dunno man. I think its more of a smug self satisfied smirk with a double dose of in your face confidence.