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Cryteks decision making & future

TagZ

Member
No idea why I've had this topic stuck in my mind for a while, but I thought I'd see what some other peoples opinions were?

So somehow I only recently found out about Hunt Showdown, I vaguely remember a friend potentially talking about the game years ago, about it's sound design. So I end up getting the game on sale over a month ago now and it's some of the most intense fps gaming I've ever had. I usually never play with headphones but people really recommend it and the game even tells you it's designed around it. Perhaps it sounds a bit much but my hands were actually shaking after my first couple of games. My very first game I saw a player was near so I positioned myself under a wooden deck, hearing them running around, they ended up getting closer and closer until they were walking right above me, that's when I took a breath, looked up and shot them through the floor above me.

The world of Hunt is something I never knew I wanted Old West/Horror/Supernatural? I want more, I'd love a sequel kind of like a Titanfall 2, a great campaign with the focus still predominately being on the multiplayer.

Here is what's been going through my head though, Crytek is kind of known now for making some questionable decisions (Bad luck? Ryse Xbox One exclusive). They're trying to hire a lot of talent, but I wouldn't be surprised if they're having a tough time due to the stink of the past. Forgive me if all of this isn't 100% accurate, from what I remember, they nearly filed for bankruptcy and there were times when they couldn't pay employees for a number of months. On top of that with a small team working on CryEngine I've seen people not recommending it, saying it's poorly documented game engine and with Cryteks history it might not be a good choice since it maybe unreliable for a game devs future projects.

Edit: They shutdown their American office which is was the studio first working on Hunt, which was originally designed to be a third person shooter if I recall correctly.

In my opinion Hunt is Cryteks greatest achievement, there's even a TV show in the works (to be fair I might still be in honeymoon phase), but I find it so bizarre that they'd announce a new Crysis game, while Hunt still has many issues. It's not an easy game to get into, pick up and learn, then add on the poor optimization and not so great servers. Even with all that, Hunt still seems like it has an okay/healthy player base, why not capitalize off that? Especially with a TV Show that could potentially bring in even more people (I have doubts it will be good).

Maybe the sales data from the Crysis remastered warranted the decision to go ahead with Crysis 4? For some reason I don't believe it though. Maybe someone with more knowledge can set me straight. I do hope Crytek grows and becomes a great studio/company that isn't mainly known for "can it run Crysis?".

Tldr; I think Hunt is Cryteks best game, why they no make new one? Instead of future soldier/power armor suit/shoot aliens/ no! not Halo! I'm talking about Crysis (see what I did there) // Sorry bad joke, I thought Crysis was okay, not bad but yea. Also thought Ryse was actually kinda good, but not great either 'insert QTE'.
 
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TagZ

Member
They are foolish for not making a single player first person shooter in the Hunt universe.
You mean I'm not alone!? I think they could really make something great with a single player campaign, I think they have passionate people still working on the game, something in me is saying Cryteks not really sending money their way. Apparently their server provider are known for not being great "LeaseWeb", people are saying Hunt/Crytek might be coming to the end of a 5 year contract with them.
 

Gandih42

Member
I haven't played Hunt but it's really intrigued me for a while, for all the reasons you mention.

My guess would be that the Crysis has brand value - everyone in the PC space at least knows the "but can it run Crysis" meme. Even if Crysis 2 and 3 didn't really set the world on fire. And due to how much Hunt asks of the player, it at best probably isn't a massive financial success.

That being said, I completely agree with you (from the standpoint of not even having played it). It has a unique setting, seems to be well executed, looks good, and has lots of space for innovation and iteration. I'd love to see them do more with it.
 

DukeNukem00

Banned
Tldr; I think Hunt is Cryteks best game, why they no make new one? Instead of future soldier/power armor suit/shoot aliens/ no! not Halo! I'm talking about Crysis (see what I did there) // Sorry bad joke, I thought Crysis was okay, not bad but yea. Also thought Ryse was actually kinda good, but not great either 'insert QTE'.

Because it's probably not that succesfull revenue wise. Crytek is a real survivor honestly. They expanded so much after Crysis 1 and through overextending they got to near bankrupcy. But they were really shrewd in mitigating these things. They managed to survive somehow. Now they need more tame and smaller projects. Let's see how Crysis 4 ends up.
 

TagZ

Member
I haven't played Hunt but it's really intrigued me for a while, for all the reasons you mention.

My guess would be that the Crysis has brand value - everyone in the PC space at least knows the "but can it run Crysis" meme. Even if Crysis 2 and 3 didn't really set the world on fire. And due to how much Hunt asks of the player, it at best probably isn't a massive financial success.

That being said, I completely agree with you (from the standpoint of not even having played it). It has a unique setting, seems to be well executed, looks good, and has lots of space for innovation and iteration. I'd love to see them do more with it.
Yea I think a lot of Hunt players seem to be annoyed at the "lots of space for innovation"or potential. Crytek releases a new DLC every other week and the money they make from the Hunt players goes into financing Crysis 4. Maybe I'm way off though, it just seems that way for a game that's over 4 years old now, with not a lot of updates to the core of the game and they also only just fixed this week an exploit/bug that might have been in the game since day 1.
 

chixdiggit

Member
So somehow I only recently found out about Hunt Showdown
Always makes me happy when someone new gets into Hunt Showdown. Not only is it Cryteks best game but I think it's the best multiplayer shooter out period.
Would love to see a sequel with single player campaign.
Imagine this game with snow? Tracking footsteps in snow/mud would be incredible.
 

TagZ

Member
Because it's probably not that succesfull revenue wise. Crytek is a real survivor honestly. They expanded so much after Crysis 1 and through overextending they got to near bankrupcy. But they were really shrewd in mitigating these things. They managed to survive somehow. Now they need more tame and smaller projects. Let's see how Crysis 4 ends up.
This, i agree. Thats why Crysis 4 has me worried, the amount of money they're about to sink into it.
 

TagZ

Member
Always makes me happy when someone new gets into Hunt Showdown. Not only is it Cryteks best game but I think it's the best multiplayer shooter out period.
Would love to see a sequel with single player campaign.
Imagine this game with snow? Tracking footsteps in snow/mud would be incredible.
I never even thought about a snow map! that would be incredible, actually tracking hunters from footsteps!
 

TagZ

Member
I think it might do better than one thinks. The player base for Hunt is super dedicated overall. Every time Crytek releases a new skin DLC it usually hits towards the top of the Steam sale charts.
For a player base of its size, I'm kinda surprised at how active they (we, i guess) all are. I was also pondering at what the ratio might even be compared to other popular shooters, you know the important questions in life xD.
 
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TagZ

Member
My aim sucks even under normal conditions but I love the intense sound of this!
Give it a try, even with its issues I have a ton of fun. Also it really isn't a Call of Duty type get 1000 kills per games. Even a single kill feels impactful and it is a PvEvP you hunt the big bads for bounties. Quick play is also good, where you try survive as others come hunt you because you're the "wellspring", if someone kills you, they become the "wellspring". Because everyone really pays attention to sound, I shot a window out to make my target jumpy, they started to cook a dynamite stick to throw at me, so I vaulted through a different window, then double backed and killed them with the shotty... didn't think that single kill could be so satisfying. More to the point the game isn't really a "flick" shooter requiring crazy aim, don't get me wrong great aim will help, but watching a Streamer/Tuber called Rachta Z, he says it's all about the positioning really.
 

th4tguy

Member
I consider myself pretty knowledgeable and up to date on games. I've never heard of Hunt. I didn't even know that Crytek had released anything except for the Crysis remakes. I think that is probably a big part of the problem for Crytek.
 

Mister Wolf

Member
Hunt is best PVP/PVE game I've ever played. If you're going to play it use headphones. The spatial sound in the game is amazing. My go to weapon was the exploding crossbow.
 

intbal

Member
I just played the first 2 Crysis games on series x this week. Starting 3 tonight. Incredibly impressed and surprised by how good they are. I feel like they should have pushed these more on the consoles.
I hope you like an emo soldier voice-over for 98% of the game. Your character never shuts up in this game.
Good gameplay, but Prophet is the most annoying character I've ever encountered in a FPS. That's why I never replay Crysis 3.
The complete silence of Alcatraz in Crysis 2 was bliss.
 

Rockman33

Member
I hope you like an emo soldier voice-over for 98% of the game. Your character never shuts up in this game.
Good gameplay, but Prophet is the most annoying character I've ever encountered in a FPS. That's why I never replay Crysis 3.
The complete silence of Alcatraz in Crysis 2 was bliss.
Yikes. I started the first level and it looks beautiful and the bow seems awesome. I finished HFW despite aloy never shutting up. So I’ll probably make it.
 

skit_data

Member
Wouldn’t be surprised to see them being picked up by either Sony or MS sometime in the not so distant future.
 

ahtlas7

Member
Give it a try, even with its issues I have a ton of fun. Also it really isn't a Call of Duty type get 1000 kills per games. Even a single kill feels impactful and it is a PvEvP you hunt the big bads for bounties. Quick play is also good, where you try survive as others come hunt you because you're the "wellspring", if someone kills you, they become the "wellspring". Because everyone really pays attention to sound, I shot a window out to make my target jumpy, they started to cook a dynamite stick to throw at me, so I vaulted through a different window, then double backed and killed them with the shotty... didn't think that single kill could be so satisfying. More to the point the game isn't really a "flick" shooter requiring crazy aim, don't get me wrong great aim will help, but watching a Streamer/Tuber called Rachta Z, he says it's all about the positioning really.
I understand the audio engineering is superb and raises the bar.
Maybe I’ll pick this one up. I super suck at online shooters but I love how you guys describe the action and who knows maybe I‘ll play better with audio cues.
 

Little Chicken

Gold Member
I'm interested to see where their own implementation of 'ray tracing' goes. Impressive that they had it running on Xbox One X.
 

CuNi

Member
This is a thread I'd never think to see on GAF.
Even funnier considering that just yesterday me and friends were debating over possible reasons for the state that Hunt is in.

I only got into Hunt around 1-2 Months ago, despite being very VERY biased against this game.
Half a year prior to picking up Hunt I got convinced to get Tarkov and looking for a good game to play with my old friends again and my competitive nature it looked like a obvious pick.
I lasted about a week in the game before I got bored because it felt more like a second life and a simulator than a game to me, so after 4 months different group of friends really had a tough time convincing me to get Hunt as I was convinced it was just like Tarkov, but in a different setting. Long story short, by now I am enjoying this game and playing nearly every day. Already managed to grind myself up to 5 star but dying in QP to rank down since most friends are 2/3 stars and they complain it's no fun if they get matched with 5 stars because of me.

But one thing left me wondering, especially since the newest Update hit Live servers.
How come this game is in such a technical mess? Server issues, poor performance, bugs, desync etc.
I know Crytek now isn't the same as Crytek that made Crysis 1, but even if you had to staff down, it's not like it employs Indie-level developers now. They made a whole own engine. They have really talented people in their teams and they surely have the needed know-how on how to operate a multiplayer game with matchmaking etc, so how can it be, that Hunt is plagued so heavily with technical issues!? It truly is a mystery to.

Sorry for the long-post.
 

Drizzlehell

Banned
I'm not really into multiplayer shooters. I play a few that are casual enough that I can play them without getting pwned all the time, but otherwise I avoid these types of games. Especially ones that seem niche like this one because they are bound to have a hardcore, dedicated fanbase who spends all day playing only that one game, which means that trying to play it as a total noob will only end up in me getting absolutely wrecked.

I get that multiplayer games are cheaper to make and have a longer life span than a 6 hour campaign that the developers have to pour a lot of money into, only for the players to play it once and never touch it again. It's simply a more lucrative investment for many studios. But as a gamer who's mostly interested in single player experiences, I just kinda resent it when an interesting-looking game comes around and then I discover that it's a multiplayer-only shooter.
 
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thief183

Member
As someone with around 2500 hours in Hunt I kinda agree with OP.

The game is doing well for a niche shooter but some of their decisions are really questionable.
 

Fafalada

Fafracer forever
This, i agree. Thats why Crysis 4 has me worried, the amount of money they're about to sink into it.
I'd be very surprised if Crysis 4 was a thing that didn't have major publisher money backing it, heck the remasters were fully funded externally too afaik. While Crytek has historically spread themselves too thin, they have a good track record at navigating development-funding for their big-releases.
 
I look forward to Crysis 4.

I thought Crysis 1 was a fantastic game, where 2 and 3 were increasingly disappointing. As much as I didn't enjoy the sequels, I still have hope Crytek can deliver a faithful sequel to the first game, especially now that they aren't trying to design around significant RAM limitations like they did with the PS3/360.
 
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