Escape from Tarkov won the nomination " The best game-service "On Ludi Awards This year – the most readers voted for the shooter " Gambling " And " Canobus ".
Congratulating the developers on the victory, we decided to chat with Nikita Buyanov , head Battlestate Games and the development manager of Escape from Tarkov. We talked about the game itself and its development, further plans of Nikita, cooperation with NVIDIA, the future of the gaming industry and not only!
We already talked with Nikita last August – about where it began and what EFT came to at that time.
How Passed 2021 For Battlestate Games?
He went worse than 2020. When the pandemic began, we sharply moved home, and at first we had effective work. Much more effective than while working in the office. They wanted to do more in 2021, and one way or another a lot succeeded.
First of all, the technical, which is not visible to the players: touched the future, the transition to a new version of the engine and so on. At the end of the year we achieved a good result. And in 2021, we became 30% more than employees.
IN Escape from Tarkov pass interesting events – how do you like their results? And will something change in the future?
Events go constantly. And yes, we note for ourselves a lot of all sorts of nuances to use them later to one degree or another. And we had a busy year in 2021, we tried to do some time only before a wipe, and as a result they began to spend them over the entire subsequent time: both before and after the wipe.
They came up and implemented a lot, some events even remain in the game. That is, this is not a temporary solution, we try to make them with a debt for the future, then to use as the main part of the game – so that dynamic events are also directly in the game.
Such events are cool, especially for a project that lives for a long time. They amuse and additionally stimulate players to enter again and again, do something in the game.
How often do you follow how others play?
Constantly.
And how to follow? From their admins or through Twitch, YouTube, still somehow?
Twitch, YouTube, many chats, my personal social networks … Everywhere someone throws something, shows something. But basically, of course, these are YouTube and Twitch, streamers from around the world. There are a lot of streamers who offer something, and we are in touch with them.
The volume of the feedback coming from various channels is quite large. And in the last three years we have been listening to it a lot, we improve the game and quality of the product as a whole. But, besides this, of course, all the bugs are reported, glitches … We have a huge test command, a closed ETS server on which a lot is tested. We react to all this.
Probably a third of all the information that comes from the community, from the feedbacks, opinions, videos, streams, affects the development.
And how is it all filtered inside?
Manually. I and the team study all this, we communicate with people.
If the issue of automation, it also has. Collection of statistics, Hitmaps, we periodically turn to all this. Especially when we program or fix and. Bots behavior, their paths and so on. In principle, we have all the information about how players interact with the bots where the bots walk, what they do, and on the basis of this we also change some things. In general, we try to use everything.
I would probably like everything to be automated. But basically these are the feedbacks and bug-regions through the launcher. In general, we have everything in the old fashioned way, in fact.
How often it happens that players surprise with their behavior? As developers, you understand the process like this, and players begin to go to other steppes ..
Often. This is the so -called struggle with Metets, the fight against players' behavior patterns. It is clear that there is some kind of general idea of how the game should work in the future on the release, and we go to this. Hardcore, balance and so on ..
Nevertheless, players find loopholes to simplify their lives. And they begin to use all sorts of meta-collection, all sorts of glitches and problems in the design of locations, problems with physics, unfinished features or a bug-abeces. Fighting all this.
We try to ensure that the players do not try to hack frags, as in a classic shooter. And such meters are constantly opened inside the game that needs to be balanced. We are against all this. I personally don't like it when players use these meters, and the gameplay begins to limit himself very much.
It is clear that this is not fully fixed to the end and periodically pops up. Especially when we make a large feature or location. They added new weapons, it is imbalanced, we are nerfim, another weapon begins to become more powerful, we begin to balance it too … and the more patches and content, the more difficult it is to balance it all. Because all this needs to be balanced at the same time and tied to reality.
And you play yourself? Often come to ordinary players?
I myself play first of all in terms of testing. I periodically check certain chips or see how this or that system works. I don't download the character, but I have different accounts for different purposes.
I will definitely come a time when I will sit out fully and from scratch from the standard account I will pass, play, watch. But now my life, in principle, is 90% Tarkov. And I cannot afford such a luxury to play it and in my free time too.
How difficult it is to keep the fuse for many years of development and life of the game?
This is the most important challenge. There is a fuse inside the team, and we know what to do. We need to constantly surprise players. And every time to surprise and involve players is becoming more and more difficult.
But I hope that soon the moment will come when we release the game, and this will be the main event. We put off very large and interesting things before the release, so that there is a surprise effect.
We perfectly understand that the player is already sophisticated and the base of the players is already very large. In fact, EFT has already been formed as a background, and we have a large number of fans, and a fairly large influx of new players. And especially old players, of course, are picky. They understand what bar and at what level. And you need to take this bar every time with a new large patch, and even better – raise it above.
Nevertheless, at the end of 2021, in the past winter holidays, we again broke all. They themselves torn a little, really – we could not stand the server. But there was another phenomenal effect that we did not expect. Everything was much cooler than planned! And if the servers did not fall, we would beat fantastic meanings.
But there is still something to show and what to surprise. I'm not worried about this at all.
If you continue the topic of bugs: was there something funny? Or so fun so that even the game got into the game?
There was no so funny. But there are several bugs that I liked. For example, for a certain reason from a third person, a person at a person, when reloading, began to fall and duplicate, sleep. And the player began to pour these stores – you are running, and shops, hundreds and thousands are falling for you. And these stores are lying, you can’t choose them, there was such a bug.
It was this: when we made a new glass material on the hare, the effect of the aquarium turned out. The took the face. And it turned out that a person in a three -liter bank was sitting. We even have screenshots somewhere. It was fun. But all these are harmless bugs.
Another tube of a big pasta in the shelter. We did not fix it, by the way. This is probably the only bug that I said that he would be. Cool hefty paste, giant!
Now we regularly polish everything. For example, after patch 0.12.12 Constant polishing and fixes are underway. So we do. We try to release “content-fiche” one patch, and then we try to fix it.We alternate, cover the so -called "technical duty"!
What was the most remembered feedback from testers and audience? Some kind of joke, something pleasant or unpleasant? Which influenced the mechanics and concepts?
There were a lot of them. What I remember: one former military man said that thanks to EFT he did not finish living. That the game helped him stand up, cured his disorder. And he was so grateful, mentioned that there are many such people … The game helps people live.
There were a lot of feedback from streamers who, in principle, established their lives, they had money, they became happy people thanks to our game. A lot of people in many countries of the world, thanks to EFT, have joined the weapons culture. That is, the game affects people not only from the point of view of emotions, pleasure – their life has changed for the better. For me it is very cool.
If you could return to the past and change one moment in the development of Escape from Tarkov, what would you do?
There are times when I had to be more decisive. I will not say when exactly, but if I were more decisive then, the game would be released a year and a half or two ago. At that moment I stood at a crossroads and it was scary to react like that. And now I understand that it was necessary to chop this topic.
Note : the interview was recorded before the exit of update 0.12.12.15.4, with whom Escape from Tarkov has appeared DLSS support on NVIDIA graphics cards with RTX.
Recently in EFT introduced Reflex s NVIDIA, DLSS on the way … how much helps Reflex? And how does communication go with Nvidia regarding technology implementation? Who comes to anyone?
NVIDIA came to us by itself, but we have been familiar for a very long time. As soon as Escape from Tarkov began to gain momentum, we immediately made friends. They have done a lot of good things for us, and we are for them too. They help us optimize, establish processes, technologies to implement. They also work. They have bugs too. We will join all this together.
Regarding Reflex – he did not test, but observed statistics: there is a profit. I'm waiting for DLSS, I'm really waiting. We already have a build with DLSS, there are statistics on it. And there is a profit. But he would be more if we unloaded the processor more.
EFT, due to the features of the engine, basically eats the processor. And now we plan to unload the processor all year – then we can significantly raise FPS. Everything will be better without DLSS. But with DLSS, an increase in 4K is very significant, although not on all video cards. And not only in Escape from Tarkov, DLSS in any game on 4K works well.
There are also NVIDIA rays, but they have not yet thought about them, because we have plans to total graphics processing in Escape from Tarkov. And, perhaps, once later we add RTX.
Surely there are some statistics that, for example, 80-90 percent play on minimumines? For a very high level Fps.
No, 20 or 22% play on minimum wagons. Basically, everyone plays on High-55-60%. And another 15-20 is Ultra. I see that many at the launch put the game on the minimum. I say this: do not, put on the middle, put the textures high, remove this and this, and you will have a decent fps. We must do this in the form of a separate preset.
In general, I advise you to just try, choose different options, watch. You can put almost the “ultra”, turn off only SSR and remove, for example, shading … to put it easier. And everything can be fine. Certain options can be burned all. And all this is quite individual.
Escape from Tarkov is a rather demanding game. Is the problem with iron in the market feels? That the potential audience has not been able to buy anything for himself for two years?
I know that there is a problem with video cards, with the purchase of components. But as a developer, I have nothing to say on this subject. We do not affect this process in any way.
I know that many update computers to play Escape from Tarkov. And here it all depends on what is on the market. We strive to ensure that the game works faster. But this is a subtle moment, because we are constantly added a lot of new ones, the detail is growing.
In general, if you do not go into details, you need to optimize a lot. I am sure that the release will be more loyal from the point of view of demands on the iron. We will try to the maximum so that the requirements are lower.
Escape from Tarkov – One of the few games that works on its own launcher with its own store. How hard it was to create this sales and support scheme?
I can't say that it was super difficult. It was clear. We built specific plans: at this stage we do this, at this stage we connect such payments, then something else … We gradually connected everything completely on our own, without experience. That is, it was real, and I can definitely say that it was not difficult.
If in general, the people think whether it is really or not, from scratch, then it is absolutely real. The only thing that would be unrealistic is to do the aggregation of payments yourself, to conclude agreements with payment systems yourself … Therefore, it is good that there are aggregators that provide payments service and take a small percentage for this.
Having such a platform, you thought about inviting others?
Not yet. There are such thoughts that someday, maybe we will work as publishers or like that … but not yet. While we are moving ourselves. It seems to me that this is strange-without the fact that the product is actually released, to start someone to publish someone. Let's see. This is not a priority at all.
Suppose, Escape from Tarkov came out. What would you do after that? Second part or something else? Of course, not counting the fact that it will be necessary to support the game by patch.
Yes, there is also DLC and so on … I have many different ideas. I would like to make a project that would not at all look like Escape from Tarkov and will not be a shooter at all. Just to relax. But I know myself, I never just have it. And it scares me very much, because I do not want to spend a hefty part of my life in this “hemorrhoid”, creating something complex and complex.
I think so far. Maybe it will be necessary not to engage in gameds, do something else. There are ideas. And these are serious thoughts that will require the same approach as now. In terms of difficulty, organizing a process, etc.p. But what exactly, how and when – I don't know yet.
At least it will be necessary to organize the company's work so that we can do further DLC. And I want these additions to be made a self -sufficient team, and my participation be smaller than now. So that I could just think about something.
I’m not at all a fan of thinking in advance, because I want to figure it out with current matters, and then … I know for sure that I can think of what to do. This can happen in one night – Escape from Tarkov, in fact, was born. I was stepped when in Dayz Played. I think: “Well, what is it, everyone is doing survivors, I also want to do survival!"And the next day I gathered people, and in the evening it was the name of the game.
In principle, it makes no sense to think so far about what I will do. Maybe I will rest. Maybe all this will get me so much that I will never do this at all. Don't know.
What do you think about NFT and blockchain?
I don't like all this. I understand this and I know what it is. But if you do not go deep, I don’t really like all this, not very interesting, and I don't want to implement it in the game.
We have bitcoin in the game, and it is attached to the real price of bitcoin, but everything is on this. I do not want the game to become a service for making cryptocurrency or something like that. I don't like it in principle. Sell pictures for tokens ..
If the question is whether there will never be anything similar in my projects, there will never be at all. Like Donata.
That is, you think this is simply another scheme for making money, and this is unlikely to give something games?
All this has a prerequisite, digitalization of the economy, metavselnaya … But I am very skeptical of all this. Because this is such an individual topic ..
Many prophesied that VR will be everywhere for everyone and VR – this is the future of games. It turned out no. This is still an attraction. I like VR games, but not everyone likes them, despite technological development. Yes, cool, yes, cool, attraction and wow effects ..
But even I, when I passed Half-Life: Alyx, I couldn't play more than an hour and a half a day. Because it became hard, my head began to boil. This is hard for the psyche including. The body begins to go crazy and the brain begins to exhaust. I played for two hours – and the feeling that all day was engaged in harsh mental activity.
The same with about meta-tests and digital economies. This is now interesting at the level of hype. Why is the demand and price of these things grow? A large company supports this, and immediately the respect went. And a person itself cannot even explain what NFT is, bitcoins and blockchain. And he is guided by the opinion of others. In fact, hype. Now bitcoin and all this is the likeness of a disinterated subculture.
Of course, advanced comrades will say: "You do not understand anything". But at least because of bitcoin, our video cards are five or seven times more expensive. Due to the fact that a person has mania to make money out of nothing. And they do not even understand that mining is spent a lot of the same electricity, which also costs a lot of money. In general, I don't like it.
This is interesting as a phenomenon, yes. Can it develop into something more? Maybe. Is it worth it to invest in it? I don't know. So far, this does not cause me confidence and a feeling of prospects.
And if you return to Vr: is there any feeling that VR does not take off, because you need to change the mechanics of games?
Probably the question is not worth it. Just purely physiologically VR is poorly adapted to a person. Yes, there are cool games. For example, ** hitman ** in VR – you can wake a sociopath in yourself with this game. Half-Life: Alyx is the best game in principle in VR … They all add more interactivity with the world, the best graphics, effects, etc. But in general there remains a purely physiological moment. It's just hard to play for a long time.
Personally, I think this is a ceiling. I don't know what can be even better. Half-Life: Alyx-VR ceiling, with its pens all. I am sure that the immersion that everyone wrote about 10 years ago will never be.
A friend recently told me that neuro interfaces will appear, Elon Musk will come up with, and we will play the game with neuro interfaces … It will be such a niche theme, since the contraindications Slotonauts sister sites are a million. Of the ten people from the street, only one will be compatible with this technology. And again, it will not look like in " Matrix "Or in Cyberpunk 2077.
This is all just physiologically and mentally limited. And in this regard, I can’t imagine how it can develop and what the future can have. As in principle, Gamdev.
Cyberpunk 2077
Generations of consoles? This is no longer – now it is one. Previously, shader jokes and graphic fees were changed, but now they just change the capacities. Nothing changes. The only more or less breakthrough topic is Nvidia rays. Well, what's next?
Please come out Dying Light 2, there are also rays and reflections, everything is cool, but the graphics are there … well, this. Why? Because the assets are not very good, because the engine does not allow, because the modellers wandered something crookedly, and the artists did not very cool the textures painted. This is a comprehensive moment.
Many people rely on the magical technology of Gamdev. What will be released by PlayStation 6, PlayStation 8 – and the graphics will become better on its own. But it will not become better on its own. Games will become much more expensive in production. And we will have constant long-building for 5-8-10 years. Because they will try to justify the new generation, making all these models, super -textures and so on. And all this in cost and development time is higher.
Personally, I believe that now the technological industry of games is in the best condition to start making games. Take and do! Everything for this is. Specialists, programs, engines, platforms, publishers, technical means … That is, you can make a game game Resident Evil 7 myself. Well, not one, of course, with friends. There are courses. Everything you want. Take and do!
But we come to the most important problem: what to do? What can you do? What kind of games are they doing now? In the past five years, everything has become much worse with games. It used to be an innovative period where we observed development. And now, in fact, this is all – already a replay of the same 10 thousand times.
I understood this somehow early. And I realized that I would not make consumer games, but I will do what I like. What I would play a long time ago. Something hard, uncompromising-the main thing is that I like my boys who make this game.
After looking at what is being done around, I think few can afford this kind of projects. Because we talked with a gigantic number of people from the industry, and they are about the same opinion: “In general, cool, of course, but we would not risk it”. Well, we took a chance. And in principle, we will do it, I think.
What did you play the most in 2021?
I played little. Passed Resident Evil 8. Played in all sorts of cool indie games, small. I love narrative games. But to get stuck directly … I passed Resident Evil Village , Yes. And everything else – so, a little. Starting from Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War And finishing Death Stranding. Everywhere a little bit.
Now, if there is a minute, I play in Dying Light 2. There is something in it, the spirit of an old school, old RPG. Nostalgic sensation. They have done her for so long, licked her for so long, and I see it as a developer. Respect!
Dying Light 2
You can give advice to novice developers?
I always had two tips, depending on the mood. When it is bad, I say: “Never in life do the development of games. Forget about it at all!»And when more or less good, I always say to study as much as possible and do everything as much as possible on my own. Because a good development manager should understand everything.
This does not mean that he should be engaged in programming, database architecture. This means that he should know what and how people do, and some basic principles, technical.
The main thing in development is not how cool you came up with the game, what a cool engine and model. The main thing is people, the human factor. Your own people and people for whom you make the game.
If a novice developer wants to make indie games simple, everything is easier. Team – a maximum of 4 people. We make at home, in the kitchen, generally class! I remember how we started to do it a long time ago Contract Wars. There were only five of us, it was cool.
If some ambitious developer wants to do something incredible, like " Skyrim" And GTA – We need to study a lot of things, read books, subscribe to the girls of various teams that are close to you in spirit, and plunge into this topic. Well, just get a job.
In the West, this is the most common topic: almost the luminary of the Western Gamdev began with testers, with the younger assistants of the producers, having no particular knowledge. Well, we need to work hard, think a lot, constantly develop. And not to command, not even have the right to command, while there is nothing behind your shoulders. At least something that you can respect you.
The advice was not simple, but I think it is clear.
Thanks for the award! And thanks to all the players who voted for Escape from Tarkov and thanks to which we won.
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