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Matt Booty on State of Decay 3: "They're working with The Coalition up in Vancouver using technology around Unreal Engine5 and stuff in Gears of War"

So the game announced a couple years ago State of Decay 3, seems to have been turned into a AAA game instead of a between A and indie like the previous two entries. Which may explain the lack of news for so long.
https://wccftech.com/state-of-decay...eal-engine-5-and-help-from-gears-of-war-devs/
Speaking on Xbox's Major Nelson podcast, however, Xbox Game Studios Head Matt Booty revealed some tidbits about the game.

We have a structure in place, we just call them summits, where we get subject matter experts together for one or two days. We've had animation summits, UI summits, Unreal Engine summits, physics summits, etc. I think we did in the last year close to 25 of these. That's our main mechanism for teams to share technology back and forth.

You mentioned Undead Labs, they're working with The Coalition up in Vancouver, our Gears of War studio, using some of the technology around Unreal Engine 5 and some of the stuff that's been in Gears of War before to bring that into State of Decay 3.

Last week before last, we spent all day at Undead Labs in Seattle, which was great, getting the update on State of Decay 3, which has really got some cool stuff, in addition to the fact that State of Decay 2 just continues to grow its user base. It's kind of this stealth thing that just keeps growing, and it was cool to get an update. I think we hit eleven million lifetime players on State of Decay 2 now, which is pretty cool. All of that, the things they are doing there, are really the testbed, the proving grounds, for all the stuff that's going in State of Decay 3.

State of Decay 3 was formally announced over two years ago. At that time, developer Undead Labs said the game was still early in pre-production. However, five months ago, a report suggested that there were development troubles keeping the game still in pre-production, alongside issues of sexism.

In the interview with Major Nelson, Booty also pointed to inXile's next project as something very exciting that's coming up. He even said Phil Spencer got to play the game for a while during a recent visit.

From the looks of things it's not just that State of Decay is using Unreal 5 (which we already knew) but they are working the Coalition on developing the game, so this is one of those side projects that The Coalition mentioned before. They seem to be including tech and design from the Gears of Wars series into State of Decay 3, so i suspect that unlike the budget release the first two games are, this is going to be a much more grand, polished, and impressive game.

However, it would have been nice to see some of this "cool stuff" Matt Booty is talking about.

He also briefly mentions Inxiles project and how even Phil Spencer got to play it, says it's very exciting but doesn't say more. I know Matt's trying to make everything seem like it's sunny in a rainforest, but without a trailer or even some teaser screenshots, all we can do is either take what he says at face value, or remain in the dark.

I hope all these games come out soon and turn out as awesome as Matt booty implies, however Matt Booty is also known for his misleading statements so I'm mixed on this one. But at least we know that Undead Labs are working with The Coalition for this game, which will help deliver a quality boost compared to the first two State of Decay games. Not that they were bad, but you could easily mistaken them for budget steam or mobile releases before.
 

Mr Hyde

Member
Xbox game studios answer to Matt Booty when he comes knocking on the door for a gameplay showing.

Eddie Murphy No GIF by Coming to America
 
You know what, I've actually warmed up to MS in this new gen even though I don't own a new gen console. I think they have made some good decisions as a business. But as someone who enjoys actually playing games, they have been all talk and failed to deliver on the shit that really matters to me.
If you're going to talk the talk then walk the fucking walk.
 
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A new State of Decay game is not going to move the needle for Xbox. Please Matt, invest in new IPs!
i think if its an evolving Zombie sim with a bigger scope than the last it will be a hit. Grounded got millions of people invested in the ecosystem, I can see state of decay 3 being a huge boon for that survival sim genre. Its already one of the better Zombie survival games. I'm honestly expecting alot from it.
 
A new State of Decay game is not going to move the needle for Xbox. Please Matt, invest in new IPs!

I'm pretty sure Starfield, Redfall, Avowed, Contraband, Project Mara, Everwild and a bunch of other unannounced stuff from the likes of InXile, Compulsion, etc are all new IP...as well as greenlighting the first sequels to the relatively new IP's Hellblade and the OuterWorlds.
 

kiphalfton

Member
How fucking hard is it to make an open world zombie game? I ask because pretty much every dev has screwed it up, except maybe Bend Studios. But even in Days Gone the shooting feels off. In any case it may just not be possible, since devs can't not rely on crappy side quests and making it a collectathon (which is what SoD essentially is)
 

SmokedMeat

Gamer™
How fucking hard is it to make an open world zombie game? I ask because pretty much every dev has screwed it up, except maybe Bend Studios. But even in Days Gone the shooting feels off. In any case it may just not be possible, since devs can't not rely on crappy side quests and making it a collectathon (which is what SoD essentially is)

Dying Light was good.
 

CamHostage

Member
I've said this elsewhere, but by this point, most things that were being made with Unreal Engine 4 might as well be UE5 projects by this point (especially if you have a project which was barely much more than the CG it debuted with in 2020...) So, techwise, that's not saying much, but it's in general a positive. (BTW, it was said real weird... "using some of the technology around Unreal Engine 5", saywhatnow?),

The Coalition coming in and lending its expertise (and what sounds like tech? or mechanics? or "stuff"?,) that's a pretty cool development though/

The Coalition co-developing ?

Now you have my interest.

Eh, contributing "stuff", which isn't the same but is I feel confident will be a good thing overall; The Coalition is in a good shape to be the braincenter of UE technology, especially being the only major studio so far outside Epic to have shipped a UE5 product (even if that product was just porting help of Epic's Matrix demo, they've still been with their hands in the batter longer than anybody.) I like them being used as the gurus, and so long as that doesn't slow down any future Coalition projects, let them be the tide that raises all boats.
 
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Men_in_Boxes

Snake Oil Salesman
I'm pretty sure State of Decay was originally intended to be an MMO but due to lack of resources they scaled it way back. Haven't they said SoD3 is what they envisioned SoD to be in the first place?
 

Black_Stride

do not tempt fate do not contrain Wonder Woman's thighs do not do not
Co-Developed by The Coalition.....so itll actually run well?
And its TC they likely have a new branch of UE5.1 already, so hopefully they have gotten Lumen to be performant on Series X.
 

Robb

Gold Member
Tried getting into SoD2, but didn’t like it. Unless they make some big changes to the game I don’t think I’ll be interested.
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
So the game announced a couple years ago State of Decay 3, seems to have been turned into a AAA game instead of a between A and indie like the previous two entries. Which may explain the lack of news for so long.
https://wccftech.com/state-of-decay...eal-engine-5-and-help-from-gears-of-war-devs/


From the looks of things it's not just that State of Decay is using Unreal 5 (which we already knew) but they are working the Coalition on developing the game, so this is one of those side projects that The Coalition mentioned before. They seem to be including tech and design from the Gears of Wars series into State of Decay 3, so i suspect that unlike the budget release the first two games are, this is going to be a much more grand, polished, and impressive game.

However, it would have been nice to see some of this "cool stuff" Matt Booty is talking about.

He also briefly mentions Inxiles project and how even Phil Spencer got to play it, says it's very exciting but doesn't say more. I know Matt's trying to make everything seem like it's sunny in a rainforest, but without a trailer or even some teaser screenshots, all we can do is either take what he says at face value, or remain in the dark.

I hope all these games come out soon and turn out as awesome as Matt booty implies, however Matt Booty is also known for his misleading statements so I'm mixed on this one. But at least we know that Undead Labs are working with The Coalition for this game, which will help deliver a quality boost compared to the first two State of Decay games. Not that they were bad, but you could easily mistaken them for budget steam or mobile releases before.
"Either take what he says at face value, or remain in the dark."

🤣

You literally defined every game in development. And that's literally the default position for every gamer on boards like these. It's not one or the other. It's both! LOL
 
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Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
A new State of Decay game is not going to move the needle for Xbox. Please Matt, invest in new IPs!
TF???

SoD2 has 11 million lifetime players and growing. XGS has 23 studios with about 50 games in development. What dimension are you in??

Please invest in some research! This middling effort to understand shit isn't going to move the needle!
 

Gavon West

Spread's Cheeks for Intrusive Ads
You know what, I've actually warmed up to MS in this new gen even though I don't own a new gen console. I think they have made some good decisions as a business. But as someone who enjoys actually playing games, they have been all talk and failed to deliver on the shit that really matters to me.
If you're going to talk the talk then walk the fucking walk.
I have a better idea. Why don't you learn game development and make your own game. It's hilarious how easy you guys think this stuff is. If you got better ideas, I can guarantee you have an entire game industry willing to listen!
 
Awesome to hear. SoD2 became a great game after all these updates. Can't wait to see first glimpses of SoD3.

A quadrupleA SoD game will move mountains of Xbox's once it's out.
 

Jinzo Prime

Member
i think if its an evolving Zombie sim with a bigger scope than the last it will be a hit. Grounded got millions of people invested in the ecosystem, I can see state of decay 3 being a huge boon for that survival sim genre. Its already one of the better Zombie survival games. I'm honestly expecting alot from it.

I'm pretty sure Starfield, Redfall, Avowed, Contraband, Project Mara, Everwild and a bunch of other unannounced stuff from the likes of InXile, Compulsion, etc are all new IP...as well as greenlighting the first sequels to the relatively new IP's Hellblade and the OuterWorlds.

No but maybe if it looks amazing it might make your needle dick move a bit :lollipop_baby_angel:

This is a joke btw, I would never make assumptions about what turns you on

TF???

SoD2 has 11 million lifetime players and growing. XGS has 23 studios with about 50 games in development. What dimension are you in??

Please invest in some research! This middling effort to understand shit isn't going to move the needle!

They brought the studio specifically because it moved the needle and more, increase consumer engagement, and was a hit on Gamepass.
I've NEVER seen anybody talking about State of Decay before I made my original comment, Microsoft must be so happy with all this new buzz and engagement! 🤣
 
Probably the best news about a MS 1P project that isn't Halo/Gears/Forza to have come out the entire year. At least we know it's likely not in development hell, not if The Coalition are helping out.

Though I agree, less tell and more show, particularly in Microsoft's case. This game definitely needs a gameplay reveal by June 2023 at latest. If they have something cooking for the TGAs, even better.
 
You know what, I've actually warmed up to MS in this new gen even though I don't own a new gen console. I think they have made some good decisions as a business. But as someone who enjoys actually playing games, they have been all talk and failed to deliver on the shit that really matters to me.
If you're going to talk the talk then walk the fucking walk.
This. I purchased a Series X because I figured even if they don't have many exciting games out now at least they have gamepass, Halo infinite, and Starfield coming for sure in Nov 22 ....a week after buying it they delay starfield ..then the realization hits that they have literally nothing else in 2022 ...then I start playing Halo Infinite which I quickly realized is a shell of a game, the biggest disappointment (mostly that campaign but also the lack of content in multiplayer). Halo is pretty much shot as a franchise for this gen. They think they're gonna make this a 10 year project? I don't see a campaign expansion coming for several years. they can't even make a multiplayer map for the rest of '22? Wtf?

I hope at least Forza and Starfield come in the first half of '22. Don't expect Hellblade 2 or Gears 6 to come for a couple more years. Fable, State of Deay 3, Perfect Dark could be 3-4 years away. Redfall I can't say I'm excited about. Same with High on Life.

MS management is a disaster.
 
I have a better idea. Why don't you learn game development and make your own game. It's hilarious how easy you guys think this stuff is. If you got better ideas, I can guarantee you have an entire game industry willing to listen!
You sound like such a fanboy. You don't need to be a game developer to see how badly MS has managed this generation. Just look at Halo Infinite and the fact that they have NOTHING in 2022. When you have Sony and Nintendo consistently releasing great exclusives and MS failing at that you don't need a degree in game development. You look at the competition and see how MS compares. You're OK with having no good exclusives throughout an entire year?
 

nemiroff

Gold Member
Been trying to familiarize myself with SoD2 lately and I have to say SoD has a ton of potential. The main issue I have with SoD2 is that the game-loop is eye-openingly shallow and small but at the same time flooded with a crazy amount of unneeded inventory and base managing. The bases systems is also annoying would prefer a better progressive and dynamic fog of war that doesn't feel like a chore. The "choose and load a biome" system is also complete ass, doesn't make sense to me, let it be streamed and dynamic instead. For SoD3 they need to expand and insert a LOT of depth but at the same time as refining and trimming away unneeded shit. Then it could have the potential to make a real impact. Take some good ideas and stuff from Days Gone (but not the forced walking..) and perhaps even from the zombie mode in CoD Cold War as well. Here's hoping.
 
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