SCUM - MASTER FAQ & INFO THREAD

[Iggy]

• The release date, price, preordering and getting a key?

29.08.2018. Starting price - $19.99, gradually increased during the EA. You won’t be able to preorder SCUM. Invites are being organized only from the developer side.

• SCUM - is it just another Battle Royal game?

Short answer - no.

Long answer - SCUM is much more than that. It takes the best features from various survival games and combines them into a huge, “do as you wish” sandbox game. It will be among the first games to provide you with a choice between hardcore survival and action filled events.

One day you might feel like only wandering around the map, scavenging, improving your character and casually meeting other players (similar to DayZ). But the choice of spicing things up will always be there, with constant events organized across the map. Players can check the upcoming events, such as CTF-s, DM-s, TDM-s and sign up for a spot. These events will provide players with high risk, high reward situations. Once the event starts on a predetermined location, you will get to pick event-based weapons and then do your best to survive, kill other players and capture objectives - resulting in getting more fame from millions of viewers closely following your every action.

Being the most famous player on the server will grant you different rewards, but will also place a bounty on your head as other, unknown players, might decide to track you down and kill you to earn the fame points themselves.

And this is just the tip of the iceberg of features coming at day 1. To see other features and systems we plan to implement, it would be best to check out our Youtube channel.

• Metabolism window - is it going to result with tedious and constant micromanagement?

That was never our goal, even though we have to admit that its window might look overwhelming at first.

Our plan is actually really simple - if you are hungry, you will eat. If you are thirsty, you will drink. If tired - you will rest. These simple and logical actions will give your character ability to achieve its full potential, without ever opening the metabolism window. However, people who want to micromanage and optimize their statistics will have the option to do so.

Basically, being in tip top shape gives you a slight advantage, but it won’t automatically win fights for you. It all comes down to the player skill.

• Will there be dedicated 1st and 3rd person servers in SCUM?

This has been requested a lot by our community and we will do our best to implement it as soon as possible.

• What is going to be SCUM’s anti-cheat system?

Easy Anti Cheat (EAC)

• Who will be SCUM’s server providers and will players be able to create/host their own SCUM servers?

Our server provider will be G-Portal. You will be able to rent your own server and play by your own rules.

• How many players per server?

Initially 64 players per server, but we are open to changing this during the EA phase.

• How will we level our characters’ skills and perks?

Leveling will happen over the course of many hours and by doing certain actions within the game. Each skill will have 4 levels, basic, medium and advanced obtainable during the character creation, with advanced + level being obtainable only through playing.

• What if I die, do I lose experience, skills and items?

You will have the option to spend your fame points in order to keep your experience, skills and items. More you decide to keep - more expensive it gets. But until the fame system is completely implemented, respawning will be free.

• Will there be base building in SCUM?

We plan to kick things off with fortifying existing buildings, but fortification won't be available from day 1.

• Will SCUM have emotes, skins, posters and other types of microtransactions?

There won't be microtransactions, but we do plan to add the "visual-only" content, such as skins, emotes, posters and similar down the line.

• Will SCUM be a session based game?

SCUM has a persistent world, making it a non-session game.

• Will SCUM have single player?

Yes, in a way where you make your own local server and play alone on it. In later stages of development we plan to add a campaign, missions, npc-s and similar.

• What engine and language is SCUM using?

SCUM is using Unreal Engine 4 and is being developed in C++.

• Will there be realistic weapon damage and bullet travel in SCUM?

Fire weapon handling will be directly affected by the Strength skill, that generally involves everything related to muscle power. More Strength will mean better gun handling and recoil handling for example. Although exhaustion, illness or wounds will heavily affect your stamina, and therefore, your gun handling. For a more complete answer, check out our video regarding gunplay!

We are also using G1 ballistic formula and everything is pretty accurate.
https://kestrelmeters.com/pages/g1-g7-ballistic-coefficients-what-s-the-difference

• How big is the map and will there be a compass in SCUM?

The current size of the map is 12x12km and yes, you will be able to craft your compass.

• Will there be female models in SCUM?

Of course, but they will be implemented later on.

• Where can I find more information about the game?

First, check the videos on our Youtube channel. Next, check out the simulation & PVE official quotes. You might also check out the exclusive interview with our community manager, Wonder. And if you still can’t find your answer, feel free to post your question here or make a separate discussion.

Make sure you join our social pages and portals to share your questions and suggestions directly with developers. Hope to see you in the game!

• Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/ScumGame/
  
• Twitter - https://twitter.com/ScumGame
  
• Discord - https://discord.gg/scum
  
• Reddit - https://www.reddit.com/r/SCUMgame/
  
• Web - https://scumgame.com/
  
• Youtube - https://www.youtube.com/user/TheGamepires

[Retro]

what separates you from the literally 10 battleroyal game coming out in the next few months?

As you know there is a WHOLE slew of these games coming out each of them say they are going to do something amazing and different from the next one. The raining kings are still Arma mods/ H1Z1 and then there is the literal whole slew of recent ones that just came out and the ones coming out. What makes your game different? I kind of wish someone would take the amazing aspects of "the forest" with their incredible AI and interesting features.

[Deda Stojko]

Actually SCUM should not be described as a battle-royal game only, it is much more than that (but you can play it that way if you wish). For us it is really hard to portray what SCUM is in a few words. During the last gaming expo where we presented the first pre-aplha build of the game, people asked questions and it took us around 1 hour to communicate most of the main features of the game.
When we started to work on the game we actually wanted to make something different from current survival games that are available on Steam. These survival games or should we say survival genre in general has hit the wall. At first they were interesting as sandbox games, players would explore, craft, die and repeat. Even bugs were amusing at start but eventually no progress was made on genre as it is.
Regarding the game-play, most of these games (open world MP survival games), are just more complex Death-match games. This makes games repetitive and boring with no purpose even not to stay alive and that is absurd, because once player gets equipped everything comes to hunting others till you're dead. That is not survival how we see it.
SCUM is designed for thousands hours of game-play time with gradual skill progression (game will have three different types of experience points). We started with premise that all people are unique, so your character will be unique too (SCUM has RPG character customization system). Even if you clone your character, after 10+ hours of game-play when metabolism and environment influences kick in, they will evolve into different characters. This is the common thing in real life; imagine what would happen to you if you chosen different education path 10 years ago. The next big thing is a layered game-play, SCUM will feature low, mid and high level game-play options. All players have free will to do whatever they want, they can play SCUM as classic battle royal game, try to survive alone, or they can try to create alliances, together hold resources and grow their own society or finally they can try to reach higher goals, involve into story driven game-play by solving adventure like puzzles and mission objectives to reach the ultimate goal - leave the island alive. This free will was something of a great importance to us, at no point in the game players will be limited in their actions. If we are talking in terms of a racing games, try to imagine ultimate racing game where players can compete as arcade racers or pro simulator drivers depending on their preferences and skills.
Furthermore, weapons are just tools like a hammer for example, in SCUM players are the real weapons. It is not necessary to use a brute force to kill somebody, you can kill other players on many different ways by using your wits, but it really doesn't matter if you are good killer or not, what matters in SCUM is if you are good survivor or not.
I don't know if what I wrote here is enough for you to get a glimpse of what SCUM will be, but SCUM is really complex game and most of other survival games here are plain basic compared to SCUM, so please stay tuned :)

[Virtex.]

I dont know about you guys (devs as well) this is a survival game we have yet to even see its like (dying light but mmo?) how many people per server? im looking forward to this! i hope we have alot of weapons and good content drops here and there! i hope if there are snipers AR smg hand tools it will be all balanced (hard to balance a sniper but ya know) :P

[Deda Stojko]

We are in the process of analyzing network traffic and so far prediction is that game will support 50-60+ players easily. Our hopes are that final numbers will be much higher but it is still too early to say. We will have more info in next 30 days.

There will be snipers in the game, or should I say rifle+scope combinations that you will have to find. We already have realistic bullet trajectory implemented. Our formula includes factors such as wind, temperature, altitude, pressure and relative humidity that affect the bullet’s trajectory. There is weapon aiming system that depends on character’s skill level which is currently under development too. Basically each action you do will depend on three things, your character's skill level regarding specific skill, character's overall condition (stamina, metabolism levels, health status) and your own skill as a player. The sniping skill is linked with Intelligence attribute. There are four basic attributes that define each character - Strength, Constitution, Dexterity and Intelligence. You will create physical base of your character by distributing 12 points between these attributes. Each attribute can be anything between 1 to 5, so 3,3,3,3 resembles an average person. Once you define the main attributes you get certain amount of points to be distributed on skills that characters have learned before he was sent to the island. For each skill there are 5 skill levels - No skill (requires no points), Basic (1 point), Medium (1+2=3 points), Advanced (1+2+3=6 points) and Advanced+ (cannot be selected from the start, but it can be built up during the game). Once you set up this you are ready to go.
If you don't know specific skill that doesn't mean that you cannot do stuff regarding that skill, but your actions will be limited or performed badly with great chance for failing. For example, let's say that you decide not to add 1 point for swimming skill so you character will not know how to swim, BUT that should not stop you to try. If you spend enough time your character will LEARN how to keep himself/herself afloat. If you keep up swimming eventually you will be able to swim a little and then swim faster or carry more weight while swimming. We are trying to simulate real life situations with all skills, but it will take some time before we tune up everything. And the main reason for EA release is actually this "tuning up" we have to do, we simply need more input from community to see what works best.

As for the content, EA version of the game will have few weapons divided in groups, for example one rifle (aka Mosin karabine or similar..), one assault rifle (AK47...), one pistol, etc.. we want to cover all mechanics first and then add more weapons in monthly updates.

The whole game will take place on the island and a surface area of 144 km2, surrounded by the sea and huge protective walls built by TEC1 Company (producers of the show) so that the prisoners cannot escape. The island is located in three different climate zones. Similar climate zones can be found on the Dalmatian coast in Croatia (e.g. Island of Brač). We have already covered many types of vegetation that grows here and wildlife is under development. Final version should feature tons of animals with detailed AI behavior. As far as we know there is no game that has gone so far in simulating the real climate with related flora and fauna.
It will take us some time to build up content ( cities, villages, abandoned facilities, etc) but we already have more than most of other survival games that are not mods of already released games.
Now, usually at this point somebody asks us how do we plan to handle out a death in game and the fact that players will have to spend 500+ hours of gameplay to build up specific skill... :)

[DarkRyder]

How do you plan to handle out a death in game and the fact that players will have to spend 500+ hours of gameplay to build up specific skill... ? :)

But i have one other question, what will be the price of EA? will it be differ for EA opposed to finished game, will it increase as various goals are achieved, like DayZ model?

And yes, i hope you realize why DayZ is the king, and lots of people play it, including myself.... atmosphere, emergence, excellent use of colors... i relay hope you nail that, god knows we need worthwhile competition.

Will you make other smaller islands around the main island? Or maybe split main island something like Cres and Lošinj?

Linux dedicated server?

Will there be crafting? Simple stuff, like picatinny rail for AK. Metallurgy skill on some unique locations?
Drones for recon? Soar panels for charging batteries?
Sorry, lots of ideas :))

[Deda Stojko]

Well I'm glad you asked that :) If you read a short lore about the game that we have published in a dev blog then you know that everything happens some 20+ years from present time. There was a major breakthrough in technology and bio-engineering. People are getting implants that can boost their abilities or monitor their vital signs and signal if something has gone wrong. The era of cyborgs is still far away but governments and large corps are making some interesting (and not too legal) experiments (usually on prisoners :) ). Human organ replication is already old news, but it is more less too expensive for majority of population. The good health care in general is reserved of rich people only.

Now what happens if you die? Well it depends how popular you are in the show .:) SCUM has three different experience points that can be gathered during the game time. The most common exp points are for skills and I've been talking about them earlier. The second exp points are so called Fame points, if you are famous enough TEC1 (producers) will be forced to clone you back in the show. More popular players will be given a chance to keep some of their gear, while superstar players will be able to keep their ranks/sponsors/etc... Finally the last exp. points are Rebel points, you gather them as you solve story based mission objectives.With higher Rebel rankings, producers will be notified with your activities and start to hunt you down, either by sending NPCs or place a bounty on your head for other players. This story driven gameplay is planned after EA.

We are still not sure about the price of the EA version, it all depends how polished will be on the release date, but yes, the price will go up in the following year after EA release. Initial lower price is our way of saying 'thank you' to the community that supports us from EA phase.

When we decided to make SCUM, we didn't want to just copy existing survival games, we wanted to make a step further make something different. The atmosphere is really important for any game. Everything that happens in SCUM will be explained in many details. The players will not be obliged to follow the mission objectives, they can play it like any other game, but sooner or later they will find 'clues' about island's history and they just might decide to follow that path. At the end of that path 'freedom' awaits but we'll make sure that none of you ever escapes :)

There will be smaller islands along the coast line, but we are not planning to recreate real locations, at least not yet. Once we finalize adding the content what Croatian bureaucracy thinks about our ideas. :)

Linux, well lets first finish the game for Windows, UE is open for that, but until we have something to test, we can't promise anything.

All crafting is skill based, from simple to complicated stuff.. You should be able to make tons of stuff (gunpowder, narcotics, medicine, etc...) but it depends if you have resources and skills to do it. Resources are divided in what you can find and carry and long term resources that can be found on specific locations. For examples SCUM will have abandoned military/government facilities that we call Bases/Strongholds. These areas will provide players with some crucial resources (sick bay, chemistry lab, electricity generator, car shop etc..), but they will have to keep them functional and defend them from other players or NPCs. The whole idea behind strongholds is to give opportunity players to grow factions, make their own society and spread their influence over the island. The easiest way to understand this is to analyze what happens in TWD season 3. There you have a two factions, the first one is in the prison lead by Rick and the second is led by Governor in well fortified city. They both resemble a threat to other faction and they have to fight over resources scattered over zombie infested wasteland in-between...

Sure, drones will be all over the place, after all this is a TV show, audience wants to see blood and gore..BTW if suddenly you see few drones buzzing around your location, be sure that nothing good is going to happen :) If you want, you can try to hack into drones, but your success will depend on your programming skills... hell, if you are a good programmer you can try to hack into other players BCU units too... now that will be fun thing to do! :D

Solar panels - good idea, will write that down.. thanks man!

[NEON]

It sounds awesome. :) I'm definitely interested.

[DarkRyder]

Here you go, i think it's a nice model for a game, i'm using it IRL

http://i.ebayimg.com/images/g/ttgAAOSwHMJYCFsa/s-l1600.jpg

Peak power is 1A, 12v

Folded size 20x28 cm, you can charge car batteries, cell phones, tablets (clamp 12v, and usb 5v output)


For the rest of the stuff, all of this sounds perfect... with real endgame, not just go kill something.

[Deda Stojko]

@DarkRyder - thanks, it has been added in the list of items. :)

[Retro]

yeah this topic turned out to be ultra informative and exciting, sounds like you're actually gunning for some innovation.

[Retro]

on a side not have you considered doing something like the nemesis system? if a low level NPC kills you it'll some how give them a higher status and more clout, i loved this feature and think it should be expanded on or maybe innovated on in other games, it makes NPC enemies so much more interesting, especially for this type of game having it be addicting even without ANY players on would be amazing.

[Deda Stojko]

@IHeartPie Are you referring to Shadow of Mordor's Nemesys system? Do you have any more details about these mechanics you would like to see?

[Sippy]

i think ill pin this topic. Lots people can find answers to their questions here

[Virtex.]

I have a question.. so this game is full open world pvp just without base building? correct me if its not that or is it a battle royale game mode? where you die your out re search a server or when you get dropped off in the island you die you just get dropped off at a random location? just from reading the blog it says "open world survival game" So is it either battle royale or nah? just the way some things are being said makes it sound like a battle royale game like h1z1

Is there safe zones around the map?

Is there game server/lobbies we can select from or is it just region based quick search?

Is no safe zones how does the whole logging out system/pvp logging system gonna work?

Please dont be like division and punish you for killing in PVP (im fine with the whole story thing you said where a bounty or something but not for killing one poor person) haha

How many devs are working on this game also is it being worked on full time?

Will there be a buddy system?

[Deda Stojko]

1. Currently we do not plan any kind of base building. For us it doesn't make sense to have generic wooden structures built near perfectly usable buildings/towns/villages. We don't claim that base-building is wrong/bad, it just isn't something that we see as realistic behavior in the world we are living in. What will be possible is securing specific areas by building walls around these areas.

2. Battle royale - well yes and no, it depends how you decide to play the game. SCUM is not just a battle royal game at least not in its core. Since this is a TV show, there will be events, like "Total War" for example. If you decide to participate in this sponsored event, you will have to choose side and fight on global scale until your faction prevails. Winners are rewarded with more fame points and sponsored gear.
If you want to go in wilderness, build your camp there and try to live like that, that's fine too, but that doesn't mean that the world around you will follow your rules, sooner or later you will have make decisions to survive, and SCUM is all about survival. This sort of high level game-play will be gradually introduced after EA release.

3. We are considering to include "safe zones" in specific TV events, but if there is no event there will be no safe zone too. All TV events will be as different game mods withing the game itself. We predict that in time community will come with their own ideas about new events they would like to see in the game so all these events will be modular/flexible and server based. The players will have an option to secure the strongholds and keep them as temporary safe places, but they will have to defend them from other players/npcs at all time.

4. The game will have standard list of all servers with server's specs. The players will be able to join any of these servers. The character is linked with specific server; this doesn't mean that you won't be able to play with same profile on some other servers, but your stats will be separated. However this issue is not a simple one. We want to reduce cheating (like disconnecting from one server where you are in trouble, then returning back after relocating), but we still think that players should be given an option to transfer their character to other servers too. We are still considering what will be the best thing to do here and we are open to suggestions.

5. Around 15 devs full time and couple of outsourced people too. Most of the devs have 10/15+ years in game dev and many published games. This whole EA is very exciting to us, so far we were used to finish the game first and then release it. We expect community to participate in a development and we are really looking forward to it, but on the other hand we sort of feel "bad" when we publish something that isn't polished to "perfection". I hope that you understand what I'm trying to say :)

6. Yes, after EA release we are planning to make some kind of Buddy system with ranks.

What I'd like to emphasize is that some of things you asked here will be introduced after EA, during EA release phase game will feature many other advanced features that are closely tied with survival, like for example detailed skill crafting system, advanced metabolism and bodily functions that have not been seen in the survival games so far. The players can spend weeks/ months just to try to survive all by themselves (for example in SP mode) to learn how human body works in different (and risky) situations. This type of game-play will be challenging and educational at the same time.