What happened to this game?

[WhiteCrow]

Played the original quite a while ago and have fond memories, and nearly forgot this one existed so I took the plunge. When it launched it had 10,000 players in September 2018. One month after in October it dropped to sub 2,000 and never recovered for years. The game for its entire lifespan rarely cracks above 1,000 players at any given time. Did people just not like it? I'm kind of confused here.

I played around 8 hours or so and yeah, it is kind of bare bones. After three years of development it's kind of appalling the shape it's still in. UI art is non-existent (Art for guns, clothes in menus). There is no party system to be found, is there even a clan system? I haven't delved too far into it yet so if I missed it let me know. Is there a friends system even? For a massively multiplayer online game the social systems are severely lacking.

The game is beautiful however. Assets, lighting, all top notch. Could use a bit more variety though. Walking a few blocks and entering a few buildings I feel like I've seen all the variety there is in the game. I understand there is primarily one developer, and I can appreciate that, but has there been any talk over the game's development of hiring help? I don't know, I enjoy the game and would just like more.

[Jaregon]

Hard to say. To be completly fair though. Playing the game solo is kinda, dull. The equipment stats are kinda hard to understand, getting loot that actually means anything is also hard. Leveling is slow, picking skill points could be hard if you don't look at existing builds and work towards them.

The games not bad with friends and becomes alot easier with multiple looters running through buildings. That way you can share ammo you don't need between people and keep eachother fed and healed.

[WhiteCrow]

Jaregon eredeti hozzászólása:

The games not bad with friends and becomes alot easier with multiple looters running through buildings. That way you can share ammo you don't need between people and keep eachother fed and healed.

I'm sure it's much better with friends, nearly any game is. Gotta' be a pain getting everyone together though huh? Without a party or friends system. I looked into builds and have one planned out if I continue playing, but yeah, progress is slow. I'm fine with a grind though.

Game seems kind of desolate as well in terms of player interactions. No one ever speaks in chat, and I'm pretty sure there's a plethora of bots running in the beginning area.

[76561199003033011]

I think the game need better intro, story mode, events and more effort = more reward system and most importantly advertising.

They working on the story now so that's a very good start specially with the lvl 50 update which is by far the best update for this game.

[Underdog]

I don't think it's really fair to judge a game based on the launch player base. Most games - especially free to play games - have an insane playerbase on launch with all the hype and the Steam Store exposure, and it drastically drips down unless it's CSGO or whatever other rare case (you don't need to list them, we know).

Unfortunately, with the free to play crowd and especially in the zombie genre, you also get just about any Joe Schmoe who will download it and see what it's about. And this game is simply not for everyone. It's survival horror - and actual survival horror - which is a very niche genre. And, it's by one developer, so it isn't massively expanded every month like other games. The game also should have been launched more as a "demo" than "early access"... the problem is, every game gets launched as early access, so people think it will be a pretty accurate representation of what the game will be later.

And it wasn't. The game was OK at launch, but it wasn't good enough. So it got panned pretty hard, and the bad press and what not made the developer abandon the game for about a year. And most people have short memories, and will try out a game for five minutes, not like it, uninstall, and never look back. It's just what happens. Not necessarily blaming all the players, but the developer also should've handled things better, I think.

At the end of the day, the game is the game... if you like it, great. It's only gonna get better. It's improved drastically since launch. But I wouldn't expect it to become another new game again. It already happened with the open world update. I think it's all in a good place. It just needs some

There was a development map released earlier in this year (I'll link to it later). For whatever reason, the inventory and UI system was not apart of this map, which is really concerning. I think it'd be great if the developer hired anyone to help with this game, but it's unlikely. He currently has hired someone to help on the first game which seems to be going smoothly... hopefully that positive experience can help him here. To be fair, he does hire designers and voice actors obviously. But, you know.

The game also did recently get a massive update, but you won't get to experience it until level 30 or so. The new zones are very hard, and have a lot more variety going on there, enemy wise at least. I think the different building types all look pretty different, the problem is all the building types are then the same. I think he's working on that next, but hard to tell of course

[Underdog]

2021 development map. The level 50 update is out, as you probably know:

https://steamcommunity.com/games/744900/announcements/detail/5581616455376693138

[Folder Door]

I played in the launch and 2 things were game killers FOR ME:
- Extremely repetitive buildings.
- Terrible interface.

I entered today after years and none of those things changed, i dont even know how they keep this game.

[Mouse Lover]

EDIT. Forgot Police Station Event.

What is the problem with Dead Frontier II. What makes it good, bad and why people are leaving or not coming back:

The Good:
+ Bosses are creepy and cool.
+ Some Zombie designs are amazing.
+ Ambient looks decent but too dark for my liking
[ I know there is an option to turn it brighter. ]
+ Fun with friends.
+ Can be played solo with the right build.
+ Skills.

The Bad:
- Server problems (disconnections).
- Game UI is ugly as hell.
- PvP is limited to areas. The main reason why games like DayZ get a lot of players it's from everyone starting PvP right away.
[ A suggestion would be leaving the map to go to a neutral safe zone where you can trade / sell / heal. And when you enter the map, you spawn at a random location to avoid camping. ]
- Slow XP gain, even with XP boost.
- The Car is kind of useless.
[ Sure you can use it as another chest. But you cannot drive it. Spawning next to other bases is just fast travel... ]
- Trading
[ This is a hit or miss. For one why bother farming if you can just buy items you like from the shop. The entire point of a survival game is to Loot and get materials needed to fight bosses. ]
- The loot drop
[ Most of the times it sucks and you don't feel like you are making any progress. Not even worth all the bullets wasted on a Boss. Not to mention the defend event only gives you a buff instead of money or the ammo you wasted defending the settlement. They should also make zombie bosses attack the settlements. ]
- The endless rooms on buildings.
[ They should be lowered to 3 or 4 floors maxed and a couple of hallways. ]
- Door loading screen.
[ Just load an entire floor. That would be great for scary moments if you chose to use a gun and every single room is full of zombies. Cause doors with loading screens make everything easy, even escape without consequences. Most of the times you can rush in take loot and get out. Not even have to worry about zombies following you. ]
-Missions are lame.
[ I can get the same amount of cash just from selling ammo I found looting. So there is no reason to do quests. Not even for the XP. Specially if they ask you to find an Item in an endless building. What should be done is missions rewarding you ITEMS or AMMO or WEAPONS. + Unique stuff if you kill a boss. ]
- The lack of Raids.
[ MMO with no Raids... Bruh. The Closest thing I have seen is those purple events on the world map or the defend base event. This game needs more content that requires people to work together as a team. ]
- Once you have entered a couple of buildings. You have seen everything.
[ That closet is always the same. It's boring. ]
- ETC...

[Dog]

Games just fine , I enjoy it very much.

[Mouse Lover]

And the most important thing... If you compare Dead Frontier 2 to any other Zombie game it comes out poor.

PvP
DayZ (Even if I dislike this game, it's a better PvP than Dead Frontier 2 ).

Looting + Crafting + Car
Project Zomboid (You can drive a car, you can build your base and no loading screens when you enter buildings.)
State of Decay (Also you can drive a car, you can make your own settlement and no loading screens when entering any buildings.)

Story
Any of the Resident Evil Games (I know Dead Frontier 2 wants to copy the good old RE games, but what makes them great was the story and characters. In Dead Frontier 2 you only find random pieces of lore and you can read them if you give a damn or just throw it so that slot can be used better on another item you found. Not to mention the NPCs are more zombies than the zombies roaming the city for how lifeless they are).

[Skrain]

As an OG player of DF1 all the way back when the game was just a Shout Box in 2007, I can say that Neil Yates will never improve this game beyond what it currently is. I'm absolutely certain of this.

[WhiteCrow]

Agree with the comments.


I'm at a weird point right now. I want to continue playing, but thinking about it I kind of don't want to haha. I know it'll be just more of the same.

[Dog]

😭

[Rentago]

WhiteCrow eredeti hozzászólása:

Played the original quite a while ago and have fond memories, and nearly forgot this one existed so I took the plunge. When it launched it had 10,000 players in September 2018. One month after in October it dropped to sub 2,000 and never recovered for years. The game for its entire lifespan rarely cracks above 1,000 players at any given time. Did people just not like it? I'm kind of confused here.

It is weird to be asking something that is very apparent. This game launched and LOOKED interesting, but the gameplay and content is very barebones. It has the interest of people because it looks like it could be a solid game to play with friends. However even at this moment all you do is loot and grind. For comparison's sake we will look at how Dead Frontier 1 offers not only a larger area, but varied locations, weapons, armor, mechanics like setting up outposts, pvp, etc.

Dead Frontier 2 is still very much still a beta prone to huge changes since it isn't a complete game with all the features. So imagine 10,000 players getting on to a game only to find out it isn't complete, they'll obviously shelve it or refund it. Why would 10,000 players just exist 24/7 on a game that doesn't have enough reason to play it beyond a few hours. Not everyone wants to just grind for the sake of grinding, there needs to be content to justify it.

[Underdog]

Rentago eredeti hozzászólása:

WhiteCrow eredeti hozzászólása:

Played the original quite a while ago and have fond memories, and nearly forgot this one existed so I took the plunge. When it launched it had 10,000 players in September 2018. One month after in October it dropped to sub 2,000 and never recovered for years. The game for its entire lifespan rarely cracks above 1,000 players at any given time. Did people just not like it? I'm kind of confused here.

It is weird to be asking something that is very apparent. This game launched and LOOKED interesting, but the gameplay and content is very barebones. It has the interest of people because it looks like it could be a solid game to play with friends. However even at this moment all you do is loot and grind. For comparison's sake we will look at how Dead Frontier 1 offers not only a larger area, but varied locations, weapons, armor, mechanics like setting up outposts, pvp, etc.

Dead Frontier 2 is still very much still a beta prone to huge changes since it isn't a complete game with all the features. So imagine 10,000 players getting on to a game only to find out it isn't complete, they'll obviously shelve it or refund it. Why would 10,000 players just exist 24/7 on a game that doesn't have enough reason to play it beyond a few hours. Not everyone wants to just grind for the sake of grinding, there needs to be content to justify it.

That is a terrible comparison, considering literally all you do in df1 can be boiled down to "loot and grind", with the exception of PVP which you also omitted from df2...

Every game has a gameplay loop that can be overly simplified. No point in bashing one game over another for the same over simplification

For the record I enjoy both games, for the different things they offer. Still the literal same gameplay loop

[Rentago]

Underdog eredeti hozzászólása:

That is a terrible comparison, considering literally all you do in df1 can be boiled down to "loot and grind", with the exception of PVP which you also omitted from df2...

Every game has a gameplay loop that can be overly simplified. No point in bashing one game over another for the same over simplification

For the record I enjoy both games, for the different things they offer. Still the literal same gameplay loop

No, you are just being defensive. You know exactly what is different here. The world is just not fleshed out, copy pasted interior and exteriors that all look the same. We aren't in a city that we can go deeper into, were in a weird town that looks the same no matter where you are. Right now as it is were playing just to level up and acquire gear just to get a head start for when they really start adding more things to the game.

Don't tell me you literally got to 50+10 just to go into an apartment building and kill random boss in small room a million times. You are likely doing what I'm doing, which is hoarding all sorts of ♥♥♥♥ for when the game gets fleshed out to be more like racoon city where there is a mansion with some extensive interior that leads to something cool, an rural area and then an inner city with an underground to it. You know you want more, there just isn't more to be had right now and that is EVERYONE who is bothering to play it right now.

Other looter/shooters have way more world, way more content, way more things to do, and the reason were both on this is because we know DF1 and that this guy will continue his slow and steady development to making this a potentially solid game.

TL;DR
You're seriously going to try to die on a hill telling me this game is done and they don't need to ever update it again? There is no point in covering it up, this game isn't done, and it won't be for a while. It just isn't a complete product period. There is no argument to be had on this.

He should have left it as Early Access so people wouldn't bash it for being incomplete.