Road to Vostok Developer: Demo 2 v2, Early Access Details, New Trader, Godot Engine, BTS of Game Dev

[@roadtovostok]

Thanks for the Round 2 interview! I had once again really nice time being on the show and covering these topics around the project :)

[@whiskey13sweats]

We’re looking forward to rtv. Thank you for your hard work and dedication!

[@impheris]

good luck man

[@toddconnell8324]

“Making games is hard”. No one cares. You either make the game or you don’t, but don’t expect people to give you money to help you develop a game and then call it early access. Early access is for a game that is all but finished, but needs some play testing to check the balance.

[@OlafPawbelt]

​@@toddconnell8324angry much?

[@anttoneskola]

@@toddconnell8324I’m glad you got that out of your system. Do you feel better already?

[@Cluxiu]

The developer is a legend.

[@darkmattergamesofficial]

Very happy this is singleplayer. Looking forward to playing it!

[@nahkamursu]

Thank you for good cover and amazing to Hear our beloved dev being so honest with things close to his heart, it's gonna be long road but you already have so many friends without rest assured.

[@devCalico]

On top of how impressive this project is overall, I think the fact that its running on Godot and looking as good as it did on Unity prior is truly insane.

[@liquidsnakex]

Not really, the art style and assets mostly dictate what it looks like, not the engine

[@AnAncient76]

You don't know what an engine is.

[@devCalico]

@@liquidsnakex partially true, the Artstyle will remain, but I'm talking about graphics in terms of the lighting / shading / rendering. Godot's 3D has improved significantly, but its widely known Unity has rendering pipeline options that are much more capable than Godot at the moment.

[@liquidsnakex]

@@devCalico Sure, but all use 95% identical lighting / shading / rendering techniques until custom shaders are used, which again are written according to the art style, not the engine. The differences between engines would have a minuscule effect on the final image, especially compared to the assets and art style. And as you admitted it yourself, it looks just as good on Godot as it did on Unity. There's nothing even slightly surprising about that to anyone that knows what an engine is or does.

[@devCalico]

@@liquidsnakex My point being that Unity’s rendering pipelines will generally look much better out of the box, with little work required. Godot is obviously capable of looking great, but being lighter-weight by design will require more custom shader work by the developer. I know what engines are and what they are capable of lol, I am not saying one is better than the other here, they are very different engines in approach. I am saying one (Unity) will generally require less effort to look good from the get-go.

[@LiterallyKurt]

Im honestly so excited to see where the game goes.

[@SuperJaped]

This was a really good interview! I've seen Antti multiple times because we live in the same town, and he's even presented at our university. I have to say, he's a really humble guy. I'm normally pretty skeptical, but after seeing him multiple times, I can confidently say he is just as humble as he seems in his devlogs and podcasts. I really hope for the best for this game!

[@niuage]

Lots of comments about the dev and the game and that's awesome, he deserves it so much, but also, props to the interviewer, it was really good.

[@PixelFabula]

Much appreciated 🙏 Thank you!

[@CreepCraze_]

Kind of a like one of the best future games in development

[@luckyknot]

Very interesting interview for game devs thanks!

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you! Appreciate the support 👍

[@OgOssman]

Id pre order this if i could. Ive been craving a solid single player game, everything is xtract, pvp, live service, im tired of that.

[@Grottogoob]

All the Tarkov rip-offs make me sick to my fucking stomach!

[@OlafPawbelt]

​@@Grottogoobthis isnt a tarkov "ripoff" though, its more inspired by stalker than anything.

[@wash99]

​@Grottogoob ikr everyone is going nuts about delta force 😂

[@igorthelight]

@@Grottogoob "All the Doom rip-offs make me sick to my fucking stomach!" - think about this phrase instead ;-)

[@Grottogoob]

@@igorthelight Well, you’re not wrong. Given more thought, you could put a lot of different games in that phrase and it would still work out. I just don’t like Tarkov or anything copying it

[@Xplaced]

These are so good, man! I love your other interview with Antti, I’ve listened to it a few times. Your other podcasts are great also. Keep doing these as much as you can!

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you for the kind words! It is the best motivation to keep going 👍

[@MrLuckyronda]

I remember your last video interview over a year ago! Since the beginning I noticed Antti for his extreme and I do mean extreme dedication, passion and eye for detail when it comes to this project. And it seems to just keep growing. The progress he has made even after making the wise decision to switch engine is unbelievable Now a cup of tea and some juicy new RtV info from the man himself

[@PixelFabula]

100% agree! Thanks for the support 🙏

[@Emi-ok3ec]

Taking a shot everytime Antti says 'Kind of like"

[@roadtovostok]

That's a lot of shots unfortunately, idk what it is with that phrase but it seems to haunt me every time with these interviews even I try to avoid it :)

[@hansenhenry5438]

@@roadtovostoklol that’s me with “I think”. And English is my first language 😅

[@stickguy9109]

I wanted to see if anyone else noticed it

[@binns5302]

⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠​⁠@@roadtovostokI was born in England and have lived here for my whole life and even when I’m just talking to my mates or family I start half of my sentences with “yeah pretty much” or “like”

[@robertgolden1534]

Thanks for interviewing him twice.

[@szyslay]

What a GREAT interview! Subscribed! As a developer myself I think this strike the most @24:05 ....

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you 🙏 This means a lot!

[@MovingTargetMT]

I completely forgot about this being released, luckly i had time to watch all of this at work in one sitting. Now let's wait for Public Demo 2 v2 and more that the game will hold! 👍

[@DonatemangaCom]

I agree on everything Antti said in this interview :-D btw. he is doing a great job!

[@etienne1062]

Really interesting and valuable interview ! I hope that you will do other Road to Vostok interview down the line.

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you very much! That is definitely the plan 👍

[@NiklasAndersson7]

Great developer! And I love his emphasis on using Open Source tools. "This is the waayyy". Road to Vostok is not my genre, but I will 100% buy it just to show my support for Antti's efforts and for him being an excellent Open Source ambassador. Takes som Finnish "Sisu" to switch game engines mid-flight 😀 All my respect. // Greetings from Sweden.

[@binns5302]

Lots of respect to you for supporting him even though it’s not a genre you enjoy. Indie devs are seemingly becoming more and more our only hope so big ups for supporting.

[@AlreetGaming]

Really looking forward to this game 👍

[@nathanmitchell7961]

BIG thanks for the interview this was sick

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you! Means a lot!

[@hansenhenry5438]

Can’t believe I watched this whole thing, the lore is so mysterious and is going to be amazing to build off of, I can feel it :D Love your interviews btw

[@PixelFabula]

Your words go a long way! Thank you 🙏

[@escapegulag4317]

very excited for this. hope it has a solid single player fundament

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

Ooh, im intrigued by the spoilers!

[@nikoulph]

wow... thank you most interesting interview of a game designer producer etc etc... And all the leaches behind the business that don't left a finger to get the money,

[@PixelFabula]

Thank you for the support! Happy you enjoyed

[@gitgudlad]

That’s kind of like a great video.

[@PixelFabula]

Appreciate it! Thank you 🙏

[@Emi-ok3ec]

Lmao glad I'm not the only one who noticed that

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

I see what you did there😂

[@PixelFabula]

I just got it 😂

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

@@PixelFabula now you get it? 🤣

[@letrface_8596]

What we see in this video, is it now available in the demo.? Last time i played you had just added the 4 other areas. Maybe 4 to 7 months ago. Im excited to play after work 🎉❤

[@Sethae]

My son (13) and his friends all play pc games. While I give him about 150-200€ / year to buy games on steam, there are no AAA flashy graphic games on his steam list. They are mostly playing co-op indie and early access games that aren't very heavy on realistic or beautiful graphics. I think my generation, who grew up on the ever flashier game graphics are more prone to "I don't play this game because the graphics suck". And the mobile games they play are always graphically worse. I think games like Valheim and such are actually very beautiful even though low poly.

[@letrface_8596]

Yo that's a good point. Im 37 and definitely a graphics whore lol I can't play games thst don't looks and feel realistic. Maybe cause we started with Nintendos and segas so we grew up with shitty graphics...each game was better looking than the last. I'm not sure what made the devs start making these ugly blocky games but they're selling 😅

[@Toaster6008]

valheim also has its beutiful soundtrack going for it

[@galaxytraveler5779]

This game and War of The Worlds I am most excited about. Both made by one guy.

[@eddier155]

Been super interested in RTV since getting board with players cheating in FPS games. Really hoping this one is different than all the others. P.S. Wait, there's a demo available? I'll be happy to have my FPS squad play it and provide honest feedback.

[@anttoneskola]

Steam has got a free demo, Patreon has a more extensive demo already that’s later released to public

[@eddier155]

@@anttoneskola Very cool, thank you.

[@danielj6559]

Will this game be released on Console or on Mac iOS other than windows?

[@andersmalmgren6528]

Dude sounds like Sam Lake:) edit: ah, finnish dev, explains it :)

[@china_airguns]

Very good small studios with huge, loyal fan bases are now dying through no fault of their own because they are tied to larger producers who are beholden to shareholders and investors. Like the Gothic, Risen and Elex makers "Piranha Bytes" for example - the studio was forced to go bankrupt through no fault of its own!

[@liquidsnakex]

Going with a publisher at all kinda makes it their fault

[@china_airguns]

@@liquidsnakex It´s not that easy

[@liquidsnakex]

@@china_airguns None of it is easy, but if solo devs can find time to make and market their own games, small teams can certainly do it too.

[@china_airguns]

@@liquidsnakex Yes true!

[@alpdv]

@@liquidsnakex it becomes gamble if you put too many effort and money into a single project sure you can get good feedbacks from people you shared ur game with but it doesnt mean much when you're limited with sharing ur game. you should spend more or get lucky by social media algorithms to get your game popular without spening money or time (in other words also money)

[@FataL-Gr]

This game needs coop!!!!

[@bioburden]

With regards to AI; I totally agree. AI & robots should be doing the shit I don't want to do (eg. Household chores) so I have more time to be creative, not doing the creative things so I have more time to do chores.

[@brunovieiramcguire7786]

Amazing ! ❤

[@MetalGearMk3]

Why didn't he use Unreal?

[@anttoneskola]

I think it has to do with the level of detail needed and all things considered he’s trying to go as open source as possible

[@itsMBWAAA]

Yes early in the interview he mentions the “security” of open source applications. Given that Unity threw all its users that curveball in the near past, and unreal had almost a similar thing (although it was only aimed at larger companies/organizations) the dev thinks Godot will not end up pulling anything like Unity did and like Unreal could

[@xxkillbotxx7553]

Because Unreal is not ideal right now for large projects. Though, neither is Godot. I think the sudden decision to lose months of development time pivoting to Godot was honestly really dumb.

[@rremnar]

Good question. Maybe because Unreal is too unstable? I used version 5.2 to work on my simple little project, and I wound up uninstalling because it'd crash too much (user error, random, using the curve editor), or I'd have to fight the stupid simple shit that should be working correctly out of the box like color management, and resolution doing what you set it to. Perhaps it was the depreciated or buggy features that devs just left in the engine, and never removing, finishing or fixing? Besides all those annoyances, I loved working in Unreal Engine.

[@Johnsen290Games]

@@xxkillbotxx7553 dumb? frick off, he already planned against the nuances of said engine, and as he said that even if it is rough, the open sourceness of it will help the development further, same journey as blender, becoming from inferior to professional level software, he is a veteran, he knows what he's doing, he can modify the engine to his own benefit freely and secure, he did not just do it willy nilly

[@dirtydanandtheboys3921]

I'd love to see a game like this in the cell shaded style. Graphics are overrated, gameplay is forever. Awesome interview.

[@sabatrol666]

The only thing I don't like about this game is the AI but the game is amazing. The only independent dev game I play.

[@hornantuutti5157]

I lke the project but i think it is more likely that the russians are seeking ways to get into finland if something majos f's up things around us. Cheers from siuntio finland. Hyvää duunia kyllä tähän mennessä. Äijä elää kyllä elämää mistä muut unelmoi. Good job 😉

[@alpdv]

even though i love how much effort he puts into game and how great it looks i think it could be a lot better now dont get me wrong i dont think game is bad or developer is lazy. just... this game doesnt go well with default shaders and render pipeline of godot, it was looking at least a few (sadly it can be higher than that) points better in unity's default one and as far as i remember(i might be wrong) he actually worked decent amount on graphics (thus the optimization) of godot when he switched from unity to godot and still the results are definitly a few points behind the unity one. also idk if its only me but early builds of unity's gun recoil and etc. were also looking and feeling a lot better than this godot one. surely every game engine can become better and better only if you put more work to it. so if he sticked with unity this whole it could become the dominant game on single player fps games quite easily. but still its a great game as i said earlier and i hope it well get better and better with every single update. i'm a pragmatic person myself i dont see the benefits of everysingle game developer switching from unity, its a bad move for themselves surely it helps us -the others - No matter how good this game sells with its godot build i'm %99 sure it would sell higher than that if the developer sticked with the unity engine.

[@china_airguns]

#info In the past, game development studios had to develop games that players would enjoy. Today, developers must first and foremost develop games that bring the most profit to shareholders and only then should they please the players, which is often simply done through "propaganda and manipulated teaser trailers". The best games definitely come from studios that are as free as possible in their decisions and have nothing to do with shareholders and definitely nothing to do with EA Games lol.

[@johnpaul5037]

Wtffffffffffffff dude made a treasure hunt too 😮

[@spacejambluray2591]

yo sick video man wtf

[@PixelFabula]

Thanks for the support! Appreciate it 🙏

[@TeemuSintonen]

I'm all for IRL scavenging and treasure geohunting!

[@goodtimebear1]

I agree with him about Unity... But at the same time you get the software and this maybe your frist time trying to makeing a game... So it takes a lot of time and dedication... But thier is no real reason for them to over charge be sides the $$$$$ and now all they have done is shot them selfs in foot because manny people that are devs most did not spend all that time makeing agame just for Unity to take most of the earnings and there are others that well never sell thier games now or those decs well have to port there game over to a new software and some just cant always bring them selfs to start back at the beginning after years of work....

[@rremnar]

Why release on early access? Why not just finish the game? If you need testers, do a closed beta. I'm tired of the "early access" bull shit.

[@roadtovostok]

Hi! I try to answer this as best I can, since I fully understand how early access phrase has quite a bad reputation, especially in this genre. The concept of early access is actually quite positive in multiple ways for both developers and players. Firstly, early access is a funding method which allows the developers to produce their game ideas without being forced to get the majority of funding elsewhere (loans, investors, publishers etc.) It's also rather transparent funding method (compared to Kickstarter for example) since you can actually play the game and as a consumer you have a refund option (Steam). Then the most important thing in my opinion. Developing video games and becoming a game entrepreneur is extremely risky career decision. Majority of the projects unfortunately will fail commercially and it always requires certain level of risk taking, especially considering that most video games nowadays take at least 2-4 years to produce. Without indie developers willing to take those risks, many projects would never see the light of day and eventually the gaming market would be dominated just by big companies and mass-market products. I don't know about you, but I personally don't have that much faith for big companies nowadays to produce unique game ideas and delivering these tailored projects to certain niches. In other words, early access is the most useful tool for indies to reduce those risks and it gives the developers the gateway to jump into this risky career and most of all the ability to produce these new game ideas. There's also this "divided studio" dilemma which I talked about in this interview. If you are forced to seek external funding (especially in large productions) and give away a large portion of your company at start, you kind of need to have a "hit game" at launch in order to secure a long-term production for your company. This means that if you produce a game which required you to sign all kinds of profit/share deals to get the funding, the actual game sales that your company someday might make, are no longer just going back to production, they are going to third-parties who gave you that funding. This dilemma can easily lead to situations where you need to start considering additional incomes (more monetization methods), seek new funding to keep the studio running (more third-parties), start cutting game content, making sacrifices to your original vision and this is definitely not a good thing to the player either. The problem with early access though is that it's being used for all kinds of shady projects and once you have enough bad experiences from those, you start losing the trust for early access as a concept in general. I have lost that trust multiple times as gamer and many of the promising projects were not actually that promising as they seemed to be. I think my job as a developer is try to build that trust by being as transparent as possible, providing free demos and slowly over time building a reputation that this is not going to be one of those shady projects, so the early access concept in this case would actually work how it is intended. However all this is just words and the actual game should speak for itself, so I would actually say don't trust any of this yet, but maybe give the upcoming demos a change, follow the devlogs and then when that early access becomes relevant, make a decision whether I earned that trust or not. This answer became a bit lengthy but I wanted to cover this since I understand the frustration towards the early access.

[@AdemolaAdebayo-b4m]

⁠​⁠@@roadtovostokthanks for this reply. Wishing you all the best. I just wish I was good enough to help you out on this project. But I’m still self-studying game design texts and learning Godot

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

Im playing more and more early access. Some good, so. E not so good😂. Seeing the additional things after a few months is always cool

[@RoyBrown777]

The hyperbole on the intro is ridiculous. People appearing at 45% angles lmao. Hans Zimmer stomp beats. It looks like any other generic extraction game out right now. I've already playing it 10 times over.

[@AppMaker728]

I'm making my game with Godot I will make a 3d game with Godot dam Godot look like that people talk sht about Godot

[@MarcelHotze]

i love what he is doing - but i need multiplayer in survival games - i hope it will come some day

[@Ballistics5X]

Coop is a possibility after the full release of the game

[@bat6238]

is he answering by some AI translator ?

[@iratemusic4575]

Switching Game Engine is like joining baseball team. Joining the Godot Team.🤦‍♂ Curse of the Bambino.

[@brunovieiramcguire7786]

What? 😂

[@rremnar]

or Montezooma's Revenge 🤪

[@s4uss]

I think also wait for Godot 4.5 with a lot of improvements (even 4.4 will have them). 4.3 is not really great yet.

[@emmyturner7385]

Scam

[@pewpeee]

I'm curious. What do you exactly mean?

[@toddconnell8324]

Two things you should never do: give money to a barely finished game and give money to someone who does not show their face on aregular basis.

[@Grottogoob]

You must like giving your money to streamers, huh? 😂😂 All he’s gotta do is show his face every now and then and he gets your money!!

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

​@@Grottogoob😂

[@jaz97]

I'd rather support a dev like this vs big giants like Activision who don't give a F*uck and will just bleed your pockets

[@TheTicassShow]

LMAO godot

[@itsregs9110]

i literally got a gaming pc for this game can’t wait to play

[@itsregs9110]

@reilly-vc1rm i did lol tf does that sure mean what you want the specs not the highest tier but will definitely run road to vostok fine

[@blumiu2426]

That "honeymoon" he's referring to is the ESG/DEI funding injected into the gaming industry around that time when big investment companies were giving that push and these games are coming out now. So many have flopped due to industry practices not being appealing, the publicly moral imperative of the games said by the publisher, studios and individuals devs has pushed people away and just want games to be games. That same funding went into Hollywood and had the same effect, I'll add. Excess money for positions focused on controlling the creative direction of the games was a net negative and in instances more recently ended those roles, but the extra hires too. I think the industry always planned to dump them as contract work has been a thing and let them go at the end of projects. With all that money gone, the industry is showing it can't truly maintain and something is going to give. If people care about gaming, all things effecting it need to be talked about and if it helping or not. So many shy away from the topic despite the effects being clear. I respect the few that do as they truly care and want games to be for the creator and customer base, no outside agendas or personal whims of executives or developers. It's very true the gaming generation is changing, on both ends. can we say it's for the worst if gaming trends are resulting in games that have to be designed a certain way and exploit are more herded mindset? We are just at a societal point of were decadence has resulted in lower standards all-around and prior gens were on that slide, yet still not coddled to the point perspective was lost. Exceptions exist, but by far not the majority. I do think gaming will cease to be the creative endeavor it started as when the generations that started it and experienced it grow out or pass on. It will take a generation that has to build to take it up again, not the one that primarily consumed.

[@ryanorionwotanson4568]

It's the woke anti western agenda fromthejchosen!