Inside Kingmakers - 2024's Biggest Gaming Surprise So Far
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- Опубликовано: 25 июн 2024
- With an incredible trailer that came out of nowhere, marrying RTS elements with third-person modern vs medieval combat, Kingmakers has gone on to become one of the most eagerly anticipated games of 2024... and Digital Foundry has an exclusive interview with the developers. What tech is Kingmakers using? How does it work? How many enemies will you do battle with and what's the level of AI in play? Find out here as John Linneman discusses the game with developer Redemption Road.
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00:00 - Introduction
00:43 - Background Information
02:07 - Which Engine is Used?
05:30 - The Crowd System
08:34 - Crowds with Real AI?!
11:40 - How Does it Flow?
13:28 - How Does the Game Actually Work?
16:31 - Destructible Objects
18:23 - It's Designed for 60 fps
19:37 - Runs on Steam Deck
21:38 - Campaign Structure
24:34 - Foliage System
28:12 - Network Code for COOP
29:56 - Lighting Discussion
31:39 - War Era - What Kingmakers looked like early in development
32:59 - Ending 
Игры
The lack of giant enemy crabs is a dead giveaway that it's not a historically accurate game.
Giant enemy crabs are native to Japan, so worry not
In European settings you're more likely to find a Giant Enemy Spider
Maybe a giant enemy pope
but maybe they'll have weakpoints to attack for massive extra damage.
@@pedrovieira8602 popes are not real creatures. Don’t be silly.
I'm not gonna lie, when I saw this trailer, I was thinking "this looks so crazy and out there, it's probably a scam" lol. Seeing this deep dive certainly changed my perspective on the game, I'm excited for it now!
Yeah, it went from an interesting concept, to something I'm looking forward to trying out.
I'm glad you didn't lie
i know what you mean, when i saw the trailer i expected 80% of the game being smoke and mirrors, dumb AI - totalwar from 3rd person
I love that its 4 programmers and they immediately get into the weeds. So rare to hear this sort of stuff outside of Game Dev conferences.
My childhood idea for a game is now a reality
So is this absolutely derivative comment under every single video discussing this game
Wow more than one person had a childhood dream that was similar!? @@mechanicalmonk2020
I got that in 1999 when Super Smash Bros launched.
@@strangevision99unfathomly based
Facts!!!
You can tell they are excited to talk about their game. Good on them.
No one will admit it but this is what next-gen gaming should have been from the start. It doesn't look like an artist's portfolio with 8K textures and raytraced reflections, it's looks like - to quote one Jake Baldino - a "video game ass video game."
Exactly, the games should be fun and more advanced in every other aspect besides graphics also. Just played a little bit Syndicate from 1993, still heck alota fun though the inputs are not working half of the time and its pixelated mess running in DOSbox ;)
Programmers!!!!
Well, It can look like portfolio with 200k textures, but if it's boring nobody will play this and it's not nex-gen😅. You can launch UE5 Matrix demo, it also has stunning graphics but that's it. We haven't seen quests, open world, progression and overall it looks like Warhammer 3 but you play as one of hero(in good sense)... There were games like this before (Natural selection, Battlzone, M&B etc.) and after number of battles it became repetitive and boring, we'll see how this game play out.
Also gevs are using free UE5 animation plugin(ALS) which is not "nex-gen", and actually looks cheap if you play with it for a while. "Only up" used it for example and we know how it ended
Hey i am all for some eye candy from time to time , it's good to see advances in their as well but that shouldn't be the only thing . Artistic value to the visuals is also important, like the asthetic , art style etc . Those can be timeless and ofc the most important thing gameplay bc I want to actually really play a game and be fun and be more advances that can affect the player experience more directly with its gameplay like AI , physics , density etc , the systems and mechanics around those .
@@CouchWarrior561If you watch the video you would know they they have replaced Unreal animations entirely with a custom system that animates distant meshes by vertex on the GPU so it can handle thousands of individually animated characters; when closer or when targeted by the player, those characters transition seamlessly to skeletal animation.
at 28:00 you guys say its player hosted because you want this game to be playable forever... Thank you for this, its because of stuff like direct connect that some really old games are still playable today, but so many modern stuff relies on a master server that when it goes down, the entire game goes down with it...
True at that. In my experience, those game that can player hosted usually comes with bot. This is very important in case of fading popularity, or just want to play by yourself.
Old gamers will definitely like this game...
We all complain about AAA studios in the current gaming era where gaming can look so bleak and redundant, but it’s good to know there’s always a smaller or indie dev taking a chance to try something new or exciting.
I think we are entering and era where gaming is going to get more democratized. AAA stuff will always be there, but because of the tools I think were gunna see a big increase in creative and AA projects. And I’m totally here for it.
The improvements of the creative tools and engines are allowing small teams to produce the quality it took for 100's of people before.
@@coreyhutchinson4033 -Quality? Great, these guys have found a way to take early 90s 8 way bottom swivel animation and paste it onto mid 2000s looking characters. I like the idea of the game and the tech, but the execution is not that great. They should have paid better animators and modelers to create actual fidelity and then used this system.
I see this studio being ripe for an aquihire maneovure by a bigger studio to get this tech they developed.
@@wordragon it sounded pretty clear that that was the way they got the enemy counts they did in the Vertex system which has limitations…u sound like some bitter Ubi developer throwing shade bc a random small studio is showing how to do things you can’t
Finally an interview that actually has a proper in-depth talk about the ideas and tech behind it and shows that they are not just using the newest Unreal Engine like most studios and be done with it, but actually thinking and building up something new. Not wasting time with blurring and hiding things with empty promises, straight up answering the questions. Sounds awesome.
Somewhat reminds me this of 90s game dev when brains, talent and passion lead to major breakthrough in game development. Rooting for this to be great as I’m hyped for playing this mad idea of a game 😊
Well, they are using those techniques like the 90s legs swivel 8 way walks and the models look like mid 2000s. So, I guess they have made some progress with models.
The second I learned that this is made by the Road Redemption devs I was 100% on board. They are masters of the ludicrous.
I honestly didnt like road redemption. I really wanted to. The controls were a bit dumb at times and my view would suddenly flip 180. Plus I could do a run and end up 2 points shy of an upgrade so the entire run was completely useless.
@@andrewt.5567 I agree. It just wasn't satisfying and the bike handling was just wrong. A soulless road rash with nice graphics but no real feeling of depth or control.
This was one of the best digital foundry tech interviews ever. Actually crazy what they’ve done. They seem so passionate, and it runs on the steam deck?? What
Kinda weird then that specifically states that it is a next gen game.
I mean yeah, the Decks CPU is more powerful than in the last gen consoles, but it's nowhere near the ones in the current gen consoles.
@@EVPointMasterits still rdna2 with zen 2 cpu so they can just scale it down. Otherwise its the same tech comparable to current gen consoles
Clever tech and a really fun looking game! Also, the devs sound like they're having a blast with what they've made...
I never laughed so much at a game trailer before. These guys nailed the reveal.
My main issue with game AI, since forever, is that injured enemies just come at you when they are seriously low on health. If anyone has played Siege of Avalon, I wrote the AI (rudimentary at the time) so that once it's injured (down to 25% IIRC ) it will run away, but towards nearby allies. Potentially leading you into an ambush if you don't kill them quickly enough. This was back in 1998!! Yet 25+ years later enemies still just plow forward mindlessly, without caring if they're injured.
Come on game Devs, let's improve this!!
we're in the middle of writing more complex AI right now. remember, the game is still in development
@@TraceMyers26 this is great to hear!! As I mentioned elsewhere the fact you want to add polish like Naughty Dog bodes well for not only the game, but for inspiring other game Devs to lift their respective games!
Onwards and Upwards 💪🏽❗️❗
@@TraceMyers26Do you use Blackboard and BT for AI or using custom tech for that?
Almost all of Bethesda games after Morrowind has this done very well, the Hitman series does it, F.E.A.R. does it amazing. Rockstar games also do it brilliantly, especially Max Payne 3 and Read Dead 2. Halo is another good series, nothing like a grunt running away with its arms flailing. I really do wish this feature would be implemented in more games.
@@sinavaghefi1603 No we do almost everything in c++. having so many individual AI means we have to have very strict control over performance.
dynasty warriors guys want to licence the tech from these guys in the future
Hearing all they are handling the combat, RTS mechanics and GAMEPLAY in general, I am feeling way more excited to see their passion and drive to make a FUN game. When I first saw this I thought this is something we would see then it would never come out. BUT NOW, they know hearing them talk about the history! How they are managing large scaling AI on top of Co op. This makes me think of Army of Darkness + RTS, I'm totally for this!
I love these unique, ridiculous concepts for games.
These guys deserve all the praise they are trying something super risky and so much more coding to make this work. I hope this does super well when it comes out
This might be my most anticipated game out of nowhere lol
While watching this I ended up falling into a rabbit hole learning about shaders, to a complete noob like myself game design is nothing short of pure magic! Excellent work John 🤘💯
As an app developer, the amount of understanding these devs have on how their tech run is inspiring. They know and master their stuff. Thank you for this interview.
I want more of these. I’ve always wanted to listen to devs talk about the technical aspects of making the game
The Path of Exile graphics programmer has done a couple talks just about their graphics and lighting systems at ExileCon, and they're fascinating to watch. I miss John Carmack doing this every year at QuakeCon, too.
WAIT, it's from the makers of Road Redemption? Day 1 purchase for me! I love that game. I have played it soo many times. *edit* got to the end of the video. I think it's awesome that the devs put their phone number in Road Redemption. I texted it and we had a lovely chat about Road Rash and the Saturn. Glad to see you're still in the industry!!
That is still in RR, it's one of the creative directors here.
@@joshuaRR4720 Awesome! Really loved this video. Thank you for going into the details of the tech. Really fun stuff and it's cool to see you flex your creative muscles here in terms of how the engine works behind the scenes.
It has a 60fps mode on Series X/S and PS5, and also runs on Steam Deck.
Highly scalable.
Good job.
"The plot of the game is that you are trying to take over the United Kingdom in the 15th century."
Should have led the video with that. That's all I need to hear.
Really should have said the British Isles, the UK formed in 1801.
@@LeesChannel If you'd watched the video they actually correct him and say that "you're not taking over the United Kingdom, you're uniting what will be the UK. You play as either on the side of England, Scotland or Wales"
@@CrizzyD91 I did watch the video, that's how I know they repeatedly said UK and never said British Isles. Go bother someone else.
@@LeesChannel they didn't need to specify British Isles, they explained themselves well enough. Go be pedantic somewhere else
@@CrizzyD91 Pretty bold of you to reply to a comment and then tell them to go somewhere else. I'm just going to block you, you're not really contributing anything, and I sympathize with the OP who's getting notifications for meaningless replies.
Shout-out to the Fisch bros, I was in the grade below Paul at Newman.
If these legends give us mod support, I can see this game lasting a very, very long time.
All I want is to arrive like a meteor by 40k drop pod, stroll out onto the field in my Astartes power armour, and see a Dreadnaught mowing down swathes of soldiers in the distance. Would be like reclaiming some long forgotten feudal agri-world that got cut off from the Imperium. I don't think I'd ever need to play anything else.
Obviously focus on finishing your vision first, but please eventually turn this into a platform for users to create their own dream battle scenarios. Steam Workshop community will go wild. God speed, lads.
Thank you for being so in depth about the tech. You rarely get to hear these kinds of details (especially outside of GDC talks). Hugely interesting. Keep up the cool work and thanks a lot.
You never could have guessed it was using vertex animation, it looks great!
It looks terrible. I'm surprised they said they did real animation on skeletons that clone to the vertex animations. Who did they get to animate those, a kid? Great idea, bad execution.
some of the horses running downhill animations were a little sus. hopefully, they can polish those up a little before release. However, as we've seen in the modern resurgance of pixel-art games, gameplay beats graphics. I don't expect AAA graphics from a 4 dev studio.
Palworld, Helldiver's 2, and Kingmakers are all big surprises. I have their Road Redemption game too 😆.
Looks like we finally entered the era of "yeah, enough of all that - let's make medium-size, fun-idea games".
I was cautiously optimistic after first seeing the trailer (a bit afraid that it might just be a bunch of systems thrown together without much "vision"). But now having heard more about the game design and underlying tech, I feel a lot more confident. i wish the team the best of luck finishing this project, and looking forward to playing it!
I'm sooo glad that they made it 3rd person view. Can't wait!
That was hilarious how some people identified themselves as programmers, another as a coder, and the last one as a software engineer.😀
All true statements
As a programmer, coder and software engineer, I never know which to use.
There's *technically* a difference between what they mean, but realistically you can't just be one so really it doesn't matter.
"I develop software".
"Oh cool, can you fix my dad's printer?"
@@fuzzy8333 Yes. In an unrelated note, where's the nearest building with roof access?
Great interview! Devs seem really pumped talking about their game! That's amazing!
Seeing trailer first time I've expected a 'joke of a game' that's going to end up like Day Before. Thankfully seems like this might go the other way!
I just finished rewatching Army of Darkness when the trailer dropped, absolutely cool.
Very interesting tech, I hope it delivers and does well.
I absolutely love love love these guys. They're making all the right decisions for longevity, scalability, optimization, and fun.
It's like UEBS2 but an actual game
A comparatively small team doing something technically advanced and something that looks a hell of a lot of fun? I can't wait, this looks absolutely amazing!
This is like something from the PS2's golden era of creativity & fun - And I mean that in the most positive way possible
Hopefully the launch is as good as this looks, and they don't No Man's Sky it, with regards to the final product not living up to the reveal trailer and subsequent hype
And a special Kudos for thinking about the future, long after any servers have been taken offline 🙌🙌
I love it when developers go all-out like this and try to go far beyond what has ever been done. This is the stuff I live to see.
Now this is called a video game, very well done, creativity is not dead, it can never die, just stay the hell away from microtransactions and games will be amazing.
Awesome interview , the guys are magicians and the game looks like a LOT of fun . I really hope they consider giving us the option of 1st person gameplay ...
Man, this is the year of wild ideas and I’m all for it
Always great to hear from the actual programmers of games. So fun to hear about the behind the scenes tech :)
Even if you took out the modern weaponry and pickup trucks, it still looks like an awesome medieval strategy game. Let’s hope this game turns out well.
This is what makes me exited about the game industry, pushing the boundaries and its not 100% Unreal Engine, that makes it even better. Awesome video!
Loved this interview. These guys are on to some great stuff!
How the hell did they even figure this out. Awesome.
Looks incredible; I wish this team the best.
Love how this is both technically interesting and trying something different from the gameplay perspective. I hope this game does really well
This is so cool and I'm really glad that they're giving such a deep and honest look behind the scenes. I thought the viral video was cool but this has me even more sold!
awesome video John, good for you to give the spotlight to such a fun concept.
I really love these tech interviews, it gives us an insight into how these games are made that is often completely hidden even years after release.
This is what I expect from a next gen title. Graphical fidelity is way over-valued by most devs. Reminds me of the jump from PS1 to PS2, and the inspired games that came from that jump
The back to the future-like time travel effect is very nice.
Great interview. Shout outs to the Bladestorm soundtrack in the background - appropriate! ⚔️
Best of luck to the team. I'll be keeping an eye on this one.
One question that didn't get much coverage was are the buildings destructible (like to able to be blown up by a rocket launcher, etc)? At least they can be burned down as shows in the trailer, which is cool.
As someone who's worked very hard on this aspect of the game I can tell you that the destruction is simulated and will include dynamic elements. We want things like explosives and high powered weapons to be satisfying.
@@joshuaRR4720 Nice one, thx! And good luck for the development!
This reminds me of the beginning of Army of Darkness. I shall name my character "Ash, Housewares".
Same thought it could have been an epic evil dead game, throw in some deadites and a boom stick 😅
I'm not big into strategy games but this seems like something I'd give a shot given how determined and genuine the developers are. BTW if any developer is reading this, people in DF comments will take something you said and try to make it seem like you lied or there's a conspiracy you're a part of; don't take it personally.
That's just the internet in general, we won't take it personally.
We are making a huge effort to keep the strategy and action elements engaging for players from across the genre spectrum. The co-op really enhances this since you can mix playstyles even more
Say hello to my boom stick!!! Shop smart "S" mart.
After the weekly I was very much looking forward to this - great insight, thanks to DF and the devs ofc!
Interesting to see the map of Victoria 3 being used as 'even earlier development footage' 11:40
AMAZING. Thank you for letting us see under the hood. Great stuff!
This looks like a lot of fun. Wishlisted on steam. Army of darkness videogame? Sign me the f up
very cool, just put it on my wishlist yesterday
I love these guys genuine enthusiasm for their game. When you watch one of those bungie Destiny 2 expansion videos with developer interviews it always seems so corporate and fake. You can tell these guys genuinely are excited, which imo usually leads to excellent games
This is basically the shotgun crusader meme turned into a video game.
Really excited for this game!
Thank you guys for making our dreams come true!
Finally I can play out the fantasy that lived in my head since seeing the main menu Artwork of Empire Earth! Als the animation System sounds really cool!
Love the technical overviews in the interview.
T-3 seconds before Epic tries to buy this studio.
It would definitely be a smart move!
You mean Tencent?
@@dreadlord2704san Tinybuild is partially owned by Netease, what's your question?
@@sir1junior Smart short term, horribly bad long term.
Hope they dont sell their dev studios.
The underlying tech stuff and the time they’ve dedicated to making it work as seamlessly as it does is almost as crazy as the premise of the game itself. You can tell they’re passionate about this so I hope 1.) that the game is good and 2.) that it does well. The gaming industry is always in need of cool, crazy concepts like this that also push some cool technical stuff.
Thanks for the positive outlook. I've played the game and it's good. We hope it does well too.
First person looks pretty cool to me too, nice to see they’re so excited about it, the tech overview was great!
Kudos John that was one informative clip. Sw is frickin amazing these days! I love it when someone or a team discover a differ3nt way to do something using the same base platform. Shows true ingenuity and creativity on another level. Fantastic work team. This is groundbreaking in so many ways.
It is clear that a surprising amount of thought has gone into "how do we make Army of Darkness the Game" 🤣
Boom stick 😅
This game looks cool AF. I hope it goes well for them, the devs seem like genuine people who just want to make something fun. More power to them. I miss developers like this.
DF could keep doing these kind of "Inside" episodes regularly with Indie/small development studios. In thees economic conditions with developers losing jobs and big studios closing down, it would certainly help these people.
32:20 that reloading looks sick ngl I like 3rd person but boy I wouldn't mind if we could of had that fps view. Either way great job and I'm looking forward to kingmaker!
Great episode John! More dev stuff please!
Groovy :P This is going to be a lot of fun
I genuinely think these guys are onto something. They got something really cool with the Massive Qty of NPC. Small studio , If they were to get some serious backing that game could be pretty special... Good luck guys hopefully this gets you the right exposure ! Just needs some polish!
Very hopeful for this game. thanks for this interview!
This game does look incredible and these guys are super talented programmers with amazing ideas. The premise for this game seems crazy and from the mind of a kid!
freaking awesome! tremendous work, will be a day one purchase for me and I don't do that normally.
Developer interviews like this can be such a powerful marketing tool. Listening to actual people actually talk about something they've clearly poured a lot of time and passion into makes me way more interested than any talking head reading off a script ever could.
The amount of passion they share is adorable.
I was not aware of this. Looks fun.
Great interview!
I can't wait to play this!!!!!!!
You know, like, you know, like, you know, like, you know, like, you know.
Man, I love people that can talk.
They should develop a new Battle of Middle Earth game with that engine
And with cars inexplicably being present anyway
In case you don’t know, a free launcher for BFME 1, 2 and ROTWK was released last week. You can play all the games with the various patches from this launcher. And there is online play included.
Edit: Check the community tab of the channel “Beyond Standards” for more info.
@@mechanicalmonk2020 I was there, Gandalf. I was there 3000 years ago. A-10 Warthogs going brrrrrrrrrt over the desolace that's Mordor. JDAMs destroying orc archer positions. And Isildur, that absolute madlad, running around with an AR, blasting Sauron's finger off... I still hear "Numenor, fuck yeah!" as it's blasting from Isildur's truck after the battle...
They released a launcher last week for all the BFME games, different patches versions, and online play.
@@awesomereviews1561 What?? can you provide links or more information please?
Very interesting interview, thanks!
Idk about the game but i like the devs, thanks for the interview John.
super cool. Can't wait to see the final game
Sounds like this is just the right amount of tech with just the right amount of ludicrous with just the right amount of historical accuracy with just the right amount of Unreal Engine. I was aware Unreal Engine could be customized, but I had no idea it could be done to this extend. These guys obviously know what they are doing and their passion for this project shines through. You can't help but get excited with them! Wishlisted!
I think a 1st person mode would be great actually. Felt very immersive from the early development footage.
Yes 1st person always add to the immersion. Witcher 3 with the mod is so good, like a new game.
Finally well made 3rdPS game with the RTS elements. This looks like more advanced Mount & Blade game meeting PUBG or Fortnite. This game is looking to be smash hit, well done folks! Thx DF and John for this very cool interview👍
I hope for more vids like this from passionate Devs.
Great game from the look of it. They seem like a great team who are invested and know what they are talking about. Hope to hear more from them.