The Day Before Dev’s New Game Flipped From Unity Resources

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Key Takeaways

  • After the disaster of The Day Before, developers Fntastic are in development of a new game called Escape Factory.
  • While the game looks decent, some whistleblowers have claimed it flips Unity assets.
  • While Fntastic is trying their best to move on, this is a clear sign they may be moving in the wrong direction.

As a seasoned gamer and game developer myself, I’ve seen my fair share of ups and downs in this industry. The saga of Fntastic is one that has left me scratching my head more times than I care to remember. After the debacle that was The Day Before, I was cautiously optimistic when they announced their new project, Escape Factory. But alas, it seems like history might just repeat itself.

By now, many avid gamers are aware of the rocky debut of The Day Before. Originally, this game was designed as a massive online zombie survival title, striving to offer players a unique and highly demanded gaming experience they hadn’t encountered before.

Initially, upon its release, it became clear that the game was merely a fraudulent attempt, falling far short of the impressive preview showcased by the studio to an overly enthusiastic player base. Swiftly, information emerged about the chaotic state of development, refunds were requested, and there was much discussion about the errors made in production.

Upon unveiling their latest venture by Fntastic’s developers, everyone kept a vigilant gaze. Predictably, barely 24 hours following the announcement, the game was already facing criticism, with accusations that the studio had swapped numerous assets from Unity resources.

Introducing Escape Factory

Fantastic’s latest creation is titled “Escape Factory“, a game where teams consisting of 4 to 8 members explore physics-based platforming stages that bear a resemblance to Fall Guys. However, it seems that the developers can hardly avoid comparisons to the disappointing launch of “The Day Before” in this endeavor.

At present, the Kickstarter campaign has raised an impressive $9,859 towards its target of $15,567. Some backers are excited about the upcoming “Fntastic 2.0”, but others continue to express concerns over the company due to comments on Kickstarter labeling it as potentially fraudulent, particularly in relation to their previous project, “The Day Before“.

A Twitter user named Occular Malice shared a link to a web archive of a post that was removed from Steam’s forum. In this post, it is alleged that the developers at Fntastic copied assets and integrated entire coding components from either the Unity Asset Hub or GitHub.

Although it’s apparent that effort was put into developing this game, the allegations leveled at Fntastic give off an impression that many of the game’s unique elements seem to have been derived from code and resources created by others. For instance, there’s speculation that a networking codebase provided as a demo by Unity might have been utilized in the game’s development.

The Hypocrisy Of Fntastic

Absolutely! Many starting projects in game development often utilize pre-existing code and resources found online. I’ve learned firsthand how difficult it can be to create an entirely new game from the ground up, and how valuable these resources are during the development process. As Fntastic mentions on their website, one reason for The Day Before‘s failure was setting overly ambitious goals on a limited indie budget.

As a gamer, I find it incredibly disappointing when an indie dev team, which prides itself on “honesty, transparency, and community engagement,” resorts to silencing voices that challenge them. Deleting posts and messages from our fellow gamers who dare to speak out feels downright hypocritical.

The current team size is significantly reduced, and they’re implementing major adjustments aimed at achieving a project within reasonable boundaries. However, in their initial steps beyond the chaos of ‘The Day Before’, it appears that the Fntastic team may have experienced some stumbling blocks.

Here’s the first trailer for Escape Factory.

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2024-09-28 05:38