Chief Game Designer David Fried Q&A Recap: The Hideout

Just recently we had a bomb Q&A with our Chief Game Designer David Fried Coming from giants like Ubisoft & Blizzard, he has been focusing on game economy & lore development at EoF for over a year now. Some great questions and even better answers were dropped during the Q&A, here are some of the best ones from the sesh:

Q: What the hell is a hideout, and why do we need it?

Dave: I mean, everyone needs a home, right? Your hideout is your sanctuary away from the influence of mutagenic viral and bacterial contaminants, as well as the twisted flora and fauna they have morphed into monsters. It’s where you’ll store your belongings, build new gear, prepare ammo for hunts, and communicate with the outside world…

Q: What type of gameplay will the game have? I mean, what will its mechanics be?

Dave: Predominantly, the game is a survival extraction shooter. You’ll have limited ammo to survive as many encounters as you think you can handle. When concerns arise, you’ll need to reach an extraction point to secure your loot. Die, and you lose that loot; survive, and you can upgrade your character back at your hideout. The gameplay itself is a top-down shooter, and you’ll witness it in action soon enough.

Q: Are there any tasks for players inside the hideout? Because surely other players will just ignore the hideout and go directly slaying mutated monsters.

Dave: Haha, there will be no ignoring your hideout. There’s way too much cool stuff happening in there. I believe anyone who enjoys crafting in games will spend the majority of their time in the hideout.

Q: In crafting weapons or gear to become an NFT, do we need a special item/crafting item to craft it? And also, does it need a token (fury token) to craft an item to become an NFT?

Dave: Fury will be spent to convert items and characters to NFTs. The game is free to play, so any Fury spending is optional. I think only players who find something really cool will opt to upgrade it to NFT status to put it on the market. There are still discussions around this, though, so it’s not set in stone yet.

Q: So, we can craft items in the hideout? How?

Dave: There are several modules associated with crafting. The Mini-Factory lets you use materials to create weapons and armor. The Ammo Bench allows you to make ammo and explosives. The Chem Lab lets you convert materials to different materials. The Bio Station is where you can craft medicines, consumable boosters, pills, patches, etc. The Mod Bench is for upgrading items and weapons. The Recycler reduces items you don’t want into material components, and the Generator runs it all, requiring fuel to keep things running.

Q: Do we have to complete something to unlock our hideout?

Dave: The game’s introduction will likely guide you through the hideout, as it serves as the hub for all questing and exploration.

Q: So is it possible to combine some weird loots and have weird items as an outcome? Like a hydrogun that fires ketchup. Rare type?

Dave: Actually, there will be a way to mix and match stats from weapons to customize them to your liking. This will have a Fury cost associated with it, however, so I don’t consider it part of the free-to-play elements of the game.

Q: Pets are also awesome in a game. Is it possible to tame a mutated monster and bring it to the hideout? Hahaha.

Dave: We definitely want to have a lot of ways to customize the hideout eventually. I think we won’t see them for some time, so I don’t want to make any promises at this time.

Q: Okay, the game is free to play. Does the NFT holder have a greater chance of looting cool/rare items? Or is it the same as free-to-play, and it’s just a matter of luck?

Dave: For drops and so forth, it’s a level playing field. It’s in the hideout where a person can pay some money and get additional opportunities for improvements that a free-to-play player will have to work more for. Such is the way of monetizing a free-to-play game…

Q: By the way, can we see each other’s hideouts? Like in an open world? “Hey mate, check out my hideout” then flex my unique items.

Dave: Being able to invite your friends to your hideout is 100% on my must-have list of features. There’s still discussion on when this will be implemented in the game, however.

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