Stretch Goals

[fan]

2mil stretch goal should be Toolset released with the game.

 

Very much this.

 

This! The community would take care of lots of other stretch goal wishes and more besides.

[Nakia]

Sound takes up a lot of memory. However the Infinity Engine games did have voice acting as said it was for the main characters and it does add immersion to the game. Modern games are using it more and more. The recording would be done towards the end of development. Eliminating voice acting would be going backwards and not forwards. I am sure the developers will come up with an acceptable balance.

 

The most important thing is to have a stable, bug free game which will not overload computers.

[Wombat]

Sound takes up a lot of memory. However the Infinity Engine games did have voice acting as said it was for the main characters and it does add immersion to the game. Modern games are using it more and more. The recording would be done towards the end of development. Eliminating voice acting would be going backwards and not forwards. I am sure the developers will come up with an acceptable balance.

 

The most important thing is to have a stable, bug free game which will not overload computers.

Maybe not for PC but, if they aim to tablet audiences, then it should be noted that the most common complaint about tablet port of Bard's Tale by InExile is the file size. In any case, I basically agree with you.

[Phekdra]

Sound takes up a lot of memory. However the Infinity Engine games did have voice acting as said it was for the main characters and it does add immersion to the game. Modern games are using it more and more. The recording would be done towards the end of development. Eliminating voice acting would be going backwards and not forwards. I am sure the developers will come up with an acceptable balance.

 

I'd disagree with the added immersion. I've just been playing Planescape Torment and was far more drawn into the conversations by the vast amounts of well-written dialogue I could read at my own pace and in the voice of the character in my head. I wouldn't say all text was going backwards any more than books are a backward step from films. It just depends what sort of game your playing. I wouldn't expect, for example, Skyrim to be all text, as that would make for a rather shallow experience. Duh... Dovahkiin Smash...

[Avantenor]

Text translations are important to me. The goal should be the EFIGS or at least EFG. Russian might also be worth a thought.

[Korgana]

At 3 mil, everyone gets a Boo!

[Kaldurenik]

Voice acting... Well im fine with there being a few lines that are spoken at the start of a dialogue at some events here and there. Think Baldurs Gate... A few lines here and there at some points.

 

Im not a huge fan of voice acting overall... We have moved backwards in how content is made, the quality of the content and so on and a part of it is due to voice acting. Once you have done voice acting you cant change things without changing the voice acting. Taking more time... more money... Creating less content (due to how expensive it is).

[Dino]

5 millions : Open source release of the new engine.

Pretty please?

Edited September 15, 2012 by Dino

[NateOwns]

It would be really cool to have the player stronghold area. Also I like the mod kit ideas! I agree with you guys about the tablet platform expansion being a waste of time. Great ideas from everyone!

[generic.hybridity]

Wouldn't mind to see extra OS support as a general principle.

 

Toolset would be pretty great, but I doubt they would give it away (and making it user friendly might take alot of man hours)

 

Of course more lots more single player content/ extra companions or quest lines is always welcome.

[rf5111918]

Having a toolset would be amazing. Some of the mods from NWN and Elder Scrolls are incredible.

[Darji]

No extra OS. Let them fully concentrate on the PC.

 

As for stretch goals. More content. More locations, more party members (alternatives), more equipment and so on,

Also more or better voice acting. I am really to old for reading hours and hours of text without any voice acting^^

Oh yeah and of course a tool set and steam workshop support.

Edited September 15, 2012 by Darji

[Tigranes]

Sound takes up a lot of memory. However the Infinity Engine games did have voice acting as said it was for the main characters and it does add immersion to the game. Modern games are using it more and more. The recording would be done towards the end of development. Eliminating voice acting would be going backwards and not forwards. I am sure the developers will come up with an acceptable balance.

 

The most important thing is to have a stable, bug free game which will not overload computers.

 

The concern is never memory, it's money. Voice acting costs a lot, a LOT of money, you wouldn't suspect it when you just play since it doesn't seem such a big deal. And with a budget of 1.1mil, or even if they hit 2 or 3 mil, VA would take up a huge proportion of the budget.

 

Voice acting also definitely kills word count and the freedom to edit the writing. Because you have to arrange voice actors, some of them busy well known people, and rent recording studios, etc, most of the time it has to happen when they can, not when they want, and then you end up having lines 'locked down' so you can't edit them later.

 

So if you want voice acting that's of course a legitimate opinion. But you have to keep in mind there is a heavy price for it, and it is definitely not so simple.

[Darji]

Sound takes up a lot of memory. However the Infinity Engine games did have voice acting as said it was for the main characters and it does add immersion to the game. Modern games are using it more and more. The recording would be done towards the end of development. Eliminating voice acting would be going backwards and not forwards. I am sure the developers will come up with an acceptable balance.

 

The most important thing is to have a stable, bug free game which will not overload computers.

 

The concern is never memory, it's money. Voice acting costs a lot, a LOT of money, you wouldn't suspect it when you just play since it doesn't seem such a big deal. And with a budget of 1.1mil, or even if they hit 2 or 3 mil, VA would take up a huge proportion of the budget.

 

Voice acting also definitely kills word count and the freedom to edit the writing. Because you have to arrange voice actors, some of them busy well known people, and rent recording studios, etc, most of the time it has to happen when they can, not when they want, and then you end up having lines 'locked down' so you can't edit them later.

 

So if you want voice acting that's of course a legitimate opinion. But you have to keep in mind there is a heavy price for it, and it is definitely not so simple.

 

Of course. Only use voice acting in the important story parts. Again do it like Baldurs Gate maybe a bit more and its totally fine.

[generic.hybridity]

No extra OS. Let them fully concentrate on the PC.

 

By PC do you mean windows?

[Gray_Fedora]

Frankly, I don't want stretch goals in the form of immediate new features. I want them in the form of promises for guaranteed DLC or the like. That way they can focus all of the Kickstarter money into making sure that whatever they're already planning on making is the best thing it could possibly be, and then tuck whatever's left over away for future support.

[Anociticus]

Multiplayer and Toolset, maybe even a DM client? Those would be a grand set of features and would give the world a successor to Neverwinter Nights.

[Humanoid]

Frankly, I don't want stretch goals in the form of immediate new features. I want them in the form of promises for guaranteed DLC or the like. That way they can focus all of the Kickstarter money into making sure that whatever they're already planning on making is the best thing it could possibly be, and then tuck whatever's left over away for future support.

 

I think it'd be a bit of an ethical grey area to not spend all of the pledged money directly towards the advertised product. But yes, I'd be in favour of locking down the technical feature set (such as voice acting or graphical fidelity) at the same level, regardless of whether 1.1m or 5.5m is pledged, devoting the stretch goals to gameplay content.

[mrmud]

Increase the scope of the game. Just fit more and better stuff in.

1.1 million is nothing and wont allow for a very fleshed out game.

[Virgil]

i know for many developer's tool would be fantastic, but I'm pure gamer I'm not really interested in mods etc, so I would love that extra money to be invested into making world bigger, bolder, more complex. To make music something special (could you imagine epic score made by Hans Zimmer ?) because for me it would make game experience even better. I hate DLC so I'd love those extra goals to be in-game built.

[nikolokolus]

More content, more replay enhancing features (like a toolkit and co-op MP) and less fluff like VO and shiny graphics please.

[Nefastus]

They're going to hit the goal today most likely, so we may find out soon what the stretch goals would be.

[Ieo]

I didn't even know what "stretch goals" were until this thread because this is my first venture into Kickstarter.

 

I personally hope for more content in the way of Planescape:Torment: more party NPC depth and breadth, more and better random NPC interactionss--specifically, not just basic information when talking to quest NPCs but some actual personality (one of my favorite game interactions ever was running into the nameless Elderly Hive Dweller*).

 

Um, it's too late to ask for an embroidered hat like my Baldur's Gate bucket hat, huh... Oh wait, that's not related to development.

 

 

* "Do ye know where the Holy Flamin' Frost-Brand Gronk-Slayin' Vorpal Hammer o' Woundin' an' Returnin' an' Shootin'-Lightnin'-Out-Yer-Bum is?"

[suitheist]

I would love to have 100% VO. I think that it makes a big difference in helping the player suspend disbelief and become fully immersed in the narrative. Games are an audio/ visual medium, which require the player to take direct control of an avatar in a simulated world where all of the sensory data is pre-produced by the developer. This arrangement functions best when the game world's basic mechanics replicate our expectations- we see and hear as we would in the real world. If you have a 3D world with sound effects etc which comply with this approach, but render dialogue as text, the result is a jarring subversion of expectations. This is why I don't think the book analogy is particularly helpful, since that medium expects almost all sensory experience to be generated internally by the reader.

 

I also feel there is a risk in using old fashioned game mechanics, even when they worked well in games we loved. The problem is that we become used to new standards as they develop in any product or service. For me, this happens to the extent that I now prefer not to go back and play my old games, because I know that my changed expectations mean that they won't live up to my memory of the original experience.

 

Of course, I think the counter argument has been made very well in this thread. I hope the devs can find a good position on the topic relative to cost and flexibility.

[C2B]

The game has 3D charachters on 2D background and will presumably look similiar to TOEE/The infinity games (We'll see when we get concepts/screenshots) So, the fully 3D world immersion won't be a problem.