Logically speaking, don't all these stretch goals push back the release date...

[Stun]

How much did it cost to make Infinity Engine games anyways?

$4-5 million? Games didn't have Hollywood Blockbuster budgets in 1999. And whatever you add to that total due to inflation can be subtracted right back due to today's technology. With $3 million, Obsidian is in a rather good position to produce a great, and meaty game that competes on even terms with any of the IE titles.

 

 

Not to be a d*** but i did not just donate 160$ for an 8 hour game. Remember, they dont have to market the game beyond word-to mouth, there are very few steps between them and us when concerned with sales and hey dont have to pander to gfx who**s, plus the Unity engine is free. So costs should be relatively low.

 

We are also talking about a relatively big team of veterans, developing a game for over two years without being hindered by publishers and license-holders. And they are virtually given free reign, which might encourage a lot more enthusiasm among the people there.

Yeah. This.

 

From Yesterday's Q&A session with Feargus:

Question: One aspect the old IE games were famous for, was the almost epic length of gameplay (80h+) in comparison to more recent games (20-40h). Where is Project Eternity aiming at?

Feargus: Our goal is to hang in there with the old games.

 

Of course, the BG games were the only IE games that came anywhere near 80h+ for a single playthrough. The Icewind Dale games were significantly shorter.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Stun

[Krios]

More time spent on development and refining the final product is good. The staff still gets paid monthly wages regardless of whether or not the game is released, and more money means they can afford to spend more time working at it, instead of rushing to sell us an 'unfinished' game to recover some of their investment. How does this relate? Well achieving stretch goals means they get more money, equals they can spend more time making it instead of rushing it off to the digital shelves.

[Baeus]

@Baeus: Really? You are comparing this to some Xbox Live Arcade games? Those are completely different kind of games made by completely different kind of companies. Too much variables to compare lengths or budgets.

 

Just that 2-3 million gets you very little in game budget terms. But point taken, different companies, different tech. I just think that anyone who's expecting a 40+ hour game out of this is going to be rather disappointed. But I'd be very happy to be wrong

[Aeristal]

I was going to comment on this but I think Stun's set of quotes and comments pretty much sums up my thoughts.

[nikolokolus]

damn, you guys have been pissing on my campfire a lot lately...between this, people withdrawing due to the cooldown debacle and some lunatic "hoping" for a solid 8 hour gaming experience I'm starting to feel like I was the only cat expecting a game the length and breadth of the IE classics. Those were no shorter than at least 40 hours, way more if you took the time, explored and read the lore.

 

Once you subtract kickstarter's cut plus the costs of the boxes/shipping/assorted swag, they'll probably end up with about $2million. That's less that the budget of most xbox live arcade games that'll last you a few hours. 8 hours might actually be on the optimistic side. But then, maybe they can save a lot of money in some areas. Who knows.

 

Feargus was on Kickstarter's comment page last night and he mentioned that between paypal, kickstarter and amazon, about 9-10% of the money raised would be taken off the top. Assuming they get to 3 million (a reasonable number I think?) that's 300K, leaving them with 2.7 million ... the number of boxed copies and swag they have to make is in the low thousands, not tens of thousands, so the costs of production and distribution will cut into that some, but shouldn't leave them with any less than 2.6 m

 

That's more than enough money to make a game that far exceeds an 8 hour playthrough.

[Baeus]

damn, you guys have been pissing on my campfire a lot lately...between this, people withdrawing due to the cooldown debacle and some lunatic "hoping" for a solid 8 hour gaming experience I'm starting to feel like I was the only cat expecting a game the length and breadth of the IE classics. Those were no shorter than at least 40 hours, way more if you took the time, explored and read the lore.

 

Once you subtract kickstarter's cut plus the costs of the boxes/shipping/assorted swag, they'll probably end up with about $2million. That's less that the budget of most xbox live arcade games that'll last you a few hours. 8 hours might actually be on the optimistic side. But then, maybe they can save a lot of money in some areas. Who knows.

 

Feargus was on Kickstarter's comment page last night and he mentioned that between paypal, kickstarter and amazon, 9-10% of the money raised would be taken off the top. Assuming they get to 3 million (a reasonable number I think?) that's 300K, leaving them with 2.7 million ... the number of boxed copies and swag they have to make is in the low thousands, not tens of thousands, so the costs of production and distribution will cut into that some, but shouldn't leave them with any less than 2.6 m

 

That's more than enough money to make a game that far exceeds an 8 hour playthrough.

 

Double Fine's kickstarter boxes + swag + shipping ended up costing them $470k out of their $3.4 million by itself, although they probably had a bit more to send out. Anyway, no more being negative from me. Bring on the Ciphers.

Edited October 8, 2012 by Baeus