The Kickstarter Thread

[Bester]

So... I just learned that the Arial kickstarter ended up being suspended. Hah-ha. I said it was scam from day 1, but nobody believed me for some mysterious reason.

Edited August 1, 2014 by Bester

[Endrosz]

One of the Unrest developers, "Rutskarn" wrote a post mortem on their Kickstarted project. Very insightful, it contains a detailed breakdown of how much money they actually got after the KS wound down and how was it spent. Hint: they worked for scraps, basically, and it doesn't surprise me in the slightest.

 

So many Kickstarters set ludicrously low goals, mostly because they're inexperienced in software project management, but sometimes because they're afraid to set a realistic goal, which might be too high for an unknown development team. Like, a fully fledged and modernized Master of Magic clone for 5000 bucks... yeah. right. One of their recent updates claims that:

 

 

Up to this point the development budget for Worlds of Magic has been close to $300,000

 

Now that sounds more believable. It's either working for scraps or several hundred thousand dollars for a game of this magnitude.

[Labadal]

 

I might check this out if it ever gets released, but I am wary of backing it. They are two brothers that are doing their first KS project. I didn't read much of the KS page, but I'm not a fan of namedropping classic jrpgs and then show footage that in no way resemble those games. I wish them the best of luck.

 

I can understand being wary, but I think this is the kind of Kickstarter project that deserves support the most.  That is, a very small, unknown developer who just needs enough money to pay for music and help with basic living expenses so they can work on the game full time.  If anything, I see the fact that they are brothers as a strength; less chance that one of them would suddenly abandon the project than if one of them was a hireling.  Of course I'm looking forward to PoE, Wasteland 2, etc. but it would be a crying shame if it ever got to the point where only projects from larger, established developers got funded and all of the small indie games fail because they don't have famous people on their team.   I'm willing to give them 10 bucks to Kickstart their project.  

 

I know what you mean about the name-dropping, but unfortunately it seems everyone does it.  I do see some Suikoden influence, but not really anything of FF or Chrono Trigger; battle system more closely resembles Radiant Historia than anything I think.  But hey, at least they actually have gameplay footage.  A lot of KS projects are just concept art / mockups (granted these days, those types of KS usually only succeed if they are done by well known developers).  

 

They have certainly showed off more than a lot of games have. I'm not wary because of these individuals. It's just what's been going on on Kickstarter in general. I have played some real gems like Expeditions: Conquistador and The Banner Saga thanks to this crowd funding model. I just don't feel compelled enough to put my money on the line for some projects even if they look good. I just go on my gut feeling.

[Hurlshort]

So... I just learned that the Arial kickstarter ended up being suspended. Hah-ha. I said it was scam from day 1, but nobody believed me for some mysterious reason.

 

Can you link to it?  I don't remember anything called Arial and it isn't coming up...

 

 

Wait, found it, Areal.  It looks like Forbes scooped you a month ago though.  And clearly Kickstarter itself believed you enough to suspend the project, so keep fighting the good fight!

[Bester]

Good thing the the Kickstarter people and Forbes read my posts.

[Bester]

 

 

 

Up to this point the development budget for Worlds of Magic has been close to $300,000

 

Now that sounds more believable. It's either working for scraps or several hundred thousand dollars for a game of this magnitude.

 

Bah! From their KS video, you can see how their engine is extremely simple (grid games are very easy to code) and their meshes are extremely low poly and only slightly hand painted, I see no other maps (which arguably they don't need that much, but still most of their models look rushed and ugly). 300k for this only shows the utter incompetence of the people responsible for commissioning the work...

 

I mean realistically, I can make all that I've seen in the video by myself in 2-3 months alone. All except a few concept art images, music, UI and particles, which doesn't cost much. So let's imagine I charge these guys $5000/month, the whole game would cost them $15000 for paying me and then another $10000 for the rest if they're very very generous and hire only cool professionals. So the total would be $25000.

 

Spending 300k on this is... well I've seen worse cases, of course, but it still shows the level of complete and inexcusable incompetence of these people. Please send them my laughs into their face. The mismanagement in this project is painful to witness.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Bester

[Endrosz]

...

 

I mean realistically, I can make all that I've seen in the video by myself in 2-3 months alone. All except a few concept art images, music, UI and particles, which doesn't cost much. So let's imagine I charge these guys $5000/month, the whole game would cost them $15000 for paying me and then another $10000 for the rest if they're very very generous and hire only cool professionals. So the total would be $25000.

 

If you started a KS promising what you wrote above, I wouldn't support you. You, too, have no clear idea about how game development works (as opposed to business software development, which is more or less based pre-written specifications), especially how iteration is crucial in developing a smooth game experience. Sawyer recently said that for the money they had, he would have preferred less developers for a longer time: more close-knit team, more time to incubate ideas, better focus, better game. Game development isn't like a lumber mill or a conveyor belt factory.

 

The really funny, ironic thing is that in my estimation your project would also run over-budget and suffer some delay or deliver a product that doesn't really meet the goal.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Endrosz

[Bester]

If you started a KS promising what you wrote above, I wouldn't support you

 

Who says anything about that? If I did a kickstarter, I would've hired a dozen actors, rented an office with 10 PCs and hired a professional director. Then it would've looked real cool and legit. I would've then asked for 10 times the needed budget. Then I'd write a few updates before saying that I ran out of money and the production is now on hold, indefinitely.

 

And you would've supported me, trust me.

Edited August 2, 2014 by Bester

[Keyrock]

Subject 13

 

An game by Paul Cuisset, who's best known for being the lead designer on the acclaimed adventure game Flashback waaaaaay back in the day.  On the polar opposite end of the spectrum, Paul's most recent game, Amy, a survival horror, was, by all accounts, terrible, so keep that in mind.  This looks to be a lot more like Flashback as it's an adventure game with a sci-fi theme and heavy on puzzles.  The game is nearly finished as is and will come out regardless, according to them, and has already passed its 40k initial goal with 4 days left.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Keyrock

[Humanoid]

I'd hardly call Flashback an adventure game. Every single puzzle in Flashback was "how do I open this door?"

[HoonDing]

I'm still looking forward to Serpent in the Staglands a lot. Everything about the game looks awesome.

 

[Keyrock]

I'd hardly call Flashback an adventure game. Every single puzzle in Flashback was "how do I open this door?"

Hey man, as someone who's been dropped off at his home in the past piss drunk and has spent an embarrassingly long time first, trying to find his keys, second, trying to fish them out of his pocket, and third, trying to get them to fit in the lock, I can tell you that "how do I open this door?" can indeed be quite an adventure.

Edited August 4, 2014 by Keyrock

[mkreku]

Because of that Subject 13 kickstarter I found out that Darkstone is available on Android. Who'd have thunk?!

[daveyd]

Hard West - a tactical turn-based strategy game set in the Wild West. The developer has said this of the game when I inquired about how strong it's RPG elements are: 

"Actually, it's pretty much an rpg, but saying it's all at once would be over the top.

I'll be very precise here. What we have is:

• character stats
• character progression
• non-interactive dialogs (in most scenarios)
• interactive dialogs (in some scenarios)
• all scenarios have a very strong story to them - they are definitely story driven
• each scenario is a sequence of story events, but the focus is on lore (like Fallen London)"

Edited August 11, 2014 by daveyd

[Labadal]

I wish them the best. While I am not going to pledge, I will keep an eye on this. I know they had nothing to do with Expeditions: Conquistador, but that game was a really positive surprise in my book. I didn't back that either but bought it on release day. I hope this team can do good too.

[Blarghagh]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1548960623/parkitect

 

Parkitect, which to me looks like a cease and desist waiting to happen. :D It is literally coyping Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 into 3D. Still, I loved RCT2 so who am I to complain. I'm not backing it (cease and desist expectation and all) but maybe some of you guys might find it interesting (or have a laugh like I had).

[daveyd]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1548960623/parkitect

 

Parkitect, which to me looks like a cease and desist waiting to happen. :D It is literally coyping Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 into 3D. Still, I loved RCT2 so who am I to complain. I'm not backing it (cease and desist expectation and all) but maybe some of you guys might find it interesting (or have a laugh like I had).

 

Can you actually get a cease & desist for simply emulating a gameplay concept / genre?   I mean, as long as they're not actually using assets from RCT or actually calling their game Rollercoaster Tycoon" or "Theme Park", a similar franchise, I don't see how they have anything to worry about.   Even the "Shining Empire" guy apparently hasn't got in trouble yet for the obviously Shining Force influenced game.  

 

Anyway here's a new KS RPG I'm backing:

 

Age of Grit -a cRPG with a steampunk / Wild-West setting. I like how the steampunk aspect is an integral part of the gameplay and storyline, as opposed to being merely an aesthetic style that it is in a lot of "steampunk" rpgs; e.g., combat takes place on steam-powered airships. I also love their thoughts on RPG quests.

Edited August 26, 2014 by daveyd

[Keyrock]

Age of Grit -a cRPG with a steampunk / Wild-West setting. I like how the steampunk aspect is an integral part of the gameplay and storyline, as opposed to being merely an aesthetic style that it is in a lot of "steampunk" rpgs; e.g., combat takes place on steam-powered airships. I also love their thoughts on RPG quests.

 

That actually sounds really good, plus it has a nice low entry point.  Color me interested.

[Blarghagh]

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1548960623/parkitect

 

Parkitect, which to me looks like a cease and desist waiting to happen. :D It is literally coyping Rollercoaster Tycoon 2 into 3D. Still, I loved RCT2 so who am I to complain. I'm not backing it (cease and desist expectation and all) but maybe some of you guys might find it interesting (or have a laugh like I had).

 

Can you actually get a cease & desist for simply emulating a gameplay concept / genre?   I mean, as long as they're not actually using assets from RCT or actually calling their game Rollercoaster Tycoon" or "Theme Park", a similar franchise, I don't see how they have anything to worry about.   Even the "Shining Empire" guy apparently hasn't got in trouble yet for the obviously Shining Force influenced game.  

 

I do not know, I think that the art assets look almost exactly the same and the game mechanics look exactly the same. This is not so much influence or emulate as it is copy. I'm a bit iffy as I'm not into copyright law.

[ShadySands]

 

Age of Grit -a cRPG with a steampunk / Wild-West setting. I like how the steampunk aspect is an integral part of the gameplay and storyline, as opposed to being merely an aesthetic style that it is in a lot of "steampunk" rpgs; e.g., combat takes place on steam-powered airships. I also love their thoughts on RPG quests.

 

That actually sounds really good, plus it has a nice low entry point.  Color me interested.

 

 

Backed it as well

[melkathi]

I'm backing Woolfe, a platformer with some combat, some nifty enviromental puzzles, great atmosphere and graphics and (I got to play a demo) sound controls/gameplay.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/45588301/woolfe-the-red-hood-diaries

 

It is 94% funded and needs just the final boost.

 

Nifty: backers will get to create their own custom tin soldier opponent for the final game. As a trick to get attention to the campaign they put up an early version of the tin soldier editor:

http://army.woolfegame.com/ (you can change colour scheme and stats). For that, here is my referal code: 10199 (I am soldier 199 of the Woolfe army)

[Nordicus]

Pathologic remake kickstarter?

Pathologic remake kickstarter! 55k out of 250k already pledged

[daveyd]

Here's a new one I'm backing:

 

The Scoundrels Guild: A Tale of Thieves   An adventure game with RPG elements where players take on the role of a sort of Robin Hood-like character (the dispossessed nobleman version anyway).  

[Nick2508]

Hi,

 

since pillars is one of the first "childs" born by kickstarter, i thought it might be appropriate to start a thread where links to new promising kickstarter projects can be posted, to direkt some more attention to them. there are some great ideas flying around paired with some talent and many of them don´t even ask for that much money. unfortunately most of them are not able to attract the needed attention to be successful with their projects.

 

ok, let me start with a liitle project from england:

 

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/526832900/ironcast-turn-based-steampunk-mech-combat

 

 

[Gfted1]

Hi Nick2508. We have a dedicated Kickstarter thread in the Computer and Console section so Im go to merge this thread with that one.