Topic: Kickstarter thread

[MysterD]

Next we'll probably see Activision putting up a kickstarter for Modern Warfare 4. Or maybe kickstarters for the next Xbox and Playstation.

LOL.
Since you mention that - I'm wondering now...who the hell would pledge money to (a big corporation) like Activision, Microsoft, or Sony?
They're ALREADY freakin' loaded!

[MysterD]

Project Eternity from Obsidian = FUNDED...and over $1.1 million already.
Updates and new stretch goals should be coming soon.

[gpw11]

Kinda unrelated, but I want these

[Xessive]

Kinda unrelated, but I want these

Never thought I'd ever be that excited about marshmallows! Damn those look good!

[idolminds]

$15 for a dozen? Ouch.

* idolminds looks up how to make them himself

[MysterD]

Project Eternity -> Stretch Goals revealed on Kickstarter.

We are excited to announce the first stretch goals for Project Eternity!

1.1 million,   Base Goal – Achieved!
Base game includes three races, five classes, and five companions. We have ideas for these, but we want to hear your opinions on what you'd like to see. Stay tuned to Kickstarter, our website, and our forums to join in on the conversation.

1.4 million, New Playable Race, Class, and Companion!
Expands your options for character creation and adds a companion of the new class.

1.6 million,   a Mac Version of Project Eternity and The Story Grows!
We've listened and we’ll make a Mac version of the game at this tier. We're also going to add a new major storyline along with new quests, locations, NPCs, and unique loot (special histories everyone?).

1.8 million, New Playable Race, Class, and Companion!
The options grow for your main character and the roster of your motley crew expands with the addition of a new companion from the selected class.

2.0 million, Player House!
Get your own house in the game that you can customize, store equipment in, and where your companions hang out, or, as the elves say, "chillax".

2.2 million, a new Region, a new Faction and another new Companion! And, dare we say it... ? LINUX!
Great news, everyone! For the Tarball Knights of Gzippia out there, we'll be adding Linux support!
Also, the world of Project Eternity grows in a major way with the inclusion of a whole new faction and the territory it holds. This adds new NPCs, quests, magic items, and hours of gameplay. And yes, you got it, another companion.

2.4 million and beyond! Coming Soon!

We've been listening to your feedback, and have the following announcements:
DRM Free: We are looking into it! Please check back for updates.
Digital Only Tiers are coming!
PayPal is coming asap. Please be patient!
New $5k Tier. We are looking into a new $5k tier since it sold out so quickly! We are looking into equivalent alternatives.

Thank you fans!
Obsidian

[gpw11]

$15 for a dozen? Ouch.

* idolminds looks up how to make them himself

I'm lazy.  Does it sound really difficult?

[idolminds]

Not particularly as long as you have a candy thermometer and a mixer.

[idolminds]

Sealark

I like the look of the screens and it sounds rather cute and fun. But I downloaded the video....what a waste of time that was. Its already well funded so because of that I think I will wait until it actually releases before I decide to hand them money.

[Quemaqua]

Holy crap. How could anyone not want that?

God damn it.

EDIT - Yeah, I backed it. I even canceled a book order to do it.

[MysterD]

DRM-FREE Option added to Project Eternity.
NOW, you'll have a choice b/t Steam key OR GOG Key.

Even more so, you can ADD an extra game key (for whatever version you want) for $25.

DRM Free Option
You asked and we are delivering. In conjunction with GOG, we are going to offer a DRM free version of the game for our Kickstarter Backers. When the campaign ends, you will be able to choose whether you would like a key from GOG or Steam. For our Mac friends, we are still working on a DRM free option, since GOG does not currently support the Mac. Oh, and the great guys at GOG are having a special right now on all of the great Infinity Engine games, so check that out as well.

New Digital Tiers
We are adding a $50 and an $80 digital tier. The $50 tier will get you the digital version of the game, the soundtrack, the digital version of the Collector’s Book, a collection of wallpapers made for multiple resolutions and multiple monitors, high resolution concept art, a high resolution version of the map, and ringtones. For the $80 tier, you will get all of that plus a digital copy of the strategy guide, and a second digital download of the game.

Add-Ons
This is a short list for right now, but we will be adding more as the days pass including some pretty swank Obsidian-wear.

Add a Digital Download of the Game    +$25
Add Three Digital Downloads of the Game   +$60

As a quick tutorial on how to add add-ons, goto the Project Eternity site on Kickstarter and then hit the Manage Your Pledge button. The reward tier you had already selected will still be selected and the amount will be in the big box at the top. All you need to do is add the dollar amount that covers the add-ons you would like to your pledge and enter the new total number. For instance, if you are at the $35 Pledge level and want to add one Digital Download, you would enter $60 as your total pledge.

New for our Collector's Edition Box Level ($140)
Lastly we want to announce that we are going to give our backers at the Collector’s Edition Box Level ($140) a little extra today and that is Beta access to the game! That’s just a little taste of what we will be adding into tiers in the coming days and weeks through stretch goals and the occasional random act.

[Quemaqua]

I'm really surprised at how much support they've gotten for that. Hey look, we want to do another party-based RPG in a fantasy world (boy, how original!), and we're responsible for at least 5 kinda shitty games! Why does everyone have such a hard-on for this?

[MysterD]

I'm really surprised at how much support they've gotten for that. Hey look, we want to do another party-based RPG in a fantasy world (boy, how original!), and we're responsible for at least 5 kinda shitty games! Why does everyone have such a hard-on for this?

I'm not surprised at all.

When's the last time we had a 6-person party strategic-style RPG w/ the writing style, prose, and narrative of Chris Avellone (see Planescape: Torment); the tons of decision-making options at players' disposal (like Planescape: Torment); and combat like Infinite Engine games like Icewind Dale series and BG series all rolled into ONE game?

Obsidian has complained NUMEROUS times about their complications w/ publishers - i.e. publishers doing the funding and having things their way (i.e. see what they said about LucasArts on KOTOR 2; and their complaints w/ Sega on Alpha Protocol; the direction they really wanted to take w/ Dungeon Siege 3 to be more like the previous 2 games); and/or not letting them delay the game for "polishing" reasons (NWN2 and KOTOR 2, anyone?).
Obsidian gets to do things THEIR way AND give the FANS what the FANS want.
So, it's going to be VERY interesting to see Obsidian NOT have to worry about any sort of publishers get in their way.

Back in the BIS days, the reason Black Isle Studios (with Tim Cain, Chris Avellone and Feargus) was VERY successful (with Icewind Dale series; Planescape: Torment; and Fallout 1 + 2) b/c they had A LOT more freedom back in the day when compared to these days and age.

BTW - FO: New Vegas is excellent; and Alpha Protocol is majorly underrated even despite its problems.

[Quemaqua]

I guess I really just stopped giving a crap about all this at some point.

[MysterD]

I guess I really just stopped giving a crap about all this at some point.

I've been itching for an old-school strategic RPG like BG series, IWD series, PST, and NWN2 for years.
EA don't want another game like Dragon Age: Origins - we saw the direction DA2 went in.
We don't have many of these kind of games too much anymore - was Drakensang: River of Time one of the last of its kind from a (somewhat) major publisher?
Publishers have been MOVING AWAY from this kind of game for years, greenlighting RPG games w/ more action-style elements.

This way, Obsidian gets to cater to the crowd they want to cater to - the hardcore PC gamer into old-school RPG's.

From Kotaku.

They're targeting a spring 2014 release. The game will cost you $25 (or $20 if you're an early supporter).
And it'll be PC only, because Avellone is "tired of designing content and interactions that caters to consoles and console controllers."

[gpw11]

I'm really surprised at how much support they've gotten for that. Hey look, we want to do another party-based RPG in a fantasy world (boy, how original!), and we're responsible for at least 5 kinda shitty games! Why does everyone have such a hard-on for this?

Alpha Protocol has a huge cult following, which I totally didn't understand until I read into a bit.   Apparently, it's the only real game out of all these modern RPGs where you actually  have a serious impact on the plot and course of events, rather than just giving you the illusion that you do.


From what I understand, anyways.

[Xessive]

Obsidian has only had what 3 titles on Xbox360? Alpha Protocol, Fallout New Vegas, and Dungeon Siege 3. All of which were on PC but only one (FNV) had decent PC controls and probably only because Bethesda had already established the control scheme in Fallout 3. The other two work a heck of a lot better if you attach a gamepad.

If we look at Obsidian's history the only games they made for PC with decent controls are all games that are based on another developer's design: FNV, Neverwinter Night 2, SWKotOR 2. Yet Dungeon Siege 3, the follow-up to Gas Powered Games' Dungeon Siege series, had completely fudged up controls for mouse+KB because they were tasked by the publisher to completely change the game and to make sure it would work for consoles as well.

I haven't had faith in Obsidian since NWN2, they seem to always find a way to fudge things up. Meanwhile, in Poland, a little known studio, CDProjekt RED, went ahead and made The Witcher with a modded Aurora engine (NWN1 engine) and it looked shockingly superior to NWN2 and performed infinitely better on the hardware of the time.

A little hope glimmered when they announced Alpha Protocol (which suspiciously looked a lot like Mass Effect, graphically, especially the dialogue sequences) but they shattered that fairly quickly when I played the game. The one thing they did get right was the dialogue and choices, they really shined there, but it's not much of a game if that's all it's got going for it and everything else was unbearable.

[idolminds]

So interesting and inevitable, but Kickstarter made some changes in hopes that it stops being just some pre-order store.

[Quemaqua]

That's kind of stupid.

[idolminds]

On one hand yeah, but it does seem like its become more of a "I am buying a product" thing instead of "I'm going to help some realize their product" thing. Not sure if these new rules are going to help with that but still.

[Quemaqua]

But it's both. It's like... I'm buying and thus showing a guarantee of support which helps realize a product. I see nothing wrong with that, nor do I understand how that conflicts with anything. Your average person doesn't have the spare funds to constantly throw cash at things they simply want to see exist. What good does that do? But if you throw in an extra couple bucks and you know you'll be getting that thing... hooray!

Anyway, whatever. I guess Kickstarter feels like it's moving away from what they wanted to be, but if they ever find a way to truly enforce that vision, I highly doubt they're going to see near as much success with it. At least in certain arenas.

[idolminds]

Not a game, but want to fund an anime short film?

Kick-Heart is a love story between Romeo, a successful pro-wrestler, and Juliet, a nun who lives a secret double-life as a female pro-wrestler. Romeo's secret is that he enjoys taking a beating in the ring, while Juliet feels invigorated when facing her opponents as a wrestler. When the two meet in the ring, the fireworks fly. Their story is set in the colorful backdrop of the professional wrestling world. Will Juliet reveal her true identity to the one she loves? Will Romeo be able to share his secret to the world?

The film is directed by one of Japan's most innovative and original animation directors, Masaaki Yuasa.

[gpw11]

Not a game, but want to fund an anime short film?

That sounds like a stupid idea for a movie.  That's just me though...I guess (everyone should agree).

But I think that Kickstarter's changes were more to protect backers rather than some attempt to preserve whacked ass integrity. Or at least it looks that way.  It seems that they're kind of saying that the projects have to be more open and transparent as to the problems they may face down the road on the way to development (angry sun?) or the current state of the project.  Maybe so people don't wander in thinking that they're buying from ebay or something?   

I have no idea why they worded it so strangely though, because it really does come off sounding like they want to preserve some ideal - which makes zero sense at all. It's counter productive for it to work any other way and there has to be some incentive.  You know, like getting a finished copy of the product when it's done.  Or a percentage cut of the profits.  You know, like the two ways people have been funding and backing projects throughout history.

[gpw11]

It seems people will pay for the stupidest ideas.  I need to capitalize on this.

[idolminds]

Haha, thats...pretty dumb.

So are you guys sick of old-school RPGs yet? Because we have another one!

Legendary, award-winning RPG designers and game industry veterans Brenda Brathwaite and Tom Hall are teaming up to create a classic, old-school RPG reminiscent of the true masterworks in the genre!

Brathwaite got her start on the classic Wizardry® series of role-playing games, having worked on every award-winning game in the series, before moving on to work on Dungeons & Dragons®, while Tom Hall's visionary design on Commander Keen™, Anachronox™ and DOOM™ set the standard for character development, world design and over-the-top immersion. We want to get back to our roots and create an old-school game worthy of 30 years of RPG fan devotion.

Still not enough? Ok, how about this:

All our stretch goals add up to an epic kick-axe game experience, but none more so than the $1.9M mark. If you're kind enough to help us reach this amount of funding, we'll create TWO FULL games - one designed by Brenda Brathwaite and one designed by Tom Hall. Not only will you cast, smash and slash your way through two full games, the endings of each game provide exclusive NEW game beginnings in the other! Import your crew from Tom's game into Brenda's and vice versa. The ending you create affects not only your new game beginning (if you choose it), but also provides unique advantages that you earn no other way.

[Quemaqua]

Wow, that's a big goal, a mil. But already at 70k and this went up what... this morning?

Ugh. I want to support Tom Hall in just about anything, but... money! Fuck you, overabundance of entertainment options.

[Xessive]

Extremely tempting! But as soon as I saw John Romero I felt a cold chill go down my spine!

[idolminds]

Well, bummer. A project I backed is looking in pretty rough shape: Haunts: The Manse Macabre. This post tells the story. Basically multiplayer took 3 times longer to implement than planned, and both their programmers have gotten other jobs. So yeah...video game project with no programmers. Not good. Looks like they are in talks with another developer to maybe take over the project but thats all up in the air still. So who knows.

Dude says he will refund backers out of his own pocket if they request it. I'm only down $5 and I knew the risks going in. You win some you lose some.

[Quemaqua]

That's a bummer. I backed that too. I think just at five bucks also.

[MysterD]

Brenda Brathwaite & Tom Hall RPG known as Shaker = CANCELLED.

[Cobra951]

That's weird.  They were well on their way, it seems.  Do they really expect people to bite a second time after this history, or are they bowing out entirely regardless of comments about doing something stronger?

[idolminds]

Hard to say. Ive seen other projects cancel the first round and come back and easily make it. But $1m is a big number to hit right out of the gate, especially when "old school RPG" seems to be all over the place on KS now.

Interesting note on Haunts: only 2 people asked for a refund. Total of $30.

[Quemaqua]

I'm still betting he's gonna find a way to pull through, either by giving things to that other group or by finding some help through the people who've offered their support.

[MysterD]

Eurogamer - The Ship: Full Steam Ahead (AKA The Ship 2) will be heading to Kickstarter on Oct 31th.

[idolminds]

According to this preview (yes a preview for a Kickstarter...what the fuck have we become?), none of the reward tiers will include the game. They are going to have some issue with that I'm sure.

I'll wait for the actual kickstarter to see what they have. Steampunk airship version of The Ship does sound pretty cool.

[MysterD]

Shadowgate Remake might be coming to Kickstarter from the ORIGINAL dev's.

It's not the first time, nor the second, but a timeless adventure such as Shadowgate is always welcome to be remade again and again. At the helm of this new version is Zojoi, a company founded by Dave Marsh and Karl Roelofs who coincidentally are also the original creators of the original game.

While they promise to keep all the classic adventure and puzzles intact, they are also stating that they will go further to really kick things up a notch, with high res artwork, tons of new puzzles and rooms, object specific animations and a new dual soundtrack, with the choice between a cinematic score or the original NES soundtrack which is regarded as one of the classic system's finest. The game is planned for Windows, MAC, and iOS.

Zojoi earlier had a Sherlock game on Kickstarter and Shadowgate will follow suit, so if you long to enter the castle and play with the wizard's stick, keep up with their Facebook for more news as the Kickstarter launches this Friday. Now bring back Deja Vu and have The OneUps do the soundtrack, kthx.


Read more at http://www.destructoid.com/shadowgate-opens-the-castle-gates-once-again-237325.phtml#5PPDl8p7B91Ie8mw.99

OMG @ Shadowgate might be coming back. I had a blast when I rented that NES game.
And I really dug Deja Vu on NES, as well.
Also, The Uninvited (NES) was quite cool, as well.

[MysterD]

Shadowgate (Remake) Kickstarter is up.

[idolminds]

The Ship: Full Steam Ahead is up.

A couple points:

1. Kickstarter is now open to UK projects. Thats great! But the pledges are in £, not $. Thats cool but really if they are going to allow people from other countries to pledge then they need to auto-convert these to local currency.

2. To get a copy of the game is going to run you $75. They included a couple physical items and I added in the shipping to the US for that. For some reason they don't have a tier with just a download of the game. I think thats really going to hurt them.

EDIT: They changed a lower tier to include the full game. So now its about $30.

[idolminds]

Make LA Game Space possible and get 30 games for $15!

All pledges $5 and up get the next game from the creator of Katamari Damacy! But $15 gets you 30 games being donated by various indie devs. The idea for the actual space itself is pretty cool too. I think I'm going to back this one.

[Quemaqua]

That's hard to pass up. Damn it. Stop showing me this shit. I don't have money.