Topic: Kickstarter thread

[W7RE]

Interstellar Marines

Boring name, and the concept isn't that original either, but something about this game has my attention. It's been in development for quit a while, mostly with the support of donations. You can play some tech demo type parts of it on their site in-browser (a shooting gallery and a mode where you capture points and fight off AI robots). There's a multiplayer deathmatch mode also available if you're a supporter, which at some point (maybe last E3?) was available to everyone. It was free for all deathmatch, and had some heavy use of lighting and sound to locate enemy players. At some points the lights would all go out and you only had your flashlight, so you had to choose between seeing where you were going, and letting other players see you.

The game is supposed to emphasize tactical gameplay, and they reference Rainbow Six: Raven Shield, System Shock 2, and Half-Life as inspiration.

[MysterD]

GODUS.
Peter Molyneux and 22Cans develop a re-imaging of God-games like Populous and Black & White.

[Xessive]

Kickstarter project puts an Android game console in a two-inch stick

Looks like GameStick have put Ouya in their crosshairs.

Interesting concept but based on the info we have at this point, the Ouya still seem to offer more in terms of reliability and infrastructure. Plus, in my opinion I would prefer a full-size controller rather than a 2-inch stick, and I have relatively small hands! (Please ignore any innuendo in that sentence).

[idolminds]

Yeah, that controller doesn't look comfortable at all. And for $20 more it sounds like the Ouya is more powerful. Sure its neat that its so small, but at a certain point that stops mattering. The Ouya is what, the size of a Rubiks cube? Not exactly a pain to move around or take to a friends place.

Still we need to see the kind of support these devices will get.

[idolminds]

Full Bore - An Underground Puzzle Adventure is pretty neat. Its kind of like a mix of Metroid and Mr. Driller, and you play as a boar. No really, its cool.

One neat thing they are doing is their own Digstarter. Grab the demo and allow it to send them data, which is how many gems you collect. These are all pooled together and after so many gems are collected they add some things to the game. Nothing terribly major but its cute all the same and gets people to check out the demo. Which I recommend. You can back the game for $7 to get a DRM-free copy.

[sirean_syan]

You know, I was totally thinking there needs to be more games where you play as an animal (or non-humanoid thing) the other day. It happens rarely enough that it seems novel whenever it happens (Okami, Mr Mosquito, that Wii game where you play as a spider), but there's plenty of possibilities for fun controls or unique play. If nothing else, it's always just fun to be something other that isn't walking around on two legs (not counting giant robots).

[idolminds]

Pirates vs Dinosaurs

A board game from the designer of Arkham Horror and Elder Sign, this time featuring pirates AND dinosaurs. Only 6 days left and its only just past the half way point on money raised. I'd love to help it along but board game kickstarters get really expensive really fast unless you just want your name in the rulebook.

[MysterD]

Wildman

Gas Powered Games' next ARPG/RTS hybrid that will have NO DRM period.

[idolminds]

Yeah....about that....

Update on KS

[idolminds]

The 90's Arcade Racer

Do you miss Daytona, with the super saturated colors? Well here you go! I'd love to back it but the exchange rate would put it at about $25 for a copy of the game, and its 3 cars and 3 tracks. Tough pill to swallow, but....man I would like to play it.

[idolminds]

WORLDS OF WANDER plus "Secret Spaceship Club" Game!

This is Tom Halls new try at a kickstarter, and it sounds kinda cool. World of Wander is actually a game making tool, specifically platformers. They want it to be easy for people to go in and build levels and make their own games with it. But it needs a "base game" for players to play and see what can be done, which is what Secret Spaceship Club is. And its a spiritual successor to Commander Keen!

Early limited buy-in is $25, which then goes to $30 for the game and creation tool.

[idolminds]

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey is up on KS now.

[Quemaqua]

Does anyone make like... regular games anymore? I sort of miss not being asked for money prior to the existence of something.

[idolminds]

I get a similar feeling sometimes. KS is great for the indie games that wouldn't normally get a shot but...was Dreamfall Chapters in trouble of not getting funded or made through traditional means?

[gpw11]

I get a similar feeling sometimes. KS is great for the indie games that wouldn't normally get a shot but...was Dreamfall Chapters in trouble of not getting funded or made through traditional means?

I don't know for sure, but I think it may have been.  I mean, it was first announced while I was playing Dreamfall in 2007 or 2008 and all I've heard since then is that it's either on indefinite hold or temporary hold.  I wasn't crossing my fingers it would ever get made.

[idolminds]

I suppose so. And its an adventure game, so its not all that different from the Double Fine one. I'm sure publishers aren't all that interested in adventure games still.

Speaking of DF, they just sent out an email celebrating the 1 year anniversary of launching their kickstarter. Hard to believe its been that long already.

[MysterD]

Ragnar Tornquist had a nice tweet recently for us "pure" adventure gamers:
https://twitter.com/RagnarTornquist/status/300369278895542273

No combat in #DreamfallChapters.

Here's another interesting tweet from Ragnar:
https://twitter.com/RagnarTornquist/status/300414719519502336

Ragnar Tørnquist ‏@RagnarTornquist
@ALPHATTgoestw Direct control, but with point-and-click on top. We’re doing something really interesting and cool.

[MysterD]

I suppose so. And its an adventure game, so its not all that different from the Double Fine one. I'm sure publishers aren't all that interested in adventure games still.

Speaking of DF, they just sent out an email celebrating the 1 year anniversary of launching their kickstarter. Hard to believe its been that long already.

Well, Ragnar worked on The Secret World (MMO) w/ Funcom - that's why Dreamfall Chapters was on hold.
And well...Funcom's been in trouble financially for a while; and just laid off a bunch of people.
Some of them that got laid-off wound-up at Ragnar's new studio.
Source -> http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/08/journeys-end-dreamfall-chapters-interview-part-one/

Ragnar formed an Indie studio called Red Thread Studios; and got permission from Funcom to work on Dreamfall Chapters.
Ragnar's still a part of Funcom, for now - as Ragnar's no longer the Game Director for TSW, he is now The Creative Director for TSW.
Joel Bylos took over as Game Director for TSW.
Source -> http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/11/01/keep-the-faith-tornquist-talks-dreamfall-chapters/

EDIT:
AMA currently going on on Reddit w/ Ragnar:
http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/189al6/i_am_ragnar_t%C3%B8rnquist_creator_of_the_longest/

[idolminds]

Ascension Online

The deckbuilding game, which I got to know from the iOS version. Fantastic game, and now they want to expand on it. Android version, PC version. They will keep working with Playdek but I think ultimately they want to try bring dev in-house. The new version will have online tournaments and all sorts of stuff. The goal is having the base game as a free download that you can just play and then buy the expansions and foil cards or whatever.

Anyway, $5 gets you a promo card (both digital and paper), $10 gets you that plus the first 3 expansions for Android/PC (only 2 of those are on iOS so far). It goes up from there but I think the $10 tier would be pretty decent.

This KS is going hard and fast and is only going to last 10 days to hit $125,000. With Ascensions popularity I don't think they will have any trouble reaching it.

[Quemaqua]

Nice. I love that game.

[MysterD]

Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey

Europolis area revealed:

&feature=player_embedded#!

Ragnar Tornquist talks about the recently revealed Europolis area:
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/02/22/stark-contrasts-dreamfall-chapters-cyberpunk-city/

[MysterD]

$2 million stretch goal for Dreamfall Chapters revealed on their Kickstarter:
They are making plans for a true-blue TLJ2 w/ April Ryan called The Longest Journey Home.

More details on TLJ Home here.
Simply put -> TLJ Home = 2D style point-and-click adventure game w/ April Ryan as the star; & a true-blue sequel to the original TLJ (that will fill in the 10 year gap b/t TLJ1 and Dreamfall).

[idolminds]

So who wants a Planescape: Torment spiritual successor? They are asking for $900,000 and they just topped that on the first day.

[Cobra951]

You’ve got to be freaking kidding me!! We just funded in six hours!?!?!

Our heads are still spinning at the incredible response we have had from today's support of our Kickstarter campaign. We had plans to roll out our stretch goals and to write our Kickstarter updates but never in our wildest dreams did we think we would fund this quickly!!! We are joyfully scrambling right now to get a longer update and some stretch goals in front of you as soon as we can.  . . .

There's a happy guy.  This might turn out awesome.

[MysterD]

So who wants a Planescape: Torment spiritual successor? They are asking for $900,000 and they just topped that on the first day.

Am I in Kickstarter heaven or something?

Torment: Tides (Torment spiritual successor); Wasteland 2; Project Eternity; more TLJ/Dreamfall games...

{drools}

[MysterD]

Kickstarter -> Richard Garriott presents Shroud Of The Avatar: Forsaken Virtues
This is the 1st episode of a 5-part episodic single player offline / multiplayer online RPG.

For more articles & info about this game:
RockPaperShotgun
Forbes w/ Erik Kain.
Kotaku -> With interviews w/ Garriott, info on the game, VERY Early game demo footage, etc.
Youtube -> VERY Early Game Demo footage of SOTA: FV.
Polygon -> Interview w/ Garriott and write-up on SOTA: FV.
UltimaCodex -> Interview w/ Garriott.

EDIT -> 3-14-2013:
All about SoTA's DRM, Offline/Online features, and (Lack of) Microtransactions.

DRM, Offline/Online, and Microtransaction update + swag teaser!
Update #5 · Mar. 11, 2013 · 106 comments

3 days into the Kickstarter and we’ve been receiving tons of great feedback, probably more than we received in the last year through our social campaign to find out what people want! Based on one of the most common concerns, we’re making a few small changes.

First, the game can be played offline, no connection required.
The character used for the offline version of the game will not be useable in the online version of the game for obvious exploit/hacking reasons.
We are going to investigate ways to export your online character to the single player version of the game but the offline character will not be importable into the online version.

Second, the offline single player version of the game for those who purchase it through KickStarter will not use any form of DRM.
We had been holding off on committing to that because we don’t know what our final distribution system (Steam, GOG, etc) is going to be and some of them use DRM.
We may have DRM of some sort on post-KS sales but we’ll commit to keeping KS versions DRM and “phone home” free for the single player version once launched.

Third, the offline single player of the game will not have any microtransactions.
We know this is kind of a no-brainer since it is offline but we wanted to be perfectly clear on that since there was some vagueness in a few statements in one of our video chats.

EDIT -> 3/16/2013:
Track Hickman (Dragonlance author) joins SOTA team.

[idolminds]

Emperor's New Clothes, a board game.

I can't tell if this evil, genius, or both.

[Quemaqua]

That's completely amazing. What an idea.

[gpw11]

Emperor's New Clothes, a board game.

I can't tell if this evil, genius, or both.

Am I dumb? I get the shits and giggles aspect, but why are people spending money on this?

[Pugnate]

I don't have the time to understand this one. What is the Emperor's New Clothes in a nutshell?

edit:

I mean I get the joke... but I don't get how people are backing this thing. What the hell?

[Quemaqua]

Well, you could essentially use it to make your own game if you wanted to. But it's probably just the novelty. It's a gag taken to the nth degree. The kind of thing you could amuse your friends with. And all the more amusing because the guy went to such lengths. I mean I've seen legit Kickstarters with far less thorough and professional-looking pages, and the shots of the intended final product all look really high quality. Which, again, makes it funnier.

[Xessive]

Veronica Mars movie resorts to crowdfunding.. Wow.

Swims past the $2,000,000 goal with 29 days still to go.

I like Kristen Bell but I know nothing of Veronica Mars except that it was a TV series.

[Pugnate]

People are insane.

[Cools!]

Why? You don't like that show?

[Pugnate]

It wasn't bad... but 10 grand raised over a bullshit box and card thing that's not even a board game. People pitching money just to have Kristen Bell customize a voice mail for them or follow them on twitter? (look at the rewards).

It is OK. People should do whatever they want with their money that makes them happy...

Yet there is so much fucked up in the world. People don't have food. Education. Women getting raped. I wish we could just as easily raise money for those people.

Sorry to be the only guy on these boards so connected to the third world that he bursts everyone's bubble. Carry on. I am not saying there is any obligation to do anything.

[Cools!]

Here I thought you just hated Veronica Mars! Pffff!

[idolminds]

You can't really look at it that way, pug. Yeah people will blow money on stupid shit, it happens. A lot. But that doesn't mean people aren't also giving money to causes that matter. Sure it might be nice if more money went to the good things than the dumb things but no one has any power over that.

[Pugnate]

Yea I know.

[Quemaqua]

And it's nobody's responsibility to take care of anyone else. It would be awesome if everyone were philanthropic, but the fact remains that the problems of other people and other societies are their own. I do try to give and do try to care, but only because I feel it's the right thing to do, not because I'm under any sort of obligation. Morality, in the end, is a personal scale.

Besides, one has to spend a crapload of time vetting places to know whether they're worth supporting or not. That makes charities a hell of a lot harder to support than random business ventures. To research these places takes time, and there is a lot of fraud out there because there are a lot of jerks out there. If I were rich and had near endless money to donate to charity, it still wouldn't but trickle out because I'd have to figure out who was worth contributing to. The problems are obvious... the solutions, sadly, are not.

EDIT - But I feel you, though. I do. It does suck that there is need in the world and yet people have money to waste on stupid shit. It can be really frustrating... but philosophically, it's a much deeper/larger problem. If you think about it for a little while, you realize why those imbalances can never really be righted, and you might feel better. Otherwise that kind of thing can drive you insane.

[gpw11]

It wasn't bad... but 10 grand raised over a bullshit box and card thing that's not even a board game. People pitching money just to have Kristen Bell customize a voice mail for them or follow them on twitter? (look at the rewards).

It is OK. People should do whatever they want with their money that makes them happy...

Yet there is so much fucked up in the world. People don't have food. Education. Women getting raped. I wish we could just as easily raise money for those people.

Sorry to be the only guy on these boards so connected to the third world that he bursts everyone's bubble. Carry on. I am not saying there is any obligation to do anything.

I actually agree with this for the most part.  I waste a lot of money on a.)drinking! b.)cigarettes! c.) stupid shit!  so I really don't have any ground to judge anyone on how they spend their money, but for some reason the fact that people are funding this pisses me off.  And not for the reasons you necessarily mention, because I do agree that there's a point where you have to admit that we're all going to waste money when other people could use it, but just because I can picture some hipster asshole sitting back in his chair after he funds it and smugly thinking that he's so cleaver for participating in such a revolutionary and abstract joke. 

Fuck all of them. I will find a way to likewise take their money.  One of these days...