Crowd funding projects

Other Games
21

Apparently the developer of The 90’s Arcade Racer worked on S&ASRT. That’s interesting, because Sumo Digital actually seriously considered working out a deal with Sega to have them make a Daytona sequel. Like you said, though, there’s aren’t enough updates for the project. He’s hinting at a new team working on the game and a Wii U release, but with no details.

[quote=“Al3xand3r”]We have the first Wasteland 2 footage (gameplay starts at ~2m40s).

http://vimeo.com/59292662)

I feel way more confident with my pledge after this, my first boxed PC copy in ages!
That does look good. It’s interesting how The 90’s Arcade Racer, Dreamfall Chapters and Wasteland 2 are all using Unity3D, it’s starting to become a very popular choice.[/quote]

22

Project Eternity is being developed using the Unity engine as well. Interesting how all those games you mentioned Draikin are planned for OSX and Linux too, and they all appear to have DRM-free options (well, I’m not sure about the 90’s Racer, but the others do). Hopefully this points towards a future where we have more freedom to choose how we want to play games without being forced to use a single platform or store.

23

It makes sense. It’s usually the publishers who want to include things like DRM. When developers can fund their game using Kickstarter, they no longer have a publisher telling them what they can and can’t do.

24

Same with eBooks. Many of the self-published authors are not including DRM, even though it is an option. Not so useful on Amazon, since it uses a proprietary format, but on Kobo you should be able to open their DRM-free epub files in iBooks or other ePub software. Some of the publishers, such as Tor, have decided to make their books DRM free too. It would be great to see games, ebooks, and films follow in the footsteps of the music industry and make everything DRM-free.

25

90s Arcade Racer is now being worked on in collaboration with Nicalis and has been confirmed for WiiU, Android and iOS on top of PC etc. I’ve withdrawn my pledge since that (Nicalis, not the platforms) worries me a little (and they’ve already reached the goal and the stretch goal was to hire another programmer and stuff, Nicalis has brought in a lot of staff) but I’ll still be keeping an eye on it for sure. I hope it all works out.

In a couple weeks this other Kickstarter (or rather Kickfinished) project will release, I look forward to it too.

kickstarter.com/projects/212 … nquistador

26

[quote=“Al3xand3r”]In a couple weeks this other Kickstarter (or rather Kickfinished) project will release, I look forward to it too.

kickstarter.com/projects/212 … nquistador[/quote]

It’s cool that they’re making an RPG set in a historical setting. Most RPGs just go with the usual fantasy or sci fi settings.

27

Yeah, I hope it turns out good despite not having the high caliber of other kickstarter CRPGs like Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns and Project Eternity. I didn’t pledge for it (or Project Eternity) but yeah, more good CRPGs is good. Legends of Eisenwald looks like another promising kickstarted RPG that’s far in development. Chaos Chronicles is another I’m looking forward to (possibly with more confidence than Expeditions Conquistador) but it wasn’t crowd funded. I’m really glad so many of these are fully turn based.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v= was just revealed also.Avadon 2

28

Another space game, Rogue System. It looks pretty cool!

And a “let’s play” thread for Expeditions Conquistador from the dev of another CRPG.

29

Project Cornerstone is Wind Waker with Viking Physics? and more! It looks promising.

30

It looks interesting, but $300,000 doesn’t seem like a realistic goal for a game like this.

That does look good given how early the build is. Seems like they’re also having difficulty reaching their goal though.

Dreamfall; Chapters has just gone past $1 million now, and I like how they set up their stretch goals:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/redthread/dreamfall-chapters-the-longest-journey

I’m hoping we’ll reach all the stretch goals, although it would basically mean the game would need to keep getting pledges at the same, or even faster, rate than it’s getting them now.

31

So, Torment: Tides of Numenera is already sailing past $2m in pledges. The last stretch goal is currently set at $2.5m so it will probably make it with the 28 days left.

Personally I’m not pledging, I’ll wait and see how it turns out. For me, Planescape: Torment didn’t make up for its flaws with its story and interactivity. It’s probably my most disappointing Infinity Engine game. Of course, I don’t imagine they intend to keep this the same but instead hope to have a game that plays as well as it reads.

However, I’m also not too happy they’re doing another kickstart before putting out Wasteland 2. They claim they work on an one and a half team structure which means that until Wasteland 2 is done only a small pre-production team will be on the new Torment but no matter how they put it that’s still staff not working on Wasteland 2. They would not be sitting around doing nothing if they did not start another project and it’s not like games cannot be improved by extra work, or like things always go as smoothly as possible. Would they, if things don’t go as planned, delay both games or shove Wasteland 2 out the door to focus on Torment? That will depend on their own situation when and if the time comes, not what’s best for me, obviously.

Plus, I want to see what they’re capable of before giving them more money. My Wasteland 2 pledge is already a risk, even if the video they put out recently made me feel more confident about it. Torment is also a more expensive proposition. For example the very first boxed tier is $15 over Wasteland 2’s (while still asking another $15 for international shipping) and doesn’t claim to use an old school large PC game box or have extras like the cloth map which are reserved for even higher tiers. Just the basics.

Besides, shouldn’t the dream be that they can be successful enough to self fund rather than rely on publishers or even rich fans that buy the $10k tiers and the like? Why not wait and see how Wasteland 2 performs before asking for more?

Not to mention the name would be way better as Numenera: Torment :slight_smile:

These and other things make me feel like they’re potentially selling Wasteland 2 short or risking too much about it, biting more than their small studio (perhaps smaller than the teams making the classics these games are succeeding) can chew, and generally a little worried about the whole situation. So yeah, I’m not too happy with how things are handled, but I will obviously check it out when the time comes, and I’m obviously in the minority as it will probably grow to be the biggest video game software related crowd fund yet, unless it’s been more front loaded than usual.

32

First footage of Shadowrun Returns.

33

Lord British aka Richard Garriott presents Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues.

kickstarter.com/projects/por … -virtues-0

Basically, Ultima Reboot On & Offline. I initially backed it to be one of those 5000 $25 early birds, but I’ve cancelled it. The guy is filthy rich anyway, but it will make the goal.

Too many things already worry me, like the mention of limited and tax/rent based housing and potentially other content that you can fast track through with additional money, the replayable scenes which make it sound like Diablo or something, and the fact it looks fugly (not just low tech, which I’m fine with) at this point, with no mention of it being all placeholder content outside the token “this is alpha footage” etc.

I backed Torment: Tides of Numenera after all. I’m so weak, I hate you crowd funding!

34

Torment was the only game ever tempting enough for me to consider funding it, but the prices are just too high for my budget. I just don’t pay full price for games much these days and there seems to be an inherent risk with these kickstarters that the money could dry up or the game may not end up near as good as they sound. When this and Wastland 2 are available, I will probably pick them up new if the price is right. If I am only getting a digital version of the game, it better be cheaper though. To be fair, I am no longer your 1st in line gamer anymore. Even the games I want to pick up at launch on the 360, I have waited until a price drop. I waited until I could get both Skyrim and Mass Effect 3 for 30 dollars. That is about all I can afford these days for new boxed games. I only buy digital games if they are dirt cheap ala Steam sales, or I can get a DRM free version from GOG.com. For curiosities sake, do most of you buy new at release or wait for discounts, etc?

35

The cheaper kickstarter tiers are usually cheaper than the initial price the game is aimed to be sold for. Of course, they’ll eventually be discounted at some point (but it will probably take a while for them to become cheaper than on kickstarter, especially considering prices are usually in USD). Not that I think they ask too much for a presumably decently lengthy CRPG like Wasteland 2. I pledged $50 for the first boxed tier in that case, but it started at $15. Torment is a little more expensive starting at $20 (3 copies of that left at the time of writing, probably none by the time you read) then going to $25 (with no limit - this is how Dreamfall Chapters worked too). Most of these projects offer 100% DRM free copies (not necessarily through a specific outlet like gog, it varies). I also pledged $20 for Torment and $15 for Shadowrun Returns myself. I wouldn’t call most of that even close to what’s considered full price but opinions will obviously differ.

Also, some of these projects offer pre-orders past the kickstarter period. I haven’t looked into it but I imagine they’re legally obliged to refund you for those if they don’t actually deliver a product (they’re technically obliged through Kickstarter too but it’s probably iffy in that case, I don’t know). Of course there’s no protection in the case of a bad product, much like regular retail and digital channels. Anyway, Wasteland 2 is already a bit more expensive than the lowest Kickstarter tier went for, starting at $25 for a pre-order.

I pay whatever seems reasonable to me, I might find a game too expensive @ $10 and buy another @ $50 as in the (very, somewhat collector motivated) special case above. Obviously I buy most during sales since I love so few games that the rest have to become attractive in more ways than one for me to bite, which sales may achieve.

36

I watched the video of Torment: Tides of Numenera and it sounds quite intriguing. I’ll be keeping an eye on its progress.

Weren’t you really into Planescape: Torment, Geoffrey?

37

This looks like a promising Myst-like. Perhaps Gehn would get into that.

kickstarter.com/projects/178 … and-beyond

38

And I was just going to agree with you that they shouldn’t already launch that Kickstarter for their next project :slight_smile: It’s certainly questionable that they don’t finish Wasteland 2 first. Imagine if Wasteland 2 isn’t well received. I imagine a lot of backers for Torment would suddenly be worried, perhaps even looking to get their money back. That kind of scenario hasn’t really been seen on Kickstarter. I find it odd that they have no problem with asking and receiving so much money when they have yet to deliver on their first Kickstarter project.

[quote=“Al3xand3r”]This looks like a promising Myst-like. Perhaps Gehn would get into that.

kickstarter.com/projects/178 … and-beyond[/quote]

That does seem interesting! I might end up backing that, the Oculus support stretch goal in particular sounds like it could really enhance the experience.

39

Yeah everything I said applies still for me. Minus the not pledging bit :stuck_out_tongue:

I was just enticed by managing to get in the limited $20 tier as others switched.

40

With only 15 hours remaining the Kickstarter for Dreamfall: Chapters is about to end.
I ended up going for the Digital Dreamer’s edition, even though I’ll probably regret it later on :anjou_happy: They’ve revealed their plans to create a true sequel to the original TLJ called The Longest Journey Home, and they’ve included a stretch goal to start preproduction (again a bit questionable, but that game is exactly what fans of the original TLJ want to see). Unfortunately they won’t reach that stretch goal, but it’s been a very successful Kickstarter nonetheless and if Dreamfall: Chapters is a success we’ll no doubt see TLJ Home eventually.