"Crowdsourcing" a future for niche games...?

Dominik D said:
Not games related, but with https://twitter.com/DeanoC/status/264669429479133184 in mind it is very much relevant: http://hackaday.com/2012/11/01/hackadays-official-kickstarter-policy/

This and many more things that, I think, will ultimately mean this project won't reach its goal. :| Backed it because you're a cool dude, Deano. How many people know that you are though?
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Thanks, yeah its the hardest nut to crack and one that I don't have a good idea about. Some Indies manage to do it but whatever the secret sauce is, I don't think I have it unfortunately *sigh*

It really seems to rely on push, push, push by both the creator (in this case me) and the people who like/know them. I'm not very comfortable being pushy to be honest, hence not even making a new post here, even though it probably okay.
I've just done some emails to major websites but would appreciate any help or advise or just spam mailing major website ;) (don't do that please, just the first 100 emails is fine :p)
What website would be interested?
How do I get my name and the games out there?

Or is it just not to be for me?

Still mustn't get too depressed too early, only just started to go on the advertising campaign I left it a few days to get some improvement done. Just added inspiration and more info on the game.
 
While I would like to play an updated Elite, that project page is just too bloody lazy to warrant any support. Would anyone make a pitch looking like that for £1,250,000 anywhere else and have a snowballs chance in hell to get the funding? I think not.
 
@DeanoC: The secret sauce seems to be this:
- build support for you project BEFORE you launch on KS (post a blog, do some POC work and share it on your blog, etc.)
- be humble and don't launch with stretch goals (but have those ready if you approach your target)
- invest in graphics: it's important for your KS page to look interesting; poser characters IMO don't cut it
- invest in good video: it's a sales pitch, make it look good
But, yeah, that's what I would do if I were to launch. Also: your project seems fairly niche. You should start with some built support from communities which needs are being addressed by this project. I don't think your target is a typical gamer.

Also: if you fail the first time, try with another project and roll supporters from the firs one in. :)
 
Happy New Year to everyone...

Found an strange one (in a good way) I wanted to support:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1548272412/radio-the-universe-0

Game description:

I blended classic Zelda and dark science fiction and drank the ensuing mixture. It was Radio the Universe.

Players will feel aesthetic and gameplay influences from titles like Yume Nikki, Symphony of the Night, Hotline Miami, and Dark Souls, with a tinge of 2D JRPGs thrown into the mix.

RtU is a challenging and atmospheric sci-fi game with SNES-style visuals and a sinister, offbeat narrative.
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Loved this quote:

thus despite all of the cynical advice i received on how to "market" this project, i suspect that the most potent advertising tool of an already cynical, loud, and media-saturated 2012 internet is people's intelligences being respected.
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Cheers...
 
Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey now on Kickstarter

I went the frugal route, 25 Babel bucks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ongest-journey

Great video at that link, worth checking out.

No spoilers but it seems Zoe will be the star though April will be in it, thank God.

In 2002 and 2004, Hamilton was respectively diagnosed with multiple sclerosis and cancer, both of which remain symptom free and in remission following a variety of treatments.
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In 2013, Hamilton was confirmed to return to work on the sequel to The Longest Journey and Dreamfall, Dreamfall Chapters.[2]
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Hamilton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamfall_Chapters

I'm impressed and humbled by how much cash some people are staking though the bundles do make one salivate.

If Sarah Hamilton/April has a big role and if Crow and Roper Klacks have solid parts I'll consider bumping the amount.

P.S. The fans are thrilled.

E.G. http://forums.longestjourney.com/showthread.php?t=9284

Bonus Video: It's up on youtube.

YouTube Video

__________________
 
Another one which could be interesting for some of you:

Torment: Tides of Numenera

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera

A story-driven CRPG crafted in the tradition of Planescape™: Torment & set in the world of Monte Cook's Numenera.
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How Is Torment: Tides of Numenera Similar to Planescape: Torment?

We're crafting Torment with the goal of creating a gameplay experience like that evoked by Planescape: Torment (or PS:T). We want Torment to challenge, reward, surprise, and entertain you in ways that PS:T did. To do that, we examined PS:T carefully, and took these four pillars as our foundation:

A Deep, Thematically Satisfying Story. The philosophical underpinnings of Torment drive the game, both mechanically and narratively. Your words, choices, and actions will be your primary weapons.
A World Unlike Any Other. The game has a fantastic, original setting, with awe-inspiring painterly visuals, imaginative locations, truly offbeat items, and massive feats of magic. In Numenera, however, "magic" is actually something surprisingly different.
A Rich, Personal Narrative. The story is thoughtful and character-driven—epic in feel but a deeply personal narrative, with nontraditional characters and companions who have their own motivations and desires that drive them throughout the game.
Reactivity, Choice, and Real Consequences. The game emphasizes replayability and reactivity, and your choices will make a real difference. You can play the game with a different approach and discover entirely new pathways. Most important, we won't tell you how to play. The best ending is the one you choose, flowing naturally from your actions throughout the game.

These pillars reach through all aspects of the game design, including characters and dialogue, the overarching story, gameplay systems and combat, and aesthetics.

Team. If you were looking for team continuity, you've got it. Many key members who played a role in the Planescape setting and Planescape: Torment are involved in Torment: Tides of Numenera. Colin McComb and Monte Cook were two of the three primary writers for TSR’s Planescape setting. Colin was also a key designer on PS:T, where he worked closely with lead designer Chris Avellone. For Torment: Tides of Numenera, Colin is leading the creative vision in the setting that Monte has crafted. The two are also joined by their long-time partner Ray Vallese, who edited and wrote for the Planescape setting and who'll be editing Torment content. (That’s right – the quality of writing for Torment is so important that we have a professional editor on the team.) Our Project Director, Kevin Saunders, wasn't on PS:T, but was the lead designer and producer for Mask of the Betrayer, regarded by many fans as the game closest to being a PS:T successor (until now!).

We have the honor to work again with Mark Morgan, who composed PS:T’s music. You can hear his first piece in our Kickstarter launch video and in the concept art montage above. Other contributors to Torment in this preproduction period have included Adam Heine (a scripter on PS:T) and Aaron Meyers (an artist on PS:T). And, of course, it was Brian Fargo who originally saw the potential of Planescape: Torment at Interplay and who greenlit the project so that it could be made in the first place. And we're going to bring on a lot more people-some of the Wasteland 2 team, or course, and other high-profile writers who can provide their own inimitable voice to the game. We're excited to be working with them.

Details. While we aren't focusing on a direct story or setting connection between the PS:T story and Torment, we’ll include elements reminiscent of PS:T. That’s not to say that Torment will be overflowing with inside jokes, but players familiar with PS:T will notice some nods to the original. But just as PS:T strove to defy RPG tropes, so too will Torment – including some tropes that were established by PS:T. So expect a lot of surprises.
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Babel-17 said:
I went the frugal route, 25 Babel bucks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects...ongest-journey

Great video at that link, worth checking out.

No spoilers but it seems Zoe will be the star though April will be in it, thank God.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Hamilton

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dreamfall_Chapters

I'm impressed and humbled by how much cash some people are staking though the bundles do make one salivate.

If Sarah Hamilton/April has a big role and if Crow and Roper Klacks have solid parts I'll consider bumping the amount.

P.S. The fans are thrilled.

E.G. http://forums.longestjourney.com/showthread.php?t=9284

Bonus Video: It's up on youtube.
Click to expand...

I got a little crazy on this one.

I'd been waiting for this game for a very long time, not really convinced it would actually be made, especially when Funcom got into serious financial trouble. So I went for the Boxed Collector's Edition. I'd never paid this much of a video game before, and I don't think I'll ever do it again, but I really liked TLJ and Dreamfall, and I really like boxes too, so, what the hell.
 
A fellow fan! :)

We hit 1.5 million, we can has The Director's Cut.
smile.gif


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/...y/posts/424403


Dreamfall Chapters is funded! Thank you!

Update #32 · Mar. 10, 2013 · comment


$1,538,425

That's what all 21,858 of you have generously contributed to the production of Dreamfall Chapters. One-point-five MILLION dollars. Just...wow. Thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. We are grateful and humbled, inspired by your support and belief in this project and in us.
Now it's our turn to deliver.
This is the last of the Kickstarter updates. This is the first of the post-Kickstarter updates.
We're going to keep you updated on what's going on with Dreamfall Chapters, what we're working on, how we're spending your money. We'll keep you informed, entertained, amused and involved. Every step of the way.
There won't be daily updates, of course, but we'll post something as often as possible, as often as we have something to talk about or show. Expect text updates, video diaries, new art, screenshots, character concepts, voice samples. Expect music, behind-the-scenes photos, outtakes and anecdotes. Expect some surprises along the way.
This is not just our game now. It's yours, too. And we're going to share it with you, the best we can. Oh, there will be mysteries because mysteries are still important. But we asked you to join us on this journey, and we're staying true to our word.
This is a journey we take together.
So what's going to happen now?
Well, we're going to answer any questions you guys may have. We're going to take care of the practicalities. We're going to launch a forum and give you guys your badges. We're going to move everyone over there, and build a strong, vocal, friendly, creative and supportive community. A community we can all be proud of, where we can be honest and open, inclusive and gracious. The development team will be active and communicative, and you'll get to interact with absolutely everyone. You'll get to know them personally.
And we're going to build a great game.
Tomorrow we will be back with some more practical information, particularly in regards to PayPal. We'll also provide an update about the fan art competition. And we'll share some words from the rest of the team, some of whom you may not have heard from yet.
But until then, let's celebrate the fact that Dreamfall Chapters is now a thing that will happen! It's actually really, really real. And not only do we get to make a game; we get to make the Director's Cut of this game.
That makes me very, very happy.
So thank you all again. For being so damn great. For helping us run a damn fine Kickstarter. For being the friendliest and most engaging bunch of fans and pledgers we could have hoped for. I've enjoyed this experience so much, and I can't wait to get started on the rest of it.
We've said it a hundred times already, but what the hell -- we're not done quite yet:
Onwards & upwards, gang!
Ragnar
Click to expand...
The Director's Cut, of course, adds back all the content we had to cut for cost reasons, along with a director's commentary of the game. With a bigger budget, we can hire more people and we can bring back the locations, characters, puzzles and conversations that were left on the cutting room floor. These include:
The House of Dreams, one of the more old-school-elegant Emporiums in Europolis. Built to resemble the romantic 'ideal' of the opium dens of the late 1800s and early 1900s, it's dark and moody, filled with velvet and silk and incense, and everyone who works there is appropriately (or inappropriately) dressed. Madame Nyx is the flamboyant proprietor of The House of Dreams, a loud and boisterous character who has built a business out of supplying customers with lucid dreams.
Then there is Likho, a fierce, one-eyed Dolmari fighter and a member of the underground resistance in Marcuria. His background is a mystery, but something in his past has made him hate the Azadi people more than most, and his history is intertwined somehow with Kian's.
As an example of how important these stretch goals are to us, here is a character we were able to bring back after achieving an earlier stretch goal, A Longer Journey.
This character and his story arc had been removed from the game, but with the additional funds and a bigger budget, we were able to bring him back and make him an integral part of the story again.


Falk Friedman is a Corporate Jäger employed by various global conglomerates and corporations to take care of unofficial, off-the-books business. He has just been hired by WatiCorp to hunt someone or something down -- but who that (or what) is, we're not going to reveal. Yet!
Click to expand...
I bumped my Kickstarter level to the 50 buck one in appreciation of learning Sarah Hamilton would really be back in The Longest Journey Home.

Update #20: The Longest Journey Home

Update #20 · Mar. 01, 2013 · 119 comments


Here, then, the perfect way to reveal our two million dollar stretch goal, by way of GameSpot and Kevin VanOrd:
Taking The Longest Journey Home
To be able to greenlight the preproduction of the continuation and conclusion to April Ryan's journey would, of course, be a dream come true for all of us.
But even if we don't reach that lofty goal this time around, we hope to some day still be able to tell this story. April's story, all of it. All that remains of it.
Because it needs to be told. And you all deserve to hear it. And we would love to share it with you.
So please go read the story, comment and share and like, follow Dreamfall Chapters on GameSpot, and help us get closer to Home.
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Giorgos Chrysikopoulos - Dream Traveller 23 minutes ago

@Stephen: As Update #5 says, Sarah Hamilton is already CONFIRMED to return for Dreamfall: Chapters! (since April will be in Chapters, of course!). So, it's almost as certain that she'll be in TLJH as well (you can't have a game about April, without April's voice now, can you?).
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This is great news.
I just wanted to know the developers understand how important Sarah Hamilton as April is to my excitement for this project.
For Sarah Hamilton/April I'll bump my support up a notch. Amusingly enough, in a gaming forum thread about this project I said I would bump my donation if it turned out there was going to be lots of April/Sarah Hamilton. This qualifies.
smile.gif
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I was in awe of her TLJ performance. It turns out she is a nice lady.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sarah_Hamilton

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9XktgBU3yG4
 
Yemeth said:
Another one which could be interesting for some of you:

Torment: Tides of Numenera

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera
Click to expand...

A Kickstarter campaign to crowd-fund Torment: Tides of Numenera was launched and reached its minimal funding goal on 6 March 2013, surpassing a million dollars in the first seven hours and thus breaking the Kickstarter record for the fastest project to do so. The previous record was held by the Ouya video game console which reached $1 million in 8 hours 22 minutes.[1][9]
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:oops:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Torment:_Tides_of_Numenera
 
I'll be damned. They got more backup than Project Eternity. And I always though as a Torment-lover (phun intended) I'm in the minority.
I expect to be a bit sad, because I love the Planescape setting just as much ... anyway, it would be cool if it turns out to be one of the rare gems of computer games.
 
Just saw that the studio which made Divine Divinity is having a kickstarter for a RPG set before DivDiv ... isometric and turn based but with fully 3D engine/scenery.

(I was finally getting around to playing Div2 and needed a fix for inverted mouselook in dragon mode ... which I found on the forums along with the kickstarter.)
 
Hello,

thought it would be interesting, to some of you, that I post my Kickstarter experience here with my thoughts about it all. If it is too much of a soapbox (and I realise it is, I wrote this sentence after I wrote this long posting), please remove it.

I have written Kickstarter a few months ago that they really should implement some kind of voting/review system, because the constant ignoring of release dates and shipping without any possible hindrance on new projects is flabbergasting. E.g. implement several categories and each backer can give his ratings with a short comment.
I got a generic "we will do our best to better our service" answer.

First, before anyone comes to me with "projects cannot be planned/delays happen", please do not. As someone who organised projects and lead them in a very chaotic office environment, I can claim that if you always plan for the bad (not worst, because then you wouldn't give a release date at all) and add some more time to it, it should seldomly be overdue. If you are going to be late, you will notice it very fast, because if in February you have still not done the work you should have done in January, you should not plan to do the work for 2-3 months in March, but communicate the delay right away. Delays are not the main problem, the problem I see is that most of them knew the release date is a joke but wrote it any way so that potential, impatient, backers will back the project (which is idiotic but I refuse to believe that all of them are so inept with their planning).

Money to a Kickstarter project should be looked as lost money any way, but this does not mean that the persons who receive it have not any obligation to fulfil the promises they made.

Wasteland 2 (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2):

my first backed project and via the DoubleFine and this game I found Kickstarter, promised release date was Oct 2013, it was delayed and now they should start the test phase in October (My guess end of Q1/2014 release date, it is good as their guess any way ;) ).

Shadowrun Returns (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns):

promised release date: Jan 2013
released on: 25.7.2013

The one I was looking most forward to, ignoring the idiotic design decisions (the savegame implementation would be bad for a console game in a PC game it should be forbidden) and the delay there was a dishonesty about the campaign with the DRM etc. Of course, "evil" license/"evil" MS, is to blame, not the fact that they did not told the truth (if you know something and claim otherwise, saying "oh, I tried to change the reality and did not succeed" does not make it OK). The game was good, but some of the user content is already fantastic, so their editor should really pay of (like planned). Have not received my signed anthology book etc. yet.

I play many games on Steam and have no problem with it, but if you marked a game as DRM-free then you should not say "yeah, but until the first campaign setting".

Power Pot (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/david-toledo/the-powerpot/):

I have only donated a small amount (IIRC, 5 USD) so that I contribute to someones gifted Power Pot. Of all the projects I backed, I probably most liked their official Kickstarter communication and approach, very straight forward and honest. Especially liked that they even made a special update where you could review your experience with them/their product.

The Banner Saga (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga):

promised release date: November 2012
new promised release date: "later in 2013"

Like with any other of those "we got a much bigger budget than planned" I get some kind of a delay. They released a free to play game + micro transactions to help with the finances and use the learned things for the final game. Really looking forward to a mixture of "King of Dragon Pass" with TRPG, hope it will release in 2013.

ReincarNATE Graphic Novel (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/910305588/reincarnate-graphic-novel):

promised release date: Aug 2012
released: March 2013
shipped to me: *evil laugh*

I and other backers gave not yet received the promised rewards, which reminded me to post a harsher comment in the comment section.

The People Project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/313689664/the-people-project):

promised release date: August 2012
got the package: spring of 2013 or so, the postcard arrived as promised/in time

Would I back a project of his again: Absolutely

Even though there was a delay, he took the time to personally write e-mails, reply very fast and apologise more than once. His communication is on to par with the Power Pot team, the personal e-mails are replied/sent faster than I have ever seen with any project etc.

Yogventures (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/winterkewlgames/yogventures):

promised release date: Dec 2012
new release date: in this century

If they would release their internal planning, outsourcing behaviour etc., I would guess this would be one of these "see, this is NOT how you do it" examples. But, I think it will be released, eventually, so it is still much better then the scam projects (some of the new Ouya games etc.) and yes, this is the only positive thing I can think of this.

Remee (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bitbangerlabs/remee-the-rem-enhancing-lucid-dreaming-mask):

promised release date: July 2012
got my mine at about: November 2012

Again, one of those refreshing projects were you can see that there was some planning involved and the delay was communicated very fast. Would back a new project of them.

Legends of Eisenwald (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1684781151/legends-of-eisenwald):

promised release date: Oct 2012
new promised release date: Who knows?

Sigh, they posted about the delay, ridiculously late, switched up new promises already. It is not vaporware and in backer beta.

Grim Dawn (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn):

promised release date: August 2013
new promised release date: ?

Even though I really like the way they are communicating with the community, I think they should have made this update http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/crateentertainment/grim-dawn/posts/571863 a long time ago because if such a big delay happens you know it much earlier. As with most of my backed projects, in the future I would wait for the release or even a humbebundle/Steam sale.

Dead State (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70755535/dead-state-the-zombie-survival-rpg):

promised release date: December 2013
new promised release date: Early 2014

I really hoped this would be one of those projects who release on time, because their first release date was realistic, but it seems not realistic enough ;) . Great forums and fantastic community, but I really dislike mentioning something like a delay by the way in a "Post-PAX update". Delays should be in separate updates, think they are important enough. Even though I said all this, if the game will release in Q1 2014 and be very good, I would still back a new project of them.

Yellowstone Wolf: Project Citizen Science (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/504644378/yellowstone-wolf-project-citizen-science):

I am sorry, I need to stop typing for a minute... This one, gasp, released on time, the package arrived from the USA to Croatia so fast that I thought it was of one of those projects I backed in 2012 and Emily is so kind in her messages etc. that I would back her new projects if it was uninteresting for me, just to support her.

Doubt that anyone read until the end, but if you did, thank you and with that patience you should thinking about backing a Kickstarter project... :D

All the best...
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Interesting. Also why the games I've kickstarted were ones where I've done it to reward the creator for past games and not the one that is actually being kickstarted. That way if the game ever does come out, I'll be pleasantly surprised. If it doesn't then no big deal as I was rewarding them for a game they made in the past anyway.

Regards,
SB
 
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