Kickstarter Projects

[DanGarion]

There has been some talk about Kickstarter on the board as a way to entice Jim to make a new game, but what I wanted to do here was give us a place to talk about KS projects that we want to share with others on the board with.

I've backed 3 Kickstarter projects this past year with the most recent being the one for The Order of the Stick (http://www.giantitp.com/) (click here for the project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive)). I've been reading this online comic for what seems like years now, it's based on characters in a D&D type universe.

In the past I've backed Coffee Joulies (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/705847536/coffee-joulies-your-coffee-just-right) which I gave to a friend as a Christmas gift and the Glory to Rome Black Box Edition Rome Demands Beauty (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cambridgegames/glory-to-rome-black-box-edition-rome-demands-beaut) game reprint.

I know that some of you have also backed projects and I thought it would be cool for us to share what we have backed in the past and also bring attention to those that you are looking to back in the future.

[Autumn]

Yeah, this is great. I never get around to looking at Kickstarte,r and when I do I get quickly overwhelmed, so I'd love to hear about good projects.

[mckerney]

What I've backed:

No Time To Explain (video game)
Glory To Rome - Just the mini expansion level
Eaten By Zombies! (Card Game)
Oh My God! There's An Axe In My Head (Board Game)
Double Fine Adventure Game (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure) - Hooray adventure games!

[mckerney]

Yeah, this is great. I never get around to looking at Kickstarte,r and when I do I get quickly overwhelmed, so I'd love to hear about good projects.

Everything I've funded has been something I've read about somewhere else, haven't given to anything I've just seen on the Kickstarter website listings.

[ISiddiqui]

Yeah, whatever I've seen I've usually been linked to from Facebook.

[DanGarion]

Wow. Order of the Stick hit it. 38 hours to go!

http://i.imgur.com/UZjBR.png

The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive by Rich Burlew — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive)

[rowech]

iDreamSaver - Home (http://www.idreamsaver.com/)

[Izulde]

Wow. Order of the Stick hit it. 38 hours to go!

http://i.imgur.com/UZjBR.png

The Order of the Stick Reprint Drive by Rich Burlew — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/599092525/the-order-of-the-stick-reprint-drive)

:eek:

[samifan24]

I've backed:

Elevation Dock - iPhone dock
Wishbhone - Headphone cord tie

Both were successfully funded but I haven't received them yet.

[DanGarion]

Here's a good one for baseball fans.

The Hall of Very Good

<iframe frameborder="0" height="360px" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skykalkman/hall-of-very-good/widget/video.html" width="480px"></iframe>

Hall of Very Good by Sky Kalkman &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skykalkman/hall-of-very-good)

[britrock88]

A Show with Ze Frank by Ze Frank &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zefrank/a-show-with-ze-frank)

One of the internet's most entertaining corners will be buzzing once again.

[mckerney]

Double Fine Adventure by Double Fine and 2 Player Productions &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure)

Double Fine's adventure game Kickstarter closed at $3.3 million.

[mckerney]

A few video game Kickstarters.

Wasteland 2 (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2?ref=live)
For anyone who didn't see the thread about it. They're currently at $1.4 million.

The Banner Saga (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga)
Turn based combat strategy game with cartoon style animation that is being made by several former Bioware developers. It looks like they're going for episodic content as a $10 backing will get you the first episode. There will also be free multiplayer. It just went live yesterday and they've raised $97,350 for their $100,000 goal.

FTL: Faster Than Light (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/64409699/ftl-faster-than-light?ref=category)
Roguelike-like where you command a spaceship, focused on exploration and ship combat. With 10 days left they've raised $120,000 after a goal of $10,000.

There's also talk of a Kickstarter for Dead State (http://www.deadstate.doublebearproductions.com/) and a possible Baulder's Gate III (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/20/baldurs-gate-iii-were-totally-thinking-kickstarter/). It's great to see developers are starting to be able to get projects started or completed this way and avoid going to a publisher for greater revenue down the road and keeping full ownership of their IPs.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Here's another video game Kickstarter:

Shadowrun Returns by Harebrained Schemes LLC &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns)

It's a turn-based Shadowrun RPG.

It looks cool and they are almost already at their goal of $400,000 in the first couple of days.

This brings the number Kickstarter projects I back to 3: Wasteland 2, The Banner Saga and Shadowrun. Since we all know that video games are "art", I think this makes me an official Patron Of The Arts, so long as that art is a turn-based RPGs of some kind or another.

[DanGarion]

There is a Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter Project!

[mckerney]

https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.harebrained-schemes.com/kickstarter/shadowrunfansrock.png

[Honolulu_Blue]

There is a Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter Project!

I still remember playing a text version of Leisure Suit Larry waaaay back in the day.

[mckerney]

Shadowrun has enough funding for a Mac version, soon to be enough for Linux as well. They should go well over their initial goal so it should be interesting to see how much they can add.

[Matthean]

It's interesting to see how many games are getting Linux versions as were a game done with a publisher mostly comes out for Windows and maybe a Mac.

[mckerney]

There is a Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter Project!

I'm curious what developers we will see turn to Kickstarter to revive an old series or genre next. I had thought of Doug Church of System Shock and Thief fame, but then remembered he is at Valve so he can do what he wants there with the endless resources Valve has.

[Qrusher14242]

There's also a Tex Murphy kickstarter beginning in May...can't wait!

[mckerney]

Double Bear is planning a Kickstarter for their game Dead State that has been in development for a while. I think it is currently a part time project for them with everyone on the team working full time jobs. Would be awesome if they could raise enough to work on the game full time.

[Shkspr]

I'm betting that the Larry Kickstarter is the first high-profile one of the post-DoubleFine era to fail. I think they'll top out at $250 or $300K. The Jane Jensen project is one that I'd love to support, but it's a "subscription", and I'm still not certain what I'd be getting for my donation.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Double Bear is planning a Kickstarter for their game Dead State that has been in development for a while. I think it is currently a part time project for them with everyone on the team working full time jobs. Would be awesome if they could raise enough to work on the game full time.

I have been following the development of "Dead State" for a while now. I think it would be a perfect game for a Kickstarter.

[DanGarion]

I'm betting that the Larry Kickstarter is the first high-profile one of the post-DoubleFine era to fail. I think they'll top out at $250 or $300K. The Jane Jensen project is one that I'd love to support, but it's a "subscription", and I'm still not certain what I'd be getting for my donation.

Yeah I wasn't really sold on the LSL one when I read it.

Make Leisure Suit Larry come again! by Replay Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1451923705/make-leisure-suit-larry-come-again)

It has gained steam since yesterday though and is now up to 180k.

[jeff061]

There's also a Tex Murphy kickstarter beginning in May...can't wait!

Such massively under appreciated games. I have such fantastic memories of The Pandora Directive and Under a Killing Moon. Hell I still play through them on occasion. They hold up incredibly well.

[mckerney]

Isn't the Leisure Suit Larry just a remake rather than a new game? A remake on it's own doesn't excite me that much.

[mckerney]

I'm betting that the Larry Kickstarter is the first high-profile one of the post-DoubleFine era to fail. I think they'll top out at $250 or $300K. The Jane Jensen project is one that I'd love to support, but it's a "subscription", and I'm still not certain what I'd be getting for my donation.

I felt the exact same way looking at the Jane Jensen one.

[Ragone]

I was tempted to start a beer tent kickstarter.. but i'm afraid that kind of large transaction over the internet may cause some unwanted attention...

Anyway, i'm looking forward to the shadowrun game

[mckerney]

I'm betting that the Larry Kickstarter is the first high-profile one of the post-DoubleFine era to fail. I think they'll top out at $250 or $300K. The Jane Jensen project is one that I'd love to support, but it's a "subscription", and I'm still not certain what I'd be getting for my donation.

I'm surprised by it, but the Leisure Suit Larry project was successfully funded.

Still have the same feelings about the Jane Jenson Kickstarter, though they have at least provided details on the GK style game they'd making. And it is great to see that it looks like it has a good chance of being successfully funded having raised pledges of $237k of the $300k with 21 days to go, even though I'm still unsure if it's something I'd want to fund.

[ISiddiqui]

I do love me some Kickstarter. A few of the ones I've recently backed:

Gungor Live CD/DVD by Gungor &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2002246563/gungor-live-cd-dvd)

Hall of Very Good by Sky Kalkman &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/skykalkman/hall-of-very-good)

Rooster Sauce: "It's Cluckin' Awesome!" by John de Mars &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roostersauce/rooster-sauce-its-cluckin-awesome)

Blue Blood Playing Cards by Uusi &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1244376122/blue-blood-playing-cards)

These two are still active (well one for a few hours):

Pure Sodaworks: Taking Our Sodas from Fountain to Bottle by Pure Sodaworks &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/puresodaworks/pure-sodaworks-taking-our-sodas-from-fountain-to-b)

Mystery Pets Art Book by DianaSprinkle &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1048372333/mystery-pets-art-book)

[Telle]

I'm backing the Pirate Farmers (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1403763605/farmer-pirates-compost-program). They're doing urban farming here in Buffalo and need the money to pay for a dump truck to transport compostables to the farm to enrich the soil.

[Fidatelo]

I sort of feel like the Double Fine thing was the beginning of the end for Kickstarter. I have nothing to back this up, but it feels like more and more 'big' projects are getting on Kickstarter, and they are all getting massively overfunded, which is leading to more and more of the same. In all this, I have to believe the truly independent little guys are going to get lost in the shuffle, as there is only so much funding to go around. Which of course was the problem Kickstarter was trying to solve, wasn't it?

[mckerney]

I sort of feel like the Double Fine thing was the beginning of the end for Kickstarter. I have nothing to back this up, but it feels like more and more 'big' projects are getting on Kickstarter, and they are all getting massively overfunded, which is leading to more and more of the same. In all this, I have to believe the truly independent little guys are going to get lost in the shuffle, as there is only so much funding to go around. Which of course was the problem Kickstarter was trying to solve, wasn't it?

I dunno, I don't think that most of the money that has gone to those projects would have been use to back other Kickstarter projects.

[MacroGuru]

I kicked in 15 last night for Shadowrun which ended at 1.8 mill I can't wait for it to be released now.

[PurdueBrad]

I took the plunge on supporting my first Kickstarter project, a zombie role-playing game that is set up to work with multiple systems, including (my favorite) Savage Worlds and Modern Path (the contemporary Pathfinder version). The cool thing is that all we're really covering is the final printing costs as it is ready to go. They made their money but the rewards are really nice and the guy, from talking to him, seems really cool. So if any of you guys are RPG players, consider taking a dive on:

Mortiston, USA-An All-American Zombie-Apocalypse (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ScryingEyeGames/welcome-to-mortiston-usa-an-all-american-zombie-ap?ref=live)

[Senator]

I am supporting this one, though I doubt he will reach his mark.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1604943853/american-ace-arcade?ref=home_location

[Matthean]

This could easily go in the game board thread, but Zombiecide had a goal of $20K and it finished with $781,597. The game is basically made so they are just trying to lower cost.

Zombicide by CoolMiniOrNot &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/coolminiornot/zombicide)

[Danny]

I was surprised that one made so much with so little actual information about gameplay and a lack of any user reviews what so ever. I am confident in my choice to kickstart Ogre instead of Zombicide.

[Matthean]

I was surprised that one made so much with so little actual information about gameplay and a lack of any user reviews what so ever. I am confident in my choice to kickstart Ogre instead of Zombicide.

Yeah I was surprised too. The artwork is stellar though. OK, I just went and watched their minor walkthrough, and I'm still not sure. It seems like the board should be twice the size although the smaller size might make it more exciting/challenging. Not sure I like one person shooting zombies and another player having 6 zombies show up because of it.

[mckerney]

Carmageddon: Reincarnation by Stainless Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stainlessgames/carmageddon-reincarnation)

[Senator]

Heard cool things about Tammany Hall (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/tammany-hall?ref=live) so I backed it.

As well as MoveeGo (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/slepoutre/moveego-film-like-a-pro-on-the-go) to help with my sports video taking.

And then this for my kid, American Ace Arcade (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1604943853/american-ace-arcade?ref=home_location).

I like the idea of supporting unique ideas.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Xenonauts, that "spiritual successor to X-Com" that's been in development for ages has finally launched a Kickstarter to help it get over the hump:

Xenonauts by Goldhawk Interactive — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/69341191/xenonauts)

[mckerney]

I'm surprised at some of the video game projects that are being successful and that some of the projects that have recently started didn't wait a bit so they weren't coming on the heels of some of the larger projects (which also makes me wonder what is in the works that will pop up in a couple months).

I'm also wondering if we'll see Steam start doing Kickstarter/Desura style alpha funding, as it's the sort of thing Gabe Newell had talked about wanting to do in the past. Plus there are Kickstarter projects that will be doing betas on Steam or providing Steam keys to project backers anyway, it seems like a logical next step for Valve to do.

The one roadblock I could see is that Valve doesn't release any sales numbers for Steam and they often have developers signed to a NDA so they cannot either, and the amount raised seems to be something popular with and necessary for a Kickstarter project.

[whomario]

What happens with surplus of money btw ? Just going into the pockets of the companies or even individuals ? :confused:
In an ideal world, wouldn´t the extra money be wired back to the funders ? (If they get double of what they need, everybody gets back 50% of what he paid)

Not really interested in the games aspect much, but there are a ton of interesting ideas floating around. The sort of thing i think is just pretty cool : POSTCARDS FROM NOWHERE by Going Nowhere &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1557211754/postcards-from-nowhere?ref=category)

[Fidatelo]

What happens with surplus of money btw ? Just going into the pockets of the companies or even individuals ? :confused:
In an ideal world, wouldn´t the extra money be wired back to the funders ? (If they get double of what they need, everybody gets back 50% of what he paid)

I'm not sure what happens with the surplus, or if it's even fair to call it that. For example, if you are looking to raise $10,000 so that you can print 1000 copies of some card game you invented, and people donate $10 and in return get a copy of the game, just because 2000 people donate doesn't mean you just got an extra $10,000 of 'free' money, because you have to now print 2000 copies and give those extra 1000 people a copy of your game.

Now, for video games that are digital downloads or something, it's a bit different I imagine, as the costs associated with giving copies to those extra 1000 backers are not nearly the same as for the first 1000 backers. At that point I agree, I'd like to have a clearer picture of what happens with the money, although I'm assuming it just becomes profit in the same way it would if I bought the product commercially at a later time.

[mckerney]

Now, for video games that are digital downloads or something, it's a bit different I imagine, as the costs associated with giving copies to those extra 1000 backers are not nearly the same as for the first 1000 backers. At that point I agree, I'd like to have a clearer picture of what happens with the money, although I'm assuming it just becomes profit in the same way it would if I bought the product commercially at a later time.

In projects that have had excess funding it's typically been spent on things more programmers to add features or port to different platforms, hiring people for music or voice work, licensing tools used in making the game. There's plenty of things for money to be spent on in a making a game other than printing copies, though some of the projects do offer physical rewards to some reward tiers.

A few examples from projects that went way over their goals:

Wasteland 2
-At $1.5 they were able to do Mac and Linux version.
-At $2.1 million they contracted with Obsidian for help writing and software tools for making the game.
-At $2.5 million they hired more designers to create more areas within the game.
-At $3 million they hired programmers to create a mod toolkit to be released with the game.

Banner Saga
-$600k allowed them to hire the composer of the PSN game Journey to create the soundtrack.
-At $650k they were able to put the game on different platforms.
-At $700k they added more content to the game.

Shadowrun
https://s3.amazonaws.com/www.harebrained-schemes.com/kickstarter/funding_graphic.jpg

[gstelmack]

Isn't there also the "pay it forward" thing, where projects agree to kick 5% of their excess forward to other projects?

[mckerney]

Isn't there also the "pay it forward" thing, where projects agree to kick 5% of their excess forward to other projects?

The kick it forward is not excess funding (which I think would be against Kickstarter rules, all funding must be spent on the project). Those who are doing kick it forward are committing to give back 5% of the profits made from the project after release to other Kickstarter projects.

[Fidatelo]

The kick it forward is not excess funding (which I think would be against Kickstarter rules, all funding must be spent on the project). Those who are doing kick it forward are committing to give back 5% of the profits made from the project after release to other Kickstarter projects.

What happens if you get so much funding that you can't even find good ways to spend it all on the project? Do you start just making things stupid-extravagant? "The game board will now be made from only the rarest oak trees hand-cut by indigenous people and glossed to perfection by a 100 day process involving the cured sweat of Tanzanian armadillos."

[mckerney]

What happens if you get so much funding that you can't even find good ways to spend it all on the project? Do you start just making things stupid-extravagant? "The game board will now be made from only the rarest oak trees hand-cut by indigenous people and glossed to perfection by a 100 day process involving the cured sweat of Tanzanian armadillos."

For a board game I would assume that they would spend the money to print as many copies as possible, as that is likely a rather significant expense for a small independent publisher.

[Fidatelo]

For a board game I would assume that they would spend the money to print as many copies as possible, as that is likely a rather significant expense for a small independent publisher.

But then doesn't that mean that every sale of those extra printings is just 100% profit? I don't know, I think Kickstarter gets sketchy once things become overly funded.

[mckerney]

But then doesn't that mean that every sale of those extra printings is just 100% profit? I don't know, I think Kickstarter gets sketchy once things become overly funded.

A project is only going to be that far over funded without rewards to give out is there are people that make huge pledges to the project since there is the cost of fulfillment of the lower tier pledges which for something like a board game on the ones I've seen you typically get a copy for about the same cost as the game would cost you to buy it after release. If people are willing to do that they probably don't have much of a problem with the owner of the project making a big profit on it, so I'm not sure how that is sketchy.

[Fidatelo]

A project is only going to be that far over funded without rewards to give out is there are people that make huge pledges to the project since there is the cost of fulfillment of the lower tier pledges which for something like a board game on the ones I've seen you typically get a copy for about the same cost as the game would cost you to buy it after release. If people are willing to do that they probably don't have much of a problem with the owner of the project making a big profit on it, so I'm not sure how that is sketchy.

I don't have a problem with it at all, in fact I encourage it. I'd love to know that the creator of some item I think is awesome is going to get nice and rich if we overfund the project. I just want to be clear about what's going to happen. Transparency is all I ask for, and I find Kickstarter a bit lacking in that regard.

[ISiddiqui]

I backed American made UNDERWEAR! Woots! ;)

Flint and Tinder: Premium Men's Underwear by Jake Bronstein &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jakehimself/flint-and-tinder-premium-mens-underwear)

[DanGarion]

A project is only going to be that far over funded without rewards to give out is there are people that make huge pledges to the project since there is the cost of fulfillment of the lower tier pledges which for something like a board game on the ones I've seen you typically get a copy for about the same cost as the game would cost you to buy it after release. If people are willing to do that they probably don't have much of a problem with the owner of the project making a big profit on it, so I'm not sure how that is sketchy.

Isn't that ultimately why people are in business, to make money on something? I mean, they love the game and want to share and all that stuff, but eventually at the end of the day they do this because they want to make a profit...

[ISiddiqui]

Exactly. If they make money due to more people than they thought digging their idea, then it's simply being rewarded for a great idea.

[cartman]

This is the first project I've sent some money to. I loved the original version of the game!

Carmageddon: Reincarnation by Stainless Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stainlessgames/carmageddon-reincarnation)

[Matthean]

Heard cool things about Tammany Hall (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/tammany-hall?ref=live) so I backed it.

Also saw this and I bookmarked it. I'm tapped for games right now, but by November it should be an easy pick up.

[GoldenEagle]

So if I wanted to start a KickStarter project, what would be the best way to do it? What kind of incentive could I offer to people donating? If I am thinking of a starting a starting a subscription based game, could I offer future seasons in exchange for funding?

Also, as a brand new project, would I need some sort of prototype before people would donate?

[mckerney]

So if I wanted to start a KickStarter project, what would be the best way to do it? What kind of incentive could I offer to people donating? If I am thinking of a starting a starting a subscription based game, could I offer future seasons in exchange for funding?

Also, as a brand new project, would I need some sort of prototype before people would donate?

If you aren't an established developer you will need to have something done to show that can demonstrate you'll actually be able to make the game you're pitching. Even then it may not be very easy to get support for the project.

[jeff061]

A project is only going to be that far over funded without rewards to give out is there are people that make huge pledges to the project since there is the cost of fulfillment of the lower tier pledges which for something like a board game on the ones I've seen you typically get a copy for about the same cost as the game would cost you to buy it after release. If people are willing to do that they probably don't have much of a problem with the owner of the project making a big profit on it, so I'm not sure how that is sketchy.

That's the thing. People who fund kick starters are essentially investors that are guaranteed a zero percent financial return. At best the product doesn't suck and they can enjoy it.

I just don't see this working long term without some type of financial return on investment. I'm amazed it's been ass successful as it has. Right now there may be some big time investors that don't expect anything in return, but once the hype drys out or a couple duds are delivered it will die. I like the idea of mass micro investments much more.

[Fidatelo]

If you aren't an established developer you will need to have something done to show that can demonstrate you'll actually be able to make the game you're pitching. Even then it may not be very easy to get support for the project.

This is what bugs me about the success of Double Fine and the recent influx of 'big name' projects. Kickstarter is not supposed to be about investing, it's supposed to be about helping indie guys fund projects that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day. I feel like a lot of these newer projects are just companies that see a risk free path to product development.

[mckerney]

This is what bugs me about the success of Double Fine and the recent influx of 'big name' projects. Kickstarter is not supposed to be about investing, it's supposed to be about helping indie guys fund projects that otherwise wouldn't see the light of day. I feel like a lot of these newer projects are just companies that see a risk free path to product development.

I don't see how that doesn't apply to Double Fine or inXile for Wasteland 2. Tim Schafer couldn't find a publisher that would back a point and click adventure game and Brian Fargo had tried pitching Wasteland 2 for years. They're not two guys pounding out code in their garage to make a game but they're both indie developers making projects that wouldn't see the light of day if not for funding through Kickstarter.

And I don't know why this shouldn't be the case. Backing a game on Kickstarter is basically an early preorder that helps fund development. If you're going to do that it should be a developer who you trust to make a good game either on their reputation or they're able to show their on their way to making something good. Anyone who would back a project from someone unknown to them based solely on a concept of a game is a fool.

[Barkeep49]

Found my first project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499648032/fat-kid-rules-the-world-0) to fund. Great book and Lillard, to my surprise, did a great job on the audio so I have some hope in this movie version.

[Matthean]

Found my first project (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1499648032/fat-kid-rules-the-world-0) to fund. Great book and Lillard, to my surprise, did a great job on the audio so I have some hope in this movie version.

Saw a trailer for it a month or so ago. I didn't know they were doing the Kickstarter thing, but it looked decent enough.

[moriarty]

I'm backing Battle of the Bulge (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2102739237/battle-of-the-bulge-the-simulation-game-for-the-ip?ref=activity).

It's an old fashioned boardgame style Wargame made for the Ipad. The best part is for $20 (admittedly high for two iPAD games) you can get games from both designers John Butterfield, and Mark Herman .... two of the most well respected war game designers in the board game community.

[Matthean]

I will say I'm getting partly annoyed with Kickstarter exclusives when it's like an additional expansion pack. A free t-shirt, or game tokens is one thing, but finding out about something soon after it ended and seeing what was made exclusively extra can be frustrating.

[cthomer5000]

I wish someone would make a career-play football simulation focusing on elements of the game I don't find in more traditional games.

They could fund it through kickstarter perhaps.

[path12]

I backed American made UNDERWEAR! Woots! ;)

Flint and Tinder: Premium Men's Underwear by Jake Bronstein &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jakehimself/flint-and-tinder-premium-mens-underwear)

That got me to check out the site for the first time -- just backed it as well, it's tough finding good underwear!

[IlliniCub]

I'm backing Far Sight Studios project, the makers of pinball arcade on various platforms, to secure the money to fund the licensing for the classic Twilight Zone pinball table

[Matthean]

First one to make me actually think of backing.

Zombie Playground (#zpg) - 3D Action, Online Battle RPG by Massive Black Inc &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/massiveblack/zombie-playground-zpg-3d-action-online-battle-rpg)

[twothree]

I have only backed two kickstarter projects, both board games.

Ground Floor
GROUND FLOOR - A business building board game by Michael Mindes &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/michaelmindes/ground-floor-a-business-building-board-game?ref=category)

Agents of Smersh
AGENTS OF SMERSH - A Spy, Storytelling Board Game by JASON MAXWELL &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1545517208/agents-of-smersh-a-spy-storytelling-board-game?ref=category)

Both successfully funded. Ground Floor still has 11 days to go before being funded. And, the final stretch goal is another new board game. Well, the stretch goal is actually a 60 dice game, but it also sound like a fun game.

[Honolulu_Blue]

"Dead State" has finally launched a Kickstarter.

Dead State is a game I've been tracking for a few years now. It's a zombie survival RPG. It's a turn-based game similar to, say, X-Com or Jagged Alliance. You have a character and your "base" is a school. You have to gather allies, get supplies, keep up morale, build up your base, etc.

Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG by DoubleBear Productions &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70755535/dead-state-the-zombie-survival-rpg)

Here's a bit more on it:

Overview

Dead State is a compelling, high-tension RPG set at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. As society is beginning to fall apart, the player must organize allies, fortify a shelter, scout for food and supplies, and make uncertain alliances, attempting to hold together a group as humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. And although the zombies lurk as an ever present threat, the biggest obstacle to the player may just be other humans with the same goal: survival at any cost.

Interact with dozens of characters in over 10,000 lines of branching dialogue that affect gameplay, story outcomes, and multiple endings. Explore multiple surrounding towns and areas to find supplies and recruit allies. Fight the living and the dead in strategic turn-based combat. Upgrade your shelter to provide new ways of keeping morale high, creating new weapons and armor, and keeping the dead out. Your leadership will mean life or undeath for the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

Core Features

-A PC RPG with stats, skills, and perks that make a huge difference on your character’s abilities.

-Dozens of characters with branching, reactive dialogue, and randomized events that unfold over months of in-game time – player decisions and the death of loved ones can change relationships drastically.

-Turn-based combat where line-of-sight and noise affect whether you are spotted or not, making for extremely tense encounters.

-Base-building mechanics featuring multiple upgrades, NPC jobs, and item manufacturing.

-Scavenging mechanics that require players to find supplies, weapons, armor, and other items to keep their allies fed and alive.

-A morale system that factors in player success/failure, allies’ faith in the player, and the overall strength of the shelter.

-Crisis Event dialogues that factor in political maneuvering and making difficult choices that affect your whole shelter.

-Reactive AI that responds realistically to combat situations, player commands, and the state of panic from the presence of zombies.

[mckerney]

<iframe frameborder="0" height="360px" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang/widget/video.html" width="480px"></iframe>

Neal Stephenson is looking to make a sword fighting game called Clang, video mostly worthwhile for video of Gabe Newell making a crowbar saying, "These things, they take time."

[Izulde]

One of my office mates is involved with a project designed to educate people about the Constitution using political cartoons and such. It's a non-profit organization, so I believe your donations are tax-deductible. In any case, I think it's a worthwhile project, given all the political polarization and misinformation on both sides of the aisle these days.

Feel free to take a look and see if you want to chip in:

A More Perfect Union by Jim Earp &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1017911160/a-more-perfect-union)

[Galaxy]

Anyone use other sites like Fundable?

[Blackadar]

"Dead State" has finally launched a Kickstarter.

Dead State is a game I've been tracking for a few years now. It's a zombie survival RPG. It's a turn-based game similar to, say, X-Com or Jagged Alliance. You have a character and your "base" is a school. You have to gather allies, get supplies, keep up morale, build up your base, etc.

Dead State: The Zombie Survival RPG by DoubleBear Productions &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/70755535/dead-state-the-zombie-survival-rpg)

Here's a bit more on it:

Overview


Dead State is a compelling, high-tension RPG set at the beginning of the zombie apocalypse. As society is beginning to fall apart, the player must organize allies, fortify a shelter, scout for food and supplies, and make uncertain alliances, attempting to hold together a group as humanity teeters on the brink of extinction. And although the zombies lurk as an ever present threat, the biggest obstacle to the player may just be other humans with the same goal: survival at any cost.

Interact with dozens of characters in over 10,000 lines of branching dialogue that affect gameplay, story outcomes, and multiple endings. Explore multiple surrounding towns and areas to find supplies and recruit allies. Fight the living and the dead in strategic turn-based combat. Upgrade your shelter to provide new ways of keeping morale high, creating new weapons and armor, and keeping the dead out. Your leadership will mean life or undeath for the survivors of the zombie apocalypse.

Core Features

-A PC RPG with stats, skills, and perks that make a huge difference on your character’s abilities.

-Dozens of characters with branching, reactive dialogue, and randomized events that unfold over months of in-game time – player decisions and the death of loved ones can change relationships drastically.

-Turn-based combat where line-of-sight and noise affect whether you are spotted or not, making for extremely tense encounters.

-Base-building mechanics featuring multiple upgrades, NPC jobs, and item manufacturing.

-Scavenging mechanics that require players to find supplies, weapons, armor, and other items to keep their allies fed and alive.

-A morale system that factors in player success/failure, allies’ faith in the player, and the overall strength of the shelter.

-Crisis Event dialogues that factor in political maneuvering and making difficult choices that affect your whole shelter.

-Reactive AI that responds realistically to combat situations, player commands, and the state of panic from the presence of zombies.

This is the only one I funded. It just sounded too good not to throw $20 at.

[Barkeep49]

I'm sad that it doesn't look like the Defense Grid 2 kickerstarter (my favorite Tower Defense game) is going to make 250k. Sad indeed.

[Matthean]

I'm sad that it doesn't look like the Defense Grid 2 kickerstarter (my favorite Tower Defense game) is going to make 250k. Sad indeed.

A number of projects get funded via a last minute spurt of funding. It would be interesting to see if it flat out failed. It might be one of the first name games to not get funded.

It's a board game, but Flash Point 2nd edition is on KS. Kind of bugs me that a game, which smoked past its first KS project goal by just over 10x is back for a second project and the funding point is $3K. Not surprising to see it's already at $64K with 6 days to go.

[frnk55]

Dead State looks very cool.

[Desnudo]

I was hating on stylus' in the MSFT tablet thread - I've come to see the light. I finally found one that supposedly writes a very fine line so you can take notes on your iPad. Unfortunately I'll have to wait until September at least to get it.

HAND Stylus by Steve King &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/hand/hand-stylus)

HAND Stylus - A finely crafted, pen-like stylus. (http://handstylus.com/)

[DanGarion]

My friend just launched a Kickstarter project for these posters he's designed of historical figures!

Historical Figures Typographic Poster Series by Devin &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1663319124/historical-figures-typographic-poster-series)

<iframe width="480" height="360" src="http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1663319124/historical-figures-typographic-poster-series/widget/video.html" frameborder="0"> </iframe>

[Honolulu_Blue]

I have cooled off on Kickstarter funding of late, after backing several video game projects, but I just came across a new one to back.

Looks very promising:

Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity)

Project Eternity is an isometric, party-based RPG set in a new fantasy world developed by Obsidian Entertainment.

Obsidian Entertainment and our legendary game designers Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, and Josh Sawyer are excited to bring you a new role-playing game for the PC. Project Eternity (working title) pays homage to the great Infinity Engine games of years past: Baldur’s Gate, Icewind Dale, and Planescape: Torment.

Project Eternity aims to recapture the magic, imagination, depth, and nostalgia of classic RPGs that we enjoyed making - and playing. At Obsidian, we have the people responsible for many of those classic games and we want to bring those games back… and that’s why we’re here - we need your help to make it a reality!

[Thomkal]

More on Project Eternity:

Project Eternity: everything we know so far | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2012/10/08/project-eternity-everything-we-know-so-far/)

[Groundhog]

I put $15 down on Timber and Stone:

Timber and Stone by Robert Reed &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1102507263/timber-and-stone)

[Lonnie]

Last 3 hours of Project Eternity funding. They are closing in on 4 million.

Project Eternity by Obsidian Entertainment &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/obsidian/project-eternity)

They are also live streaming from their office.

[mckerney]

They're currently at $3.9 million including PayPal funding.

[Groundhog]

Project Eternity will most likely be awesome, but with an expected released date of 2014 I think i'm just going to grab it at retail.

[Lonnie]

A Kickstarter failure.

Money Troubles: What Happens When Kickstarters Fail? | Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/19/money-troubles-what-happens-when-kickstarters-fail/)

[tarcone]

I backed Lost Valley by Pandasauras Games. It is a reprint of an awesome looking game. It is way over funded and is basically a pre-order with some cool stretch goal additions. Free shipping aw well.

Lost Valley by Pandasaurus Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/lost-valley?ref=live)

[mckerney]

I backed Lost Valley by Pandasauras Games. It is a reprint of an awesome looking game. It is way over funded and is basically a pre-order with some cool stretch goal additions. Free shipping aw well.

Lost Valley by Pandasaurus Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/872179144/lost-valley?ref=live)

They just got word that Tammany Hall, Pandasauras' first Kickstarter, is ready to be shipped to them from the printer and they'll be able to start shipping before long. Looking forward to my copy arriving.

[bhlloy]

A Kickstarter failure.

Money Troubles: What Happens When Kickstarters Fail? | Rock, Paper, Shotgun (http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/10/19/money-troubles-what-happens-when-kickstarters-fail/)

Was just coming here to post that, given the discussion we had in the other thread. Video game projects have a somewhat high failure rate and some people are putting in thousands of dollars. I'll be very interested to see what happens if a higher profile project fails

[tarcone]

They just got word that Tammany Hall, Pandasauras' first Kickstarter, is ready to be shipped to them from the printer and they'll be able to start shipping before long. Looking forward to my copy arriving.

Yep. I won an auction on BGG from a guy who backed Tammany Hall on KS. He was facing some financial uncertainties.
So I am getting this as well. I am very excited for Tammany Hall. It looks like an amazing game.

[samifan24]

Yep. I won an auction on BGG from a guy who backed Tammany Hall on KS. He was facing some financial uncertainties.
So I am getting this as well. I am very excited for Tammany Hall. It looks like an amazing game.

What's BGG?

[mckerney]

Board Game Geek

[DaddyTorgo]

This game looks pretty sweet, no?

Limit Theory: An Infinite, Procedural Space Game by Josh Parnell &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/joshparnell/limit-theory-an-infinite-procedural-space-game?ref=live)

[Groundhog]

Wow, nice find. Longterm commitment, but for just $15 it's worth the risk if he pulls it off half as well as described.

[DaddyTorgo]

Wow, nice find. Longterm commitment, but for just $15 it's worth the risk if he pulls it off half as well as described.

Yeah - that was my thought. From the description it sounds frigging sweet...if he can get it 50-75% of the way to that it'll be phenomenal. I'm not familiar with the procedural-generation thing, but he seems to say that it makes things more possible, because he doesn't have to code say each individual planet, but just the general "planet creation algorithms" i guess? So maybe that makes it more feasible for one person?? I don't know.

I can't take credit for it - it popped up when I was checking Zite earlier in my "gaming" feed from Kickstarter.

Looks like it's on trend to make it - hopefully the guy can deliver.

[Groundhog]

I'm not familiar with the procedural-generation thing, but he seems to say that it makes things more possible, because he doesn't have to code say each individual planet, but just the general "planet creation algorithms" i guess? So maybe that makes it more feasible for one person?? I don't know.


Yeah, pretty much. Much more work initially to create the generation algorithms, but once you've done that, well, the thing writes itself... literally. :D

Definitely the best way to go about a game like this IMO.

I find it pretty interesting that this guy is a graphical artist, because generally speaking with games of this type we are stuck with vector-esque graphics because the person has the coding skill but not the graphical abilities...

[DaddyTorgo]

Yeah, pretty much. Much more work initially to create the generation algorithms, but once you've done that, well, the thing writes itself... literally. :D

Definitely the best way to go about a game like this IMO.

I find it pretty interesting that this guy is a graphical artist, because generally speaking with games of this type we are stuck with vector-esque graphics because the person has the coding skill but not the graphical abilities...

Which seems like it makes it a lot more feasible. Yeah, the graphics look nice. Think maybe this'll be the first kickstarter I contribute to.

[mauchow]

There's some cool stuff out there:

PG Pro Golf by Scott M. Kreager, Prism Gaming &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1753958133/pg-pro-golf-0?ref=home_location)

[Matthean]

Likely not going to make it but still kind of interesting.

Pro Wrestling X – Bringing back classic wrestling gaming! by Wrestling Gamers United &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/prowrestlingx/pro-wrestling-x-bringing-back-classic-wrestling-ga)

[DaddyTorgo]

Likely not going to make it but still kind of interesting.

Pro Wrestling X – Bringing back classic wrestling gaming! by Wrestling Gamers United — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/prowrestlingx/pro-wrestling-x-bringing-back-classic-wrestling-ga)

I always get moments where I read these kickstarters where I'm just like... humbled by the passion of the creators.

[Matthean]

I think if they don't make their goal they will still keep working on it. It's just going to take more time and it might not be as awesome. It might help if they do kind of a Portal/Torchlight thing where they get something out that's used to build for something better down the road.

[Zeniazd]

Because there's some general interest in Kickstarter, I thought some here would be interested in this - it's a keynote address from this year's PAXDev by Hidden Path CEO Jeff Pobst about their experience with their Kickstarter for Defense Grid 2.

Defense Grid 2 Kickstarter Presentation - YouTube (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_X6mX-_8G7M&feature=youtu.be)

(Fair warning - it's 60 minutes)

[Lonnie]

Yay! Got my first reward from one of my funded Kickstarters today.

Battle of the Bulge for IPad (http://www.shenandoah-studio.com/products/botb/)

A real nice wargame on the IPad. I think they did a great job.

[rowech]

Yay! Got my first reward from one of my funded Kickstarters today.

Battle of the Bulge for IPad (http://www.shenandoah-studio.com/products/botb/)

A real nice wargame on the IPad. I think they did a great job.

How is replay value on it? One battle seems expensive at ten bucks.

[Lonnie]

Well I'm just through the tutorial and started my first game, so I won't know about replay value for a while. It does have synchronous multi-player with game center so that will extend the play a bit I suppose. I'm digging the graphics, ui, history bits, and turn style.

This one comes with two scenarios. One quick one and then the full battle. I'm sure if they don't add any other battles then it will still be a good platform to develop additional titles on that may have more substance. It's getting some good response on bgg.

[Fidatelo]

Well I'm just through the tutorial and started my first game, so I won't know about replay value for a while. It does have synchronous multi-player with game center so that will extend the play a bit I suppose. I'm digging the graphics, ui, history bits, and turn style.

This one comes with two scenarios. One quick one and then the full battle. I'm sure if they don't add any other battles then it will still be a good platform to develop additional titles on that may have more substance. It's getting some good response on bgg.

I picked this up yesterday based on the comments on BGG. Last night I did the tutorial and then spent over an hour just reading all the historical information they present in-game. Very, very well done.

Today I intend to actually play :)

[Blackadar]

If you miss having PC Golf Games, then there's a kickstarter that you should fund:

Perfect Parallel PerfectGolf by Perfect Parallel &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/perfectparallel/perfectgolf?ref=live)

It looks amazing.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Another interesting looking PC kickstarter:

ROAM by ROAM &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/roam/roam)

It's a 4 person co-op zombie survival/tower defense mash-up. Looks decent.

[Matthean]

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DFODgcj_EXo" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

[DanGarion]

How about screw Detroit, I'll just save Jessica Martin instead.

[Honolulu_Blue]

How about screw Detroit, I'll just save Jessica Martin instead.

Personally, I would rather just screw Jessica Martin. (If I wasn't married, of course.)

[JetsIn06]

Every time I come to this thread, or go to Kickstarter, I think about this project.

Perdition by Abandon Hope Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandonhopegames/perdition)

$11,000 and more than two years later, there's nothing to show for it. No update on their website. Last comment on the project page was in 2011. Wtf are the people who pledged for this "game (all I see is artwork?)" doing, not flipping the fuck out about not hearing a damn thing?

[JetsIn06]

dola

This project makes me so angry.


$75

An invitation to audition for the voice of a character in the game.

So basically, you pay $75, and in return, you do what is typically paid work for free?

[DanGarion]

Welcome to Hollywood!

Hollywood Mogul 4 - Run Your Own Hollywood Movie Studio by HMdesigner &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/664775277/hollywood-mogul-4-run-your-own-hollywood-movie-stu)

[Matthean]

Every time I come to this thread, or go to Kickstarter, I think about this project.

Perdition by Abandon Hope Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandonhopegames/perdition)

$11,000 and more than two years later, there's nothing to show for it. No update on their website. Last comment on the project page was in 2011. Wtf are the people who pledged for this "game (all I see is artwork?)" doing, not flipping the fuck out about not hearing a damn thing?

The shirt should say "I backed a game on Kickstarter and all I got was this shirt."

[mckerney]

Every time I come to this thread, or go to Kickstarter, I think about this project.

Perdition by Abandon Hope Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/bandonhopegames/perdition)

$11,000 and more than two years later, there's nothing to show for it. No update on their website. Last comment on the project page was in 2011. Wtf are the people who pledged for this "game (all I see is artwork?)" doing, not flipping the fuck out about not hearing a damn thing?

A bunch of people who've never worked on a game before and didn't even have a prototype at the time, that's a great bet.

I'm guessing if you can make a game on a $10,000 campaign you can probably make it just as easily without one. Especially if you're sending physical goods to most backers.

[molson]

Money-wise, I wonder if there's been a bigger failure than this one though, $100,480 for a pro wrestling promotion that never got off the ground (this was discussed in the FOFC wrestling thread, though, only us wrestling nerds would have seen it there.)

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/790983338/wrestling-revolution

[Bonegavel]

<iframe src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/DFODgcj_EXo" allowfullscreen="" frameborder="0" height="315" width="560"></iframe>

Holy Cleft Chin Batman

[Matthean]

STRIPPED: The Final Push by Sequential Films &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sequential/stripped-the-final-push)

And yes, Bill Watterson(Calvin and Hobbes) is involved.

[chadritt]

STRIPPED: The Final Push by Sequential Films &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sequential/stripped-the-final-push)

And yes, Bill Watterson(Calvin and Hobbes) is involved.

That looks really cool, i may donate to that one. Thanks.

[Abe Sargent]

Torment: Tides of Numenera by inXile entertainment &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/torment-tides-of-numenera)




An RPG in he legacy of Planescape: Torment by some fo the same people and by inXile. What more could you want?

[Abe Sargent]

I backed for $20 to get the game.

[Blackadar]

In @ $20...a very easy choice considering that Torment is my all-time favorite RPG. The kickstarter is flying...in the time it took me to watch the video, it went from $160k to $190k in funding. It was over $200k just a couple of minutes later.

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah inXile has a lot of cred right now

[Abe Sargent]

You know, I think Wasteland 2 scared some people a bit - can Fargo do this again, what about timeline, what about extra cash, etc... Bu the game looks good, is right on schedule, and that gives people hope for the next game too.

[Abe Sargent]

If I was not unemployed, I;'d go $75, but I have to budget.

[Thomkal]

PC Gamer just posted about it, so more money will likely be thrown at it now:

Torment: Tides of Numenera goes live on Kickstarter | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/06/torment-tides-of-numenera-goes-live-on-kickstarter/)

[Abe Sargent]

With PC Gamer and the e-mail to the Waseland 2 people who funded it, I would not be surprised if this gets a million and is fully funded today

[Abe Sargent]

We are already over half way there!


EDIT: 500,000 as of 11:40 am EST


EDIT: 650k at 12:43 pm EST about one hour later


EDIT: Just passed 800k at 2:03 pm EST

[Blackadar]

I know the excitement is regarding Torment and for good reason, but I'm going to take this opportunity to point out a couple of other kickstarters.

Jon Shafer's At the Gates
Jon Shafer's At the Gates by Jon Shafer &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jonshafer/jon-shafers-at-the-gates)

It's already funded and has 46 hours to go. Shafer is the guy who did Civ V, went to Stardock and did Fallen Enchantress (which was a vast improvement over Elemental) and now wants to do his own 4X. Looks pretty good. He's hit many of the stretch goals and so I'm not sure there's any reason to fund it now rather than wait until later.

Enemy
Enemy by Tom Johnson &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1209639165/enemy?ref=category)

Again, it's fully funded. Think a roguelike X-Com battle simulator. $10 gets you in.

Civitas
Civitas - Plan, develop, and manage the city of your dreams! by Brandon Smith &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d)

This one raises some red flags for me because there's not even a video. I think they're trying to take advantage of the Simcity release, but they're promising a version of Simcity. If they get some videos up that hold up, it's an interesting gamble - can someone make a good Simcity for just $250k?

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah, I don;t see At the Gates, since it's just 5 off the sales price later (25 vs 30) and I'd rather wait and see reviews for the game if that;'s the case and it's already made its goals. But I'll keep it on my radar for later!

[Abe Sargent]

We might be fully funded in one dya before Judge Judy even comes on! ( watch JJ every day at 3)

[Abe Sargent]

900.000 BABY! KICKED in just a handful of hours

[Abe Sargent]

First update from Fargo:


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. We should have more to say later today.

You are all unbelievably awesome and we could not be happier about receiving your trust in us. For many years we have wanted to get back to making this style of RPG but it appeared that the market was going everywhere but that direction. Almost every article and new game was focused on being an MMO, multi-player or micro-transition based. This wasn’t our style and we couldn’t generate interest in the classical narrative type of RPG that we all grew up making and playing. Thank you for backing our vision once again and we will not let you down. We will continue to communicate and and make sure we solicit input such that the game is hitting all the right notes.

Our goal is to make great RPGs for you all for the rest of our careers.

Thank you,

Brian Fargo and the team at inXile

[Blackadar]

And now they've hit...

https://encrypted-tbn0.gstatic.com/images?q=tbn:ANd9GcQlDBogzadx3a099ZWT7noIPfxgwLA1uP0w1JSLZr6wKxFJXQZLkA

$1 million dollars!

[Lonnie]

Yep they went over 1 million between the time I clicked "back" and finished. I could have been the 1 millionth!

[JAG]

I backed for $20 to get the game.

I did as well, love the idea of a Planescape Torment spiritual successor. I can't believe how quickly it reached its goal.

[Abe Sargent]

What's the over/under on how much they will do today alone?

[Crapshoot]

I know the excitement is regarding Torment and for good reason, but I'm going to take this opportunity to point out a couple of other kickstarters.

Jon Shafer's At the Gates
Jon Shafer's At the Gates by Jon Shafer &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/jonshafer/jon-shafers-at-the-gates)

It's already funded and has 46 hours to go. Shafer is the guy who did Civ V, went to Stardock and did Fallen Enchantress (which was a vast improvement over Elemental) and now wants to do his own 4X. Looks pretty good. He's hit many of the stretch goals and so I'm not sure there's any reason to fund it now rather than wait until later.

Enemy
Enemy by Tom Johnson &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1209639165/enemy?ref=category)

Again, it's fully funded. Think a roguelike X-Com battle simulator. $10 gets you in.

Civitas
Civitas - Plan, develop, and manage the city of your dreams! by Brandon Smith &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d)

This one raises some red flags for me because there's not even a video. I think they're trying to take advantage of the Simcity release, but they're promising a version of Simcity. If they get some videos up that hold up, it's an interesting gamble - can someone make a good Simcity for just $250k?

I'm skeptical of Schafer since I hated Civ V (one game, never played it again), but intruiged by Civitas. Would love to see some names, not just I worked on XXX. The premise is fascinating and I may just back it on principle.

[stevew]

I see that Hollywood mogul barely missed its goal

[Blackadar]

I'm skeptical of Schafer since I hated Civ V (one game, never played it again), but intruiged by Civitas. Would love to see some names, not just I worked on XXX. The premise is fascinating and I may just back it on principle.

I gotta tell you that if you played one game of Civ V, you probably didn't give it a chance. There's no way to evaluate a Civ-type game in one sitting. But to each his own.

I'm prepared to back Civitas if they can show us something.

[Abe Sargent]

I thought Civ V was much better than IV, which was the weakest entry to my mind. So i give his kick some cred

[Thomkal]

Torment: Tides of Numenera hits funding target in six hours, first stretch goals announced | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/07/torment-tides-of-numenera-hits-funding-target-in-six-hours-first-stretch-goals-announced/)

[Honolulu_Blue]

Torment: Tides of Numenera hits funding target in six hours, first stretch goals announced | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/07/torment-tides-of-numenera-hits-funding-target-in-six-hours-first-stretch-goals-announced/)

My streak is alive!

[mckerney]

Really excited for the return of isometric RPGs from kickstarter games over the 2 years.

[Honolulu_Blue]

Really excited for the return of isometric RPGs from kickstarter games over the 2 years.

I am too. Hopefully, these guys will deliver. The quality of these games could go a long way in determining whether this whole Kickstarter process is an actual, viable well to make games or whether it's a fad. I really hope it's the former.

[Crapshoot]

I gotta tell you that if you played one game of Civ V, you probably didn't give it a chance. There's no way to evaluate a Civ-type game in one sitting. But to each his own.

I'm prepared to back Civitas if they can show us something.

Appreciate the perspective - I just have had no desire to play it, the way I did with 2 or 4.

I did back Civitas because I view all of this as an experimental fund - even if things fail, I'm okay with it - I want to encourage the ecosystem. :D

[Crapshoot]

Dola,
and now I backed Torment: Tides of Numenera as well. You guys have to stop showing me cool stuff!

[mckerney]

Torment: Tides of Numenera hits funding target in six hours, first stretch goals announced | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/03/07/torment-tides-of-numenera-hits-funding-target-in-six-hours-first-stretch-goals-announced/)

Hit $2 million in just over two days, if it follows the path of the other big video game projects on Kickstarter it's probably looking at finishing somewhere around $5 or 6 million. It would take $4 million to beat the previous high for a game project on Kickstarter, though even hitting $6 million it would fall short of Star Citizen in terms of total crowd funding which has brought in over $8 million.

[mckerney]

I am too. Hopefully, these guys will deliver. The quality of these games could go a long way in determining whether this whole Kickstarter process is an actual, viable well to make games or whether it's a fad. I really hope it's the former.

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9MiMjQwd2VE" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

First gameplay video of Shadowrun Returns, looks pretty good for the alpha. Promising early videos from Wasteland and Shadowrun are great to see.

[Honolulu_Blue]

<IFRAME height=315 src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/9MiMjQwd2VE" frameBorder=0 width=560 allowfullscreen></IFRAME>

First gameplay video of Shadowrun Returns, looks pretty good for the alpha. Promising early videos from Wasteland and Shadowrun are great to see.

I agree completely. I am pretty excited and optimisitc about most of these games.

I have blown a lot more money on pre-orders or first week purchases of games that I never played or were terrible than I have funding these kickstarters. So, if there is even a 50% hit rate, I consider it a wise investment.

[Blackadar]

I still haven't funded Civitas. I'm not convinced it's not a scam or a pipe dream.

- As of this morning, there was no simple Facebook connection to prove the person's identity. Of course, Facebook doesn't prove anything, but that's damned unusual.

- We haven't seen anyone's team member names. Who's the face of this project? Are there 3 team members, or 12? Who is doing the scripting, the modeling, the music? What have these people done before? There's no real details about the team members. I can't tell if this is 3 high school kids or a professional development team of 15 who have worked on like projects.

- There's no website. They want to wait until AFTER being funded to create one? They're asking for for $250,000. This isn't chump change. I understand that they may need the money to complete the project, but creating a quick website should be child's play for a team that has the capability to build a city simulator.

- There's really no plan about the game itself. Ok, we see a terrain model. And a building model. A decent programmer could create that in a couple of hours. Where's the game? Are they planning on ordinances? Zoning? Do zones grow? What's the transportation model going to be like (probably the single most important thing in a city-builder)?

- What engine are they going to use? City-builders tax systems and there's no mention of even the engine?

- No opening video. They finally put out a video showing some very limited terrain tools, but it was very limited.

- Brand new Kickstarter account. The project leader hasn't even so much as backed another gaming project? Or is he hiding his identity for another reason? That doesn't strike me as kosher.

The whole thing smacks of unprofessionalism. Even the video was a rambling, unscripted mess. There's a real lack of upper tiers that can be purchased. No website. The project leader repeatedly complaining about how "tired" he is and how late he stayed up in the comments area. The obvious slams at Simcity. I'd love to back a city-building game, but this one appears to be very disorganized (at best) or an outright scam (at worst). As such, I'm following this, but they're not getting my money until we get some concrete answers.

[mckerney]

- There's no website. They want to wait until AFTER being funded to create one? They're asking for for $250,000. This isn't chump change. Create a friggin' website.

Except when you're talking about a budget for a city builder it is chump change. Especially when you factor in kickstarter fees and physical goods like t-shirts (around $400k of the Double Fine project funds went to fulfillment of physical goods for backer rewards). If they make their goal I don't see how it's enough to finish a project like they're pitching.

If I back a game I really need to see one of two things, a decent prototype to show they can are able to at least get a start on what they want to make. Nekro, Castle Story and FTL all showed something they looked really promising in their pitch videos that. Short of that If it's just a concept I'm not going to pay any attention to it unless its an established developer who I know can not only ship a game but make one I'll like. Anyone can tell you what awesome game idea they'd like to make, who gives a shit about an awesome sounding pitch? On the other hand if it is Tim Schafer, Chris Avellone, Tim Cain, Brian Mitsoda or Brian Fargo talking about a game they'd like to make I'll definitely listen to what they've got to say.

Civitas doesn't seem to fit either of those requirements so it really doesn't look like something I'd back

[Blackadar]

New Kickstarter...from Lord Brittish. Yep, that's right...Richard Garriott returns with an Ultima-like game called Shroud of the Avatar.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues by Portalarium, Inc. &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0)

Considering that U7 was one of the best games of all time and I cut my teeth on Ultima games, I'm in.

[mckerney]

Probably unlucky timing coming right on the heels of the Torment project, though it should have no problem passing its target

[BYU 14]

New Kickstarter...from Lord Brittish. Yep, that's right...Richard Garriott returns with an Ultima-like game called Shroud of the Avatar.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues by Portalarium, Inc. — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0)

Considering that U7 was one of the best games of all time and I cut my teeth on Ultima games, I'm in.

On hell yeah, Ultima and the original Bards Tale trilogy were the games that started it all for me on that old crappy Apple IIC. In for sure!

[Abe Sargent]

New Kickstarter...from Lord Brittish. Yep, that's right...Richard Garriott returns with an Ultima-like game called Shroud of the Avatar.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues by Portalarium, Inc. &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0)

Considering that U7 was one of the best games of all time and I cut my teeth on Ultima games, I'm in.

I backed the shit out of that thing for $25, thanks for the heads up!

[Abe Sargent]

How long will it take for next big name guy to jump on Kickstarter with a large ambitious project we will love to support?

[Shkspr]

New Kickstarter...from Lord Brittish. Yep, that's right...Richard Garriott returns with an Ultima-like game called Shroud of the Avatar.


Dude gots money to go to space, dude gots money to fund his own game. I'll wait for the retail release.

[Abe Sargent]

Dude gots money to go to space, dude gots money to fund his own game. I'll wait for the retail release.

I think part of it is also testing to see who is interested. Is this a concept that works? Are people excited?

[Matthean]

How long will it take for next big name guy to jump on Kickstarter with a large ambitious project we will love to support?

You mean like Front Office Football? :D

[Blackadar]

Dude gots money to go to space, dude gots money to fund his own game. I'll wait for the retail release.

I figure at the very least the massive success of Torment, Avatar and Eternity will encourage other companies (large and small) to make their own RPG games. And considering that I'd buy it Day 1, I might as well get it cheap now rather than pay full price later.

[Abe Sargent]

You mean like Front Office Football? :D

No, more like Will Wright or Sid Meier or someone.

[Lonnie]

Well... had to back that one also.

[Shkspr]

I figure at the very least the massive success of Torment, Avatar and Eternity will encourage other companies (large and small) to make their own RPG games. And considering that I'd buy it Day 1, I might as well get it cheap now rather than pay full price later.

How's SimCity workin' for you?

[Blackadar]

How's SimCity workin' for you?

I dunno. I didn't order it. Your point?

[Shkspr]

Sorry, I didn't think you were only repeating speculation and hearsay when venting about the release all week long. I misread and thought you had actually played the game. Mea culpa.

Now, one might also think that when faced with the prospect of a persistent online world from a team that has never released a game headed by someone whose last shipped product was a abysmal failure of a persistent online world that died less than eighteen months after release, that the concept of "waiting for reviews before giving money" rather than "I'mma buy Day 1" might guide your impulses. Again, I hadn't considered that you had actually dodged the bullet that struck much of the Internet this week and were simply covering us all in schadenfreude rather than learning the lesson that giving anyone cash up front just because you might as well get a discount on your Day 1 purchase is silly. Again, my apologies.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the game that you have decided to buy now based on concept art that may or may not be released in nineteen months' time. As stated before, I believe Mr. Garriott has ample resources with which to oversee development without my charity, and my poor choices several months ago have led me to believe I shall be more than happy to pay full price for this title upon a well-regarded retail release rather than the discounted price offered in anticipation of the wishes and dreams of nostalgia.

Good luck with your investment.

[mckerney]

Except when you're talking about a budget for a city builder it is chump change. Especially when you factor in kickstarter fees and physical goods like t-shirts (around $400k of the Double Fine project funds went to fulfillment of physical goods for backer rewards). If they make their goal I don't see how it's enough to finish a project like they're pitching.

For a bit more on the amount of money as a budget for a city builder game, 2D fighting game Skullgirls recently put up an indie go go campaign. They went in with a goal of raising $150,000 to add one character to the game. (http://www.giantbomb.com/articles/the-little-fighting-game-that-could/1100-4587/) Their breakdown in costs went like this.

$48,000: Staff Salaries - 8 people for 10 weeks
$30,000: Animation and Clean-up Contracting
$4,000: Voice recording
$2,000: Hit-box Contracting
$5,000: Audio Implementation Contracting
$20,000: QA Testing
$10,000: 1st Party Certification
$10,500: IndieGoGo and Payment Processing Fees
$20,500: Manufacturing and Shipping Physical Rewards

Now, a full city builder for $100k more? No chance.

EDIT: Reddit thread asking if Civitas might be a scam. (http://www.reddit.com/r/Games/comments/19wbpt/is_civitas_a_scam_to_cash_in_on_simcitys_angry/)

[Blackadar]

Sorry, I didn't think you were only repeating speculation and hearsay when venting about the release all week long. I misread and thought you had actually played the game. Mea culpa.

Those don't mean what you think they mean.

Now, one might also think that when faced with the prospect of a persistent online world from a team that has never released a game headed by someone whose last shipped product was a abysmal failure of a persistent online world that died less than eighteen months after release, that the concept of "waiting for reviews before giving money" rather than "I'mma buy Day 1" might guide your impulses. Again, I hadn't considered that you had actually dodged the bullet that struck much of the Internet this week and were simply covering us all in schadenfreude rather than learning the lesson that giving anyone cash up front just because you might as well get a discount on your Day 1 purchase is silly. Again, my apologies.

I sincerely hope you enjoy the game that you have decided to buy now based on concept art that may or may not be released in nineteen months' time. As stated before, I believe Mr. Garriott has ample resources with which to oversee development without my charity, and my poor choices several months ago have led me to believe I shall be more than happy to pay full price for this title upon a well-regarded retail release rather than the discounted price offered in anticipation of the wishes and dreams of nostalgia.

Good luck with your investment.

It's mostly a single player game that allows people to join you. The entirely different infrastructure means the situations aren't comparable. Nice try, though.

The MMOs - whether you consider Tablua Rasa or City of Heroes - aren't relevant. The last RPG coded by Garriott was Ultima 7 and it remains one of the best of all time. The entire series from 1-7 was incredible gaming. So it's worth $25 to me for him to go back to his roots and work on what many of us have wanted him to work on since the mid-90s. A little nostalgia and a couple of dreams aren't necessarily a bad thing.

Enjoy your schadenfreude. I hear it goes well with a side of fava beans.

[mckerney]

I agree completely. I am pretty excited and optimisitc about most of these games.

I have blown a lot more money on pre-orders or first week purchases of games that I never played or were terrible than I have funding these kickstarters. So, if there is even a 50% hit rate, I consider it a wise investment.

The only Kickstarter games I went into with really high hopes for them were Project Eternity and the Double Fine Adventure. When it comes to RPGs the crew at Obsidian are some of the best and it doesn't get better than Tim Schafer when it comes to adventure games. The other games I backed are ones that I'm looking forward to and seem like they have a lot of potential, but didn't go into them as optimistic as I am about these two.

The gameplay videos for Wasteland 2 and Shadowrun have upped my expectations for them a bit, very impressed by both of them. I also love what I have seen of the art for the Double Fine Adventure.

[Desnudo]

New Kickstarter...from Lord Brittish. Yep, that's right...Richard Garriott returns with an Ultima-like game called Shroud of the Avatar.

Shroud of the Avatar: Forsaken Virtues by Portalarium, Inc. &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/portalarium/shroud-of-the-avatar-forsaken-virtues-0)

Considering that U7 was one of the best games of all time and I cut my teeth on Ultima games, I'm in.

4 super nerds have already ponied up 10k for a tour of the castle

[Abe Sargent]

4 super nerds have already ponied up 10k for a tour of the castle

And Akalabeth!

[BYU 14]

Damn, he is going to smash the 1,000,000 mark

[Abe Sargent]

Damn, he is going to smash the 1,000,000 mark

Garriot? Absolutely. You can tell how the parabolas will go with Kickstarter projects. He got more than enough in the first day to guarantee making 1 - his goal

[Abe Sargent]

Average donation / person for Torment - 54.8 dollars

Average donation / person for Avatar - 63.09 dollars


Avatar has roughly 1/4 of the donors the Torment one has, but a much higher average donation level

[Blackadar]

The Civitas story is getting...interesting. :popcorn:

Specifically, this post (http://www.civitasgame.com/forum/index.php?topic=2.msg373#msg373)

In short, the leader of the kickstarter, Brandon Smith, says some of the team don't want to be made public. Ok, I could buy that though I wonder if they're really prepared to quit their jobs and work on this if it does fund. But then he goes a step further and says that he might lose his job at Greyland Studios if they find out what he's doing. Except the domain for Greyland is registered in his name, the kickstarter funds are pulled by Greyland and the two iOS games released by Greyland were by him. So if he IS Greyland studios, then why would he fear losing his job? Seems Mr. Smith got caught in a little white lie...

Is it just coincidence that the intials of the lead guy are BS and the kickstarter itself ends on April Fool's Day? That seems weird. And he's started to make some public mis-steps:

"We are not shaken at all by the doubters that love to donate 1 dollar to discourage us all in our comments section, we know where they are coming from, and we all know how they'll end up looking when the kickstarter is updated and we all move forward making this amazing game together."

Insulting the people who might be interested in funding you is not a great way to get started. Some people have already reduced their pledges back to $1, so it will be interesting to see how he recovers from this. I would love an alternative to Simcity, but as I said before this one hasn't passed the sniff test yet.

[mckerney]

The Kickstarter will be cancelled within a week.

[Matthean]

The Veronica Mars Movie Project by Rob Thomas &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project)

[Shkspr]

The Veronica Mars Movie Project by Rob Thomas &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project)

I hope the killer is a sloth.

[Abe Sargent]

In case we have any Magic the Gathering fans


The Gathering: Reuniting Pioneering Artists of Magic by Full Steam Press, LLC &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1464555500/the-gathering-reuniting-pioneering-artists-of-magi)

[Ryan S]

The Veronica Mars Movie Project by Rob Thomas — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/559914737/the-veronica-mars-movie-project)

The massive success of this Kickstarter could be huge for cult TV shows.

[Matthean]

The massive success of this Kickstarter could be huge for cult TV shows.

I was going to make a comment about calling it a massive success, and while it isn't funded, the amount went up a lot since I posted, so this should end up with really good numbers.

[Matthean]

And doesn't Joss Whedon have to be looking at this and going, "So, Firefly."

[DaddyTorgo]

The massive success of this Kickstarter could be huge for cult TV shows.

Yeah...not even a fan of the show, but this is a cool development.

[Abe Sargent]

Yeah, or J Michael Str is going to pump more time/money in Babylon 5.

[Logan]

Did they say what the actual budget would be for this movie? I know the goal is to raise $2MM but is that going to be the entire budget...production, cast (I saw Kristen Bell and others plan on working cheaply), marketing, etc? If so, there's gotta be some serious potential returns on the back end there.

[stevew]

I know Adam Carolla was talking about funding a smallish movie via Kickstarter soon. Something about older comics that are forced to go back out on the road in their 50s because all of the yearly million dollar TV development deals have dried up. Sounded like a funny premise.

[PackerFanatic]

So pumped about the potential Veronica Mars movie - and what a fantastic way to go about funding it.

[Logan]

I know Adam Carolla was talking about funding a smallish movie via Kickstarter soon. Something about older comics that are forced to go back out on the road in their 50s because all of the yearly million dollar TV development deals have dried up. Sounded like a funny premise.

That rich fuck should fund his own shit.

[BishopMVP]

Did they say what the actual budget would be for this movie? I know the goal is to raise $2MM but is that going to be the entire budget...production, cast (I saw Kristen Bell and others plan on working cheaply), marketing, etc? If so, there's gotta be some serious potential returns on the back end there.They're encouraging people to keep donating past the $2 million, so I think that's just a baseline. They also have "the support of Warner Brothers" on this - that was needed at a minimum for intellectual property reasons, and I don't think that means extra funds for production, but I wouldn't be surprised if WB covered a lot of distribution and marketing once a viable movie is made.

[samifan24]

Yeah...not even a fan of the show, but this is a cool development.

This.

This could quite literally resurrect cult classic movies and TV shows based entirely on fan response.

[Crapshoot]

And doesn't Joss Whedon have to be looking at this and going, "So, Firefly."

Seriously, Veronica Mars (a niche show even amongst the niches) can raise $2M - Think Joss Whedon can't raise $10M for Firefly from nerds? I'm in for a couple of hundred bucks without even thinking about it.

[Blackadar]

The Kickstarter will be cancelled within a week.

It hasn't been yet, but these Civitas jokers are giving everyone a lesson on how not to run a successful kickstarter.

Even with the massive amount of anger/disappointment against the Simcity series, these idiots have managed to stall out their kickstarter at about $100k. They finally pushed out a couple of videos, but they're of poor quality with no professionalism - just a couple of relatively young dolts talking about the game. They've been promising gameplay examples, but haven't delivered in two weeks. Hell, they haven't been able to deliver any concept art! And now Brandon Smith, the leader of the kickstarter, has started talking about putting the game on the Wii-U. Needless to say, a bunch of people have jumped on him because:

1. Porting a game like this to the Wii-U would be virtually impossible for the dollars they want.
2. In order to make it work with something like the Wii-U, you'd have to considerably dumb down the PC version.
3. A PC, Unix, Mac AND Wii U version? Even tier 1 studios don't pull that off very often.

Right now you could shit in a box and get $250,000 in donations if people thought it could replace Simcity. These guys have actually managed to fuck that up. I do so enjoy watching this train wreck develop, though.

[stevew]

Seriously, Veronica Mars (a niche show even amongst the niches) can raise $2M - Think Joss Whedon can't raise $10M for Firefly from nerds? I'm in for a couple of hundred bucks without even thinking about it.

I'd think you'd need like 25m or so in order to make a viable 10 hours of TV. Possibly doable, but everyone would have to take a reduced rate and the stories would need to be somewhat limited.

[PackerFanatic]

Veronica mars project over $2.6 million in less than 24 hours. Crazyness.

[larrymcg421]

The bigger problem for Firefly is getting the cast. Nathan Filion is on Castle. Morena Baccarin is on Homeland. Gina Torres is on Suits. Doing a whole season of Firefly that fits their schedules just isn't practical. And the first movie required a $40million budget. Veronica Mars is a much cheaper product to produce.

[Logan]

The bigger problem for Firefly is getting the cast. Nathan Filion is on Castle. Morena Baccarin is on Homeland. Gina Torres is on Suits. Doing a whole season of Firefly that fits their schedules just isn't practical. And the first movie required a $40million budget. Veronica Mars is a much cheaper product to produce.

Just let the director film a few scenes with her topless and then you can have her.

[Crapshoot]

The bigger problem for Firefly is getting the cast. Nathan Filion is on Castle. Morena Baccarin is on Homeland. Gina Torres is on Suits. Doing a whole season of Firefly that fits their schedules just isn't practical. And the first movie required a $40million budget. Veronica Mars is a much cheaper product to produce.

+ SteveW.

Agreed. I was mostly pipe-dreaming. But I bet Firefly could raise $10M given the audience and nerd dollars involved. And $10M probably pays for one, stripped down cheap season (10 episodes - max).

[Abe Sargent]

Plus Joss is deep in the Avengers stuff now - sequel, SHEILD TV series, etc.

[SirFozzie]

GameSpot (http://www.twitch.tv/gamespot)

Shadowrun returns live demo in 10 minutes

[Blackadar]

GameSpot (http://www.twitch.tv/gamespot)

Shadowrun returns live demo in 10 minutes

I'm already in this one for $15. Turn based tactical combat? DONE!

[SirFozzie]

I'm in for a hell of a lot more.. what can I say, Shadowrun Dog Tags that are a USB card with a copy of the game on it? DONE!

[MacroGuru]

I'm in for a hell of a lot more.. what can I say, Shadowrun Dog Tags that are a USB card with a copy of the game on it? DONE!

I wanted to be, and I wish I could up my backer right now, but I have been in for the $15 and can't wait for this.

[SirFozzie]

You CAN up your backer if you want.

[mckerney]

I'm already in for a t-shirt and Doc Wagon card.

[Blackadar]

I pulled my money from the Avatar project. After looking over the updates, they're a very long way away from completion and I'm not convinced I like the game direction. When it comes out, I very well may pay full price for it. I probably will. But as for now, I'm just not convinced this is the way to go. The engine looks rudimentary, I don't like the idea of the two-tiered world and I need to hear more about the online aspects.

[MacroGuru]

You CAN up your backer if you want.

How do you do this? I have been all over trying to figure it out.

[dubb93]

Shackleton Crater by Joseph Ybarra &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/470015043/shackleton-crater)

Shackleton Crater. I must say I'm interested in the concept even if I'm having a little bit of trouble picturing what the finished product will be about. Could be something that could either be really awesome or a complete turd to play. I'm definitely interested in seeing if it goes anywhere though!

[mckerney]

Shackleton Crater by Joseph Ybarra &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/470015043/shackleton-crater)

Shackleton Crater. I must say I'm interested in the concept even if I'm having a little bit of trouble picturing what the finished product will be about. Could be something that could either be really awesome or a complete turd to play. I'm definitely interested in seeing if it goes anywhere though!

Could be interesting, but with 2% after 4 days it looks like it has no chance of funding.

[Ramzavail]

I wish kickstarter had an app for Android. :/

[Blackadar]

Could be interesting, but with 2% after 4 days it looks like it has no chance of funding.

Well, $700k is an *awful* lot to ask given what's been shown.

[DaddyTorgo]

Inspired by “Veronica Mars” success, Zachary Levi has faith “Chuck” movie can happen - Salon.com (http://www.salon.com/2013/03/15/inspired_by_veronica_mars_success_zachary_levi_has_faith_chuck_movie_can_happen/)

[mckerney]

:)

Only seen a few episodes of Veronica Mars and might have backed the movie if you got a digital copy around the $15 level, would probably back a Chuck movie for at least $35 though.

[SirFozzie]

How do you do this? I have been all over trying to figure it out.

Shadowrun Returns by Harebrained Schemes LLC » Want To Upgrade Your Backer Level? &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1613260297/shadowrun-returns/posts/423146)

[mckerney]

The Kickstarter will be cancelled within a week.

Nailed it.

New direction forward for Civitas. Thank you all! &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d/posts/430635)

Posted by Brandon Smith
Hello Everyone,
I just wanted to let everyone know how much we have all appreciated the support we have received here on kickstarter. The massive support and publicity we received here is more than we could have ever imagined.
This kickstarter has opened doors for us that we never thought could be opened for such a small up-and-coming studio like ours. We just wanted to let everyone know that our studio has been able to secure private funding that will carry us through the development cycle of Civitas. Our teams talent and experience, combined with the support of you guys here on kickstarter made this funding possible. Even though we are on track to fund 100%, we feel like this will be a better option for our studio at this time. We didn't reach this decision lightly, but after a few days of debate between the members of our team, we finally agreed that this would be our best option. This funding will in no way effect the final outcome of our game, except that it will allow us to focus our efforts completely on developing Civitas, better reach out to the community, and grow our team without having to manage the kickstarter and do everything else at the same time. The best part is we will be able to do this without having to use your money to get there. Don't ever let anyone tell you that managing a highly successful kickstarter is easy, it's a full time job.
Our private funding did not cause us to lose any creative control over Civitas, or our studio in general. Civitas will still be released DRM free on all of the platforms we currently plan to support. We thank you all because we would not have been able to do any of this without you guys.
We will be relaunching our website tomorrow with updated information about Civitas, new improved forums, and ways for a limited number of people to participate in the beta program. We will also still have ways for people to get the same Civitas gear and everything else we had offered on our kickstarter. We don't want to leave anyone out on anything like that. Please check us out, share ideas in the forums, and follow our progress. We look forward to a bright future with all of you involved.
Look around kickstarter, there are some other great projects to shift your funding over to!

I for one totally believe publishers were lining up with their 4 screenshots and secret team of industry veterans.

[mckerney]

And about that, "on track for funding," they mentioned.

Here are their trending charts after they lost $400 from the pledge total on the 17th.

http://i.imgur.com/qc9soNk.png

http://i.imgur.com/UbPIsMl.png

[Blackadar]

Nailed it.

New direction forward for Civitas. Thank you all! &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1584821767/civitas-plan-develop-and-manage-the-city-of-your-d/posts/430635)

I for one totally believe publishers were lining up with their 4 screenshots and secret team of industry veterans.

Good call! I'm obviously not surprised. And I don't believe that any private publishers lined up to fund this game. Yesterday there were quite a few posts on the Civitas forums that pointed out misstatements by Brandon Smith and some of his real experience. Some of the information presented was in direct contradiction to some of his claims. That the kickstarter was pulled with 12 hours of this information being posted is very telling.

[mckerney]

Over $100 Million Pledged to Games » The Kickstarter Blog &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/over-100-million-pledged-to-games)

<iframe width="560" height="315" src="http://www.youtube.com/embed/vy7C472smsk" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe>

Games Category Stats
Total Dollars: $107.6 Million
Successful projects: 1,476
Total Backers: 633,242

In the past four years, more than 633,242 backers have pledged to more than 4,500 Games projects, nearly 1,000 of them in the past year alone. After the launch of Double Fine Adventure in February 2012, things really took off:

Dollars Pledged to Games
2009: $60,601
2010: $546,362
2011: $3,855,692
2012: $83,144,565
2013: $22,423,264 (to date)

[Passacaglia]

If any of you remember Thul who used to post here back in the day (though he posted a lot more in the HFL forums than here), he's created a kickstarter page for a card game he's developing called Dragon Clash. I know card games are a kind of controversial subject around here these days, but if anyone is interested, check it out!

Dragon Clash by Marc Aranha &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marcaranha/dragon-clash)

[Matthean]

If any of you remember Thul who used to post here back in the day (though he posted a lot more in the HFL forums than here), he's created a kickstarter page for a card game he's developing called Dragon Clash. I know card games are a kind of controversial subject around here these days, but if anyone is interested, check it out!

Dragon Clash by Marc Aranha &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/marcaranha/dragon-clash)

He's got to get that reviewed by Tom Vasel, Joel(eekamouse), or Lance(UndeadViking). I'm subbed to the Left Handed Review guy, but he is a lesser know reviewer. Same with Father Geek. Also, unless I'm missing something, the KS is only for the one deck and not for any of the previous ones which is going to hurt it.

[Thul]

Also, unless I'm missing something, the KS is only for the one deck and not for any of the previous ones which is going to hurt it.

Thanks for the plug, Passacaglia and hi all - it's been a long time since my HFL days! Fond memories :) Great to see that league still clicking along.

@Matthean - Yes, the Kickstarter is focused on the goal of expanding the game with new decks and dragons. I think it's important to have one clear mission when asking for funding. If I was to do print runs of all 5 decks (the 4 previously released and the new Red Mauler), the funding goal would have to be MUCH higher than the $5,000 I'm asking for.

That said, I do have plans to offer within the scope of the Kickstarter (and perhaps enhance them), if we exceed funding and, whether the KS funds or not, the core 4 decks will be available again at the end of the KS for anyone to grab.

Thanks for the feedback.

[JAG]

And another interesting looking game I went ahead and backed:

Divinity: Original Sin by Larian Studios LLC &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/larianstudios/divinity-original-sin)

It looks like they already have the base game created and just want to add more stuff to it. It sounds pretty impressive. Their timing doesn't appear to be great with Torment still having a week to go and the Ultima project still ongoing I believe though.

[terpkristin]

Played this at PAX East and immediately backed 'em. I recommend y'all do the same, especially if you liked the old NES Zelda II or Castlevania games. :) Shovel Knight by Yacht Club Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/yachtclubgames/shovel-knight)

/tk

[Blackadar]

Weird update on Civitas. Supposedly, they got some private backing and pulled out. As I mentioned before, I'm skeptical of that. I can't imagine anyone giving those jokers money. But the longer this goes on the more legitimate it appears. Their website is up and running and the forums are active. Supposedly they're predicting a beta in the relatively near future, which is a head-scratcher to me because they showed nothing during the kickstarter.

It's all a bit weird. I just can't see how these guys are going to pull this off period, never mind the time frames they're talking about. If they were that close, you'd think they'd have showed something during the kickstarter. But if this is all a joke or a scam, they're putting a lot of effort into it for an indeterminant benefit at this stage.

[Abe Sargent]

Weird update on Civitas. Supposedly, they got some private backing and pulled out. As I mentioned before, I'm skeptical of that. I can't imagine anyone giving those jokers money. But the longer this goes on the more legitimate it appears. Their website is up and running and the forums are active. Supposedly they're predicting a beta in the relatively near future, which is a head-scratcher to me because they showed nothing during the kickstarter.

It's all a bit weird. I just can't see how these guys are going to pull this off period, never mind the time frames they're talking about. If they were that close, you'd think they'd have showed something during the kickstarter. But if this is all a joke or a scam, they're putting a lot of effort into it for an indeterminant benefit at this stage.




I don't think joke or scam, just well intentioned incompetants.

[Coffee Warlord]

Marc Jacobs, of Dark Age of Camelot fame, and of Warhammer Online Infamy, is attempting to make a quasi successor to Camelot (though he denies it's a sequel, it certainly sounds a lot like it). Some interesting concepts he's got going.

Camelot Unchained (http://camelotunchained.com/en/)

Kickstarter opens today.

[Matthean]

Marc Jacobs, of Dark Age of Camelot fame, and of Warhammer Online Infamy, is attempting to make a quasi successor to Camelot (though he denies it's a sequel, it certainly sounds a lot like it). Some interesting concepts he's got going.

Camelot Unchained (http://camelotunchained.com/en/)

Kickstarter opens today.

It might help if Camelot wasn't in the name.

[Coffee Warlord]

Heh. It's also a very similar principle. Just more singly focused on RvR, which I'm totally cool with.

[Coffee Warlord]

Jesus. 100k pledged in 1 minute.

[Thomkal]

More Torment news:

Torment: Tides of Numenera secures Chris Avellone, releases second screenshot | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/04/04/torment-tides-of-numenera-secures-chris-avellone-releases-second-screenshot/)

[mckerney]

More Torment news:

Torment: Tides of Numenera secures Chris Avellone, releases second screenshot | News | PC Gamer (http://www.pcgamer.com/2013/04/04/torment-tides-of-numenera-secures-chris-avellone-releases-second-screenshot/)

It's now over $3.7 million with about 30 hours to go. Should easily pass the $4 million mark for another major city.

[mckerney]

Hit $2 million in just over two days, if it follows the path of the other big video game projects on Kickstarter it's probably looking at finishing somewhere around $5 or 6 million. It would take $4 million to beat the previous high for a game project on Kickstarter, though even hitting $6 million it would fall short of Star Citizen in terms of total crowd funding which has brought in over $8 million.

Looks like it's not going to hit this early projection, not following quite the same path as others. After the massive first two days it's not seeing a similar surge over the final two games that other big projects has. Still at $3.97 million so should easily pass $4 million, would be great if it could get another half million in the last 8 hours to hit the final stretch goals.

[Abe Sargent]

Meh - not interested in RvR MMOPRG

[mckerney]

Torment at $4.27 million with an hour to go.

[Blackadar]

Some updates:

Torment finished at $4.188m on Kickstarter, making it the most successful kickstarter game of all time. Add in $127k from Paypal and they're over $4.3m. They ran a fantastic kickstarter campaign...enough that I've been replaying Torment this weekend. Their stretch goals were compelling, the screenshots beautiful, the constant updates interesting, some of the add-ons were useful - just the perfect template for running a successful kickstarter campaign.

Avatar finished at $1.91m, but there must have been some good Paypal funds because they announced they hit their $2m stretch goal. I pulled my funds from this some time ago and never re-pledged. This wasn't run nearly as well - what they showed wasn't compelling, the message on the game focus was mixed (single player? co-op? MMO? What is it?), the stretch goals seemed like core gameplay systems and Lord Brittish spouting off about fellow game developers didn't help. They got 200% of what they asked for, but I have to think they left a cool million on the table.

A new one has come up: Divinity Original Sin. From the makers of Divine Divinity, this game is very close to complete - the release date is the end of this year. They just want extra funds to make it bigger and better, so they're asking for $400k. They have 18 days to go and they're already at $376k. I'm likely going to fund this one because the game looks pretty damn good.

[Groundhog]

Played around with the beta for Timber and Stone, which I pledged on a little while ago. Lots of potential this one. Sorta like what you'd get if you mixed minecraft with dwarf fortress (minus the insane learning curve and terrible UI). Still getting a feel for how everything works, but I can picture this being a real time sink.

[pbot]

Played around with the beta for Timber and Stone, which I pledged on a little while ago. Lots of potential this one. Sorta like what you'd get if you mixed minecraft with dwarf fortress (minus the insane learning curve and terrible UI). Still getting a feel for how everything works, but I can picture this being a real time sink.

Never heard of it prior to your post. Spent far too many hours this weekend figuring things out. Fun game, with lots of potential as you noted.

[Groundhog]

Never heard of it prior to your post. Spent far too many hours this weekend figuring things out. Fun game, with lots of potential as you noted.

Yeah, their is a fair bit to get a handle on early, mostly that there are a couple of things that can end your game early outside of dying as I've painfully discovered a few times. Running out of stone hammers and pickaxes is a biggie.

I'm currently on Day 9 in my first decent run, and right now I've got a settlement that backs onto a river, with a moat circling the perimeter and a large wall with towers running along it. Everyone inside is safe as there aren't any AI siege weapons in the beta yet, but the outside world is INFESTED with goblins. I have no foragers or lumberjacks as it's suicide to venture beyond my walls. My food supplies are fine with the fishing and farming I have, but I'm eating into my wood supplies. Lack of feathers will become a problem once my arrow stocks run out. I have 14 settlers, and have lost 5 total.

Once we start seeing the AI build settlements and attack with siege weapons... yikes. This is going to be a fantastic little game IMO.

[mckerney]

After reading some stuff that sounded good and seeing a gameplay video I decided to back Divinity: Original Sin.

Probably going to be busy playing RPGs in the next few years.

[Honolulu_Blue]

A new Kickstarter project for a new "Jagged Alliance" game. I imagine there are quite a few fans of the old, classic turn-based strategy series.

Jagged Alliance: Flashback by Full Control &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2079547763/jagged-alliance-flashback)

[BYU 14]

A new Kickstarter project for a new "Jagged Alliance" game. I imagine there are quite a few fans of the old, classic turn-based strategy series.

Jagged Alliance: Flashback by Full Control — Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2079547763/jagged-alliance-flashback)

Love JA and so glad they are getting back to turn based. JA-Back in action was impossible to play for me and I didn't even bother with it after trying the demo. I don't mind pitching in for this at all.

[AnalBumCover]

MyTemple: The Fitness Training Game by Fun for Life Games &mdash; Kickstarter (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1614006502/mytemple-the-fitness-training-game)

[Vince, Pt. II]

Delve: A Sci-Fi Fantasy Short Film (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1281099045/delve-a-sci-fi-fantasy-short-film)

A good friend of mine is running a kickstarter to help fund the short film he is working on. It will be his second short film, and I thought the first was pretty well done. Check it out, pledge if you can!

[Abe Sargent]

JA is backed

[Abe Sargent]

JA now has nine updates and is looking very nice - but they are far from their target.

[Abe Sargent]

Can JA make it in the last two days?


http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2079547763/jagged-alliance-flashback