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[hawk2025]

Haha exactly. Completely ridiculous. I wish more people would call out the devs on this BS.

I thought people were going to stop donating after the cheat codes goal, though?

Or are you shifting from "I know what the fans want" towards "I know better than everyone else"?

 

[Usobuko]

$1.5m already?

This is tracking really fast, I think it might just ended up as the most funded KS game.

 

[Maneauleau]

They're just the development team. They wokred on MN9. Inafune is the founder of Comcept, he doesn't work for Inti.

I still don't have high hopes for this on the artstyle front. MN9 looks extremely bland.

yeah that's also the problem that I was hinting at here. There are chances that the game will look just as bad as MN9. Honestly the concept art doesn't blow me away already :/

 

[loganclaws]

Well there is no way to really prove it one way or the other. Honestly with stretch goals I just like seeing new things to be passed since I always have backed things before they are even met. What they are and if they were already planed as parts of the game doesn't really effect me personally.

Absolutely right, the point is that the people behind these campaigns SHOULD try tp prove the added value by being completely transparent considering people are handing over their hard earned cash to them. They are doing themselves and Kickstarter a major disservice by not informing the backers and being more transparent with these dumb stretch goals. The truth is they're just winging it and haven't really thought this through at all.

 

[dragonzdogma]

could someone explain to me why Boss rush is popular?

 

[georly]

Oops. Guys, I think they might also be counting Paypal backers. Thanks for the reminders. My bad.

Don't apologize you were right

https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/598196086461702144

(Also the backer achievement is supposed to be for 20K backers, not 25K. Sorry about that! Good catch everyone.)

 

[PfantzyPantz]

I sure hope it's easy to mod on PC, imagine being able to play as Shanoa and Alucard *_*

 

[JackelZXA]

Too bad they made some shitty games instead.

Too bad they made some shitty AAA games that brought Alucard back and ruined the legacy of the franchise. (Fuck you, Lords of Shadow 2, and fuck you Mirror of Fate while we're at it.)

 

[Robert at Zeboyd Games]

I don't think everyone does that. See Pillars, or for an even more extreme example Divinity: OS. Larian almost killed themselves trying to deliver all those stretch goals (then again they've always been ambitious to a dangerous degree).

No, not everybody does that. However, stretch goals like Pillars & Divinity had is a great way to overextend yourself and run into serious trouble later when trying to deliver. Stretch goals like "We'll throw in some cheat codes" is an easy way to keep the money coming while not losing control of the game's scope.

 

[QFNS]

could someone explain to me why Boss rush is popular?

The bosses are usually the most interesting fights in a Castlevania game. Doing all the bosses in a row (or in a set time, or whatever) is a fun challenge.

Does that not appeal to you? That's fine don't make use of it.

 

[Istaerion]

My biggest complaint so far with the campaign besides the incredibly slow updates is them obviously nit-picking now due to the surge of attention it has gotten compared to what they initially expected.

Those backstarter achievements are so clearly inflated now compared to what they should have been due to backlogged updates. Next we have every single stretch goal update always conveniently needing more funding then the project currently has despite hours and hours of no updates all the while having massive funding occuring between them. That's not even considering the fact that some of those goals are so absurd and half-assed compared to previous implementations and the cost it's asking.

You're telling me cheat codes are more complicated and expensive then a second playable character? Extra bosses and/or enemies in a project where we don't even know the exact number they're shooting for in the first place?

It's garbage and a very poor way to motivate people let alone keep up the momentum long-term.

 

[dragonzdogma]

The bosses are usually the most interesting fights in a Castlevania game. Doing all the bosses in a row (or in a set time, or whatever) is a fun challenge.

Does that not appeal to you? That's fine don't make use of it.

I guess not,
unless it unlocks a cool weapon or something

 

[loganclaws]

I thought people were going to stop donating after the cheat codes goal, though?

Or are you shifting from "I know what the fans want" towards "I know better than everyone else"?

I never said people will stop donating since I don't speak for the people. I did say that I, as a potential backer who wants to see a quality Castlevania product, am completely turned off by how this Kickstarter is being managed and by these ridiculous stretch goals that just seem lazy and scummy. They are requesting huge amounts for features that are either arbitrary or miniscule. WTF is Speed run mode? Adding a clock? Sure seems like it, if not, the people running this show sure haven't explained any better.

 

[vcc]

I do have to say this KS has the weakest stretch goal descriptions I've ever seen. To paraphrase Saint's Row 4, "That's not a goal, that's a buzzword!"

So the work doesn't grow linearly with the financing. After all, there should always be some padding in project budgets for rework and unforseen costs? A lot of KS over reach and then get in trouble about overpromising? It might not be very ambitious but it leaves more room for little hard to pitch things like all the interactive things in SotN that did nothing.

 

[Sword Familiar]

(Also the backer achievement is supposed to be for 20K backers, not 25K. Sorry about that! Good catch everyone.)

https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/598196086461702144

Edit: Oh, someone already posted it. nvm then.

 

[JackelZXA]

My biggest complaint so far with the campaign besides the incredibly slow updates is them obviously nit-picking now due to the surge of attention it has gotten compared to what they initially expected.

Those backstarter achievements are so clearly inflated now compared to what they should have been due to backlogged updates. Next we have every single stretch goal update always conveniently needing more funding then the project currently has despite hours and hours of no updates all the while having massive funding occuring between them. That's not even considering the fact that some of those goals are so absurd and half-assed compared to previous implementations and the cost it's asking.

You're telling me cheat codes are more complicated and expensive then a second playable character? Extra bosses and/or enemies in a project where we don't even know the exact number they're shooting for in the first place?

It's garbage and a very poor way to motivate people let alone keep up the momentum long-term.

Don't think about it too hard. It actually doesn't matter that much.

 

[Crocodile]

They claim they have 100 pieces of fanart. Where are they, I want to see them (I only see a few on their tumblr).

I do have to say this KS has the weakest stretch goal descriptions I've ever seen. To paraphrase Saint's Row 4, "That's not a goal, that's a buzzword!"

I can agree

• Who is the second playable character? Johannes? Gebel? Or someone we haven't been introduced to yet? Aslo is this a Portrait of Ruin style set up or is it a seperate "Julius Mode" that either takes place before, concurrently or after Miriam Mode?
• What exactly does Nightmare Difficulty entail? I mean I can guess but I'd like details.
• They talked a bit about the "cheat codes" on stream but they need a clear write-up of what exactly they mean
• Local Co-Op was funded but Co-Op was mentioned in the pitch video (which can only assume they'll get the bare minimum to be funded). Was the Co-Op mentioned there only online Co-Op?
• A New Boss is sweet but is hard to quantify without a Boss count (which there is no way they've decided upon yet)

The nature of stretch goals is always kind of nebulous and one must keep in mind that the "cost" for a goal doesn't necessarily correlated with how much money it would take them to fund it - alot of it is just to encourage more pledges. Still, I'd like more detail on what we have now and in the future.

I sure hope it's easy to mod on PC, imagine being able to play as Shanoa and Alucard *_*

Meh. If you want to play as those characters go replay their games. They still hold up (though I'm sure you know this). While I feel one can expect a fair number of homages to Casltevania and some expys, I'd rather focus on playing with/against new characters. Dracula should still be up in this though since Dracula transcends Casltevania.

 

[graywords]

Don't apologize you were right

https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/598196086461702144

I saw that, hah. But those folks were still generally right. Without PayPal, they are still under 20k backers at this time, so they do seem to be taking that into account.

 

[Vire]

New Boss? Are they serious?

First off, we don't even know how many bosses are in the game to begin with... man these stretch goals are so half assed.

 

[dragonzdogma]

My biggest complaint so far with the campaign besides the incredibly slow updates is them obviously nit-picking now due to the surge of attention it has gotten compared to what they initially expected.

Those backstarter achievements are so clearly inflated now compared to what they should have been due to backlogged updates. Next we have every single stretch goal update always conveniently needing more funding then the project currently has despite hours and hours of no updates all the while having massive funding occuring between them. That's not even considering the fact that some of those goals are so absurd and half-assed compared to previous implementations and the cost it's asking.

You're telling me cheat codes are more complicated and expensive then a second playable character? Extra bosses and/or enemies in a project where we don't even know the exact number they're shooting for in the first place?

It's garbage and a very poor way to motivate people let alone keep up the momentum long-term.

So would you say that a game like castlevania SOTN had a budget of less than 500,000? and somehow they didn't expect people to surpass this amount in such a short time?

 

[Xater]

$1.5m already?

This is tracking really fast, I think it might just ended up as the most funded KS game.

It's still a long way to get there.

 

[JackelZXA]

I sure hope it's easy to mod on PC, imagine being able to play as Shanoa and Alucard *_*

Considering it will be 3D we'll probably get mods like "Play as Chun-Li or Goku"

 

[jett]

Or maybe other people just aren't as cynical as you are. /shrug

Naw, this KS is just half-assed with a minimal amount of information about the game. It's exaclty why ONE NEW BOSS means absolutely nothing.

 

[Sword Familiar]

Considering it will be 3D we'll probably get mods like "Play as Chun-Li or Goku"

Nude mod, obviously *sigh*

 

[loganclaws]

My biggest complaint so far with the campaign besides the incredibly slow updates is them obviously nit-picking now due to the surge of attention it has gotten compared to what they initially expected.

Those backstarter achievements are so clearly inflated now compared to what they should have been due to backlogged updates. Next we have every single stretch goal update always conveniently needing more funding then the project currently has despite hours and hours of no updates all the while having massive funding occuring between them. That's not even considering the fact that some of those goals are so absurd and half-assed compared to previous implementations and the cost it's asking.

You're telling me cheat codes are more complicated and expensive then a second playable character? Extra bosses and/or enemies in a project where we don't even know the exact number they're shooting for in the first place?

It's garbage and a very poor way to motivate people let alone keep up the momentum long-term.

Finally people are making sense. They should be communicating with the backers on the main page, adding some tangible stretch goals with more detail, but they can't do that, just as they said on the stream, they have nothing even prototyped yet so everything is just arbitrary at this point. This is why you don't start Kickstarter before you have something to show for it. In any case the project was funded so here is hoping the development at least goes smoothly and we get a quality Castlevania game.

 

[JackelZXA]

Nude mod, obviously *sigh*

Play as Nude Raiden.

 

[dragonzdogma]

So is this game going to be like that new stryder ?

 

[Istaerion]

So would you say that a game like castlevania SOTN had a budget of less than 500,000? and somehow they didn't expect people to surpass this amount in such a short time?

I'm not comparing this to other games. As for the second comment, they themselves stated they never expected this sort of activity hence all the delays and what-have-you.

Considering that information, the stretch goals and backer achievements start making less and less sense as initially planned amounts rather than updated to account for the current activity and unexpected support.

Nothing wrong with that per say, but definitely not something I'd like to support before a finished product. As I can see so far, I'm not the only one.

 

[georly]

They clarified the retweet achievement being for this particular tweet: https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/597809779285757952

 

[theSlacker]

Don't apologize you were right

https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/598196086461702144

Now someone tweet to them how crazy the next step up on some of those goals are. >:C

 

[sixteen-bit]

So is this game going to be like that new stryder ?

Stryder?

 

[Instro]

Hopefully the next update gives a nice explanation of the stretch goals.

 

[Gbraga]

Stryder?

hahahaha wtf is this

 

[test_account]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

 

[Bonfires Down]

Those are some boring stretch goals. Where is online co-op?

 

[theSlacker]

Meh. If you want to play as those characters go replay their games. They still hold up (though I'm sure you know this). While I feel one can expect a fair number of homages to Casltevania and some expys, I'd rather focus on playing with/against new characters. Dracula should still be up in this though since Dracula transcends Casltevania.

I've never really understood that sentiment. How people always want to play as some older character from something else in every game. Goes double for games with custom characters, how everyone wants to make it look like a character from some other game/series instead of wanting the game they are playing to make it's own icons.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

Stretch goal amounts aren't related to how much money is actually necessary to implement any given feature.

 

[Gaogaogao]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

no, that's not what it means

 

[Evilmaus]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

No, and it's quite a common misconception.

Stretch goals are just incentives so that people keep backing the project. The amount it takes to reach one does not necessarily correlate to the amount needed to actually implement whatever the reward is.

 

[Xater]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

There is no correlation between money amount and stretch goal. Stretch goals are just there so the train keeps on rolling despite the game being already funded.

 

[Smellycat]

Lol boss rush mode. That is pretty much a given

 

[cireza]

That's why I don't like Kickstarter. They always feel forced to put a lot of stupid stretch goals or rewards.

Why don't they put only 3 or 4 goals ? And not stupid rewards like having your photo inside the game. Who gives a shit seriously ?

500k : we make the game
1m : co-op, online functions
1m5 : more platforms
2m : WASOME GRAPHICS

 

[theSlacker]

Those are some boring stretch goals. Where is online co-op?

Hopefully in the trash, where all multiplayer belongs. :3

 

[mattp]

Depends.

If I remember right, SotN was actually made using 3D polygons, then flattened, because the PS1's architecture made that easier. I could be remembering something else though.

this isn't true
everything is hand made sprites, its just that they're stuck on invisible polygons for moving around the maps

 

[theSlacker]

They clarified the retweet achievement being for this particular tweet: https://twitter.com/SwordOrWhip/status/597809779285757952

People get to re tweeting. It's over the first goal threshold now. Want to get them 4 achievements to see what the last castle stretch goals are.

 

[PfantzyPantz]

Meh. If you want to play as those characters go replay their games. They still hold up (though I'm sure you know this). While I feel one can expect a fair number of homages to Casltevania and some expys, I'd rather focus on playing with/against new characters. Dracula should still be up in this though since Dracula transcends Casltevania.

They do indeed, but the joy of modding being the options and freedom. Of course I'd do the first playthroughs with the actual characters, but it'd be awesome to be able to mod in other character models.
I also really don't like the new character designs, so that's a part of it.

And I definitely hope Drac comes back, since they can do so many things with him.

 

[Istaerion]

Can someone explain how the strech goals works? I mean, it takes $500k to make the entire game, but then it takes $250k to add a speedrun mode?

They had 90% of the funding attained before the Kickstarter campaign; the 500k is basically them covering the physical release and extra bonuses all the while showing their investor that the title does indeed have an audience.

As for all the extra money they've gained, some stretch goals were understandable and even cheap compared to other KS projects I've seen... but then you have cheat codes somehow being more expensive than a second playable character or a whole entire difficulty mode. It's horribly scaled and a clear sign that they're padding the goals now to make up for the unexpected funding instead of introducing goals people actually would expect or want for their additional funding.

I can understand they can't blow their load this early, but at least show something with a crazy amount worth working toward rather than extra enemies, bosses, items, or whatever in a game where we don't know shit in regards to the final number in said fields.

EDIT: And no, I'm not saying the amounts attached to these stretch goals mean cheat codes would actually cost 250k let alone 1mil, however, it's a poor incentive to motivate people to keep funding long-term. So far, the additional goals beyond the initial reveal have been quite boring outside boss rush mode.

 

[georly]

That's why I don't like Kickstarter. They always feel forced to put a lot of stupid stretch goals or rewards.

Why don't they put only 3 or 4 goals ? And not stupid rewards like having your photo inside the game. Who gives a shit seriously ?

500k : we make the game
1m : co-op, online functions
1m5 : more platforms
2m : WASOME GRAPHICS

I'd rather stretch goals be things that are (nearly) infinitely scalable with money. Stuff like number of enemies, items, weapons.

A room that would have had 3 of the same type of enemy could potentially have 3 different enemies with more time and money. An enemy that might have dropped a potion might now drop a sword. That kind of thing. Things that enrich the content of the game.

Stuff like 'better graphics' or online support are too abstract and can go way over budget if things don't work out. Getting a designer, artist, and programmer together to churn out an extra enemy won't have the same potential hurdles as other more abstract goals and also don't affect the game's length, story, etc as much as other things might.

Time trials and boss rush mode fall within this category, too, I think.

 

[Gaogaogao]

the achievements and stretch goals do seem poorly planned, but this is all gravy. we are more likely to reach the stretch goals before they are revealed, and the ks page isn't being updated quickly or accurately.

 

[test_account]

Stretch goal amounts aren't related to how much money is actually necessary to implement any given feature.

no, that's not what it means

No, and it's quite a common misconception.

Stretch goals are just incentives so that people keep backing the project. The amount it takes to reach one does not necessarily correlate to the amount needed to actually implement whatever the reward is.

There is no correlation between money amount and stretch goal. Stretch goals are just there so the train keeps on rolling despite the game being already funded.

Sure, i know that it doesnt take that much money to add a feature like that. Maybe i worded it poorly, but i was more curious on how they "justify"/present those amounts of money for the extra added features (generally speaking, not just about this game). If i didnt know better, i would be under the impression that the money that someone is asking for a project is at least somewhat representable to the money that is actually needed to cover the expenses.