The Lost Pisces |KS| The Little Mermaid meets UE4-powered futuristic shooter
- Thread starter More_Badass
- Start date
I thought you said you were out...
Just passing on the news. Didn't see it posted anywhere else. I'm also here to kick the dead horse. I'm also going to watch how this unfolds. I'm definitely OUT of putting money towards this, but I'm not going to stop following this. I feel like it's going to over promise and under deliver. Hell, it might not even come to fruition.
Messofanego
Banned
I swear I revealed that earlier in this thread. The IGM story had first person screenshots.
Yup: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showpost.php?p=158422393&postcount=85
N30RYU
Member
exmachina64
Banned
From twitter
Jeebus
Wow.
Messofanego
Banned
From twitter
Jeebus
Looks great!
Hidden One
Member
This looks fucking fantastic. Art design is strikingly beautiful. And, they're looking into putting on the PS4 as well!
Welp I'm in.
mcfishstick
Member
That's really disappointing. I was in love with the game's premise of a lonely robo-mermaid taking on huge monsters but this sounds more like Bioshock Infinite than Shadow of the Colossus.
I don't really feel the same excitement towards another fps.
thelastword
Banned
That might be a cutscene, but it looks good. I absolutely love those type of designs. Reminds me of Ex Machina and of course;
Cyberpunk 2077
Cyberpunk 2077
Oh this is good. Was hoping we'd get to see some awesome animations that would otherwise be lost in first person.
ShinMaruku
Member
From I heard fps and regular human my boner went away. 
But I hope it gets funded. if only to get more ambition indies out there than the 2d fake retros we got now.
But I hope it gets funded. if only to get more ambition indies out there than the 2d fake retros we got now.flaxknuckles
Member
From I heard fps and regular human my boner went away.
Yeah, my wallet slipped right back into my pocket too. Why show off that cool woman in all the concept art and then not let me play as her in third-person?
More_Badass
Member
Pixel art doesn't make a game retroFrom I heard fps and regular human my boner went away.
Take a game like Rain World. Way more ambitious than your average AAA game or indie. Advanced AI, a living ecosystem, procedurally generated animations, etc.
ZettaiSeigi
Member
IbizaPocholo
NeoGAFs Kent Brockman
The design looks amazing.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
Conceptually it's fucking incredible. Truly awe inspiring art. But a three man team to pull this off and reach their lofty ambitions? I'm sceptical. I mean it's a positive in a way because limited funding will support their small team for longer but surely something as amazingly ridiculous as this needs a proper team behind it?
I'll be keeping an eye on their KS regardless. Hope they succeed because that'll at least give this a chance at seeing the light of day.
I'll be keeping an eye on their KS regardless. Hope they succeed because that'll at least give this a chance at seeing the light of day.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
Hey all. Checking back in because it's almost the 3rd. Still no KS preview, but I was told this afternoon the campaign is 100% starting Wednesday (June 3rd) evening. They want to launch the campaign later in the day so it ends later in the day during the home stretch. The campaign will last for 30 days.
I'll supposedly be sent the preview Monday morning, so I can report back then about how detailed the gameplay trailer is, a couple days prior to the campaign launch.
I'll supposedly be sent the preview Monday morning, so I can report back then about how detailed the gameplay trailer is, a couple days prior to the campaign launch.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
So I got the preview this morning. Took a screenshot just to confirm:
To start, it's important to note the campaign isn't finished and more video footage will supposedly be added below the pitch video. That said, the current video doesn't show much in the way of gameplay, it mostly just discusses the team's vision. There is plenty of in-game footage shown, but not any gameplay footage on display to show how puzzles or interacting with Pisces will work. The campaign's text is a lot of design theory and talk about the importance of "Emotional AI," but beyond that doesn't get very specific in terms of the game's scope. Nothing about multiple environments, target playtime, variety of puzzles or secondary objectives. But I'm not sure what the other videos will showcase.
The team is launching a series of vid-casts and a blog with the KS though, so there's a good chance they're saving the details for regular KS updates. I still think the campaign itself needs some more hard facts as opposed to peppering in lines like "You need to miss her when she's not around" and "let's use 3D sensors for something more" and expecting someone to understand what that means in terms of actual gameplay.
Still, I'd be lying if I said this concept didn't captivate me. There's still that small sliver of hope this can actually be something tremendous. Oh, and part of the funds are going to expanding the team, because they pretty outright mention in the campaign the project isn't feasible with only the current team (which is now at 5 members).
To start, it's important to note the campaign isn't finished and more video footage will supposedly be added below the pitch video. That said, the current video doesn't show much in the way of gameplay, it mostly just discusses the team's vision. There is plenty of in-game footage shown, but not any gameplay footage on display to show how puzzles or interacting with Pisces will work. The campaign's text is a lot of design theory and talk about the importance of "Emotional AI," but beyond that doesn't get very specific in terms of the game's scope. Nothing about multiple environments, target playtime, variety of puzzles or secondary objectives. But I'm not sure what the other videos will showcase.
The team is launching a series of vid-casts and a blog with the KS though, so there's a good chance they're saving the details for regular KS updates. I still think the campaign itself needs some more hard facts as opposed to peppering in lines like "You need to miss her when she's not around" and "let's use 3D sensors for something more" and expecting someone to understand what that means in terms of actual gameplay.
Still, I'd be lying if I said this concept didn't captivate me. There's still that small sliver of hope this can actually be something tremendous. Oh, and part of the funds are going to expanding the team, because they pretty outright mention in the campaign the project isn't feasible with only the current team (which is now at 5 members).
More_Badass
Member
It's actually happening? 17th time's the charm?
No, but seriously, visually this still looks wonderful but honestly my hype deflated when I learned it was going to be an FPS. Will definitely be following the campaign though
No, but seriously, visually this still looks wonderful but honestly my hype deflated when I learned it was going to be an FPS. Will definitely be following the campaign though
dancrane212
Member
I wonder how well this will catch between everyone focused on pre-E3 content and Yooka-Laylee/Bloodstained taking a large amount of kickstarter attention. Just look at how poorly Galaxy Heist is preforming despite the large amount of gameplay footage.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
It's more of an FPA (adventure) than FPS. There's no running and gunning. Taking down the giant mecha...beast thingies requires puzzle solving and single-player co-op with Pisces. The focus is on exploration and interaction with Pisces. It seems like the camera pans out during cut-scenes, so you'll see the player character quite a bit. (That bald dude in the screenshot with Pisces trapped in the water sphere posted earlier appears to be him.)
The game does look gorgeous, though. Even it turned into a story-driven walking simulator with emphasis on interactions with Pisces, I'd be on board. I'm not much interested in the vehicles and combat (no matter the form it takes), I'm far more intrigued by the setting and Pisces as a character.
More_Badass
Member
I just realized this'll be launching around and during E3. Not very wise
Twin Souls made that mistake last year, and even though it was super promising and had gotten tons of media coverage beforehand due to the student prototype, the KS failed, largely due to not being able to get exposure because of E3 coverage
The game's coming along nicely though
As for Yooka-Laylee/Bloodstained taking a large amount of kickstarter attention, I don't think that'll be an issue. Umbra reached 225k, Squad made 184k, Little Devil Inside made 300k, Deadwood made 100k, all during the same time.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
I think E3 is only a disadvantage if Pisces doesn't make its way into any of the on-stage presentations... just saying. Can't confirm anything, though.
dancrane212
Member
Yeah you're right, launching so close to E3 is certainly the bigger problem. Guess I'm trying to attribute Galaxy Heist's floundering to something other than space fatigue.
Even if it does make it onto one of the conferences, since it's not an exclusive, I don't see it getting any more than 10-15 seconds of footage as a part of a montage. I think a bunch of sites talking about a kickstarter in a slow month like February would be significantly more beneficial to the campaign.
More_Badass
Member
To be fair, The Bard's Tale IV and We Happy Few are also launching soon, but well...one's The Bard'sTale and the other's from the devs of Contrast, so I wouldn't be surprised if it shows up during Sony's conference
Ghost_Messiah
Member
I think even with a concept this emotive and awesome if Galaxy Heist which also looks awesome is failing due to timing issues then Pisces may suffer the same fate. Timing is everything. Launching in slow gaming news months is killer because people are desperate for news and it's far easier to gain press visibility. Anyone who's been on NeoGAF during E3 knows it's a cataclysmic storm of constant news and only the major announcements get any attention. Everything else is just drowned out by noise.
This campaign is essentially going to cross right over in to E3 with their final stretch right around the trade show. I think everyone's concerns are valid. E3's not a good time to be launching. The post-E3 gaming news dead zone would have been a better time to launch. It would allowed them to take the spotlight and gain sufficient attention.
This campaign is essentially going to cross right over in to E3 with their final stretch right around the trade show. I think everyone's concerns are valid. E3's not a good time to be launching. The post-E3 gaming news dead zone would have been a better time to launch. It would allowed them to take the spotlight and gain sufficient attention.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
After taking another look at the video, some of the footage shown is a bit jittery. I doubt the game could handle being shown off for more than part of a montage. So that's a fair point.
Statistically, the first week and the last week are when the majority of KS funds come in. So I'd wager Lost Pisces is safe in terms of planning around E3. But there's no denying it will be next to impossible to garner press coverage during the weeks in between, and it stands to reason that would make the final push a challenge in terms of getting attention.
Glitchesarecool
Member
No gameplay? Pass.
I'm sorry, I like the concept but pretty pictures and buzzwords don't sell me a game.
I'm sorry, I like the concept but pretty pictures and buzzwords don't sell me a game.
More_Badass
Member
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
The KS will launch tomorrow evening, btw. So don't expect to see it launch until later in the day, PST.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
I just got last-minute (like everything else...) confirmation from The Lost Pisces team that they'd like to be part of IGM's crowdfunding promotion initiative. Since I've been talking about the game a lot here, I wanted to be transparent with you guys about what that means.
It's a no-money-down advertising program I started, where we promote crowdfunding campaigns for the duration of their KS/IndieGoGo, and in exchange we get a small commission only if the campaign is successful. If it fails, the games got a free bit of promotion for a month and don't owe us anything. The commission is on a per-backer basis based on tiers that include single issues or subscriptions to the Magazine (digital copies, so they're open to everyone and there's no shipping). They're not special IGM tiers, we just add an extra reward for backers on top of pre-existing tiers that offer their own rewards.
That's it for now. I was taking another look at the campaign this morning and saw the tiers, so I wanted to mention it. I got confirmation there will be a gameplay trailer added to the campaign as well, but it's not there yet.
It's a no-money-down advertising program I started, where we promote crowdfunding campaigns for the duration of their KS/IndieGoGo, and in exchange we get a small commission only if the campaign is successful. If it fails, the games got a free bit of promotion for a month and don't owe us anything. The commission is on a per-backer basis based on tiers that include single issues or subscriptions to the Magazine (digital copies, so they're open to everyone and there's no shipping). They're not special IGM tiers, we just add an extra reward for backers on top of pre-existing tiers that offer their own rewards.
That's it for now. I was taking another look at the campaign this morning and saw the tiers, so I wanted to mention it. I got confirmation there will be a gameplay trailer added to the campaign as well, but it's not there yet.
dancrane212
Member
E3 has a lot of spillover into the time before the show with early announcements like Fallout 4 and after where everyone is still mulling over what was shown at the show with final previews/impression. Unless the gameplay footage really knocks everyone out of the park I think Pisces is going to have a very hard time getting attention from folk.
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
Fallout 4 did kinda break the internet for a hot minute this morning.
I wonder how many other announcements will spill out prior to kicking things off next Sunday.
jack_package_200
Banned
Is the Kickstarter up?
More_Badass
Member
Here's the link:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/595588975/the-lost-pisces/
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/595588975/the-lost-pisces/
HeroesInAHalfShell
Neo Member
They made a lot of last-minute adjustments late last night and launched pretty quietly. Not the best sign, but hopefully they release continuous updates to better explain the concept and execution. I think people are still going to have a lot of questions after watching the videos.
There's gameplay but some of it seems to be at like 15 FPS.
Can't believe they're still playing up the Kinect stuff. Has no one told them that's going to trigger most people's bullshit detectors, especially given how PC gaming tends to drive most crowdfunding?
Might give it a look if it ever gets made but this thing is throwing off every "Do not back" alarm bell for Kickstarter.
Ghost_Messiah
Member
The screenshots they're showing off look amazing. Conceptually it's attractive, alluring and sound. They're just setting of red lights with some of their terminology. Like this for example:
Name dropping a Disney franchise as inspiration for a game that looks like Unreal Tournament doesn't strike me as very wise regardless of how apt the description may be. Kinect flashes red lights to potential backers because no one is interested in it any more. They need to be going after the hardcore shooter PC market. People that grew up playing Unreal Tournament.
The game still looks fucking fantastic but I think they're making some errors here in their pitch for this. Their KS seems to be struggling so far. Hope it picks up.