La-Mulana 2 Kickstarter: We'll Show That You Don't Need Big Names To Make Money
- Thread starter Cheddahz
- Start date
Hero of Legend
Member
Why not just work with Enjoy Up on the Wii U version? They helped with the WiiWare version of the original and probably have the most Wii U eShop games in the pipeline of any developer on the eShop.
Also a Wii U version of the original (which I'd also recommend working that out with Enjoy Up) would be lovely too if only just for a slightly better scaled to 1080p (how is LM2 even going to work looking at the low-res sprites considering the HD console goals?) and Off-TV.
Also a Wii U version of the original (which I'd also recommend working that out with Enjoy Up) would be lovely too if only just for a slightly better scaled to 1080p (how is LM2 even going to work looking at the low-res sprites considering the HD console goals?) and Off-TV.
Stone Ocean
Member
These keys are a no-no. I'd get it if backers had one or two exclusive costumes but making all of them backer only is really stupid. People will be pissed about it.
This. As a backer I have no problem with them just selling the costumes as DLC later or something.
Not really a fan of exlusive in-game content.
Reward for beating Hell Temple.
Make 'em work for it.
(Although given the reward for the original hell temple, the irony is somewhat lost for the sequel...)
Just looked up what that reward was.
Heh.
How is that sad given that they get more money that way, while at the same time having more creative freedom?
Update #6
Update #7
Hi everyone! Nayan here. In response to your amazing comments on skeleton keys and costumes, Takumi Naramura has a few words just for you!
"We've been taking your comments and opinions into consideration.
We've always thought that all players should have access to the in-game costumes. If you, our backers, want that, we would love to do it.
That said, If we design it such that players can get these extra costumes by completing challenges, players who have keys from the beginning wouldn't get anything out of those challenges. That said, getting a costume by completing the game is a really good idea.
We know the porting stretch goals seem a long way away. Those amounts were originally calculated based upon the assumption that only NIGORO staff members would be involved in the porting process.
With the project on Kickstarter, introducing porting as a stretch goal seemed like the obvious decision. We're looking to revise the stretch goals with that in mind.
That said, we love Kickstarter. It's incredibly exciting."
Character Introduction: Shorn Kosugi
For today's update, we're showing off full body character art for Lemeza's father and Lumisa's grandfather (we think): Shorn!
We'll be back tomorrow with another update!
Signing OFF!
Nayan Ramachandran & Takumi Naramura
Update #7
PixyJunket
Member
Their responses to the Kickstarter have been excellent so far, I'm glad they are addressing some of these "key" points, as it's making me more confident in backing.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
The backings have slowed to a trickle, or is it just me? 
The backings have slowed to a trickle, or is it just me?
That's how every videogame Kickstarter ever has performed. This one will be successful but those million dollar goals are probably out of reach.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
I know kickstarters usually slow down but this seems pretty bad, I'm actually kinda worried. I might be misjudging though.
Hours Left
Member
I wouldn't worry. They already made it past the 50% mark in less than 5 days. That's pretty crucial.
Plus they have some "big updates" to reveal in the next few days.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
We need $2000 a day to succeed, and we're tracking roughly $6000 per day at the moment. We're doing just fine. I imagine things are going to get really interesting from here on out.
charlequin
Banned
The backings have slowed to a trickle, or is it just me?
This is a pretty normal rate for a project of this size, at this date, which hasn't done anything serious to goose support yet.
Hours Left
Member
They said in a recent update that they are considering moving the port stretch goals to a lower amount.
Morrigan Stark
Arrogant Smirk
Okay, probably just my imagination then. Or I'm comparing it too much to insanely-fast financed games like Kingdom Come. Or a bit of both.
Sorry for my needless fretting, carry on. ^^
That's great news, I will certainly back the project if they halve the amount needed for console/handheld.
Crab Milk Mickey
Member
No, they wouldn't. It'll likely be too niche of a game to sell well on Xbox 360 or PS3 given the circumstances. Won't be happy if they lower those stretch goals and put actual in-game content higher on the scale.
I agree with this. In-game content is always most important.
Update #8
Hey everyone! Nayan here again with a fresh new update. Today we're looking at brave heroine Lumisa's character design.
La-Mulana was originally developed as an amateur freeware title. As a result, when NIGORO was designing Lemeza, they werent really thinking about making him appeal to potential customers.
They made his clothes a single monocolor green, to mimic the style of retro game graphics. When they remade that game they gave his pants a different shade of green. We still think he looks like a certain famous movie hero, though...
The heroine of the second game, Lumisa, was based on the following design points: we wanted to make ochre yellow her main color, with some red and blue parts. That way she would stand out from the background during gameplay. We wanted to give her a link to Japan as well, so we decided to design her as a mix of the Japanese and American flags.
Working with KickStarter has, for the first time in our careers, challenged us to design a character that people from all over the world can relate to.
Character Introduction: Lumisa Kosugi
This illustration was actually supposed to portray "a sidelong glance", and the character's eyes were meant to be bigger, but only this illustration ended up going around. I found some fan art in which she was portrayed as a girl with a menacing expression and thought "Hey, this actually looks better," so we decided to portray Lumisa as a young lady with a menacing look in her eye.
That's it for now. What do you think of Lumisa's design? We think she's pretty awesome.
Signing OFF!
Nayan Ramachandran
PLAYISM
Update #9
Hey everyone! Nayan here with another update. Today we're looking at character animation for La-Mulana 2.
We were basically planning on using the system from La-Mulana 1 for La-Mulana 2, but considering that we wanted to expand on the action elements in La-Mulana 2, we had to modify it, starting with the character graphics system. We wanted the freedom to create pixel art that wouldn't be restricted by the frame limit imposed by the first game.
To start, we tried creating an animation for "rapid firing" as a proposed new action.
Notice that the animation isn't mirrored when Lumisa looks in the other direction!
What do you think? We took our time and repeatedly tested it so we were able to achieve a fairly smooth animation. It was a lot of work, but Naramura-san was re-inspired to work on pixel art after making this. As a result, Naramura-san proposed that we should hold this animation's level of quality as the standard for the protagonist's animations!
The plan now is to begin implementing modifications starting with the character graphics system. As work efficiency increases, we'd like to work on lots of animations, and not just for the protagonist but for enemies and NPCs as well.
Character Introduction Mulbruk:
Today's character introduction is none other than Mulbruk!
As you can see, she's looking a little different now that she's spent some time above ground. She's gotten herself immersed in pop culture, and has developed quite the affinity for cheese burgers! (as always, click on the picture for high resolution glory!)
That's all for today, but we promise to have some great updates in the coming days (including a couple neat surprises! What could that mean...)
Signing OFF!
Nayan Ramachandran
PLAYISM
Crab Milk Mickey
Member
That's some mesmerizing whipping right there.
Update #11
Hey everyone! Nayan here once more for a quick update. We don't want to let all our cats out of the bag at once (why do we keep our cats in a bag?), but this should be an exciting update all the same!
We paid a visit to the office of Mega Man creator Keiji Inafune some time ago, whose company, Comcept, enjoyed incredible Kickstarter success with their project, Mighty No. 9.
When we decided to use Kickstarter, we looked at the results of other indie action titles and noticed they tended to raise around the hundred thousand dollar mark, so we thought setting our target around that amount was a good idea. However, once we calculated how much funding we actually needed, we realised that that wasn't going to be enough. The risk of getting no funding at all is rather scary, though. The runaway success of Mighty No. 9 actually occurred during that period when we were worrying about funding.
From it, we learned that you cant be afraid of stating how much you need when facing this challenge. We learned you have to make a project which is worth every cent our backers pledge. The Mighty No. 9 project gave us the confidence to move forward.
Fortunately we were able to meet Mr. Inafune at the TOKYO GAME SHOW. There, we asked him if he would support our project, and if he had any advice for us.
Tomorrow's update is the result of that request.
(what a tease!)
Character Introduction: Fairy Queen Freyja
Today's character introduction is one that some fans might not be familiar with, but that's probably what makes her that much more interesting!
Click the image for high resolution awesomeness!
Can't wait for tomorrow's update? Neither can we!
Signing OFF!
Nayan Ramachandran
PLAYISM
Reminds me of Yatagarasu KS. This will go well and overdrive during on it last legs.
Interesting, wonder what the Keiji Inafune related reveal is. Playable Mighty no 9?
I love all the character artwork by the way.
Same, it looks amazing!
Update #13
Hi everyone! Nayan here again! You may notice something is a little different on the main Kickstarter page.
That's because we just changed things around on the main page to make things clearer, and added sample images for a lot of our tiers, including the character sketches, the physical packages, and the artbooks.
We also reduced the size of the main page rewards list down to what we've seen has been really popular, so things don't get too confusing. That said, the full breakdown chart is still available to check if you're unsure what tier has what in it.
What do you think?
Spread the word
We've also put together some images that, if you want to spread the word about La-Mulana 2, you are welcome to print out, stick anywhere and send anywhere!
Got a Japanese friend you're trying to convince? Try our Japanese flyer out for size!
That's it for now, but we'll have another update real soon!
Signing off!
Nayan Ramachandran
PLAYISM
cpp_is_king
Member
The funding progress has definitely taken a nosedive. I was hoping we'd get a few stretch goals, but now it looks like we'll be lucky for the funding to even be successful in the first place.
theMrCravens
Member
cj_iwakura
Member
It's halfway there. It's good to go.
It'll pick up the last few days, like every Kickstarter does
Nayan Ramachandran
This guy isn't a Japanese right?
It's thetrin.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
Nayan Ramachandran
This guy isn't a Japanese right?
Last time I checked, I was not Japanese, no.
We're reevaluating our stretch goals to see what we can move around. We want to make them more reasonable per feedback.
I think a lot of people think we're insane for setting some of them so high, but it's quite the opposite. We're simply afraid of overpromising and underdelivering (as does happen with a great many Kickstarter projects)
cj_iwakura
Member
Should totally add a WiiWare stretch goal.
For the original Wii.
For the original Wii.
PixyJunket
Member
It's already there.
cj_iwakura
Member
Oh no, I mean for this game.
PixyJunket
Member
So did I.