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Broken Age |OT| A Double Fine Adventure! [iPad/Ouya Act One out now]

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PaulloDEC

Member
Experienced company overshoots by 300%, more at eleven.

I don't disagree - it was mismanagement, clearly. In this case though I'd say it was justifiable mismanagement, given the unexpected increase in budget and the fact that Double Fine have never actually made that kind of adventure game before.

Additionally, people need to remember that Kickstarter isn't an insert-money-receive-product kinda deal, regardless of who the developer/creator is. Anyone who backs a project unprepared for hitches, delays, surprises and compromises is doing it wrong.
 
Part of the deal as stated in the original pitch video was that the development might even turn out to be a total disaster, but you'd still get a great documentary explaining the whole thing. As it turns out, a real game of high quality is actually resulting, AND there's a great documentary explaining the whole thing, and there's more content coming for both.
 
But neither should they have thought that. It was still way overkill for what they were doing, and they could have used that extra money to push it out a bit faster.

Pretty much anyone who knows about how software development works can tell you that this isn't true.
 

fallout

Member
Pretty much anyone who knows about how software development works can tell you that this isn't true.
The irony is that throwing more resources onto a project can often slow down development, especially if it happens in crunch or the project doesn't scale well with more people.
 
D

Deleted member 22576

Unconfirmed Member
The quality level they reached is absolutely astounding, too. Broken Age has some of the coolest animation I've seen anywhere. After my initial play through, I did a "speed run" and it looks just like a cartoon. It's extraordinary. I had never heard of Nate bagel before, but I'm now obsessed with his work.

I'm also kind of obsessed with Vella. She is one of the cutest designs I've seen in forever.

Stay tuned for my Vella fan fiction where she's a struggling baker in NYC trying to single handedly will her nuclear and extended family out of poverty.
 

Xater

Member
Just a quick question. Did my fellow backers check if they are in the credits of the game? I just did and I am not in :(
 

Aaron

Member
Just a quick question. Did my fellow backers check if they are in the credits of the game? I just did and I am not in :(
Did you pledge $100 or more? Because you had to be at that level to be in the credits. My name is there, though mine was easy to spot since they're first name alphabetical.
 

Xadhoom

Neo Member
No, they used the name you submitted in the survey. If you don't remember what you submitted, you can check out your response on the kickstarter page.
 

snoopers

I am multitalented
Played the first 20 minutes, started with the girl. Pompous music over saccharine writing made me cringe really hard. Hope it gets better...
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Played the first 20 minutes, started with the girl. Pompous music over saccharine writing made me cringe really hard. Hope it gets better...

Best buckle in, because the charming Disney-meets-storybook feel you're alluding to is present throughout most of the game.

It gets a little less cute once the action starts to ramp up, though.
 

Fuz

Banned
Well. Broken Age is beautiful. Has some fantastic art, funny characters and dialogues, nice backstory and great voiceover.
Artistically speaking, it's really astonishing.

My problem with the game is that we backers were promised an old-style adventure like in the old "Lucasfilm Games" golden age... and it's not. At all. The puzzles are non-existant, the gameplay is semplified to the bone to cater to the tablet audience and it's pretty short, even considering it's only act 1 of 2 (seems that the second act will be shorter).

Still beautiful and enjoyable and I can't wait for the second part... but it leaves a bitter taste in my mouth and makes me question backing future kickstarter projects.
 

PaulloDEC

Member
Well that's too bad. Not really what I expected from a Double Fine game, to say the least.

Double Fine have actually done some pretty varied work over the last few years, from Once Upon a Monster and Happy Action Theatre, to Stacking and Iron Brigade, to Spacebase DF9 and Dropchord.

As a studio, they produce a lot of variety.
 

hachi

Banned
Part of the deal as stated in the original pitch video was that the development might even turn out to be a total disaster, but you'd still get a great documentary explaining the whole thing. As it turns out, a real game of high quality is actually resulting, AND there's a great documentary explaining the whole thing, and there's more content coming for both.

Exactly. This backer is very satisfied; the documentary far exceeded my expectations and has become a favorite viewing for my wife and I, and we're slowly (time constraints) working through Act One now, enjoying every minute.
 

snoopers

I am multitalented
Double Fine have actually done some pretty varied work over the last few years, from Once Upon a Monster and Happy Action Theatre, to Stacking and Iron Brigade, to Spacebase DF9 and Dropchord.

As a studio, they produce a lot of variety.

I obviously mean a "mainline" Double Fine game. Anyway I'm not here to debate, just wanted to vent my disappointment - and I guess that's 20 bucks I'll never get back.
 

snoopers

I am multitalented
I mean a Tim Schafer game. I reckon you do not need a list to understand what that means.

That being said I've just checked DF's output on Wikipedia and I clearly should have done that before. Turns out I haven't touch a game of theirs since Psychonauts (which I loved). Joke's on me !
 

deleted

Member
$3,336,371

pledged of $400,000 goal

Estimated delivery: Oct 2012



They got 8x the original estimated budget, and delivered only half the game 18 months late.

I really don't get how people still make this mistake?! 400k, 2012 was the original plan, which was almost completely reworked to scale the project to the money they made.
The 2012 game would have been a much smaller game, way less rooms, with the biggest focus on iOS, without an orchestral OST, without the attention to Detail in the animation system (the eyes e.g.) and without Voice-Acting probably.
They had to adjust and they overshot the scale of the new game. They are entitled to make mistakes and learn from them in the process and they where pretty open about their mistakes.
They could have just scaled back the game or charged for the second act - which they didn't, so you get extremely much out of your 15$ if you backed the project.
 
I mean a Tim Schafer game. I reckon you do not need a list to understand what that means.

That being said I've just checked DF's output on Wikipedia and I clearly should have done that before. Turns out I haven't touch a game of theirs since Psychonauts (which I loved). Joke's on me !


Heh, did you not bother watching a trailer or anything for the game? The tone and style of the game are very apparent from those. I think you might be one the few who aren't into the style, and that's cool. Check out Shay's side and see if you enjoy it more. It's a little more dark and mysterious.
 

snoopers

I am multitalented
Heh, did you not bother watching a trailer or anything for the game? The tone and style of the game are very apparent from those. I think you might be one the few who aren't into the style, and that's cool. Check out Shay's side and see if you enjoy it more. It's a little more dark and mysterious.

I did, and I was a little worried... but I loved so many Schafer games before, I thought it'd be ok. And it is very pretty. But it really reads and plays like a children book. Which I find weird, since the game was probably not kickstarted by 9 year-olds...

If there was a french dub I would totally play it with my little sister though, and all would be forgiven :)
 

wetflame

Pizza Dog
I really don't get how people still make this mistake?! 400k, 2012 was the original plan, which was almost completely reworked to scale the project to the money they made.
The 2012 game would have been a much smaller game, way less rooms, with the biggest focus on iOS, without an orchestral OST, without the attention to Detail in the animation system (the eyes e.g.) and without Voice-Acting probably.
They had to adjust and they overshot the scale of the new game. They are entitled to make mistakes and learn from them in the process and they where pretty open about their mistakes.
They could have just scaled back the game or charged for the second act - which they didn't, so you get extremely much out of your 15$ if you backed the project.

Plus, as previously mentioned, the pitch was basically "give us some money and we'll try to make a game and you get to watch a documentary about it", the documentary has been top notch, and due to the delays we're getting more of that than we would have done otherwise. That's a win!
 

Chitown B

Member
I did, and I was a little worried... but I loved so many Schafer games before, I thought it'd be ok. And it is very pretty. But it really reads and plays like a children book. Which I find weird, since the game was probably not kickstarted by 9 year-olds...

If there was a french dub I would totally play it with my little sister though, and all would be forgiven :)

Honestly I played it for 5 minutes and thought "wtf is this?"

Would've much rather had something less glossy but more interesting. Of course, I've barely started. Just the vibe I get.
 

mclem

Member
Honestly I played it for 5 minutes and thought "wtf is this?"

Would've much rather had something less glossy but more interesting. Of course, I've barely started. Just the vibe I get.

One thing that's perhaps worth bearing in mind is that the Lucasarts-era games were already built on an established engine so production of content was the major component of making the game. This, however, needed to also construct an engine from the ground-up.
 

CheesecakeRecipe

Stormy Grey
Finally finished Act I yesterday after sitting on my hands since my code came in.

Bravo, Double Fine. What a lovely but dark storybook tale and a total cliffhanger midway point.
 
I got a few 25% off coupons for Broken Age on Steam; will trade for something else. Send me a PM, don't quote this post as I'm sure people will just find that annoying. Will edit if I'm all out of coupons.
 

Haunted

Member
omgggg you guuuyssssss


tumblr_n10mm6ihyx1rhhn7to2_1280.jpg
 

Haunted

Member
Looks like the development thread was closed, so I guess it's ok to talk about the new documentary episode in here? At least until someone makes a new one (for Act 2).


Honestly, this episode was pretty hard to watch. Sobering insights into development, industry and market realities in full effect. First the whole embargo thing. Then the reactions of team members to negative feedback, and at the end the sales discussions and results...

I'm feeling pretty down right now, actually. ;_;
 

Largo

Member
I am constantly angry I missed every opportunity to buy into watching the documentary episodes. I once got somebody to loan me their DF account, and binged the first 14 episodes, but those days are long gone. Please let me give you some money Double Fine?
 
Looks like the development thread was closed, so I guess it's ok to talk about the new documentary episode in here? At least until someone makes a new one (for Act 2).


Honestly, this episode was pretty hard to watch. Sobering insights into development, industry and market realities in full effect. First the whole embargo thing. Then the reactions of team members to negative feedback, and at the end the sales discussions and results...

I'm feeling pretty down right now, actually. ;_;

They've had a couple of quite depressing episodes, so I'm ready to watch this episode. Thanks for the summary.
 
40:30 That amazing emotional music is "Breadtime" off the new Lifeformed (Terence Lee) Double Fine OST :)

"Chris Remo is a big jerk" coming from Tim, that sounds so sweet. Best of luck at Campo Santo!

Aww the fan art at the end is stunning.

Great episode. Also, now I'm wary of the press who are backers of games. Press Sneak Fucks, indeed.
 
I'm happy that they decided to make the documentary available for purchase.

After playing Act I, I regretted not backing the game and was afraid I wouldn't be able to get my hands on the documentary after the fact.

Glad to see that they've thought of people in my situation.
 

guybrushfreeman

Unconfirmed Member
When does the documentary wrap up?
I'm sick of waiting for the digital downloads. There's literally no reason why they can't release the earlier episodes

The downloads are up now on your humble bundle page so get to it! There's a small gaf cameo in this one too just after the backer beta went up. I'm pretty excited about part two, hopefully regular updates will start again.
 

inm8num2

Member
I'm really liking this new documentary episode. Lee Petty's discussion on the reviews and criticisms is particularly insightful.
 

Haunted

Member
I do hope future episodes will give an update on units sold and revenue so far.

Here's hoping Bailey's right with the long-term sales thing, because hearing those first week numbers in the raw... not too encouraging. :( :(

40:30 That amazing emotional music is "Breadtime" off the new Lifeformed (Terence Lee) Double Fine OST :)

"Chris Remo is a big jerk" coming from Tim, that sounds so sweet. Best of luck at Campo Santo!
Yeah, that was a great moment.
 

jett

D-Member
Seems I've been seemingly mistaken about the apparent progress of the game. They're only now starting doing concept art for act 2? Tim hasn't completed the script? The story is not done yet? Wat? When is this coming to come out, in another two years? :p I mean, sheesh, Broken Age was seriously behind schedule, more than I could've possibly thought. A weird thing is that we have 8 hours of behind the scenes documentaries and yet I don't quite understand why the development has gone on for so long. Maybe the team is just tinier than I imagined.

Anyway, I hope they get enough funding from Act 1 sales to fulfill the development of Act 2 to the best of their abilities.
 

valeo

Member
Seems I've been seemingly mistaken about the apparent progress of the game. They're only now starting doing concept art for act 2? Tim hasn't completed the script? The story is not done yet? Wat? When is this coming to come out, in another two years? :p I mean, sheesh, Broken Age was seriously behind schedule, more than I could've possibly thought. A weird thing is that we have 8 hours of behind the scenes documentaries and yet I don't quite understand why the development has gone on for so long. Maybe the team is just tinier than I imagined.

Anyway, I hope they get enough funding from Act 1 sales to fulfill the development of Act 2 to the best of their abilities.

You realise this documentary episode was filmed a while ago, right? Hence why they were talking about shipping the game..
 
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