EternalGamer
Banned
This is my growing belief.
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Project GODUS (Populous reinvention) Kickstarter by 22cans [Ended, £526K Funded]
- Thread starter Minsc
- Start date
This is my growing belief.
It's really quite a shame that some bitter assholes are probably going to kill this project with their sad negativity mostly based on heresay (see previous comment about the insanity of "everything bad = Peter's fault, everything good = other people.) I really hope the project makes it - it looks like a fine team that's been assembled and it'd be a shame for them to be fucked over by a bunch of anonymous forum dwellers.
How can you honestly think this project is going to die if the Kickstarter fails?
The negativity has a good deal to do with the team's last game being a non-functional disappointment as well. That's hardly hearsay.
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
Damn, some of you are getting personal with these attacks.
You really think it'd have any hope with a publisher if crowd-funding for a measly 450k fails?
Eh? You're comparing Curiosity (described as an experiment, and wasn't it funded entirely by Peter?) with GODUS? OK.
I'm trying to not be specific about people. I'm really quite taken aback at the naked hatred being shown towards Peter and the equally naked desire for 22cans - and all those who work there - to fail utterly.
We're very happy to say that we're also going to be making GODUS for Mac when we hopefully have a successful Kickstarter.
Confirmed in this video PLUS also a lot of prototype updates from the team (guys working on it). This was recorded today in our office.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNF37HGwZtc
Confirmed in this video PLUS also a lot of prototype updates from the team (guys working on it). This was recorded today in our office.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tNF37HGwZtc
Let's not transform this thread in a battle, please.
We are arguing more about Molyneux and his career than about the game, ignoring the excellent series of videos 22 Cans is producing (really interesting stuff, honest) and exchanging punches instead of talking about the project.
I have high hopes for the prototype at the end of this week, I hope this will be the big chance to push forward for the project. The visual style 22 Cans is aiming for is really nice (and close to the concept art), so a decent footage could make wonders.
We are arguing more about Molyneux and his career than about the game, ignoring the excellent series of videos 22 Cans is producing (really interesting stuff, honest) and exchanging punches instead of talking about the project.
I have high hopes for the prototype at the end of this week, I hope this will be the big chance to push forward for the project. The visual style 22 Cans is aiming for is really nice (and close to the concept art), so a decent footage could make wonders.
There was an interview with him posted here where he said he could get the game published if he wanted as he had friends working at different publishers.
I'm not entirely sure that a kickstarter that fails means that the product in no good and impossible to sale either. The reverse is also true for a Kickstarter that succeeds seeing the generally low amount of backers.
The issue I guess is that the the studio didn't have the cult following that Fargo, Schafer and Obsidian had. It's a new studio with one iOS game App so far and the whole thing pretty much hinges on Moyneux's notoriety. A publisher could probably do a better job at marketing the game for them.
When your only other game is an iOS app that had issues running, I guess it's pretty natural for some people to be wary. Especially younger folks who never got to play the best games Molyneux made. Populous is also quite old now and many probably never played it and you can't compare it to many games (while you could for say Wasteland).
I just don't believe "unjustified hatred" is the reason this project is tanking so far. People were hating on most other big kickstarters projects too and they succeeded. Here it seems the bigggest issue is that there isn't an important buzz or a cult following.
The advice to get things on Reddit via a Q&A(sans Peter imo) and Verge, like some have said, isn't bad advice at all.
I'll be waiting for a few reviews before I buy. The videos have shown me that 22 cans isn't made up of one person but I wonder if the ship isn't a little too tightly controlled. Good luck, people.
I'll be waiting for a few reviews before I buy. The videos have shown me that 22 cans isn't made up of one person but I wonder if the ship isn't a little too tightly controlled. Good luck, people.
It looks like some great progress has been made on the prototype. Can't wait
Edit: pledge doubled
CecilRousso
Member
It looks like some great progress has been made on the prototype. Can't wait
Edit: pledge doubled
Yes, it does look good. So I can´t believe that they aren´t doing a better of job of promoting it. Package it in a teaser trailer with a few carefully selected text parts, instead of using shaky handcam footage. They´re not getting the full effect from the prototype this way, they´re not even close to the promotional potential it has.
You'd have to be blind to ignore Peter's track record. It's like expecting another good film from M Night. They both peaked long ago.
From what I've seen in the videos they are actively developing it, so there's little time to put together a polished promotional video of the tech. They probably should've developed the prototype before the kickstarter campaign though, yes. They are aiming for something by the end of the week. We'll see then I suppose.
I think the issue is that there's not that many people dying to play another God Game.
Even before the Doublefine and Wasteland Kickstarters, plenty of people used to get all teary-eyed waxing nostalgic about point-and-click adventures and post-apocalyptic RPGs like FallOut/Wasteland. I can't recall reading anything on the internet from anyone who misses Populus and wants to see another one made.
Perhaps From Dust satiated people's desire for more god simulations, but at the same time TellTale's adventure games and Fallot 3/New Vegas did not stop people from demanding DoubleFine Adventure and Wasteland. Or maybe people just weren't that happy with Black And White, and don't think Molyneux can deliver another hit in the same genre.
CecilRousso
Member
It doesn´t take long time to make a video based on what they have shown with the handcam footage. Someone with a bit of knowledge can do that in a couple of hours, and I absolutely think that such a teaser trailer done correctly would have a greater impact then any of their updates so far.
If they´re aiming for something better, then yes, it can take longer time, but they need to hurry up now.
They´re main problem isn´t what people think of Molyneux, it´s that they doesn´t seem to know how to communicate effiecently. Their updates so far are great for the ones that already are interested, and the ones who actively seek out new projects, and I don´t think that they are efficient when trying to convince other people who are more in a hurry.
EdwardTivrusky
Member
I think you may have something there but in my case i'd like a new Populous just not one that needs to be online. Give me Populous with an SP campaign and i'd happilly jump in an pledge some cash.
On the other aspect. I like Peter and i like the fact he's doing different things, the industry needs people like him. He's passionate and my only gripe is with myself if i;m honest, for believing the hype when he gets caught up in his ideas.
The execution usually doesn't match the ambition and i think that's where the disappointment and frustration backlash comes from.
maniac-kun
Member
People are not backing it because he could get the money elsewhere. Its like Activision starting a kickstarter for the next Call of Duty.
CecilRousso
Member
No, it´s not the same thing. Not even close.
That's a pretty ridiculous comparison.
They have raised £250k which is quite respectable.
But asking for £450k is ridiculous
Psychotext
Member
Is it though? It's no more than it would cost to run a 10 person team for 9 months.
Unless 9 months is too long (I don't know of many games that are completed in that sort of time scale).
Maybe not ridiculous in the sense of being more money than they'll need, but ridiculous in the sense of being an unrealistic goal?
Jane Jensen could only raise about $300k, but I don't recall people blaming "haters" and "naysayers". There just isn't a huge demand for certain genres at the moment, and maybe "God games" is one of them.
Well, for my part I would like to see a new Popolous. Though Godus does not look like a new Popolous, being multi-player focused (not a big fan of MP games). Also I belong in the camp of Molyneux sceptics. His proven track record of the last decade is that he overpromises. Not to mention his strange communication. Starting 22 Cans to make games (or experiments) in the mobile space and then his second project (experiment?) is a traditional game on PC? So I will wait for the final game and reviews and will not add it to the 41 projects I backed so far.
I am not sure whether he could have gotten the funding elsewhere, though I also see that as entirely possible.
I am not sure whether he could have gotten the funding elsewhere, though I also see that as entirely possible.
They've not talked very much about an SP campaign as such - more just the challenges that they're planning to build into the SP game. Given that a campaign is just a series of challenges tied together with a loose plot... (though of course it's always nice to have someone competent to write campaigns, but that sadly doesn't happen very often in video gaming...)
The MP is definitely optional though from a player's perspective.
I do think a reddit AMA, a genuine one not a Woody Harrelson (where he answered every question with a reference to what he was promoting) will see this game over the threshold. But im not sure whether Molyneux is interested in such a thing or wants to answer some of the inevitable questions. None the less im sure there are alot of people who want to ask him genuine questions and if he approaches it with the right attitude I dont see a downside.
Yes, there is a single-player campaign. The game modes mentioned in updates are roughly broken down into:
Homeworld which is the sandbox where you just muck about and build up your civilisation / followers. Your Homeworld also becomes your base for SP and MP games (though how that works in MP is unclear.)
Crusades which are the SP challenges and campaigns.
Multiplayer...
And they've expressed a hope to be able to have cooperative multiplayer as well.
Homeworld which is the sandbox where you just muck about and build up your civilisation / followers. Your Homeworld also becomes your base for SP and MP games (though how that works in MP is unclear.)
Crusades which are the SP challenges and campaigns.
Multiplayer...
And they've expressed a hope to be able to have cooperative multiplayer as well.
This is part of why the Japanese gaming industry is imploding, too.
Jane Jensen raised like $450,000, and experienced almost nothing but positivity.
There are a lot of people who seem negatively interested in this campaign and are hoping for its failure, rather than people who simply haven't seen it or don't care. That is a bit peculiar.
I'm not sure if he could have either, but he's a fool if he doesn't try.
Look at it this way: If you go to publishers and investors and you can't get money, well... you can always go to Kickstarter, and it will make your story more appealing to them.
But if you go to Kickstarter first, and fail, well... now your product looks bad to prospective publishers who MIGHT have been interested before. It screws up your chances.
Kickstarter should always be the last resort, not just for ethical reasons, but practical ones.
Bitter? Personal? It's a clear accurate description of the support of how lots of devs roll. Usually it's interviews for a site/magazine that are biased questions due to wanting to keep a leech relationship with sponsors, exclusive interviews etc...It's a total wank..
Fix lots of game breaking bugs reported by customers = time, manpower & money with no profit.
Ignore bugs, sell new content = time, manpower & money, new content with profit.
Rant for hours on your exaggerated perception of the 'feeling, experience & the emotions' while press at e3 fall asleep waiting for Peter to move the character and show the complete opposite of the depth/scope/possibilities in the game and features etc he previously described = Peters' imagination enhancing what the game is aka deception/lying which is his signature style.
Snake oil!
The Friendly Monster
Member
Not really. People don't want Molyneux to put the enormous risk of creating a game onto the public.
Molyneux could afford 450k out of his own pocket no problem. This is greed.
Psychotext
Member
As has already been stated in this thread, he bankrolled the entire company (22 cans) out of his own pocket. Molyneux has nearly bankrupted himself in the past to try and fund something he believed in, I don't see this being any different.
Surely everyone as a child heard the Fable; The boy who cried wolf.
There is no need to compare them directly. But that project is right now the reference 22Cans delivered and is to be measured by.
The other reference point is the person of Peter Molyneux, who has a recent track record of rather underdelivering compared to what he promised.
That's what Kickstarter is about, you need to get the trust of people that you can deliver what you promise. The "he made Popoulus 20 years ago, this sure will be as good" isn't enough for many people.
The Friendly Monster
Member
So what? Don't hire so many people for your company in the first place if you're really struggling. He clearly has a vast personal wealth to be able to do this whole venture.
Psychotext
Member
So wait, he shouldn't use Kickstarter because he has money, but he shouldn't hire a bunch of people because it costs money? Which is it?
If he didn't hire the staff then we certainly wouldn't be seeing the prototypes, videos and other aspects of the game right now and all we'd be hearing is that Molyneux has nothing to show for his promises etc etc.
Though I guess we're getting that anyway so he should probably just take his money and retire rather than making games. I guess that works out best for us as gamers.
If he didn't hire the staff then we certainly wouldn't be seeing the prototypes, videos and other aspects of the game right now and all we'd be hearing is that Molyneux has nothing to show for his promises etc etc.
Though I guess we're getting that anyway so he should probably just take his money and retire rather than making games. I guess that works out best for us as gamers.
Confidence Man
Member
I wonder how much Curiosity cost them and how much they get from it. I can't imagine it being anything other than a money pit. Maybe they should've made this first.
Shao Kahn Brewing a Stew
Banned
I'm wondering. Why would curiosity cost so much? It's a cube. You're chipping away pieces.
Confidence Man
Member
I think he was saying server costs are pretty high.
diffusionx
Gold Member
I'm not sure why anyone would give Molyneaux their money sight unseen. Curiosity is one of the dumbest and worst things I've ever seen and it didn't even work right.
I am not a superstitious man, but deciding to end the KS on Dec 21st is looking more and more like a tragic coincidence.
Also, I should note that I'm tempted to be much harsher, given Molyneux's past promises/delusions and how I feel about curiosity. Instead, I'll hold my tongue. For now.
Good luck, SamVT.
Also, I should note that I'm tempted to be much harsher, given Molyneux's past promises/delusions and how I feel about curiosity. Instead, I'll hold my tongue. For now.
Good luck, SamVT.
RiccochetJ
Gold Member
Servers and concurrency. They thought it was going to be this small thing but instead they had hundreds of thousands of people trying to hit it in the first week.