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Wasteland 2 Kickstarter project by inXile entertainment [Ended, $3 Million Funded]

trs1080

Neo Member
I'm ashamed to admit when I was a kid I played a borrowed copy of Wasteland on my dual 3.5" floppy drive Tandy 1000 SX. This seems like a great way to give the support I didn't (or couldn't) give back then.

I hope this turns out better than even the expectations, which are probably a bit unreasonably high.
 

GDJustin

stuck my tongue deep inside Atlus' cookies
$15 pitched in.

Kickstarter seems to be a good way to get me to pay full price (or near full price) for smaller PC titles, rather than waiting for a $2 Steam sale. In the same way that indie bundles manage to get me giving indie devs some money (rather than none) come to think of it.

This is going to fly past its funding goal. We're truly in brand-new, uncharted territory for the video game industry. $2-3 million Kickstarter for an Avellone-designed Infinity Engine CRPG? Why not?

Expect a LOT more of this in the future.

Although I preemptively feel bad for the dev that waits a little too long and drops a huge Kickstarter just as a the novelty wears off. It's bound to happen. For the next 2-3 people will say "yessss finally I can directly fund the sequels I want!" But at some point sentiment will turn, and the attitude will become one of "ehhh... I'll let other people fund this one up front."

Hopefully enough of my most-wanted projects launch their Kickstarters before that happens :)
 

Zeliard

Member
500k, hot damn. The great thing about the Kickstarter system (well, one of the many great things) is that the more money a game gathers, the more it's going to keep gathering, simply because many people will see how popular it is getting and want to "get in on it," so to speak.

Now you have this oldschool-style cRPG that has already raked in 500k in less than a day. It's obviously already a booming success and stands to make more than even the ideal 1.5 million amount, and that's going to encourage people who were previously tentative or just waiting to see how it goes to throw some money into the pot.

Not to mention the reverberations this has already had and will continue to have on another developers. Like the lead designer of the greatest game ever made :p

lolavellonepqf4t.png


:D

Dude got excited when it was half the amount it is now. THere's little doubt at this point we're gonna see an Avellone/Sawyer Kickstarter and it will be godlike.
 

Sentenza

Member
Not really the best thing, because now the risk is transferred directly to customer instead.

That said, Kickstarter could be the future of pre-order.
I doubt it.
Kickstarter works when you are offering something that people want but can't find anywhere else.
Who would pledge for, let's say, another generic arcade racing game, when you can most likely look at the shelf of your videogames store and find something similar and with a better production value?
 

Kusagari

Member
If only this revolution had happened a year sooner, fans could have funded the development of Mega Man legends 3 themselves. And Capcom would have had no excuses not to make the game.

Capcom would have actually had to start the Kickstarter you know.

Which they would have never done.
 

EviLore

Expansive Ellipses
Staff Member
lolavellonepqf4t.png


:D

Dude got excited when it was half the amount it is now. THere's little doubt at this point we're gonna see an Avellone/Sawyer Kickstarter and it will be godlike.

I will not stop derailing all the Kickstarter threads until Obsidian's on board ;b
 
this makes me feel all warm and fuzzy. in for the base $15 and i will prolly cave and up it to 50. including an additional digital copy along with the boxed one is super clever.
 

Zeliard

Member
I will not stop derailing all the Kickstarter threads until Obsidian's on board ;b

They HAVE to do it at this point.

The only tricky thing will be the timing. They probably don't want to start up the Kickstarter too soon after this because it's likely to be a similar game in style, and tapping into that same sort of love for oldschool cRPGs. But it remains to be seen how long they can afford to wait, and if "Kickstarter fever" risks dying down in general.
 

Wildesy

Member
$2-3 million Kickstarter for an Avellone-designed Infinity Engine CRPG? Why not?

Conservative figure. I can genuinely see an Obsidian backed CRPG getting upwards of 5 million. Besides them just having a stellar reputation as designers, you'd think they could offer some pretty amazing reward tiers that would really encourage a significant outlay from backers.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
they need to wait 2 months at least.

and their pitch must contain some art at least if we are talking about 5 million $.
 

Keio

For a Finer World
So.. Could we raise 10k at GAF and get a GAF shrine into the game? That would be... interesting :)
 

Grayman

Member
Obsidian is the big one I am waiting for now.

I think the method will stay hot for a little while but may start to lose effect a few months from now when the newness is gone and no games have been released yet. Timing of betas may cause a gain in interest in new projects again though.
 

water_wendi

Water is not wet!
they need to wait 2 months at least.

and their pitch must contain some art at least if we are talking about 5 million $.
Yep. The concept and pitch is everything with these. Avellone doing that poll or whatever about what kind of game the fanbase wanted pretty much assures that Obsidian is putting something together based on the results.
 

disap.ed

Member
I don't know the original and I haven't played even Fallout, what can I expect from it?
It's turn based, right?
Something liked Jagged Alliance speaking of the gameplay?
 

KorrZ

Member
Holy, this is moving fast. It was at 400k just 40 mins ago now it's at 500k? Guess we're getting a Wasteland 2!
 

bishoptl

Banstick Emeritus
I got my $100 (and 10, thanks for nothing, international shipping!) in for Double Fine just under today's deadline, and this project is going to get the same support. This is an incredibly exciting time for gaming - if you'd told me that in 2012 I could contribute to both of these projects getting off the ground, I'd have called you a liar and probably shoved you...HARD.

All I need now is someone to announce a Radar Rat Race remake on Kickstarter and the year is complete as far as I'm concerned.

rqgpA.jpg
 

fanboi

Banned
I have never played the original one, but when I hear cRPG and old school (and more!) I can't sit idle by.

For now, 15 USD.

Theyve already got like $1500 towards their goal. Plus theyve corresponded with Brian Fargo and he said that he will accommodate a group investment.

EviLore, we should try do something similiar! And get some statue or plaza named after this forum.
 

Sentenza

Member
This is an incredibly exciting time for gaming - if you'd told me that in 2012 I could contribute to both of these projects getting off the ground, I'd have called you a liar and probably shoved you...HARD.
Yep. Two new X-Com (Firaxis' one and Xenonauts), a new Risen, lots of turn based games in the work (The Banner Saga, Age of Decadence, Dead State, Fray), Kickstarter backing old school adventures (Double Fine's one) and RPGs (Wasteland 2, the yet-unnamed Avellone's Project boiling), a new Sim City...

This year keeps getting better and better.

Now we need a new X-Wing or Freespace, then I can reach the Nirvana or something.
 
I caved and had to pledge after watching the video, I appreciate his focus on the purity that this model of funding gives to applying creativity as he sees fit rather than it being mediated in some degree by publushers.
I've never played an isometric RPG before, the original Fallout's or Wasteland, and I'm a student without much spare cash to push around, so it was definitely a hard sell on thier part to me. Very excited to follow its development from this point forward.
 

Lime

Member
Yep. Two new X-Com (Firaxis' one and Xenonauts), a new Risen, lots of turn based games in the work (The Banner Saga, Age of Decadence, Dead State, Fray), Kickstarter backing old school adventures (Double Fine's one) and RPGs (Wasteland 2, the yet-unnamed Avellone's Project boiling), a new Sim City...

This year keeps getting better and better.

Now we need a new X-Wing or Freespace, then I can reach the Nirvana or something.

Also, the return of Mech games: Mechwarrior Online, Tactics, Hawken, the Day1 mech game, etc.

Somebody wake me up.
 
Chris Avellone's Kickstarter project would require double the amount of money Wasteland requires. Especially if he wants to do something like a Planescape 2
 
D

Deleted member 10571

Unconfirmed Member
Didn't play (or even know about) Wasteland, but Brian's video is funny and ever other Interplay game I know of he was involved in is amazing. So yeah, I'm in :)

Is there already a good post in this thread describing the actual game? Is it on GOG or something? Wait, the latter I can check myself. (edit: No, it's not)
 

Sentenza

Member
Chris Avellone's Kickstarter project would require double the amount of money Wasteland requires. Especially if he wants to do something like a Planescape 2
Not necessarily.
I think people downplay how much time and how many resources are wasted in mismanagement, arguing with publishers about the content, etc...
A focused and motivated team working on a project they love, with no traditional business boundaries, can probably lower the cost of a production by a big chunk.
 
I gave my $50. That collector's edition for $100 sure is tempting, though, but I've resisted so far...

Yep. Two new X-Com (Firaxis' one and Xenonauts), a new Risen, lots of turn based games in the work (The Banner Saga, Age of Decadence, Dead State, Fray), Kickstarter backing old school adventures (Double Fine's one) and RPGs (Wasteland 2, the yet-unnamed Avellone's Project boiling), a new Sim City...

This year keeps getting better and better.

Now we need a new X-Wing or Freespace, then I can reach the Nirvana or something.

Yeah, one of the only genres that's still completely, entirely dead is the space sim genre.

It's a pretty significant one to be missing, though. TIE Fighter, still one of the best games ever made... :( I know we're getting a new Mechwarrior, and that's awesome, but it's a great space sim that I really want; I liked Mechwarrior 2 a lot, but the X-Wing/TIE Fighter series is better.
 

DiscoJer

Member
Is there already a good post in this thread describing the actual game? Is it on GOG or something? Wait, the latter I can check myself. (edit: No, it's not)

You're a party of Desert Rangers who are sent to investigate mysterious goings in the region (around Las Vegas). They're more or less created using the Mercenaries, Spies & Private Eyes pen & paper system (which is quite obscure but rules light)

You basically explore the region and try to figure out what is going on. The plot is more or less linear, but there's a lot of side stuff and it's somewhat sandbox-ish.

It played from a top down perspective, like Ultima, but combat was basically text driven, like The Bard's Tale. It was tactical though, you could move the guys around the map, though in the vast majority of cases, you didn't need to.

You could also separate your party on adventure maps, which you sometimes actually had to. Generally there were several ways to solve a problem in the game. Sometimes you had to make unpleasant decisions.

The setting was pretty much a '80s sort of apocalyptic setting - more surreal than funny. More Mad Max than The Road Warrior.
 

Grayman

Member
Not necessarily.
I think people downplay how much time and how many resources are wasted in mismanagement, arguing with publishers about the content, etc...
A focused and motivated team working on a project they love, with no traditional business boundaries, can probably lower the cost of a production by a big chunk.
I think with wasteland one of the interviews or kickstarters mentioned spending six months locking down the game before starting on production so that assets created and cut.
 

AstroLad

Hail to the KING baby
pledged before having a chance to watch the vid, but just watched it and even more hyped. seems like it's gonna be a really pure experience. hope they can get to $1.5m+ and really blow out the world and complexity
 

Arulan

Member
Pledged $100 towards this.

These style of RPGs have made for some amazing games in the past. Having to pay to fund games like this to be made, just like we want them to be, doesn't seem like much.

I hope other developers follow what Double Fine started and let us pay for exactly the type of games we want.
 

Big-E

Member
if freespace 3 was kickstarted my testicles would explode.

There is no way that it could be kickstarted. To do it justice, it would cost a lot of money and I don't think they can raise enough.

EDIT: Unless they kickstart a proof of concept so that a publisher would pick it up as a full game later.
 
with about ~5hours to go for the first day I think it will hit 600k


600k in one day for a 22 year old PC RPG series, not bad at all. I think they will definitely hit their goal, I'm thinking it will end next month around 2+ million?
 

Lancehead

Member
Is there any danger that these kickstarter games might suffer from 'made by committee'? After all, they're funded solely by fans, and fans should be kept appeased as development progresses.
 

subversus

I've done nothing with my life except eat and fap
Is there any danger that these kickstarter games might suffer from 'made by committee'? After all, they're funded solely by fans, and fans should be kept appeased as development progresses.

if developers handle this right they won't.
 
Is there any danger that these kickstarter games might suffer from 'made by committee'? After all, they're funded solely by fans, and fans should be kept appeased as development progresses.

I think its up to the kickstarter what goes and what doesn't into their project, I'm sure they will listen to fans in terms of ideas or solutions but they will never appease 100% of the donators, For instance, I would love Wasteland 2 to play like an isometric party based Fallout 1/2 game, but if it plays more like a Wizardry dungeon crawl I will still play it.

But yeah it will be interesting to see when the honeymoon will be over with these projects, especially because of their niche cult like fan nature.
 
Is there any danger that these kickstarter games might suffer from 'made by committee'? After all, they're funded solely by fans, and fans should be kept appeased as development progresses.

I hope not. I'd like to think that the fans and the developers are smart enough to know that developer is smart enough when it comes to designing a game.
 
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