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[Raging Spaniard]

it's nice to hate options

Having a first person view is not just an "option" it means that now you have to make sure every asset looks great on all angles, not just iso, it means that levels have to be designed to be traversed in first person AND iso ... among other things, its not just a switch that you flip on and works magically, it would mean a whole new set of design, art and engineering headaches.

 

[subversus]

Having a first person view is not just an "option" it means that now you have to make sure every asset looks great on all angles, not just iso, it means that levels have to be designed to be traversed in first person AND iso ... among other things, its not just a switch that you flip on and works magically, it would mean a whole new set of design, art and engineering headaches.

I have to agree. Looked so cool in this video though!

 

[scitek]

Personally, I was thinking Patrick Stewart for ultimate geek cred. Plus he has an awesome narrator voice.

He did a terrible job in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It was horribly written, but he totally phoned it in.

 

[Minsc]

Off topic, but I decided to install Fallout Tactics off of my Fallout Trilogy collection and I noticed that FO1+2's widescreen and fan patches are included on the disk. Neato.

They're probably quite out of date, if that is the case (more so the high-res patch, the unofficial fan patches haven't progressed as rapidly).

 

[AstroLad]

Wouldn't it be awesome if Fargo any way added his $100k after the pledging ends? No matter how much money they gather (say 2.5 mil) he would still add 100 000$ to it.

Agree that it wouldn't surprise me. He seems to realize there's a lot more at stake here than just hey we get to make Wasteland 2 finally (though that's a lot by itself). We're talking about the viability of potentially a whole new way to make games that doesn't suck. This guy has sat through how many terrible pitches with execs?

 

[Ivory Samoan]

Kickstarter has been great for old/favourite IPs to get back up off the ground, warms the heart a little

 

[momolicious]

Once the game comes out will it be sold for 15 bucks still?

 

[Zeliard]

Once the game comes out will it be sold for 15 bucks still?

It's going to be more than that. The $15 tier states that you're getting a discount off what the price will eventually be at release.

 

[mclem]

Wouldn't it be awesome if Fargo any way added his $100k after the pledging ends? No matter how much money they gather (say 2.5 mil) he would still add 100 000$ to it.

I'd rather he didn't, but instead kept that money available for if it proves necessary. This is clearly going to end up as a more ambitious project than was originally envisaged, which is excellent... but it's going to need a bit more care with budgeting. Having a $100k 'emergency fund' always available in the backs of their heads should make the development process go a little more smoothly, particularly close to the end of development when they've spent all the money they *planned* to but still need to do some major bugfixing or patching.

I wouldn't be surprised if the project *did* see his money in the end, but I don't think it's necessarily a smart move to put it towards the initial development budget.

 

[Setreal]

I'd rather he didn't, but instead kept that money available for if it proves necessary. This is clearly going to end up as a more ambitious project than was originally envisaged, which is excellent... but it's going to need a bit more care with budgeting. Having a $100k 'emergency fund' always available in the backs of their heads should make the development process go a little more smoothly, particularly close to the end of development when they've spent all the money they *planned* to but still need to do some major bugfixing or patching.

I wouldn't be surprised if the project *did* see his money in the end, but I don't think it's necessarily a smart move to put it towards the initial development budget.

Considering how likely it is they'll pass the 1.5 million mark, this seems like the best move to me as well.

 

[Zeliard]

I'd rather he didn't, but instead kept that money available for if it proves necessary. This is clearly going to end up as a more ambitious project than was originally envisaged, which is excellent... but it's going to need a bit more care with budgeting. Having a $100k 'emergency fund' always available in the backs of their heads should make the development process go a little more smoothly, particularly close to the end of development when they've spent all the money they *planned* to but still need to do some major bugfixing or patching.

I wouldn't be surprised if the project *did* see his money in the end, but I don't think it's necessarily a smart move to put it towards the initial development budget.

I totally agree, and it's possible he may put aside more than 100k. That number was meant to cover the original gap between 900k and a million for whatever they were planning on doing with that specific amount of money.

It's possible that with a much higher budget than initially expected, and a more ambitious project as you noted, he may throw more into the pot if need be to cover whatever other costs. Particularly if they expect on making a decent amount at release from people who didn't pledge, with what is now likely to be a bigger and better game than originally envisioned.

 

[MightyHedgehog]

I do think that a lot of the Wasteland 2 design has been hammered out over the years with Anderson, Pavlish, and Stackpole consulting and designing, so I don't worry about the core game. I don't worry about them finishing on time or being able to afford the desired level of audio-visual quality. I only worry that the Fallout influence will be a barrier to the game's goal of being a true sequel to Wasteland.

 

[Hatten]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

 

[Dog Problems]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

Probably not, in my opinion. But I think it would also come down to the kind of game that was being offered.

 

[subversus]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

only with a demo

 

[Hatten]

I guess it would have to be a very impressive demo, like Hawken

 

[WorstUsernameEver]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

Very unlikely.

EDIT: Oh man, I had just left the computer for a minute before hitting enter and my message has already been made redundant.

 

[Sinatar]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

Would you give money to someone you don't know, with no prior experience? Of course not.

 

[SovanJedi]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

Almost never likely to happen, unless your project came across as world-changing. There just wouldn't be enough of an incentive to believe you'll deliver on your word, not without proof that you can do what you say you're going to do.

 

[nubbe]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

no way.

Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert are the god-kings of adventure games

Brian Fargo was the head of Interplay which produced some of the best RPGs of its time.

 

[AstroLad]

Board games do get funded on Kickstarter just on theme and promises mostly, and many of them turn out quite well. Of course the funding amounts pale in comparison to these games. Bet a mildly nichely successful mobile indie dev could potentially pull it off though.

 

[Minsc]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

Chances are they wouldn't ask for millions like this. FTL: Faster than Light is a neat-looking rogue-like game that is set in space and has been funded over 1,000% with still about half the time left in it's kickstarter... so success on a smaller scale is still very possible for indie devs.

 

[Zeliard]

How many Kickstarter titles have broken a million? I think I read that four have so far, including inXile and Double Fine. What they've done is pretty rare. Remains to be seen who's next up at bat.

Of course, Kickstarter is also significantly more popular and has far more visibility than it had before February, so I think we'll see more titles breaking a million as time goes on.

 

[subversus]

Chances are they wouldn't ask for millions like this. FTL: Faster than Light is a neat-looking rogue-like game that is set in space and has been funded over 1,000% with still about half the time left in it's kickstarter... so success on a smaller scale is still very possible for indie devs.

I have to play this.

 

[Emitan]

Chances are they wouldn't ask for millions like this. FTL: Faster than Light is a neat-looking rogue-like game that is set in space and has been funded over 1,000% with still about half the time left in it's kickstarter... so success on a smaller scale is still very possible for indie devs.

It's a shame their demo is only on OnLive. My internet connection has been shitting itself lately and I could hardly play. It's a shame because I've played the first several hours of Deux Ex Human Revolution on OnLive with no issues.

 

[TedNindo]

I wonder why this concept isn't getting more support.

A good tactical shooter is even more rare these days then an adventure game. Maybe gamers aren't interested because the market got oversaturated with FPS games but damn. It has more talent behind it then Wasteland 2 imo. Guess there are less fans out there of the oldschool Rainbow Six / Ghost Recon games made by Red Storm then I thought.

 

[sTeLioSco]

Developer inXile entertainment
Publisher Fan Funded via Kickstarter
Genre RPG
Platform PC
http://www.inxile-entertainment.com/projects

a brand new isometric rpg and a point and click adventure via kickstarder.
this is really great.....

 

[Portugeezer]

I wonder why this concept isn't getting more support.

A good tactical shooter is even more rare these days then an adventure game. Maybe gamers aren't interested because the market got oversaturated with FPS games but damn. It has more talent behind it then Wasteland 2 imo. Guess there are less fans out there of the oldschool Rainbow Six / Ghost Recon games made by Red Storm then I thought.

Whilst good tactical shooters are rare these days it's still a shooter, and it'll probably be modern based.

Fatigue I'm guessing.

 

[Kusagari]

Whilst good tactical shooters are rare these days it's still a shooter, and it'll probably be modern based.

Fatigue I'm guessing.

I'd also guess because nobody really knows that guy and he's not naming people involved.

It's no coincidence that both this project and Schafer's had two well known, and trusted, veterans involved.

 

[TedNindo]

Whilst good tactical shooters are rare these days it's still a shooter, and it'll probably be modern based.

Fatigue I'm guessing.

Kinda. But old Rainbow Six games compared to COD is like comparing Gran Tourismo and Mario Kart.

 

[Zeliard]

I'd also guess because nobody really knows that guy and he's not naming people involved.

It's no coincidence that both this project and Schafer's had two well known, and trusted, veterans involved.

And while tactical shooters were once popular, I think more people are generally more fond of classic cRPGs and PC adventure games, so those styles of games would have an easier time garnering support.

I miss Rainbow Six though. :<

 

[MrCunningham]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

I think it depends on how well known the indie dev is.... but for most who are fresh in the gaming industry, they would have to prove themselves first before asking for this kind of money. Or they would need to have one hell of an amazing sales pitch to do it. But I think most new indie devs should set their sights smaller at first, or have a proof of concept demo. If Tim Schafer and Brian Fargo were new to this industry, they could never get these kinds of pledges.

He did a terrible job in Castlevania: Lords of Shadow. It was horribly written, but he totally phoned it in.

I haven't played Lords of Shadows and I had no idea he was in it. After watching a few youtube videos, he was phoning it in... John Travolta it is then

 

[bonesmccoy]

I wonder why this concept isn't getting more support.

Quite a few reasons actually, off the top of my head.

1) The 'shooter' market is still quite strong, even though this sub-genre is not.
2) There is no name or brand or game behind this project to create a (somewhat artificial) reference point for backers.
3) Fans have not been clamouring for an 'old style' tactical shooter - at least not in the sense they have been for a WL2/DFA game.
4) The FAQ states this kickstarter is just to prove to investors that they market for this title exists; will backers even see a return on their pledge?
5) "And I’m pretty sure these [tactical shooter] fans are bigger, stronger, and have guns- and hopefully more money." No one likes hubris when you're essentially begging for money.

FTL is a great example of how a kickstarter indie project should work. Small target, tangibles to show off to the interested and most importantly, an idea that hasn't been done to death.

 

[AstroLad]

i honestly don't know that i'd ever support a 3d/modern game on kickstarter. i'm hoping for more old-style games

call me a hater, but the ea ip vault alone has so much potential.

new mutant league? new ultima (-style game i suppose)? new desert strike? populous, zany golf, general chaos, haunted i'd support all those projects if the team was serious and trustworthy

 

[zkylon]

4) The FAQ states this kickstarter is just to prove to investors that they market for this title exists; will backers even see a return on their pledge?

This is my main reason for not supporting them. I'd really like a new SWAT-like game, but that project seems a little iffy.

Don't know if this was already posted, but Brian Fargo is now calling it "isometric" instead of "top-down":

For those that missed my interviews. Wasteland 2 is going to be an old school RPG with Isometric type view and party based tactical combat.

So Fallout style camera it is!

 

[indigo-cyclops]

From the WL2 blog, this interesting snippet



I really do think that explains a lot...

I thought it was a great line, never thought about it that way but makes sense. Love the potential Kickstarter has for Indie, and game development in general.

 

[Fine Ham Abounds]

Heh you know, I forgot the last thing I played by inXile was Hunted, which was fucking terrible, but...

 

[charsace]

Having a first person view is not just an "option" it means that now you have to make sure every asset looks great on all angles, not just iso, it means that levels have to be designed to be traversed in first person AND iso ... among other things, its not just a switch that you flip on and works magically, it would mean a whole new set of design, art and engineering headaches.

Texturing has to be done more carefully too.

I hope this game sells a million copies and that someone looks into reviving the SSI Golden Box Games.

 

[Perkel]

Texturing has to be done more carefully too.

I hope this game sells a million copies and that someone looks into reviving the SSI Golden Box Games.

I hope it sell well to point where inxile will be without money problem anymore and don't need anymore to deal with publishers. Same as Double fine or Obsidian.

OK OBSIDIAN, WHERE IS KICKSTARTER ?

Sawyer, Avellone, Tim fucking Cain in one project.

soo want..

 

[Aselith]

Between this and Double Fine, would indie devs with no experience (successful experience at least) get this kind of money for a project?

Honest question, not hinting at anything here.

No and they shouldn't. You should get more trust (money) with experience.

Will they be able to get after they build a rep? Probably at least close assuming people don't get burned on these games.

 

[zkylon]

I hope it sell well to point where inxile will be without money problem anymore and don't need anymore to deal with publishers. Same as Double fine or Obsidian.

OK OBSIDIAN, WHERE IS KICKSTARTER ?

Sawyer, Avellone, Tim fucking Cain in one project.

soo want..

I don't think I could imagine a better dream team in gaming.

 

[Beautifully Shaped Monsters]

There is an interview with Fargo here where he discusses what direction he wants to take things. To me it sounds very sensible.

He also discusses what they'll do if they run out of funds (hint: they have assets themselves in reserve.)

Choice quote:

Well here is the beauty of fan funding... we don't have to convince some younger RPG player of anything. I am making this game for the wonderful fans who put their money behind us and not some nebulous group of new people. Let's make the game they all expect and let the chips fall where they may. There is just no way I'm going to consider anything that could let down the core.

 

[AstroLad]

I still can't get over how cool this is. I think the Tim Schafer thing may have lessened the impact a bit, but man I remember for the past 15 years or so just wishing this would get made. Getting my hopes up when Fargo got the IP but then realizing that there was no real way it was going to happen, or that it was going to be some hackjob that didn't resemble Wasteland in the slightest (this was in the period when that XBLA Wing Commander came out and that shitty social Ultima as well as a bunch of other crap).

dreamy.

 

[SparkTR]

There is an interview with Fargo here where he discusses what direction he wants to take things. To me it sounds very sensible.

He also discusses what they'll do if they run out of funds (hint: they have assets themselves in reserve.)

Choice quote:

That's exactly what I want to hear. This is reminiscent of how these guys worked in the '90s, I have no doubt we'll get some RPG gold out of this.

 

[CrunchyFrog]

Wonderful to see this going to plan. Wake me up in 12 months when the CRPG returns to its full former glory.

 

[Nirolak]

i honestly don't know that i'd ever support a 3d/modern game on kickstarter. i'm hoping for more old-style games

call me a hater, but the ea ip vault alone has so much potential.

new mutant league? new ultima (-style game i suppose)? new desert strike? populous, zany golf, general chaos, haunted i'd support all those projects if the team was serious and trustworthy

You're actually getting Populous.

 

[AstroLad]

You're actually getting Populous.

oh sweet

It's worth noting EA Partners now includes social/mobile/Facebook games.

fuuuuu this is exactly what i'm talking about!

 

[Unknown Soldier]

He also discusses what they'll do if they run out of funds (hint: they have assets themselves in reserve.)

I don't think many people realize that Brian Fargo's name is not coincidental. He is a descendant of William Fargo, which makes him one of many scions of the Wells Fargo banking empire, though obviously he's one of the family members who isn't involved with the bank today and hasn't ever been. He has assets, but he has wisely never really used his own money to fund game development with the sole exception of when he founded Interplay.

 

[Nirolak]

oh sweet


fuuuuu this is exactly what i'm talking about!

Haha, okay, so I should note that I was wrong there, and they put them under the same operations model, but not the same name.

The Populous game is most likely an actual reboot a la SimCity and SSX from your other thread.

Edit:

There's also a surprisingly large Wing Commander fan game coming: http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=466850

 

[AstroLad]

Oh ok cool. I guess one tricky part is if these revivals are successful companies will be much less willing to let go of their old IPs for a song (I don't know what Fargo paid for the WL IP but I'm guessing it was close to nothing) and rather try to capitalize in-house. Then again maybe Double Fine can prove you don't even need old IPs to bring back that old-time feeling.