Possibly another Kickstarter

I read today that if jane does not make the 300,00 she doesn't any get any money, tell me this isn't true.

This project will only be funded if at least $300,000 is pledged by Saturday May 19, 9:57am EDT.

that`s how kickstarter works

don`t be afraid, too many days ahead, she`ll make it
they all do

Yeah it's a shame but that is how it works so Kickstarter project starters have to think really careful about their goal figure. On the plus side it does give a sense of urgency compared to a usual donation run and perhaps that gets some donating who wouldn't otherwise if it was just a chipin that can last forever and be forgotten. People can of course donate far beyond the goal too and I think the urgency helps push things that little further sometimes. I believe with ones that really fly they gradually introduce more info on what the totals beyond their initial goal could fund and add more rewards as demand grows with a lot of requests for certain things. So yeah we gotta get Tex to that initial goal (and beyond) or bust!

saw wing commander IV on gog yesterday and thought that kickstarter for a WC would be interesting, if not mind blowing (if they`d keep that unique interactive movie/cosmosim concept)

what other "possible kickstarter" projects do you think would be cool to see happen?

Well the Little Big Adventure series is overdue for a 3rd installment, I loved those games. There's a lot of dedicated fans for the series who would love to see it continued. Though I think a lot of the creators have parted ways. Also I'm not sure if I'd like how the 3rd in the series would turn out according to some news e.g. following the main characters son (I'd rather it still be Twinsen though at least he'd still be playable either way) and different "more realistic" look (I liked the 2d isometric sprite backgrounds and cartoony feel). However the info available is very minimal so my concerns may be put to rest with more info. The world in Little Big Adventure was so cool and quirky I would like to explore it all over again in a new adventure.

love is not enough?

If even one of these projects under performs or fails or even disappoints somewhat, it'll cause a huge investor lack of confidence which will kill the community fund model- the only reason why its even working so well is a false sense of trust because these ideas are being sold based on reputation rather than based on the work that is being offered. In other words we're being sold promises.. that's really not cool.

As I've said countless times.. I will only support something on the condition that it actually EXISTS. None of these projects actually exist, they're all in pre-production, its a lot of risk they're expecting us to take and if even one of them fails.. its a burden that indie startups will have to carry NOT the ex-AAAs.. We really need this system.. them exploiting it for a quick buck and then screwing it up completely is something that will be devastating to us.

Can't we just forking WAIT before we ask for funding? what the hell is the rush? For projects like Project Fedora, Wasteland 2 and Double Fine this is all well and good, those games have been in dev hell for a while now, and most of the people involved can't deal with publishers either due to past fights between publisher and developer or simply due to the genre. I get that.. but these other games aren't in that position.. FASA was liberated.. it has no bloody need for community funding, it has its mechwarrior IP currently mass producing titles that will make the IP owner a LOT of money, so why does Shadowrun get treated differently?.. I don't get that.. Shadowrun is just as mass marketable as Mechwarrior. Even still FASA massively fucked up Shadowrun the FPS.. so why am I supposed to trust them?!

Please for the love of god. Puts some damn work in first. I'll look at the work and say "ok this has potential".. All you've given me is text and a few concept graphics.. A publisher would have told you to get fucked.. I expect a little professionalism in the pitch THANKS, show me the concept actually working. Prototypes aren't hard to make, it should be the first thing you do before saying "I Want To Sell This".

Basically I'll buy their games when they're finished thanks.. Only Chris and Aaron get my money at the start because I owe it to them for inspiring me to get into video game development.. the rest have to release theirs, I'll buy their games on release.. they have to prove to me that they can actually do it.

Having worked in the industry has really hurt my ability to trust. I've been promised things and I've been screwed over by people I considered my friends, they took a lot of money from me after months of telling me how awesome everything was. So just excuse me if I'm very angry towards this. Its mainly because they're playing with potentially my future in this industry, and I would absolutely hate it if they made my job a lot harder than it needs to be. Preferably in 3 years theres actually a proper procedure in place for doing this. Since my latest project I intend having done in 3 years time ready for community funding.

This is why I'm such a grouch on this subject. I'd love to blindly give money to developers who will do some amazing work.. but I've been burned a lot of times by the industry.. so I'm hesitant to just hand money over to strangers. Chris and Aaron I consider friends, I can at least trust them. But to everyone else, they have to earn my trust.

You are right Cyber, I am pledging right now solely on reputation, and hope for the rebirth of the genre. I contributed a chunk to Jane based on her track record and I like the idea of the open house/concert event for fans to get together. And you don't have to drop 10k to get access.

Until I get burned, which I hope doesn't happen, I will continue to donate. And I might even donate to the unknown, untested "who are these guys", which I wouldn't have until Double Fine. Which I am much more likely to get stuck with nothing or a sub-par product.

I hope that other legitimate game designers get a chance to thumb their noses at the companies that slam the door in their faces, preventing them from making the games they believe in, because of prissy number crunchers that don't want to take a risk or mucky mucks more interested in stock prices than a product that they can be proud of.

I remember you getting pissed off about the casual market being cornered by Zynga and a couple other monopolies. Here's the chance to prove that game makers can reinvent themselves in a way that makes the fans and themselves happy.

If they aren't giving you enough information before hand about their project, and you want to pay after, that's fine too. They will need your money and profits to build the next project, as I am not one that will Kickstart one project after another from the same company. So in Jane's case, unless she totally wow's, I will think long and hard about re-upping for the year after.

It wasn't this Jordan Weisman that made the atrocious FPs... was it?

I thought he only made the masterpiece SNES one.

81,000 & climbing, she is doing well

I remember you getting pissed off about the casual market being cornered by Zynga and a couple other monopolies. Here's the chance to prove that game makers can reinvent themselves in a way that makes the fans and themselves happy.

If they aren't giving you enough information before hand about their project, and you want to pay after, that's fine too. They will need your money and profits to build the next project, as I am not one that will Kickstart one project after another from the same company. So in Jane's case, unless she totally wow's, I will think long and hard about re-upping for the year after.

Exactly right. Thankyou Jen

so I wonder what a safe figure might be for the guys to aim for, $300,000 might not get us much a game.

I say aim a little low and hope for the overflow than aim too high and not make the numbers, or look like greedy bastards.

As you know kickstarter is all or nothing.

Hopefully the Big Finish guys will provide info on what various milestones beyond the initial goal would mean to the project. Like with the Jane Jensen one, it is 300,00 but she has put additional info on what 600,000 would mean for them. The initial goal is important though too I think for the main heading (for spontaneous donations maybe?) so it would still have to be a decent amount.

Oh i am sure they will put that in there.

They are smart guys, and that would generate a ton of revenue.

I think they need at least a million to go all out, but again... put a lower figure and hope for the overflow, like Jen said. This model seems to have worked really well for everyone else.