Hey all! I've been majorly wrapped up in writing and story development over the last couple weeks, so not a lot of new visual content to share lately, but I'm very happy with the way the story structure is coming along. We bought a flex license for the design document/world building software articy:draft 2, and I've got to say I'm really impressed with the utility of the program for the price. It really helps visualize the structure of a non-linear game, something I've definitely found a challenge in the past, so I do recommend checking it out to anyone building an RPG.
Serge is also making excellent progress on the combat system prototype, and I'll be taking a writing break to do some animating for the battle sprites so we can get some combat gameplay feeling fully playable. So far things are translating pretty well from theoretical design to hands-on play, so I'm really looking forward to getting the system fully fleshed out so we can begin the balancing and tweaking process.
Backed you, guys! I'm not so used to this kind of games. But damn you have some gorgeous pixel art and char design. You convey so much with so little. That's amazing, mate. Congratz and thanks for developing such a promising game!
btw, we're working on a game (
Monster Prom) now and we contemplated the Square-Enix collective thing. How was your experience with it? What they give you and what they ask you in exchange? :O
Thanks man, appreciate it!
RE: Square-Enix, we didn't end up actually taking their support for the Kickstarter itself so I can't tell you how exactly that goes, but in regards to the Collective platform I would definitely recommend trying it out if crowdfunding is something you're considering. You've got nothing to lose except some time and it will definitely give you a rough idea of how much support is out there for your idea. It will also serve as a much less stressful test run of managing a campaign if you've never done it before, so it's able to at least somewhat prepare you for the real deal.
In terms of the process, it's pretty straight forward. After you submit your pitch they'll get back to you a couple weeks later to let you know if your project is good to go or notes on what it needs if it isn't. After the campaign's over, if your numbers were good (I assume they judge on a case by case basis, but we made it through with 90%) you'll be able to move on to the next phase and there will be an interview process for your team via conference call (and you'll also have to fill out some paperwork detailing your development process and send them a design document for your game).
At no point in the process are you obligated to actually take their support, so like I said you don't have a ton to lose even if you're not sure what route you'll ultimately want to go. We made it through the interview process, but due to scheduling conflicts we weren't able to actually work with them in the end, even though everything luckily worked out pretty well for us anyway. If you do end up going with them, they take 5% from the pot if you reach your goal. At the end of the day I can't say how much of a difference their support would make, but from my personal point of view I would say it's probably worth the 'price tag' just so you can have their name attached to the product in press. If nothing else, I imagine the added credibility would be a great help!
Great job! The atmosphere and art style caught my attention immediately. Hope you´ll finish it soon. We talked for a long time about starting a kickstarter for our project, but we are not sure about it yet. Could you explain a bit your experience? Thank you in advance and good luck!
Thanks! I'd like to do a proper Kickstarter post-mortem at some point, but I'm finding time is becoming an increasingly valuable and likewise fleeting resource, so unfortunately that's a ways down on my to-do list.
Obviously the experience varies for every campaign, depending on how much you're asking for and what the stakes are for being successful (and in our case both variables were quite high). But to put it simply, Kickstarter is not for the faint of heart! It's something probably every Kickstarter creator has already said, but if you really want it to succeed, expect to dedicate every single waking moment for 30 days to the campaign. In our case we had the unique advantage of being in opposite timezones, so one of us was awake to monitor the campaign literally at all times, haha.
You've got to constantly be getting the word out to all corners of the internet, dealing with a barrage of communication from all directions, and putting together new content and updates at (ideally) a constant pace. Halfway through you'll definitely start to feel drained, but the middle of the campaign is when you actually have to push the hardest to stop momentum from stalling I feel, so you've really got to be prepared to keep pushing on.
One specific thing I would definitely recommend is having a few content updates "pre-packaged" and ready to go before even launching. We were on a time table that meant we had to launch when we did, which unfortunately meant all of the updates and most of the content in them was constructed from scratch post-launch. Very stressful, since I was personally responsible for all of that content. Thankfully Serge was there to shoulder the weight in terms of networking and social media, because there's no way I could have handled that to the degree necessary at the same time.
Another thing I'd say to keep in mind is don't be afraid to (very politely) contact bigger names than you might think would be willing to notice you when you're looking for support. For instance, we had the Divinity: Original Sin 2 campaign (who with 42,000 backers and $2,000,000 raised I would have considered infinitely out of our league) give us a shout-out in one of their updates after Serge reached out for some support. I honestly wouldn't have even tried, assuming our project to be completely off their radar, so I was blown away! Definitely don't underestimate how supportive the community can be.
Community
