Also recommending it to any Earthworm Jim \ The Neverhood fan (or Armikrog!), I really like his art
and his first sketchbook was really great, I was so sad I missed it (he only makes copies
for the backers, and the copies backers sell at ebay are at least double\triple the price!)
so this is a great chance, only 4 days left to get it! ^^
Hey, remember how Shadowrun: Returns was mostly a Steam thing with the whole DRM-Free aspect being essentially a worse product as a result?
Not any more!
Thanks to a new agreement we were able to negotiate with our partners at Microsoft, Harebrained Schemes is pleased to announce that we are now able to release fully DRM-free versions of Shadowrun Returns and future expansions such as Berlin.
>
The DRM-free versions of SRR and Berlin will continue to be fully supported. You’ll be able to download all game patches, use the Shadowrun Returns editor and experience user-generated content downloaded from third-party sites such as Nexus.
>
We’re starting work to get Shadowrun Returns available on GOG.com right now - not sure how long that will take but we’ll let you know as soon as we have an answer.
>
We’re very excited we’re finally able to offer Shadowrun DRM-free to everyone and look forward to making it available!
Seems like Kickstarters are having a really hard time during the release of two new consoles. Festival of Magic, to me, seems like the thing people usually would have backed instantly. I mean, PC console style JRPG?
I still have a real problem with the backer rewards - of course, because they only give away Steam keys to backers. 'Freedom for games', but tie your backers to the largest publisher in PC history, that's what I'd personally call a philosophy paradox. But they ARE in talks with other DRM free platforms and have no problem with eventually distributing the game DRM free.
There's an alpha demo as well, and I've spent quite some happy hours with it yesterday.
Our long national nightmare is over. Broken Age will be available to Kickstarter backers on January 14th. No word on when it opens for Early Access on Steam, though.
Edit: I asked Tim Schafer if the January 14th date also included Early Access and he said no.
Yeah, January 14th is the date for the beta. As far as I recall it's supposed to be available on Steam Early Access about two weeks after that, so around January 28th.
I might have to wait too, because I haven't been able to get Steam to connect for like a month now. But why does that mean you're out of the discussion and backer videos? Or are you saying that you didn't back it because it was Steam-only?
Vainamoinen is very much against intrusive forms of DRM, which means that he won't use anything like Steam (which is a form of DRM, even if it's not all that obvious).
As a result, he won't take part in the Steam-only Early Access version, and wants to avoid spoilers until he can get the DRM-Free version, which is why he's saying he'll be taking part in any discussions or watching the backer videos.
I might have to wait too, because I haven't been able to get Steam to connect for like a month now. But why does that mean you're out of the discussion and backer videos? Or are you saying that you didn't back it because it was Steam-only?
Fair enough, but serious error in judgment on the videos, amirite? Kidding, I'm sure they'll still be entertaining after playing the full game, but certainly less zeitgeisty.
Vainamoinen is very much against intrusive forms of DRM, which means that he won't use anything like Steam (which is a form of DRM, even if it… more's not all that obvious).
As a result, he won't take part in the Steam-only Early Access version, and wants to avoid spoilers until he can get the DRM-Free version, which is why he's saying he'll be taking part in any discussions or watching the backer videos.
I backed it because they said it would be DRM free. Which is at least half a lie now because until, say, August or November, the first half WILL be Steam exclusive, and no "Steam client" will ever be installed on my computer.
As that doesn't interest Double Fine to any degree, I can fully expect to now be spoiled to the core with those upcoming backer videos. No thanks.
I might have to wait too, because I haven't been able to get Steam to connect for like a month now. But why does that mean you're out of the discussion and backer videos? Or are you saying that you didn't back it because it was Steam-only?
You'll get your complete DRM free version, though, eventually, right? So they will have fulfilled their promise to deliver a game that is DRM free.
I think the Broken Age game looks amazing.
I love that it seems so original and creative and isn't full of violence. Not to sound corny, but I like quirky, charming games with heart (and that don't rely on cheap emotional manipulation like TWD does.)
After a certain other game company turned out to be run by a disturbed person (allegedly!) who alienates the entire adventure game fan base, my hope for adventure games now resides in large part with Broken Age. Go, Tim go!!
I backed it because they said it would be DRM free. Which is at least half a lie now because until, say, August or November, the first half WI… moreLL be Steam exclusive, and no "Steam client" will ever be installed on my computer.
As that doesn't interest Double Fine to any degree, I can fully expect to now be spoiled to the core with those upcoming backer videos. No thanks.
Compared to Double Fine, they're asking for pennies. If you liked the first Book of Unwritten Tales game, you really should invest in the second. It really is time to find out what these guys can do with a moderate amount of money as compared to the massive injection Broken Age got. We need our perspective on reasonable budgets for 2D adventure games back, and I think King Art can do exactly that.
King Art kickstart:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingartgames/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-2
Compared to Double Fine, they're ask… moreing for pennies. If you liked the first Book of Unwritten Tales game, you really should invest in the second. It really is time to find out what these guys can do with a moderate amount of money as compared to the massive injection Broken Age got. We need our perspective on reasonable budgets for 2D adventure games back, and I think King Art can do exactly that.
A cross between an up-to-date Darklands and Mount & Blade with prettier graphics, better animations, and a story to speak of. That's probably selling it short, but it's worth a look and there's still a week left to donate.
About book of unwritten tales 2, they aren't really asking for money to create a game, since they say the game is pretty much already finished, but for money to enhance and already made or almost complete game. So I don't know if it is fair to compare it to the budget of double fine adventure, since we don't really know what the total budget of book of unwritten tales is.
King Art kickstart:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingartgames/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-2
Compared to Double Fine, they're ask… moreing for pennies. If you liked the first Book of Unwritten Tales game, you really should invest in the second. It really is time to find out what these guys can do with a moderate amount of money as compared to the massive injection Broken Age got. We need our perspective on reasonable budgets for 2D adventure games back, and I think King Art can do exactly that.
we don't really know what the total budget of book of unwritten tales is.
Oh yes, we actually do know that. Including even the develoment of their then new game engine, the first TBoUT had a budget between 400,000 and 500,000 € (ca. 520,000 to 650,000 $). No real idea what the budget for part two is of course - but we could really assume, without risking understatement, that they originally worked with about the same amount and will stack that budget up with the Kickstarter funds.
My assumption about TBoUT2's eventual total budget, taking the Kickstarter's present degree of success into account, is somewhere between 600,000 and 750,000$.
About book of unwritten tales 2, they aren't really asking for money to create a game, since they say the game is pretty much already finished… more, but for money to enhance and already made or almost complete game. So I don't know if it is fair to compare it to the budget of double fine adventure, since we don't really know what the total budget of book of unwritten tales is.
Updates show that the game development is progressing nicely, and recently it was announced that Mage's Initiation was Greenlit on Steam. This is great news for indie adventure game fans. This team has been actively developing excellent classic-style adventure games for over a decade. Wanted to share this good news, since lately it seems like classic adventure game genre fans have been hit with some bad news lately.
And if you want to see this game offered at GOG and want the site to offer a deal for it (or just want to support indie adventure game development), then you can leave a comment here and tell GOG to sell games like this: http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/mages_initiation
I am always inspired when I see classic adventure game fans come together to support the genre.
"Here is your Shadowrun: Dragonfall (Steam) key" email from HBS five days ago.
Contents: "If you haven’t requested DRM-free keys for GOG.com or the Humble Store yet and would like one - no problem! Just send us your Kickstarter email address and let us know which partner you prefer."
IMMEDIATE reply: gog preferred.
Release today. Guess what? No key.
edit: Strike that. Their support replied within five minutes and rectified the situation. That, indeed, isn't bad.
Speaking of DRM-free promises, I'm sure you already caught this, but I thought I'd post it here since I myself missed it until days ago. Broken Age Act I is available DRM-free for PC, Mac, and Linux through Humble Bundle to backers (the same process in which they gave out the Steam keys). The DRM-free version is also available to purchase for people who weren't backers and who don't want to go through Steam. The details are in this post at the Double Fine forums.
The atmosphere and story are wonderful, but I feel like there isn't enough "game" there. It feels more like a somewhat interactive animated series episode. Not enough challenge.
King Art kickstart:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingartgames/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-2
Compared to Double Fine, they're ask… moreing for pennies. If you liked the first Book of Unwritten Tales game, you really should invest in the second. It really is time to find out what these guys can do with a moderate amount of money as compared to the massive injection Broken Age got. We need our perspective on reasonable budgets for 2D adventure games back, and I think King Art can do exactly that.
Not enough challenge, certainly, and they should really work at that. But that's not all there is to an adventure game. What the Double Finers let the player do or perform are some pretty iconic things, things that stick with you. As far as adventure game quests are concerned, "make the tree [spoiler verb]" and "shrink [spoiler noun] via teleporter" are, in principle, really hitting the appeal of those games on the head. That Tim Schafer really still has it in him, that's what I have to say to Act I.
The juxtaposition of sometimes even shocking story and children's picture book graphics certainly works out better than I had imagined. Of course, graphics and especially animation never rises above "Machinarium" (which was made by seven Czech developers without an actual budget besides what they had privately saved up).
Tablet optimization breaks my heart in Broken Age. It should NEVER have been attempted, a conceptual desaster. This thing has hotspots the size of your fist abound. You're lucky if there are even a meagre three in a screen. Of course, these gigantic hotspots influence pictoral composition for the worse because they have to be carefully placed apart from each other. But the lack of hotspots is not the only thing the darn tablets are responsible for - also what you can do with them. Left mouse button: "interact". The standard is that you can at least distinguish between "look at" and "interact with" for a reason. An immersion breaker, pretty much.
Double Fine asked for 400,000, and you said that BoUT2 probably has a 6 or $700,000 budget, so I don't know if your comparison is a good one.
Does anyone know how much Double Fine actually ended up with for Broken Age? After taxes and sending out all those backer rewards, that is.
Yeah, that one's out of the box. Not sure about taxes, but Broken Age has a 6,000,000$ budget after backer rewards, documentary etc.pp.
Double Fine asked for 400,000, yes - for which Tim Schafer intended to release a little Flash game, as he later explained when the budget exploded. At the time, we know that 66% of funds were supplied by Double Fine themselves eventually. King Art asked for 65,000 initially, but making abundantly clear up front that publisher money is in the game already.
That is a dire risk for the publisher, of course. All those Kickstarter/PayPal funds are supposed to be put into the development - what if the core target group for the game grabs it via crowd funding? The publisher gets nil out of their investment. Not that this would happen, but you do have to admire Nordic Games for allowing that Kickstarter to happen.
What do you all think of Broken Age?
The atmosphere and story are wonderful, but I feel like there isn't enough "game" there. It feels more like a somewhat interactive animated series episode. Not enough challenge.
Wow, are they saying that "tablet optimization" is why there are relatively few hotspots in each screen? I haven't been reading much about this game or what the developers have been saying. If that's what they're saying, then I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I have played many adventure games on my iPad and iPhone (and even on tiny little iPod touch), and I managed fine with the games' (often very numerous) hotspots. What's needed for the good touchscreen experience is labels for hotspots and for the labels to appear where you are touching, or just above your finger. Also works when the labels are always in some location or box on the screen. But many hotspots are not at all damaging to the touchscreen playing experience. What is a killer on touchscreens is when there are no labels, as with Larry Reloaded, which is sadly NOT fun on mobile devices and is very frustrating to play without labels; half of the challenge is finding the right place to touch in Larry Reloaded. Sitting down on a barstool, for example, should not take several attempts, during each of which you have to listen to the narrator scold the player for supposedly trying to pick up the bar, or something. If the mobile touchscreen version of Broken Age does not have any labels, then they will have made a huge mistake.
I definitely don't agree that having a touchscreen version means that the (point and click adventure) game interface for all versions needs to be dumbed down. I have been surprised to see how much can be done on touchscreens and just how well point-and-click adventure games lend themselves to mobile devices. For example: double-tap on something as a shortcut to "look." Tap once and the action could be walk. Long tap for a second until the verb coin or options appear for that object, and select the action for that hotspot. There are many variations of this (e.g., double-tapping could make the character run, instead of walk), of course, but the point is that it is wrong to suggest that, at least with point-and-click adventures, a touchscreen means you can't have the same sort of verb options that you would have with a PC version.
I absolutely refuse to believe that touchscreens limit the number of hotspots that can be included. I mean, look at new iOS Sims games. I also use photoshop on my phone, and the image you're editing is filled with thousands of hotspots, so to speak, and it's still surprisingly easy to make specific and fine adjustments to graphics with the adobe photoshop app for iOS. Perhaps people mad about the low number of hotspots are choosing to scapegoat tablets rather than blame the designer for the design choices. Most adventure gamers still play on PC, though mobile gamers are increasing in number, so maybe it's easier to blame a method of adventure gaming that many people still don't have much experience with. Heck, if I can navigate this "lovely" new Telltale forum redesign with my touchscreen (I do all my commenting from my iPhone) and even manage to use that disappearing little edit button...then I think it's possible to play detailed adventure games with a touch screen... honestly, it's quite easy, especially with a screen larger than 4 inches. I find playing Broken Sword 5 on my iPad much more enjoyable than playing it on the PC.
What do you all think of Broken Age?
Not enough challenge, certainly, and they should really work at that. But that's not all there … moreis to an adventure game. What the Double Finers let the player do or perform are some pretty iconic things, things that stick with you. As far as adventure game quests are concerned, "make the tree [spoiler verb]" and "shrink [spoiler noun] via teleporter" are, in principle, really hitting the appeal of those games on the head. That Tim Schafer really still has it in him, that's what I have to say to Act I.
The juxtaposition of sometimes even shocking story and children's picture book graphics certainly works out better than I had imagined. Of course, graphics and especially animation never rises above "Machinarium" (which was made by seven Czech developers without an actual budget besides what they had privately saved up).
Tablet optimization breaks my heart in Broken Age. It should NEVER have been… [view original content]
Wow, are they saying that "tablet optimization" is why there are relatively few hotspots in each screen?
No, they're saying nothing like that. It seems fairly obvious to me though; and the optimisation looms throughout the game. The hotspots ARE huge. The hotspots HAVE to be immediately recognisable. The hotspots CAN'T overlap without creating immediate confusion (Vella's father and the kitchen door have overlapping hotspots - it doesn't really work). They can't display the name of the hotspot on mouseover - as there's no mouseover on tablets.
And of course, they don't use the second mouse button because they only have one on tablets. What they're saying is: "the only verb adventure games need is interact with ". But I personally believe it's just yet another bow to the mobile casual audience.
Wow, are they saying that "tablet optimization" is why there are relatively few hotspots in each screen? I haven't been reading much about t… morehis game or what the developers have been saying. If that's what they're saying, then I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I have played many adventure games on my iPad and iPhone (and even on tiny little iPod touch), and I managed fine with the games' (often very numerous) hotspots. What's needed for the good touchscreen experience is labels for hotspots and for the labels to appear where you are touching, or just above your finger. Also works when the labels are always in some location or box on the screen. But many hotspots are not at all damaging to the touchscreen playing experience. What is a killer on touchscreens is when there are no labels, as with Larry Reloaded, which is sadly NOT fun on mobile devices and is very frustrating to play without labels; half of the challenge is finding the right … [view original content]
A Song for Viggo is a stop motion game made of paper that I both really want to see get made but also dread playing.
It's a game about a father who accidentally kills his son and the challenges he faces afterwards in having to go on living with the guilt and sorrow, being there for his daughter and trying to save his marriage after the terrible tragedy. By having interviewed parents who have lost children the creator will attempt to make the game feel as authentic as possible.
The first chapter starts with you having to arrange your son's funeral.
It has recently received coverage on both Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Polygon and Kotaku, among other sites. At the moment it's at $12,000 of its $20,000 goal, with 10 days to go.
Bill Tiller, Gene Mocsy, and Jeremiah Grant have started a new Kickstarter for a point and click adventure game called Duke Grabowski, Mighty Swashbuckler!. Set in the Azurbbean, the alternate version of the Caribbean from Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, Duke Grabowski stars a massive, brutish pirate who desperately wants to be a suave & sophisticated swashbuckler. It will be a small point and click adventure game that will consist of between ten to twelve rooms, or about a quarter of the size of A Vampyre Story. Should the Kickstarter be successful, his comedy adventure for PC, Mac, Linux, and Ouya has a projected release date of October 2015.
I really hope this succeeds, as the art looks gorgeous (as always), and Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy have improved a lot in the design area since A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates. The Perils of Man: Chapter One has a design by Tiller and Mocsy (and strangely not art by Bill Tiller, which I was on the fence about when it was announced). It actually has one of the best adventure game designs in an adventure game I've played since the LucasArts classics. After playing Chapter One, The full Perils of Man game is one of my most anticipated adventures of this year. I really hope that it ends up coming out for PC, Mac, and Linux so that more people can get to play it. If this game has anything close to the design of Perils of Man, we're going to be in for a nice treat.
Bill Tiller, Gene Mocsy, and Jeremiah Grant have started a new Kickstarter for a point and click adventure game called Duke Grabowski, Might… morey Swashbuckler!. Set in the Azurbbean, the alternate version of the Caribbean from Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, Duke Grabowski stars a massive, brutish pirate who desperately wants to be a suave & sophisticated swashbuckler. It will be a small point and click adventure game that will consist of between ten to twelve rooms, or about a quarter of the size of A Vampyre Story. Should the Kickstarter be successful, his comedy adventure for PC, Mac, Linux, and Ouya has a projected release date of October 2015.
I really hope this succeeds, as the art looks gorgeous (as always), and Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy have improved a lot in the design area since A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates. The Perils of Man: Chapter One has a design by Tiller and Mocsy (and strangely not art by Bill Tiller, which I was on… [view original content]
Thimbleweed Park is a classic adventure game by Ron Gilbert (Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island 1&2, Deathspank, The Cave) and Gary Winnick (Maniac Mansion, Defenders of Dynatron City, Bad Dreams) made in a pixellated graphical style mashup of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island 2. It's already funded at just over $485,000 with 9 days to go. If it makes it to $525,000 they'll add full voice overs to make it a "talkie" version.
More maniacs have joined the team for Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick's Thimbleweed Park!
The first is Ken Macklin, who designed the cover for Maniac Mansion. He will be doing the cover for Thimbleweed Park as well.
The second is the creator of Zak McKracken, David Fox. He worked on Maniac Mansion as well, doing most of the SCUMM scripting for the game, and is apparently the one we have to thank for the hamster in the microwave joke.
Thimbleweed Park is a classic adventure game by Ron Gilbert (Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island 1&2, Deathspank, The Cave) and Gary Winnick (… moreManiac Mansion, Defenders of Dynatron City, Bad Dreams) made in a pixellated graphical style mashup of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island 2. It's already funded at just over $485,000 with 9 days to go. If it makes it to $525,000 they'll add full voice overs to make it a "talkie" version.
More maniacs have joined the team for Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick's Thimbleweed Park!
The first is Ken Macklin, who designed the cover … morefor Maniac Mansion. He will be doing the cover for Thimbleweed Park as well.
The second is the creator of Zak McKracken, David Fox. He worked on Maniac Mansion as well, doing most of the SCUMM scripting for the game, and is apparently the one we have to thank for the hamster in the microwave joke.
There is a kickstarter campaign running now to make the three adventure games created by Theresa Duncan (Chop Suey, Smarty, and Zero Zero) available for free online, for a minimum of one year. These games were pioneers of their time, but they are now obscure, and long out of print. They targeted young girls in the mid-1990's when the market catered almost exclusively to young boys. They were story based adventure games and revolve around search and discovery. They were also well received when they were released. Chop Suey was named the 1995 CD-ROM of the Year by Entertainment Weekly.
Sadly, Theresa Duncan passed away in 2007, but this Kickstarter aims to make sure that her games continue to be able to be enjoyed by the next generation of children. They're so close to their goal, with less than $1,000 USD to go and just over a day to do it.
I'm backing a promising looking indie game tentatively called "Icy". The game is nearly complete with an estimated release of June, but the developers are running an Indiegogo campaign to help with polishing: A $6 pledge gets you a digital copy of the game. They have already met their modest goal and are now working on stretch goals.
Icy is a dialogue-heavy adventure game / CRPG (PC/Mac/Linux) in a post-apocalyptic setting where the world is experiencing a new Ice Age. The game play will involve a lot of tough moral choices and a strong emphasis on the survival aspect; e.g., your party must hunt for food, scavenge for supplies, and deal with dangerous beasts and cannibals. There's some really nice artwork as well.
I'm backing a promising looking indie game tentatively called "Icy". The game is nearly complete with an estimated release of June, but the… more developers are running an Indiegogo campaign to help with polishing: A $6 pledge gets you a digital copy of the game. They have already met their modest goal and are now working on stretch goals.
Icy is a dialogue-heavy adventure game / CRPG (PC/Mac/Linux) in a post-apocalyptic setting where the world is experiencing a new Ice Age. The game play will involve a lot of tough moral choices and a strong emphasis on the survival aspect; e.g., your party must hunt for food, scavenge for supplies, and deal with dangerous beasts and cannibals. There's some really nice artwork as well.
Whether or not you back, you can also help by voting for the game on Steam Greenlight and GOG wishlist.
Is anyone a fan of the old Toejam and Earl games? One of the developers of the original is planning a direct sequel to the first game called "Back in the Goove"
I loved playing the original game back in the day and this is the first Kickstarter project that i have backed, it's a fairly expensive project at $400,000 and they are currently at $202,091 with 24 days left so hopefully they make their target
Awesome. I really love the classic 90's platformers. I played some of the original Toejam and Earl, but like Banjo Kazooie I have to admit that I never played it through to completion back then (I've since rectified the Banjo Kazooie situation with the XBLA version). :0
I'll definitely be backing this, and I'll have to make a point to play through the first game on ConsoleClassix in preparation.
Is anyone a fan of the old Toejam and Earl games? One of the developers of the original is planning a direct sequel to the first game called… more "Back in the Goove"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lC-f-s0XbQ
I loved playing the original game back in the day and this is the first Kickstarter project that i have backed, it's a fairly expensive project at $400,000 and they are currently at $202,091 with 24 days left so hopefully they make their target
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1578116861/toejam-and-earl-back-in-the-groove
Comments
I mentioned it on another site -COUGH-doublefine-COUGH- but yeah, I'm pretty on-board with this!
There's been a couple of other games that ONLY JUST reached their funding goals lately - namely Cornerstone: The Song of Tyrim and Knite and the Ghost Lights, both of which I'm looking forward to.
Wow... I just saw this post. Much belated thanks for the shout out!
Just bought Doug TenNapel's SketchBook Vol 2 on KickStarter!
Also recommending it to any Earthworm Jim \ The Neverhood fan (or Armikrog!), I really like his art
and his first sketchbook was really great, I was so sad I missed it (he only makes copies
for the backers, and the copies backers sell at ebay are at least double\triple the price!)
so this is a great chance, only 4 days left to get it! ^^
Hey, remember how Shadowrun: Returns was mostly a Steam thing with the whole DRM-Free aspect being essentially a worse product as a result?
Not any more!
>
>
>
The creator of Billy and Mandy has a kickstarter for a new web show
It's got 20 hours, $7,300 to go, and is continuously getting more donations. It could go either way and I want to see this backed!
Seems like Kickstarters are having a really hard time during the release of two new consoles. Festival of Magic, to me, seems like the thing people usually would have backed instantly. I mean, PC console style JRPG?
I still have a real problem with the backer rewards - of course, because they only give away Steam keys to backers. 'Freedom for games', but tie your backers to the largest publisher in PC history, that's what I'd personally call a philosophy paradox. But they ARE in talks with other DRM free platforms and have no problem with eventually distributing the game DRM free.
There's an alpha demo as well, and I've spent quite some happy hours with it yesterday.
Try this... these guys should get a chance.
Our long national nightmare is over. Broken Age will be available to Kickstarter backers on January 14th. No word on when it opens for Early Access on Steam, though.
Edit: I asked Tim Schafer if the January 14th date also included Early Access and he said no.
Yeah, January 14th is the date for the beta. As far as I recall it's supposed to be available on Steam Early Access about two weeks after that, so around January 28th.
Waiting for the DRM free backer version, which of course means I'm out of any discussion and of course the backer videos as well. Thanks, Tim!
I might have to wait too, because I haven't been able to get Steam to connect for like a month now. But why does that mean you're out of the discussion and backer videos? Or are you saying that you didn't back it because it was Steam-only?
Vainamoinen is very much against intrusive forms of DRM, which means that he won't use anything like Steam (which is a form of DRM, even if it's not all that obvious).
As a result, he won't take part in the Steam-only Early Access version, and wants to avoid spoilers until he can get the DRM-Free version, which is why he's saying he'll be taking part in any discussions or watching the backer videos.
Fair enough, but serious error in judgment on the videos, amirite? Kidding, I'm sure they'll still be entertaining after playing the full game, but certainly less zeitgeisty.
I backed it because they said it would be DRM free. Which is at least half a lie now because until, say, August or November, the first half WILL be Steam exclusive, and no "Steam client" will ever be installed on my computer.
As that doesn't interest Double Fine to any degree, I can fully expect to now be spoiled to the core with those upcoming backer videos. No thanks.
You'll get your complete DRM free version, though, eventually, right? So they will have fulfilled their promise to deliver a game that is DRM free.
I think the Broken Age game looks amazing.
I love that it seems so original and creative and isn't full of violence. Not to sound corny, but I like quirky, charming games with heart (and that don't rely on cheap emotional manipulation like TWD does.)
After a certain other game company turned out to be run by a disturbed person (allegedly!) who alienates the entire adventure game fan base, my hope for adventure games now resides in large part with Broken Age. Go, Tim go!!
Elijah's voice work sounds great, too.
King Art kickstart:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/kingartgames/the-book-of-unwritten-tales-2
Compared to Double Fine, they're asking for pennies. If you liked the first Book of Unwritten Tales game, you really should invest in the second. It really is time to find out what these guys can do with a moderate amount of money as compared to the massive injection Broken Age got. We need our perspective on reasonable budgets for 2D adventure games back, and I think King Art can do exactly that.
Hell yes! That new Book of Unwritten Tales game sounds awesome.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance.
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1294225970/kingdom-come-deliverance
A cross between an up-to-date Darklands and Mount & Blade with prettier graphics, better animations, and a story to speak of. That's probably selling it short, but it's worth a look and there's still a week left to donate.
About book of unwritten tales 2, they aren't really asking for money to create a game, since they say the game is pretty much already finished, but for money to enhance and already made or almost complete game. So I don't know if it is fair to compare it to the budget of double fine adventure, since we don't really know what the total budget of book of unwritten tales is.
Oh yes, we actually do know that. Including even the develoment of their then new game engine, the first TBoUT had a budget between 400,000 and 500,000 € (ca. 520,000 to 650,000 $). No real idea what the budget for part two is of course - but we could really assume, without risking understatement, that they originally worked with about the same amount and will stack that budget up with the Kickstarter funds.
My assumption about TBoUT2's eventual total budget, taking the Kickstarter's present degree of success into account, is somewhere between 600,000 and 750,000$.
One of the brightest moments last year for classic adventure games fans was when well-respected Himalaya's (AGDI) Mage's Initiation got funded on Kickstarter and nearly doubled the fundraising goal:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/2112639455/mages-initiation-a-classic-sierra-style-adventure
Updates show that the game development is progressing nicely, and recently it was announced that Mage's Initiation was Greenlit on Steam. This is great news for indie adventure game fans. This team has been actively developing excellent classic-style adventure games for over a decade. Wanted to share this good news, since lately it seems like classic adventure game genre fans have been hit with some bad news lately.
And if you want to see this game offered at GOG and want the site to offer a deal for it (or just want to support indie adventure game development), then you can leave a comment here and tell GOG to sell games like this:
http://www.gog.com/wishlist/games/mages_initiation
I am always inspired when I see classic adventure game fans come together to support the genre.
"Here is your Shadowrun: Dragonfall (Steam) key" email from HBS five days ago.
Contents: "If you haven’t requested DRM-free keys for GOG.com or the Humble Store yet and would like one - no problem! Just send us your Kickstarter email address and let us know which partner you prefer."
IMMEDIATE reply: gog preferred.
Release today. Guess what? No key.
edit: Strike that. Their support replied within five minutes and rectified the situation. That, indeed, isn't bad.
Speaking of DRM-free promises, I'm sure you already caught this, but I thought I'd post it here since I myself missed it until days ago. Broken Age Act I is available DRM-free for PC, Mac, and Linux through Humble Bundle to backers (the same process in which they gave out the Steam keys). The DRM-free version is also available to purchase for people who weren't backers and who don't want to go through Steam. The details are in this post at the Double Fine forums.
What do you all think of Broken Age?
The atmosphere and story are wonderful, but I feel like there isn't enough "game" there. It feels more like a somewhat interactive animated series episode. Not enough challenge.
RE: BoUT2 asking for $65,000
Double Fine asked for 400,000, and you said that BoUT2 probably has a 6 or $700,000 budget, so I don't know if your comparison is a good one.
Does anyone know how much Double Fine actually ended up with for Broken Age? After taxes and sending out all those backer rewards, that is.
Not enough challenge, certainly, and they should really work at that. But that's not all there is to an adventure game. What the Double Finers let the player do or perform are some pretty iconic things, things that stick with you. As far as adventure game quests are concerned, "make the tree [spoiler verb]" and "shrink [spoiler noun] via teleporter" are, in principle, really hitting the appeal of those games on the head. That Tim Schafer really still has it in him, that's what I have to say to Act I.
The juxtaposition of sometimes even shocking story and children's picture book graphics certainly works out better than I had imagined. Of course, graphics and especially animation never rises above "Machinarium" (which was made by seven Czech developers without an actual budget besides what they had privately saved up).
Tablet optimization breaks my heart in Broken Age. It should NEVER have been attempted, a conceptual desaster. This thing has hotspots the size of your fist abound. You're lucky if there are even a meagre three in a screen. Of course, these gigantic hotspots influence pictoral composition for the worse because they have to be carefully placed apart from each other. But the lack of hotspots is not the only thing the darn tablets are responsible for - also what you can do with them. Left mouse button: "interact". The standard is that you can at least distinguish between "look at" and "interact with" for a reason. An immersion breaker, pretty much.
Yeah, that one's out of the box. Not sure about taxes, but Broken Age has a 6,000,000$ budget after backer rewards, documentary etc.pp.
Double Fine asked for 400,000, yes - for which Tim Schafer intended to release a little Flash game, as he later explained when the budget exploded. At the time, we know that 66% of funds were supplied by Double Fine themselves eventually. King Art asked for 65,000 initially, but making abundantly clear up front that publisher money is in the game already.
That is a dire risk for the publisher, of course. All those Kickstarter/PayPal funds are supposed to be put into the development - what if the core target group for the game grabs it via crowd funding? The publisher gets nil out of their investment. Not that this would happen, but you do have to admire Nordic Games for allowing that Kickstarter to happen.
Wow, are they saying that "tablet optimization" is why there are relatively few hotspots in each screen? I haven't been reading much about this game or what the developers have been saying. If that's what they're saying, then I think that is absolutely ridiculous. I have played many adventure games on my iPad and iPhone (and even on tiny little iPod touch), and I managed fine with the games' (often very numerous) hotspots. What's needed for the good touchscreen experience is labels for hotspots and for the labels to appear where you are touching, or just above your finger. Also works when the labels are always in some location or box on the screen. But many hotspots are not at all damaging to the touchscreen playing experience. What is a killer on touchscreens is when there are no labels, as with Larry Reloaded, which is sadly NOT fun on mobile devices and is very frustrating to play without labels; half of the challenge is finding the right place to touch in Larry Reloaded. Sitting down on a barstool, for example, should not take several attempts, during each of which you have to listen to the narrator scold the player for supposedly trying to pick up the bar, or something. If the mobile touchscreen version of Broken Age does not have any labels, then they will have made a huge mistake.
I definitely don't agree that having a touchscreen version means that the (point and click adventure) game interface for all versions needs to be dumbed down. I have been surprised to see how much can be done on touchscreens and just how well point-and-click adventure games lend themselves to mobile devices. For example: double-tap on something as a shortcut to "look." Tap once and the action could be walk. Long tap for a second until the verb coin or options appear for that object, and select the action for that hotspot. There are many variations of this (e.g., double-tapping could make the character run, instead of walk), of course, but the point is that it is wrong to suggest that, at least with point-and-click adventures, a touchscreen means you can't have the same sort of verb options that you would have with a PC version.
I absolutely refuse to believe that touchscreens limit the number of hotspots that can be included. I mean, look at new iOS Sims games. I also use photoshop on my phone, and the image you're editing is filled with thousands of hotspots, so to speak, and it's still surprisingly easy to make specific and fine adjustments to graphics with the adobe photoshop app for iOS. Perhaps people mad about the low number of hotspots are choosing to scapegoat tablets rather than blame the designer for the design choices. Most adventure gamers still play on PC, though mobile gamers are increasing in number, so maybe it's easier to blame a method of adventure gaming that many people still don't have much experience with. Heck, if I can navigate this "lovely" new Telltale forum redesign with my touchscreen (I do all my commenting from my iPhone) and even manage to use that disappearing little edit button...then I think it's possible to play detailed adventure games with a touch screen... honestly, it's quite easy, especially with a screen larger than 4 inches. I find playing Broken Sword 5 on my iPad much more enjoyable than playing it on the PC.
No, they're saying nothing like that. It seems fairly obvious to me though; and the optimisation looms throughout the game. The hotspots ARE huge. The hotspots HAVE to be immediately recognisable. The hotspots CAN'T overlap without creating immediate confusion (Vella's father and the kitchen door have overlapping hotspots - it doesn't really work). They can't display the name of the hotspot on mouseover - as there's no mouseover on tablets.
And of course, they don't use the second mouse button because they only have one on tablets. What they're saying is: "the only verb adventure games need is interact with ". But I personally believe it's just yet another bow to the mobile casual audience.
There's a new update for the Book of Unwritten Tales 2 Kickstarter with a video explaining the projection mapping technique used:
A Song for Viggo is a stop motion game made of paper that I both really want to see get made but also dread playing.
It's a game about a father who accidentally kills his son and the challenges he faces afterwards in having to go on living with the guilt and sorrow, being there for his daughter and trying to save his marriage after the terrible tragedy. By having interviewed parents who have lost children the creator will attempt to make the game feel as authentic as possible.
The first chapter starts with you having to arrange your son's funeral.
It has recently received coverage on both Rock, Paper, Shotgun, Polygon and Kotaku, among other sites. At the moment it's at $12,000 of its $20,000 goal, with 10 days to go.
Bill Tiller, Gene Mocsy, and Jeremiah Grant have started a new Kickstarter for a point and click adventure game called Duke Grabowski, Mighty Swashbuckler!. Set in the Azurbbean, the alternate version of the Caribbean from Ghost Pirates of Vooju Island, Duke Grabowski stars a massive, brutish pirate who desperately wants to be a suave & sophisticated swashbuckler. It will be a small point and click adventure game that will consist of between ten to twelve rooms, or about a quarter of the size of A Vampyre Story. Should the Kickstarter be successful, his comedy adventure for PC, Mac, Linux, and Ouya has a projected release date of October 2015.
I really hope this succeeds, as the art looks gorgeous (as always), and Bill Tiller and Gene Mocsy have improved a lot in the design area since A Vampyre Story and Ghost Pirates. The Perils of Man: Chapter One has a design by Tiller and Mocsy (and strangely not art by Bill Tiller, which I was on the fence about when it was announced). It actually has one of the best adventure game designs in an adventure game I've played since the LucasArts classics. After playing Chapter One, The full Perils of Man game is one of my most anticipated adventures of this year. I really hope that it ends up coming out for PC, Mac, and Linux so that more people can get to play it. If this game has anything close to the design of Perils of Man, we're going to be in for a nice treat.
Less than three days to go, and Duke Grabowski is getting closer to its funding goal...
Thimbleweed Park is a classic adventure game by Ron Gilbert (Maniac Mansion, Monkey Island 1&2, Deathspank, The Cave) and Gary Winnick (Maniac Mansion, Defenders of Dynatron City, Bad Dreams) made in a pixellated graphical style mashup of Maniac Mansion and Monkey Island 2. It's already funded at just over $485,000 with 9 days to go. If it makes it to $525,000 they'll add full voice overs to make it a "talkie" version.
More maniacs have joined the team for Ron Gilbert and Gary Winnick's Thimbleweed Park!
The first is Ken Macklin, who designed the cover for Maniac Mansion. He will be doing the cover for Thimbleweed Park as well.
The second is the creator of Zak McKracken, David Fox. He worked on Maniac Mansion as well, doing most of the SCUMM scripting for the game, and is apparently the one we have to thank for the hamster in the microwave joke.
Final days, and we are close to the voice acting stretch goal.
pls support me i need to make a salad
There is a kickstarter campaign running now to make the three adventure games created by Theresa Duncan (Chop Suey, Smarty, and Zero Zero) available for free online, for a minimum of one year. These games were pioneers of their time, but they are now obscure, and long out of print. They targeted young girls in the mid-1990's when the market catered almost exclusively to young boys. They were story based adventure games and revolve around search and discovery. They were also well received when they were released. Chop Suey was named the 1995 CD-ROM of the Year by Entertainment Weekly.
Sadly, Theresa Duncan passed away in 2007, but this Kickstarter aims to make sure that her games continue to be able to be enjoyed by the next generation of children. They're so close to their goal, with less than $1,000 USD to go and just over a day to do it.
I'm backing a promising looking indie game tentatively called "Icy". The game is nearly complete with an estimated release of June, but the developers are running an Indiegogo campaign to help with polishing: A $6 pledge gets you a digital copy of the game. They have already met their modest goal and are now working on stretch goals.
Icy is a dialogue-heavy adventure game / CRPG (PC/Mac/Linux) in a post-apocalyptic setting where the world is experiencing a new Ice Age. The game play will involve a lot of tough moral choices and a strong emphasis on the survival aspect; e.g., your party must hunt for food, scavenge for supplies, and deal with dangerous beasts and cannibals. There's some really nice artwork as well.
Whether or not you back, you can also help by voting for the game on Steam Greenlight and GOG wishlist.
@daveyd Getting the digital copy means a Steam key?
Seems like a very nice game, I'll donate $6
Is anyone a fan of the old Toejam and Earl games? One of the developers of the original is planning a direct sequel to the first game called "Back in the Goove"
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lC-f-s0XbQ
I loved playing the original game back in the day and this is the first Kickstarter project that i have backed, it's a fairly expensive project at $400,000 and they are currently at $202,091 with 24 days left so hopefully they make their target
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1578116861/toejam-and-earl-back-in-the-groove
Awesome. I really love the classic 90's platformers. I played some of the original Toejam and Earl, but like Banjo Kazooie I have to admit that I never played it through to completion back then (I've since rectified the Banjo Kazooie situation with the XBLA version). :0
I'll definitely be backing this, and I'll have to make a point to play through the first game on ConsoleClassix in preparation.