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Kickstarter: Citizens of Earth - A Modern RPG. Earthbound-ish RPG by Eden Industries

R

RM8

Member
I couldn't find a thread for this, so lock if old.

Citizens of Earth - A Modern RPG.
4aS6AUU.jpg


It’s an RPG that places you in the shoes of the Vice President of the World! Citizens of Earth combines the modern setting and humorous tone of Earthbound with the recruitment mechanics of games like Pokemon and Suikoden. Rather than recruiting fantasy heroes to your cause, however, Citizens of Earth is all about bringing regular characters into the spotlight as heroes. Instead of warriors and mages and other such fantasy tropes in your party, you’ll be fighting with a Baker, Used Car Salesman, School Teacher, Yoga Instructor, and so on. The characters that would normally be NPCs in other RPGs become the heroes in Citizens of Earth!
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It's looking pretty nice, and has WiiU, 3DS, PS4 and Vita stretch goals! :p Anyone else interested in this?

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I

Impeccable

Member
It's kind of funny how all these kickstarters are always inspired by the most nostalgia provoking games and games that are revered in the annals of gaming history.

I want to kick start something inspired by like, "24 - The Game" just the most mediocre shit ever.

On that note, please kick start this so I can buy it when it comes to PS4.
 
Y

Yanksfan

Member
It looks badass, though the concept is the easy part, its finding a way to have it consistently build throughout the game is where it becomes difficult.
 
O

Oregano

Member
Interesting concept but I don't think the developers track record's is that good... Luigi's Mansion and Guacamelee are probably the only great games on there. I'll keep an open mind about this.

I bet someone on this page will moan about the fact that Wii U and 3DS stretch goals are lower than PS4 and Vita.
 
S

Stone Ocean

Member
Really cool concept, reasonable initial goal and they worked in some cool games.

But nevermind that, you had me at Earthbound, first time a buzzword actually works on me.
 
F

fredrancour

Member
Impeccable said:
It's kind of funny how all these kickstarters are always inspired by the most nostalgia provoking games and games that are revered in the annals of gaming history.

I want to kick start something inspired by like, "24 - The Game" just the most mediocre shit ever.

On that note, please kick start this so I can buy it when it comes to PS4.
Click to expand...

That would actually be an interesting thing to hear: "We were inspired by this list of mediocre and horrible games. They were so utterly awful at being games that we were enraged at how they failed to live up to their concepts and seek to do these things right."
 
K

kuppy

Member
Yeh I saw that today, looking good but I think some secret sauce is missing, if they don't do some nice updates I'm not jumping in, sorry.
 
P

PureGone

Banned
I'm sure there are Sony fanboys out there crying foul at the distance down the stretch goal list that this one makes its appearance. But it's not because we don't want the game on PS4! Far from it, in fact, we'd love to! But truthfully they don't seem to be returning our e-mails. So we want to make it happen, but it looks like it's going to take an extra special effort on our part to get them to agree to it.
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Time to tweet at Shaid
 
bender

bender

What time is it?
The concept looks sounds great but the UI and character movement are really putting me off.
 
R

RM8

Member
I'd ideally buy this on 3DS, but the game looks rather high-res. I'd need to see 3DS mock-ups first :p
 
C

Colonel Mustard

Banned
I'm sure there are Sony fanboys out there crying foul at the distance down the stretch goal list that this one makes its appearance. But it's not because we don't want the game on PS4! Far from it, in fact, we'd love to! But truthfully they don't seem to be returning our e-mails. So we want to make it happen, but it looks like it's going to take an extra special effort on our part to get them to agree to it.
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Sony <3's indies.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Hey everyone I'm Ryan, the creator of Citizens of Earth. Thanks for checking out our game, and please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks!
 
P

PureGone

Banned
EdenIndustries said:
Hey everyone I'm Ryan, the creator of Citizens of Earth. Thanks for checking out our game, and please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks!
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I read you were having trouble with contacting Sony, have you tweeted @shahidkamal he's probably the best person to contact for indies.

Also didn't watch the video yet, so sorry if i missed this but did you discuss the length of the game? My favorite thing about earthbound was its size, not too long like most JRPG's but not too short.
 
I

Impeccable

Member
Colonel Mustard said:
Sony <3's indies.
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Pretty obvious they were or are e-mailing the wrong people or they are struggling to keep up after Gamescon-> TGS - probably will be changed quickly after someone like Shahid sees this.

EdenIndustries said:
Hey everyone I'm Ryan, the creator of Citizens of Earth. Thanks for checking out our game, and please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks!
Click to expand...

Yeah - tweet Shahid, I tweeted your game to him on your behalf but it'll probably be a quicker process if you contacted him personally. Good luck on the game.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
PureGone said:
I read you were having trouble with contacting Sony, have you tweeted @shahidkamal he's probably the best person to contact for indies.
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I haven't actually, no. I'll go try that right now! I showed the game to a number of Sony folks at GDC and tried e-mailing others since then. But somehow things just haven't clicked with them! From what I understand that's pretty rare, but I'm not trying to comment on it, just stating the fact. I would love to make the game for Sony platforms though!
 
P

PureGone

Banned
EdenIndustries said:
I haven't actually, no. I'll go try that right now! I showed the game to a number of Sony folks at GDC and tried e-mailing others since then. But somehow things just haven't clicked with them! From what I understand that's pretty rare, but I'm not trying to comment on it, just stating the fact. I would love to make the game for Sony platforms though!
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Good Luck! I'm sure you will Sony's attention soon enough. Game looks great.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Ok, tweet sent! Let's hope for a positive reply.

And yeah the combat is something we're pretty proud of so far! It's familiar to RPG classics but has some fun innovation and humor to package it all up.
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
EdenIndustries said:
Hey everyone I'm Ryan, the creator of Citizens of Earth. Thanks for checking out our game, and please let me know if you have any questions and I'll do my best to answer them. Thanks!
Click to expand...

game looks great, definitely interested getting for the wii u but cant think about donating unless it looks like you'll hit the wii u goal
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
frankie_baby said:
game looks great, definitely interested getting for the wii u but cant think about donating unless it looks like you'll hit the wii u goal
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Well we're already working on the Wii U port since Nintendo was kind enough to send us a free dev kit. So I'd wager the chances of releasing on Wii U are very strong, even if it doesn't hit that stretch goal. Hitting the stretch goal would pretty much guarantee simultaneous release on Wii U, but it's something I want to do even if we don't hit it.

And, if I may be so bold as to ask, if you're able to pledge now anyway, that'd be very beneficial for us in getting it seen in the Popular on Kickstarter section and elsewhere. And if you really want to drop your pledge later if you think it's not going to hit the Wii U goal, you can always do that. I know that's a lot to ask, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks for your support either way though!
 
R

RM8

Member
I'm backing this and upgrading my pledge if it approaches 3DS levels :p What are the main differences we could expect from a hypothetical 3DS version? I'm guessing the game must be more zoomed-in because of resolution issues.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
PureGone said:
Also didn't watch the video yet, so sorry if i missed this but did you discuss the length of the game? My favorite thing about earthbound was its size, not too long like most JRPG's but not too short.
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Actually the length is something we're really proud of in the game. We've built the gameplay and the world in a very broad fashion. What this means is that there is a TON of optional stuff in the game. Most of the characters, a lot of dungeons, many quests, etc.

So you can kind of customize your gameplay experience to the length you want. If you want a long game where you find everything, you'll get it! If you want a brief game where you just hit the highlights, you'll get that too! And anything in between. In this way we're trying to make the game enjoyable by all gamers, regardless of the time they have to invest in an RPG.
 
F

frankie_baby

Member
EdenIndustries said:
Well we're already working on the Wii U port since Nintendo was kind enough to send us a free dev kit. So I'd wager the chances of releasing on Wii U are very strong, even if it doesn't hit that stretch goal. Hitting the stretch goal would pretty much guarantee simultaneous release on Wii U, but it's something I want to do even if we don't hit it.

And, if I may be so bold as to ask, if you're able to pledge now anyway, that'd be very beneficial for us in getting it seen in the Popular on Kickstarter section and elsewhere. And if you really want to drop your pledge later if you think it's not going to hit the Wii U goal, you can always do that. I know that's a lot to ask, but I just thought I'd throw it out there.

Thanks for your support either way though!
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I cant pledge right now anyway sorry, should be able to at the end of the month, if you do make the stretch goal would we be able to get a wii u copy instead of the pc version?
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Rm88~ said:
I'm backing this and upgrading my pledge if it approaches 3DS levels :p What are the main differences we could expect from a hypothetical 3DS version? I'm guessing the game must be more zoomed-in because of resolution issues.
Click to expand...

Well currently the game already supports a dynamic zoom feature, which you may notice if you watch the gameplay footage in the video. So while you're out and about on the oveworld the camera is more zoomed out (and also dynamically zooms in and out as you explore), and it's tighter in interior environments.

So customizing the game's look for other platforms and resolutions is something we've already accounted for in developing the tech and art! So you can rest assured that it'll look great no matter what platform you're playing it on.

In terms of what you can expect in the 3DS version, aside from the natural expectation of playing the game in 3D, we're experimenting with ideas that utilize the 3D capabilities to affect gameplay, as well as the visuals. Obviously this would be a 3DS-exclusive area of the game. And if we do that, we'd like to throw in a 3DS-exclusive Citizen that you can recruit as well. And on that point, we're really hoping to do similar things on other platforms to that there are fun surprises waiting that really leverage the uniqueness of each platform.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
JDSN said:
Wow, since when is KS's 25%? I remember it being 10%.
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Well let me break it down for you:
KS takes 5%
Payment processing takes 3% plus 20 cents per pledge
Canadian income tax takes ~17% right off the top

Adding it all up, it's about 25%. I think many people forget that the money you raise from Kickstarter is taxable, and the government demands their cut! Unfortunate, but true :(
 
P

peanutbutterlatte

Member
Using the names of other games as a genre for yours is really irritating.

"It's a Zeldaish Metroidvania with throwbacks to GTA and is reminescent of the early Megaman titles. It is as good as none of these."
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Metalic said:
Ugh, I don't know. I think the concept is cool but the artstyle isn't appealing to me at all.
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Well thanks for checking out the game anyway, I'm glad you enjoy the concept. We know the art style isn't necessarily for everyone. But we think it's charming in it's own way, and the game is pretty fun besides! I think you might like it if you get your hands on it for yourself. But suffice to say, we can't win 'em all I guess :)
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
MasterBalls said:
Using the names of other games as a genre for yours is really irritating.

"It's a Zeldaish Metroidvania with throwbacks to GTA and is reminescent of the early Megaman titles. It is as good as none of these."
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While I do agree with you, sometimes people don't read very much. So sometimes you have to catch their eye with recognizable lingo. Trust me, I'd very much like to just say, "Hey here's a game that's fun with a cool concept, come check it out!" But generally that doesn't work quite so well in getting attention. I definitely do hear where you're coming from though.
 
J

JDSN

Banned
EdenIndustries said:
Well let me break it down for you:
KS takes 5%
Payment processing takes 3% plus 20 cents per pledge
Canadian income tax takes ~17% right off the top

Adding it all up, it's about 25%. I think many people forget that the money you raise from Kickstarter is taxable, and the government demands their cut! Unfortunate, but true :(
Click to expand...

Oh, now you see why someone else takes care of my finances. You are working in something really cool btw.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
JDSN said:
Oh, now you see why someone else takes care of my finances. You are working in something really cool btw.
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Thanks, I really appreciate that! We're certainly trying our best. As you can probably imagine, it's tough making indie games, but we really hope people enjoy our game!
 
R

RM8

Member
EdenIndustries said:
Well currently the game already supports a dynamic zoom feature, which you may notice if you watch the gameplay footage in the video. So while you're out and about on the oveworld the camera is more zoomed out (and also dynamically zooms in and out as you explore), and it's tighter in interior environments.

So customizing the game's look for other platforms and resolutions is something we've already accounted for in developing the tech and art! So you can rest assured that it'll look great no matter what platform you're playing it on.

In terms of what you can expect in the 3DS version, aside from the natural expectation of playing the game in 3D, we're experimenting with ideas that utilize the 3D capabilities to affect gameplay, as well as the visuals. Obviously this would be a 3DS-exclusive area of the game. And if we do that, we'd like to throw in a 3DS-exclusive Citizen that you can recruit as well. And on that point, we're really hoping to do similar things on other platforms to that there are fun surprises waiting that really leverage the uniqueness of each platform.
Click to expand...
Sounds great :D Hope it happens.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Vulcano's assistant said:
The VP, eh. Where's the president of the world? He better be the final dimensional demon boss battle that pops out in the last 12 minutes out of nowhere.
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Oh you'll run into him, don't worry! Plus, you may notice one of our stretch goals is the addition of a side-story in which you play as the President of the World! It's going to be a pretty fun twist on the game :)
 
B

Black Door

Banned
I'm going to kick start a book on how to pitch your game idea on Kickstarter without buzzwords and comparisons to 20 year old games.
 
D

dragonlife

Member
Wow, this sounds like it could be really cool if done right. I love the idea of having run-of-the-mill citizens as party members.
 
E

EdenIndustries

Neo Member
Black Door said:
I'm going to kick start a book on how to pitch your game idea on Kickstarter without buzzwords and comparisons to 20 year old games.
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I would support that Kickstarter, and I'm totally serious :). I don't pretend to be a marketing and/or Kickstarter genius. I just love making games and do the best I can to make them, and let people know about them. So I can use any help I can get!
 
P

PureGone

Banned
Black Door said:
I'm going to kick start a book on how to pitch your game idea on Kickstarter without buzzwords and comparisons to 20 year old games.
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I wonder how this trend started. In the beginning it was people comparing the game to their own older games and then it turned into people comparing their games to someone else's older games.


Though, to be honest i would have never clicked on this link if earthbound wasn't in the title.
 
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