Zeouterlimits
Member
Brad Nicholson. I'd forgotten about him.
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Republique Kickstarter by Ryan Payton - NOW FOR PC AND MAC! [Ended, $555K funded]
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It's basically slowed to a standstill. It hit 50k almost 24 hrs ago and isn't even at 60k yet. Really not liking its chances right now :/.
slaughterking
Member
Ooohh, the news guy. Yeah, alright. But he was more of a behind-the-scenes person.
Dreams-Visions
Member
In 4 $25.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
The hype around the kickstarter project has died down
I don't think it had much to begin with. It seems like most of the "hyped"/popular Kickstarter projects get funded within 30 hours or so and then slow down.
onlyindreams
Banned
Someone get this on the reddit front page or something. I need this gameeeee
onlyindreams
Banned
Ugh. I noticed it was a staff pick on kickstarter too and STILL nobody is backing it.
BattleMonkey
Member
Many of them don't have 500k goals.
It started off pretty decent really, and seemed like it would at least clear 250-300k pretty easily.
And then after 24 hrs...it died. I know most kickstarters die after 24 hrs, but this one really has.
thetrin
Hail, peons, for I have come as ambassador from the great and bountiful Blueberry Butt Explosion
As a lover of boxed games and thick manuals, I'm going to have to pledge the $50 for the journal. Hell, at this point, I'm a little tempted to go the full $100 for the CE.
This game looks brilliant.
This game looks brilliant.
Yup, I am worried about this one. Especially after hearing Ryan Payton talk about selling everything he owns to fund it.
It looked promising in the initial 24 hours.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Take matters into your own hands, back the project with $442,466.
On a more serious note, I'm starting to feel pretty worried about this as well. What this kickstarter needs is an extra jolt of publicity from someone/somewhere with a huge audience.
Or maybe this will just end up demonstrating that the iOS market isn't really ready for something like this.
That's a god damn shame.
I'm really thinking they need to re-examine the platform. They seem intent on delivering an ambitious mobile title, but I really do think iOS only is too limiting. I've spoken with a number of people who have decided against contributing to the game on the basis that it is iOS only.
Yeah, count me as one of those people. I don't have an iOS platform and don't intend to ever own one.
Really another problem is that there's the huge hoopla over Kickstarter, but 500k is still a gigantic order.
Only Doublefine, who are run by one of the most loved game developers in the world, Shadowrun and Wasteland have broken 500k. The other two are, of course, famous PC franchises loved by tons of older gamers.
Even Banner Saga hasn't gotten to 500k yet and stuff like Leisure Suit Larry is struggling along in the 200's.
And here you have 500k for a new franchise on iOS only?
Payton's an awesome guy, but I'd really like to know what he was thinking with this Kickstarter.
The_Darkest_Red
Member
Excuse me for going off the deep end here but I wonder if it's basically just an experiment. Maybe there is a publisher or two who are potentially interested in backing this project but want to see some kind of evidence for its viability. In that way the kickstarter could effectively be a guage to show how much interest there is in this project (in a way that's hard to quantify, perhaps, but it's better than nothing). It could just be a, "I completely don't expect us to hit $500,000 but I want to set the bar fairly high just to see (and demonstrate) how close we can get." Maybe Payton isn't really expecting this thing to hit the mark to begin with.
Of course, I'd put the chances of what I just said at something like 5%, but it seems like an interesting thought to me if nothing else.
D
Deleted member 17706
Unconfirmed Member
I agree. The platform is why I'm not contributing.
He's really limiting himself with the choice. The amount of people who actually enjoy playing iOS games and are willing to pay $10+ for them and are interested in taking a chance on a Kickstarter can't be huge.
Minsc
Gold Member
"Even Banner Saga"? the game / project only called for 100K, it's more surprising that it's reaching 500K than that it's not reaching 500k I think.
LSL is just a remake of a game that's already been remade before. It's not the most exciting KS project imo. But I agree with you, to pull in bigger numbers, your best bet is supporting multiple platforms and lining up talent with brand names.
That said, an iOS running app has pulled in more money from Kickstarter than this project so far, so it just really hasn't gotten off to the best foot.
Dog Problems
Banned
So, does anyone know if he can relaunch the Kickstarter once its ended? Maybe he'll changed his mind about what platforms to bring this game to.
Just make it PC as well, problem solved without losing your artistic integrity (yes I know it's a much more involved process than that, but actually being able to make a game> not making a game).
Also sorry if this has been addressed before, but Ryan Payton announced he was leaving to make an iOS game when he left his last job. If his budget was dependent on something like Kickstarter which wasn't as big for game development when he left, how did he plan on making the game? Smaller scale?
Also sorry if this has been addressed before, but Ryan Payton announced he was leaving to make an iOS game when he left his last job. If his budget was dependent on something like Kickstarter which wasn't as big for game development when he left, how did he plan on making the game? Smaller scale?
I don't think there's anything stopping him from doing so.
Vyse The Legend
Member
Yeah, it has really flat-lined. Ryan needs to get the bigger gaming sites to promote/back this; otherwise, things are looking bleak.
So I wonder what the plan was had this kickstarter thing not taken off recently, get backing from a publisher I guess? I think Ryan answered that on weekend confirmed last week and I just don't remember. Speaking of which he really sold me on the game on that show so I hope this is a success for them. Not sure whether to back 10 or 25, I'd really like the documentary but 25 is a little much considering I'm only really viewing this as prepurchasing the game.
Edit: oh wow didn't realise things weren't going well, I saw 50k in 24hrs and thought that was pretty good. I'd feel really bad if they don't make after all they've done to get to this point. Hopefully a publisher could swoop in and save the day, although that's hard to reconcile with "if this doesn't work the game doesn't get made."
Edit: oh wow didn't realise things weren't going well, I saw 50k in 24hrs and thought that was pretty good. I'd feel really bad if they don't make after all they've done to get to this point. Hopefully a publisher could swoop in and save the day, although that's hard to reconcile with "if this doesn't work the game doesn't get made."
criesofthepast
Member
Out of all the kickstarters this is the only one I felt deserved my money and I actually gave a damn about. Sad to see it not get off to a great start. Concept looks really great. Hope Ryan and crew find the money to finish it.
Sad story and I feel for Ryan, but this was expected. iOS only, iPads + iPhone 4 and above only, $500k, new studio, no nostalgia...
The writing was on the wall. I have an iPad, but this project does not interest me in the slightest. When I game on my iPad, it's to take a few minutes away from studying/reading/emailing/etc. If I want to play a game for an extended period of time, I turn on my PC or whatever console has the game I want to play on it. Touch controls can be great, but I could never see myself playing these kinds of games on iOS for any kind of extended period.
I really wish the best for him and his company as he seems very invested and excited, but it's just something I have no interest in at all.
The writing was on the wall. I have an iPad, but this project does not interest me in the slightest. When I game on my iPad, it's to take a few minutes away from studying/reading/emailing/etc. If I want to play a game for an extended period of time, I turn on my PC or whatever console has the game I want to play on it. Touch controls can be great, but I could never see myself playing these kinds of games on iOS for any kind of extended period.
I really wish the best for him and his company as he seems very invested and excited, but it's just something I have no interest in at all.
I guess that pretty much confirms it. That iOS devices simply aren't a viable platform for AAA games. It seems theres not alot of interest for big budget cinematic games on iOS. Which is a shame, it seems like a waste with so much horsepower available with each new device from Apple, that people aren't prepared to pay what is needed to fund devs who try to tap the hardware's potential.
Deadly Cyclone
Pride of Iowa State
See I'm wondering what they do if they don't make it. It seems like they are already in full production.
Patapwn
Member
Half a million for a ios exclusive new ip? I wish the devs best of luck, but realistically they should go PC and scale back the funding if this doesn't pan out
Kickstarters is good but it ain't that good. Most of the successes I've seen videogame wise have modest funding goals ($20000 or less). And the goal was attained only just, things like banner saga are the exception, not the rule.
I appreciate that these guys have far more than a slideshow of concept art for their promo, however. They ARE serious about this and hope they're prepared for alternate routes to get this made
Kickstarters is good but it ain't that good. Most of the successes I've seen videogame wise have modest funding goals ($20000 or less). And the goal was attained only just, things like banner saga are the exception, not the rule.
I appreciate that these guys have far more than a slideshow of concept art for their promo, however. They ARE serious about this and hope they're prepared for alternate routes to get this made
D
Deleted member 30609
Unconfirmed Member
People aren't willing to fund a game that doesn't seem to have its priorities in order, that much is true. I don't think you can extrapolate out that people aren't willing to help pay for general large-scale mobile development.
The guys are on break this week after all the hard work they put into our proof-of-concept (which is featured in the trailer). Starting Monday, we're back to white box rooms to deepen the gameplay and expand the sandbox. The idea is to keep our current team size small so we can keep working until funding.
And sorry for not answering more questions on here, guys. I did not expect the flood of emails and calls we've been getting from all sorts of people interested in the game. On that front, the exposure through Kickstarter has been very positive.
On the negative, I've just been really fatigued because we went from hardcore crunch to get the proof-of-concept and trailer finish straight into Kickstarter. I do worry that our pledges are slowing down, but the plan is to keep fighting and reveal more about the game and our production/financial plans over the next 29 days.
Yeah, we knew we were taking a risk with doing a large scale game on iOS with a brand-new IP. I'm glad we stuck to our guns and stayed true to what we want to make, instead of just announcing it as a PC game like some people suggested we do.
From the very beginning, we designed the game and wrote the story for iOS. Swiping, pinch-zooming and tapping your way around the rooms and guiding Hope is a really unique experience and just doesn't have the same feel using a mouse. With that said, we want to do a PC version down the road, but it would require months of work to design it to the strengths of the PC.
Dog Problems
Banned
I really respect the dedication to making this an iOS game first and wish you all the best of luck. Depending on how the t-shirt and hoodie looks I may up my pledge to one of those tiers. I'm already sold on the journal and collector's book.
Dreams-Visions
Member
It looks great to me and I was happy to donate. Best of luck to you and your team. Haters can hate that it's not on another platform, but there is stupid money to be made on iOS so the choice makes perfect sense to me.
Look forward to seeing you get all the funding you need and the project completed.
I don't believe there are really "haters" out there gunning for this game. (Feel free to prove me wrong, though.) I do believe, however, that there are people that hate the fact that so much of the industry's resources are moving away from huge console endeavors and seeking success on mobile and social. As a hardcore console guy, I'm not really happy about this trend either. I don't like that Sakaguchi is making some simple surfing game for iOS. I want him to make another epic game.
But with that said, this is something the team and I discussed at length last year and we all agreed that it is possible to do something big and epic, even if it's on iOS. And instead of just doing a FPS with virtual joysticks or something, let's make a game that doesn't require 3D nab, but instead actually takes advantage of the touch screen. Let's make a game inspired by the games we love like Resident Evil, Metal Gear, Dark Souls, Ico... Throw in a little 1984, and Republique was born.
In a perfect world, we would have had more time and money to develop the game into a free download like Epic's "Citadel" so people could actually download the demo, play it and see that cool thing we're doing on iOS. We weren't able to do that in time for Kickstarter, but it's something we're still talking about, because until we get the game in front of you guys, I think you have every right to be skeptical.
Sorry for the long post.
GuitarAtomik
Member
This is my only reason for not kicking in. The concept sounds great but I don't own any iOS devices :[
chickdigger802
Banned
I'm not too familiar with the platform... but how hard would it be to get this on say, the playstation suite thing?
The Bookerman
Member
Usually, inside big time publishers, when you do a pitch for a game, teams create what they call a reel of Fake game footage(Kinda what you did with your proof of concept, but they usually elaborate more on the game mechanics).
Will you delve a little bit more into that: Showing us more of the game mechanics, what makes Republique tick?
Will you delve a little bit more into that: Showing us more of the game mechanics, what makes Republique tick?
I don't own any either but I still dropped $50 on this. I guess I'm weird.