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[Deleted member 30609]

that's fair enough, I suppose.

I don't really know enough about what the game is yet, but everything I've been pitched has essentially been a high-level concept rather anything, for lack of a better phrase, practical. If you're Tim Schafer and Double Fine, I can follow you down that sort of rabbit-hole. If you're a start up, it worries me. "It has everything a 'real' AAA game should have" seems to have translated down to "we've thrown money at voice-direction and mo-cap, and we've spent a lot of time thinking about 'themes'".

This is their first project as a team. We have no proof that they can can effectively build interesting game systems on-budget and on-schedule when working together. Why not start with a smaller, perhaps less-ambitious project to gain some public-trust first? It's not as sexy, but when you come at me with a pitch that is almost completely high-level/conceptual, at least I'd be willing to trust you.

It might be indicative of my personality that I find it very hard to trust people who pitch me ideas from the position of "here's my grand idea" or "here's this obvious space people say they want that hasn't been filled", and then neglect to mention the reasons others have avoided that space, and how they can avoid the pit-falls others may have previously observed. If I can't see a strong low-level basis for an idea, be it a proven business model or gameplay system(s), then I'd hope the person pitching me the idea and the team building the game have a damn strong track-record.

I respect the ambition. I respect the creativity. Romantically, I wish the game nothing but success. Practically, I'm not going to help fund it based on this pitch.

 

[ArjanN]

now you have to wonder if a project designed for iOS, where $.99 is king, should have a budget of 1-2 million to begin with.

maybe the time is right for it, I honestly wouldn't know, but $500k is way way way more than I thought they were going to ask for.

By the end of 2011 Infinity Blade made at least $23 million in revenue.

Just saying.

 

[D4Danger]

By the end of 2011 Infinity Blade made at least $23 million in revenue.

Just saying.

that came from one the biggest game companies in the world, was priced aggressively, was heavily promoted at every turn by Apple and Epic (and anyone with an iOS device).

using Infinity Blade as an example is like me saying I want 200m to make a 360 game because Black Ops made a billion.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

I do admit the reward tiers aren't that great. I understand these aren't there to give value for money (especially past a certain point e.g. >$500), but some of the "lower" reward tiers seem pretty empty as well.

LE ($100) +
a poster for $50
then a shirt for $50
then a hoody for $50

and then just 250 dollars more to get a signed poster. C'mon guys.

I'm going to agree with this, I honestly expected more more for the mid-tier.

 

[ArjanN]

that came from one the biggest game companies in the world, was priced aggressively, was heavily promoted at every turn by Apple and Epic (and anyone with an iOS device).

using Infinity Blade as an example is like me saying I want 200m to make a 360 game because Black Ops made a billion.

Not saying they weren't in a special position, but clearly spending 1-2 million on an iOS game worked out very, very well for them.

Also, Ryan is "only" asking for 500k, which isn't that much if you want an actual quality game with half decent production values.

 

[neojubei]

Did my part and pledged.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Spent a long time mulling it over, whether I'd go with $25 or $60.
Debate of:
-It's a bloody iOS game
-I was really disappointed with MGS4, should I trust this dude as much as I do?
-What do I think is the right thing to do?

Went with $60. I want to believe.

 

[ArjanN]

Spent a long time mulling it over, whether I'd go with $25 or $60.
Debate of:
-It's a bloody iOS game
-I was really disappointed with MGS4, should I trust this dude as much as I do?
-What do I think is the right thing to do?

Went with $60. I want to believe.

Depends which elements of MGS4 you were dissapointed with.

 

[DieH@rd]

Depends which elements of MGS4 you were dissapointed with.

Yeah, he was not responsible for everything. In the end, that was Kojima's game.

 

[neptunes]

Spent a long time mulling it over, whether I'd go with $25 or $60.
Debate of:
-It's a bloody iOS game
-I was really disappointed with MGS4, should I trust this dude as much as I do?
-What do I think is the right thing to do?

Went with $60. I want to believe.

I doubt Ryan had much say over the plot and scenario of MGS4, most of what was wrong with MGS4 was probably decided before Ryan started working at KP.

He was however, responsible for the user friendly controls, something the series was severely lacking.

 

[Kabuki Quantum Lover]

I bumped my pledge up after watching the KS trailer. Damn Payton

 

[Franklinator]

I decided to go ahead and donate $10. It looks too interesting to pass up.

 

[Zeouterlimits]

Depends which elements of MGS4 you were dissapointed with.

Yeah, he was not responsible for everything. In the end, that was Kojima's game.

I doubt Ryan had much say over the plot and scenario of MGS4, most of what was wrong with MGS4 was probably decided before Ryan started working at KP.

He was however, responsible for the user friendly controls, something the series was severely lacking.

Oh I agree. And I hold Payton in high regard.

It's just an interesting question about some of the, what I would consider actively bad choices made in MGS4 vs how Halo 4's development was for him.

 

[suikoden352]

i put in 25 for it. only got to hear a snippet of the music from the trailer but that's all i needed. i hope for the best for that team. looks to be promising if they can pull off what they have in mind and do it well.

 

[KTallguy]

I kind of want to see what the iphone case looks like!

 

[Wario64]

We're nearing the 12 hour mark and the KS is at $34k. That's actually not too...bad?


Also, could a mod change the title to reflect Kickstarter status?

 

[Coverly]

pledged. Looking forward to seeing the documentary series.

Maybe Kickstarter should be added to the title? I only came into this thread until I saw that it was a kickstarter project in the KS thread.

 

[KTallguy]

I will pledge 75 bucks if the iPhone case is good. I'd rather put my money towards this than Wasteland and Shadowrun. While those are sure to be amazing products, I'm gonna just buy them on release. This is much more of a gamble in my mind, a brand new IP and a young team. I like that they're trying to make a game with a message.

And by "good", I mean not so fucking flashy and ugly.

 

[MrCunningham]

Personally, I think the pitch video for this game looks impressive. The game seems to be a mix of Metal Gear Solid, Eternal Darkness, Resident Evil (Classic Resident Evil) and a bit of Silent Hill weirdness rolled into one. Shame my iPhone is outdated and won't run it though (I really need to upgrade it, or get an iPad), but I will pledge.

 

[Ulairi]

How much does all the junk they are throwing in cost? How much net of tax will they take in? I assume it's a 1099-K which means its treated as revenue which means the marginal rate will be at least 34% for the company. So, on that $500,000 if they get no other revenue it will be only $330,000 after tax. What will the costs be for the junk? I hope they have a good accountant working for them because I could see the budget ballooning for this project and a lot of people being hurt if it doesn't release.

What I really guess is that they are using kickstarter not to raise money to actually produce the game but as a PR tool. I don't like the sound of that.

Thinking about this more, if they hit exactly $500,000 this will net them closer to $300,000 and according to the kick starter page it says that investors will pony up half the cost, of the proposed $1,000,000 or the total cost of development? Because that's a difference of $500,000 if it is half the million which means they are going to have a gap of $200,000 assuming exactly $500,000 brought in through kick starter. To me, my fear is that this is more of a PR campaign to show investors which is fine I guess..... I hope their initial capital is making up the gap to get to their $1,000,000 budget and I hope the investors are willing to pony up more money if the budget goes over.

 

[cvxfreak]

My pledge is in!

Good luck Ryan!

 

[Ulairi]

Now I'm unhappy with how shitty Weekend Confirmed is. They didn't ask any actual good questions about kickstarter.

 

[heringer]

We're nearing the 12 hour mark and the KS is at $34k. That's actually not too...bad?


Also, could a mod change the title to reflect Kickstarter status?

I wonder if they can reach at least 200k+.

 

[sikkinixx]

I'm in for $50, the journal looks boss. Good luck guys. Hope it works.

 

[BanGy.nz]

This game looks incredible.

 

[Wario64]

Heh, Swery65 just tweeted about the Kickstarter. Nice.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Good luck to him. The game concept looks cool, but I won't be backing this due to the choice of platform. I don't have anything against iOS gaming, but after buying and trying 30+ iOS games, I can firmly say that I don't like playing games on the iPhone. Touch screen controls just don't work on a screen that size. Not for me at least. It might be different if I had an iPad, but I don't plan on getting one any time soon.

Anyway, I hope this gets funded. Ryan Payton seems like a cool guy.

 

[Pachterballs]

I'm not sure I'm totally onboard with everything I've seen and been pitched so far. It's all too pie-in-the-sky for me. Hiring mo-cap teams for an iPad game, before you've even been fully funded, seems wildly irresponsible. It rubs me the wrong way.

oh, my thoughts are that its already funded; well, RP funded it; except now he's decided that free money is better and it seems like he might just get his way what with it being "so hot right now".

see: also LSR game.

 

[boingball]

Slow going on the Kickstarter. It has a chance but it will be difficult.

This looks interesting. $10 does seem a bit expensive but I'll probably donate anyway.

lol.

Though this Kickstarter might actually prove that $10 games on iOS are unwanted.

My pledge is also egoistic. I am also not really buying anything on iOS until it gets free (or at least a price drop, I have bought Carc and KoDP). So I hope this is a success and plenty of AAA games come to iOS and then drop to free.

 

[transience]

This has probably been said a dozen times in this thread already, but it takes balls to try and sell people on a $500,000 iOS game. The game looks pretty cool and I wish Ryan all the luck in the world but not many people are looking to invest that heavily in an iOS game.

 

[LiK]

This has probably been said a dozen times in this thread already, but it takes balls to try and sell people on a $500,000 iOS game. The game looks pretty cool and I wish Ryan all the luck in the world but not many people are looking to invest that heavily in an iOS game.

judging from what i heard on Weekend Confirmed, he already invested a lot on top of the Kickstarter goal. Ryan is truly dedicated.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

This is a fantastic project.

 

[chickdigger802]

This has probably been said a dozen times in this thread already, but it takes balls to try and sell people on a $500,000 iOS game. The game looks pretty cool and I wish Ryan all the luck in the world but not many people are looking to invest that heavily in an iOS game.

Yeah... going to other game sites around today and am pretty depressed at the comments.

 

[Gamecocks625]

Man, I want to see this happen

 

[zroid]

welp, I pledged $1.84.

Not a lot obviously, but it's the best I could do for a game which I'm probably not going to be able to play

I will also commit right here to upping my pledge to *at least $25* if a PC (edit: or Vita!) version gets announced.

 

[dark10x]

oh, my thoughts are that its already funded; well, RP funded it; except now he's decided that free money is better and it seems like he might just get his way what with it being "so hot right now".

see: also LSR game.

So what you're saying is that self funding a project in order to put together a working demo prior to Kickstarting is exploitative but coming up with a pitch without ANY actual work to back it is completely acceptable?

So if Wasteland 2 had already started development and a playable concept was finished you would have been against that one as well then?

 

[ArjanN]

oh, my thoughts are that its already funded; well, RP funded it; except now he's decided that free money is better and it seems like he might just get his way what with it being "so hot right now".

see: also LSR game.

Oh... so what you're saying is that you like to make baseless cynical assumptions.

 

[Dog Problems]

Yeah... going to other game sites around today and am pretty depressed at the comments.

Every where I've went it's been the same "lol $10 for ios game!?!?" or "fuck touch controls" drivel. I'm not optimistic that this one will get funded but I hope I'm wrong.

 

[SapientWolf]

Slow going on the Kickstarter. It has a chance but it will be difficult.



lol.

Though this Kickstarter might actually prove that $10 games on iOS are unwanted.

My pledge is also egoistic. I am also not really buying anything on iOS until it gets free (or at least a price drop, I have bought Carc and KoDP). So I hope this is a success and plenty of AAA games come to iOS and then drop to free.

When people say "AAA games on iOS" are they comparing them to XBLA/PSN or $60 retail titles?

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Every where I've went it's been the same "lol $10 for ios game!?!?" or "fuck touch controls" drivel. I'm not optimistic that this one will get funded but I hope I'm wrong.

Drivel?

I don't know... People probably post that because they haven't had great experiences with iOS/mobile games and their touch-screen control schemes.

Like I posted earlier, after lots of trying, I know that I don't like playing games on my iPhone. Maybe a game will come along and change my mind, but I really have no interest any games on my iPhone.

 

[Chinner]

the controls for iOS do vary somewhat, depending on, you know, whether or not the developer actually bothers to develop the controls for a touch screen interface. this game obviously has been designed around that element, so i don't really see why its an argument worth bringing up.

 

[ZoddGutts]

This won't hit it's goal. Gonna be interesting to see if Ryan breaks, deciding to add an Android and PC/Mac version.

 

[Van Owen]

Hopefully this doesn't cause Ryan another stint of depression.

 

[Chinner]

This won't hit it's goal. Gonna be interesting to see if Ryan breaks, deciding to add an Android and PC/Mac version.

probably that or give up some kind of creative control. doesn't look optimistic but hopefully it pulls through.

 

[Dog Problems]

Drivel?

I don't know... People probably post that because they haven't had great experiences with iOS/mobile games and their touch-screen control schemes.

Like I posted earlier, after lots of trying, I know that I don't like playing games on my iPhone. Maybe a game will come along and change my mind, but I really have no interest any games on my iPhone.

Yes, drivel. This game is essentially a point-and-click game so a touch device (as well as a mouse) would be ideal for this game. I'm not talking about a platformer or shooter where there's a learning curve involved with the controls. Questioning the controls for a game like this should be nonexistent.

the controls for iOS do vary somewhat, depending on, you know, whether or not the developer actually bothers to develop the controls for a touch screen interface. this game obviously has been designed around that element, so i don't really see why its an argument worth bringing up.

Exactly. It's pretty much a point-and-click adventure in some ways and those kind of games work perfectly on a touch screen.

This won't hit it's goal. Gonna be interesting to see if Ryan breaks, deciding to add an Android and PC/Mac version.

I love seeing how he's dedicated to iOS but I do agree with you. This would probably be doing better if it were for other platforms as well.

 

[megateto]

Call it blind faith or whatever but I really hope they pull it off, even if it's just as a half assed attempt. I like high, out there concepts and the people who make the effort to bare them to fruition.

60$ pledged from Spain XD.

 

[godofcookery]

did the funding just go down for it? or did i read it wrong?

edit: I read it wrong.

 

[Massa]

When people say "AAA games on iOS" are they comparing them to XBLA/PSN or $60 retail titles?

This is what I don't get. A triple game is at least 10-20 million. This is not a AAA game, just a very expensive game on a platform that doesn't support very expensive games.

This looks an awesome concept that they would have no trouble getting 2 million dollars to develop on Steam/PSN/XBLA. There's a reason iOS games have much lower budgets.

Regardless I do hope it gets made somehow, really love the concept.

 

[Deleted member 17706]

Yes, drivel. This game is essentially a point-and-click game so a touch device (as well as a mouse) would be ideal for this game. I'm not talking about a platformer or shooter where there's a learning curve involved with the controls. Questioning the controls for a game like this should be nonexistent.

Exactly. It's pretty much a point-and-click adventure in some ways and those kind of games work perfectly on a touch screen.

My experience with the two Monkey Island games and Simon the Sorcerer were less than ideal on the iPhone. They were ports, sure, but I just don't think the iPhone has a big enough screen to provide a great control experience for even point and click adventures. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP had better controls, but it still felt off to me on the iPhone.

I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had an iPad, but I don't. I also don't have any immediate plans to get one.

I love seeing how he's dedicated to iOS but I do agree with you. This would probably be doing better if it were for other platforms as well.

I'm almost certain it would. I love the concept/atmosphere he's going for and it looks like they have a good team in place. This is the type of project I'd put up $50 or more for if it weren't something I'd have to play on my iPhone. As-is, I'm going to pass and just wish them luck.

 

[Dog Problems]

My experience with the two Monkey Island games and Simon the Sorcerer were less than ideal on the iPhone. They were ports, sure, but I just don't think the iPhone has a big enough screen to provide a great control experience for even point and click adventures. Superbrothers: Sword & Sworcery EP had better controls, but it still felt off to me on the iPhone.

I'm sure I'd feel differently if I had an iPad, but I don't. I also don't have any immediate plans to get one.

And that's definitely a valid complaint. I'd much rather play those kind of games on an iPad as well.