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Ronimo launches Kickstarter for Awesomenauts: Starstorm (new expansion)

P

Professor Beef

Banned
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/ronimo/awesomenauts-starstorm

Some of the new features added are:

- Three new characters
- Spectator Mode
- Global Chat
- Twin-stick controller support
- New music

The Awesomenauts: Starstorm expansion will be released as paid downloadable content for Awesomenauts on Steam, and all backers in the Copper tier or above will gain access to it as soon as it launches. Only those who own the expansion will be able to play the new characters, make use of the Spectator mode feature and hear the new music. Those who do not own the Starstorm expansion can still join your games, chat, use the twin-stick controller support and fight alongside or against other players who have the new characters.

Awesomenauts: Starstorm will also come to Playstation 4 as a paid downloadable DLC. However, you will not receive a key for the Playstation 4 version of Starstorm as part of this Kickstarter project. The new music and the twin-stick controls will also be available in the Playstation 4 version of the Starstorm expansion, while Spectator Mode and Global Chat will not.
Click to expand...

Kinda stinks about the PS4 version not being part of the Kickstarter, but I'm happy it's going to the PS4 in general. I know what I'm doing this payday~
 
I really enjoyed the game on 360, but it really put a bad taste in my mouth with the lack of dlc / update support. Very excited to hear about a PS4 version in the works, but without the PS4 version being supported by the kickstarter I think I'll have to pass on this one.

At least they are handling the potential playerbase issues properly and not segregating users from each other.
 
kassatsu said:
I will be chatting with Ronimo about this and the PS4 version on Friday. If you have any questions, let me know.
Click to expand...

Ask about the reason why there won't be a PS4 key in the Kickstarter, as well as no Spectator Mode on PS4. Unless someone already has the answer for that, of course!
 
A lot of those features sound like it can come out in the game's existing model and just regular updates.

This sounds pretty weird to me.
 
I love this game, but the basic expansion, excluding the stretch goals, seems a little....I don't, bare-bones? I'm hoping some of those stretch goals are met.

But yeah, I'd throw in fifteen bucks for three new characters and a twin-stick control scheme.
 
Fireblend said:
$125,000 seems pretty steep.

I've never played the game but it does look good from watching a couple of videos.
Click to expand...
It's not that much at all. Let's say just 2 artists work on these new characters, 1 designer, 1 programmers oh and the producer. Thats 4 people who probably cost $3500 per month for the company $14k per month. It'll take a few months for the characters to be made. It'll also take extensive work to balance them (probably tasking the whole team to play the game for hours a day, keeping them from working on other stuff. Let's say that converts to another 2 full time salaries. Thats about $20k for the characters alone per month.Add the costs for the added features: another 2 programmers: $27k per month, just for salaries.

Making games is expensive. I'm sure I'm probably underestimating these numbers also.
 
Bamihap said:
It's not that much at all. Let's say just 2 artists work on these new characters, 1 designer, 1 programmers oh and the producer. Thats 4 people who probably cost $3500 per month for the company $14k per month. It'll take a few months for the characters to be made. It'll also take extensive work to balance them (probably tasking the whole team to play the game for hours a day, keeping them from working on other stuff. Let's say that converts to another 2 full time salaries. Thats about $20k for the characters alone per month.Add the costs for the added features: another 2 programmers: $27k per month, just for salaries.

Making games is expensive. I'm sure I'm probably underestimating these numbers also.
Click to expand...

Surely the game sold well enough to be able to cover that though? I would want a full detail on why they are using kickstarter.
 
Looks cool, but I don't like how they're handling the PS4 version. Why aren't they offering PS4 keys? Also disappointing that the PS4 version of the game won't launch with a feature like twin sticks controls. The lack of parity between the DLC versions (PS4 version won't have Global Chat, Spectator/Replay Mode) though just soured me on triple dipping for the PS4 version day 1. I think I might just end up sticking with the Steam version and picking up the DLC for it when it goes on sale.
 
I loved awesomenauts and I am going to support the hell out of this new expansion! I didn't even hear of the ps4 version too, which is cool.
 
rezuth said:
Surely the game sold well enough to be able to cover that though? I would want a full detail on why they are using kickstarter.
Click to expand...
Why is Double Fine using kickstarter? If anyone can find funding for a game it's them.

Kickstarter simply reduces the risk of creating stuff to near zero. You are pre-ordering your content. It's amazing for developers (if they do not underestimate the costs, or get too excited (double fine).

Do Ronimo need the money from the Kickstarter? Who knows, maybe not. But that's not important. The question you have to ask yourself is: Do I want to pre-order this DLC and thus make it happen. :)
 
Professor Beef said:
The new music and the twin-stick controls will also be available in the Playstation 4 version of the Starstorm expansion
Click to expand...
I'm talking about the base game. Launching the game with something new like twin stick controls would have encouraged me to triple dip on day 1.
 
I love Awesonaunts, I play it regularly everyday and was ready to put down my money for the kickstarter.

Then I thought why is there a kickstarter?

What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?

Am I wrong is asking what the fuck?

Is this the new trend? Go on kickstarter for everything?

Make a game = Kickstarter
Make DLC = Kickstarter
Make sequel = Kickstarter

Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
 
Exile20 said:
I love Awesonaunts, I play it regularly everyday and was ready to put down my money for the kickstarter.

Then I thought why is there a kickstarter?

What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?

Am I wrong is asking what the fuck?

Is this the new trend? Go on kickstarter for everything?

Make a game = Kickstarter
Make DLC = Kickstarter
Make sequel = Kickstarter

Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
Click to expand...
Kickstarter allows small companies to take bigger risks. As long as they communicate what those risks are, and are reasonable in considering what they can handle, I am fine with it.

In this case it seems 3 characters and maybe some maps are within their grasp. I forsee the release of the map editor being rife with problems and delays, because it's an internal editor being released to the public. They might have to tweak it to avoid it relying on specific aspects of the Ronimo development environment.
 
Exile20 said:
I love Awesonaunts, I play it regularly everyday and was ready to put down my money for the kickstarter.

Then I thought why is there a kickstarter?

What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?

Am I wrong is asking what the fuck?

Is this the new trend? Go on kickstarter for everything?

Make a game = Kickstarter
Make DLC = Kickstarter
Make sequel = Kickstarter

Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
Click to expand...

Why wouldn't it be okay? The idea is to make a direct connection with the people who want the product you're working on, and it's not like Kickstarter requires every project to have been turned down by every other possible source of funding.
 
Orayn said:
Why wouldn't it be okay? The idea is to make a direct connection with the people who want the product you're working on, and it's not like Kickstarter requires every project to have been turned down by every other possible source of funding.
Click to expand...

I don't know. It just looks like they are putting the risk onto the customer and not themselves.

If the project is funded and fails then the customer is screwed.

If they fund the project and we preorder it and the project fails the customer get back their money and they take the hit from the failed project.

Kickstarter is if you don't have the funds to start and finish the project but they have the profits from Awesonaunts and its DLC.

Maybe Double Fine is on my mind.
 
Exile20 said:
I don't know. It just looks like they are putting the risk onto the customer and not themselves.

If the project is funded and fails then the customer is screwed.

If they fund the project and we preorder it and the project fails the customer get back their money and they take the hit from the failed project.

Maybe Double Fine is on my mind.
Click to expand...

Well, yeah. Risk is always involved, but the people who fund Kickstarter projects know what they're getting into.

If you don't trust a particular Kickstarter, it's easy enough to just hold onto your money and reap the benefits anyway if it's successfully funded. It's a win/win for you!
 
Seeing the amount of people that work for that company and seemingly only Awesomenauts on the table it's no wonder they are asking for money. Wow.
 
Orayn said:
Well, yeah. Risk is always involved, but the people who fund Kickstarter projects know what they're getting into.

If you don't trust a particular Kickstarter, it's easy enough to just hold onto your money and reap the benefits anyway if it's successfully funded. It's a win/win for you!
Click to expand...

A funded project =/= A released product
 
Bleh, I purchased Awesomenauts for 360, and I understand the issues they had patching it...

... but 360 patch fees have shrunk since then. I don't particularly like being ignored, when I was VERY into the game when it came out on the console.

If they bring it to 360 or XB1, they'll have my support. But as I don't plan to get a PS4 so soon (happy enough with my Vita and PS3), won't be jumping on this one yet.

Didn't they get a good start on Wii with Swords & Soldiers, too? It feels kind of annoying how they keep skipping around with the products. I quite like their games, but I'd like to see support continue on the platforms they started on, as well as expanding to others, rather than changing between 1 or the other every project.
 
Exile20 said:
What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?
Click to expand...

Ideally, this is how it would work, but unfortunately, it usually doesn't happen this way.

Typically, new developers take on a lot of debt in making a game, either out of their own pocket (indie developer) or from a publisher. Gamers might look at a game and think "Oh, it sold X number of copies; they must be rich now!" but without knowing what the game cost and any publisher agreements they made, you really have no idea. Many games fail to make a profit at all so developers are caught in a vicious cycle of having to borrow money just to make the next game and because they're borrowing money (and have to pay that back with interest or otherwise deal with unfavorable terms), it's really difficult to pay back the loan & make enough money for the next game.
 
Yup, Kickstarter is really just another business model. One that is incredibly incredibly friendly to the creator but really kind of a bad deal for everybody else. Like every advantage is given to the creators. They get money upfront on the strength of past reputation and/or very snazzy pitch. They get a locked in customer base. They get a whole month of a concentrated hype cycle that can bring their name to a wide audience. And oh by the by they EARN money while gathering the kind of market research that you can't even pay for. Seriously I can't think of any kind of market research that's more effective than this.

There's a place for that I think but it has to kept in mind whenever you consider kickstarting something.

The only downside I can see is that you are putting your reputation completely on the line. A failed kickstarter should make your name mud. But a seemingly successful one seems to mean that you can kickstart your next project with even greater ease (even before the prior project even gets released!)
 
Exile20 said:
Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
Click to expand...

Just buy the expansion like normal when it releases. Personally, I have a hard time getting up in arms about kickstarter when I've never donated to one. I just wait for the finished projects to come out and then decide... like every other purchase I make.

If customers want to fund development, more power to them. GAF and twitter shows many consumers have a strong craving to interact with devs.
 
Joost here, from Ronimo. :)

As for why we do a Kickstarter in the first place: we want to take some big steps and make the game a lot better. We have released a lot of content in the past year, but none of the size of what is in this Kickstarter campaign. That simply costs a lot of money to make. And what better way to make it happen than to involve the community itself? :)

Killthee said:
I'm talking about the base game. Launching the game with something new like twin stick controls would have encouraged me to triple dip on day 1.
Click to expand...
If this project gets funded, the twin stick control scheme will be available for all players, not just for those who own the Starstorm expansion. So if it gets funded, it is planned to be in the PS4 version on release. (Let's hope we make that schedule, of course!)

SAB CA said:
Bleh, I purchased Awesomenauts for 360, and I understand the issues they had patching it...

... but 360 patch fees have shrunk since then. I don't particularly like being ignored, when I was VERY into the game when it came out on the console.
Click to expand...
Patch fees were not the only issue with it. Another big issue is that the publisher for Awesomenauts on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 went insolvent a week before release... It's a small miracle we managed to release that one big patch for Xbox 360 at all! (Coco and Derpl weren't in the game at release, they were patched in, people often forget that...)

Killthee said:
... The lack of parity between the DLC versions (PS4 version won't have Global Chat, Spectator/Replay Mode) though just soured me on triple dipping for the PS4 version day 1. ...
Click to expand...
The PS4 has this awesome video sharing feature already. Programming spectator mode for PS4 while it also has that feature is just redundant. It adds very little on Playstation 4, that's why we are not making it there. As for Global Chat: most console players don't have a keyboard attached, so hardly anyone would be using that either.
 
Backed for $50. I need that announcer (and artbook and Leon skin). Awesomenauts is my favourite multiplayer game this year, and I feel I need to make up for how little I originally paid for it in a Steam sale :P

I really want to see the level/character/AI editors - don't let me down, GAF!
 
This is by far the best pitch video I've ever seen on Kickstarter. Love the saturday morning cartoon aesthetic this game has.
 
I originally got this when it was free on PS + and really loved it. I'll prolly play the crap out of it when it hits the PS4 as well. If all this cool stuff makes it over to the new console then I have no issue with helping them support it with a measly 15 bucks.

Now if they were to maaaayyyybe do something like add in a Vita port to the stretch goals to really take advantage of that twinstick support I'd probably put in a bit more, and I doubt that I'm the only one....
 
Orayn said:
Well, yeah. Risk is always involved, but the people who fund Kickstarter projects know what they're getting into.

If you don't trust a particular Kickstarter, it's easy enough to just hold onto your money and reap the benefits anyway if it's successfully funded. It's a win/win for you!
Click to expand...

I actually think most don't, just look at the backlash that is when a kickstarter thats funded fails.
 
Exile20 said:
I love Awesonaunts, I play it regularly everyday and was ready to put down my money for the kickstarter.

Then I thought why is there a kickstarter?

What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?

Am I wrong is asking what the fuck?

Is this the new trend? Go on kickstarter for everything?

Make a game = Kickstarter
Make DLC = Kickstarter
Make sequel = Kickstarter

Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
Click to expand...
They did invest the money into DLC -- the game has seen one new map and eight new characters (nine including the upcoming Swiggins) for free. Until now they've supplemented the yearlong trickle of updates with sales and skins, but the scale of this expansion makes it a lot harder to create up front and ask for money later.
 
Exile20 said:
I love Awesonaunts, I play it regularly everyday and was ready to put down my money for the kickstarter.

Then I thought why is there a kickstarter?

What happened to taking on an investment, making the game, selling it and taking the profits and reinvesting it back into a sequel or DLC or whatever?

Am I wrong is asking what the fuck?

Is this the new trend? Go on kickstarter for everything?

Make a game = Kickstarter
Make DLC = Kickstarter
Make sequel = Kickstarter

Is this okay? I am probably overreacting.
Click to expand...

I thought about that too, but then I realised that I don't have to give them money. If people want to give them, I don't see the problem. It's not like they're stealing or something like some shady Kickstarters we've already seen.

It gets easier to understand when you no longer think about what the devs are expecting of you personally. I wouldn't back a DLC, so I won't, and that's it. I wish them luck because the community for this game seems to really love it, I couldn't get into it though so I'm not interested.

EDIT: You also get the game though, and I've only played it on a free weekend or something, now that's appealing to me.
 
Romino have supported both Awesomenauts and Swords and Soldiers alot over the years for free patches that that significant content.

  • We have received 8 new Awesomenauts since launch, with a 9th one on the way for a total of 15 'Nauts.
  • We have received a new map for free
  • We have received hundreds of balance changes since release (literally)
  • We have received features including a league system, improved leader-boards, more prestige icons, geographical matchmaking search and more.
  • Mac and Linux versions
  • More Achievements

The amount of post release support they gave the gave Awesomenauts for free rivals the likes of Nation Red, Payday 1 and even some Valve games.

You should support this developers like this, they deserve it.
 
Oogst said:
Joost here, from Ronimo. :)

Patch fees were not the only issue with it. Another big issue is that the publisher for Awesomenauts on Xbox 360 and Playstation 3 went insolvent a week before release... It's a small miracle we managed to release that one big patch for Xbox 360 at all! (Coco and Derpl weren't in the game at release, they were patched in, people often forget that...)
Click to expand...

Thanks for responding. And yeah, I know about the issues, and the one big patch. Saw it all on facebook, followed the forum for a while, read the pre-release blogs... It just has been really crappy watching the game flourish and evolve, while the version I bought, same as any other one, is left alone and forgotten.

That wouldn't even be so bad, if it was just a "PC is so much easier to release stuff on, than consoles!" situation... but then it gets announced for PS4 as well! Moving back to consoles, yet the ones I own / plan to own soon are left out again...

From the very beginning, I was hoping for the game to be the console-focused MOBA, with classic gameplay-inspired style that I always wanted... and it started off that way! But then it transformed into yet another PC-primary deal, which just isn't where I spend my gaming time.

My Brother and I were having a blast playing it in Splitscreen Co-Op during it's release and Patch, but I guess we'll just both have to watch it expand, even more, from the sidelines for now...

Glad for you guys & the game itself finding some success though! Just guess by the time I get to play Awesomenauts proper again, those excellent killstreak themes and retro-style opening will feel "nostalgic" for a whole new set of reasons... :/
 
SAB CA said:
My Brother and I were having a blast playing it in Splitscreen Co-Op during it's release and Patch, but I guess we'll just both have to watch it expand, even more, from the sidelines for now...
Click to expand...

PC version also has split screen for 3 players!
 
At this rate the Kickstarter will make it easy. The question is how much at the end of 29 days? If we can get to 270K at least for the extra map and Custom games i would be happy. Would be good if we can at least to 530K for the 2 extra characters and Steam Workshop support.

It appears it will at least hit 200K going by the trend, 270K might be doable.
 
ZeroCoin said:
I really enjoyed the game on 360, but it really put a bad taste in my mouth with the lack of dlc / update support.
Click to expand...

SAB CA said:
Bleh, I purchased Awesomenauts for 360, and I understand the issues they had patching it...

... but 360 patch fees have shrunk since then. I don't particularly like being ignored, when I was VERY into the game when it came out on the console.

If they bring it to 360 or XB1, they'll have my support.
Click to expand...

The problem with the 360 version is NOT that Ronimo doesn't want to support it, but that there's a publisher in between them and Microsoft.
If it were up to Ronimo, they would've updated and patched the game for the 360, but they cannot, as dtp is in charge of anything regarding the 360 version.
 
Fireblend said:
$125,000 seems pretty steep.

I've never played the game but it does look good from watching a couple of videos.
Click to expand...

$125,000 really isn't all that much in the grand scheme of game design.

Kickstarter has warped people's perceptions of how much a game costs because so many developers either grossly underestimate how much money they need or they already have some kind of external funding.
 
Gez said:
PC version also has split screen for 3 players!
Click to expand...

Yeah, which is probably the reason I'll eventually get into it to some degree on PC, at this rate. The updates twin stick controls will probably help this too (I have no desire to get used to this game on Mouse and Keyboard.)

I was glad to see the PC kept splitscreen, but it sucks I'll have to be away from my additional friends and such, to play on a different platform.

Red Arremer said:
The problem with the 360 version is NOT that Ronimo doesn't want to support it, but that there's a publisher in between them and Microsoft.
If it were up to Ronimo, they would've updated and patched the game for the 360, but they cannot, as dtp is in charge of anything regarding the 360 version.
Click to expand...

So the Publisher issue explains the XBOX 360 issue, yes, but what about the PS3 version? What about working with a new publisher for XB1? What about a Wii U port, for those Ronimo Fans from the Swords & Soldiers days? (TV screen + Gamepad Co-Op would be SO GOOD.)

I'm glad the game is still doing well enough, because that means I might actually get to dig into it on a platform I actually care about again. :)
 
rezuth said:
Surely the game sold well enough to be able to cover that though? I would want a full detail on why they are using kickstarter.
Click to expand...
Maybe they want to put any profit made so far towards a new game's development and/or want to save some of it in case they need it some day, and this will make it possible to still support Awesomenauts to keep fans happy.
 
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