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[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

Yup, that's my game Glad you like the art style.

Will look into those campaigns you think did a good job, and I thank you for the breakdown. I consider some of those warning bells myself. The money breakdown thing can be strange though, because for really small teams, it amounts to "paying rent and allowing me to eat so we can work on this" or would in my own case. Not sure if there's a more professional way to get that across, but there ya go.

Everything else though is an absolute. It bothers me when KS campaigns are nothing but concept art and promises. Ya just... Don't do that!

For a small team I would suggest looking at Drift Stage's and Wildfire's pie charts to get an idea. Pretty much the chart really only needs Coding, Art, Sound (Any of the those 3 can be combined if your doing it yourself since it would go under the rent/food idea), Physical Rewards (If you have any, if not no need) and KS/Amazon Fees. While it's a simple thing, having a chart puts backer's minds at ease.

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

1) No gameplay. 99.9999% of the time, I have no interest in a Kickstarter if it merely showcases art and promises. The rare exception being Battletech, solely because I trust Harebrained to deliver
Even if it's early pre-alpha footage or a prototype, at least it's something

2) No or little info on the developers and/or their experience

3) No breakdown of how funds will be used

4) A discrepancy between a funding goal and the scale/scope of a project

5) A messy campaign page. Too little info, but also the flip side, overlong info dumps. No many pictures. Not nicely formatted.

100% what I was going to say.

Which is why it concerns and upsets me to see these ex-AAA devs or AAA devs with barebone campaigns.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

For a small team I would suggest looking at Drift Stage's and Wildfire's pie charts to get an idea. Pretty much the chart really only needs Coding, Art, Sound (Any of the those 3 can be combined if your doing it yourself since it would go under the rent/food idea), Physical Rewards (If you have any, if not no need) and KS/Amazon Fees. While it's a simple thing, having a chart puts backer's minds at ease.

Oh, I quite like the Drift Stage one.

And yeah, I get why having a chart like that is a good thing. People deserve to know where their money is going.

 

[NoFaceNico]

Another important thing that's missing from More_Badass' list is the value factor from the backer's perspective. Sure, everyone has that one game they would fund no matter the expense, but for 99% of your potential backers they go to Kickstarter to get a good deal on a game they want to get made.

That's something that's also off on First Wonder's campaign. Even if they didn't have the red flags, asking $25-30 for a digital copy of the game is a hard sell on KS. For digital copies you would expect to get the game for $8 to $15 at the max. Giving the backers a good deal offsets the wait time to get the game made, the inevitable delays, and the risk they took on your project. You can up the price later on Steam.

I hope I don't offend you, but from what I could see on your website I think $5 to $10 would be a fair price for your game.

 

[Russ T]

I think More_Badass was just listing warning signs in general, not specifically commenting on First Wonder. They do have some of those problems listed though, like a messy campaign page, no funding breakdown and because of that it's impossible to accurately judge whether the $500k is too little, too much, or just right.

Yeah, I just was listing some general things to be wary of, in response to Conkersbadfurday's question about warning bells

Ahh my bad.

In that case, I fully agree, carry on!

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

Another important thing that's missing from More_Badass' list is the value factor from the backer's perspective. Sure, everyone has that one game they would fund no matter the expense, but for 99% of your potential backers they go to Kickstarter to get a good deal on a game they want to get made.

That's something that's also off on First Wonder's campaign. Even if they didn't have the red flags, asking $25-30 for a digital copy of the game is a hard sell on KS. For digital copies you would expect to get the game for $8 to $15 at the max. Giving the backers a good deal offsets the wait time to get the game made, the inevitable delays, and the risk they took on your project. You can up the price later on Steam.

I hope I don't offend you, but from what I could see on your website I think $5 to $10 would be a fair price for your game.

That all makes sense too.

Though for ours, we were going for a minimum of $15.00 because it's actually really, really big.

 

[More_Badass]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

 

[Granjinha]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

What the fuck.

 

[MichaelFassbender]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

Oh man, that is rich. You have to wonder about someone's mental process before posting that.

"Yeah, this'll work. Most definitely." CLICK

 

[Granjinha]

Just launched:

The Journey Down Chapter Three

An afro-noir point & click adventure saga set in a rich, atmospheric musical world.

The first two chapters were pretty great. I would back it if i could right now.

 

[jediyoshi]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

That's the sound of money on fire

 

[NoFaceNico]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

I don't even understand how they're able keep their campaign on there. It clearly wasn't a mistake, he tried to Kickstart the same game earlier with a goal of $35k. I reported the campaign for whatever good that might do.

 

[thehillissilent]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

#dead

I can't believe it. How did they get away with that. He should withdraw the campaign.

EDIT: On a positive note, the main character is at least good on the eyes. Her butt is huge.

 

[Conkersbadfurday]

#dead

I can't believe it. How did they get away with that. He should withdraw the campaign.

EDIT: On a positive note, the main character is at least good on the eyes. Her butt is huge.

The fact that he hasn't withdrawn the campaign is a huge red flag.

Pretty shitty all around.

 

[thehillissilent]

The fact that he hasn't withdrawn the campaign is a huge red flag.

Pretty shitty all around.

Yeah. He should just withdraw the campaign and release it on Steam Early Access. He was going to release the Unreal Engine 4 version on Steam anyway. It really is sad too, because the game could turn out quite decent. The programmer is Rod Lima, who recreated RE 2 in UDK (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=flBvR9zl1Zg).

I will wait for it on Steam Early Access. The UE4 screens do look decent and they are supposed to release a demo soon.

 

[KiraXD]

#dead

EDIT: On a positive note, the main character is at least good on the eyes. Her butt is huge.

oh man! lol.

on that note... i think we all have been spoiled by mo-cap and god-tier hand animations (ND) because when i watch these indie devs big scope 3d games... the animation looks so shitty... nothing flows... it looks robotic and mechanical. (not all devs, but ive seen plenty that look like that game.... ugh)

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Note to all devs planning a Kickstarter:
Don't do this

Oh.

Okay.

 

[More_Badass]

Added to Upcoming

Indivisible - Monday

INDIVISIBLE is inspired by classics like Valkyrie Profile and Metroid, and has the unique character, world, and gameplay depth Lab Zero (Skullgirls) is known for

Added to Ongoing

Home Free

Home Free is an open-world action-RPG starring a dog lost in a sprawling, randomly generated city. Use your canine abilities to explore this strange, sometimes hostile environment and find your place in the world.

The Journey Down

An afro-noir point & click adventure saga set in a rich, atmospheric musical world.

 

[ElectricThunder]

Antinomy is aiming relatively high in a sense at ~121k, and has a hell of a mountain to climb from the looks of it at this early state in a longer than usual KS term, but has some solid names involved. I also keep mispronouncing the name of it in my head after the fact, as I'm guessing others here will too~

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/againstallodds/antinomy/description

Pitch trailer theme is the sort that actually gets stuck in your head, though I reckon they'd have done better to just leave off that one stiffly animated, not so detailed 3D character model at the tail end as it just falls so tremendously flat vs their camera zoom through and the 2D splash screen's style.

The vibe for it makes me think of the old XZR/Exile series---though they don't really indicate how deep into the fantastical this will go compared to the likes of that nor do they mention it as an inspiration anywhere oddly enough. That said, now I find myself hoping the impossible dream that the actual Exile folks left alive take a crack at KS one of these days as I'd not thought about those games in years now prior to this little nostalgia jolt and the KS realm would probably prove receptive to the sort of stuff that was controversial back in the day that they managed to get out there.

 

[KimonoNoNo]

Oh man Home Free looks sweet.

 

[JODOROWSKY51]

Hey guys!

Got 48 hours left for the De Mambo Kickstarter!

http://kck.st/1Nncht0

 

[Nezzhil]

We have arrived to the last few days of the crowdfunding campaign for Tankr, and the hard reality has been imposed on us. We failed to get the attention of enough people to initiate a new phase of Tankr's development and of our studio too. We have some cool ideas that are impossible to develop at this point.

The good side is that we learned a lot during this month, and most important, Tankr doesn't end here. As we said in the campaign, the core of the game is finished and has lots of content, so we will continue to work on it from our studio to fine-tune it and share it with more people until we succeed on Steam’s Greenlit.

We encourage you to contact us at info(at)mightytoast(dot)net and twitter’s (at)mtoaststudio You can follow the development of Tankr on our website, Steam and IndieDB.

Lastly, but most important, thank you all for your continued support and for believing in our game. Thanks so much!

We hope to get in touch with you again soon!

Hey guys!

Got 48 hours left for the De Mambo Kickstarter!

http://kck.st/1Nncht0

Congratulations! Your game looks awesome

 

[HP_Wuvcraft]

Hey guys!

Got 48 hours left for the De Mambo Kickstarter!

http://kck.st/1Nncht0

Good luck!

 

[NoFaceNico]

Good luck!

LOL, the campaign already ended, unless you mean good luck making the game.... to which I wish them good luck as well. I looked it up back when the 48 hour bump went up and I didn't think this was going to make it.

I don't want to start shit, but this campaign has by far the strangest funding progress I've ever seen. JODOROWSKY51, do you know what's up with your backers? The lowest tier with the game was £10 but the pledge to backer average ended up being £110.

You could blame this on the high tier backers skewing the average but that looks even stranger, it's completely backwards. The £500 and over pledges account for £9,500 in a campaign that raised £15,507. And when we add up the rest of the pledges they only add up to £2,263.

All I can say is that you must have had some very, very generous backers on the first and second to last day of the campaign.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/thedangerouskitchen/de-mambo/#chart-daily

 

[JODOROWSKY51]

Congratulations! Your game looks awesome

Thanks! Sorry to hear things didn't work out, but I'm glad you learnt from it. The only way to succeed is to keep failing, so keep going! I wish you luck.

Good luck!

Thanks man and also for making the OT!! Hey, I'll put you in the game somehow...

LOL, the campaign already ended, unless you mean good luck making the game.... to which I wish them good luck as well. I looked it up back when the 48 hour bump went up and I didn't think this was going to make it.

I don't want to start shit, but this campaign has by far the strangest funding progress I've ever seen. JODOROWSKY51, do you know what's up with your backers? The lowest tier with the game was £10 but the pledge to backer average ended up being £110.

You could blame this on the high tier backers skewing the average but that looks even stranger, it's completely backwards. The £500 and over pledges account for £9,500 in a campaign that raised £15,507. And when we add up the rest of the pledges they only add up to £2,263.

All I can say is that you must have had some very, very generous backers on the first and second to last day of the campaign.

http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/thedangerouskitchen/de-mambo/#chart-daily

I'm still flabbergasted at what happened, I'm not sure I even understand it yet myself!!

People really came in to support us, and yeah we do know some super generous people, like our Japanese contact we have who's interested in publishing the game in Asia and our super fan who comes to every event and who we can't even beat at our own game! One backer definitely waiting right until the last moment, as they pledged the exact amount needed to reach the target.

Thanks to all at Neogaf who pledged and who helped out!

 

[d1sCo_d3aTh]

Ongoing campaign for point-and-click adventure Magic Lost.
http://kck.st/1FK1LJz

It seems refreshingly unorthodox. They describe it as a mix between Longest Journey, Loom, Psychonauts, Metroid, and Mega Man. I don't even know what that means, but I want to find out. They have a demo, too.

 

[outunderthestars]

figured this would be the spot to ask: Any current/upcoming KS campaigns offering a Vita version/stretch goal?

I know of Pixel Noir, but that is about it.

 

[Granjinha]

I'm really happy about The Journey Down. Didn't think it was really well known and they're almost at their goal. The first two chapters are pretty nice. Can't wait for the ending.

 

[Zemekis11]

So hype for Allison Road >

 

[More_Badass]

Two promising campaign starting on Monday October 12th

Wanderer

Hello, Neighbor

 

[dancrane212]

Wanderer

A cinematic platformer RPG?

That certainly sounds interesting.

 

[Cave Johnson]

Hello, Neighbor

Ok, this one is on my watchlist.

 

[Megauap]

The Kickstarter for Hello, Neighbor! is live: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/helloneighbor/hello-neighbor

I hope they reach that PS4 stretch goal.

 

[NoFaceNico]

Hello, Neighbor looks like incredible fun. I'm getting a lot of Sir You Are Being Hunted vibes and I really liked that game.

However, the team is throwing red flags at me. They have 8 people but only 3 are programmers. They also only have experience with mobile games, none of which are in the genera of this game, this is their first PC game.

It looks like they're pretty far along, so I don't really understand where the $100k is going to go. And if the gameplay looks so polished and they're asking for $100k, a good way to get there would be to release an alpha. Yes, I know that's a lot to ask for but I'm very picky with the games I back and if a game asking for $7k can include a lengthy demo, then dammit, include a demo for your $100k game.

Also, in their main video on the KS page, the title is spelled at the end with the British spelling "Neighbour" I don't know if that was intentional or just a typo, the team is from Russia.

 

[More_Badass]

They have 8 people but only 3 are programmers. They also only have experience with mobile games, none of which are in the genera of this game, this is their first PC game.

I don't think that's a problem

Have you seen Hand of Fate? Another successfully Kickstarted game?

This was their previous title:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ski-safari/id503092422?mt=8

Papers Please?
Dev worked on Helsings' Fire

Quite a few devs are making the jump from mobile to PC/console

But I definitely agree these devs need a chart showing how the funds will be used

 

[Arulan]

Hello, Neighbor

Interesting.

 

[NoFaceNico]

I don't think that's a problem

Have you seen Hand of Fate? Another successfully Kickstarted game?


This was their previous title:
https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/ski-safari/id503092422?mt=8


Papers Please?
Dev worked on Helsings' Fire

Quite a few devs are making the jump from mobile to PC/console

But I definitely agree these devs need a chart showing how the funds will be used

I see your point but the leap they hope to make is a very ambitious one, they want complex dynamic AI. And part of my point is that you have more mouths to feed and for an indie team I'd rather have more programmers than designers/artists.

I don't think I'm comfortable enough to back this one, but once it's out I'd probably buy it. I just don't want bite because if I look into my crystal ball all I see are delays while they beg for mercy on their small programming team.

Also I forgot to mention but as much as I love the concept behind the game, it does make me think the game itself will be pretty short.

 

[Megauap]

Wanderer has launched it's Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1231806848/wanderer-2

It looks pretty good, hope it gets funded.

 

[Karak]

Trial by Viking. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lastlifegames/trial-by-viking
Might already be in here as it just got pledged up. Interesting to me. Reminds me of Rastan

 

[More_Badass]

Trial by Viking. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lastlifegames/trial-by-viking
Might already be in here as it just got pledged up. Interesting to me. Reminds me of Rastan

Campaign ended last month. Game looks fun, been following its development on TIGSource

 

[slages]

Wanderer has launched it's Kickstarter campaign: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1231806848/wanderer-2

It looks pretty good, hope it gets funded.

Thanks man, I'm the dev, don't hesitate if you have questions!

 

[outunderthestars]

Thanks man, I'm the dev, don't hesitate if you have questions!

Any chance for Console versions?

 

[Intel_89]

What appears to be a portuguese team of devs is trying to bring Baku Baku from the dead, it looks dreadful but considering this used to be a SEGA IP I think it's worth noting:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/grandesplanos/baku-baku-revival

 

[More_Badass]

Need to all the recent campaigns, but this one looks interesting

The Nullpoint - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/schellgames/the-nullpoint
A sci-fi horror squad-based RTS

 

[More_Badass]

Will add the other details later

Haque

Magic Lost

FORCED: Eternal Arenas

Wanderer

Baku Baku Revival

The Nullpoint

Friday the 13th: The Game

Hello, Neighbor!

Memoranda

 

[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

So The Nullpoint is being made by the same dev who also kickstarted Orion Trail earlier this year. While they are different teams inside the same studio, I have a feeling this will still put off some people since Orion isn't done yet. As well as the fact that they never mention on the Nullpoint Kickstarter that they are different teams.

 

[More_Badass]

So The Nullpoint is being made by the same dev who also kickstarted Orion Trail earlier this year. While they are different teams inside the same studio, I have a feeling this will still put off some people since Orion isn't done yet. As well as the fact that they never mention on the Nullpoint Kickstarter that they are different teams.

Orion Trail released on Steam a few days ago
http://store.steampowered.com/app/381260/
It's not early access

 

[8 X 11 Printer Paper]

Orion Trail released on Steam a few days ago
http://store.steampowered.com/app/381260/
It's not early access

Well then.....my complaint/possible issue is void!

 

[slages]

Any chance for Console versions?

We're planning it as a stretch goal, but anyway we'll defintely want to port it to consoles, so if we don't reach it it will just take more time to happen.

 

[outunderthestars]

We're planning it as a stretch goal, but anyway we'll defintely want to port it to consoles, so if we don't reach it it will just take more time to happen.

Excellent news!