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Red Ash Kickstarter: Playable Pre-Alpha Protoype released! (Install or Unity Browser)
- Thread starter PeakPointMatrix
- Start date
NoFaceNico
Member
The playable alpha:
The campaign:
The campaign:
Brian_FETO
Banned
It's not a lack of respect towards the people making the game. No one is singling out members of the team and saying they as people are worthless (well, besides some folks' disdain for Inafune's wacky get rich quick schemes)
It's a lack of respect towards what they are offering and how they are offering it. Respect is earned. When they deliver something worth respecting, it will come. As of right now this is a desperation move that, much like their other attempts to save the Kickstarter, is failing.
The concept art is gorgeous, and while I've never played a Legends game, I'm intrigued by it. However, as many people in this thread and elsewhere have said, the Kickstarter was designed with the arrogant mentality that the project would easily surpass the initial goal, and now it's pretty clear that there was no real plan in place for their current situation.
I'm really sorry that the project isn't going well, but this is the nature of Kickstarter. If you are going to rely on the people, the people will dictate the outcome.
Fbh
Member
Put it on Sream greenlight and Jim Sterling can make a video about it
Well, if the musician uploads a bad sounding video recorded vertically with a cellphone of him playing a tune that won't be in the new album using an instrument that won't be in the new album. Then yeah, it's pretty shitty to use it as a way of getting me to donate for his second albun.....before he even released the first one
Well, if the musician uploads a bad sounding video recorded vertically with a cellphone of him playing a tune that won't be in the new album using an instrument that won't be in the new album. Then yeah, it's pretty shitty to use it as a way of getting me to donate for his second albun.....before he even released the first one
I understand how it's an pre alpha prototype and it's not mean to given an accurate representation of the final game, I understand that. BUT, and it's a big BUT. But such a thing should at least given an portrayal as to how the game has evolved for modern hardware and software and new technologies. As it is, this looks really bad. It doesn't much show off great how great the engine it's build is or anything. It doesn't really show any big improvements over the other games at all, besides graphically and even then, not so much. So why would you make this thing playable. Doesn't make sense. The goal of making a playable alpha is to show off exciting progress, there isn't much here to show at all. So it's strange. Very strange.
That's in conjunction with the fact that the entire KS has been horribly run, which is also in conjunction with how bad of a deal it is for consumers to actually back it in the first place. Everything has been a mess. And it's sad because I believe that there could be a good game... well prolouge game there somewhere even with a very badly run campaign. There's no secretly that the Shenmue 3 KS did a lot of things wrong and was extremely confusing at times. But the actual offers in place made sense for the most part. They soon cleared up exactly what people would be getting when they backed it. They did multiple in depth Q&A and live streams. They had a pre-alpha prototype ready when it launched, and even though it didn't look so great and the main character's model was extremely off they at least responded in a reasonable manner.
Red Ash just leaves me more confused the more I read about it.
That's in conjunction with the fact that the entire KS has been horribly run, which is also in conjunction with how bad of a deal it is for consumers to actually back it in the first place. Everything has been a mess. And it's sad because I believe that there could be a good game... well prolouge game there somewhere even with a very badly run campaign. There's no secretly that the Shenmue 3 KS did a lot of things wrong and was extremely confusing at times. But the actual offers in place made sense for the most part. They soon cleared up exactly what people would be getting when they backed it. They did multiple in depth Q&A and live streams. They had a pre-alpha prototype ready when it launched, and even though it didn't look so great and the main character's model was extremely off they at least responded in a reasonable manner.
Red Ash just leaves me more confused the more I read about it.
crazyrabbits
Banned
What a mess. This reeks of desperation. I don't see this hitting the initial goal at all.
I was curious so I downloaded the demo. This is a desperation move on their part, because normally it'd never be wise to release a demo that is as rough as this one is. I don't know whether it'll pay off, but for me, as someone who's done a little game dev and knows what unity is, I can kind of tell how little time it'd take to put this together. It was probably made by one guy over a couple of days. Hell, I didn't play very far in (not sure how in it goes) but it could probably really have been slapped together by one guy in an afternoon.
The message was confusing for sure but they have cleared things up a bit. Basically this KS is for a prologue to the main game. They are aiming for the prologue to be roughly 8 hours in length and that includes beginning, middle and end. For further stretch goals they planned on adding more stuff in making the 8 hours longer but still keeping the same beginning, middle and end.
It's not going to reach the stretch goals at this point but if what I gather is correct it should still be a self contained 8 hour story.
SolidSnakex
Member
I do hope that they don't shelve the entire project if the Kickstarter fails. This is one of those campaigns where it should've been funded on the first day, but so many things were handled poorly. It'll be funded in no time if they just come back in a few months after they've built some better assets and have something more substantial to show in terms of gameplay.
8 X 11 Printer Paper
Member
This really just seems like a final desperate attempt of throwing something against the wall and hoping it will stick. It's been sad watching this campaign self-destruct and caused it's own demise by ego or/and unpreparedness. Really this campaign is a lesson on how a Kickstarter campaign can go wrong due to both internal and external issues.
Gunstar Ikari
Unconfirmed Member
Launched on the 4th of July, with Shenmue III still running and Bloodstained finished less than a month prior. Simultaneous anime kickstarter, barebones pitch, blatantly designed so that several stretch goals have to be met in order to get the "full" game, no console version announced until like a week ago, blowback from Mighty No 9's kickstarter (along with the fact that it isn't even released yet), terrible messaging that only made things more confusing, nothing to show even now except an absolute bare-minimum proof of concept...
I generally don't care about Kickstarter, but this is a perfect storm of nonsense.
PeakPointMatrix
Member
I honestly don't know anything about developing games besides the pipeline and studio manpower needed. But is this demo really something someone can slap together in an afternoon, assets and all? I know a skilled person can work extremely efficiently and quickly to produce something like this, but I find it hard to believe that one person can put together these rigs, models, environments, textures and animations together in a day let alone a week.
Father_Brain
Banned
Holy fuck, this is awful. What a horribly botched Kickstarter.
Graphics Horse
Member
Who?
Gunstar Ikari
Unconfirmed Member
I probably need to give it another serious try before writing it off, but I played a bit of the first game and well...honestly thought that it was an archaic mess.
And yeah, Legends was the Blue Bomber stepchild before Battle Network threatened to take everyone's platformers away, and I'm skeptical that there are enough Legends fans to make that type of game profitable. But I feel like the fans deserve a fair chance at putting their money where their collective mouths are, not this shitshow.
Holundrian
Unconfirmed Member
Why didn't they use the model they showed off in the video but the red beck?
Because making 3d models and programming is a lot of work. Concepting is something you can do rapidly in less time. (It doesn't even have to be finished art. Unfinished 3D models is a whole mess by comparison)
NoFaceNico
Member
It's a secret to everybody...
Joyful
Member
probably not rigged for animation yet
birthday-suit
Banned
Smh at the mega man legends hate.
It was a fun game.
Is rather see this than omg another 8bit megaman game.
It was a fun game.
Is rather see this than omg another 8bit megaman game.
NoFaceNico
Member
I doubt this is going to help the kickstarter reach it's goal. I feel like this is one of those occasions where people say they want something, but it's up to the developer to actually understand that they're actually asking for something else.
Posters in the other thread were saying that they wanted a prototype. Considering we know from the updates designing the Red Ash Beck model and rigging its animations was done only very recently, this is about the best anyone should expect. Going by the update timeline this prototype has probably only been in the works for a week max. Of course it's in such a rough state I doubt it would change anyone's mind. When people said they wanted a prototype they really wanted a polished vertical slice, but it really on Comcept for not understanding that.
I appreciate getting an early look at the game, though this is obviously a desperate attempt to get backers in the final days. This sort of thing is a novelty that would probably be better as an extra released shortly before, or maybe after the game is actually out to show how far it's come from it's inception.
It's a shame this kickstarter has been so poorly managed, because the world as seen in the concept art looks great. Heck, even the Red Ash Beck and Call models in the prototype do a great job of capturing the look of the concept art even though they're clearly very early.
Posters in the other thread were saying that they wanted a prototype. Considering we know from the updates designing the Red Ash Beck model and rigging its animations was done only very recently, this is about the best anyone should expect. Going by the update timeline this prototype has probably only been in the works for a week max. Of course it's in such a rough state I doubt it would change anyone's mind. When people said they wanted a prototype they really wanted a polished vertical slice, but it really on Comcept for not understanding that.
I appreciate getting an early look at the game, though this is obviously a desperate attempt to get backers in the final days. This sort of thing is a novelty that would probably be better as an extra released shortly before, or maybe after the game is actually out to show how far it's come from it's inception.
It's a shame this kickstarter has been so poorly managed, because the world as seen in the concept art looks great. Heck, even the Red Ash Beck and Call models in the prototype do a great job of capturing the look of the concept art even though they're clearly very early.
I'm assuming they were using all/mostly placeholder assets from their other game or other sources, in which case yeah, easily this could be slapped together in no time.
orthodoxy1095
Banned
There really is a reason this kind of stuff isn't generally shared with us. I understand the development process this has to go through, so it doesn't turn me off from the KS, but it sure as hell doesn't do anything to make me care.
Diablohead
Member
I think it's a desperation move and the purpose of it is to try and prove to people that they are serious. That's my guess. Normally, again, you'd never see anything this rough in a KS, because as you said in most cases it will either turn people off or do nothing to impress them. In this case it was "look, we are serious".
It's seriously nonsensical. It'll just make everyone who isn't bored enough to discover the hidden character model think they have less work than they actually do and that can't be doing their kickstarter any favours.
I thought it was fun to have a little hide and seek game in what I expected to just be a walking demo. I guess Camcop really does have their work cut out for them though. I'm all for whatever they can work out, as long as it's provided in full. but some people seem to just want to take them to task.
Revolutionary
Member
I kicked the can behind the bakery and it gave me something. That's Megaman Legends, alright.
Yep.
Yeah, I did think it was kinda neat, but couldn't they have just stashed away MN9 Beck as the bonus? The goal with this demo is to show people they've started work on the game so I just find it odd that they'd stash their new protagonist's working character model in a corner somewhere. Seems like something they should want to show off.
It's not a bad idea because people are stupid and don't understand this, I think most people understand that games have to start from nothing to become something... It's a bad idea because it's just a bad idea. There's nothing to be gained from it. It won't impress anyone, so what's the point? There's a reason you don't generally see games in this state.
UltraGunner
Banned
What they should do is come up with a nice prototype, one that looks good and demonstrates what the game is like, and use footage of it in their video pitch. Imagine that? How novel would that be? Big shots like Inafune, Iga, Doublefine, they all keep thinking they don't need to spend any time or effort making a proper prototype (and generally they're right). Still, though, imagine what could happen if they actually did.
crazyrabbits
Banned
Just tried it out. Yeah, it's clearly something that was whipped together in a hurry. I walked into a corner and saw through my character model, then got bored after a couple minutes and exited out.
It goes to show they were scrambling to put this together when, realistically, they should've put together a playable prototype months ago so they could add more polish before releasing it to the public.
This is... not good. Go on itch.io and you can find jam games, done in weekends, that are better than this.
It's sad to me because all I see here is COMCEPT floundering.
The animation on the main character is so awful it's astounding. The kick and walk cycle are so unnatural looking with his elongated proportions... It's almost like the anim was lifted from another smaller rig and used here without being cleaned up first.
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