Wasteland 2

[rk47]

not giving him a cent. after ultima 9

[sickrubik]

It's just really sad that Double Fine killed Kickstarter. 

[Ingmar]

not giving him a cent. after ultima 9

What if the Kickstarter is to launch him into space?

[Quinton]

What if the Kickstarter is to launch him into space?

I dunno.  It's been tried before and didn't seem to help.

[Surlyboi]

not giving him a cent. after ultima 9 Tabula Rasa

Sorted.

[Ragnoros]

It seems like despite all the hype for these new kickstarters being the way for the masses to be publishers, they still depend on the more generous/affluent people to work.

As an example, if you take the two lowest tiers ($15 & $30) of the Wastland 2 kickstarter only about 300k of the 1.3mil is represented, with another 200k showing up from the $50 set. While half a million is nothing to sneeze at the fact is that better than half their funding is coming from the $100+ tier. I wonder how many Notch's there are out there willing to chip in 10K on the hope of their pet gaming nostalgia making a return. My guess would be that after a few more rounds of these we are going to get some donor fatigue. Moreover, I  question how successful this model will/would be for the actual indy devs, when there won't be people kicking in $100+ for their fledgling project. Or I might just be a cynical bastard over thinking the whole thing. FTL worked out fine. It may simply be a matter of devs just needing a genuinely popular or innovative idea.

tl;dr Currently the big name kickstarters are being funded in large part by big contributions. I do not believe such large donations will continue to be the norm, leading to projects in the future being more difficult to successfully fund.

[Furiously]

I think it's also big names being able to get big bucks. It's a lot easier for Warren Buffett to get investors than the some unknown guy.

[koro]

http://www.ripten.com/2012/03/27/brian-fargo-talks-wasteland-2-abysmal-publisher-treatment-and-having-fun-again/

This is an absolutely fascinating read.

[UnSub]

As for Double Fine - they were able to make Stacking and fucking Costume Quest - they don't need my money. They can obviously find money in seat cushions to make some silly shit.

I assume you never noticed the parts where Double Fine was on the verge of firing a bunch of staff and possibly closing up shop before this Kickstarter happened because they couldn't find funding for anything.

An 8 month, $400k title wasn't going to save them in that case either.

Besides, I thought Double Fine was going to fire people but then made money on Stacking and Costume Quest and didn't have to.

[sickrubik]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2012/03/30/obisidian-to-co-develop-wasteland-2-on-one-condition/

Here’s a big, bouncy ball of unexpected good news for you. Brian Fargo and his studio inXile Entertainment are, as you well know, working on a sequel to the seminal RPG Wasteland, and have successfully Kickstarted it to the tune of $1.6 million. Since exceeding their initial target of $900,000, they’ve been able to add Mac and Linux versions to their masterplan for the post-nuclear roleplaying game. But that’s not all. They’ve just been in touch to say that, if they can reach $2.1 million during the 17 days remaining on the funding schedule, they’ll be bringing in Obisidian Entertainment, including Planescape: Torment mastermind Chris Avellone, to help them make the game.

[schild]

I really just care about Avellone joining. Obsidian would just bring more bugs.

[Lounge]

Tempted to pull my funding if Obsidian is involved.  Those guys screw up everything they touch.

[Tebonas]

Obsidian made some Fine games, its just their Project management that seems to suck. Since they won't do that here I See no Real danger! 

[Furiously]

It's going to take 10 years to come out then!

[Ingmar]

As long as they're not making the engine it should be fine. Hell, New Vegas was far, far, far more stable for me than FO3 was.

[sickrubik]

It's going to take 10 years to come out then!

It's already taken 24, what's another 10.

[Furiously]

I'll be in the old folks home then.....

[Lantyssa]

Then you'll have lots of time to play.  Perfect!

[Tebonas]

Just read the Kickstarter email. Yes, Obsidian participation means Chris Avellone. You all can breath easy again.

[sickrubik]

It's also mentioned directly in the quote above.

[MournelitheCalix]

Tempted to pull my funding if Obsidian is involved.  Those guys screw up everything they touch.

The problem with Obsidian IMHO is that they rush games out the door instead of taking pride in their craftsmanship.   Had they finished KoToR2 I think there was a possibility that it would have been better than KotoR.  


As to Wasteland 2, man I am so up for a $55 donation and I really hope this means a return of a gaming company that I really do miss especially with what has happened to EaWare.  I think it would be absolutely fantastic if Interplay got itself up off the ground.  I would love to see them start making RPGs again.  He was right the Interplay RPGs was the golden age of PC gaming for me.  I will be so happy to see the rocket revolving around the planet with a streamer, "For Gamers, By Gamers" again.  Yep they get my money.

[HaemishM]

Fargo doesn't own the Interplay mark anymore, some douchebag Frenchie prick does. The douche in question is the one that drove Interplay directly into the firmament.

[koro]

Herve Caen took Interplay to the stars?

I don't think that word means what you think it means. 

[Ingmar]

Pretty sure that should be 'fundament'.

[HaemishM]

Herve Caen took Interplay to the stars?

I don't think that word means what you think it means. 

Why, you are correct. For some reason, I've always thought that word meant earth.

The Middle English definition of fundament is more definitely what I meant. As in directly up his own ass.

[koro]

http://www.reddit.com/user/ChrisAvellone/
http://www.reddit.com/user/BrianFargo

Avellone and Fargo are doing a big AMA on Reddit right now.

[Furiously]

Just a reminder. Kickstarter ends tomorrow morning.

[Teleku]

Thanks for the heads up, was intending to donate to this, but got distracted.  Pledged $50, since I just bought a $700 iPad today, I figured why not blow even more cash.   

[Falconeer]

I pledged 65$, the big box with cloth map and the promise of a real old school manual had me. Also, I have the original box of the original Wasteland too, so somehow I felt the need to "complete the set". I'd go to hell if it existed.

Update: Kickstarter ended. Project funded. 3 millions? Holy shit!

[Krakrok]

$3,042,870

"While we are not ready to commit to that feature yet, we can say that if we were to hit 3 million dollars,  it would be possible to do a mod kit  without cutting into the plan for the main game.  In fact, IF we ended up making the mod kit we would not release it until after Wasteland 2 shipped as our hands will be quite full to ensure things are done well. "

Theoretically they will do mod tools now for it after the game ships. 

[Falconeer]

It will be built on Unity.

[..snip..]

Summary

In summary, Unity hits the sweet spot for us defined by the specific requirements of the Wasteland 2 game design, deployment plan, and the unique circumstances of the development effort which includes community involvement on an ongoing basis.

It has been my experience over decades of game development that no engine or tool is ever perfect for the game you want to build.  Any engine or tool will have points of weaker comparison to other options, but you have to evaluate how the whole offering matches up with your resources and skills to make a good choice for the project at hand.  Unity is an excellent choice that will allow us to deliver the great game we’ve promised in Wasteland 2.

Best Regards,

John Alvarado
Director of Technology
inXile entertainment

[Fabricated]

Does Unity cost like $20 to license or something? Because it's looking like every "big-budget" game kickstarter is looking at it.

[Krakrok]

$1500 for pro plus $500 for team support. Plus it exports to Flash, has it's own browser plugin, and streaming assets (loading like Guild Wars). It's very much built by and for indies to bang out games in rapid fashion.

One interesting thing that guy mentioned in his update was their Asset Store which he seemed to like a lot for both getting free/paid tools and art and contributing tools and art that are created for Wasteland 2 back to the community for modding and beyond.

Edit: They are also hiring coders with Unity experience in Newport Beach, CA.

[Falconeer]

I recently checked UFO Online and Jagged Alliance Online, both built with Unity, and I must say I wasn't expecting for it to be that cool decent.

[Quinton]

$1500 for pro plus $500 for team support. Plus it exports to Flash, has it's own browser plugin, and streaming assets (loading like Guild Wars). It's very much built by and for indies to bang out games in rapid fashion.

That's per-seat, not flat, but still not at all bad especially given that it's a no-royalties license.