Kickstarter - Sui Generis
 

Salvo writes in to point out Sui Generis, an RPG on Kickstarter described as "a ground breaking RPG for the PC that may just change the way you think about games". In more specific terms, the game is classless and doesn't use levels and also doesn't allow you to save-and-reload. They are looking for 150k Pounds (no, not dollars) over the next 29 days, which looks like a big ask:
More information.

There is just something about this project that gets my scammy sense tingeling.
Not sure if it is the fact that all the screen shots look way too familiar and way too good to have been done in a years time by a single artist.
Could also be the lofty claims accompanying all the pictures of the people (supposedly) involved. Which incidentally look like they were taken from random company sites or something similar.
Or it could be the fact that they dont list a dedicated writer.
Or the highly ambitious yet vague goals (alltho who the hell thinks no saving is a good idea?).
Just does not come off as legit to me.

No save and Im out.

Playing IWD on hard and im constantly reloading..
(yes, I suck…)

kind of curious about the team though.
Is this their first game to develop or have they tried their hands on game mechanics
in any other way?

C

Well, the physics look nice and no loading means that you actually need to put thoughts into decisions. However the video doesn't represent their vision at all.
For now it looks like a Diablo Clone with a physics based system…

looks good. but i don't like the idea of these guys putting all their effort in this project. Currently it was a hobby for them.. so why not continue it like that.. and pull it out in 3 5 years.

No save and reload?

How does that work? If I quit the came to go to bed does that mean I have to start all over the next day. I always question the designers street cred when they make those type of gaming decisions.

plus what is up with the pounds goal instead of a dollar goal? The twenty dollars I pledge today might be 25 dollars in 30 days. (or less depending on the value of dollar to pound).

@Dajjer
No Save/Load usually means Iron Man Mode, ergo: Everything is saved automatically but you do not have savepoints. So if you make a decision, there is no going back to try out the other path. Much like FTL for example. Or Ironman on XCom or Mount and Blade with the option enabled.
But yes, they should have written more about it.

About the pound thing: It is an UK based company. Kickstarter opened to UK based projects just today, as can be read here:
http://www.kickstarter.com/blog/kickstarter-in-the-uk

The Conversion rate might be something new for you - the rest of the world however had to deal with it already in the past.

well I think it looks amazing! They should sell their game engine to Obsidian and use it to make Project Eternity!

It looks great, but I wonder if the engine can handle a multiple character team. I wonder if it can handle quest mechanics, ect. I think I will back them, but I just don't know if they will make it…

At first I trought it looks like Beyond Divinity witch was amazing and bad simultanely, so far it looks impressive and what else do you want to consider as ground breaking or in the right directory? Cause I recall not so many liked also the vision of Malevolence.

What the bloody hell is wrong with people in the video game industry to gesticulate like that???
I've seen it before on big game conferences, even from big studios. Is it being taught them to jerk around like a marionette?
I mean I understand that if you want to make a point you raise one hand and point out, and if you really want to stress it, then you would do it with two hands.
But waving around with two hands constantly, completely out of any context???
I had to turn off the video after 30 sec, it was so annoying..

Learn to present your shit properly, and then I might consider listening.

These guys like shadows. Lots and lots of shadows. Looks nice though.

They're a whole team. "Way too famililar", like taken from another game? Explain the video then please? Oh, it's also stolen..? :roll:

Again with the stealing? You really lack imagination.. Again, that isnt exactly legal and would likely kill the project within days when someone recognizes a photo / person. That would also happen if they indeed had stolen the tech/screens from some exisiting game.

About no saving, I think it's a really good idea, at least if you claim you want to create something intense and unique. Saving is often distracting from gameplay, especially in those games where you find yourself abusing it to no end, it becomes too much like cheating, face a boss and kill him after 40 tries because of pure luck, a glitch etc. I much prefer save points or no save and instead have a very balanced and intense game where you have to think and really care about your next move.

Anyways, looks absolutely fantastic (physics especially). It really made GTA IV a lot better imo, creates all sorts of either funny or dramatic scenes when fighting or getting run over or just barely touched by a passing car or person etc. This really needs to be in all games that contains melee fighting - each fight becomes completely unique instead of a repeative bore.

Re: save/reload Thanks for the explanation - But I still don't like it. It's my game let me save where I want. Back tracking on decisions certainly doesn't ruin "my" enjoyment of a game. And it certainly doesn't negate the point I made about developers making save game decisions for me.

Re: Conversion rates. Is the conversion rate locked when I pledged, or when the campaign is over or when they take the money out of my account? I know over a typical 30 day time frame the difference is only pennies. For example in October a 25 pound pledge could have been worth anything where from $39.98 to $40. 45.

This looked like a very interesting project, IMO. I thought the presentation was great and I'm inclined to contribute to this one. Thanks very much for the heads up, Dhruin!

I would have really liked to have seen some sort of commitment to releasing mod tools, however - the designer spent a lot of time showing what a great editor they developed, seems a shame not to make the tools available for fans to add and share new content. I think I will hold off on pledging for a bit, hopefully they might comment regarding mod tools.

The idea of no saving seems very strange. I tend to prefer games where the combat is very challenging and I die and reload hundreds of times. If I am able to survive the entire game without dying, it seems as though the combat might not be as enjoyable; however, I gather they may simply have some sort of "special consequences" like you lose half your gold and teleport to another area or something along those lines. With such a massive open world, I'm a bit skeptical that the game would work out without being able to save and reload anywhere you want.

These are not "people in the video game industry" - the guy has been developing this game with a group of friends for a number of years as a hobby. He's certainly not a polished publishing exec looking to sweep savvy investors off their feet, for example.

I thought the presentation was solid, in terms of the details conveyed and the editor demo. I've seen much worse Kickstarter videos where someone who was neither a polished presenter nor a talented comedian tried to imitate some of the funnier videos and failed horribly. I think in the case of Sui Generis, Madoc Evans was wise to keep it simple and not try to compete with those funny or irreverent videos by more established studios.

I do think they should have dedicated at least part of the video (or hopefully a future video) to showcasing role playing elements of the game, lore, backstory, quests, character creation options and progression, etc.

I think this is exiting. We should not just support proven hands, KS should also be a way to support new talent to enter the games industry.

@Vurt
The video was not up when i made that post and based on the text/pictures the whole thing came off as very iffy.
Looking at the video however i would say the project looks very promising.

Looks and sounds good, but I would have prefered a third-person view or at least a much closer camera. As it stands now, I have to agree that it kinda looks like a Diablo clone with physics.

@Biff ah ok.

Speaking of iffy? 3 pledges of $2000 and almost nothing else? To me it looks like the 3 pledges are there just to make it look like its a very successful start, to make people jump on the train so to speak. It's not too hard to later remove your pledge or just point it to an account where there isnt enough cash and the withdrawal will fail (but the backing will still succeed and they will get the rest of the money). Obviously i'm not implying something or that someone is doing something illegal here. Just an observation..

@JDR13: this is like pre-pre alpha though, much can change, including camera. Not too hard to add zoom.

Could also be some reasonably wealthy friends or relatives, though… (just to offer another explanation)

Absolutely, could be :) Though why not give it to them directly then and avoid the fees to KS? Would be more beneficial for the devs.

Could be 3 people who really wants the game. But i must say its slightly odd to have 3 really super hardcore fans and almost 0 other fans ;)