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Gas Powered Games - Chris Taylor Interview @ RPS

Rock, Paper, Shotgun has interviewed Chris Taylor about Wildman, Kickstarter and much more. It is an interesting read, although it probably was made before the decision to shut the Kickstarter Wildman campaign down. Here's a quote about some advice he got:

Quote:

The numbers were not there," he insists, eyes shifting downward. "They weren't even close. 75K on the first day. Other comparable Kickstarters have done 300k, 700k. Feargus and Obsidian made their goal in 24 hours. We were off by over an order of magnitude." "So a friend with way more experience in this business than me - 30 years - said, ‘You've got to shut the Kickstarter down. It's gonna leak that you did the layoffs, and people are gonna wonder why the Kickstarter's still going.' But another friend of mine made a really impassioned point to me. He said, ‘You know, the people who backed you are going to be super upset. They're gonna be pissed about this.'"

Here's a quote on why he doesn't want to sell his company, Gas Powered Games:

Quote:

"I've been doing this a long time," he offers wearily, boisterous presence almost shrinking. "I've been fighting on the field for 15 years as an independent developer. I don't want to sell my soul. I've turned down all these opportunities to do it, and it wasn't exactly to the devil, but it wasn't a golden ticket either. I knew if I sold, I'd probably be shut down in three-to-five years. I didn't want that. I want Gas Powered Games to go on for decades. So I've been fighting and fighting and fighting."

More information.

Just thought "Wildman" was a make work budget project, rather than a serious attempt at a new game idea. Hope GPG can get funding to do Kings & Castles RTS, which is surely the game CT really wanted to make. If not, guess they'll have to turn down the wick - and their hit to miss ratio hasn't been too impressive recently.

I'd help in the fight if they actually put out remarkable games. Sadly, it seems they stopped doing that many years ago.

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Originally Posted by DArtagnan (Post 1061184159)

I'd help in the fight if they actually put out remarkable games. Sadly, it seems they stopped doing that many years ago.

I agree but if your putting Supreme Commander in that category we have a problem.;)

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Originally Posted by Couchpotato (Post 1061184161)

I agree but if your putting Supreme Commander in that category we have a problem.;)

What category?

Supreme Commander was just a remake of Total Annihilation. It wasn't terrible or anything - but it certainly wasn't very good.

The sequel was both better and worse.

Last game they made that I liked was Dungeon Siege 2 - and it was in fact their best game, imo.

Overall, I can't say that GPG ever really impressed me much.

Quote:

Originally Posted by DArtagnan (Post 1061184162)

I was really just referring on your "Sadly, it seems they stopped doing that many years ago." comment. Dont put Supreme Commander and it's expansion in that category. Not hard to understand now. I know you love long debates. I don't.;)

What the hell I'll follow the trend of long pointless debates. Read on.

I played both Dungeon Siege's and there nothing special. Not bad but nothing award worthy. Supreme Commander 2 I really don't want to talk about that disappointment. The saying two steps forwards three back comes to mind.

Then you have demigod and that abomination f2p Age of Empire game. So yeah really nothing to be proud of lately.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couchpotato (Post 1061184163)

I was really just referring on your "Sadly, it seems they stopped doing that many years ago." comment. FDont put Supreme Commander and it's expansion in that category. Not hard to understand now. I know you love long debates. I don't.;)

What the hell I'll follow the trend of long pointless debates. Read on.

I played both Dungeon Siege's and there nothing special. Not bad but nothing award worthy. Supreme Commander 2 I really don't want to talk about that disappointment. The saying two steps forwards three back comes to mind.

Then you have demigod and that abomination f2p Age of Empire game. So yeah really nothing to be prod of lately.

I don't love long debates, I hate them.

You're not making too much sense, though. I guess you're saying that you liked Supreme Commander? Well - to each his own :)

Quote:

Originally Posted by DArtagnan (Post 1061184164)

I don't love long debates, I hate them.

You're not making too much sense, though. I guess you're saying that you liked Supreme Commander? Well - to each his own :)

Yes I do. You finally got my point. I only had to put it in a long pointless response. I'm just bored.:bored: Moving on now.

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Originally Posted by Couchpotato (Post 1061184163)

I played both Dungeon Siege's and there nothing special.

For the time when they were released?

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Originally Posted by ChienAboyeur (Post 1061184179)

For the time when they were released?

Yes. Played them when they first came out and later with them patched with the expansions. Nothing special but not bad as I said previously.

Well, in dungeon siege one, the world was continuous. It is nothing special today. It was something special at start of the 2000s for this kind of games.

yet another narcissist developer living the good life with just his name. Chris Taylor, welcome to the halls adorned with the likes of Richard Garriott and Curt Schilling.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Couchpotato (Post 1061184163)

I played both Dungeon Siege's and there nothing special. Not bad but nothing award worthy.

I have to agree, at least for DG2. It was a moderately entertaining action game and the graphics were nice, but the RPG elements were essentially linear; particularly the conversations. Alas, DG2 was my only exposure to GPG and it didn't leave me hungry for more.

Hopefully things will improve for them.