Tortured Hearts - Kickstarter Campaign

I like the art for the game in the tech demo...I'm a litle concerned this will never make it to the number they set.
 
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If this does make that number, then I'm going to be launching a kickstarter in the very near future ;)

If what little they've shown can generate $300,000...
 
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crpgnut

All right, here's my question:
What would make you change your mind?
(If you want to see actual gameplay, we can't provide that without money.)
 
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crpgnut

All right, here's my question:
What would make you change your mind?
(If you want to see actual gameplay, we can't provide that without money.)

I've already backed the project but I honestly think you would get more if you could put together a short video showing what the gameplay is going to be like. I know it will take time but you already have impressive tech demo. The trouble with RPG fans is we are very demanding of our niche and each of us has our favourite types of game within the genre. It is difficult to visualise what your finished product will be like (things such as static v animated conversations, liner v branched conversations, character progression, the way you move around in the world etc.) You say you can't provide gameplay footage without money. I have never delevoped a game and wouldn't know where to start but I think that is your stumbling block. Is there no way to put some form of gameplay footage together it can just be an example not nessesarily part of the finished game?
The success of wasteland 2 has really focused peoples attention on Kickstarter which is great and Bryan Fargo has been successful without any footage but he is Brian Fargo we know what he can do.
I really hope you get the funding you need but I can understand people's caution when they have very little idea what the finished RPG will look or play like
 
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I've been debating if I should post in this tread or not, I hate to be a big downer.

I think your tech demo looks great, I really like the look and style. And the game sounds good. I am not a huge fan of the lighthearted RPG myself, I prefer the hardcore RPGs that do take themselves too seriously. But if done right I could see myself buying your game.

But to be honest I think $300,000.00 is out of reach. I hope you make it and more so you can make the game. But truth be told I see you more in the $20,000.00 top end range. And you might not make that because when people see the $300,000 number they are not going to back the project because most people will not think it is possible for you to raise that much. With a gun to my head I would say that $300,000 is way too high and obviously so, and not to sound mean but the fact you do not see it at all is a little troubling in itself.

Here are some links:

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games/most-funded?ref=more#p2

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games/recommended?ref=more#p4

http://www.kickstarter.com/discover/categories/video games/popular?ref=more

Actually look through all these games. Take out Wasteland 2 and Doublefine, they are unique cases and not representative of the whole, your game does not match with them in developer fame or gamestyle (don't feel bad 99.9% of games can not match up with these 2). That leaves "The Banner Saga" as the only game I see over $200,000. And I think they had a perfect storm of timing and a unique tie in to the art world independent of gamers (with your art style this may work for you as well once you are farther along). Also their game looks to be about 1/3 complete already.

I see only a few others over $100,000. Rainbow Six sequel and FTL are the only "games" I see and the others are things like websites and podcasts. ALL the other games are in the $5000-10,000 or $25000-50,0000 for the bigger ones. You really expect to be the 3rd biggest game on kickstarter ever?

Check out Ortus:

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/tedjazzastudios/ortus-the-rpg-of-your-dreams?ref=category

a cool looking game with in-game footage ready and a great video. They got $20,000.

I hope you make it, I truly do.

What I would like to see to make me more likely to back?

Work on the game in your spare time for the next 1 1/2 to 2 years. Get the game partially done and come back 2 years from now and ask for $50,000. Its the only way I see it working.
 
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xenocide

Thank you for your observations.

Alas, it's never gonna happen this way. I can't make the assets, and nobody will work for me for free. Not even on a demo.
 
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Subbassman,

I have to echo some of the sentiments that are found here...I'm not sure you guys have the foundational groundwork in place yet to raise that kind of money. I wish you all the best, but $300,000 is a lot of money. Yes, Brian Fargo has raised over $1.5 million, but he is also known as a founder of Interplay and helped create the original Fallouts, on top of having a well-known IP (Wasteland) that he is creating a sequel for. The contributions for his project have slowed down considerably after the first couple days ended. For your project, it could very well end up that you gain more traction as time passes, but nothing is a guarantee.

Where you are at right now, and considering the amount you still have left to raise, I don't know if your number is going to be achievable. I hope that if that's the case, you do not become too discouraged. It sounds like you are working on an interesting project, albeit perhaps a bit too ambitious. I wish you luck, and if I am able to scrounge up some extra money over the next couple weeks, I will consider contributing.
 
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rossrjensen

I wonder what the point would be to ask for much less than it would take to finish the game. To me that would be a ripoff. We might make the lower amount and then what? It would be a complete loss to the pledgers. We couldn't even give them the basic reward of the game. If we do not meet our request then no one is hurt, however much they pledged. If we do meet it we will put the same effort into finishing that we put into it so far.

Brian Fargo knew he needed a million to do the game right; I'm presuming in these years he's thought about it a lot. You have faith that he would know what to do with a million dollars because you've seen what he did before. You don't have faith in us and therefore you think we should ask for less money because that's the amount of value you ascribe to someone you don't know. But what is to be lost by being honest and saying, this is what it takes to build a game? Do you think people were anxious to give Fargo and Schaffer lots of money when they were starting, even though they had no name at the time? It should be obvious from both of their video presentations that they had a lot of publishers slam the door on them, even after they had made successful games.
 
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Thank you for the update - cool maps -> this was a lot of work, for sure.
 
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Maybe you can give us a short summary/snippet of the story ? - a teaser without giving too many spoilers.
 
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definitely would need to show gameplay 'screens' (by this I mean how you envision it will look). For example, someone could say "I'm making a party based/turn based game with a great story, exploration, lots of decisions, etc. etc. etc. which sounds great, but then the screen looks like Avernum and that turns a lot of people away.
 
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definitely would need to show gameplay 'screens' (by this I mean how you envision it will look). For example, someone could say "I'm making a party based/turn based game with a great story, exploration, lots of decisions, etc. etc. etc. which sounds great, but then the screen looks like Avernum and that turns a lot of people away.

We can't show you any actual gameplay screen, but if you check the kickstarter page, you can see how the graphics would be like.
 
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Someone asked what it'd take to make me interested. I'll just say that I'm not really the target audience of any kick starter. I would probably back a Jon Van Caneghem return to Might and Magic or a group like SureAI who have made a very professional mod with Oblivion's version of Gamebryo. I must be shown something solid to fork over my money. I work too hard for it :) I'm not sold on the concept and expect it to fail miserably outside of a few already established entities.

As far as Tortured Hearts itself, the biggest problem I see is the lack of anything solid except for a story board. I would never invest on an outline of an idea. Don't worry about me though, I'm not the target audience. If you make it to releasing something, then I become a solid potential customer. I bought Dredmor, Frayed Knights, Eschalon 2, and Knights of the Chalice. I only finished the latter two, but bought the others to support someone who put in a strong effort. I knew that Dredmor and Frayed Knights weren't my thing, but the work was appreciated.

Just thought of an indie game maker that I would support via kickstarter. There was a series called Yendorian Tales. If Rodney Smith wanted to make Yendorian Tales Chapter 4, I'd drop him $50 to help. These games were very similar to M&M 3-5. I played all 3 to completion, so I know Rodney has the skill set needed to make something I would like. I felt super bad that his games didn't get enough attention. They were superior to almost all the indies that were released within a 5 year period of them.
 
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