Project Eternity - $2.3M, Hardcore Modes Unlocked

Project Eternity has exceeded $2.3M, unlocking hardcore modes and Godlike races. A reminder:

Remember the Heart of Fury challenge mode from the Icewind Dale series? How about Ironman Mode from Temple of Elemental Evil? Hardcore mode from Fallout: New Vegas ring a bell? At $2.3M, we've got 'em all and they can all be turned on at the same time… Ouch! Also, Godlike races come at this level. Check out Update #9 for more details!

More information.

So all this money for new features - does that mean the game is going to take longer to develop, too?

Originally Posted by Zloth
So all this money for new features - does that mean the game is going to take longer to develop, too?

If you would ask them they would probably say "no" and that they will just hire more people. They don't want to scare people off. What it means to the development time IRL, i bet no one really knows.

Almost every Kickstarter seems way too optimistic (when it comes to development time). I'm guessing most of the bigger projects will take at least 6 more months than their official "estimate".

Just take that BG Enhanced Edition "mod" as an example, its not even an entirely new game..

Originally Posted by vurt
Almost every Kickstarter seems way too optimistic (when it comes to development time). I'm guessing most of the bigger projects will take at least 6 more months than their official "estimate".

Just take that BG Enhanced Edition "mod" as an example, its not even an entirely new game..

This is pretty much what I was thinking and set my own expectations accordingly. I have 5 kickstarters due in next 2 months and another in January and I really dont expect much in terms of actual delivery for any of them for another 6 months. I may have missed updates for them setting new delivery dates but this is based on the original date provided which is what we are sort of discussing.

Xenonauts does not look ready at all to me after playing last beta; its looking good but not release quality by any means and I see several more months before they can really release. Double Fine was scheduled for this month originally as well. Banner Saga may or may not come in November I dont know but not holding my breath at this time. I totally will be surprised if Shadowrun makes January. The final one got a new release date of January from November but at least we were given some advanced warning on it and looks really close to making that date.

They said somewhere (may have been in the kickstarter comments) that the stretch goals so far will not affect the estimated release date.

But I mean, they've made it clear that the estimated release date is not a set in stone thing and will change if they feel they are no finished with the game yet.

Wouldn't it be something to consider stretch goals = expanding development time? I assume most of the budget is for paychecks/making a living during development.

Adding ever more features within a rigid and limited timeframe is like making the game worse rather than better.

Originally Posted by DArtagnan
Wouldn't it be something to consider stretch goals = expanding development time? I assume most of the budget is for paychecks/making a living during development.

Adding ever more features within a rigid and limited timeframe is like making the game worse rather than better.

In software development "development time" is calculated in man/hours, because most features can be done in parallel if you have enough people. Salaries cost are the same as doing them one after the other though. So the stretch goals are more about increasing the number of people working on the game than anything else.

Also, Feargus gave some information about their development schedule:

Feargus: Pre-Production Time - We generally do 1/3, 1/3, 1/3. So with a project that is 18 months, that means 6 months in pre-production, 6 months in production and 6 months in post-production. We have a leg up with the Unity engine and already have basic movement and formations working, so it might be more like 5 , 7, 6 for PE.

I'm looking forward to the expert mode. That sounds much more like the table-top experience I miss with many CRPGs and it gives the game better replay value. Not sure I'll try the others though, unless the Adventure Hall concept is added and I can tailor-make a party.

Originally Posted by vurt
If you would ask them they would probably say "no" and that they will just hire more people.

Because we all know that throwing more people at a software project will make it finish faster.

No really, it wont.

So yeah, I suppose that stretch goals do add some amount development time. Not so bad, as long as they are really worth having.

Originally Posted by Cacheperl
Because we all know that throwing more people at a software project will make it finish faster.

No really, it wont.

Depends on the project and the managers. Games are easy to split among multiple people, especially when it come to asset creations and level design.

Originally Posted by azarhal
In software development "development time" is calculated in man/hours, because most features can be done in parallel if you have enough people. Salaries cost are the same as doing them one after the other though. So the stretch goals are more about increasing the number of people working on the game than anything else.

That may be true, however I doubt development time as function of man hours maps anywhere near 1:1 when adding features into the RPG they've been selling us on… Consider the following quote from the RPS MCA interview, "Fallout really opened my design eyes to the possibilities of a mechanics-driven dialogue system that reacted to your attributes, skills, gear, and more. We’d like to continue that tradition". New factions, classes, races, companions, landmasses, ect combined with the aforementioned… I would imagine the interconnectedness(not to mention promised reactivity) reduces the efficiency and efficacy of parallelism.

I agree with Dart and would like to see a stretch goal that adds time to development.

Originally Posted by MasterKromm
I agree with Dart and would like to see a stretch goal that adds time to development.

No need for a stretch goal. Feargus already said that they would release later if they can't make the quality product they wish to make for April 14th.

Originally Posted by azarhal
No need for a stretch goal. Feargus already said that they would release later if they can't make the quality product they wish to make for April 14th.

Okay, cool, I didn't know that…

Though the pessimist/realist in me is concerned they may be promising too much. Still in for the $140 or $250 tier sometime next week.