Hello again! My Dredmor posts around here have slowed down a bit as I pass 800 hours in-game, but hopefully I still have enough clout around here for people to check out what I'm doing now.... I'm Kickstarting a PC fighting game featuring Giant Monster (Kaiju). 1-4 players, online + single player. The style will be very similar to the Atari/Pipeworks Godzilla games that I designed. (I also designed Rampage: Total Destruction, so I think it's fair to say I know my way around giant monsters.) Here's the tech hook - this is a franchise made up of small(ish) stand-alone game releases, which can be combined as you see fit. This allows us to license a ton of different monsters (Godzilla, Ultraman, Stay-Puft, Cthulhu, Gamera, Zone Fighter, etc.), put each in their own game that costs $10 - $25, and then let players mix & match crazy crossover battles online. We ran a similar campaign back in July, and raised just $35,000 in a month. This time we're only 4 days in and we're already well past $20,000. Improvement! We've also tightened our scope, and reduced our funding target to $100,000. Kickstarter link: http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/14214732/kaiju-combat-giant-monsters-awesome-fighting-onlin But the game isn't the whole story here - the really interesting bit (to me) is the way we're going about development. Sunstone Games practices "radical transparency" in our development process. Every feature + design decision is put up publicly for discussion among our community. Every audio + art asset too. We even post our expenses & finances online for people to see. This all comes together into a living design document wiki: https://kaijucombat.wiki.zoho.com/ Each feature is linked to a discussion thread (or two) in our forums: http://kaijucombat.com/community/index.php The forums are also where we hold "Design Team Votes" - open votes which end each Monday and Friday on one specific feature or design issue. In addition to all that community interaction, we're going to launch the game with original monsters designed in collaboration with our backers. We've already completed 9 characters, and have 50 slots open during this campaign. Some examples: I haven't even discussed the fighting mechanics - but there is a lot to share there as well. I'd love to see all of you dipping your toes into the project with me - backing the Kickstarter is obviously encouraged, but I'd also love to see you help spread the word to any interested parties / communities you might be part of. Even just your smiling face on the forums would be a treat. Campaign ends on Armageddon Day - December 21st!
So each character will have a standalone game, and then can be used in the multiplayer online battles? Are the standalone games going to be different enough that someone will want to buy more than one of them? What platform(s) are these games intended to come out for? Will the online battles use the same engine as the games, or will it be like "play Ultraman in this 2D side view puncher, then port him over to this awesomely destructible 3D city for multiplayer"? This sounds like it could be really awesome or, to be painfully honest, like it could come across as a huge money grab if you're trying to sell what amounts to the same game with different title characters for $10 each on the assumption that people will want to play several different monsters in the multiplayer arena.
Each game has about 10 unique monsters, a few unique environments, and a unique single-player story (that focuses on those monsters & environments). You are absolutely correct - selling individual monsters for $10 would be pretty sleazy! We're largely planning on catering to different fans - some people are nuts about Ultraman, but hate Gamera, and vice-versa. We want to let folks buy the content they want, but not feel a need to buy the content they don't want. And unlike other games - you can play against people who have characters you don't. We'll also be launching with a small free game (just 4 monsters and 1 environment) alongside our primary paid release. We'll be launching on the PC. Our engine is already up and running on consoles - Pipeworks has published more than 2 dozen games with the engine to consoles (including WiiU), but to do so requires money - and we wanted to keep our funding target as low as possible. Once we have money from sales (or just a hugely successufl Kickstarter!) we'll very seriously consider getting the game out on consoles. This is a spending question really - so it will be put to the community, not decided internally.
Ah, that sounds much more badass. Sweet! What happened to the previous kickstarter/app version? Is it still happening?
Hey Mr. Strange! glad to hear from you. New Kickstarter's looking great and I hope you get the funding required.
Wow - sorry this took me so long to respond. Makes me sad to realize how infrequently I get on the GLG message boards these days... To answer your question - Kickstarter is an all-or-nothing funding system. So our July fundraising, which failed to meet its target, generated nothing for the project. It still put us in touch with a number of fans though, which formed the basis for our new forums (Check them out!) which helped us get off to such a great start this time around. Which is to say - past pledges never funded, so please pledge again!
Ok, just 3 weeks left, and we could really use more backers, and more exposure! We're still on target to meet our goal, but I'd really like to CRUSH that goal! Oh, and a new monster image...
Spoiler: Do not click this if you are a child, or are repulsed by crude humor. Just How many Vaginas does that monster have?!?!
The creature is male. So the answer to your question is... zero! His exoskeleton is a coral reef, which can be thought of as a gestalt organism, so there may be an even more subtle answer which is above zero. But that's like counting the mice onboard a sail ship.
For anyone still thinking about it - we have 8.5 days left in the campaign. We're in pretty good shape, but the sooner we hit our goal the more time we'll have to crush it! Also, there are only 20 original monster slots left! So if you've been thinking about buying one... get on it!
