Hero's Song by John Smedley - ARPG/MMO Lite
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Soygen
The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
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Good art is good art. One of my favorite games last year was Axiom Verge and it's pixels with a very low color palette. It was, however, well-done art and awesome gameplay.
That said, I'm not sure about the art in this game, regardless of the engine.
That said, I'm not sure about the art in this game, regardless of the engine.
You just explained why pixel art is used and then in the same statement that it's no longer relevant. Do all developers have infinite money/resources for art these days, or did I miss something?
I am sure this will get funded. Smed seems like a smart enough guy. A failure would be a huge embarrassment. Without a doubt he's got a contingency plan that if the funding isn't there by the end of the KS then either his investors kick in the rest or he does. True it's better having other people fund you but when you are worth 20+ million throwing in 700k is a better option then showing up as a failure.
Also I'm all for pixel art nostalgia but I agree that the art in this game doesn't reflect that.
Also I'm all for pixel art nostalgia but I agree that the art in this game doesn't reflect that.
Kirun
Buzzfeed Editor
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From an aesthetic standpoint, with things like Unity and such floating around? Yeah, I'd argue that pixels are pretty irrelevant. You can develop a pretty graphically pleasing game for very cheap nowadays; look at Wasteland 2, Divinity: OS, etc. From a cost standpoint? Sure, pixels are very relevant.
My main point is that pixel "art" ismostlyjust a way for developers to shave budgets while hiding behind "retro" or "nostalgia" buzzwords/language. It's a way for them to remain cheap/lazy while still expecting consumers to pay typical prices. Are there outliers that are done well? Sure, every medium or genre is going to have stuff that rises to the top. I just argue that it's nothing more than the latest, cost-cutting gimmick that they're fleecing gamers with, appealing to their nostalgic tendencies.
Reht
Molten Core Raider
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Website is loading through cloudflare at the moment, guess it has already started.
Wasteland 2 and Divinity were still created on million dollar budgets, though. Games like Minecraft, Undertale, and Shovel Knight were made by incredibly small teams and budgets. I don't disagree that pixel art plays towards nostalgia but it's significantly cheaper to produce, insanely better on performance and imo ages far better than realistic looking games. Also, I've found for me personally, pixel/low-fi art has a tendency to allow for a greater degree of imagination to play a part during gameplay. It's like the bridge between text-based games and WYSIWYG games. The less detail you show the player, the more their mind is able to attach their own interpretations.. but maybe that's just me.
I can see how people are sick of the influx of pixel games. My opinion is that it's just another art style of many that can be used to create games. It just so happens that there's a huge resurgence as it's no longer considered old school.
That said, I don't consider Hero's Song to be a pixel game, in any traditional sense. If they were going for the nostalgia route they blew it, because it looks like a modern painted 2D game.
Seems like Shadowrun, Battletech, Wasteland 2, POE, Torment, etc. were hugely successful KS because: (1) known IP and (2) what they showed of gameplay was pretty clear how the finished product would end up.
(1) is definitely not the case here and (2) is kinda iffy. On a side note, there is now BB code to embed Kicktraq.
(1) is definitely not the case here and (2) is kinda iffy. On a side note, there is now BB code to embed Kicktraq.
Jimbolini
Semi-pro Monopoly player
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I was thinking that as well.
I assume he has all this mostly done, and is basically selling pre game access for quick cash...but no idea why he set the goal so high. (Ego maybe? Did he not see what happened to Brad?)
Setting a realistic money goal is the honorable thing to do. Ideally you'd plan it all out and decide what you need and ask for that. Asking for less than that is what leads to failed kickstarters.
Having said that, plans never work. I think one positive thing kickstarter has done is bring to the general public the knowledge of just how sideways a typical project goes. I've never seen a schedule work, ever, in any project. They are never even remotely accurate.
The only projects you can accurately plan for are simple sequels and sports games. Ideally both of those.
Having said that, plans never work. I think one positive thing kickstarter has done is bring to the general public the knowledge of just how sideways a typical project goes. I've never seen a schedule work, ever, in any project. They are never even remotely accurate.
The only projects you can accurately plan for are simple sequels and sports games. Ideally both of those.
Muligan
Trakanon Raider
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I simply felt they were asking for too much money. Because they mentioned the 1 mil I would have probably asked for $250k with $500k in stretch goals. It just seems like a selfish money grab. I can't believe it even takes that many to make the game. Looking at the their staff, I can't help but think these guys got together and wanted to make their big salaries again.
If I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would say they're also making a bigger game in the background and this game is an attempt to fund another game.
If I was giving them the benefit of the doubt, I would say they're also making a bigger game in the background and this game is an attempt to fund another game.
Xaxius
Lord Nagafen Raider
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I thought this was MMO welfare at its finest, but the whole thing just screams stupid. True, that $$$ goalismore to pay for the inflated salaries for a collection of MMO hasbins than create a solid game but what really doesn't make any sense is that they didn't structure the Kickstarter rewards in any way that they could conceivably hit their goal. For instance, they're giving the game away with the $15 reward. Based on that, it's going to take over 50k backers to reach their goal. Of course, you can go with the higher tier but there really isn't any reason to. They're all total crap, value wise. Is anyone going to pay 3x the value of the game to get Beta 1 access, 7x to get Alpha, for a game on such a tight development timeline? At least when most of the folks here backed Crowfall at higher tiers, you got meaningful and valuable rewards for backing.
Here, not so much.
Punko
Macho Ma'am
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Thanks for pointing out why the entire industry is doing badly, your post says a lot
If he has such great people, why isn't he investing his own money? If rich visionaries aren't investing why should the audience?
Besides I'm sure a lot of financial groups would love to invest in this, based on the business plan and quality of the crew?
kek indeed
Reht
Molten Core Raider
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Why would he invest his money when a mechanism exists that allows him to try to raise the money with little or no risk? Not saying it's right, but it is the smarter course of action especially if he actually does succeed. He stated somewhere on his site/FAQ/etc. that he already has the backing to privately secure the remaining funds elsewhere, but i am assuming that he means he would lose a larger piece of the piece of pie.
Soygen
The Dirty Dozen For the Price of One
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More often than not, even the most talented and famous movie directors don't produce their own movies. Why spend your money when others are willing to? I imagine they will work on this project whether or not they get enough Kicksuckers to donate.
Not sure if anyone brought this up, but this game seems to draw heavily from Pantheon ( i mean smed uses the word pantheon) and EQN (smart ai)
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