Howdy, Stranger!
So you're telling me that food costs money?!
I personally believe in this game and it's creators and as much as I have seen it's beautiful and pretty darn trippy and I give them props for stepping out of their safety zone in order to work towards achieving their goals and I would think it not too much of a strain on one's budget to give $1 a month (or one million dollars, mwa ha ha) I mean I'm sure a lot of you have spent $60 on games you barely even touched. So, $1 a month over a two year period is only a total of $24, (you can cancel your pledge at any time, I might add) that's not even half as much as all the $60 games that are usually cookie cutter games that have been reskinned or concepts that have already been done and someone decided to throw together their version because it was an easy way to make a buck by exploiting work that someone else already did. You could instead purchase the game outright if you wanted, the base purchase price is set at $21 I believe, which is even cheaper than $1 a month for the estimated two years of the games development. I mean it's not as if they are even asking for a lot, $120,000 (or $160,000) for two people to live on for two years while working on a game with this amount of conceptualized replayability is a pretty minimalistic request.
I know this seems like a sales pitch, and it is, but I analyze people and personalities (I know, it's creepy, right) and I get nothing but good vibes from them, which is uncanny because I never get nothing but good vibes from anyone, ever. So, I believe their plight is one worth backing, even though there is little in the way of game content at the moment I have a well informed guess that once the monetary situation is no longer a problem that will change rather quickly in a positive manner, of course.
So, if you like the game's concept as of thus far and can't afford to support it's development or you can't be bothered to donate it's cool, but money makes things happen, no money, nothing is going to happen or, at the very least, things will progress more slowly and usually with less quality. I mean, it's just one of those things like death and taxes you just can't get around it and since they completely own the company and haven't sold their souls, so to speak, for necessary funding the patronage is very important. I would personally prefer the programmer(s) of the game I am interested in to be in good spirits and well fed versus depressed and hungry, it just doesn't seem like one would get the highest quality of game possible in return without so much as basic living accommodations for the people making it.
(F.y.i. I am in no way affiliated with Duangle and this is but my personal take on things, I do think they are awesome people, that the game has "WIN" stamped all over it, and I have a personal problem with good people who are trying their best and working their hardest suffering for no good reason.)
Comments
Very well written and it's my opinion as well. I really REALLY want this game to succeed, that's why I'm supporting it as well as I can. I don't care about the money - well, okay, a little bit I do - but this game has already in this early stage given me so much more fun and joy than tons and tons of others, it's dollar, euro and kroner after kroner well spent.
Keep going, Sylvia and Leonard! Be sure that there's a lot of people already knowing what great things you are about to create.
As someone that has plugged this game to friends before, the common response is "This looks cool but there is no way two people can do this."
It is a big project. One I believe in, but it's still a gamble. I think that's what most prospective buyers see.
This really needs a new update for that exact reason. If we could show people a base demo of a game. More than a tech demo, but something with gameplay, It'd go a lot farther toward getting people to believe in it.
Since there is only one person working on the programming aspect of it (I could be mistaken but I believe that Leonard does the programming and Sylvia works on the art/design and the conceptualization of things) the biggest problem that I see is time versus manpower and since time equals money that defaults one to lack the ability to focus solely on developing the game without the proper funding.
Instead, you end up having to worry about where your next meal is coming from or if you will have a roof over your head next month. It all turns into one long unending chainsaw of double sided swords (which now that I think about it that sounds pretty cool.. if it were real and not analogy specific) whereas no matter which way you turn something is conflicting with something else. For example, you can't get backers if you don't have anything to show and you can't put together something to show due to having to stop working on the game in order to get a job in order to pay basic bills. Anything else like say going to interviews to get information out about your game only further slows the process by taking time away from programming.. which you need in the first place otherwise you have no product to sell, but in the end, unfortunately, it always leads back to money.
When I was little I thought that game developers lived in castles in the sky, ate the food of gods, and were all rich.. or some such nonsense, which to me at the time seemed totally plausible due to their ability to, not even so much as program a game as much as, tell a story filled with magic and wonderment, things to be figured out and discovered. It was a cute thought, but about as far away from the less than magical truth of normality as a child's imagination can get. The whole world revolves around money so it would be naive to believe that there is a giant barrel of money sitting in some undisclosed location that independent game developers have automatic access to after going through programming school.
Say, hypothetically, the money was all covered, which it will be soon, backing has started going up a little and I appreciate every little bit that people have donated I can not thank you on their behalf but I'm sure Leonard and Sylvia are thrilled as well! I can, on the other hand, thank all of you who have given on my behalf and that of my personal interest and curiosity to the outcome of this concept. I am not under any false pretense that this is a simple undertaking and I definitely agree, it seems a little too good to be true but say if it turns out to be nothing but a really pretty interactive screensaver, it will be the prettiest one I've ever had, lol, so, I'm still all for it. But, I digress, say it was all covered that would make sure that the setbacks were minimal, that the programmer(s) are in good spirits and that they could actually work on it for long periods of time without interruption instead of having the development slowed/halted over and over due to having to get money through other revenues to live on.
According to the forum information there are currently 1172 founders, if each founder were to pledge approximately $4 a month (which I understand is not viable for everyone just kinda thinking/typing out loud) that would cover $120000 for the two year development, funds that have already been raised are sitting at $32,025 at this point so with those removed from the remaining funds needed that drops the amount per founder down to about $3 per. Taking into account that 1172 founders are interested in the game without any actual gameplay is a pretty massive amount. Once some basic gameplay is released I would be willing to bet that that number will skyrocket. It's just at this very beginning point that they are in a bit of a pinch. I eagerly await more details on the game.
Oh, yeah, another thing I was thinking about. No one said that they are required to only have two members on their team that is just their initial pitch, they own the company so they can do whatever they like with it. With enough funding I would presume that they will take on at least one or two more people to expedite the process.
HOLY WALL OF TEXT BATMAN!!!
By the way, if you are wanting to donate but you aren't sure how or where to go you can go to > http://www.patreon.com/duangle < and donate to your heart's content!
Or you can donate to a really high tier in the crowdfunding
First of all, this:
DON'T PANIC.
(imagine this written in big friendly letters.)
When we were at the beginning of this project, many years ago, I had severe doubts that this could work, because I could not see where this voyage would end. I compared it to a "leap of faith", only that in this case that leap would take several years, and in this time we wouldn't see if there was ground on the other side or an abyss;
It became clear that what we going on some sort of entrepreneurial pilgrimage through the desert. It's more a "caravan of faith" than anything else. You pack as much provisions and water as you can and then attempt to cross that barren wasteland, never quite sure if your sense of direction would not in the end betray you. The sun will play tricks on your eyes; there might also be the occasional well. But most of the time you spend the time riding and walking under a baking hot sun, attempting to keep yourself more or less hydrated.
Anyway, it's a neat image, and I've never forgotten it. We don't need to hire more people. I enjoy the focus and level of control I can allow myself working on the code alone. We don't need to rush it. Tech and content are stabilizing, R&D is less intense, and the next version will be a vast improvement on the last one. We still can do that Steam launch, and we do have that GDC talk in front of us which is sure to generate new interest.
The next version will be the first one where you can leave and return to your altered worlds. We have genes and generative geometry, something no other game has at the moment (to my knowledge), a procedural soundtrack unique to each savegame, first signs of AI, and most importantly, more gameplay. It's going to give a better picture of where this trip is going. We're going to get a lot of press coverage once this is ready, and we're working hard to get everything wrapped up before our Talk at GDC in August.
With the new alpha, it will be much easier for you to get others interested in the game, and it will be much easier for us to be taken more seriously. Also, people are returning from their summer holidays and are going to look more into ways to help them pass fall.
I'm from now on going to try give a wrap-up of what I've been working on each weekend in the Founders Lounge, along with a few more screenshots.
Sweet!
(Btw, don't panic is my middle name, no really, it is. My middle name is Serenity)