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News: Celebrating 30 years of Star Control 2 - The Ur-Quan Masters

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Author Topic: Kickstarter?  (Read 31475 times)
Telecart
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Kickstarter?
« on: February 12, 2012, 11:22:41 pm »

Did you guys see this? http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure
Double Fine (makers of some great adventure games) went to kickstarter to get funding for a new adventure game, and crossed beyond their initial funding goal ($400,000) in about 8 hours. It's now over $1.6m and still has plenty of time until the fundraising deadline.

If Toys for Bob went in this route, I think they could definitely get at least as much traction!
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Alvarin
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #1 on: February 13, 2012, 04:36:48 am »

Actually very good idea. With just one problem - they need to be given the time free of other development. Quite possible it could really generate the funds and thus show Activision true interest (and financial potential) in true SC3.
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #2 on: February 13, 2012, 01:38:33 pm »

Gathering money from people to show intent to Activision? They don't care about that. In fact, if Toys for Bob were to gather the majority of their development budget independently, Activision's stake (and thus earnings) would become minimal, so why would they want to let anyone use their Star Control brand in such circumstances?

Kickstarters are great for truly independent stuff. I myself am participating in two kickstarters right now, and both have been tremendous successes. However, the keyword here is "independent". There's a very, very good reason why Double Fine isn't trying to develop a new Day of the Tentacle, Full Throttle, Grim Fandango or Monkey Island, even if they would be likely to get a much larger amount of sales with a known brand.
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meep-eep
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #3 on: February 13, 2012, 11:27:04 pm »

In fact, if Toys for Bob were to gather the majority of their development budget independently, Activision's stake (and thus earnings) would become minimal, so why would they want to let anyone use their Star Control brand in such circumstances?
Actually, all the necessary Star Control IP rights are in the hands of Paul & Fred. They explicitly kept that outside of the deal when Activision bought TFB. Only the Star Control name is not in their hands (but neither does Activision have it).
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #4 on: February 14, 2012, 12:05:37 am »

Actually very good idea. With just one problem - they need to be given the time free of other development. Quite possible it could really generate the funds and thus show Activision true interest (and financial potential) in true SC3.

It's true that their schedule is probably fully booked with the skylander sequal...
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #5 on: February 14, 2012, 05:21:24 pm »

They use the same engine. That sounds more like an add-on than a full-fledged sequel, with corresponding development times.
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #6 on: February 28, 2012, 12:25:29 am »

I came here today just to bring this to the table....

If TFB started a sucessful Kickstarter project for the Next "Ur-Quan Masters" (please note the deliberate absense of the Star Control brand on my speech), this could be it.

Why are we looking at the expense of developing a new UQM to be something like the new Gears of War or Uncharted? Why can't it just be a game with simple graphics (for me 2D is just fine) and a new story?

I could easily see the next UQM as a Steam "indie" like game. After the initial funding, it could sell for 10$ or something, and it would still be a huge success.

Double Fine have really hit the nail this time, and I think any producer reasonably honest about wanting to give us a sequel, should take their lead and grab this terrific opportunity.

So, I am openly supporting a kickstarter project for the next UQM... just let me pay for the damn game! Smiley
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #7 on: March 06, 2012, 05:17:43 am »

It all goes back to "video game politics".  Is TFB allowed to work on a UQM2 side project, while respecting any contracts/agreements made with Activision?  Unless, Activision lets them work on the SC2 sequel after Skylanders: Giants, I think we may be waiting a bit longer for another announcement.

When Activision Blizzard was formed, Brutal Legend was one of the games to be cancelled, leaving Double Fine to find another publisher, Electronic Arts.  This later lead to a lawsuit between Activision and DF.  After the publishing mess was over and done with, the game was still published and received positive ratings.  After Brutal Legend, DF decided to work on smaller games that utilize digital distribution such as Costume Quest and Stacking.  They took a very huge risk and it's nice to see they are still active in the industry.  They don't seem to be bound to a specific publisher or contract.

The fact that they were able to raise over $2 million dollars from more than 69,000 people is very impressive.  Their original goal was only $400,000.  It shows that there are enough Tim Schafer fans out there that are willing to spend the cash to help them out.  The news quickly spread through all of the video game blogs, making this more popular.

If TFB started up a Kickstarter project, I would definitely support it.  UQM2 would be great as a 2D game with modern improvements and enhancements.  2D space melees are always awesome!  If Double Fine fans can unite to fund their favorite developer directly, I don't see why we can't do the same for TFB.  If TFB did use Kickstarter to collect funds, I don't know if they can achieve the overnight $1 million funding DF had.

But at the same time, we have to consider TFB's reputation in the eyes of Activision: Skylanders was successful both financially and critically.  I'm pretty sure Bobby Kotick was happy he gave them extra time to work on it.  TFB is growing as a company as they continue to hire for new positions.  It's no secret that TFB is on Activision's good side.  By that, I mean there is a small chance that Activision could someday approve a new Star Control game just like how they approved Radical Entertainment's Prototype game.  However, I still fear that Skylanders could end in a downward spiral in the future just like Guitar Hero.

I think Kickstarter is an awesome idea.  I've seen so many cool ideas there.  If TFB can somehow self-publish a Star Control game, I think they should do it!  I remember e-mailing John Graham from Wolfire Games (e.g. Overgrowth, Lugaru, Humble Indie Bundle) about his thoughts on Star Control and here's a snippet of what he said back in 2009:
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"I would guess though that a company could only do so much 3rd party IP work in a row without itching to make a go at their own projects.  There’s no easy answer, but our attitude at Wolfire has always been to just go for it. Star Control III sounds like it could be pretty sweet and with the rise in online distribution, maybe TFB doesn’t need a publisher."
-John Graham, Wolfire Games
http://starcontroller.com/?p=1209
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #8 on: March 13, 2012, 10:00:05 pm »

I wish someone could ask Toys for Bob what are their thoughts about this idea. Looks like Kickstarter would be the only way to make the real Star Control/Ur-Quan Masters 3. I'd be more than happy to give them my money for this.
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #9 on: March 14, 2012, 02:39:12 am »

Meanwhile, Brian Fargo decided to follow DFA's example by starting his own kickstarter campaign to raise money for the development of a sequel to Wasteland, the game which is considered a spiritual predecessor to the Fallout series. This is getting more and more exciting.  Smiley
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/inxile/wasteland-2
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #10 on: March 14, 2012, 03:24:07 am »

Yeah, and in less than a day they have already made 50% of what they pledged for. Grin Really excited about Wasteland 2 as well.

Xenonauts, Double Fine adventure, Wasteland 2... This idea of fans funding the games they want is so sweet. Would be great to add Star Control 3 to the list...
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #11 on: March 14, 2012, 03:25:53 am »

Would be great to add Star Control 3 to the list...

Personally, I would prefer "Star Control III" if the Star Control trademark can even be secured, just to distinguish it from a certain pile of crap. Wink
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #12 on: March 14, 2012, 03:57:48 am »

Yeah, and in less than a day they have already made 50% of what they pledged for. Grin
900 000 is the required minimum, but yeah, I'd say so far they're doing pretty good. Even though personally I'm not a huge fan of Wasteland or even the Fallout series for that matter, I'm so going to pledge. The whole 'in your face, publisher' deal is too exciting to pass up. Smiley

As for the sequel to Star Control 2,  I'd get a second job to help kickstart it into reality.  Grin
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #13 on: March 14, 2012, 04:29:18 am »

I think the third sequal is cool, but the game itself has like, under 100,000 downloads. I've only ran into 2 other people in my life who have even heard of it, so I don't know if kickstarter will really do anything.
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Re: Kickstarter?
« Reply #14 on: March 14, 2012, 06:44:05 am »

Star Control 2 is a cult classic! I think it could work.
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