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KickStarter Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption - adventure-RPG from the creators of Quest for Glory

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
that "someone" got registered 6 months ago, and all his posts have to do with Hero-U. Are you shitting me?



Better to be a little paranoid than to be completely naive people.

Well, he's clearly a fanboy - he created the game's subreddit. I think that's reason enough to be skeptical without jumping to the conclusion that he's a dev sockpuppet.
 
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Sacred82

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tbh it was transparent from the start. No one takes out a mortgage on their house and risks becoming homeless to produce a fucking little videogame. This shit is never coming out.


Does anyone know if it's possible to withdraw pledges? I paid through paypal long after the last campaign, so technically, my money shouldn't have been used up by the production of the game, right? It's really just a preorder.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Oh, I get it, you think the game doesn't actually exist and that this is a That Which Sleeps-type situation. Well then.
 
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Sacred82

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depends on what you call a game, as we know the definition is pretty loose. The thing that they released as an alpha with a few rooms in it may count as a game, who knows. But the game they promised, no, that's never gonna happen.
 
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Sacred82

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People didn't believe Cleve had a game to show for although fully playable versions had been floating around the net for over a decade, confirmed by trusted community members. Also it was clear here was a lone nut with a vision, and even if he was never going to manage to release the final game, I knew Cleve was not a fraud.


Now here we're dealing with an obvious scam and people are sucking the Coles' dicks. Both of them. You'd never get that kind of unwarranted blind trust as an indie, but these guys have celebrity status, after all.


Sheeple. Sheeple never change.
 
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Sacred82

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...Am I...What am I reading? There's a person in the world who finds Cleve more trustworthy and forthright than the Coles?

Did I somehow wake up in the mirror universe?

Cleve ran two indiegogo campaigns, Hero-U had like, what, 3 kickstarters? :lol:

Cleve never claimed he's gonna lose his livelihood and become a bum if we don't give him the moniez.

He broke every single ETA he ever put up, but he delivered, despite being the most shunned person in the games industry who never molested a child. But ermagerd muh Coles, surely they would never deceive me.
 

Infinitron

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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/2155127

It's About Time

What would you do if you had all the time in the world?

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Tempus Fugit

At first, it would seem incredible, a boon that allows you to do everything you want to do.

But then, once you have accomplished all of your dreams, what will you do with the rest of that time? Where will you find challenge and excitement once you’ve had it all and done it all?

This is especially true for an impatient young Rogue such as Shawn O’Conner. Shawn has the run of the Hero-U castle (as long as he doesn’t get caught after curfew). He can check out the wine cellars, Sea Caves, catacombs, and dungeon. He can work out in the practice area, practice with locks and traps, play games with other students, or visit the library. There is definitely a lot to do.

But without time constraints, the choices go away. Shawn would try to do everything every day, and might find himself in a rut.

Using Time Wisely
Fortunately, time is a precious commodity at Hero-U. Even a Rogue needs to sleep sometime, and there is far more to do than anyone can reasonably manage in one semester.

Time is one of the major “economies” in Hero-U. Players constantly need to decide how Shawn should spend his all-too-limited time. Shawn can focus on social relationships, improve his skills, earn money, take elective classes, or uncover mysteries in the school and dungeons. There certainly won’t be enough time to get bored.

Every game action except for “look” takes time. Conversations take several minutes. Practicing a Rogue or a combat skill takes anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Class sessions take hours. As you guide Shawn through Hero-U, you will find yourself watching the clock and thinking, “Do I have time for one more practice round? Or do I need to run to the library before it closes?”

As a Hero-U player, you will constantly have to make choices. You can’t do everything every day. That applies to conversations too - you need to choose what Shawn will say, then live with the results. Expect some frustration if you’re a completionist.

None of this is accidental. We want Hero-U to be compelling, and that includes forcing players to make choices. We also want the game to be replayable, so it’s fine if you miss out on some of the dialogue, or one of the classes, or even delving the dungeons. There are many different ways to play the game. We hope you will find Hero-U involving enough to try them all.

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Suppertime

Taking the Time to Get It Right
In a way, time has been our greatest issue while developing Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. Shawn’s “semester” at Hero-U consists of 50 game days, each with unique events and conversations. This is what we - and Lori in particular - have been doing over the last five years. She has been writing and crafting all of those events and keeping them from “stepping on each other.”

During the last year, we’ve found many places where the scripts are almost, but not quite, right. Every possible dialogue, each option for picking a lock or disarming a trap, has needed careful testing to make sure they work as intended. We’re getting there, but every day we still find minor (and occasionally) bigger mistakes somewhere in the game. We want to fix as many of them as we possibly can before releasing the game to a wider audience.

By now you might be asking, “What time is it at Hero-U headquarters? When will the game reach Beta, and when will you release it to the world?”

Last time I told you we are “so close we can taste it,” and I estimated a release date between April 15 and May 15. As we haven’t yet declared Hero-U to be Beta-ready, clearly we’re pushing the end of that range, and we could even slip a few more weeks depending on what happens during Beta. I expect to start the Beta process in 1-2 weeks.

If you backed at a Beta tester level, watch your email for a message from BackerKit with instructions on accessing the Beta test on Steam. We have all three versions - Windows, Mac, and Linux - available, but are only using Steam during the testing phases. We’ll add other ways to get your game when we “go live.”

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The Taste of Success

Alpha, Beta, Soup?
Game industry use of the terms “Alpha” and “Beta” isn’t consistent. For us, we’ll be ready for Beta when the game is completely playable, all essential features are in place, and it has no known game-stopping issues such as crashing or freezing. I am also trying to make sure it is as free as possible of “uncaught exceptions”; these might not freeze the game, but they are often signs of deeper problems in the game.

The main missing features at this point are Achievements (which we will turn into Steam Achievements) and the game manual. I’m working on both of those currently. Also missing are credits for both developers and backers, and the opening cinematic. Other than those, the game is complete, but not yet ready for release. We are still tuning combat, making sure all combat items work as intended, and adding additional sound effects. We’ll continue to do all of that during Beta testing.

Lori and I are so excited that we will finally be able to put our game in your hands “really soon now.” Every week we get closer to the day we can say, “Ship it!” That was always Ken Williams’ favorite part of making a game at Sierra, and soon it will be ours.

Of course, then our real work - or the next stage of it - begins again with promotion, fulfillment, the Art Book, Bestiary, and planning Hero-U: Wizard's Way. This will be quite a journey!

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Ship It In Ship Shape - Much Better Than the Ship That Sank
 

Irxy

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But without time constraints, the choices go away. Shawn would try to do everything every day, and might find himself in a rut.
None of the QfG had permanent time constraints though, and it worked great. Temporal timers when certain events required it? Yup. But no global timer ticking.

Every game action except for “look” takes time. Conversations take several minutes. Practicing a Rogue or a combat skill takes anywhere from a few minutes to an hour. Class sessions take hours. As you guide Shawn through Hero-U, you will find yourself watching the clock and thinking, “Do I have time for one more practice round? Or do I need to run to the library before it closes?”
So the timer is not real time but based on actions? Does standing still or walking around the room deplete it?
 
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Yeah QFG2 had one of the most notorious hard timers of the era. You basically have three days to complete each act and if you don't, well, tough luck hope you've been keeping layered saves.
 

LESS T_T

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The time system remotely reminds me that this game is also inspired by Persona games. Though this is action-based time passing instead of Persona's event-trigger-based one.
 

Boleskine

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/2177829

Update #96

May 2 2018

Bursting Into Beta

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The time has come! Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is completely playable and ready to enter Beta testing. Alpha testing was challenging, but wonderful - we have never previously had the time and opportunity to find and fix the rough spots in the game. Beta testing will help us add the final polish that will make Hero-U a great game.

What does this mean for the release date? Most likely that will happen 6-8 weeks from now, which puts it in June 2018. That will give us time to fix problems found in Beta, finish the opening cinematic, reach out to reviewers and influencers, and do final polish on the game.

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Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption at Indie Prize Showcase in London
In fact, we’re going to show off the game “in public” for the first time at Casual Connect London at the end of May. If you’ll be at the show, please stop by our space and say hello. Hero-U is an Indie Prize finalist, so we’ll be showing it in the Indie Prize Showcase area.

As for influencers, you are our first and most important. Once you get a chance to play Hero-U, please share your experience with your friends and on social media. There are so many games being made these days that discovering great new games can be very challenging. You’ll be doing us and your friends a favor by letting them know which games are worth playing. We hope that Hero-U will place high on your list.

Checking Out the Beta
If your pledge included Beta Test privileges, keep an eye on your email for a message from BackerKit.

Once you log onto BackerKit, click on Digital Downloads (https://hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game.backerkit.com/backer/digital_rewards) to find your Steam key for the Hero-U Beta test. This will also be your key for the full game when we release it - Steam will automatically update it each time we release a new version.

We intend to make Rogue to Redemption available on other sites including gog.com and Humble, but for Beta testing we are only using Steam for simplicity.

While we warned Alpha testers that they would be experiencing a rough and incomplete game, I don’t think we need to do that for potential Beta testers. At this point, the game is complete, and we think it’s a lot of fun. Hero-U is a cross between a Quest for Glory style adventure role-playing game and an epic interactive novel.

An Epic Experience
The latest word count puts us right up with Gone WIth the Wind, although you will only see a fraction of the text during each play-through. We hope you will come back to the game multiple times to catch more of the dialogue and try out different play styles. Shawn can be intelligent, charming, or snarky.

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A Quiet Way to Play
Shawn can work out in the practice room and take on every monster, or he can avoid almost all of the combats by using stealth and subtlety. In fact, there’s a Steam Achievement waiting for everyone who completes the game without killing any monsters. That will be one of the most challenging of the game’s achievements.

Here’s a bit of silliness we might or might not fit into the Student Handbook:

Better Than Bard
So you’ve been told you’re a “Disbarred Bard”. What does that even mean? Are you a failure, someone defined only by what you’re not? Have you been placed in a remedial class because the Headmaster feels sorry for you?

Far from it! The Disbarred Bards of Hero-U are some of the most promising potential Heroes in the University. Each one of you has enormous potential to rise above the common crowd. But there are as many ways to achieve that potential as there are Disbarred Bards at Hero-U.

It’s up to you (and -U) to decide just what kind of Bard you will be. Will you ride the waves and reach for the High Seas? Will you seek to solve uncertainty and become the next Shawn von Neumann? Steal everyone’s heart as you emulate Shawn Juan? Cure their ills like Dr. Shawnas Salk? Be a Ninja Warrior Bard? Or keep it all to yourself as you look out for number Shawn?

The choices are endless, and it’s all up to you what you take from Hero-U. Let’s look at a few of them:

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Riding the High Seas
Caligari has long been renowned for its sailors and seafarers, some more opportunistic than others. The Disbarred Bard curriculum at Hero-U can teach you many of the skills you will need for a seafaring life. You could become the next Shawn Paul Jones or Blackbard!

Make sure you practice your climbing and rope mastery every day. That will help you become more agile as well. Practice combat and defense because you never know when some scurvy scalawag will strive to steal your ship.

(more in the Hero-U Student Handbook… if we decide to use it)

A Shared Journey
Thank you all for your part in helping make Hero-U a reality. When we started down this winding road fifteen years ago with the How To Be A Hero book and website, we had no idea it would lead to us making our most ambitious game project. Even as we finish Rogue to Redemption, we’re looking forward to raising the ante again in every game of the Hero-U series. Every step of the way will be an adventure, and we hope you’ll be there with us!

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Tramboi

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Beta is a complete game though, I guess it is there to catch and fix the remaining bugs.
Beta (or Alpha) is a very flexible world in the game industry. When public, it's more communication than an indication of the progression.
"Hey look, we're in Beta, please anticipate and don't forget us"
 

Irxy

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Beta is a complete game though, I guess it is there to catch and fix the remaining bugs.
Beta (or Alpha) is a very flexible world in the game industry. When public, it's more communication than an indication of the progression.
"Hey look, we're in Beta, please anticipate and don't forget us"
It was stated by the devs:
While we warned Alpha testers that they would be experiencing a rough and incomplete game, I don’t think we need to do that for potential Beta testers. At this point, the game is complete, and we think it’s a lot of fun.
 

V_K

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How are the puzzles? And what about the roleplaying aspects - considering it's a single-class game, are there enough opportunities for alternative solutions?
 

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