Vapourware Seven Dragon Saga - Gold Box spiritual successor from SSI veterans

[Alchemist]

Why not? I don't see how that budget would prevent them from having mixed view 2D game. If anything the Banner Saga style of art should be more efficient to produce than 3D art, if they can find good 2D artists.

And Dungeons of Aledorn is doing it (mixed view) in 3D with a 60k budget.

I think this is actually easier to do in 3d: you can just 'zoom out' from first-person until you reach a top-down perspective. Dungeons of Aledorn doesn't have a 60k budget, it's asking for 60k to finish the game. Some of these indie RPG's like Age of Decadence have been in development for over a decade, I wouldn't compare that to a 'normal' development cycle.

I know it's trivial to do a camera mode shift in a 3D engine - probably an hour or two of work to script that in Unity. My point was that producing high-quality 3D art assets is much more time consuming than stylized 2D art assets. If they keep their scope under control and choose an art style that fits the budget, 450k seems like plenty to me.

The stuff was all there, it was just relegated to updates (that made people increasingly more excited here too, when it finally became clear what they are planning) when it should have been the focus in the first place.

Yep this is the classic blunder they made. I'm not sure why Kickstarters keep doing this - waiting to dole out all the cool stuff over the course of the campaign. Updates are only immediately apparent to people who already backed (through email notifcation). People who view the KS for the first time don't even see the updates right away. That initial main pitch and main page needs to have all of things that make the game good and interesting. In the updates they can explain stuff in more detail. But showing all of the good stuff concisely in the initial pitch is key to bringing people in.

I think the Crowfall kickstarter actually did this very well. They explained right upfront what makes their game different and interesting. And the video was well produced, and the people speaking had a lot of enthusiasm and energy.

Maybe TSI needs to hire a pro video producer - someone who can not only edit a slick video but also direct them to put themselves forward in the best way.

 

[Zombra]

Spoiler

if that is their target auditory, I am not going to mourn SDS.

I totally will. Goddamn nerds like these are heroes as far as I'm concerned. It takes courage to lay it on the line like this.

If a game company cannot create a video that will excite us about their game, how can they expect us to trust them they will make a game that will be lots of fun to play.

Look up the riddle of the two barbers. Who would you rather buy from, a slick salesman or a good craftsman? We can trust them because they have a track record.

 

[Athelas]

If a game company cannot create a video that will excite us about their game, how can they expect us to trust them they will make a game that will be lots of fun to play.

This is the equivalent of saying Stephen Hawking is a bad scientist because he...well, looks like Stephen Hawking. Of course they need better marketing to succeed, but their current ineptitude in that department has no relation to their game-making skills.

 

[Rahdulan]

Yep this is the classic blunder they made. I'm not sure why Kickstarters keep doing this - waiting to dole out all the cool stuff over the course of the campaign. Updates are only immediately apparent to people who already backed (through email notifcation). People who view the KS for the first time don't even see the updates right away. That initial main pitch and main page needs to have all of things that make the game good and interesting. In the updates they can explain stuff in more detail. But showing all of the good stuff concisely in the initial pitch is key to bringing people in.

It's your classic case of rushed or half-assed pitches. Obsidian spent, what? Two months working on their pitch before making it public and they were still caught with their pants down because stretch goals funding came about so fast they couldn't keep up with meaningful updates, let alone weighting the feasibility of it all. Seven Dragon Saga's updates didn't exactly fill me with confidence about their preparedness, if you know what I mean.

 

[JarlFrank]

Maybe TSI needs to hire a pro video producer - someone who can not only edit a slick video but also direct them to put themselves forward in the best way.

felipepepe

 

[felipepepe]

Thanks, but this kind of stuff must be done in loco. You can't properly bitch-slap people into cooperation from a continent away.

 

[ArchAngel]

If a game company cannot create a video that will excite us about their game, how can they expect us to trust them they will make a game that will be lots of fun to play.

This is the equivalent of saying Stephen Hawking is a bad scientist because he...well, looks like Stephen Hawking. Of course they need better marketing to succeed, but their current ineptitude in that department has no relation to their game-making skills.

We are talking about art here, not science or craft (barber bullshit). If art was a science Hollywood would never have failed blockbusters.

If artists wants me to support them for a project that I will see in 2+ years, they better show me up front they can cut it. Their original video showed very little.

 

[Bubbles]

They should go to Indiegogo like Cleve.

 

[Apexeon]

I make art and 2D stylized is vastly easier.
You move that camera freely and the artist/team better make sure everything looks good 360 degrees.

 

[Branm]

Looks like TSI figured that textdumps are not the answer, but I'm concerned that they still haven't grasped how crucial the first few days are to the campaign's success.

we underestimated how much new content we'd need to show in the middle of the campaign to engage people that were less familiar with the older games.

We'd thought we could talk about core mechanics when it is clear that you want to actually see those mechanics in action. We need to show off more than we had ready right now. There came a point where it became more tell than show.

Yeah agreed, these guys still have no clue on how to run a kickstarter....Not sure if they actually believe the crap that they are saying....Do they seriously think that it was their updates that doomed this? And not the absolutely amateur level pitch and video with nothing to show (but some derp saying "you can create characters") ...Screw these guys they don't deserve any money.

 

[mastroego]

if that is their target auditory, I am not going to mourn SDS.

Those aren't random cosplayers though.
They did a comical webseries that's actually quite funny.
The dvds are available for sale, in fact.

 

[Jaesun]

TSI Games ‏@TSIGames 1m1 minute ago
Latest blog entry up on our site: http://www.tsi-games.com/plot-vs-narrative/… Something to read when you aren't busy playing #PillarsofEternity

 

[RPGGameLover]

TSI Games ‏@TSIGames 1m1 minute ago
Latest blog entry up on our site: http://www.tsi-games.com/plot-vs-narrative/… Something to read when you aren't busy playing #PillarsofEternity

Yes thats right!. Something good to read while not at PoE

 

[DawnrazorDCLXVI]

HOLY FUCKING SHIT.

ECHO.

I hope this brings more attention to Dungeons of Aledorn. I can wait on Seven Dragons Saga. It means DoA might get funded, meaning we can have a staggered release. Best of both worlds.

Then I can play both.

 

[Infinitron]

Edwin McRae still using the TSI blog as his narrative design soapbox: http://www.tsi-games.com/jigsaw-storytelling/
https://prezi.com/wgxcxvjrs54o/jigsaw-storytelling-in-game-narrative-design/

He gets points for saying The Walking Dead isn't a game, though

 

[Zombra]

Man, that prezi thing is obnoxious. The jigsaw method is cool, though.

 

[octavius]

The Gold Box games weren't SSI's best.

Oh yeah? SSI made lots of good games, like the Phantasies, Demon's Winter and Sword or Aragon, but I can't recall anyone being better than the Gold Box games.

 

[Jools]

The sad news (in gold and black) VS my dreams (resting on the ropes, in purple briefs).

 

[Zombra]

The Gold Box games weren't SSI's best.

Oh yeah? SSI made lots of good games, like the Phantasies, Demon's Winter and Sword or Aragon, but I can't recall anyone being better than the Gold Box games.

I was thinking Wizard's Crown.

 

[octavius]

The Gold Box games weren't SSI's best.

Oh yeah? SSI made lots of good games, like the Phantasies, Demon's Winter and Sword or Aragon, but I can't recall anyone being better than the Gold Box games.

I was thinking Wizard's Crown.

There's nothing monocled about Wizard's Crown. The complexity of its combat is wasted when the game does not give you enough feedback to make informed decisions.

 

[RPGGameLover]

Latest interview?
http://www.pcpowerplay.com.au/featu...on-sagas-david-shelley-and-david-klein,402359

 

[SausageInYourFace]

Seven Dragon Saga will be releasing on PC, Linux, and Mac. Early beta access is pencilled in for early to mid 2016, and the game is due to launch mid-to-late 2016.

Wat.

And no mention of the Kickstarter at all? This seems weird but apparently the interview is from yesterday.

 

[LESS T_T]

I think it was posted as magazine scan pages ago, by Infinitron.

 

[Jaesun]

TSI Games ‏@TSIGames 6m6 minutes ago
No April's Fool's Joke, we have a new blog entry up this week: http://www.tsi-games.com/jigsaw-storytelling/… #7DS #RPG

 

[Zombra]

I think it was posted as magazine scan pages ago, by Infinitron.

Hm, interview is dated yesterday.