Shadowgate to go Kickstarter - Funded

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I know at least a few people will get excited by this

This sounds awesome as hell! Still remember playing the NES version way, way, way back when...

It looks like a remake with new stuff added to me. That's what they are implying on their website. Anyway, the screenshots look kind of awesome, but since this is a point n click adventure I originally played on the NES, it will be boring most likely since I know all the solutions.

Also gonna be for iOS and Android devices.

Bah, whats the point of this these people could just emulate the gameboy color remake or the original nes version can't be that much of a market for this game. Hopefully, they have a reasonable price/goal.

http://www.zojoi.com/shadowgate.htm

My source.

It does seem like they will make the game attractive by changing the old puzzles.

Uninvited was much more fun.

It's live!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zojoi/shadowgate
They're asking for a pretty modest 120k.

More than twice what they asked for the Sherlock game (which is actually out on Desura now) and we all know how that went.

Not sure how long it will take for me to get full approval here, but I'm sort of a community manager with Zojoi, and figure I can answer some questions and expand on a few things too.

Thanks! I appreciate the help.

Not everyone, actually. There were lots of people who didn't find out about the Sherlock KickStarter until after the campaign had ended and regretted not knowing.

KickStarter and Crowd-Funding in general is a tricky and wild frontier when it comes to game development. Some games smash it right out of the park, some games do okay but not spectacular, and some games don't succeed by the end of the time limit.

However, one thing I've gathered is that being unsuccessful in one KickStarter does not necessarily determine the odds of success for other campaigns from the same person/company. I've seen quite a few KickStarters already return to KickStarter and succeed a 2nd time around; either for the same game or for a different one.

For us at Zojoi, we've learned quite a bit from the experience of the previous KickStarter and have done quite a bit of work to ensure that this campaign has a better chance of success.

You are right that the $120,000 goal is a bit more than twice of the previous campaign, but consider this: if we asked for significantly less than that, would people take us seriously? Some might see a small goal and figure that it won't be enough to do a game justice, and thus be turned away. The folks at Stoic, LLC (The Banner Saga) had a goal of $100,000 for their KickStarter, but in an interview, their original goal was $30,000. They decided to increase it because they felt that it was needed not just to get the funds for their game, but to also be taken seriously. And their case, it worked big time!

Right now, the main focus we have now isn't on the past, but on the future and Shadowgate. A lot of people requested to see Shadowgate get a KickStarter, and welp, here we are!

Well community manager, a question for you:

The screenshots promise a remake of the original, I remember the NES version well and the screenshots are of some very familiar rooms. On the main site it was written that you will add or redo all the puzzles so it will be a fresh experience for veterans, but I'm wondering how true this is... Can you tell me there will be no puzzles in the game which have the exact same solutions? Will the areas be the same? To what extent will someone who has the solutions of the original memorized find this a breeze?

Don't get me wrong, I hope you do raise the 120k and a lot more. It's not an overly large amount you're asking either as I expect Shadowgate has a lot of fans from the NES days. I just preferred the Sherlock Holmes games (and I'm bitter it wasn't funded). :p

The sooner you get GOG to wise up and get Sherlock Holmes on their site the sooner I can get a proper version. (Not a big Desura fan.)

A very good question. As Dave and Karl said in the pitch video, they've been thinking up puzzles, rooms, and all kinds of extra stuff for Shadowgate over the years. There will be familiar rooms with new makeovers, and new rooms that have never been seen before. For existing rooms, you're likely going to find some where the solution is the same as it was before, and your memory will serve you well.

However, with the addition of new rooms, some of the older rooms might require something different in order to solve them. Like, say, an item found in a new room is needed to go and solve the puzzle in the familiar room, or the Sphinx might ask for an item found in a new room in order to solve its riddle.

I can't guarantee one way or another exactly how it will go (I mean first the campaign has to succeed, and then there's still alpha and beta before release), but I guess that's one way you can think about it. Your memory will help you out to an extent; and this will provide a new challenge to old and new players alike.

Ahhh! Thank you so much for the support and feedback!

Hopefully, this campaign will have an effect on GOG and get them to host Zojoi's games for easy DRM-free distribution. Technically, we could try and sell the games DRM free through Zojoi's website if we absolutely had to, but that would require building marketplace/checkout pages from just about scratch. With all the other things going on, devoting time and energy to getting that set up is not high on the priorities list, I'm afraid.

Still, fingers crossed that this campaign leads to great things! Thank you so much for the support!

That poster looks mighty tempting... A little expensive at $110 (international) just to get the poster though. I don't care much for a box or map.
That's something I liked about the Obsidian kickstarter: the add-ons. It's a headache for the KS manager for sure, but it makes the options a lot more flexible.

OtakuMan30, I don't want to sound mean, but what's the current state on the project?

I ask this because the video showed some nice artwork, but it was clearly animated via After Effects, as was even shown by the guy operating it in the background... I honestly find that a bit misleading without at least a warning/note to the viewer; just how close to that can we expect the final game to look? Is that the actual artist/art style you're aiming for the game?

I also reacted to this. Beautiful art like that either deserves better animation, or at least the option to turn of animation (which is what I would prefer).