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

[Irenaeus]

What does this say about a person that sent them millions of dollars and only $16 to Mage's Initiation? Btw, Mage's AMA is going on right now.

 

[iamlindoro]

Hero-U barely managed 400K, not millions or even a million. They're running the project how they ran their kickstarter-- heavy on hype, but totally lacking substance. It's sad (but not surprising) that they've apparently managed to sabotage the project before it's even gotten started. They're already on their second "reboot..."

This project's chief (and only) export is meep fanart.

 

[Stabwound]

This is looking pretty sad from where I'm sitting. This has a worse chance of actually coming out in an enjoyable form than Grimoire. I can't even tell what's happening with this game anymore. First I thought it was roguelike inspired with tiles, but the "artwork" updates show pre-rendered backgrounds like an adventure game. Is this all smoke and mirrors or what?

And lol at this: they're using a revolving door of contractors on this game. These two apparently are just any regular middle-aged couple that were given $400,000 on name alone. Anyone can come up with a (mediocre) idea and throw it up on Kickstarter. Imagine what kind of Frankenstein monster game of bugs this is going to create if new part-timers from India take over the reins every month?

This is going to be fucking hilarious. And sad. Sorry, Mr. Cole.

 

[HobGoblin42]

Latest update.
Both their programmer quit, so they need programmers.
The plush toy meeps are being made.
Bt

Who needs programmers if you can have plush toy meeps ?

 

[lophiaspis]

How strange, you'd think they were some of the best project leads in the world from the amount of polished content they crammed into QFG 1-4 in a year or so each.

Sad too, considering the potential of this setting if it was done just like the old VGA games, in AGS. Glory High. Fighters as Jocks, Magic Users as Nerds. Thieves sneaking into the Principal's office. Would be a glorious comeback for two of the best designers. But their brains apparently turned to mush from too much WOW. What a loss for the industry.

 

[janjetina]

Interesting, they are making a computer game with no programers. No wonder their development cost is low.

 

[suejak]

They were never project leads. They were lead designers. They worked at one of the most successful, best-run adventure game production houses ever. Corey "I could have run QfG 1-4 from my living room" Cole would probably take credit for everything, but it's very obvious that the company of Sierra played a very large role in QfG's success.

 

[Corey Cole]

They were never project leads. They were lead designers. They worked at one of the most successful, best-run adventure game production houses ever. Corey "I could have run QfG 1-4 from my living room" Cole would probably take credit for everything, but it's very obvious that the company of Sierra played a very large role in QfG's success.

Heh, I don't recall ever making a statement like that. Sierra had invested over $1 million (in 1988 dollars) into SCI before we started Hero's Quest; obviously that was a *huge* leg up for the project. We also had a team of people who had worked on other SCI games. By the way, for the most part I did not work as a project manager at Sierra - I started as a systems programmer converting SCI to the Atari ST, Amiga, and Macintosh, then worked mostly as a senior programmer. My one project management stint was on the educational games, when I managed the programmers for Castle of Dr. Brain, Mixed-Up Fairy Tales, and Ecoquest 1. So I have 30 years of programming experience and three years as a manager. Lori ran the teams on Quest for Glory.

The difference here is that Lori and I decided at the beginning that someone needed to run the company, and that I would not have time to do that, help with the design, and also program. So I am intentionally staying out of the code, which would normally be my main role. Unfortunately, we did not raise enough in the Kickstarter to hire Andrew full-time, so he had to go back to other projects to support his family. We had another programmer, but he got into the same situation - Too many contracts, too little time. Hopefully third time will be the charm.

 

[suejak]

Well, you did say this...

Wow, I'm really impressed by the obliviousness of some of these posters who insist that the Sierra 2.5D look was the essence of Quest for Glory. And that we're "raping" our own babies by using top-down graphics in Hero-U. Our games were *never* about the background graphics. We could as easily have moderated Quest for Glory in our living room as on the SCI engine. In fact, it would have been better, because that would allow more input responses.

In any case, we know that you don't have any project management experience. That's actually what we're talking about here.

Also, wait, so you let go Andrew of Brawsome, developer of "Jolly Rover, MacGuffin's Curse, and many other games"? Wasn't he, like, a core part of your pitch? I distinctively remember you saying...

I mentioned that one of our fans had sent us a game that looked like what we were discussing. The fan was Andrew Goulding, and the game was Brawsome’s latest creation, MacGuffin’s Curse. Lori and I looked at the demo and said, “Hey, this is really charming.” Then we played a little of the game, and it was really fun. Snappy dialogue, interesting puzzles, intuitive interface, cute character design – Everything worked.
Just as importantly, the look of the game was right in line with what we had been discussing for our new game. Top-down, tiled interface, something like a Rogue dungeon in closeup so you can see the details, cute character closeups… all that, and the game was fun too!
I wrote about MacGuffin’s Curse last month in my Quest Log blog – http://www.theschoolforheroes.com/questlog/1428/puzzling-under-a-full-moon/.
Do yourself a favor – Buy the game (it isn’t expensive) and play it. Then blink a few times and imagine an old-school dungeon crawl with a similar look. Blink again and imagine Quest for Glory’s character dialogue and story integrated into it. That’s pretty much what happened with us when we played Andrew’s game and talked about ours.

Oh yeah, you did say that.

Anyway, thanks for all the forum posts. And good luck. Hope you don't screw this up.

 

[HobGoblin42]

For a game project/company it's always crucial to have a technical lead as owner/partner on board. You can replace any designer and artist, but if your codebase goes to hell, you're screwed. And then even Unity won't save your ass. There were already a few successfully funded Kickstarter projects which failed to deliver because they lost their coder.

In this particular situation, it could be a good idea to find some motivated junior/amateur programmers. Those are much cheaper than veteran freelancer mercs and they bring passion and fresh ideas into the project.

Good luck with Hero-U!

P.S.: a new Police Quest would be great, too

 

[Stabwound]

Only on the codex can you interactively rip down one of the guys who made some of your favorite games in the past.

I wish you the best, but this seriously sounds like it's not going well at all. Don't become the first of your peers to fail to deliver.

P.S.: a new Police Quest would be great, too

In terms of adventure game sequels, I'd put PQ #3 behind Gabriel Knight and King's Quest. Damn, a modern PQ would be slick.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

I'm hoping they can deliver, but it looks like it's going to be a bumpy ride. I'm hoping for some art through adversity to occur.

Hey, I just realized that Cleve is close to finishing Grimoire. Maybe they can hire him.

 

[Aeschylus]

P.S.: a new Police Quest would be great, too

In terms of adventure game sequels, I'd put PQ #3 behind Gabriel Knight and King's Quest. Damn, a modern PQ would be slick.

Well then good news, Jim Walls is planning a Kickstarter sometime this year for a new Police Quest-like game.

 

[DeepOcean]

I played recently the QfG games and, boy, I had massive fun. I'm really worried about this project and I wish that everything turn out well. The massive fun I had with QfG games made me a fan of your work Corey Cole and of Lori work too, if this game is going to become vapourware, the feeling of betrayal would be horrible. You guys don't have idea in how much faith I have in you, hacks in EA, Bioware, Activision, Ubisoft treat games as a souless thing, something to make money and shouldn't be taken seriously. I could see your personalities and your humanity on the QfG games, it wasn't about space marines, power fantasies or other juvenile crap to make money video games are full of. So, please, don't fuck up.

 

[Blackthorne]

From the Kickstarter Comments for Hero-U

Creator Corey Cole about 16 hours ago

@Micartu (and anyone else concerned): The delay has cost us very little in dollars. We're paying the contractors for specific tasks rather than having employees with monthly salaries. So mostly the delay has given us a chance to experiment with the art process and talk about the game design and story. In addition, we maydo a second funding drive when we have a solid playable demo. That would allow us to add voice acting and to pay the contractors more than peanuts and bananas.

Bt

 

[Stabwound]

From the Kickstarter Comments for Hero-U

Creator Corey Cole about 16 hours ago

@Micartu ... In addition, we maydo a second funding drive when we have a solid playable demo...

That further solidifies the theory that they got way less money than they expected. The kickstarter just barely made the goal. Doing a second kickstarter after a first successful one is just milking the hell out of people. Come on.

 

[Infinitron]

:facepalm:

 

[Diablo169]

If they launch another kickstarter they lose all credibility. if you cant plan a kickstarter so you have enough budget to actually make the damn game then you have no business being on that website.

Shameful display!

 

[FrancoTAU]

I'd still buy this in a heartbeat if it's good on release, but I'm a little glad that I didn't pledge on this one. The second funding drive is a bit concerning.

 

[suejak]

The big problem with these Kickstarters is that they're being run by individuals, not studios. Al Lowe, Scott Murphy, Mark Crowe, Jane Jensen, Jim Walls, Lori Cole, and Corey Cole may have "designed" some of our favourite adventure games two decades ago, but can you just drop money on a designer and expect them to turn into a small business? Or even a small businessman?

 

[Infinitron]

The big problem with these Kickstarters is that they're being run by individuals, not studios. Al Lowe, Scott Murphy, Mark Crowe, Jane Jensen, Jim Walls, Lori Cole, and Corey Cole may have "designed" some of our favourite adventure games of all two decades ago, but can you just drop money on a designer and expect them to turn into a small business, or even a small businessman?

The Two Guys at least got a dude to manage them: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Chris_Pope

(And so did Al Lowe, but the less said about that guy the better.)

 

[Stabwound]

The big problem with these Kickstarters is that they're being run by individuals, not studios. Al Lowe, Scott Murphy, Mark Crowe, Jane Jensen, Jim Walls, Lori Cole, and Corey Cole may have "designed" some of our favourite adventure games of two decades ago, but can you just drop money on a designer and expect them to turn into a small business? Or even a small businessman?

Yeah, these guys that are working solo or with hired help don't seem to be doing too well. Many seem to have management problems at the very least. Then you take guys like Brian Fargo and Feargus from Obsidian who already have business experience and are running successful companies and you can see how everything from the kickstarter campaign itself to the design of the game is executed much more smoothly.

You hear more negative press about kickstarters like this than ones from established companies.

 

[Wizfall]

About a possible second funding drive, it is not for sure a pleasant perspective.
I'm not a QoG fan but if one of my favorite kickstarter (W2, SR or PE) ask me for more money to complete or enhance their game and they have something solid to show me (like the W2 demo or SR demo) i will donate them some more without hesitation.
You will probably never have the opportunity to play such games again...

 

[Metro]

Ask Fargo for money!

 

[MRY]

They were never project leads. They were lead designers. They worked at one of the most successful, best-run adventure game production houses ever. Corey "I could have run QfG 1-4 from my living room" Cole would probably take credit for everything, but it's very obvious that the company of Sierra played a very large role in QfG's success.

Well, you did say this...

Wow, I'm really impressed by the obliviousness of some of these posters who insist that the Sierra 2.5D look was the essence of Quest for Glory. And that we're "raping" our own babies by using top-down graphics in Hero-U. Our games were *never* about the background graphics. We could as easily have moderated Quest for Glory in our living room as on the SCI engine. In fact, it would have been better, because that would allow more input responses.

I haven't really followed this at all -- wasn't interested in the project despite being a huge fan of QFG1 (as Hero's Quest) when I was a kid. Not sure exactly why, maybe the camera angle or the design differences. Just so you don't think I'm fanboying.

But, with that said, I think you're maybe misunderstanding the line of Corey's you're quoting. I interpreted your post as saying that Corey claimed he could have run the QFG project out of his living room. (Right?) Then you quoted Corey saying something similar, but actually quite different. I think what he was saying was not that he could have run the QFG project from his living room, but that he could have run QFG as a GMed game, a la D&D from his living room. Hence "that would allow more input responses." The post of his you're quoting is an explanation for why a particular depiction of QFG (the 2.5D view created by SCI) wasn't intrinsic to QFG. He's saying it still would've been QFG -- only better -- if it had just been a GMed game run out of his house.

Now, I don't agree with what Corey's saying -- the graphics, the parser, the music, the mere fact that you were playing QFG on a computer even though it seemed to be able to permit a huge range of RPing actions (like getting a job cleaning the stables) are what made it so memorable. A GMed game where some dude rattles off a bunch of lame puns and tries to do funny voices wouldn't have worked at all (at least, not for me). But I don't think it's fair to suggest that Corey was claiming that he could have developed QFG out of his living room, because, at least as I read it, that's not what he was saying.

Anyway, still not interested in the game for the same reason you're not, but I figured you might as well attack the game on its merits (or lack thereof) rather than on Corey having a big ego (which he may have; I have no idea; I just don't think you've proven it).[/quote]