[Lucien21]

Coool

It's now reached $292k and climbing.

[Oscar]

Originally Posted by SamandMax

What makes it special? THIS IS AN ADVENTURE GAME MADE BY THE PEOPLE WHO CREATED AND PERFECTED THE GENRE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! If there's one adventure game that deserves unquestionable blind enthusiasm, this is it. Ron Gilbert's Maniac Mansion pretty much defined what point and click adventures are, and as if laying the groundwork for the entire genre wasn't enough, he also led the design for the unquestionably brilliant first two Monkey Island games. Tim Schafer picked up exactly where he left off and made classics like Day of the Tentacle and Grim Fandago, which itself is arguably the greatest adventure game ever made. These men aren't simply 'talented', they are without a doubt the top tier of adventure game designers. There is none higher. If you can't get excited by the thought of the pioneers of the genre making a new game together, without any restrictions brought on by a publisher, then I don't know if the adventure genre is capable of producing anything that will ever satisfy you again.

I agree - they made three of the best AGs ever in MI, DOTT and GF. But may I remind you that they also made Brutal Legend and Deathspank, games which I thought were far below the quality I would expect from such distinguished developers.

I can tell you're a music fan by your sig. You should know then that quality isn't guaranteed. How many great musicians and bands have put out average or simply bad albums during their career? Quality in all the arts is inconsistent.

[Schneckchen ^.^]

I agree with Oscar. This is good news but come on guys keep your pants on. You're hyping yourselves up so much you're just setting up for a mediocre disappointment.

[kuze]

I'm more excited about them taking funding to the fans and making production this transparent than the actual game at this point, to be honest.

[SamandMax]

Originally Posted by Oscar

I agree - they made three of the best AGs ever in MI, DOTT and GF. But may I remind you that they also made Brutal Legend and Deathspank, games which I thought were far below the quality I would expect from such distinguished developers.

I can tell you're a music fan by your sig. You should know then that quality isn't guaranteed. How many great musicians and bands have put out average or simply bad albums during their career? Quality in all the arts is inconsistent.

I get what you're saying, and I even agree with Brutal Legend being underwhelming, but I just think this is something far too big and exciting for the adventure genre to be so critical of. When I think of some of the modern adventure games I've recently played and enjoyed in the past year or two - the Black Mirror trilogy, the Sherlock Holmes games, Alpha Polaris - I see games that I like more than I should because there really isn't any other options to pick from. That's why I don't understand a lack of excitement for this game - what other adventure game could we possibly be waiting for with more promise than this?

[SamandMax]

Originally Posted by Schneckchen ^.^

I agree with Oscar. This is good news but come on guys keep your pants on. You're hyping yourselves up so much you're just setting up for a mediocre disappointment.

In just 6 hours, almost $320,000 has been raised for the creation of a traditional point and click adventure game. If you can't get excited for that, what else is left in the adventure genre to be excited about? This sends a message that there's a love and demand for adventure games that everyone in the video game industry is going to see.

[Fien]

They did it! $400,000 raised in less than 9 hours! Isn't the Internet great.

Only 33 more days to go. Go where? Two, three millions?

[thejobloshow]

Haha! We did it! Now which one of you is having lunch with Tim?

[Fien]

If we are to believe Twitter and Tim Schafer's responses to the guy, it's someone from Sweden. Kind of strange (and disappointing) that Mr. Schafer was under the impression Kickstarter was US only.

[PolloDiablo]

Well, you can only start a project if you're based in the US so I can kind of see what caused the confusion.

[Fien]

He didn't know, as is painfully obvious from his tweets, even after this guy from Sweden donated 10K. He should have known. Decidedly odd to start a fundraising campaign without even considering contributions from people outside the US, so I think it's fair to conclude other people produced the Kickstarter page (which says that backers outside the US should pay extra for the poster!) and he didn't even bother to read it.

[TopCat]

Man... Almost $500k.... This is amazing...

Just imagine if more proven AG devs start doing that.... I guess Anuman/Microids could really use such an initiative to fund Syberia 3....

[kuze]

Originally Posted by TopCat

Man... Almost $500k.... This is amazing...

Just imagine if more proven AG devs start doing that.... I guess Anuman/Microids could really use such an initiative to fund Syberia 3....

I doubt it'd achieve the same media coverage or funding. I also wonder if 400k is enough to fund the development of a commercial game... but then again, Double Fine is the better judge of that, apparently.

EDIT: I also believe that all the notch/Psychonauts 2 excitement a few days ago played a major role in the success of this particular fund raising. This was really the best time they could have chosen to open a kickstarter project.

[TopCat]

Originally Posted by kuze

I doubt it'd achieve the same media coverage or funding. I also wonder if 400k is enough to fund the development of a commercial game... but then again, Double Fine is the better judge of that, apparently.

I think I read an interview of some sort with Kheops Studios... those guys said that their games had a budget of around quarter to half a million bucks AT MOST... Sometimes it was less than a quarter... But it also depends on what 'd you wanna do.. If you want to do a real time 3D game ( like Dreamfall ) then you'd need a lot more $$$.

[Fien]

Originally Posted by kuze

I also wonder if 400k is enough to fund the development of a commercial game... but then again, Double Fine is the better judge of that, apparently.

Actually, only 270K. As Mr. Schafer explains in the video, 100K for the film, 300K for the game. Minus the 9 or 10 percent that Kickstarter and Amazon Payments take.

[diego]

Great news, but the only thing that "bothers" me is a relatively short time span for the development. I'm not saying there won't be enough time, and they probably have some basic things like story and characters already done, but 8 months is a pretty tight time-restriction and sounds more like a deadline for an average "episodic game".

[Arial Type]

Originally Posted by diego

Great news, but the only thing that "bothers" me is a relatively short time span for the development. I'm not saying there won't be enough time, and they probably have some basic things like story and characters already done, but 8 months is a pretty tight time-restriction and sounds more like a deadline for an average "episodic game".

My guess is that the work have started some time ago. They probably made a demo or two, which they offered to several publishers. Anyway, 8 months should be enough for a classical adventure game without advanced technologies involved. IMHO!

[Pyke]

This really is a fantastic yardstick for the popularity of Adventure Games.

BUT,

There is a slight problem with this model of funding. While it is incredible that this amount of donations has been reached, all of them count as a pre sale. So off the bat, they have to sell 13801 copies (so far) before they can break even.

While I have no doubt that they will reach this goal, it certainly does give them an extra hurdle to jump over from the time it goes gold.

About the protracted deadline, with a skilled team, set story, existing technologies, and $500 000,00 backing you, I don't think that 8 months is to long for an Adventure Game. I'm assuming that the story is written and the game designed, and thats why they are moving forward with the funding.

Really awesome that they are going fully independent! We live in exciting times for game developers!

[louiedog]

I went to bed expecting this to be almost at the goal when I woke up. I guess the Europeans woke up in the meantime and really had at it. That goal has been surpassed by 50%. I suppose that's why so much of the adventure game scene takes place over there.

[Ascovel]

Originally Posted by Pyke

So off the bat, they have to sell 13801 copies (so far) before they can break even.

"Break even"? I think you meant: make twice as much as the budget is. They're already even before the production started.