Adventure Gamers - Forums

The KickStarter campaign is now live!

Shadowgate KickStarter

My reaction(s):      (in that order)

zane - 26 October 2012 01:54 PM

Cymbaline30 - 26 October 2012 09:46 AM

The KickStarter campaign is now live!

Shadowgate KickStarter

My reaction(s):      (in that order)

stop being so surprised by the thing you made!

Anyway, the presentation is awesome, i continue to have a good feeling about this.

Oh I wish I could claim that I made all that, but that wouldn’t be fair to Dave, Karl, Richard, and Chris.

Although I guess if I were to call myself something, I guess it’d be… what… Official Unofficial Community Manager maybe?

I’ve spent a lot of time following these guys and researching the history of ICOM Simulations from its inception in 1981 as TMQ Software, to its closure by Viacom when it was temporarily called “Rabid Entertainment” (formerly Viacom New Media).  Then the IP was passed on to Infinite Ventures which was created by Dave, Karl, and Eugene Evans to keep the IPs from falling into potentially the wrong hands. (And yes, the same Eugene Evans of Mythic Entertainment).

Start of this year, January, 2012, Dave got the rights from Eugene, and then started Zojoi soon after to help bring the old ICOM IPs back to life.  Pretty exciting stuff!

Articles on Ars Technica, Polygon, Destructoid, Gamasutra, and others have been popping up all over today!  Wonder if Adventure Gamers is gonna see about getting in on the news?

zane - 26 October 2012 03:10 PM

Cymbaline30 - 26 October 2012 02:57 PM

  Wonder if Adventure Gamers is gonna see about getting in on the news?

have no fear, im sure they will get to it.. even if they miss it today. I suspect it will be hard to miss as it grows

Do you think theres any chance they could do somthing with deja vu in the future?? that would be realllly cool.

Oh absolutely!  Zojoi has the rights to Deja Vu and Uninvited, but whether or not they’ll be able to do anything with them will likely depend on the success of this current KickStarter campaign.  And not just in terms of making new games (either completely new or updated versions like with Shadowgate).  The success of the campaign will likely have an effect on the people at GOG.com and Kemco.  We’ve approached GOG.com before about providing the original games in their original form and were actually turned away because they weren’t sure if enough people really wanted them (if I recall correctly).  However, the more successful this campaign, the more likely GOG.com would be willing to get the old Mac/PC versions of ICOM Simulations’ library of games up on their site.

As for Kemco, we’ve already engaged with them to get the license for the music they created for the NES version of Shadowgate.  And while I can’t make any promises, one idea we’d like to do would be to get the NES versions of the MacVenture games up on the Wii (soon to be Wii U) Virtual Console.  Again, the likelihood of that will depend on this campaign’s success, and even then, we can’t really make any promises right now.

Long story short, “TOO LATE!”, the best way to see Deja Vu make a come back would be to support the Shadowgate KickStarter any which way you can.  Whether by pledging or spreading the word on social media networks or message boards (and I can’t say this enough either because it is 100% true), the more who know, the better. 

Frogacuda - 26 October 2012 09:57 PM

Awesome. I’d have been a little more excited about Deja Vu, but Shadowgate sounds great.

It’s amazing to me just how far this Kickstarter has gone. We’re getting a full-blown, year-long adventure renaissance with a lineup like we haven’t seen since the mid-90s. Even if it goes back to how it was afterwards, I feel like that was a huge accomplishment.

Personally, I think this Renaissance goes beyond just Adventure games, but also covers genres such as Space Sim Combat, Tactical FPS (think early Rainbow Six and Ghost Recon), and more.

I also don’t think it will likely go back to the way it was after this.  Already, games from before the KickStarter Spring, like “No Time To Explain”, “Organ Trail Director’s Cut”, and “Octodad 2”, are starting to hit the online marketplace, and soon, the high profile games like Double Fine Adventure, Wasteland 2, Leisure Suit Larry Reloaded, and many more will be released.  These KickStarter funded games will start entering the consciousness of gamers more and more over time, resulting in a permanent shift.

It may be a bumpy road, but I think the destination at the end of it all is worth it. 

inm8#2 - 26 October 2012 08:32 PM

Kolorabi - 26 October 2012 07:12 PM

Backed. Now to watch the video…

Those things should be done in the reverse order! Haha j/k.

I think it looks great, but I’m not sure how others are responding. I’d have expected a bigger first day.

Not every campaign can be a steamroller coaster ride like Double Fine Adventure, Wasteland 2, Project Eternity, Banner Saga, Star Citizen, or Homestuck.  It’s super extra double chocolate fudge coated awesome sweet when they are, but if they aren’t, that’s okay too.

It’s important for a KickStarter campaign to be prepared to work and continue working throughout the entire campaign period to do anything and everything possible to reach the goal at the very least.  Some campaigns make it by the skin of their teeth like Christian Allen & Serellan with TAKEDOWN, or the Garry & Melissa Gaber & Escape Hatch Entertainment with Starlight Inception.  Those two had only a couple hours if not MINUTES left on the clock before reaching their goal.

The ideal situation is to try and hit the target with at least a week or two of time to spare on the clock to allow for potential stretch goals.  If you hit the goal within 24-48 hours, then sweet, but it’s important to be realistic so that way you don’t get down about it if your campaign isn’t the next Project Eternity.  And also to be ready to push extra hard if things start coming down to the wire.

Like this:

OUENDAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAANNNNN!!!

Although the best situation is to be doing that ALL the time from start to finish!

Just ask @FAKEGRIMLOCK

(Holy Moley, I better cut this post short before this becomes the first chapter of a book!)