Adventure Gamers - Forums

I agree about the tiers.
I’d also suggest to lower the price for the digital download quite a bit.
The game itself looks promising.

Really excited about a spiritual successor to Sanitarium, which is one of my top 10 adventure games of all time.

Keith mentions at one point in the video “Instead of drenching our players in dark closed gory environments all the time, we have a variety of locations, some that are open and sunny and inviting…”

I think you could do more in your gameplay examples to show this sunnier type of environment, to show that the game will have diverse environments. Mostly the game comes off as dark and dreary to me in the rooms you choose to show. Part of this is the song you picked: the heavy handed minor-key synth strings and piano are par for the course with the psychological horror genre. I like letting the in-game sounds speak for themselves like you do at the beginning of the video. Or choose a piece of music that isn’t so cliche and heavy-handed to accompany the in-game shots. Or use another piece of music in addition that gives an alternate mood.

I think it also could be helpful for Rob to mention right away what your involvement with Sanitarium was (you say later on in the pitch video, but I think you wait too long). People want to know your credentials. Maybe it also would be helpful to be upfront about the following: What happened to DreamForge? When did Sword & Spirit Software come about? Why does Sword & Spirit need our money to make the game you want to make?

I also agree that 30 bucks is too much to ask for an adventure kickstarter. $20 dollars early bird and $25 for everyone else seems more reasonable for the pricing on adventures.

I’m excited to support your game!

Tyler

As mentioned, a lot of kickstarters seem to have success with an early bird tier. Personally, i dont see a big problem with charging 30 for the game (though you will get a chorus of complaints)... but either way you should provide a cheaper option for early adopters (first couple thousand maybe) to get the ball rolling.

Also as mentioned, the statement “What if I hate adventure gaming logic? We do too” wont do you many favors. We get enough self-loathing over the genre from certain developers, i really dont think its what adventure gamers want to hear… I’ve seen other kickstarters open with this message, only to be forced to backtrack on it. I’d shift the focus to what you plan to do to make this game different.

And.. i also think you should consider having a “who we are” section right on the kickstarter page.

Most of the KS projects took the sequel or spiritual successor element as in the same vein or in same style, to emulate same oldschool feeling, the isometric view or style that KS projects like SatelliteReign, Wasteland2, Eternity, Torment used etc.

Huge Sanitarium fan here and its not remotely Sanitarium , atleast not to me,
the random Sanity effects could be confused with any Psychological horror/thriller or
some random dream sequence.

In other words, the look and feel of the project should have same essence, that
old fans can relate to. Some thing like “Hey , its looks like Sanitarium”,
without you guys over emphasizing it, hurting the sales pitch.

I disagree with nomadsoul. I don’t think it has to look like Sanitarium or be in the same style (2D inventory-based third-person isometric view or whatever) to succeed. I have enough trust in the game-makers that no matter what the style is, the game will have a great story with great atmosphere.

Yea definitely introduce yourselves better, making your connections to Sanitarium clear.

I like that you’re going 3D, I’m pretty tired of “let’s make a new game that looks and plays exactly like a 1992 game” Kickstarters.

Tell us more about yourselves.  Not everyone knows Sanitarium - or knows it well.  People love a personal connection to you, as well as your project.  After all, you are just good people looking to make a good game, and knowing the people behind it, your passions and hopes - it means a lot to backers, who not only invest their money, but their hearts.

Bt

The engine looks nice—reminds me of Gone Home in places. Can’t wait to see what it looks like with the help of artists and animators.

$15-20 seems to be the sweet spot for base digital copy tiers. $30 isn’t unreasonable, but you’re going to get a lot less spontaneous pledges at that amount. Maybe a $20 early bird tier, with a $25 regular tier? Early bird tiers are excellent because they give your campaign a boost at the beginning; a strong start gives people confidence in the project.

The humour in the video wasn’t exactly side-splitting. I’d consider playing it straight because at the moment it’s just a bit awkward.

Good luck!

How many people were from the development of Sanitarium?  You give absolutely no specifics about your company or how many have worked on that game.

The game price also needs to be lowered to 20 to 25.  This is a day and age where you could get 5-6 wadget eye games for $8 on a sale… Almost all indie games are sold for pennies after a few months.  I don’t even pay $30 for most big name big developer games anymore…

I don’t care if it’s Sanitarium or not. I don’t even care if it’s an adventure game. I’m a fan of Dreamforge and love most of their games. But I’d like to know more about your team and its connection to Dreamforge. As other have suggested, please tell us more about yourselves.