Promising Kickstarters

[Rebel Blob]

I'd imagine that just about everyone in the forum right now supported The Banner Saga during the Kickstarter campaign. So what other Kickstarter projects are you interested in? With Shadowrun just finished we seem to be in a lull for huge multimillion dollar game projects, but there is a large crop of small and midsized projects out there.

Legends of Eisenwald, graciously mentioned by Stoic in a recent update, is my current favorite project on Kickstarter. It is much further along than most Kickstarters and can show off gameplay, which is a big positive for me. I like what I've seen of the combat, which reminds me heavily of Disciples I/II, and the setting, which is comparable to Darklands. Plus I've talked with the lead developer, he is a really nice guy and committed to his game. They are well on their way to their goal, which is great, they were struggling at the beginning but with a little exposure things have picked up.

That's it for me right now, though I'm waiting eagerly for Brian Mitsoda's Dead State Kickstarter, which is tentatively planned to go live later this month. So what are you excited about? Plenty of people are interested in projects like Nekro, Republique, and Grim Dawn to toss out a few.

[Javaman]

Well, it's over now, but I funded the Hermes Spacecraft Kickstarter. They're a local company building a private commercial spacecraft, and I figured that if I can drop money on a fun game, an can support actual cutting edge science as well.

[Suzie Q Sailaway]

A lot of the projects I'm currently interested in are comics/art books/graphic novels as opposed to games - Hangboy World War Too, Mystery Pets, Cucumber Quest, Antler Boy and Other Stories, Yesterday Brings Today, Tiny Kitten Teeth, Saturday: Dinosaurs, Robots, and Octopi... yeah, I have next to no self control. Eheh.

I'm really dying to get my hands on Banner Saga though- it's the project I'm most looking forward to owning.

And oh! I think a lot of people are frothing at the mouth for the Tex Murphy KickStarter that's supposed to come out mid-May!

[Skitnik]

As Rebel Bob, I'm backing Eisenwald and waiting for Dead State. Other projects I'm interested are Xenonauts and Obsidian's possible kickstarter.

[Evil Laughter]

Only other thing that I'm currently backing is Leisure Suit Larry, I borrowed it along time ago and now that I earn something I figure I should put things right.

[Cathmore]

To be honest The Banner Saga is the first kickstarter I've supported; however, I am interested in supporting more as soon as one speaks to me like TBS did.

Grim Dawn is a possibility as I was a huge fan of Titan Quest.

To be honest I'm considering putting one of my own projects up for kickstarter, but we'll see.

[gotthammer]

Republique looks very interesting (I'm thinking of funding it, but...cash. Shadowrun took a big chunk of cash lol. That and I'm kinda worried: they're down to less than 2 weeks and still a bit far from their goal).
That Legends of Eisenwald also looks promising.

I'm also looking at Ravaged and (because I enjoy watching the works of the 2 people behind the project) Yogventures!

[CottonWolf]

Republique looks very interesting

Yeah, I like the look of Republique. It's the only other one I've put money down on. Shame that it almost certainly won't get funded though.

Kitaru looks pretty interesting, and given the budget, graphically, it looks incredible. Also not a game, but Tokyo Wonderland. Alice in Wonderland with samurai. And it's beautiful.

[ltwicked]

Im excited about Xenonauts and FTL :]

[Troll]

Im excited about Xenonauts and FTL :]

Xenonauts isn't KS right ? though I admit when I knew of it, it made me happy, as a long time lover of X-Com / UFO series.
Too bad 2K took up a deceivingly named XCOM.

The most interesting KS I know of for know would be Grim Dawn. They already have advanced concept and stuff to show. A game made by The Titan Quest team as it is presented seems very interesting.

[Skitnik]

Xenonauts isn't on Kickstarter yet, but maybe soon :https://www.goldhawkinteractive.com/f...d-Public-Build.

[Kimberly]

Personally, one of the games I'm most excited about (whose Kickstarter drive is still running) is Starlight Inception. It's basically a revival of the space simulator genre, inspired by games like Wing Commander and X-COM. You get to make storyline choices, explore, engage hostiles, defend capital ships, etc. and you can do so in multiplayer as well.

Unfortunately, funding's not going that well. They made some mistakes with the initial presentation. They were also planning launch DLC, but they wisely decided not to do that when listening to people's reaction. With enough funding the game might just make its goal, and otherwise they've got a good chance if they try again.

Republique seems interesting as well, but I can't help but feel they're asking for an awful lot of money--$500,000 seems like a lot for a minimum goal. The game's presentation didn't really "pop" for me, either, but that may be down to personal preference.

As for Legends of Eisenwald, I was initially interested until I learned it was going to be in Russian. They plan to write it in Russian first and then translate it, and I can't help but think there's going to be a lot of value lost in translation.

[Torgamous]

There are a few film projects that look interesting: Dust, Tube, and Dome.

[Tanglebones]

I'm really excited about Ogre - I never got a chance to play it in its original incarnation, but I'm a big fan of most SJ Games. I'm also involved in this one through work: New Symphonic Music, and hope that it'll get funding!

[Ratatoskr]

Mostly backing games myself. The Banner Saga was what actually got me started, but I'm also interested in Echoes of Eternia, Moebius (Pinkerton Road) because I'm an adventure game junkie, Legend of the Time Star and Republique maybe. I'm considering Grim Dawn as well but I'm a bit short on money so I may wait to see if the other ones make it before I decide.

[kincajou]

With current timings, i've put off funding other videogames and have given some cash to board games and comics (amongst others i'm toying with the idea of funding antler boy and other stories).

[Kaffis]

Xenonauts isn't KS right ? though I admit when I knew of it, it made me happy, as a long time lover of X-Com / UFO series.
Too bad 2K took up a deceivingly named XCOM.

You are aware that 2K is also publishing Firaxis' "X-COM: Enemy Unknown," now, right? And it's coming out way sooner than the stupid XCOM, which I think I'd heard has been put on a back burner pending some reworking of some sort. Firaxis' project is the turn-based reimagining of the original X-COM: UFO Defense formula that everybody was disappointed XCOM wasn't going to be. It was revealed/announced early January, and if you look around, some press type folks have gotten to see an early build thus far.


On a more related note to the rest of the thread: Most of my followed Kickstarters have closed, now, though I did put up some money to back Republique yesterday after I saw an interview that assuaged some of my doubts about the PC port. (I don't own a modern iOS device, and they're not porting to Android) So in addition to that, I've only got a few speculative dollars down for Starlight Inception, which is an attractive concept that hits good buzz words for me, but I'm wary of investing too much into because it seemed like a risky pitch.

Other ones that have caught me opening my wallet, though, and have since funded are: Mobile Frame Zero, Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns, a wargaming terrain startup, and FTL.

I will say, that the way to get my attention is to have some proof of concept (and concept artwork doesn't count for games), either be a reputed developer who I like or with a resume I appreciate, and demonstrate some business sense so I've got some faith that the project won't die unfinished or rushed to completion because of bad planning or being completely unprepared for the sorts of snags that come up.

[Skitnik]

It's too early to say anything, but I fear that X-COM by Firaxis, published by 2K, will be a little too much "streamlined". Time will tell, and I hope to be proven wrong. So, it's good that Xenonauts exists.

[Kaffis]

It's too early to say anything, but I fear that X-COM by Firaxis, published by 2K, will be a little too much "streamlined". Time will tell, and I hope to be proven wrong. So, it's good that Xenonauts exists.

Oh, certainly. That's a possibility, but, as you say, that's why the Xenonauts team hasn't quit.

On the other hand, I've read several interviews with the design lead, and it seems like he both respects and understands what made the game great, and isn't out to change things just to change them. I have zero compunction about the decision to scrap time units, for instance. Is it a decision I would've made? I'm not sure. But when I hear the guy who did make that decision talk about the things about time units they weren't happy with (and I agree with him), and then go on to say they tried a few other things to approach those problems and it just wasn't clicking, I respect that and am willing to give their instincts as designers and developers the benefit of the doubt.

I'm all about Jake Solomon's mantra about ensuring that all the choices you make are interesting ones. That's not, by itself, a recipe for good design, but it's certainly a good way to check yourself to avoid *bad* design. And (if you'll pardon me for bringing this back around to the Banner Saga) it's something I hope that Stoic can appreciate and utilize, too, as they tackle these story-centric decisions -- to ensure that each decision is compelling and is a careful balance of benefits and compromises.

[kolo83]

I don't want to get in another argue about this project (especially about 900k goal), so I'll present You only the link (Rob Swigart's Portal (1986) Reborn), there is everything written about this project. Decide for yourself if it is promising

Forgot to add: it's Sci-Fi adventure game.