Got a "Kickstarter" going!

[Arutha]

I'd say, run the kickstarter on Kickstarter depending on whether or not the Indiegogo campaign doesn't work, first.

Jep, but maybe you should change the description a bit you when somebody is saying you can say: Yeah second try doesn`t work but now I give a deeper view or something bla ^^

And it`s just my opinion but I think you should set milestones so the People will know better when what is coming. I mean you say okay 5600 for Audio but how much for the sound guy? I think if you set Goals you will get more cash because: Oh that sounds cool maybe i should give 20 rather then 10 to get this realised .

I think it will get more attention when you say okay 15000 and we will get a Temp Programmer for Multi Core support (means bigger battles civilian npc) Improvements in Graphic Engine and Day-Night-Cycle as we will get a temp programmer for little graphic fixes and day night cycle

But.. Thats just my Opinion

oh and ^^ More pictures ;P Give them something to exite

[Masochist]

Given the popularity of kickstarter and the squeeze out effect it causes on similar sites have you considered a workaround to that at all Chris?

Would it not be possible to have someone "join the team" as a PR person or something who lives in America? With a legal contract between the two of you or what have you I am sure you could safely and legally participate in kickstarter with said persons support.

If not that I m sure something similar could be done.


merged thread with similar/same topic ~l33t

[UltimaVirus]

Just put it on Kickstarted. Nobody should really care. I know I don't care. I want this project to succeed faster, that's what I care about.

[Penthus]

I say keep your tiers the same but after say 10 days don't be afraid to add some more if some good suggestions come up. Have it so people will want to increase their pledge and maybe add a few kickstarter cosmetic items/skins into the game.

Also don't set your goal too high. It is better having it low and reaching your target then making some awesome stretch goals to keep people interested and spread the word. There also needs to be a plan in place to actively promote the game/yourself.

[Arutha]

Just put it on Kickstarted. Nobody should really care. I know I don't care. I want this project to succeed faster, that's what I care about.

Exactly

[korbeen]

I'd say to wait til the game is a little more polished to launch the kickstarter.

The idea of the game is very good, and i love the idea of having a normal character with a open ended game.
In my opinion i think it should be improved mostly on special FXs (sounds ans eye candy), it would improve the alpha demo in a manner that probably would increase the number of the people support the project.

I know that its an alpha release and an indie project, I ain't saying to do an dawn of war II kind of graphics just a little polished one, on the top of my mind:

The buildings have no floor and so the sand dunes is in there;
When you go inside the build you can see that its wall are just 2D sprites and not actual 3D;
The sand texture is too dull, i really miss some cactus/oasis/details around the desert (actually all textures are pretty dull);
The menu should have some finishing, tying it together;
Well you already said that, but sounds.

Maybe it'd be easier if you'd work with a smaller world at first.

I'm not trying to be a downer just wanna help.

[Blxz]

The sand texture is too dull, i really miss some cactus/oasis/details around the desert (actually all textures are pretty dull);.

There is already foliage in-game. It tends to be closer to towns (ie. possible water source maybe?) rather than out in the main desert. Also you may have to zoom in if you were playing very far out.....but it is there.

Also, keep in mind that this is only 1 of at least a few other biomes that have been planned to be included into the game. This map is also only a small fraction of the whole map. Although I am not sure of the eventual fate of the whole map as Chris has stated at least a few times that he plans for it to be procedurally generated in the end.

[anubite]

It's true kickstarter is getting all the press and traffic.

If anyone has any spare time, write to your favorite vidoegame news site. Tell them about this game and project? Post on reddit or similar forums about Kenshi. Every cent that goes toward this game pushes it a little bit faster towards completion.

Unlike a lot of the indie campaigns, Kenshi has a playable alpha. That should warrant some attention from the press.

If a jRPG made with RPGmaker XP can get 40,000 dollars :/ ... Kenshi can at least get 10k for all the work that's been done.


topics merged ~1337

[Mattk50]

I think the issue is not only about it being indiegogo, but kenshi itself not being incredibly exposed. Just looking around the forums tells you how many people are interested and know about it, perhaps whats needed is a player advertising campaign?

Tell your friends, post threads on other forums, host kenshi giveaways, all things that will get more people who will in turn get more people and buy/donate to the game.

[Lorenzo666]

I think the issue is not only about it being indiegogo, but kenshi itself not being incredibly exposed. Just looking around the forums tells you how many people are interested and know about it, perhaps whats needed is a player advertising campaign?

Tell your friends, post threads on other forums, host kenshi giveaways, all things that will get more people who will in turn get more people and buy/donate to the game.

I've done that myself but it seems to me that most people find Kenshi hard to play and confusing, as about 8 of the Dozen people I have recommended this to have come back to me saying "How do I play this?"

Maybe implementing some sort of in-game tutorial might help.
And also a fair few people have just taken a look at it and said "Doesn't look like my sort of game" so, you can't please everyone.

[Mattk50]

The only reason anyone is here is because they heard about kenshi in one of the above ways, or they managed to stumble across it on indiedb or something. You can't expect most to be interested, the same is true for most games, but people will be out there who want this sort of game.

[korbeen]

There is already foliage in-game...
...Also, keep in mind that this is only 1 of at least a few other biomes that have been planned to be included into the game. This map is also only a small fraction of the whole map....Chris has stated at least a few times that he plans for it[map] to be procedurally generated in the end.

I think that since the alpha version work like a portfolio for Chris as himself said he doesn't have some big game in the curriculum like Fargo, that's why i think its important to polish it. I'll not lie, i don't played this game a lot, but it seems the development is lacking of focus.
Using what Blxz said, just focus doing one biome but do it very well since we start the game on the desert polish it, improve the details so the first impression of the game will be better, not just foliage but cactus, oasis and the sand texture, work on the sand appearing above the floor of the buildings its very weird.
I would work with a even smaller alpha map, i think it would help to find and work on the issues.
I also think that Chris should focus on small "easy" to fix stuff, as i said on the last post, polishing the menus and maybe improving the interface graphically and stuff like shortcuts and so.

[Dimler]

to you guys saying "oh this game needs to look pretty if Chris wants more money", you do realize that Alpha stage is the mechanical building part and Beta is the shiny polish part, right? ya its not the prettiest girl at the prom right now, but it is functional and it shows off the beginning of what it can be.

I would prefer Chris focus on getting all of the basic components installed and working together before he starts doing things like polishing the menu and the sand textures. and I don't normally generalize like this but anyone who makes decisions about which games to play (especially alpha games) based solely on how pretty the menus are or how great the graphics look is in this hobby for the wrong reasons.

besides once more of the game's foundation is set and it hits beta, i believe it is going to start doing way better money wise. look at Minecraft, it didn't get really popular until the very end of its alpha stage. look I'm sure we all have high hopes for this game but lets not kid ourselves, a big reason Kenshi isn't more popular is because it is still more concept than game.

[korbeen]

to you guys saying "oh this game needs to look pretty if Chris wants more money", you do realize that Alpha stage is the mechanical building part and Beta is the shiny polish part, right? ya its not the prettiest girl at the prom right now, but it is functional and it shows off the beginning of what it can be.

I would prefer Chris focus on getting all of the basic components installed and working together before he starts doing things like polishing the menu and the sand textures. and I don't normally generalize like this but anyone who makes decisions about which games to play (especially alpha games) based solely on how pretty the menus are or how great the graphics look is in this hobby for the wrong reasons.

besides once more of the game's foundation is set and it hits beta, i believe it is going to start doing way better money wise. look at Minecraft, it didn't get really popular until the very end of its alpha stage. look I'm sure we all have high hopes for this game but lets not kid ourselves, a big reason Kenshi isn't more popular is because it is still more concept than game.

Ok, you're right about the alpha test the features is normally finished in this step of development, but here is the catch it doesn't make sense in a project this big with such a small team, forget about these things it isn't written on stone.
I'm a programmer (actually it's a lie, for the past two year I'm more a "man in gray suit" than a programmer... well carrying on), but i work with enterprise softwares not with games but the development is still the same, the big thing here is, if you do a crazy wide software with tons of functions and and let all of it to polish later it you'll not be able do really finish ever. Last time i played minecraft was a little before that survival update (or something like it...), and it was BROKEN as hell, that's why a huge alpha doesn't make sense, the wider the game is the harder will be to track and solve the issues and every corrected issue will cause problems in another place.
About the textures and menus, think about it, it will demand what... a week maybe two if the things really go sour, do you really think that make a new building or AI system will take less than it?
Another thing, people nowadays is comparing every indie game with minecraft, PLEASE remember that minecraft is a casual game, pay attention on the casual part, do you think that kenshi will be casual? In my mind it'll be a hardcore game, maybe I'm wrong...
If I'm right tell me the targeted gamers for kenshi are the same as for minecraft? I think that for kenshi the gamers will demand more a lot more. I ain't saying to make something with final product quality right now, just to improve it...
Kenshi isn't and don't need to be the "prettiest girl at the prom" but it don't hurt to take off this ugly glasses and put some lipstick on.
Well... just to poke another thing, why not to increase the working force of the game? I didn't go there yet, but i believe there is a section for modders around here already, why not use this guys to do stuff for the core game instead, like the textures and menus in exchange put their name on the credits (not only generic "special thanks", but 2D/3D Artists, Sound Artists, whatever). To me, it doesn't make sense to have mods to a unfinished game that actually need a few more hands on it. Thinking about Mount & Blade... i don't know anyone who plays it without some tex pack mod...

[aattss]

Although Minecraft is as casual as it is hardcore (you don't just "casually" build a complicated megastructure resembling lord of the rings), it is many genres away. For example, instead of relying more on user generated content, Kenshi relies on Emergent Gameplay and Dynamicness. Also, you aren't really building things like in Minecraft, so you probably care less about how it looks and more about whether or not in-game events will happen (like massive battles and permadeath).

[Dimler]

I'm so dumb, I thought we were still talking about the indiegogo crowd-funding. I didn't see the suggestions for starting a second campaign on Kickstarter.
I wouldn't have a problem with it but you might want to think about the rewards. some of them are limited so if you start a second campaign with the exact same rewards are you just going to double up on the limited offers. like for the create your own faction reward. right now you offer only 2. well if you start a kickstarter is that one going to offer 2 as well. are you cool with potentially having 4 player created factions running around or 20 super NPCs? I don't know what your criteria was for setting those limits in the first place.

[toaster Assassin]

Current total donations:$1,780 USD
Time left: 27 days.


There probably should be some revisions/changes to the donation selections, with 27 days left, you should not waste the opportunity to increase the funds.

Chris maybe you can put a "need list" on Kickstarter to show how much you need and for what. (Like hiring a contractor for the audio).

[Blxz]

The thing is, there just aren't any 'reasonable' rewards worth donating for. (2 grand for a faction is a pipe-dream)

I've already got a copy of the game and most people on this forum already do. That pretty much limits almost everyone on this forum to only going for the forum icon. Of course since he put a 10 person limit on that there is nothing else worth going for less than $50.

If that limit was upped then BAM! he gets a donation immediately from me and possibly others on the forum for no cost to himself. And we are all 'First-Funders' anyway since we bought into the game in the Alpha stage. As it stands, no one has claimed anything higher than the $100 perk and anyone owning the game already is less likely to get anything less than the $25 perk. Since there are only 22 other >$10 claimers listed I think he needs to do more to target the lower echelons.

EDIT: At the risk of sounding obnoxious I'll say how I would restructure the list if I were going to run it myself.

Firstly, increase number of 'First-Funder' perks to at least 50.

Secondly, remove the 'Your face in the game' perk and combine it with the $100 'be an NPC' perk. Giving those nice 7 a good bonus and encouraging others to pick up this perk.

Thirdly, bringing the 'Name a Town', 'Create a Super NPC', and 'Create Your Own Faction' perks down to $200, $300 and $500 respectively. The point of this fundraiser is to bring in money; the perk limit is fine for this (I assume, since Chris set it) and there is no major need to make the cost be the big limit to people investing.

That's simply my take on things. Obviously he may have set things up and not be willing to change them; perhaps Chris wants to discourage people from taking the higher perks to keep more control for himself and only put them there in-case some very generous people came along. But the fact is, $1780 out of $40,000 looks pretty bad. Something needs to be done to boost donations or he won't even meet his first goal on the list.

[toaster Assassin]

I believe that a certain "mile-point" type system would help. It would essentially be Chris implementing certain features after a certain amount of money is reached. However, this process would be secondary to the idea of the main perks. But the main "perks"do need some rethinking. The "mile-point" idea is not intended to hold the best features ransom, but to give the opportunity to possibly add some minor things.

Chris could also create a list of little-things that people want, find the best ones and make a poll. The poll will be based on how much money it made. So the poll that was chosen the most via donations would have its corresponding "feature" put into the game.

[Barooney]

Nice, will be donating when not broke.

Idea 1: One idea could be that if you reach your goal of $40k (USD?) or half-way $20k then the people of Kenshi will have bees. (a consumable with the power to kill hunger).

Idea 2: Limited edition Capitan death beard beard, 'cause everyone needs a beard

A bees within the game and a big bushy beard for the characters....

If only I had the money

Idea 3: I have no idea.

What about giant killer *CENSORED* like the ones from Futurama?