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KickStarter Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption - adventure-RPG from the creators of Quest for Glory

Morkar Left

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Let's see, maybe another 15$ just to help keep them afloat. I really wouldn't want them to fail.
 

Snorkack

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Shadorwun: Hong Kong
Until now I always ignored this project because judging by the game's title I automatically assumed it would be some Nintendo cutsie bullshit for the whole family.
But wow, does this look good!
 

Blackthorne

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Codex 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2
I wish them well. All I can say, though, is - man - what WE could have done with 400k. That's all. I hope this game comes out and is fun to play; QFG was an obvious influence on us.


Bt
 

GrimoireFTW

Learned
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so the first kickstarter they made 409k of a 400k goal and now they are doing another kickstarter??? what a joke. fuck those people I hope they don't get a dime
 

Name

Cipher
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Recap:

They already fulfilled physical accessories from the first campaign.

They must have wasted a lot of dough on the revolving doors of programmers and artists.

They have changed direction in engine, gameplay, arts, it's just crazy.

They have been regretting about their low goal set in the first campaign a long time ago.


Now I feared that they may fail the all-or-nothing nature of Kickstarter during the supplemental campaign.

They need to be better at campaigning than last time.
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
Recap:

They already fulfilled physical accessories from the first campaign.

They must have wasted a lot of dough on the revolving doors of programmers and artists.

They have changed direction in engine, gameplay, arts, it's just crazy.

They have been regretting about their low goal set in the first campaign a long time ago.


Now I feared that they may fail the all-or-nothing nature of Kickstarter during the supplemental campaign.

They need to be better at campaigning than last time.

They fucked up.

However, between a second Kickstarter and releasing a crap game ala JA:F, the former is clearly preferable.
 

Kattze

Andhaira
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I wish them well. All I can say, though, is - man - what WE could have done with 400k. That's all. I hope this game comes out and is fun to play; QFG was an obvious influence on us.

Bt

I'm pretty sure whatever game you guys work on next will receive an overwhelming response on Kickstarter (well, overwhelming for a QFG type adventure game anyway) ;)

Regarding the Coles, this is pretty nuts. They made some horrible miscalculations including but not limited to expecting people would not expect them to make a QfG spiritual successor, changing the structure of the entire game midway through development and, in essence, starting over from nearly scratch, being overwhelmingly out of touch with 'modern' software development technologies. Are you seriously telling me they don't know about AGS?

And I don't buy the excuse of them not being interested in the gaming field and thus being out of touch. Seriously folks, everything they needed was only a couple of clicks away from the at all times. These are not a bunch of construction workers who decided to start a gaming company, these are pioneers in the field who were on the cutting edge back in the day. Even Steve Jobs who spent years in some Buddhist recluse in Tibet or wherever came back and picked right up where he left off.

Still, I hope they succeed and deliver a great product. But they have some serious competition in Mages Initiation, which looks really good.
 

twincast

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Of course, justifying a second crowdfunding campaign for the same game is a PR nightmare, and they haven't exactly been experts in that field. But it's not like it hasn't worked successfully before, and I do want the game to see a successful release (more than anything else I backed, truth be told) and them not ending up having to squat at their son's...
I did go up pretty high last time, though, so only a small pledge from me this time.
 

Blackthorne

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Codex 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2
I just think it's going to be hard to get backers who already pledged to pledge more; they're going to have to attract a lot of new blood, and I just wonder if there's an untapped part of the market who liked QFG. I think they really got most of the people that will back this kind of thing. But I would rather see them release a good game; frankly, the adventure game scene needs a win.


Bt
 

Kattze

Andhaira
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I gave them $275 in October 2012, around the time I discovered the Codex. Let's see how much I can cough up for the same game 2 and half years later :P

:what:

Has it really been that long since they ran the first Kickstarter?

Blackthorne Now that I think about it, Mage's Initiation has also been taking quite a while (but I am content with it as the game looks great) but is there any reason why a QfG would take longer to develop than some indie RPGs? The games don't look as complicated, with static backgrounds and linear progressions, and a simpler character system than RPGs.
 

Fizzii

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The length of time taken to develop a game really comes down to the team you have and how much time they can commit to seeing things through. As well as how well organised the team is and whether there is a proper plan in place for the game being worked on.

There is no real reason why a QFG style game should take longer than some other indie RPGs, though it might have more to it animation-wise (depending on the style of RPG you would be comparing to), which can be painfully time consuming if drawing each animation frame by frame.

I'd say that the main bottlenecks in most game projects are programming and animation. If you've got good committed people who will cover those from beginning to end, the project probably won't drag out too long.
 

Blackthorne

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Codex 2014 Divinity: Original Sin 2
Yeah - QFI got held up a bit by programming for a while; for me, I enjoyed it because I got back in the saddle and programmed a bunch of the game myself, and that really helped moved things along - I took care of a lot of the simpler work - grunt work like interactions, walkable areas, walkbehinds, inventory stuff - and other programmers could do the more complex functions. It ended up working much better once we got our workflow on - due to the sheer size of QFI, animation became another things that took time - most of the backgrounds were actually completed rather quickly. Getting all the animations took more time - people only had so much time to work on QFI, as many held other jobs too. Through all we learned in making the game, we could definitely streamline the process and produce much more quickly.

Fizzii really covered it all - good planning really helps everything. We learned a lot making the KQIII and SQ2 remakes, but I'd say we learned more than that in the two years of development on QFI!


Bt
 

Blackguard

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Rogue to Redemption Latest News
We are still targeting game release date on Thursday, Oct. 15, 2015. We have successfully added three new contract programmers to the team, and it is looking good. Cidney, Joshua, and Robert are all very talented and familiar with our previous games. We are thrilled to have them on the team.

Lori and I personally promise that we will complete and deliver this game. We are using personal funds and loans to make sure it gets done. This is our major commitment for the next year and we keep our commitments.

As committed as they sound I really hope they aren't loaning too much money. They seem like really nice people and I'd hate to see them lose their house if this game doesn't sell...
 

Infinitron

I post news
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Codex Year of the Donut Serpent in the Staglands Dead State Divinity: Original Sin Project: Eternity Torment: Tides of Numenera Wasteland 2 Shadorwun: Hong Kong Divinity: Original Sin 2 A Beautifully Desolate Campaign Pillars of Eternity 2: Deadfire Pathfinder: Kingmaker Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture I helped put crap in Monomyth
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/1166967

Shawn Goes Green
8dd631a1ba6d592125ab02275f34359b_original.jpg

Shamrock Shawn

As you might suspect from his name, Shawn O’Conner’s roots are in Eire, the Emerald Isle, a place suspiciously similar to our Earth’s Ireland. The major difference is that magic in Eire is real – There are leprechauns, banshee and other Sidhe, and much more.

Eire is beautiful, but sometimes circumstances force people to leave the Emerald Isle. Among these emigrants was Shawn’s father. Shawn doesn’t remember much about his missing father, but he will learn much more during his time at Hero-U. Shawn has the Luck of the Eirish, but that isn’t always good luck.

An important way for Shawn to learn the secrets of Hero-U is to talk to other characters. Conversation is a big part of Hero-U game play.

Talkin’ about Most Anything
In Hero-U, conversation “is the thing”. Choices you make in dialogue affect the flow of the game, and determine the story you get from the game; change your choices and the story changes. Although dialogue is menu-driven as in Quest for Glory and Secret of Monkey Island, Shawn’s conversations are designed to feel more natural and less scripted because our system does not repeat any lines Shawn has already “heard”.

Let’s say you’re in your dorm bedroom talking with your roommate, Aeolus. You’re back there every night, so you’ll get a lot of chances to talk to him. You innocently ask, “What’s new?” and Aeolus launches into a new song he’s written. He wants to know whether you like it, and you might have a chance to “Answer Politely (use Charm)” or “Answer Cleverly (use Smarts)”.

Once you choose to be clever, you can’t go back and be charming on the same topic - That conversation wouldn’t make sense. Also, when you talk to Aeolus the next day, you will have completely different dialogue choices. This is not a game of “go down the menu and try everything”.

As in most films with strong storytelling – let’s say a Woody Allen rather than a Michael Bay film – dialogue is the main way the story is expressed in Hero-U. When Shawn talks to the other students and school staff, he learns more about them and the mysteries at the school. He also develops relationships, making both friends and enemies, and occasionally finds out about a “quest”. These are not MMO quests – “Go fetch me a pristine conch shell.”

Rather, as in Quest for Glory, Shawn learns about another character’s problem, and can decide whether to help them solve it. One of the students is having troubles with assignments; is it worth taking the time to tutor them? Another is searching for a lost treasure, but their map has been stolen. Help them or go after the treasure yourself? Each choice has its own consequences and rewards.

Writing ever-changing dialogue that expresses our story and character personalities is Lori’s biggest challenge on the Hero-U project. A single scene might have 20 or more conversations, each with multiple branches. Lori has designed them so that there are no “essential” branches, but each path reveals a different part of the story or character arc.

Upcoming Demos and Events
We will have some exciting progress to show over the next two months. The combat system is coming along nicely, and we will make a stand-alone playable combat scene in the beautiful – and now fully 3D – wine cellar. Of course, the demo won’t reveal all the secrets that will be found there in the game, but it will give you a feel for our major combat features including traps and throwing weapons.

3edf1e8461e0352cdbc8ac785c6107bb_original.jpg

Shawn Meets an Angry Dire Rat

We’ve also completely redone the “breakin room” that we showed as our first prototype. As it will be the first scene in Hero-U, we don’t mind “spoiling” actual game text and play in the new demo. The art is all new, and I’ve added a considerable amount of text including a few of my trademark puns.

The new demos, along with a revamped web site and more frequent Facebook updates, are the prelude to a supplementary Kickstarter campaign we plan to start in mid-April. It is unusual to run two campaigns for the same project, but it makes a lot of sense for Hero-U. Two years ago, we had only concepts to describe, and very little artwork. We also planned to make a relatively primitive game based on the assets we had at the time. Our optimistic project estimate of Oct. 2013 was based more on what we could build with the Kickstarter funds than on what it actually takes to do a high-quality game.

Since then, we have made enormous progress. We now have artwork for most of the game, professionally modeled and animated 3D characters, music, combat, and a significant amount of writing and game content. This time we have much more than concepts to show! We hope we will gain many new backers and that many of our current backers will find project rewards worth having. We’ve also spent a lot of personal money on the project; having more backers and presales will make it easier to complete the project without worrying about how we are paying the developers.
 

Morkar Left

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The new demos, along with a revamped web site and more frequent Facebook updates, are the prelude to a supplementary Kickstarter campaign we plan to start in mid-April. It is unusual to run two campaigns for the same project, but it makes a lot of sense for Hero-U. Two years ago, we had only concepts to describe, and very little artwork. We also planned to make a relatively primitive game based on the assets we had at the time. Our optimistic project estimate of Oct. 2013 was based more on what we could build with the Kickstarter funds than on what it actually takes to do a high-quality game.

Since then, we have made enormous progress. We now have artwork for most of the game, professionally modeled and animated 3D characters, music, combat, and a significant amount of writing and game content. This time we have much more than concepts to show! We hope we will gain many new backers and that many of our current backers will find project rewards worth having. We’ve also spent a lot of personal money on the project; having more backers and presales will make it easier to complete the project without worrying about how we are paying the developers.

That's the relevant stuff. I'm curious how the campaign turns out. I'm higly interested in this game now, more than before I backed it.
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Codex 2014
https://www.kickstarter.com/project.../posts/1166967?cursor=9329931#comment-9329930

Corey Cole 4 days ago
Sebastian: Wait until you try out the playable combat prototype. A still screen shot does not do the game justice. We think it looks great, and the reason is that our camera is much closer in on the action than in other isometric games. Hero-U has a much more "personal" feel than, say, Dungeons of Dredmor or even Tides of Numenera. This isn't a role-playing game where you're looking on your party of tiny little characters from a distance - It's one where you are up close, personal, and *being* Shawn O'Conner.

That said, this is absolutely the best art we can make with Unity, our talented team of artists, and our limited budget. The 3D characters were created by the same art house (http://www.conceptarthouse.com/portfolio/) that does character art for League of Legends, World of Warcraft, Hearthstone, and many other high-budget games. We love it, and we could not have done better with 10X the budget. Maybe with 100X (a typical AAA game budget).

Of course, we hope that most players won't even "see" the art - Instead you'll be immersed in the game and Shawn's story, with the art providing a backdrop to help you feel that you *are* Shawn.

The last time someone complained about our game art, I asked for examples of games with better art. He showed us Fez, Diablo 1, and Project Zomboid. All I can say is that his idea of beautiful art is definitely not mine or Lori's. Those games are fine for what they do, but they don't have semi-realistic, immersive, close-in on the character art as we have in Hero-U. Our game would look terrible with any of those styles. Taste varies, but we'll stand by ours... for *our* games.

http://www.hero-u.net/leaders/coming-real-soon/

Coming Real Soon…

We are making some fantastic changes to Hero-U in the next few months. We’re in overdrive mode to get the game out this year. But there’s more to releasing a game than writing, coding, debugging, and art. There’s more debugging, for one. Budgeting and marketing also affect schedules.

And Money. Or more precisely, lack of money…

It’s our third year of development and our first Kickstarter money got us through 1 1/2 years of it. We’ve been racking up debt and ransoming our home to bring Rogue to Redemption to you. The game development is going great, but this is a large project and we still have several months before we will be ready to start beta testing.

We promised to create the best possible Adventure Role-playing game we could make. We will keep that promise, but we still need time and funding to do it right. Therefore, we are going to hold another Kickstarter in order to give you the game you deserve – a beautiful, rich, rewarding, and intriguing experience that you will treasure.

With this Kickstarter we need to attract new friends and fans to Rogue to Redemption. At the same time, we want to reward all of our current loyal supporters with treats. We want to thank you for your faith in our abilities and your support.

The first treat is a brand new website design.

[...]

Previews of the Premiums

artbookcover.jpg


Here on www.hero-u.net, we will showcase the most exciting and special rewards from the original Kickstarter along with the upcoming one.

”The Art of Hero-U” is a virtual book filled with examples of the gorgeous art done by our artists for the game, along with brand-new pieces created especially for this book. You’ll learn more about the art process and the talented people who are making Hero-U a beautiful game. This is just one of the premiums we offer for our Kickstarter backers.

We’re also offering the limited edition boxed edition of Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption. You’ll see the first preview of the box cover real soon now.

These are just a few of the unique items we will be offering for our fans.

But what about the game, you ask? We have a full team of programmers around the world working night and day to put this together. They are all dedicated, talented, and passionate about making Hero-U great. You’d be amazed to learn just how much better a game can be when it is developed by people who care enough to do their very best. Synergy will make this game extra special.

We’ve recently added another talented 3D artist to the team – Aaron Martin from Australia.

It Has to Be U

So with all of these changes and progress being made on this game, we need your support more than ever. Tell your friends and connections how amazing Hero-U is going to be. Brag about how you have supported us from the days of Hero-Ewe to the days of Hero-Unicorn and encourage people to share the Hero-U experience.

To get this game out, we need all the help you can give to let others know about our upcoming Kickstarter. We’ll need your love and support to get us through the long hours of work and polishing to make this game sparkle. We also want to make sure the game and our message reach as many fans as possible – So many players who loved Quest for Glory still have not heard about Hero-U.

We can’t do this without U.
 

Deuce Traveler

2012 Newfag
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Grab the Codex by the pussy Divinity: Original Sin Torment: Tides of Numenera Shadorwun: Hong Kong Pathfinder: Kingmaker Steve gets a Kidney but I don't even get a tag. Pathfinder: Wrath I'm very into cock and ball torture
I just shelled out $60 for the game, which includes the Artbook, Soundtrack, digital yearbook, and beta access to the game. Admittedly I only made the purchase because I just received a check for my birthday, loved all the Quest for Glory games the Coles created in the past, feel that the collapse of Sierra was a horrible thing to have happened, and I appreciate all the Coles still do for the industry and for indie games (such as their support for Heroine's Quest). Take one of those away and I wouldn't have spent so much. I don't expect this to be the game of the year for 2015 or 2016 or whenever it is released, but I do hope for at least a very good adventure-CRPG hybrid and something that will get enough traction to keep the two in the black and out of bankruptcy.

Anyway, I'll share my impressions as time moves closer to the official release date. Downloading the demo now.

Edit: Loading up the intro and I find it pretty. :)
 
Last edited:

LESS T_T

Arcane
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Messages
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Codex 2014
On their second Kicstarter. Their goal is millions :retarded:

Announcing the Hero-U Multiplayer FPS
Great news! Thanks to our impending merger with Blizzard Entertainment, we are happy to announce our ambitious new plan for Hero-U(™): Rogue to Redemption(™).

Hero-UBlizzard.jpg


The new game title is “World of Hero-U(™)”, and asks the question, “In a world full of Rogues, how can one Shawn thrive?” Well, we are guaranteeing success by making every player a Shawn!

RogueClassCorridor_Shawns.png


Since we determined that Hero-U’s old school, turn-based strategic combat does not take full advantage of the power of Unity3D, World of Hero-U(™) will be a pulse-pounding, massively multiplayer, real-time first person dagger throwing game of legendary proportions.

Besides daggers, new weapons will include the flamethrower, the railgun, and unlimited use of thermonuclear booms, each capable of leveling Sardonia.

big-boom.png


We plan to run a modest supplementary Kickstarter campaign with a goal of $25 million in additional development funding, which should carry us most of the way to our new launch date – April 1, 2020.

USIwNFD.png
 

Morkar Left

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Finally a good pitch! Will back with 100.000 $ (sorry, can not more, i am poor)
Do i get my own house, pet and rubberdoll?
 

LESS T_T

Arcane
Joined
Oct 5, 2012
Messages
13,582
Codex 2014
Here's a sneak peek of a backer reward for second campaign:

DarkHero Dagger
...for Shroud of the Avatar.

SKSq7pf.png
 

ghostdog

Arcane
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New engine screenshot !

Dishonored-FOV-85.jpg
 

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