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

[Strange Fellow]

If they were planning all along to double that then it’s safe to say they just BS’ed their backers.

Which is pretty ridiculous if you ask me, as I think it would be good PR to show the backers that they were invested enough in the project that they'd help pay for it themselves.

 

[MRY]

From reading through, what Corey says -- and why doubt him? -- is that the $400k budget and one-year release schedule were tied together. At that budget and that schedule, they would've released a more focused adventure more like what they originally pitched. But once he realized there was no reason to stick to the original budget (i.e., "Step one was to realize that we did not have to live within the Kickstarter budget – It is a "starter", not an upper bound"), they decided to extend the development cycle and get additional funding from Paypal, another Kickstarter, and eventually a HELOC.

Given the many Quora responses Corey has written about rich people and how to succeed/fail at tax avoidance, I'm actually curious whether the whole plan of "deferred comp" and HELOC and so forth might be for accounting reasons. He notes that if the project pays enough to make profit they "will start getting a salary" and "keeping the IRS happy." But as I understand it, the way this worked was that the HELOC was used as a quasi-salary for the Coles: "Lori and I decided to self-fund the game by means of a personal home-equity loan. We will use that to pay our living expenses so we no longer need a salary." Then the proceeds from the game's sales go to pay off the HELOC (the interest on which is in the meanwhile is tax deductible), and the ~salary the Coles lived on for years is never taxed. Here's how Corey explained it:

I partially financed development of a computer game on Kickstarter. At my accountant’s advice, I created an S Corporation to develop the game. In the five years it has taken to develop the game, I haven’t paid any taxes on contributions to it. Next year, when we do the taxes for this year, all of our development costs (paying contractors, lawyers, tools providers, etc.) will be subtracted from the initial donations and first year sales of the game. If we come out ahead, we’ll pay tax; if it’s break-even or worse, we won’t. I’m not sure myself if we’ll be able to carry over some expenses to next year. If not, we’ll pay full taxes on the game’s income minus current expenses (marketing, porting to other platforms, and so on).

It's like that book Rich Dad, Poor Dad says, some people just learn a different set of rules growing up!

 

[Strange Fellow]

From reading through, what Corey says -- and why doubt him? -- is that the $400k budget and one-year release schedule were tied together. At that budget and that schedule, they would've released a more focused adventure more like what they originally pitched. But once he realized there was no reason to stick to the original budget (i.e., "Step one was to realize that we did not have to live within the Kickstarter budget – It is a "starter", not an upper bound"), they decided to extend the development cycle and get additional funding from Paypal, another Kickstarter, and eventually a HELOC.

If this is true then that's one hell of a gamble. Failing to make good on a kickstarter pitch is one thing - taking the money and then reconsidering the original pitch after the fact is something else. I can't imagine that a decision to expand on the original pitch would elicit any outrage from backers, though, provided the main features remain the same. And the gamble paid off, didn't it? If the project had fallen through, then that would have been another story.

As for the second paragraph... All I can say is that it would be nice if more tax avoidance schemes resulted in old-school RPGs.

 

[MRY]

Yes. I consider this whole thing roughly like the kind of wacky, heroic engineering feat that Scotty would pull off in Star Trek.

 

[fantadomat]

Mini review, no spoilers.

mind comparing to heroine and infamy?

Both games have some of the problems of Hero U but I think the timer, school routine stuff on Hero U goes a little overkill, I think, there are too few puzzles on Hero U and practically zero good inventory puzzles (beyond some really basic stuff) when the combat isn't good enough to carry the gameplay alone.

You know, you go exploring, grind a little your skills, do some puzzles, talk with some characters, at you leisure, some quick combat, this is far more enjoyable to me than grind and talk, grind and talk while being prodded by the timer all the time of Hero U. You are on the middle of the dungeon? Sorry dude, it is getting too late, you will be teleported to your room and have to backtrack ALL the way back where you were next day while the enemies respawned, this sort of stuff really grinds your enjoyment. You will need to watch the class lectures when the game wants it and the events happen when the game wants it. The game is too worried with controlling you instead of letting you enjoy yourself and it tries to create this school routine that only adds more backtracking to the game.

Are you on a dungeon? Great, how about this, the catacombs are big and filled with undead for you to kill everywhere, lots of trash combat and empty spaces, but there is little of interest in there beyond a few side stories and chest filled with items you won't need. Do you need to do some interesting puzzles to solve those sidequest? Nope. Do you need to do some interesting setpiece? Mostly no. (exception of Katie's quest, that was interesting).

I enjoyed it on the end but I prefer Quest for Infamy and Heroine Quest.

Yeah the catacombs are really the lowest point in the game,a lot of running around and killing undead for nothing. The wraith quests was pretty retarded,at least they give you the option to just tell the location to the paladin chick.
lukaszek i believe that infamy game is far better. There is a lot more things to explore and see/do in it. Also i did found the writing to be funnier in it,i never get it how talking like a retard(aka puns) is funny.

 

[sstacks]

Podcast version of this past Saturday's show. For the folks who prefer YouTube that will be added in a day or two.

LISTEN
https://shaneplays.com/hero-u-with-...d-matt-barton-radio-show-podcast-episode-157/

Longtime husband and wife game dev team Corey & Lori Cole (of Quest for Glory fame) join to talk their newly released adventure RPG game Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption! Special guest: Matt Barton of Matt Chat! p.s. Matt may have a surprise announcement.

 

[DeepOcean]

Shane, you are one of the worst shills I know but maybe one day I will forgive you.

 

[sstacks]

Shane, you are one of the worst shills I know but maybe one day I will forgive you.

Thanks pal!

 

[TheWorld]

I have just started playing the game yesterday. Desclaimer: quest for glory is my favourite series of all time. I have replayed those games... too many times and sometimes I still fire them up and feel like I'm with some old friends.

As first impact, the graphics are pretty bad as expected. The 2d drawings have been done by somebody who didn't really study perspective and the models \ animations are very bad. The backgrounds are better than I was expecting. I really didn't like the writing in the first scene. Too many puns, most of which feel flat.

Then I got to the castle and... I felt home. I started feeling that quest for glory vibe. So many things to interact with, so many things to do. I felt the writing got better too and some of the stupid puns actually made me laugh. The timing aspect looks to strict and pretty annoying but right now I'm optimist. This might not be the disaster that I was expecting, but actually something that I might enjoy a lot.

 

[DeepOcean]

The graphix are serviceable, I just think the running animation terribly goofy, they need to replace it by something better.

 

[sstacks]

Now plus YouTube version:

Podcast version of this past Saturday's show. For the folks who prefer YouTube that will be added in a day or two.

LISTEN
https://shaneplays.com/hero-u-with-...d-matt-barton-radio-show-podcast-episode-157/

Longtime husband and wife game dev team Corey & Lori Cole (of Quest for Glory fame) join to talk their newly released adventure RPG game Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption! Special guest: Matt Barton of Matt Chat! p.s. Matt may have a surprise announcement.

 

[Infinitron]

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/2249806

Patch 1 Ready for Testing

We've pushed a beta test version of "Patch 1" to Steam. If your game key includes Beta Test access, and you want to help us verify that it's ok to release this build, right-click Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption in the Steam app, choose Properties, then the BETAS tab. Select "beta - Build Candidate" click "CHECK CODE" - there is no password.

Please report any problems you find to the Hero-U bug forum - http://www.hero-u.net/forum/viewforum.php?f=41&sid=96f2bf7a48f4dcabdb9ddc96a420fe5f. Caution: Some posts there contain spoilers. For now, please prioritize serious problems; we need to get a patch out that fixes those, and we will continue to improve the game for future patches.

We will push beta test builds of future patches from time to time, so be sure to go back to "NONE - Opt out of all beta programs" if you want to have a guaranteed stable build. Saved games from any build are compatible with the other builds.

Known issues with this build - You might find the music too quiet in the introductory video. All of the video cut scenes continue to have some compression quality issues. We're working on upgrading to a later version of Unity that will allow us to fix these, but that's too big a change for the first patch.

For completionists and people who just want to check if their favorite bug or exploit has been fixed, I'm sharing our internal change log here - https://drive.google.com/open?id=1dWTI7tEYdUSW2Vk4OCSB02SjdiwWjQmNhuxzhEPa0FU. I've lightly edited this to remove some spoilers, duplicate entries, and boring internal changes; but it likely still contains some of each of those.

Incidentally, I still occasionally receive messages from backers looking for their game key. We're doing all digital fulfillment through BackerKit. The page for game keys and other digital content is https://hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game.backerkit.com/backer/digital_rewards. Your key might have a strange name such as "beta-only" - if it says Steam or GOG, it's your key for both beta and release versions of Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption.

As usual, contact support (at) hero-u (dot) net if you have problems.

 

[V_K]

Just to mention one example, why can't I avoid that fight against the Gog King? I wanted to play a more sneaky character but I'm constantly forced to fight. Same for the 2 pirates right after
the barrier.

You can, just when Katie asks you what part of the puzzle you want to find, pick the tattooed skull. This part can be completed non-combat.

And the only alternative way to defeat the wraith king is to flee and tell Moira like the little bitch I am.

Um, you actually have to flee from the original encounter either way. Then you can either ask Moira to fight for you, or the librarian to give you a hit how to defeat him. I wonder if the reward is worth it though.

As I've said in the review, the non-linearity in this game comes not from alternative approaches to the same challenges, but rather from picking what challenges you want to do.

 

[fantadomat]

Um, you actually have to flee from the original encounter either way. Then you can either ask Moira to fight for you, or the librarian to give you a hit how to defeat him. I wonder if the reward is worth it though.

Ummm no you can just kill the wraith if you have magical weapon,the one from the serpent did the job for me,also the ghost fence will sell you one if you ask him about the wraith. Still after that you have to destroy his phylactery.

 

[V_K]

Um, you actually have to flee from the original encounter either way. Then you can either ask Moira to fight for you, or the librarian to give you a hit how to defeat him. I wonder if the reward is worth it though.

Ummm no you can just kill the wraith if you have magical weapon,the one from the serpent did the job for me,also the ghost fence will sell you one if you ask him about the wraith. Still after that you have to destroy his phylactery.

Oh, ok. I read about the phylactery thing and assumed he'd just resurrect if you try to kill him without having the means to destroy it.

 

[Mark Richard]

Um, you actually have to flee from the original encounter either way. Then you can either ask Moira to fight for you, or the librarian to give you a hit how to defeat him. I wonder if the reward is worth it though.

Ummm no you can just kill the wraith if you have magical weapon,the one from the serpent did the job for me,also the ghost fence will sell you one if you ask him about the wraith. Still after that you have to destroy his phylactery.

There's also an item that temporarily imbues ordinary weapons with magic for an hour.

Retreating from that fight raises too many questions. Why does Shawn strictly adhere to the end of day time and leave his friend trapped for several hours without food or water? Why doesn't he rouse the entire school the moment he gets back? Where do the teachers sleep anyway? Why is Shawn going to class like everything is fine? Why is the option to tell no one about Joel and deal with the wraith yourself considered more heroic than sending in the goddamn marines? Risking a classmate's life for a passing grade isn't heroic, it's psychotic.

 

[NotAGolfer]

Just to mention one example, why can't I avoid that fight against the Gog King? I wanted to play a more sneaky character but I'm constantly forced to fight. Same for the 2 pirates right after
the barrier.

You can, just when Katie asks you what part of the puzzle you want to find, pick the tattooed skull. This part can be completed non-combat.

Too bad that I already found that skull before I met her in the sea caves. So obviously I told her that I have it with me, but then she said that we still need the key and the captain's hat. She didn't offer to do it herself, and I don't know if she would have. It was the third night of the midterm break and a day or two earlier she mentioned that the flood would come back soon and block the way to the treasure. So I figured that I had to do this on my own too. That's why I was slightly pissed that she arrogantly claimed that treasure as hers and even punished me for suggesting that I earned half of it (pity money reduced by 50 lyra).

This wasn't the only time that the narrative didn't add up btw, there was some other major quest where things got slightly messy. Can't remember though, I didn't have much fun after maybe half of the game and just wanted to get it over with.
One minor thing I can remember, Joel wanted to set up Sosi in the final Poobah game by giving me the better hand when it's his turn to deal. He didn't follow through on that, seems like someone forgot to implement it.

 

[V_K]

That's why I was slightly pissed that she arrogantly claimed that treasure as hers and even punished me for suggesting that I earned half of it (pity money reduced by 50 lyra)

Well, it's quite easy to see why she would claim that - she sees it as her inheritance. And I kinda see why the game wouldn't allow you to argue otherwise - that'd really destroy what little it has of an economy. But I agree that narratively it requires some suspension of disbelief. An optional death scene where you backstab the bitch, but get found and sentenced to something unpleasant would be nice, but probably too dark for a Coles game.

 

[Infinitron]

Codex review by Deuce Traveler: http://www.rpgcodex.net/forums/index.php?threads/rpg-codex-review-hero-u-rogue-to-redemption.123126/

 

[NotAGolfer]

And I kinda see why the game wouldn't allow you to argue otherwise - that'd really destroy what little it has of an economy.

I get that. Doesn't mean that I forgive such an obvious and easy to avoid narrative misstep. I get cranky when confronted with stories written by people who can't into basic logic... Well, maybe it was just another case of miscommunication between the general writers department and the level and quest designers for this particular area of the game. Happens a lot in CRPGs.

Spoiler

 

[MRY]

After spending thousands on an anus for Serpent in the Staglands, it's nice that the Codex is opening its pocketbook for a kidney for Steve. :D

Re: Hero-U, in addition to the Codex giving it a seal of approval, it hit 90% positive ratings on Steam (up from low 70s early on IIRC). As I predicted, its peak wound up quite a bit higher than launch day. At >200 simultaneously players, it compares favorably to other Kickstarter gems like Dropsy and is almost in the same league as Stasis. It did better than Moebius, too, showing that the Coles have stronger support than Jane Jensen. Not sure where they stand on making back their investment, but I imagine they're well on their way. It's a shame that no big site helped them out, but at least the Codex was there!

 

[Blackthorne]

Yeah, I thought missing arms and legs was bad but.... damn!

Problems are problems, you know. Everyone's got them, and it's not a competition. Mindx2, I've met you and you're more capable than most ambulatory people I've ever met!!! I've had some shit, yeah, but honestly, I probably would never have persevered with making games, the kind of games I've always wanted to make, if I didn't go through all this. We finished up Space Quest 2 right after me having the last transplant in 2011, and in 2012 I thought "Screw it, let's make QFI for real" and we did. So, maybe after this one I could actually get around to doing Quest for Infamy 2 like I've wanted to.

It's good to see Hero-U having stability like that - as for comparing it with Moebius/Jensen... I don't think that Jensen's fans didn't show up, but I don't think a lot of them really cared for Moebius. I think a lot more of the Cole's fans like Hero-U, at least to a higher degree than Jensen fans liked Moebius. (I've gone cross-eyed....) Also, I love that Dropsy was a gem/success. How fuckin' crazy is that, hahaha! Anyway, if Hero-U does well, shit, maybe that would mean I could get to a proper QFI2. I've got the story/design written. It'd just be assembling an art/animation team to work on it that would be the hurdle.

Bt

 

[LESS T_T]

PC Gamer interview with Coles, on its troubled development and future including the sequel in the works: https://www.pcgamer.com/how-hero-u-avoided-disaster-to-resurrect-90s-adventure-game-nostalgia/

How Hero-U avoided disaster to resurrect '90s adventure game nostalgia
Despite a lengthy, somewhat troubled development cycle, Hero-U is a worthy successor to Sierra's Quest for Glory.

Six years, two Kickstarter campaigns, and one home equity loan later, Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption has finally been released. “A year after the first Kickstarter we were approached by an outside investor,” says Corey Cole, part of the husband-wife team behind Hero-U. “We would’ve gotten half a million in additional funding. The problem was they wanted 50% of the game’s sales for life. At the time we felt it was too much to give up. Had we looked into our crystal ball in 2015 or 2017, we would’ve jumped on that.”

I spoke to both Corey and Lori Cole about the lengthy, yet passionate development of Hero-U, an adventure-RPG modeled after the 1990s Sierra series that once made them design icons: Quest for Glory. After being Kickstarted the same year as Double Fine's Broken Age, Hero-U finally, and quietly, released on Steam on July 10. If you haven't been following its development, you probably missed it. And even if you scrolled past Hero-U on Steam, you'd likely have no idea it came from the creators of one of Sierra's most beloved adventure series.

The first Quest for Glory, released in 1989, was also the first game the Coles worked on together at Sierra. “We met at a science fiction convention at San Francisco,” says Lori Cole. “Corey was running a game of Dungeons & Dragons and invited me to play the game.”

Adds Corey: “We needed another player, but I also thought she was cute!”

The Coles worked on several adventure-style games at Sierra throughout the 1990s, filling the roles of programmers, co-designers, writers, and directors. Corey also directed the educational Castle of Dr. Brain. But it was their Quest for Glory games that remain fan favorites.

So You Want to Be a Hero
The Quest for Glory series, which eventually encompassed five games across nearly a decade, are a unique hybrid of classic 2D point-and-click adventure like King’s Quest, infused with RPG features like raising stats, solving quests, and combat. Players select a fighter, rogue, magic-user, or later, a paladin to determine which skills and abilities they will use to fight monsters and tackle puzzles.

“We’re known as adventure game designers but we really don’t play many adventure games,” says Corey. “We used an adventure game engine for Quest for Glory because that’s what Sierra had, and where their strengths were. But we always considered ourselves role-playing game designers.”

The Quest for Glory games were beloved for their lovely 2D artwork, memorable characters, and humorous writing, though the Coles are quick to point out that nostalgia has helped highlight the series’ strengths and minimize its flaws, particularly the bugs. “When we shipped Quest for Glory 4 on floppy disks, it was pretty much unplayable,” says Corey.

Thankfully Sierra later released a much better CD-ROM version of Quest for Glory: Shadows of Darkness that included numerous bug fixes as well as full voice acting. That CD version was one of the first PC games I ever played, and remains one of my favorite games to this day, leading me to quickly back the Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption Kickstarter in the fall of 2012, along with about 6,000 other nostalgic fans.

“Tim Schafer and the Double Fine Adventure was so successful, we ended up getting dozens of emails and phone calls—someone actually tracked down our phone number,” says Corey. “Fans told us to check out this Kickstarter thing and kickstart a new Quest for Glory.”

The Coles had been relatively quiet after their careers at Sierra, having initially entered the gaming industry well into their 30s back in the late 80s. In the 2000s, Lori turned a fan request to do a collaborative Quest for Glory novel into an interactive website, which then evolved into an ARG-like role-playing experience.

“The idea was for a fantasy version of a school, called The School for Heroes,” says Lori. The Coles had been expanding upon the hero school concept, and upon seeing the success of Double Fine Adventure, adapted it for their Kickstarter project. But that wasn't the game they'd end up making.

Back to School

“We naively thought we could go up on Kickstarter and make a really great RPG,” says Corey. “It would be modeled like Rogue, but with lots of story and characters. But people couldn’t imagine it. The roguelike genre has become a pure concept that’s gone in a completely different direction, including things like permadeath that we don’t believe in. A week into the Kickstarter we got comments from people who wanted to support us because we were ‘The Coles,’ but the actual game we were presenting wasn’t really what people wanted. They wanted another story-driven game like Quest for Glory.”

Wanting another Quest for Glory game from the beloved designers of a beloved series doesn’t seem surprising, but it came as a shock to both of them. “We underestimated the power of fandom!” says Lori.

The development proved challenging right from the beginning, as the Coles struggled to adjust fan expectations with their own vision of Hero-U. “We developed our initial look of the game based on the MacGuffin’s Curse engine,” says Corey.

Adds Lori: “We really wanted to do a small-scale, easy to do game that had elements of Quest for Glory—but not a full-scale adventure role-playing game.” Fans quickly balked at the style. It looked nothing like the classic Sierra adventures.


A month after the Kickstarter campaign ended, Andrew Goulding, the developer of MacGuffin's Curse, told the Coles he couldn't work on the project. This was a significant blow, as Goulding had initially talked the Coles into doing the Kickstarter project using his developers and his code base.

“He had a crisis of conscience,” says Corey. “It was partly miscommunication, and partly realizing he had spent 60-70 hours of his own free time to make [his games] affordably. With our blessing he dropped off the project so he could pursue higher paying contracts. He offered to allow us to use his engine but we didn’t want to do that without the creator.”

Terry Robinson, whom the Coles had worked with on Quest for Glory 5, offered to join the team as art director. Robinson provided further motivation to change the entire graphical style of Hero-U. “He came in and looked at MacGuffin’s Curse and said, ‘I’m not doing a game like this, it doesn’t look good.’ He came up with the isometric view and developed the look and feel of the game.”

The Coles then ran into problems trying to do 2D animation within Unity. “We couldn’t find any good programs to animate characters as good as the old Sierra style from 20 years ago,” says Lori. “And we couldn’t find anyone who specialized in 2D animation anymore. We wanted to put out a quality product, and that meant going 3D. By the time we did the second Kickstarter campaign, we were fully committed to producing a 3D game, which meant recreating art and hiring 3D artists.”

With both sudden and gradual shifts to Hero-U’s core design and visual styles, much of the work through 2013 and parts of 2014 were spent prototyping, none of which would be used for the final game. “In 2014 we spent a substantial amount of our bankroll getting 3D character designs and models,” says Corey. “I’d stretched one year of Kickstarter money into two years of development, and we still had at least a year to go. That’s when we did the second Kickstarter.”

When asked about the second Kickstarter campaign, which ran in 2015, Corey is quick to point out the equally troubled development of Double Fine’s Broken Age, which had to eventually be broken up into two different episodes with sales of the first helping fund the second half.

Corey also admits to some budgetary mistakes. “We asked for $400,000 because that’s what Double Fine had asked for. It’s also about what our first two games, Hero’s Quest and Quest for Glory 2, had cost,” he says. “But I didn't count for inflation. Those games probably cost a million or more to make today. And honestly, we asked for $400,000 and were hoping we would get $800,000.”

The first Kickstarter campaign barely reached the $400,000 funding goal. “Double Fine Adventure got 87,000 backers. We struggled to get 6,000. That’s still a lot of backers but not what we expected. It’s real money from real players who weren't sure they’d ever see a game. They made it possible, but it wasn’t enough to make the game, unfortunately.”

By 2015 money had grown tight. The Coles were foregoing any personal salaries in order to pay programmers, artists, and musicians, some of who were taking reduced or deferred paychecks. “We couldn’t pay much but we had to make sure the paychecks were flowing,” says Lori. “As development dragged on it was clear that the money was going to have to come from us rather than just Kickstarter. We hoped it wouldn’t be too much money before we ran out.”

The second Kickstarter asked for $100,000 and sparked some justifiable outrage from fans. In a detailed Kickstarter post dated May 6, 2015 (the day after they announced the second Kickstarter campaign), the Coles broke down the exact costs of the project up until that point, including tens of thousands of dollars of early work that would never be used. At that point the Coles revealed they had taken out a $150,000 home equity loan to pay their own living expenses while Hero-U was in development.

“We didn’t have deep pockets or upfront investors,” says Corey. “Our personal resources weren’t great but we owned a house, and had some retirement money we could draw on. It’s a tremendous risk, and still is.”

With the help of some actual gameplay demos the second campaign proved successful in raising another $100,000 for the project, though now at release Corey estimates the total cost of Hero-U is closer to a million dollars.

To Catch a Thief

Playing Hero-U as a Quest for Glory fan hits all the right nostalgic buttons. The 2D artwork is frequently gorgeous, including the many backer-inspired paintings that adorn the hallways. The dialogue is punchy and entertaining like a good novel, and every student and faculty member at the university has their own unique personality and goals.

For Quest for Glory fans, it’s like if you had a bigger, more interactive hub town, but you never actually left it, which is admittedly jarring at first. All the adventuring is done within the magical university, and if you’re making Harry Potter comparisons in your head, you’re not the only one.

“Our setting is definitely fantasy-humor,” says Corey. “It’s like reading a Harry Potter book, with a lot more humor thrown in. Our original planning was to do the wizard game first, but we didn’t want people to think that we were ripping off Harry Potter. In hindsight the Harry Potter comparisons are probably not a bad thing.”

The focus on time management makes Hero-U almost play more like Persona or Stardew Valley. I had forgotten that the QFG series always featured a progressive day/night cycle, including scripted events that were tied to certain days. “Quest for Glory 2 in particular was very time- and event-driven,” says Lori. “Players have less agency, but it also means you have to really work, and creates dramatic tension. In Hero-U you’re not the only hero who can save the day. There’s no fail state, but events will change and people can die because you didn’t do something.”

Having different outcomes and multiple endings rather than game over screens (or worse, simply getting stuck) is one of the many welcome modern improvements in Hero-U. The turn-based combat is also a notable improvement over QFG’s arcade-like click-fest, though hunting rats in the cellar is a fantasy trope I could definitely live without ever seeing again.

Hero-U’s biggest change over QFG is that it’s a much longer game. The Coles estimate that at around 25 hours it’s about four times as large as any QFG game, and it’s impossible to see everything in a single playthrough. Hero-U is definitely not the small-scale game they originally envisioned creating. “You’ll need to play through at least three times to see everything in the game,” says Corey. “We’ve had players put 100 hours into it.”

The Hero-U Cinematic Universe

The Coles wanted Hero-U to be a great game, but they also wanted it to be the start of a whole new series. Like Harry Potter, each Hero-U story would be set at the university, but would feature a different hero character.

The second game, tentatively titled Hero-U: Wizard’s Way, would star a female wizard character, the third a warrior, the fourth a paladin. The fifth game would feature an Avengers-like crossover where all the heroes come together to fight an ultimate evil, allowing players to select different heroes to play during different points in the game—a nod to the nifty feature of importing characters into each Quest for Glory game.

Those future games depend on how well Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption sells. A launch price of $35 puts Hero-U in the upper-echelon of indie games, and the Coles are quick to point out the costs versus the original Quest for Glory games. “Hero-U is bigger than anything we did at Sierra. We spent five and a half years on it,” says Corey. “We looked at a $40 price point but GOG balked, and said we couldn’t charge that much for an indie game. We’re getting some complaints about the price, but taking in inflation, the first Quest for Glory game was about $100 at launch.

“We have a million dollars to recoup, and we’re not going to sell hundreds of thousands of copies. A lot of indie games that come out for $10 really sell themselves short,” says Corey. “We’re not looking to get rich from these games, but we’re looking at getting a sustainable income that allows us to pay people and keep making games. You can wait two years for the price to drop but by then the developer will be gone and that’ll be the last of the series.”

The Coles plan on returning to crowdsourcing for future games, mainly as a way to involve the community and gauge fan reactions. A six year development cycle isn’t sustainable, but they assure me they have it down to about three years per game. “With Hero-U we had about two years of experimentation,” says Corey. “Then two and a half years of development, and a year of testing.”

“We have to at least break even on Hero-U,” says Lori. “It was a very expensive game, but we’re optimistic. We’re working on the sequel now, developing the characters and art.”

“The nice thing about doing a crowdfunding campaign for Hero-U: Wizard’s Way is that we already have Rogue to Redemption to show off,” Corey adds.

Many crowdfunded projects over the last half decade have proven that just because an original designer wants another chance at a greatest hit, it doesn’t necessarily equate to success, or even a good game. But Quest for Glory fans can be assured that Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption is a bulky, yet worthy spiritual successor, and the Coles are nothing if not extremely passionate about creating another beloved series of adventure-role-playing games.

The real challenge will be enticing those who lack the nostalgia of 90s era Sierra games to see what all the fuss is about. “It’s a niche game but people who love story and love humor are going to love this game,” says Corey.

“We’re very proud of this game," Lori says. "We think it really reflects the intensive game experience that you’ll never forget once you play it.”

 

[bertram_tung]

is there any way to play the game without having to stare at the transgendered character portrait the entire time? If so then maybe i would be interested. every time i start to read about it again, i am reminded of that abomination

 

[SerratedBiz]

What a fucking idiot.