Vapourware "Yasumi Matsuno may or may not be surprised his new game is being released" Unsung Story thread

[Zetor]

Didn't Banner Saga do something similar with Factions or whatever that f2p pvp-only precursor game was called?

(though the word 'multiplayer' was at least present on Banner Saga's kickstarter page... maybe it even had its own minor bullet point somewhere!)

 

[Infinitron]

Didn't Banner Saga do something similar with Factions or whatever that f2p pvp-only precursor game was called?

Yeah, and some people were upset about that. The game still ended up coming out rather early compared to most other 2012 Kickstarters.

 

[Zombra]

Wow. What's the game that has Nobuo's name attached? Isn't that quickly creeping into scam territory as well? Seems like Japanese developers giving their name to western nobodies is turning out to be a huge disaster. Glad I never backed this game despite being somewhat of a Yasumi Matsuno fan. This is worse than getting a shit game.

I think that one is Project Phoenix. I keep mixing them up. Not that strange when you consider how their respective development is going.

Correct. And the thing about that is, Nobuo finished the soundtrack for PP years ago. I almost wish they'd just release that and forget about the game.

 

[80Maxwell08]

For some reason Japanese kickstarters just have really bad luck. Project Phoenix, Mighty No. 9, and this. Though all of them had signs (some bigger than others) of ending badly one way or the other. I wonder how they are going to affect future Japanese crowd-funding campaigns.

 

[Abu Antar]

Unsung Story isn't really a Japanese game, though. They used some Japanese developer names, but they are "developed" by Westerners.

 

[Abu Antar]

Hold on to your butts:

To ensure there is clarity on this development plan as opposed to sensationalism, the facts concerning the modes for the game are as follows:

1. The single player narrative game as outlined in the KS is intact, in every way. The world story is complete, and narrative for five episodes, including scenarios, is also complete. This entire single player experience will be rolled out to all backers. Meaning, nothing has changed to the single player game that you backed due to a PvP mode.

2. The game has not been turned into a PvP experience, and PvP is not required to play the single player game. Again, players may play the single player game without ever having to play the PvP mode.

3. PvP is an additional mode of game play that complements the single player game. PvP mode will also be made available for all backers, and players will be able to skirmish against the A.I. in this mode.

4. Releasing a PvP mode first is an iterative step in development only, and will allow us to play test the game before we release a single player mode that needs to have a balanced, competitive A.I. We did not invent this development approach, as it has been used by other developers to great affect in game balancing. As stated in my quote above, it is a tuning, balancing step for us.

5. Players who wish to join in the online PvP balancing portion may do, and those who do not can begin playing when the single player is balanced for release.

6. The rich narrative driven single player game will be released with a strong A.I. that provides maximum replay value, via the data tuning that we will get from the PvP mode release.

Those are the facts, and I understand they might run counter to what is being said, but the best we can do at this point is provide the actual facts to you, the backers, and get back to the development plan we are on, making the best game possible. The game that you pledged for is being made, nothing has changed that, and we will fulfill the game and rewards that you backed for, which is a great tactics RPG with a strong narrative game.

In our update next month, we will have some in-game video to show you as well as our UI progress. Thank you all for your support and understanding, and we're looking forward to sharing the update next month.

 

[Zombra]

The more I read and think about it, the more this PvP thing makes complete sense. Not being ironic.

 

[Zetor]

The more I read and think about it, the more this PvP thing makes complete sense. Not being ironic.

Yeah, I don't think it's a coincidence that Banner Saga - among other games - did the same thing. (that said... "to great affect"? *eye twitch*) Making AI for a custom tactics ruleset that's not completely terrible is... not easy. Sometimes the devs try to push a single-player tactics game out with 'whatever works'-tier AI, and we get gems like Warmachine Tactics. Incidentally, WT developers have promised a completely new singleplayer AI to be patched in 'eventually', but this probably didn't sit well with everyone who already played through the singleplayer campaign by that point.

And with that in mind, I'm OK with waiting an extra year or whatever just to get AI that is not completely braindead instead of playing the game at release, finding out it's crap, and forgetting about it entirely. But then, I'm not a backer... people getting mad and asking for refunds is completely understandable.

 

[TigerKnee]

Man, don't care about this game, I just want it to stop blackholing Playdek's time so they can work on more board game adaptations.

 

[Latro]

They should have been clear in their intentions from the start, nobody but themselves to blame for bad press.

If the game's good I'll buy, simple as that.

 

[Zombra]

Reddit AMA happening now. The sweet tears of the unbelievers are flowing copiously.

 

[LESS T_T]

Short combat video: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/482445197/unsung-story-tale-of-the-guardians/posts/1388550

Greetings Backers,

We have put together this short video that we would like to share with you that shows some of the combat in Unsung Story in action. We have two different stages highlighted in this video, and while watching the video you will notice a few different aspects of combat we may not have talked about or shown up until this point, so please let us help explain a few things.

Movement in Unsung Story is currently showing in a square grid, however units are able to move in 8 directions much like the directions on a compass. When your unit is able to move, all of the different squares your unit is able to move to will be highlighted, making it easy to see where you can move in order to plan out your attack.

If a unit is within melee range of an enemy unit and has the ability to attack physically with a weapon, then this option will become available at that unit's turn. All available enemies within attack range will be highlighted for an easy view, and it is important to note that different weapons will have different ranges of attack. For example, polearm users will not have to stand as close to an enemy as a sword wielder will need to.

Certain units will have the ability to switch their weapon during combats. Different skills and abilities will be tied to specific weapons, and will only become available when equipped to a unit.

Skills will also be available to certain units based off of the school they belong to. By assigning skills to both units themselves and the weapons, Unsung Story will allow players to customize their units based on what they like to play and what they might need available in their party to balance it out.

Next month we will have a more thorough video going over the specifics in combat, so if you have any questions about the combat system or would like us to talk about anything in particular in the next update, please post in the comments section here and we will do our best to answer everyone. We will also plan another AMA where you will be able to ask your questions directly to us, so stay tuned for that. Thank you everyone!

Cheers,

Playdek

 

[prodigydancer]

From KS comments:

Basically, open up for one refund and it means that potentially no one gets what they backed.

Also, were I in their shoes, I wouldn't bother anyway. Most the people spamming "refund" are lost customers. No refund or plead for forgiveness will make those people reconsider playdek in the future. So really, offering refunds gains them absolutely nothing in terms of relations. Customers that make demands and threats of legal action (of which they have no grounds and won't do anything either way) are not customers I'd waste my time trying to appease and keep.

Maybe he's just a troll but I find this disturbing anyway - basically the guy's message can be summarized as it's OK to put your project on KS with a specific pitch, secure your funding, make a piece of totally unrelated shovelware and get away with "LOL, take it or leave it suckers!" I've always been wary of KS because to me no refunds eqauls shady deal. And Unsung Story has a big enough budget to set a precedent - if their backers don't get refunds, we can expect more of such cash grab scams in the future.

 

[Zombra]

totally unrelated shovelware

How do you figure?

 

[prodigydancer]

How do you figure?

Watching their "combat preview" was enough.

Just compare it to Grim Dawn for instance. I'm aware that GD is different genre but I'm talking about the scope here - so I take a project with similar budget. 22 months after their pitch Iron Lore added Act 2 to early access. 22 months after their pitch Playdek released a 65 seconds long video.

 

[Zombra]

Watching their "combat preview" was enough.

Just compare it to Grim Dawn for instance. I'm aware that GD is different genre but I'm talking about the scope here - so I take a project with similar budget. 22 months after their pitch Iron Lore added Act 2 to early access. 22 months after their pitch Playdek released a 65 seconds long video.

Not sure how taking longer = a "totally unrelated" product. The combat demo shows a class-based tactics game, exactly what was promised.

 

[prodigydancer]

exactly what was promised.

There's nothing wrong with being optimistic but honestly - you wouldn't know a disaster if it blew away your house.

 

[Zombra]

There's nothing wrong with being optimistic but honestly - you wouldn't know a disaster if it blew away your house.

I never said Unsung Story isn't a disaster. I said that your claim that the game they're making is "totally unrelated" to what they pitched doesn't hold water. Change the subject all you want, but I'd prefer if you answered the question. How is a class-based tactics game not exactly what people pledged for?

It's an important point, because the whole reason Playdek isn't issuing refunds is that they're still doing their damndest to deliver what they promised. Everything we've seen (little as it is) backs that claim up. If they were indeed showing stuff that had nothing to do with the pitch, then the clamor for refunds would have some justice. As it is, it really doesn't and your comment is nonsense.

I think this is the part where you realize you can't scramble out. You've already played the personal insult card, and your deflection makes it clear you can't back up what you said, so I guess there's nothing left except to shut up. Of course there's always admitting that you misspoke, I suppose. I'll hold my breath.

 

[prodigydancer]

I'd prefer if you answered the question.

I did. To clarify, "totally unrelated" was more of a prediction. Although it also applies to the current state of events - in what way is their roadmap for multiplayer PvP something connected with their inital pitch?

 

[Zombra]

To clarify, "totally unrelated" was more of a prediction.

Interesting. So you think that commenter was out of line because you guess that the game won't have anything to do with what was pitched, despite not only Playdek's statements, but direct evidence to the contrary as well. Tell you what, when the final product is actually shown to not be what was pitched, how about if they issue refunds then?

In what way their roadmap for multiplayer PvP something is connected with their inital pitch?

This again?

It's pretty simple. A great tactical game needs a thoroughly tested combat system. Once the battle engine is ready, PvP will be released while the single player campaign is still being worked on. Feedback from PvP will be used for balancing weapons and units, and planning encounter design and suchlike for the single-player game. Basically it's going to be a big open beta instead of a tiny closed beta, so the customers will have something to play with and, more importantly, Playdek will get a huge amount of balancing data. They're not turning it into a PvP-only game; the single-player campaign is not going to be an afterthought; this is all part of one coherent system to make the best tactics game they can manage. Or do you think it would be better for the game to only be tested and balanced by their "QA division" (probably them and their kids), with zero feedback from the customers?

The Banner Saga did the exact same thing and no one is accusing them of not delivering what was promised.

 

[CryptRat]

Unless I misunderstand, the development of the game is suspended and the few persons who worked on Unsung Story and still work at Playdek now work exclusively on their mobile card games.

Dear Unsung Backers,

There has been another delay in reporting to you since our last development update, and we apologize for that. Our continued intention is to make a great game, and get Unsung Story to development completion and released to you and the gaming public. During the last few months we have had some development setbacks that are affecting our timeline and progress on the game, while also affecting what we need to do in the immediate future as a company.

After we posted our latest development progress, we unfortunately lost a few key staff members that were part of Unsung Story development, and that has had an impact on any progress since then, as well as our product focus. We now have one internal team capable of working on a single project, and for the financial strength of the company we need to focus on a few products in the near term that have the ability to get to a retail release before Unsung Story is able to. While this is a difficult choice to make, it is one we need to do for the ongoing financial health of the company. For Unsung Story, we will explore options for outside development help, and will look to see if we are able to bring on an outside team that can assist us in furthering development. While we aren’t assured this will come to fruition, we do want to make sure that we are exploring any options at hand that can make progress on the game.

While the development goals that were spelled out in the previous update remain intact for now, the release window of those goals is affected, and at this time we do not have an update as to what the new release window for development rollout will be. This will be affected by the ability and timing of any outside support, as well as when the single internal team is able to get back onto Unsung development, and when we do know, we will update you all. As we pursue this direction, we will refine the release timeline as soon as we are able to. With the loss of that staff, and without having any new progress to share since the last update, we felt we needed to sort through what options and directions we had available before we updated you on the current status, but again do apologize for the lack of recent updates. We will get back to you as soon as we can with any progress and status update. Thanks.

Playdek

 

[Hobo Elf]

Another crowdfunding success story.

 

[TigerKnee]

Going back and reading the posts in this thread is hilarious with this latest news.

 

[80Maxwell08]

So out of curiousity is there a single major japanese crowdfunded game that hasn't become a disaster? The only 3 I know are this, Project Phoenix, which has gone absolutely nowhere, and Mighty No. 9, which has so many things going on with it.

 

[Abu Antar]

Playdek aren't Japanese. They used Matsuno's name as a factor to get people interested. He was only working on the setting and stuff. His work was done long ago. Even Project Phoenix was a mix of Eastern/Western people.