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

[Corey Cole]

Blackthorne et alia: To be perfectly clear, Hero-U is still a tiled game. The difference is that the tiles are now rotated to give an isometric perspective. The advantage is that characters don't look like they're lying down, walls have natural perspective and are visible so you can interact with them, etc. The change is due to adding Terry Robinson as art director - He showed us how much difference a simple change can make in the game appearance and interface. Then I had to work on the programming budget to find a way to make the change. I'm told it doesn't affect the art budget, and might even make it easier on the artists.

We actually did plan the Kickstarter for two months before we launched it, but we had some communication issues during the campaign that resulted in us not getting the art we expected for updates. Trust me, having almost no art updates was *not* part of our plan for the Kickstarter. Lori and I didn't feel we could push on the artists since everyone was working for free, which turned out to be a mistake on our part. We've resolved the issue and are getting a lot of new concept art now. I'm not showing it yet since it's still at the sketch stage and people reacted very negatively when we put up the "test dungeon" in the first KS video.

And yes, we will do the Kickstarter campaign for Hero-U 2 very differently. We will have real assets to show as well as a game engine in which we can prototype new art not seen in Hero U: Rogue to Redemption. We will also probably aim at a lower funding goal since we will have income from the first game to pay for some of the second game's expenses.

 

[Minttunator]

That sounds perfectly reasonable. Thanks for clearing that up, Corey!

 

[Blackthorne]

Right on. Cool, Corey. Yeah - Murphy's Law. If anything can go wrong, it will. Looking forward to seeing progress.


Bt

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/374864

In the meantime, Lori and I have been working on the game design, converting FAR Studio to an LLC, and fulfilling previous game key requests. The latter has been time-consuming, but I've worked out some ways to speed up the process.

Why an LLC? That will help us to raise additional funding that we can use to create a better-looking and more impressive game than we think we can manage on the Kickstarter budget alone.

 

[Kz3r0]

What's the problem?
Other projects got additional fundings from private investors, I know that many here hate the publisher model, I do too, but maybe thanks to Kickstarter not only fans but people interested in investing in niche games can come forth too.
There is a difference between publishers that want to sell videogames like they sell hamburgers and someone interested in investing in a renowned developer that has still thousands of fans.

 

[Infinitron]

What's the problem?
Other projects got additional fundings from private investors, I know that many here hate the publisher model, I do too, but maybe that thanks to Kickstarter not only fans but people interested in investing in niche games can come forth too.
There is a difference between publishers that want to sell videogames like they sell hamburgers and someone interested in investing in a renowned developer that has still thousands of fans.

Problem?

Well, the small amount of Kickstarter funding was supposed to be the reason for using tiles instead of QfG-style graphics...

 

[Corey Cole]

Actually, the main reason for using tiles is to allow us to have real "dungeons" and tactical movement. Brian Moriarty (Infocom game designer and creator of LOOM) famously said, "The problem with graphic adventure games is that you need to show everything, and there are never enough resources to show anything." We want to show a lot, so we're using a simpler look and interface that gives us the freedom to do that.

As for budget, if we raise additional funds, that will only be a cost to the company (reducing future profits). For everyone else, it's a huge win - We can pay the team for more hours of work, and the players will get more game. Kickstarter does not have to pay all of a company's operating costs - The object is to "kickstart" a project, not necessarily to fully fund it. In particular, I would like to add high-quality voice acting to the game, and we can't get that under the original budget. It isn't essential, but Lori and I think it would improve the feel of the game.

Incidentally, even Double Fine is going through this. They raised $3.3 million to make their adventure game, but in their latest video, they have a $4.1M budget projection. The debate was whether (and how much) to cut their plans for the game vs. whether (and how much) outside funding they should get. They originally planned a small game using off-the-shelf technology, then were "cursed" by raising eight times their original goal. Having a lot more funding raises expectations and makes it very hard to hit the original schedule. It's a challenging balancing act, because once you allow the schedule to stretch, it's easy to let the budget balloon as well.

 

[suejak]

They also go out of their way at Double Fine to emphasize the fact that this happens with every single project. Every project has a phase after the initial creative boom in which you have to reconcile your ideas with reality, which results in cuts and editing. That's what they say, anyway.

I'm not really sure how this is relevant to your situation. It's more the opposite. You got exactly what you asked for in terms of money, and now you seem to be experiencing some sort of feature creep in which you want more money to make your game cooler. Double Fine is looking at trimming their design doc. You're expanding on yours.

Granted, you are both interested in alternative funding methods, but Double Fine said its funding will come from exclusive distribution deals and things like that. Not sure where you're looking for extra cash.

 

[Blackthorne]

Latest update.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/391697


Bt

 

[iamlindoro]

Well, two months in, numerous updates, but still no notion of what the game is supposed to look like now-- looks like the full "core" team aside from the Coles has been turned over, looking for new funding sources, the gameplay view has allegedly been redesigned-- but there's still no example of what that's supposed to look like. Just more meep gags and rehashes of the same existing concept art.

But hey, Dreamfall chapters is kicking ass!

 

[Jaesun]

At least the Coles aren't making a shitty action console game like Dreamfall Chapters.

 

[Deuce Traveler]

At least the Coles aren't making a shitty action console game like Dreamfall Chapters.

:D

 

[FeelTheRads]

Oh, look, it's that guy who just pops in from time to time to be retarded to bash the Coles.

 

[Irenaeus]

Actually, the new track released is p. good.

 

[SerratedBiz]

In particular, I would like to add high-quality voice acting to the game, and we can't get that under the original budget.

VA rears its ugly head again. Considering how hard it is to get it right (as evidenced by how many games feature either horrible or completely forgettable voice acting, and how very few of them actually manage to succeed in presenting believable characters) and how much money will be spent on it, I really hope you'd consider putting the time and effort into the game(play) itself rather than this.

Other than that, all the best. Huge fan for many years, learned to read and learned english as a second language while playing QFG1. Bought all of the QFGs multiple times and most of the Sierra classics you put out. Never thought I'd get a chance to talk to you folks out here.

 

[Irenaeus]

QFG4 had one of the most awesome VA, with John Rhys-Davies narrating every little thing you clicked. That should have been a stretch goal, the game would make double the money.

 

[Blaine]

I'd say John Rhys-Davies' narration is a significant factor in QfG IV's fan favorite status. The game's only real drawbacks are the ill-conceived Mortal Kombat fighting system and too many bugs. I'd like to play through it again, but it's nigh-unplayable on DOSbox since battles move at warp speed on modern machines regardless of CPU throttling or DOSBox configuration.

I'm hoping for ScummVM compatibility someday.

 

[suejak]

I flat-out can't stand the voice acting in that game. Only way to play the QfG games is without obnoxious voice acting, imo. I can usually read faster than they speak anyway.

That being said, Gary Owens made SQ4 and 6 the great games they are today. LSL 7 narrator was pretty good too (incidentally also the voice of the Mass Effect codex narrator).

 

[Blackthorne]

I liked the three guys in the Hotel Mordavia - they went of ad-libbing about Elephants and it was hilarious.


Bt

 

[Mother Russia]

I'd say John Rhys-Davies' narration is a significant factor in QfG IV's fan favorite status. The game's only real drawbacks are the ill-conceived Mortal Kombat fighting system and too many bugs. I'd like to play through it again, but it's nigh-unplayable on DOSbox since battles move at warp speed on modern machines regardless of CPU throttling or DOSBox configuration.

I'm hoping for ScummVM compatibility someday.

Combat has always been a weak point of the FG series. That said, I enjoyed the combat system of QFG4. It was leagues better than QFG3's. If you are playing a mage, or anyone with mage skill and spells, then you can initiate combat outside the combat screen using spells. You can even destroy enemies doing this before they enter combat.

 

[Aeschylus]

I'd say John Rhys-Davies' narration is a significant factor in QfG IV's fan favorite status. The game's only real drawbacks are the ill-conceived Mortal Kombat fighting system and too many bugs. I'd like to play through it again, but it's nigh-unplayable on DOSbox since battles move at warp speed on modern machines regardless of CPU throttling or DOSBox configuration.

I'm hoping for ScummVM compatibility someday.

Combat has always been a weak point of the FG series. That said, I enjoyed the combat system of QFG4. It was leagues better than QFG3's. If you are playing a mage, or anyone with mage skill and spells, then you can initiate combat outside the combat screen using spells. You can even destroy enemies doing this before they enter combat.

You could do that in all of the QFG games, with spells or daggers.

 

[Mother Russia]

I'd say John Rhys-Davies' narration is a significant factor in QfG IV's fan favorite status. The game's only real drawbacks are the ill-conceived Mortal Kombat fighting system and too many bugs. I'd like to play through it again, but it's nigh-unplayable on DOSbox since battles move at warp speed on modern machines regardless of CPU throttling or DOSBox configuration.

I'm hoping for ScummVM compatibility someday.

Combat has always been a weak point of the FG series. That said, I enjoyed the combat system of QFG4. It was leagues better than QFG3's. If you are playing a mage, or anyone with mage skill and spells, then you can initiate combat outside the combat screen using spells. You can even destroy enemies doing this before they enter combat.

You could do that in all of the QFG games, with spells or daggers.

Ah yes, I recall you could do that in 3 as well. But the combat mode of 4 was superior to 3's. 5 had the best though, but even that was not the game's strong point. The combat for this game looks similar, and that is my only issue with it (apart from lack of other classes) There is too much running around enemies. I much prefer playing a brave mage that stands his ground and blasts his foes into ashes.

Oh well, hopefully we can do that as we increase in power. QfG5 had some insanely powerful spells near end game, like dragonbreath, and ofcourse the thermonuke which could insta kill the end boss and had it's own ending.

 

[Blackthorne]

Latest update.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/429525

TL;DR

Both their programmer quit, so they need programmers.
The plush toy meeps are being made.


Bt

 

[suejak]

Things are going as I expected on this project. Glad I sunk my entire allowance into it.

We are in the process of doing a "partial reboot", bringing in a full-time lead programmer, and redesigning the software architecture. This is allowing us to further refine and improve the game design, but it means that we have zero chance of making our original October ship date.

Surprise! These two can't plan a Kickstarter OR manage a project!

Anyway, I also liked how they phrased their programmer help-wanted section in a tone that implied programmers are unskilled machine-like workers who are lucky to get any change thrown their way. Cool.

Basically, retards running a retarded project like retards. Good luck.

 

[Infinitron]

Latest update.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1878147873/hero-u-rogue-to-redemption/posts/429525

TL;DR

Both their programmer quit, so they need programmers.
The plush toy meeps are being made.


Bt

Watch as the student's admiration of his teacher slowly transforms over the years into amused pity...