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Information Heroes of a Broken Land Announced: Turn-based Multiple Party RPG

WingedPixel

Winged Pixel
Developer
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Toronto Ontario
What really matters is how you prepare your campaign (work on generating interest long before the actual campaign starts) and how active you are on forums like this, indie websites, etc. Actually, you already seem to be doing that, so don't be afraid of using the smaller platform.
The platform IMO is almost irrelevant to the success of a campaign. It's not like people are browsing Kickstarter like mad in search of games that may come out in some years. No, they read about it somewhere, from friends, Facebook, etc. All of that is far more important than the brand that hosts the campaign ;)

I've also heard from fellow games devs is that doing a crowdfunding campaign is a fulltime job. I'd rather wait until I had generated more interest before investing that amount of time in funding.
 

warmonger3

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Apr 12, 2012
Messages
162
Location
The State of Decline
Divinity: Original Sin
I am having fun with it. I must loot and complete one more dungeon....=:incline: Combat is good as well. The idea of being able to flank/surprise using sidestep is a mechanic I :love:. And that was just added.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
What really matters is how you prepare your campaign (work on generating interest long before the actual campaign starts) and how active you are on forums like this, indie websites, etc. Actually, you already seem to be doing that, so don't be afraid of using the smaller platform.
The platform IMO is almost irrelevant to the success of a campaign. It's not like people are browsing Kickstarter like mad in search of games that may come out in some years. No, they read about it somewhere, from friends, Facebook, etc. All of that is far more important than the brand that hosts the campaign ;)

I've also heard from fellow games devs is that doing a crowdfunding campaign is a fulltime job. I'd rather wait until I had generated more interest before investing that amount of time in funding.

Pretty much. And I'd say the platform matters, also. It's an additional step a potential backer has to take to get used to and trust and sign up to a different platform. Whether the Kickstarter website itself helps people 'find' your project is a lot harder to tell - referral data from various game KS show a huge amount comes through Kickstarter.com, but that doesn't necessarily mean they all first found out about the project through KS.com. Still, if you're going to eventually do a campaign, then the assumption is you want at least 5 digits, and means you're prepared to put in the lots and lots of work it requires - so why not go all the way and put it on the best platform at the present? So yeah, you're righ tnot to rush it if you don't have to.
 

thesheeep

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Still, if you're going to eventually do a campaign, then the assumption is you want at least 5 digits, and means you're prepared to put in the lots and lots of work it requires - so why not go all the way and put it on the best platform at the present?
Yes, and that platform is NOT Kickstarter.
Let's say you wanted 50.000 $. But the campaign only yields 28k. Would 28k mean you do not continue to make the game? Of course not! At least not if you're dedicated to it. You would need additional income sources. A second campaign, for example (it's what quite a lot companies/devs do, if they "fail" at first).

Now, with Kickstarter, a "failed" (only few really fail completely, most at least generate some buzz, give valuable feedback, etc.) campaign means you get nothing but the additional interest. IndieGogo, on the other hand, allows you to keep that 28k (minus fees) and use that money to continue working on your game, marketing and the next campaign. And when that money runs out, you'll have to ask for less money the next campaign, have much more to show and will have a larger community to start with. IMO, that is clearly the superior campaign model. Who says every project must be financed fully after exactly one campaign? KS says, and that is bullshit. "Normal" projects with publishers and/or other investors also have multiple investor/financial rounds.

The only real downside I see is that campaigns on IndieGogo which generate less than 20% of the goal are unlikely to be made, as they show everyone the interest may just be too low to go on with that idea. In such a case, the developer should be able to give back the money instead of keeping it. Don't know if IndieGogo allows you to decide that after a campaign has ended, though.
 

Tigranes

Arcane
Joined
Jan 8, 2009
Messages
10,350
You're talking about the merits of each platform's rules in a vacuum; the reality needs to take into account the fact that Kickstarter has a vastly higher profile at the moment.

Though these stats aren't narrowed down for small budget game projects only, on KS about 81% of projects that raise more than 20% of the goal are funded.

Again, I'm assuming that he wants a fair amount of money if he decides to go through all the work (and it is a lot of work) involved in doing a crowdfunding campaign.
 

WingedPixel

Winged Pixel
Developer
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Toronto Ontario
I don't want this to turn into a crowd funding thread - it's very intersting of course - but currenly I'm not planning on anything for now. It might come up later.

Thanks for the links to the puzzle discussions, there's good stuff in there.

As to why random: it's not just replayability, it's also scope (I can have very very large worlds), and honestly I personally like designing algorithms to design my content. I find procedural generation fascinating and wanted to explore it in this project too. I think the procedural content generation is actually a big draw for many people. Perhaps Minecraft made procedural generation famous, but it's been a Rogue-like feature since the dawn of computer gaming. Plus it's the only way my own game can really entertain and suprise me.

Of course not everyone agrees, and I'll probably never have those really memorable puzzles, but I'll have variety and world size instead.

As for the interface, back in January when I started this project I was thinking to make it a mobile/tablet game. But I soon decided PC gaming was where the indie scene works best, especially with my game style. However the default button sizes are still meant for fat fingers on iPhones. I also like simple interfaces, however I think the buttons will get smaller when I start prettying up the UI.

Thanks for the input everyone. I'm really glad I've come across this forum!
 

Charles-cgr

OlderBytes
Developer
Joined
Mar 13, 2010
Messages
984
Project: Eternity
That was of course just my 2c and you are to pursue your own vision no matter what. Good luck :)
 

Dorateen

Arcane
Joined
Aug 30, 2012
Messages
4,332
Location
The Crystal Mist Mountains
I wonder if it would be worth considering the option to replace the portraits with character names, and numeric representation of health/magic points, etc. In the vein of the earliest Might & Magics/Wizardries/Bard's Tale.

This is only a quick impression I had. The overall concept, I think is fantastic and I hope this project succeeds.

Also, at the start of the video, I thought I caught a quick introduction screen that said "You arrive on a island". It should of course be an Island.
 

WingedPixel

Winged Pixel
Developer
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Toronto Ontario
Also, at the start of the video, I thought I caught a quick introduction screen that said "You arrive on a island". It should of course be an Island.
ALPHA! ;)

I wonder if it would be worth considering the option to replace the portraits with character names, and numeric representation of health/magic points, etc. In the vein of the earliest Might & Magics/Wizardries/Bard's Tale.

I'll probably add the numbers to HP & MP, I like ####s too.
Oddly enough the issue with names is they don't really fit, unless you limit it to 8-character names or abreviate them, which I'd rather not do.

So it's basically an uncomely HoM&M meets a dungeon crawler?

Yeah kinda, but I'm working with artists to pretty it up.
 

Johannes

Arcane
Joined
Nov 20, 2010
Messages
10,487
Location
casting coach
So how does the strategy layer work (or, how have you planned it'll work on release)? Are there opposing adventuring parties or other non-static actors, time limits, and so on, that actually force you to be efficient with your resources, that make it a strategy game?
 

WingedPixel

Winged Pixel
Developer
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Toronto Ontario
So how does the strategy layer work (or, how have you planned it'll work on release)? Are there opposing adventuring parties or other non-static actors, time limits, and so on, that actually force you to be efficient with your resources, that make it a strategy game?

The strategy is very light right now, and while this isn't meant to be a strategy focused game, I do want to make the strategic parts interesting, if not central. Heroes of a Broken Land will be less strategic than HOMM series for sure.

The resources will be limited in that you only have so many town and building slots to upgrade, so you'll have to decide which upgrades to make. Bulidngs will allow access to spells or even class upgrades, and there won't be enough room for all buildings.

I plan on adding wandering monsters. My current idea is if you don't keep your land safe (by exploring dungeons) you'll be attacked by stronger and stronger monsters. The theory is to put pressure on the player to act - currently you can just hit "next turn" until you're rich, and that's pretty lame.

The monsters will come out of the dungeons and wander around, even capture resources and outposts. Monsters will make your allies unhappy and can cost you money. To prevent this you can either keep the dungeons clear of monsters or spend money to have guards patrol.

I don't like time limits in general, but there might be time-limited quests when monsters attack you (e.g. defeat the monsters attacking your ally in 10 turns or something bad happens).

Gold will be fairly easy to come by, but you will also need to manage your crystal resources, since you need crystals to construct and upgrade buildings. Crystals are supposed to be fairly rare, and are meant to be scarce enough that you will never have enough to buy everything you want.
 

Overboard

Arcane
Joined
Mar 21, 2009
Messages
719
Lots of new features added:​
  • New playable race – the Fae, with their own town type
  • New elite character classes – Mage, Fighter, Rogue and Priest all now have 2 special classes they can upgrade to, if they meet the requirements.
  • Wandering monsters now roam the world. Keep your dungeons clean or face potential damage and destruction of your towns!
  • Many new town buildings: Temple, Arena, Guard Towers, Enchanter and Alchemist
  • Charcters now have Armor types, so no more Plate Mail equipped Mages

I'm having a lot of fun with this game, and development is quite rapid.
 

warmonger3

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Apr 12, 2012
Messages
162
Location
The State of Decline
Divinity: Original Sin
5.0 rocks, if you haven't played this yet you are missing out on incline. Cleve should take notes from Andrew who asked 5 dollars and delivers.
 

warmonger3

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Apr 12, 2012
Messages
162
Location
The State of Decline
Divinity: Original Sin
There is a few bugs in this version, he's working on them.
If you find an 'item01', sell it because it breaks the potion interface until its out of the inventory.
Edit: By the way, I'm getting my ass kicked. :love:
 

WingedPixel

Winged Pixel
Developer
Joined
Apr 27, 2013
Messages
84
Location
Toronto Ontario
Thanks for the support everyone! I'm getting great feedback (and bug reports) from you people!

I have a question about how much I should disclose about the game.
For example, the elite classes, should they be "secret"?
Or do you prefer to know all available classes from the start?
Same with training, should it be clear how to actually promote your characters, or should I let people discover how by themselves?

Basically do you prefer knowing how evertyhing works (from a manual/help screen/etc), or prefer discovering it by yourself?
 

warmonger3

Scholar
Patron
Joined
Apr 12, 2012
Messages
162
Location
The State of Decline
Divinity: Original Sin
Thanks for the support everyone! I'm getting great feedback (and bug reports) from you people!

I have a question about how much I should disclose about the game.
For example, the elite classes, should they be "secret"?
Or do you prefer to know all available classes from the start?
Same with training, should it be clear how to actually promote your characters, or should I let people discover how by themselves?

Basically do you prefer knowing how evertyhing works (from a manual/help screen/etc), or prefer discovering it by yourself?

I like surprises. You could mention the functionality of the different guilds. I've found a few features in 5.0 that you didn't mention.
If you asked if a manual or help screen would help sales, then I would say yes.
 

Crooked Bee

(no longer) a wide-wandering bee
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In quarantine
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Thanks for the support everyone! I'm getting great feedback (and bug reports) from you people!

I have a question about how much I should disclose about the game.
For example, the elite classes, should they be "secret"?
Or do you prefer to know all available classes from the start?
Same with training, should it be clear how to actually promote your characters, or should I let people discover how by themselves?

Basically do you prefer knowing how evertyhing works (from a manual/help screen/etc), or prefer discovering it by yourself?

Elite classes should definitely stay secret, imho; personally I love discovering things.

Training is a trickier matter though; I think you should let people know there is a way to train their characters but they have to find it out themselves; kind of like an additional quest.

As an alternative, have all that spelled out in the "Hints" menu (but make it clear than hints are basically spoilers).
 

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