KickStarter Kingdom Come: Deliverance - Dan Vavra's medieval chad simulator

[Clockwork Knight]

On the topic of cutscenes - the devs use them in not always logical places.
For example - in the first fight with Runt, you cannot beat him, and are forced to be knocked down, no matter what - why it had to be a part of the gameplay, and not a cutscene?
On the other hand, when you beat Runt during your second fight, the game switches to a sword akshun cutscene with flurry of blows, no matter if you chopped Runt with an axe, cheesed the fight with a bow or one-shot him.
Why couldn't they leave the fight as a part of the gameplay, since you have a say on the outcome here?

People usually get annoyed when a game wrestles control of their character to make them lose, it leaves a "I could totally beat that" taste. The usual offense is your character surrendering because he's been surrounded by three generic grunts, even though you probably killed 200 on the way to the trap.

Also, when the fight started I did a 180º and tried to escape through the city gates. There's an invisible wall. I know the fight happens right after a big "I will never run away again!" speech, but still

 

[Rev]

Any Czech here can translate?

 

[AwesomeButton]

Any Czech here can translate?

The March Forbes is out! On the cover is Daniel Vavra and his latest work(?) KCD. Available from 1st March (the magazine) at all good retailers and in our e-shop.

Nothing significant.

 

[mildTea]

Any Czech here can translate?

- total costs was 750 mil CZK, that's about 30 mil EUR
- they expect to sell 2mil in total over the next few months, years
- for example there is about 1 mil players who have in the wishlist and usual conversion is about 15%
- Vávra thinks they could reach even 3 mil if they are going to support the game with DLCs and patches
- Forbes calculated that 1 mil. sold units generates about 20 mil. EUR for Warhorse
- follows with a rehash of Vávra visiting castles with grandparents, studying engraving, founding Warhorse Studio, prototype + Kickstarter story
- Bakala liked that the Vávra+Klíma were always realistic with their budget requirements as the game grew; it's about 2x larger than it was meant to be
- Everyone told Vávra that Father Godwin quest + cutscenes were to laborious and should be simplified, but he persisted to keep it in it's current state
- now it's one of the best moments of the game
- his former boss Vochozka (Illusion Softworks) says Vávra is stubborn and that produces both good and bad things: in Vochozka's opinion the combat is too hard, and Save system too unfriendly and this was also forced by Vávra's
- Jakub Dvorský, the author of Machinarium, likes the game a lot
- 18 ppl are working on finding and resolving the bugs now
- 1 week after release they had 254 bugs to resolve (when the article was being written)
- both Vochozka and Dvorský like Vávra as a game designer, but otherwise they see him as a demagogue and edgelord
- 2 small paragraphs are devoted to the 'no black people' thing
- Vávra sees it like this: When the American journalists started with the 'no black people' he told them to fuck off and now there is a conspiracy against him which would like to put him in jail
- he's unhappy about the situation, because it could lead to them loosing a distributor
- he's frustrated by the fact that he's got about 2 big games left before he reaches retirement age
- he's going to buy a new car, a big TV and a dog if his wife allows him
- large part of the team will move to work on a sequel, smaller part will work on DLCs – dog companion and a short story from the POV of a female character (Theresa maybe?)
- Bakala (the investor) intends to support them for the time being

Sorry if this is a bit crude. It's just notes I took while reading the article. Overall nothing groundbreaking.

 

[aris]

 

[cvv]

- total costs was 750 mil CZK, that's about 30 mil EUR

This is either some massive fake news or something went terribly wrong in Warhorse. 30 mil EUR je more than the development cost of Witcher 3 (without marketing) and it's almost the same as Andromeda. Vavra kept saying their budget is a fraction than those big games, suggesting it's below 10 mil EUR.

 

[mildTea]

- total costs was 750 mil CZK, that's about 30 mil EUR

This is either some massive fake news or something went terribly wrong in Warhorse. 30 mil EUR je more than the development cost of Witcher 3 (without marketing) and it's almost the same as Andromeda. Vavra kept saying their budget is a fraction than those big games, suggesting it's below 10 mil EUR.

I could have misread it, but I'm pretty sure it said 750 mil. CZK. It does include marketing. Costs of marketing for big titles are said to be 50 mil. EUR alone. The total budget for Witcher 3 including marketing was 66 mil. EUR.

I think Vávra made that fraction budget statement when they planned to do just the Act I as promised in the Kickstarter.

 

[cvv]

I think Vávra made that fraction budget statement when they planned to do just the Act I as promised in the Kickstarter.

He said it in one of the post-launch interviews - the total costs were in "units of euro" (v jednotkách eur). Also there were comments pre-launch saying the experts also estimate the costs between 10-15 mil EUR.

Trust me, if it was really 30 mil, it's a completely shocking info.

 

[Elex]

Any Czech here can translate?

- total costs was 750 mil CZK, that's about 30 mil EUR
- they expect to sell 2mil in total over the next few months, years
- for example there is about 1 mil players who have in the wishlist and usual conversion is about 15%
- Vávra thinks they could reach even 3 mil if they are going to support the game with DLCs and patches
- Forbes calculated that 1 mil. sold units generates about 20 mil. EUR for Warhorse
- follows with a rehash of Vávra visiting castles with grandparents, studying engraving, founding Warhorse Studio, prototype + Kickstarter story
- Bakala liked that the Vávra+Klíma were always realistic with their budget requirements as the game grew; it's about 2x larger than it was meant to be
- Everyone told Vávra that Father Godwin quest + cutscenes were to laborious and should be simplified, but he persisted to keep it in it's current state
- now it's one of the best moments of the game
- his former boss Vochozka (Illusion Softworks) says Vávra is stubborn and that produces both good and bad things: in Vochozka's opinion the combat is too hard, and Save system too unfriendly and this was also forced by Vávra's
- Jakub Dvorský, the author of Machinarium, likes the game a lot
- 18 ppl are working on finding and resolving the bugs now
- 1 week after release they had 254 bugs to resolve (when the article was being written)
- both Vochozka and Dvorský like Vávra as a game designer, but otherwise they see him as a demagogue and edgelord
- 2 small paragraphs are devoted to the 'no black people' thing
- Vávra sees it like this: When the American journalists started with the 'no black people' he told them to fuck off and now there is a conspiracy against him which would like to put him in jail
- he's unhappy about the situation, because it could lead to them loosing a distributor
- he's frustrated by the fact that he's got about 2 big games left before he reaches retirement age
- he's going to buy a new car, a big TV and a dog if his wife allows him
- large part of the team will move to work on a sequel, smaller part will work on DLCs – dog companion and a short story from the POV of a female character (Theresa maybe?)
- Bakala (the investor) intends to support them for the time being

Sorry if this is a bit crude. It's just notes I took while reading the article. Overall nothing groundbreaking.

the part about “losing certaing pubblisher” can be a blessing in disguise: they avoid pubblisher that try to buy them only for profit.

what matter in 2018 is not losing gog or steam.

 

[Commissar Draco]

Saving can be modded easily by making savior shlaps either lot common, cheaper or maybe persistent and as combat goes its not as hard to learn and master if you take your time to git gud and train with Guard Captain and others. Game indeed resembles oblivion or Skyrim done good after 10th hour or so but its fault of all open and sandbox games, they need to be shallow to be wide.

 

[Balor]

they need to be shallow to be wide.

Very well said, very good illustration of combinatorial explosion of things to make and test in a game with a large scope and a lot of things going 'under the hood'.

 

[mildTea]

I think Vávra made that fraction budget statement when they planned to do just the Act I as promised in the Kickstarter.

He said it in one of the post-launch interviews - the total costs were in "units of euro" (v jednotkách eur). Also there were comments pre-launch saying the experts also estimate the costs between 10-15 mil EUR.

Trust me, if it was really 30 mil, it's a completely shocking info.

Hmm, units of mil. of EUR. That's weird. I think they often mix total vs development only. Unfortunately, I didn't find any info on what the split was.

Trying to be a 'pre-launch expert' I tried to calculate the development cost and my estimate was 12-15 mil. USD or so. I thought the marketing costs will add another 2-3 mil. USD. I was so wrong.

Anyway, let me speculate again. Let's say the total cost was 50:50 development and marketing. That's about 15 mil. EUR development which is fully covered by Warhorse Studios. 15 mil. EUR is then marketing, some of which might also include what Deep Silver covered. That could explain partially the discrepancy IMO.

 

[mildTea]

the part about “losing certaing pubblisher” can be a blessing in disguise: they avoid pubblisher that try to buy them only for profit.

what matter in 2018 is not losing gog or steam.

I think the publisher helps to cover the marketing costs partially. If Vávra now fears losing a publisher, he needs to stop being edgy. You don't provoke somebody with harsh and edgy statements and then become butthurt and call them witch hunters once they start criticising you back. Don't forget that it all started with a guy asking about POC on the KS page during the campaign. The response there was pretty civil and written by some other WH Studio member. Then the POC in medieval art tumblr took this response out of the context and there was some mild rage, but not much. Then in 2015 DV called out @aegies on Twitter about his W3 review. In the exchange @aegies asked this question:

so now you're saying there weren't any non-white people in a gigantic landmass in northern/western europe.

To which
@DanielVavra replies:

Yes I am, because they weren't.

This is obviously wrong. But then the misinterpretation happened. Vávra toned it down saying it was meant only for the Sasau river region where the game takes place. Others broadened it to places like Spain and Portugal. If Vávra didn't call out @aegies and didn't wear the Burzum shirt, I think it wouldn't explode that much.

Now Vávra is butthurt and says being called racist is super-exaggerated, while he did exactly the same when he labelled @femfreq as a book-burning nazi.

For the record, I think of @femfreq as a shallow and banal critique of games, which shouldn't be given that much space, but it certainly doesn't make her a Nazi censor.

 

[AwesomeButton]

Calling it now - SJW rage incoming over "why is female protagonist inserted together with the dog companion?! mysoginist dogwhistle!"

 

[cvv]

Anyway, let me speculate again. Let's say the total cost was 50:50 development and marketing. That's about 15 mil. EUR development which is fully covered by Warhorse Studios. 15 mil. EUR is then marketing, some of which might also include what Deep Silver covered. That could explain partially the discrepancy IMO.

Tobias, the PR manager, said their own marketing budget was tiny.

As for Deep Silver...yeah, that's the only explanation that makes sense at least theoretically. Still doubtful though, 15 mil EUR is a huge marketing budget, if true they must've blown it on cocain and Russian whores because there sure as shit wasn't any major exposure....I don't know.

 

[cvv]

If Vávra didn't call out @aegies and didn't wear the Burzum shirt, I think it wouldn't explode that much.

He absolutely made the situation much worse than it could've been. He's obviously one of those pathologically combative characters who are physically unable to back down from a fight, even the most pointless and petty, even if it destroys them. Wearing the Burzum t-shirt and some other things he said and did is ofc just trolling, he's absolutely not any ultra right sympathizer or any such bullshit, but he just behaved like a teenage brat trolling around forums from his mom's basement instead of someone responsible for a 100+ employees and many millions of investors' and backers' dorra.

Obviously none of that makes SJWs any less retarded.

 

[mildTea]

If Vávra didn't call out @aegies and didn't wear the Burzum shirt, I think it wouldn't explode that much.

He absolutely made the situation much worse than it could've been. He's obviously one of those pathologically combative characters who are physically unable to back down from a fight, even the most pointless and petty, even if it destroys them. Wearing the Burzum t-shirt and some other things he said and did is ofc just trolling, he's absolutely not any ultra right sympathizer or any such bullshit, but he just behaved like a teenage brat trolling around forums from his mom's basement instead of someone responsible for a 100+ employees and many millions of investors' and backers' dorra.

Obviously none of that makes SJWs any less retarded.

I completely agree. I just wanted to point out that he often exaggerates and calls out the other side during and argument and then acts butthurt when the same happens to him. As you write, he's a 40+ teenager.

 

[Ramnozack]

If Vávra didn't call out @aegies and didn't wear the Burzum shirt, I think it wouldn't explode that much.

He absolutely made the situation much worse than it could've been. He's obviously one of those pathologically combative characters who are physically unable to back down from a fight, even the most pointless and petty, even if it destroys them. Wearing the Burzum t-shirt and some other things he said and did is ofc just trolling, he's absolutely not any ultra right sympathizer or any such bullshit, but he just behaved like a teenage brat trolling around forums from his mom's basement instead of someone responsible for a 100+ employees and many millions of investors' and backers' dorra.

Obviously none of that makes SJWs any less retarded.

You're right, he should just be another guy who buckles to SJW bullshit and kisses their asses and begs for forgiveness. Fuck that shit.

 

[Infinitron]

Henry Pharkas: Bohemian Pharmacist

14:13 - RK47: https://youtu.be/GdamnXQx17g
14:13 - RK47: lol
14:13 - RK47: they really did it
14:13 - RK47: nothing is ever simple in this game
14:14 - Infinitron: I was hoping this was a Dark Knight Rises meme
14:14 - Infinitron: You know it's AAA because of the hand animations
14:14 - RK47: I just find it really tedious
14:14 - RK47: I wish I can auto-brew after doing it once
14:15 - RK47: but nope
14:15 - RK47: gotta repeat same shit n grind up alchemy for autobrew
14:15 - Infinitron: lol I have to say with this music it's kind of relaxing to watch
14:15 - Infinitron: Like watching your mother cook!
14:15 - RK47: this is poison btw
14:15 - Infinitron: hahaha

 

[cvv]

You're right, he should just be another guy who buckles to SJW bullshit and kisses their asses and begs for forgiveness. Fuck that shit.

He should've ignored them, that's what he should've done. Ignoring SJWs and keep doing what you're doing is the right thing to do. Playing the back-and-forth with them on Twitter is not.

Don't forget most of them are just attention whores, they latch on something famous and popular and kick its ankles until someone reacts...and then they've won. Not paying them any attention is the only thing that drives them batshit crazy.

 

[moon knight]

He should've ignored them, that's what he should've done. Ignoring SJWs and keep doing what you're doing is the right thing to do. Playing the back-and-forth with them on Twitter is not.

Don't forget most of them are just attention whores, they latch on something famous and popular and kick its ankles until someone reacts...and then they've won. Not paying them any attention is the only thing that drives them batshit crazy.

I still don't understand why no one has yet complained about the lack of POC in Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

I think it's easy to say 'ignore the SJWs' when it isn't your character being attacked publicly. Rebuttal is necessary, just stay classy.

 

[Alienman]

Ignoring have worked out so well. I rather have someone speaking their mind, than just have another company going "neutral". Sure, you might argue that a company should stay out of politics, if this can even be called that, but then again the whole of Silicon Valley that controls everything tech-wise are outspoken crazy progressives. There is no balance.

 

[StrongBelwas]

He should've ignored them, that's what he should've done. Ignoring SJWs and keep doing what you're doing is the right thing to do. Playing the back-and-forth with them on Twitter is not.

Don't forget most of them are just attention whores, they latch on something famous and popular and kick its ankles until someone reacts...and then they've won. Not paying them any attention is the only thing that drives them batshit crazy.

I still don't understand why no one has yet complained about the lack of POC in Assassin's Creed 2 and Brotherhood.

The people complaining about this were probably still in high school when those came out.

 

[Doctor Sbaitso]

The Internet was better when activists stood outside of government buildings with their plackards.