Well now, this is some thread necromancy, isn't it?
So any news? I noticed you have a new website but it's just a blog post. How are the other games doing?
If someone like Guido Henkel can raise $50k or even Shaker ($250k) with nothing to show except some shitty drawings, vague ideas and a few blog entries, I think you could do a lot better
Thanks, I appreciate the vote of confidence. But crowdfunding is an interesting beast, in many ways it suffers the same problem as traditional sales for indie devs, that being that mass exposure is the most crucial factor in success and the hardest to come by. I didn't think too much of the quality of some of those KS pitches either, but the fact that those developers have 'names', even if they're B or C-grade in the developer celebrity stakes, means exposure. Reporting sites will pick up the story and drive traffic their way.
Some pitches from relative unknowns do get picked up and go viral, sure, but it's rare. Mostly, the news sites are excited about what people with proven track records are proposing.
Maybe if I pitched an idea on a crowdfunding site I could generate enough cash to make it worth it, but I'm doubtful. Even the valiant efforts of the Codex and Watch stalwarts would probably not be enough. I think I need a few games under my belt to prove myself before I can generate sufficient cash that way, or a well-developed prototype (which still takes a fair amount of time to develop).
That being said, I'm looking at the idea of alpha funding for the next game. Something that might work is getting the core combat systems of an RPG working, so that is a fun game in its own right, the open up alpha funding on my own website at that point and iterating, adding on more and more RPG-subsystems and fleshing out content. The Project Zomboid approach. It might work, though I think sandbox/mechanics-focused titles are a better fit for that approach than games which rely on consumable content ala story-focused RPGs.
We'll have to see what I have the money to try after System Crash, the card game, releases (End of Jan). All depends on how well it sells, there is a big question mark hanging over next year for me right now.
If you want, look at the card game as a version of alpha funding. People give me money to build an RPG, and as a backer reward I throw in a card game.
The more people that buy it, the bigger the risk I can afford to take.
The website is just a blog post right now, yes. That's just a placeholder for the domain. My brother, a freshly minted web dev, is building me a proper website. Look for it in January. As for how things are going in general, I'm in deep crunch mode and fairly stressed right now. I want/need to be releasing System Crash to alpha testers 1 Jan, leaving me just 16 days to finish it up, with Christmas celebrations and family time in there somewhere. And there is still a ton to do.
Wish me luck, bros.
