Vapourware That Which Sleeps - Vaporware Strategy RP

[Jimmious]

Vordrak has good points to be honest.
Their communication reeks of false statements.

Also I agree that the stretch goals were too optimistic and probably did most of the damage...

Still sad to see this slowly die, it was one of the most interesting projects out there

 

[MRY]

I don't disagree that the whole thing is very odd. I can say with certainty that they were spending at least some of the Kickstarter money on art because they hired one of the artists working on FG (at much more respectable pay than I coudl offer). They also told me that they had hired a voice actor to do read a campaign briefing that I wrote for them, and I don't see any reason to disbelieve that. As I've mentioned earlier, I had a very long call with them early in their campaign and, although they'd not made any games before, they came across as a careful, thoughtful if perhaps somewhat overconfident guys. They didn't seem like fraudsters or hacks.

At the same time, it is very hard to see how they could have had a playble build at that stage and not have one now. It is common to grossly underestimate how long something will take to make, especially if (and this doesn't seem to be the case here) the coder is working part time. For example, two coders have promised me FG would be coded in a matter of months, and now we're years in and nowhere close to a complete build. Based on their representations, I previously would say, "We're close to having something to show." But I don't think I ever said that there was a playable game that was close to release.

Has anyone found any of the beta testers who theoretically were playing the game in 2015?

 

[Space Satan]

Hookers are expensive today

 

[Trash]

Not to mention the blow.

 

[Turisas]

^ That's why you gotta buy wholesale, plan things in advance. Only chumps pay the retail prices.

 

[almondblight]

Has anyone found any of the beta testers who theoretically were playing the game in 2015?

Well, Fenicks is saying that even he himself didn't play it:

I think I pretty clearly said I did not play the game.

Seems like one of those cases where the coder is in over their head an they keep stringing along everyone else because they think something will come along and fix everything. The other team member(s) just keep chugging along with designing things and buying assets, and check in every so often for updates from the coder, but never look too closely at what they're working on. They keep being given a long line of excuses, which work for a while.

But as the months roll along, they eventually face the reality that they've been putting off for a long time - the person they've been paying to code the game all this time has no idea what they're doing, and isn't capable of finishing a project like this. At this point there's either a struggle over the assets (Nekro, Greedmonger), or the leadership bites the bullet and starts from scratch with another programmer (Paradise Lost: First Contact, Bloom), or everyone cuts off communication and runs away as fast as they can (probably a lot of the KS that suddenly went dead).

 

[Space Satan]

Worms are making the corpse wriggle

Aparently Josh is moving back to Boston at the end of the month, so Fen will have better access to him as in he´s then actually living near him. At least that´s what Fen said.

 

[NorthLurker]

praying for it to wake to life again

 

[Infinitum]

That is not dead which eternal lies

 

[MRY]

Release Date: In Strange Aeons

 

[Nahel]

I would sacrifice 10 POE to the dark gods for that game to become reality. Ok the gods may spit on me because POE has no value but still.

 

[Lone Wolf]

I looked at the early screens of this game and they just screamed 'mess waiting to happen'.

All sorts of numbers, modifiers and UI elements. Tons of interlocking/overlapping systems. Crap tons of writing and art. I didn't believe, at the time, that the game was a fraudulent production (and, to an extent, I still don't), but it was clear that it was going to have to be very fortunate to avoid the pitfalls of an overcomplex and overambitious game design. They let the whole 'wouldn't it be cool' thing get the better of them.

Harebrained Schemes, on the other hand, you can trust in. Focused game design, well established timelines and clear boundaries - they can be trusted to deliver a functional product (mind you, not always a great product, but a competent one).

 

[almondblight]

Another big issue is that Fenicks guy never played any build or even had access to any code for the game. Apparently he was theorycrafting, buying assets, and sending money to the programmer without checking to make sure the game was, you know, actually getting made. It actually kind of reminds me of the Greed Monger thread, and I imagine a lot of Kickstarters have this issue (it looks like Nekro ran into it as well). The other people don't seem to be paying attention to what the programmer is doing, so if the programmer is in over their head and has no idea what to do, they just keep spinning their wheels giving BS updates ("Plugging away at it chief! Everything going well! Here's some screenshots! Oh, and we need to buy some more stuff from the Unity store!") until eventually everything has fallen apart. But by that point, the money is gone and the game is already years overdue.

 

[Vordrak]

Another big issue is that Fenicks guy never played any build or even had access to any code for the game.

This.

Has anyone found any of the beta testers who theoretically were playing the game in 2015?

And this.

They kept saying, things like -

• "We have a working game" - WHERE? WHO IS 'WE' IF THE OTHER GUY NEVER IN FACT HAD A WORKING GAME?
  
• "We have beta testers" - WHO?
• "I think we'll be all wrapped up this week" - (POST BY JOSH 12/10/2015)

Questions that demand answers ...

 

[tsiforb]

Update #37

May 9 2016

More Screens, More Info, More Stuff

Wow - I can't believe more than a whole month has passed since our last update - so hopefully you will be pleased to see a brand new batch of screenshots - some showing entirely new gameplay screens or elements and some showing the modifications, improvements, and polish we've added to existing screens.

New Screenshots
I've decided to just plop them all HERE in an imgur album since there are so many in this batch.

OK Neat - So When Am I Getting This?
That's a great question that I get asked almost everyday - we (still) don't have a concrete release date set but we're definitely getting close. Our deployment plan has not changed - and we intend to get the early versions out to the Beta group first for testing and further debugging. From there we'll move more formally to early access where all pledge levels will be able to get their hands on the game.

I will get skewered alive if I give a release prediction - so all I can say is we're definitely getting closer every day.

What Else are You Working On?
We're working on getting some voice-over work for some of the key agents, which can be tricky because if we don't get the proper tone and attitude it can come off campy. Hopefully VO will be included in the initial release but we'll keep you posted.

As always we appreciate your support and patience, please stay tuned for further updates.

 

[Ninjerk]

Seems like the post of a person on the edge of sanity. Very meta, tsiforb

 

[Hobo Elf]

Only couple more micro issues left and it's done, guys! Honest!!

 

[almondblight]

This is kind of unhinged. He's never played a build, doesn't have access to any of the code, and his programmer has will go weeks/months without answering his calls. Yet he's talking about how they're getting closer to release and he's hiring voice actors? Maybe he should hold off on hiring voice actors until he knows whether or not he's going to need to hire another programmer?

 

[Obsequious Approbation]

Sad to see this project in jeopardy. It all sounds too good to be true, anyway.

Does such a game need VA at all, though? Ambience, sure. A good composer, definitely. But voice actors? The likes of CK2 do just fine without them.

 

[Malakal]

Sad to see this project in jeopardy. It all sounds too good to be true, anyway.

Does such a game need VA at all, though? Ambience, sure. A good composer, definitely. But voice actors? The likes of CK2 do just fine without them.

The Narrator maybe? That really sets the mood if you ask me, just see Majesty.

 

[Lightsinthesky]

This is kind of unhinged. He's never played a build, doesn't have access to any of the code, and his programmer has will go weeks/months without answering his calls. Yet he's talking about how they're getting closer to release and he's hiring voice actors? Maybe he should hold off on hiring voice actors until he knows whether or not he's going to need to hire another programmer?

I'm pretty sure it's Josh that posts the kickstarter updates

 

[Nahel]

If it happens that is what matters to me. I don't care to wait to have a good game. If it ends in vapors, so be it...We will be able to merge that thread with grimoire (which i never believed in but cleve is hilarious)

 

[Dickie]

I'm just glad they have their priorities in order. Can you imagine waiting until a game was feature-complete to hire voice actors? I'm a little worried they didn't do it sooner, though. They probably should've started recording voice-overs at the same time they started hiring artists to make fake screenshots in PhotoShop.

They couldn't have waited any longer to hire voice actors since the game will be finished in a couple weeks.

In seriousness, I want this game to get finished and be good, but these guys don't give me any confidence that either will happen.

 

[hivemind]

Matthew 8:26

 

[almondblight]

I'm pretty sure it's Josh that posts the kickstarter updates

It's Fenicks:

I am out of screenshots - I held a few back that I felt were repetitive or uninteresting from the previous batch though.

Josh has not only stopped communicating with the fan base (completely stopped posting in the forums), he's also been avoiding Fenicks' phone calls (and apparently making excuses for why he can't upload any build for Fenicks).