KickStarter Vampire Syndicate: Gangs of MoonFall

[AshenNedra]

How much money would you need to comfortably work on game like this? Be brutally honest, not Kickstarter honest. North of 100k $?

I'm usually honest. Don't mistake me for some conman scumbag that gets $200k off crowdfunding and then goes begging around for a big publisher, only to cancel their game a few years down the line and abscond with all the money. I've ran five successful kickstarters before (all really small of course).

To be brutally honest, I can do it with as little as $20k USD. It won't even pay for my living expenses, much less any part of development. I'll front a large part of the project out of pocket and hope I make it back when the game starts to sell.

It's painful, and I've done it before, and I don't want to do it again but I will if I have to.

$45k was my last Kickstarter goal, and it's a fairly low budget for what I want to do, but it'll pay my bills for a little bit and give me some breathing room.

$100k is closer to ideal and I can start properly hiring contractors for level design and programming as needed, the project will see significant improvements.

$200K and above is gravy and the ideal budget. At this point I will be fully competing with AAA as what they will no doubt view as some upstart with no connections on a shoestring budget. But I'll fucking crush them.

If I reach this mark, I'll be turning heads and people will take notice.

Tyranicon's games are focused on story, worldbuilding and C&C.

Has he finished a game yet?

Here's my steam developer page, you'll have to sign in or you won't see half my games:

https://store.steampowered.com/search/?developer=A Memory of Eternity LLC

Hello kind sir, I have a small question; I'm only seeing Glass Heart and the Singularity Wish from your company. 9 other results are excluded.

I'm guessing the reason behind such fact is that porn games are excluded by default on Steam ?

Which leads me to my real question: have you considered making the porn part entirely optional in you upcoming game(s) ? Even releasing two versions of it, like the porn industry used to do: soft-core and hardcore.

I find your world building and general setting very, very interesting, and the FPS teaser on Youtube is stupidly gorgeous and atmospheric.

I really want you to succeed.

However, I also find that I really don't like porn in games, or even sex scenes. I find it cringe and immersion breaking, to put it simply. The most recent and egregious example being BG3, of course.

From a business point of view, I am of the opinion that porn games are a niche market with a dedicated fanbase, that can't really mix with mainstream appeal.

What do you think?

 

[Tyranicon]

Hello kind sir, I have a small question; I'm only seeing Glass Heart and the Singularity Wish from your company. 9 other results are excluded.

Glass Heart? I don't think that's one of my games. My non-porn games are The Singularity Wish and Singularity: Tactics Arena. Also I believe the lore book (for one of the porn games) is not filtered.

Lol it's hilarious I have a lore book for a porn game. It's like 145 pages or something too.

I'm guessing the reason behind such fact is that porn games are excluded by default on Steam ?

Yes.

Which leads me to my real question: have you considered making the porn part entirely optional in you upcoming game(s) ? Even releasing two versions of it, like the porn industry used to do: soft-core and hardcore.

The porn aspects in my games are entirely optional, they can be skipped or avoided, there are no mandatory scenes. I may release a different version of the game. That actually is a business decision and will depend on certain things, like demand.

I find your world building and general setting very, very interesting, and the FPS teaser on Youtube is stupidly gorgeous and atmospheric.

I really wants you to succeed.

Thanks!

However, I also find that I really don't like porn in games, or even sex scenes. I find it cringe and immersion breaking, to put it simply. The most recent and egregious example being BG3, of course.

From a business point of view, I am of the opinion that porn games are a niche market with a dedicated fanbase, that can't really mix with mainstream appeal.

Yeah that's entirely understandable. Personally speaking, I don't buy porn games either. I will probably disappoint a lot of people in saying that I just don't really like most porn games. Which probably explain why mine are very different.

As for whether what I'm doing makes good business sense... eh.... I dunno. I think it both hurts and helps that my games have adult content. Like I said previously, I actually like making porn (if for no other reason than the fact that nobody makes vanilla porn anymore). If I didn't, moving to Unreal would give me the perfect opportunity to leave the porn side of things.

But I don't really make games to cater to the market. Consider me some kind of very stupid avant garde outsider artist.

 

[tomphonse]

Just an explanation of what's going on. Some footage of very early combat and putting my DAZ characters into a 3d worldspace.

Damn your voice is so chad

 

[AshenNedra]

Hello kind sir, I have a small question; I'm only seeing Glass Heart and the Singularity Wish from your company. 9 other results are excluded.

Glass Heart? I don't think that's one of my games. My non-porn games are The Singularity Wish and Singularity: Tactics Arena. Also I believe the lore book (for one of the porn games) is not filtered.

Lol it's hilarious I have a lore book for a porn game. It's like 145 pages or something too.

I'm guessing the reason behind such fact is that porn games are excluded by default on Steam ?

Yes.

Which leads me to my real question: have you considered making the porn part entirely optional in you upcoming game(s) ? Even releasing two versions of it, like the porn industry used to do: soft-core and hardcore.

The porn aspects in my games are entirely optional, they can be skipped or avoided, there are no mandatory scenes. I may release a different version of the game. That actually is a business decision and will depend on certain things, like demand.

I find your world building and general setting very, very interesting, and the FPS teaser on Youtube is stupidly gorgeous and atmospheric.

I really wants you to succeed.

Thanks!

However, I also find that I really don't like porn in games, or even sex scenes. I find it cringe and immersion breaking, to put it simply. The most recent and egregious example being BG3, of course.

From a business point of view, I am of the opinion that porn games are a niche market with a dedicated fanbase, that can't really mix with mainstream appeal.

Yeah that's entirely understandable. Personally speaking, I don't buy porn games either. I will probably disappoint a lot of people in saying that I just don't really like most porn games. Which probably explain why mine are very different.

As for whether what I'm doing makes good business sense... eh.... I dunno. I think it both hurts and helps that my games have adult content. Like I said previously, I actually like making porn (if for no other reason than the fact that nobody makes vanilla porn anymore). If I didn't, moving to Unreal would give me the perfect opportunity to leave the porn side of things.

But I don't really make games to cater to the market. Consider me some kind of very stupid avant garde outsider artist.

Many thanks for the detailed answer!

And you are more than welcome.

Keep up the good work. I've no doubt that such passion and dedication will eventually give birth to your magnum opus, your chef oeuvre.

I may contact you by DM about a project of mine in the future.

I wish you all the best in your present and future endeavors, again.

 

[BruceVC]

Hello kind sir, I have a small question; I'm only seeing Glass Heart and the Singularity Wish from your company. 9 other results are excluded.

Glass Heart? I don't think that's one of my games. My non-porn games are The Singularity Wish and Singularity: Tactics Arena. Also I believe the lore book (for one of the porn games) is not filtered.

Lol it's hilarious I have a lore book for a porn game. It's like 145 pages or something too.

I'm guessing the reason behind such fact is that porn games are excluded by default on Steam ?

Yes.

Which leads me to my real question: have you considered making the porn part entirely optional in you upcoming game(s) ? Even releasing two versions of it, like the porn industry used to do: soft-core and hardcore.

The porn aspects in my games are entirely optional, they can be skipped or avoided, there are no mandatory scenes. I may release a different version of the game. That actually is a business decision and will depend on certain things, like demand.

I find your world building and general setting very, very interesting, and the FPS teaser on Youtube is stupidly gorgeous and atmospheric.

I really wants you to succeed.

Thanks!

However, I also find that I really don't like porn in games, or even sex scenes. I find it cringe and immersion breaking, to put it simply. The most recent and egregious example being BG3, of course.

From a business point of view, I am of the opinion that porn games are a niche market with a dedicated fanbase, that can't really mix with mainstream appeal.

Yeah that's entirely understandable. Personally speaking, I don't buy porn games either. I will probably disappoint a lot of people in saying that I just don't really like most porn games. Which probably explain why mine are very different.

As for whether what I'm doing makes good business sense... eh.... I dunno. I think it both hurts and helps that my games have adult content. Like I said previously, I actually like making porn (if for no other reason than the fact that nobody makes vanilla porn anymore). If I didn't, moving to Unreal would give me the perfect opportunity to leave the porn side of things.

But I don't really make games to cater to the market. Consider me some kind of very stupid avant garde outsider artist.

But why make a game that isnt a porn Vampire game? Isnt that what differentiates this from other Vampire games?

Thats why Im interested in this game, its not because its a Vampire game. We have lots of those

 

[RaggleFraggle]

The porn aspects in my games are entirely optional, they can be skipped or avoided, there are no mandatory scenes. I may release a different version of the game. That actually is a business decision and will depend on certain things, like demand.

Lust from Beyond did that because games on Steam are filtered differently depending on whether they're pornographic or not. Steam doesn't distinguish whether a game has an internal switch to change the content, it rates it based on the most extreme content available.

But why make a game that isnt a porn Vampire game? Isnt that what differentiates this from other Vampire games?

There are already several pornographic vampire games on Steam. They're not very good, which is probably why you haven't heard of them.

Thats why Im interested in this game, its not because its a Vampire game. We have lots of those

Like what?

Steam classifies a lot of crap under the "vampire" tag, but if we only count the games where your character spends the majority of the game as a vampire (so games like Skyrim and Warhammer doesn't count because vampirism is wholly optional and the content for it is a tiny fraction of the game), then we don't really have a lot of choices and definitely not many good ones.

There's only Legacy of Kain, BloodRayne, and Bloodlines when it comes to vampire games with any degree of memorability. Nothing else is memorable and not for lack of trying. Have you heard of A Vampyre Story, BloodNet, Gothos, DARK, Vampyr, Immortal Realms: Vampire Wars, Bloodlust: Shadowhunter, or Redemption? Even games where you hunt vampires are rare. I can only name Night Trap, BloodRayne, Nosferatu: The Wrath of Malachi, Redfall, and Castlevania.

How many other amazing creative 3D vampire crpgs have you played that you've gotten bored with them and like MoonFall based solely on it having pornography? Because I'd like to play those.

 

[Harthwain]

But why make a game that isnt a porn Vampire game? Isnt that what differentiates this from other Vampire games?

There is a difference between having more mature content and outright porn. Frankly, I would settle for sexy vampires. Provided they are done well.

 

[Iluvcheezcake]

You are doing God's work sir Tyranicon.

Wish you all the best

 

[Tyranicon]

I will probably say I don't think there's a "serious" porn game that's both popular and done well, to my knowledge. Besides possibly the Rance games.

So if anything, it's worth doing just to see IGN, Kotaku and whoever else lose their fucking minds.

I will also probably be immediately and permanently blacklisted if this game gets popular, which I don't care about. You can't cancel me from the industry if I've never relied on the industry in the first place lol.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

But why make a game that isnt a porn Vampire game? Isnt that what differentiates this from other Vampire games?

There is a difference between having more mature content and outright porn. Frankly, I would settle for sexy vampires. Provided they are done well.

Jeanette, Damsel and VV are basically the gold standard imo. Modern models look like creepy plastic mannequins when rendered and moving in real time, so I prefer more stylized designs. And judging by the bazillion games for men and women alike where the love interest is a 3D cartoon character, I'm not the only person who thinks so.

On a related note, I don't think a game strictly needs porn scenes or nudity to be sexy. As Fall-From-Grace famously said, strategically placed cloth is a lot sexier than simple nudity. It's also easier to get around the content restrictions when your content is merely suggestive rather than softcore or hardcore.

Anyway, what I've noticed is that nowadays there's basically nothing between "little to no suggestive content" and "pornography" when it comes to games featuring vampires (or games in general, e.g. Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3). Bloodlines had suggestive content, scantily clad women, seduction attempts of all sexual orientations, censored sex scenes, a couple of mimed blowjobs, a strip club with only thongs and nipple pasties to cover the nudity, VV giving the player a lap dance, jiggle physics, a cheat code to globally increase cup size arbitrarily, etc. Nowadays I cannot name one game featuring vampires with suggestive content that isn't a porn game, while Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3 have dongs flopping all over the place and dudes being sodomized by wild animals.

I have nothing against porn games, but I don't play games for porn and I don't want my roommates to walk in while I'm playing and see boobs and dongs flopping about. I played Lust for Darkness just once upon release just to see what it was like and I didn't feel a desire to replay it.

I will also probably be immediately and permanently blacklisted if this game gets popular, which I don't care about. You can't cancel me from the industry if I've never relied on the industry in the first place lol.

That's totally unfair. Anne Rice wrote Beauty and we don't rake her over the coals for that.

 

[Tyranicon]

So I'm looking into more advanced stuff like Bethseda style NPC routines and behaviors.

Obviously I'm not ballooning up my game with open world shenanigans, but it's crazy how things I previously thought were black magic are actually much simpler than I expected.

 

[jakkis]

How big of a budget would you need to get a studio to shoot the sex scenes with porn stars wearing cosplay?

This would tap into 90s nostalgia for FMV In games.

 

[Tyranicon]

How big of a budget would you need to get a studio to shoot the sex scenes with porn stars wearing cosplay?

This would tap into 90s nostalgia for FMV In games.

Depends on the country, I'd assume.

50 USD goes a long way in some places.

 

[ERYFKRAD]

So I'm looking into more advanced stuff like Bethseda style NPC routines and behaviors

You'd likely be better off looking at Gothic.

 

[Storyfag]

If you're saying "holy shit" I'm right there with you.

Tyranicon, mah boi. What I'm saying is: "kill the shaky walking cam". It is cancer.

 

[jakkis]

How big of a budget would you need to get a studio to shoot the sex scenes with porn stars wearing cosplay?

This would tap into 90s nostalgia for FMV In games.

Depends on the country, I'd assume.

50 USD goes a long way in some places.

I will put up 50€ for this. You can also write off your weekend trip of whoring and LARPing Pierre Woodman as a business expense.

 

[Tyranicon]

Tyranicon, mah boi. What I'm saying is: "kill the shaky walking cam". It is cancer.

No worries, I've already changed it. One of the great things about being a gamedev is you can categorically kill things you don't like.

Excessive head bobble is one. I love heads bobbling, just not the player perspective....

Motion blur is another.

 

[RaggleFraggle]

So I'm looking into more advanced stuff like Bethseda style NPC routines and behaviors.

Obviously I'm not ballooning up my game with open world shenanigans, but it's crazy how things I previously thought were black magic are actually much simpler than I expected.

I remember trying out a NWN1 map called "Salty Sea Dog Inn" that had NPC routines. The barmaid would go around taking orders, the patrons would gossip, etc. I remember encountering a bug where, if the PC sat at a table, then the PC would start spouting floating text according to the scripting. In another map I tried, a church congregation held mass where the priest would spout the evangelist PC voice lines, creating a comical effect where he just said lines like "Damnation!" and "Jubilation!" in lulzy tone to his flock. I never learned scripting during my experimentation with the NWN1 toolset (in retrospect I wish that I had), but hearing this from you now doesn't sound so surprising by comparison.

 

[KeighnMcDeath]

Will there be a Gay homo vampire talking like an old dracula movie spouting to victims (in that accent so popularized)?

"I cum to fvuck your butt... blah blah!!!"

Perhaps an easter egg or stalker. He's a peeper and a creeper and all vamp that's deeper and damp for some blood sausage action.

 

[Zombra]

Will there be a Gay homo vampire talking like an old dracula movie spouting to victims (in that accent so popularized)?

"I cum to fvuck your butt... blah blah!!!"

Perhaps an easter egg or stalker. He's a peeper and a creeper and all vamp that's damp for some blood sausage action.

Pledge as an $80+ backer to add your own custom NPC to the game.

 

[The Jester]

Tyranicon I didn't know you made a BL game too.

 

[Tyranicon]

Tyranicon I didn't know you made a BL game too.

Pffft, I wish. Probably sold better than my games.

 

[Tao]

How big of a budget would you need to get a studio to shoot the sex scenes with porn stars wearing cosplay?

This would tap into 90s nostalgia for FMV In games.

Depends on the country, I'd assume.

50 USD goes a long way in some places.

I can offer my services for free if that helps you

 

[ERYFKRAD]

Pffft, I wish.

 

[Tyranicon]