This looks and sounds incredibly awesome. I regret that I have absolutely no skills to contribute.
It would amuse me if, American Psycho-style, the further up the corporate food chain an NPC was, the less attention they paid to your blatantly obvious carnivorous dinosaurness.
For example, mail room clerks, temps and other job applicants would always immediately notice that you're a [strike]flesh-eating dinosaur[/strike] efficient, hardworking employee and would be very difficult to talk down. However, you could [strike]eviscerate and devour[/strike] efficiently downsize and beneficially re-distribute company resources them in front of the CEO and he wouldn't bat an eyelash as long as you were able to use the [strike]correct corporate speak buzzwords[/strike]situationally-appropriate non-confrontational company-approved language.
-10 Suspicion
-5 Suspicion
Congratulations! You've earned a promotion!
Devour CEO to celebrate?
Yes
No
>I'd love to but I just ate.
For it to be a game there must be challenges and failure though. What does failure look like to a velocirapter?
Lunch.
Damnit I shouldn't be thinking about this. I have a paper to write.
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
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Ninja Snarl PMy helmet is my burden.Ninja Snarl: Gone, but not forgotten.Registered Userregular
edited December 2009
So is Jim Raptor a family saurian or a hungry young corporate type? Does he strive to make a better future for his offspring or is he in it purely for the thrill of climbing the corporate food chain? Will he be able to function in a building that uses round doorknobs instead of the government-approved raptor-accessible handle variety?
So is Jim Raptor a family saurian or a hungry young corporate type? Does he strive to make a better future for his offspring or is he in it purely for the thrill of climbing the corporate food chain? Will he be able to function in a building that uses round doorknobs instead of the government-approved raptor-accessible handle variety?
So many important questions.
I'm hoping our ambitious young dinosaur is faced with the required "movie about life in the corporate world" dilemma between doing something unethical yet profitable and staying true to his moral compass and getting the girl.
Now wait a bit, if this is a commercial endeavor, what are the donations for?
I mean, I'm not against commerce, and I'm not against the Internet supporting awesome people and helping them do awesome things. (See: PA nearly ten years ago.) But if you're making a profit then you're kinda asking for tiny quantities of venture capital from The Internet. Right?
Not that any of this matters very much because I have a PayPal account now and will gladly send money if it's needed.
(Nobody commented on my XNA idea though. X__X )
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
Since this is a commercial endeavour, there are eventually going to be expenses involved. The donations will go into an Impromptu Games PayPal account where they'll stay until they're needed - for licensing UDK, for licensing whatever other apps we use that require licensing to be used commercially (Things like XSI or Max or Crazybump, for instance), setting up a website, maybe moving our SVN hosting to a better service than NAS's garage, Unforeseen Expenses, actually registering a company down the line, that kind of thing. If someone's power is about to be cut off we can talk about using money from the account to help them pay their bill. We're not looking to spend your money on hookers and blow.
Now wait a bit, if this is a commercial endeavor, what are the donations for?
I mean, I'm not against commerce, and I'm not against the Internet supporting awesome people and helping them do awesome things. (See: PA nearly ten years ago.) But if you're making a profit then you're kinda asking for tiny quantities of venture capital from The Internet. Right?
Not that any of this matters very much because I have a PayPal account now and will gladly send money if it's needed.
(Nobody commented on my XNA idea though. X__X )
We would like it to be a commercial endeavor in the long run.
That's absolutely true and should be understood completely by anyone who wants to donate.
We will be recognizing those who donate in-game and hopefully with something extra as well. We'd like to be able to recognize them as much as we can.
Since this is a commercial endeavour, there are eventually going to be expenses involved. The donations will go into an Impromptu Games PayPal account where they'll stay until they're needed - for licensing UDK, for licensing whatever other apps we use that require licensing to be used commercially (Things like XSI or Max or Crazybump, for instance), setting up a website, maybe moving our SVN hosting to a better service than NAS's garage, Unforeseen Expenses, actually registering a company down the line, that kind of thing. If someone's power is about to be cut off we can talk about using money from the account to help them pay their bill. We're not looking to spend your money on hookers and blow.
That's great and all, but I think he was saying he wants you to spend the money on hookers and blow. Those things are nothing but positive motivators.
Well I was more thinking rent and occasional video games and food -- you know, the necessities -- but yeah. Shotgun Sunrise makes you trustworthy as far as I'm concerned. If I gave you guys $50 or so and you totally wasted it, I may not give you more but I won't feel cheated.
If when all is said and done each of you guys nets one or two thousand dollars (plus seriously PRICELESS reputation and nerd cred), would you consider paying back any of those donations plus dividends? I think that's what I was curious about. Not really asking, as if your answer would change how much I donated -- just curious.
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
I'm terribly reluctant about engaging in any talk about investments and dividends, especially because there isn't any corporate entity right now. So if I say "that sounds like a good idea" and someone takes that as a binding contract or something and sues me, I'd be unhappy, because I don't like courtrooms.
So all I'm willing to say at this point right now is that we will certainly reward anyone who donates either before or after the game releases.
NotASenator on
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BarcardiAll the WizardsUnder A Rock: AfganistanRegistered Userregular
The concept of a publicly funded games company is a very interesting one to me. I've considered other models, but this would certainly be something to look at.
Well I was more thinking rent and occasional video games and food -- you know, the necessities -- but yeah. Shotgun Sunrise makes you trustworthy as far as I'm concerned. If I gave you guys $50 or so and you totally wasted it, I may not give you more but I won't feel cheated.
If when all is said and done each of you guys nets one or two thousand dollars (plus seriously PRICELESS reputation and nerd cred), would you consider paying back any of those donations plus dividends? I think that's what I was curious about. Not really asking, as if your answer would change how much I donated -- just curious.
I don't think you should expect anything back, except perhaps a free copy of the game.
The fact of the matter is, these guys will need help. They will be working way more than 40 hours a week on this for basically no pay.
Would you enjoy working your skilled job for free a couple days out of every week? No? Because that's basically how it is at Impromptu, all the time.
Now they could cowboy up and just keep working like dogs with no one to toss them a bone, but the fact of the matter is even they will have to spend money on things at some point, and not necessarily for personal things, I'm talking about serious things. Like servers, and advertisements, and all sorts of expensive software. These aren't things you can just buy with time and hard work, you need to pay for these things. With money.
That's where you come in. About 50 people have posted in this thread, if each of these people each gave $25 as a donation, Impromptu would immediately have $1,250 worth of capital at their disposal, just like that. You can do a lot of stuff with that money. Useful shit. Yet don't be fooled into thinking that just donating $25 means you are the savior of the world who is now entitled to everything. Because even with this much donation they will still be losing money to development costs. Most of the money they spend is going to be their own money (loans most likely), but the more you donate the less they have to spend themselves, which puts less strain on them and their resources. So really, donate as much as you can. $25 is good, I would recommend maybe $50.
It's easy to see why few people chase their dream jobs of making video games. It costs too much money, and most often people can't afford to just pay for all the development costs out of their own pocket. So they instead choose a simpler life and work a steady and secure job.
But these boys are trying to live that dream, even though they face numerous financial perils. Most of them are unemployed, and are knee deep in debt, but they still persevere. They are poor and hungry, but also strong and noble. These guys aren't just nobodies, they are real people, PAers, just like you and me. They are your friends.
So far we're copying some giant chicken, a mythical beast in a room full of breakable things, and a dinosaur with a jetpack in fantastical, outer space-esque settings.
And all anyone REALLY knows is that our game has a raptor and he is in an office building.
He didn't say copying though. I think just pointing out a possibly similar game is useful.
Like, before PAX I was taken with an idea for an XNA game I wanted to make. (Then school started. LOL what free time?) People told me some elements reminded them of Valkyria Chronicles combat, and I'd never played that game. That was useful: I now have a PS3 and I played that game and am somewhat familiar with how the combat works.
Knowing about other games gives you a larger "design grammar" you can use when discussing your own game. You should be thankful for that post. :-P
Edit: my stupid game idea, in case anyone cares:
I was obsessed with this idea of merging FPS mechanics with table game mechanics. I had also just gotten confirmation that I'd be working PAX Tabletop this year, so that also gave me a table game obsession.
The idea: you are a player in a board game, and the board is randomly composed of tiles that form a path with event spaces and a start and a goal. Maybe linear, maybe circuitous, not sure. Each player gets a "pawn."
On your turn, you roll a die that represents a FPS weapon. Maybe you roll a pistol, maybe a BFG. The game board becomes a 3D environment with enemies and hazards all around, your pawn becomes a FPS player (space marine or whatnot) and you have to make as much forward progress with your weapon as possible. When you are defeated -- and you WILL be defeated -- you become a pawn again and your turn ends.
That's the core of the idea, and it's missing lots of important bits that take it from idea to "fun game." People said that sounds interesting and I should make that.
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
He didn't say copying though. I think just pointing out a possibly similar game is useful.
Like, before PAX I was taken with an idea for an XNA game I wanted to make. (Then school started. LOL what free time?) People told me some elements reminded them of Valkyria Chronicles combat, and I'd never played that game. That was useful: I now have a PS3 and I played that game and am somewhat familiar with how the combat works.
Knowing about other games gives you a larger "design grammar" you can use when discussing your own game. You should be thankful for that post. :-P
I see where you're coming from but those games really only have a certain strange sense of humor related to each other. Actual gameplay couldnt be more different. Don't worry, though, we've started discussing games that ARE similar.
I guess my offer of help got glanced over. I couldn't possibly commit myself to working full time on this thing like it was a job but I wouldn't mind trying to help a bit for just the learning experience, as a "intern" of sorts.
Or maybe you guys just require more pragmatic skillsets than people who can draw pretty pictures.
I'm making note of all the requests for help, and I think LaCabra is doing the same. We are at a stage in development where the framework is being constructed so we have something to build on.
The plan is to seek out any assistance we may need as we move forwards.
He didn't say copying though. I think just pointing out a possibly similar game is useful.
Like, before PAX I was taken with an idea for an XNA game I wanted to make. (Then school started. LOL what free time?) People told me some elements reminded them of Valkyria Chronicles combat, and I'd never played that game. That was useful: I now have a PS3 and I played that game and am somewhat familiar with how the combat works.
Knowing about other games gives you a larger "design grammar" you can use when discussing your own game. You should be thankful for that post. :-P
Edit: my stupid game idea, in case anyone cares:
I was obsessed with this idea of merging FPS mechanics with table game mechanics. I had also just gotten confirmation that I'd be working PAX Tabletop this year, so that also gave me a table game obsession.
The idea: you are a player in a board game, and the board is randomly composed of tiles that form a path with event spaces and a start and a goal. Maybe linear, maybe circuitous, not sure. Each player gets a "pawn."
On your turn, you roll a die that represents a FPS weapon. Maybe you roll a pistol, maybe a BFG. The game board becomes a 3D environment with enemies and hazards all around, your pawn becomes a FPS player (space marine or whatnot) and you have to make as much forward progress with your weapon as possible. When you are defeated -- and you WILL be defeated -- you become a pawn again and your turn ends.
That's the core of the idea, and it's missing lots of important bits that take it from idea to "fun game." People said that sounds interesting and I should make that.
How about making it so that as you move, you can gun down other nearby players, who won't be able to shoot back (or perhaps just have a weaker weapon) but can move around within their general area without being attacked by enemies?
I'm down to build if you need builders, but I've never worked with UDK before. I've worked with the TES construction set and with the Source SDK, but I've never done anything very complicated.
(jothki, that's a good idea but I really didn't want to pull this thread too offtopic. I probably shouldn't have mentioned my idea in this thread. Also I should state: ideas are cheap, design and implementation is expensive. If you "steal my idea" you didn't steal a damn thing. If you put the required work into implementing it and making it fun, you deserve all the success you get.)
mspencer on
MEMBER OF THE PARANOIA GM GUILD
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
I have been anxiously awaiting word of this since I saw it pop up on some website somehow associated with LaCabra.
I won't embarrass myself your or with offers of programming or texturing or animating help or whatnot, as I know nothing of the last two, and can only do some basic stuff in the first.
But this is cool and I'll probably donate. I'll definitely play it, and if the time comes and you need some guy with fresh eyes to spend hours breaking it or seeing if things are as intuitive as you think they are, that I can do.
Posts
Congratulations! You've earned a promotion!
Devour CEO to celebrate?
Yes
No
>I'd love to but I just ate.
Lunch.
Damnit I shouldn't be thinking about this. I have a paper to write.
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
So many important questions.
I'm hoping our ambitious young dinosaur is faced with the required "movie about life in the corporate world" dilemma between doing something unethical yet profitable and staying true to his moral compass and getting the girl.
And then eating her.
We are making preparations to collect your money at this time.
I mean, I'm not against commerce, and I'm not against the Internet supporting awesome people and helping them do awesome things. (See: PA nearly ten years ago.) But if you're making a profit then you're kinda asking for tiny quantities of venture capital from The Internet. Right?
Not that any of this matters very much because I have a PayPal account now and will gladly send money if it's needed.
(Nobody commented on my XNA idea though. X__X )
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
We would like it to be a commercial endeavor in the long run.
That's absolutely true and should be understood completely by anyone who wants to donate.
We will be recognizing those who donate in-game and hopefully with something extra as well. We'd like to be able to recognize them as much as we can.
That's great and all, but I think he was saying he wants you to spend the money on hookers and blow. Those things are nothing but positive motivators.
If when all is said and done each of you guys nets one or two thousand dollars (plus seriously PRICELESS reputation and nerd cred), would you consider paying back any of those donations plus dividends? I think that's what I was curious about. Not really asking, as if your answer would change how much I donated -- just curious.
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
So all I'm willing to say at this point right now is that we will certainly reward anyone who donates either before or after the game releases.
i mentioned it earlier but didnt see any sort of mention beyond that, seems so similar
http://vimeo.com/2474951
(also jetpack bronto)
http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2009/07/21/gabe-newell-suggests-public-funding-for-games/
The concept of a publicly funded games company is a very interesting one to me. I've considered other models, but this would certainly be something to look at.
I don't see anything similar in that at all
I don't think you should expect anything back, except perhaps a free copy of the game.
The fact of the matter is, these guys will need help. They will be working way more than 40 hours a week on this for basically no pay.
Would you enjoy working your skilled job for free a couple days out of every week? No? Because that's basically how it is at Impromptu, all the time.
Now they could cowboy up and just keep working like dogs with no one to toss them a bone, but the fact of the matter is even they will have to spend money on things at some point, and not necessarily for personal things, I'm talking about serious things. Like servers, and advertisements, and all sorts of expensive software. These aren't things you can just buy with time and hard work, you need to pay for these things. With money.
That's where you come in. About 50 people have posted in this thread, if each of these people each gave $25 as a donation, Impromptu would immediately have $1,250 worth of capital at their disposal, just like that. You can do a lot of stuff with that money. Useful shit. Yet don't be fooled into thinking that just donating $25 means you are the savior of the world who is now entitled to everything. Because even with this much donation they will still be losing money to development costs. Most of the money they spend is going to be their own money (loans most likely), but the more you donate the less they have to spend themselves, which puts less strain on them and their resources. So really, donate as much as you can. $25 is good, I would recommend maybe $50.
It's easy to see why few people chase their dream jobs of making video games. It costs too much money, and most often people can't afford to just pay for all the development costs out of their own pocket. So they instead choose a simpler life and work a steady and secure job.
But these boys are trying to live that dream, even though they face numerous financial perils. Most of them are unemployed, and are knee deep in debt, but they still persevere. They are poor and hungry, but also strong and noble. These guys aren't just nobodies, they are real people, PAers, just like you and me. They are your friends.
Help them reach that dream.
Donate Now.
So far we're copying some giant chicken, a mythical beast in a room full of breakable things, and a dinosaur with a jetpack in fantastical, outer space-esque settings.
And all anyone REALLY knows is that our game has a raptor and he is in an office building.
Je-sus Christ.
Like, before PAX I was taken with an idea for an XNA game I wanted to make. (Then school started. LOL what free time?) People told me some elements reminded them of Valkyria Chronicles combat, and I'd never played that game. That was useful: I now have a PS3 and I played that game and am somewhat familiar with how the combat works.
Knowing about other games gives you a larger "design grammar" you can use when discussing your own game. You should be thankful for that post. :-P
Edit: my stupid game idea, in case anyone cares:
The idea: you are a player in a board game, and the board is randomly composed of tiles that form a path with event spaces and a start and a goal. Maybe linear, maybe circuitous, not sure. Each player gets a "pawn."
On your turn, you roll a die that represents a FPS weapon. Maybe you roll a pistol, maybe a BFG. The game board becomes a 3D environment with enemies and hazards all around, your pawn becomes a FPS player (space marine or whatnot) and you have to make as much forward progress with your weapon as possible. When you are defeated -- and you WILL be defeated -- you become a pawn again and your turn ends.
That's the core of the idea, and it's missing lots of important bits that take it from idea to "fun game." People said that sounds interesting and I should make that.
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
I see where you're coming from but those games really only have a certain strange sense of humor related to each other. Actual gameplay couldnt be more different. Don't worry, though, we've started discussing games that ARE similar.
If y'all are interested, I'd be happy to develop a Flash application that prototypes a dialogue system.
Or maybe you guys just require more pragmatic skillsets than people who can draw pretty pictures.
The plan is to seek out any assistance we may need as we move forwards.
It's working out well.
How about making it so that as you move, you can gun down other nearby players, who won't be able to shoot back (or perhaps just have a weaker weapon) but can move around within their general area without being attacked by enemies?
I'm down to build if you need builders, but I've never worked with UDK before. I've worked with the TES construction set and with the Source SDK, but I've never done anything very complicated.
XBL Michael Spencer || Wii 6007 6812 1605 7315 || PSN MichaelSpencerJr || Steam Michael_Spencer || Ham NOØK
QRZ || My last known GPS coordinates: FindU or APRS.fi (Car antenna feed line busted -- no ham radio for me X__X )
I won't embarrass myself your or with offers of programming or texturing or animating help or whatnot, as I know nothing of the last two, and can only do some basic stuff in the first.
But this is cool and I'll probably donate. I'll definitely play it, and if the time comes and you need some guy with fresh eyes to spend hours breaking it or seeing if things are as intuitive as you think they are, that I can do.
MUG:
TEXTURE:
TEXTURE MAP:
Please make them more professional looking than my 30 second texture.
Disclaimer:
Impromptu Games may use your mug designs.
Yeah, they have to be entirely carbon-neutral.
But this game takes place in a pre-dino rights era.
http://digitalarcanum.net/stuff/vjisp_mug01a.tga