http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/stoic/the-banner-saga?ref=categoryhttp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YupzBYxsgow
Has a goal of $100k. Team is made up of three guys, all of which worked on Star Wars: The Old Republic (including the lead concept artist & the lead combat programmer).
From their kickstarter page:
"The Banner Saga is a role-playing game merged with turn-based strategy, wrapped into an adventure mini-series about vikings.
Travel through stunning landscapes straight out of an animated film. Battle painstakingly hand-animated foes in strategic, turn-based combat harkening back to the classic "Tactics" days of gaming. Make decisions with consequences in conversations with people you'll truly care about."
"DRM-Free, and available on PC and Mac
Not another generic fantasy: Drawing heavily from Norse culture while creating its own identity and mythology, The Banner Saga takes a low-fantasy approach to viking themes. Giants: yes. Horned helmets: no.
Strategic combat: Recruit a large roster of unique characters throughout the story, each with different abilities that interact in combat in a deeply tactical way and personalities of their own. The Banner Saga harkens back to classic turn-based gameplay with a strong emphasis on tactics over brute force and endless grinding.
Travel across gorgeous landscapes: The choices you make as events arise have a huge affect on how the story plays out- who survives, who dies, and what's worth saving. Add people to your caravan as you travel, or lose them when tough decisions arise. You're not just fighting to save nameless strangers, you're fighting for your neighbors, your family and your way of life. We want you to care what happens to them.
An emphasis on story: Your choices in dialogue and throughout the game truly affect the story and the people around you. A mature story for adults means forming relationships and making tough decisions; not sex, violence and swearing.
Play online: Though the single-player campaign is our focus, The Banner Saga provides a deep multiplayer game; build a unique party of characters and battle friends and enemies in multiplayer combat. Upgrade your party over time and devise new strategies.
Risk in gameplay: A lot of modern games play it safe- you know you'll defeat the evil and save the day. In The Banner Saga you can't take anything for granted. We want it to feel like a good tv mini-series; the world doesn't revolve around you, it's about how you deal with change."
On the one hand, the art style is great and I love a good Strategy/RPG. On the other hand, I'm a little worried that this project might be too ambitious for a first-time studio, even one filled with industry veterans. Still, it looks very promising and they've already gotten a fair number of funds (at $24k when I posted this) so I wish the best for them.
Posts
Specifically:
Right now, it sounds like a rather basic SRPG with this caravan mechanic (which is potentially interesting, but hasn't been commented on much).
The art looks super nice but how much of that can they put in a 100k game?
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
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Lots of people are asking that question, so there should be an answer soon. It is odd that Chapter 1 is only mentioned in that one place.
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I don't know. There's a lot of carefully chosen modes in that video. With a good narrative and solid music, they just might pull it off.
Whether or not it manages to deliver on its promises is anyone's guess though.
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But it also has the potential to shower us in games we only dreamed about before drinking ourselves into a stupor because they would never exist! I think the reality will end up somewhere in between these two extremes.
Maybe...but I'll reserve final judgement until we actually see one of these fabled games appear due to a kickstart. (I don't think that day will come)
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You don't think that day will come? If I were a less lazy man, I'd screen grab this post and then repost it on launch day for DoubleFine's kickstarter'd game and then again for Wasteland 2, but instead I will just tell you that you're wrong right now and then forget about it.
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Yeah, a lot of games have been canceled/have had the plug pulled on them due to lack of funding and publisher support.
Which is kind of what this thing is all about.
I'm weary of the kickstarter thing myself, but I have no doubt that these kickstarters from major stand-up guys in the industry that have been backed fully, meeting and exceeding their goals will be made. I'm also sure that if this picks up, a lot of them wont.
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And it only took them 2 days to succeed. I'm not too surprised since everything they're showing off looks so damn promising.
Looks like this has a good shot at being the 3rd highest funded video game project on Kickstarter (after the Double Fine and Wasteland 2 kickstarters). Currently, the #3 slot is held by Code Hero at $170k.
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If Double Fine and inExile don't deliver on these games their entire core fanbase will desert them, and the business reputation of everyone at both companies will be irrevocably ruined.
If you seriously think they'd allow that to happen, you are kidding yourself. Sorry to be harsh, but it's the truth.
Front page news! The whole world's got kickstarter fever.
True to form, Tycho boils the heart of the matter down to it's core nut meat:
Steam profile.
Getting started with BATTLETECH: Part 1 / Part 2
This is the quote about what you get for $10. Looks like they want to monetise for more content after the initial release...
While the artstyle is beautiful and they can really talk it up, the 3 of them aren't really writers (2 artists, one developer), so I'm not sure that there'll really be a compelling story.
Also, they're pretty up front about monetizing the whole game. Not saying that projects shouldn't be making money, but I'm not really sure I want to support something like that on Kickstarter, which I believe should be used more for labours of love that aren't designed upfront to be commercially viable.
Well, that's just too bad, isn't it?
If that's what they want to do, and they're saying that at the beginning of this venture, that's fine. Which they've done.
It would still seem to be some kind of story-based tactics-RPG adventure game thing, but with some kind of multiplayer element also in the mix (their site indicates a free multiplayer demo thing would be part of the eventual outcome of their efforts). If Stoic Studios wants to monetize this thing, there they go.
Is it any better or worse than a collectible card game getting off the ground on Kickstarter? If the game isn't worth the add-ons, or is just fine by itself, people will decide for themselves. Pretty sure word will get out on it fast.
It's pretty self-expalanatory, what is confusing about it? They're looking for funding for whatever they define as "Chapter 1" of the game, and you get that at the $10 pledge level. While each level below that doesn't explicitly state you'll get the same Chapter 1 content (although the first few do), it's implied. Presumably the plan is for them to released future DLC or expansions (read, "Chapters") which will complete the rest of the game but you'll have to buy that separately.
Do Not Want.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
Granted, Wasteland 2 sounds like it should be a pretty big game...but then again, the Wasteland guys have a lot more stuff in their corner.
Releasing it in pieces makes sense is all I'm saying.
Also, Banner Saga was picked up by the Kickstarter "Projects We Love" newsletter and got top billing (the subject line was "A Banner Week"). That should provide a nice bump.
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Wilds of Aladrion: [https://forums.penny-arcade.com/discussion/comment/43159014/#Comment_43159014]Ellandryn[/url]
That would be nice gesture.
(Please do not gift. My game bank is already full.)
They've also updated it to indicate that anyone who donates $50 or more, will get all 3 episodes.
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