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AdventureGamers' forums' thoughts on the Two Guys' Kickstarter


pcj

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Yeah, I'm in the small minority of people that sort of considers gaming dead-ends, and deaths, to be realistic and wonderful.

 

I think games have gotten pretty absurdly out-of-touch with all the fancy checkpoint business that's happened in these later years -- I guess that's an attention span thing, with people wanting to master 3-minute sequences, rather than face possible cumulative consequences from an entire game.

 

But Space Quest does abuse players, without telegraphing a lot of those needs properly.. but that's kinda great!

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As Josh Mandel has noted, there were two kinds on dead ends -- the ones that were part of the game design and the unintentional ones.

 

The unintentional ones could rightly be considered bugs, but the ones that were designed into the game, the intentional ones, are part of the experience. The only thing that might make it a flaw is if you have to restore too far back to recover. If you have to start over just because you didn't make and keep save games. As noted, the adventure gamer's axiom of "Save early and save often".

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The Chewing Gum in the dead sequel policeman's pocket really got me in SQ4 when I was a kid. Once landing in the bird nest I instinctively looked for escape as quickly as possible. In hindsight I should have been more observent but it was such a chore reloading from Estros again after (finally) escaping the sequel police at the Galleria.

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A guy called Zane at the AdventureGamer forums said the following:

This is what i would do if i was them: scrap the "demo at 200k" and instead announce a date (soon) for when theyr going to release the next demo, allowing enough to time for them to make somthing that can impress. These things are bound to lag, but this kickstarter was poised for great growth until the second they released that first "demo".

What are peoples thoughts on this?

 

Personally I have been thinking along the same lines. I think the Two Guys need to show a finished vision for the product ASAP (even if it's open to changes). These prototypes were great idea on paper, but sadly they have somewhat backfired, because, while it's really interesting for fans, I think people who are not too familiar with the Two Guys will want something that actually show what the final product is like.

 

I know it's going to be a challenge to put something more substantial together so fast, but this is their one chance to do this, and it has to be done right. This KS was off to a great start, it would be a terrible shame if that was thrown away. I don't think they will get second chance at this.

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I think that's exactly what they need, and my guess is that the plan was to interactively reach that stage together with the people who was pledging as they were reaching 500.000, and it was an awesome idea, although maybe instead they should have done the milestones in days, finally reaching the finished room/prototype/demo a couple of days before the end of the KS, for example 4 prototypes with one week between them.

 

As it is, I think they have to react to reality and make the second prototype much closer to a finished demo than they may have originally intended.

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Well, I'll just say that this campaign isn't going so badly as people seem to think.

 

I think there's a ton of emphasis being put on the demo, which sort of turns it into a thing -- I think the best way to deal with that kind of instant crisis is probably to release a video on another subject. There's really been very little as far as video stuff released on this project, compared to others.. So that's a whole bag of tricks they haven't delved into you.

 

I think it's a bit concerning that they're possibly deciding to "double down" on the demo... Instead of using all the other tools they have at their disposal.

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Demos aside, I think the project is slowing to a crawl and they're in serious danger of not getting funded without some impetus.

 

Impetus naturally comes from news, which comes from developments. So, that's a demo, or a room concept art like Pcj said, or just plain something. Without more news, we will have a Kickstarter that makes less than Jane Jensen's.

 

The flip side, they have almost a month before the Kickstarter is over, so that's plenty of time to do.. lots of things!!

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I think the Guys know their next demo will have to be truly special. Here's hoping they'll make it playable without a browser, just so we avoid that discussion slowing everything down again.

 

And, like other people on the Kickstarter are saying, they truly need to do some actual press.

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The whole browser debacle just reminds me how fickle, dumb and reactionary people are. Still, we're relying on fickle, dumb and reactionary people to fund this sucker.

 

I do hope the next demo is much more exciting. Though I enjoyed the last demo, it comes from being a developer myself. I can see the potential in projects, and I can feel the excitement and possibility of an early test. Most people can't, though.

 

 

Bt

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Well said. I love Chrome. In my view, the problem is largely that gamers can be some of the most bitchy and pedantic people you'll ever encounter. I'm not sure if you're referring to my post, or to the whole mess in general, but my personal point was that the Two Guys' should only make it non-browser based to avoid those people getting it wrong again.

 

I couldn't give a rat's ass if it ran in IE, really. It's the Two Guys! Which makes it all the more unfortunate that I don't have $500,000 to spare :P

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There is a thread about the Tex Murphy Kickstarter on AG now. Tex did well on his first day, but has since slowed. Some of the Tex fans in that thread are some of the same that were criticizing the SpaceVenture Kickstarter in the 2 Guys' thread. They are blaming the slow down on Kickstarter supporters that were vocal in opposing the possible inclusion of DRM and then turning around to blame the SpaceVenture Kickstarter for drawing funds from what would otherwise rightfully be going to the Tex Kickstarter. Why can't these people just appreciate the revival that is currently going on with adventure games, even if some of the games were not their personal favorites? We have waited a decade or more to see a return of these masters from the heyday of adventures. Not everyone can be expected to contribute to all of the Kickstarters, but why lob grenades at the other projects?

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I feel that the problem is that there are just too many adventure game Kickstarters going on (or just ended) at the same time. If they were spread out a bit more then there probably wouldn't be such a problem. With SpaceVenture and Tex Murphy going on at the same time and ending at just about the same time there is bound to be an issue with funding both games.

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Not just a lack of money going around, but also a lack of news coverage. I think the gaming sites are being saturated.

I think this is probably one of the biggest problems we're facing right now. The gaming sites covered Double Fine like crazy -- and rightfully so. There was perhaps slightly less coverage for the Leisure Suit Larry Kickstarter, but it was still out there (including a two-part profile by Forbes). Along the way, the media has already presented two dominant Kickstarter narratives:

 

1) "Wow! This Kickstarter thing is for real! Look at how much money DFA raised!"

2) "Hey, remember Leisure Suit Larry? Kickstarter can bring old classics back from the dead!"

 

Since the Two Guys' Kickstarter mirrors the second narrative so closely -- and since Kickstarter gaming projects aren't as novel as they were a couple of months ago -- it's not easy to convince the gaming news sites to give it virtual ink. I know I'll mailed at least a dozen myself trying to "sell" them on new developments, different angles, and other factors that set this Kickstarter apart from the pack. I've had some luck (as have others), but Kickstarter fatigue is tough to beat.

 

We know this project is something special. We just have to convince the gaming sites that it's special enough to merit a little more of their attention.

 

Jess

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