New adventure game coming from Tim Schafer & Ron Gilbert.

yeeeeEEEEESSSSSSSS

 

A million dollars?

 

 

I think, and stay with me here, that the million dollars wasn't all from one person.

Now if they could only get Dave Grossman to guest star we'd have the Dream Team (the first, true one) of adventure gaming.

WANT. I dropped $30 and don't expect to regret it.

Yeah, this is such a cool story.  I threw in my $30 early the first day and am super pumped.

 

Also, word on the street is that Chris Avellon, of Obsidion, you know, dude what made Planescape:Torment, is considering something along the same lines.  I would give much money to that, too.

I have to say, this pledging thing is a very recent trend which I love. Ginger from The Wildhearts recently did it to fund a triple album, as have Killing Joke and a few great bands  who aren't high up enough on the commercial food chain to have these projects funded by record companies yet have fanbases who want to see this stuff. The Schafer/Gilbert thing is just another extension of this awesomeness.

 

I really want to see this happen more. Music, games, film, it's all good; we finally seem to have found a way where we can make great stuff happen by talented people, without everything being chained to the whims of a bunch of suits. I think this is the start of something big, and I'm all for it.

For albums the idea has actually been kicking around for a fair while. The prog band Marillion was the first I heard doing it, over a decade ago. I think there's a site dedicated solely to funding bands, though I heard it hasn't done amazingly well.

 

As with a lot of these things I guess the question is exactly how repeatable this kind of success is. This reminds me a little of the Radiohead pay what you want thing - it worked for them because they have lots of loyal fans and goodwill, and because the concept had novelty on its side. I don't think anyone's tried to fund a game like this before, so just the fact they're doing it generates a lot of attention. Once the novelty wears off I wonder if people will find it as easy. I guess the Obsidian RPG idea would be a good test (though that's another one I'd be happy to throw cash towards).

 

It's kind of funny to think about this in relation to the whole online piracy issue.

I think having a loyal (And preferably large) fanbase certainly helps. For me, this setup is ideal for allowing people whose work sits outside of the mainstream to be able to make the things they and their fans want, even if it may not be a style that's successful in the mainstream. I'd assume that Schafer and Gilbert would've started work on this adventure game anyway, if it was a plausible business prospect as Double Fine's new big release. Unfortunately, old-style adventure games still aren't considered as major in the mainstream (Despite the efforts of Telltale and various indies), which I'd wager meant trouble securing funding through the normal channels. Doing it this way though, the fans are providing the funding which means that not only does the game get to happen, it gets to be the game that everyone who wanted it wants. There's no worrying about the game making enough money to satisfy investors who may only be in it for the profits, no interference by publishers; they get to budget and oversee the production exactly how they want, and make the game they and the fans want to see with money and - in this case especially - impressive sales already behind them.

 

I think for creators on the 'mid-tier' level (i.e. Big fanbase, but not commercial enough to crack the mainstream) this is a godsend. It keeps the power exactly where it should be; with the creators and fans. And hey, if no-one wants a product it's simple - they don't pledge, the creators don't raise the money to make it. But if they do, they get the funding straight from the people they wanted to please in the first place - the fans. 

 

And with the piracy thing, I think it presents one of the best potential solutions I've seen. Look, you're always going to get a certain number of people who'll pirate no matter what (There are actually people who pirate indie bundles, for fuck's sake) but it's creating a paradigm where fans can buy products directly from the creators at a far more reasonable price than they'd be expected to pay through traditional channels, and giving devs the chance to budget projects themselves to the levels they need. The elephant in the room in the whole piracy/used games debate has IMO been the fact that the cost of producing games has ballooned far more than the average retail cost of them.

 

The cost of producing a top-tier retail game has reached ridiculous levels; much like what happens in film, it's reached the point where it's become utterly wasteful, with people at the business level insisting on blaming others rather than actually looking at production costs and asking, 'Does it have to be like this?' This attitude leads to publishers spending way more than is plausible to make back, and then when they start going broke they start putting it on the consumer - unnecessary DLC, online passes, and ultimately demonizing the consumer for not spending enough. I couldn't believe the gall of that guy from Volition telling off used game buyers while the Genki Bowl DLC is still getting bad reviews, and generally being outed as a rip-off that should've been in the game in the first place. Give it a while and they'll start guilting people for buying games new and on sale, I guarantee it.

 

The pledge this is potentially a great way of circumventing this shit. Fans get to pay a good price directly to the developer exactly when their money is most needed - during or directly after the production of the game. No outside interference, no bullshit, and the devs get to be beholden to no-one but the fanbase.

 

This stuff won't eradicate piracy, but it's reducing it by giving incentives fpr fans to pay, and bringing them closer to the devs in the first place.

If I throw my money at him, maybe he'll make an Alpha Protocol 2? Take it, TAKE IT.

 

Ditto Tetsuya Mizughuchi and Space Channel 5 part 3.

I love this. I hope it catches on and becomes a permanent option. Anything that further distances the creative, talented people from the demonic influence of corporate boards and shareholder committees  is A OK with me.

Yea, this is pretty incredible.  It's a good reminder of how we are still in the midst of the Internet Revolution.

But for most artists, and for most media, there are big obstacles to crowd sourcing.  Schafer is a brand, he's a known quantity with a relatively large, tech in-tune fan base.  To say nothing of the fact that he already has the facilities, experience, and human capital to build a great game.

The bottom line is, we're paying for a product that doesn't yet exist.  Would you do that for a game by some unknown?  For a movie by a filmmaker you'd never heard of, or, better yet, one you know but one with an inconsistent filmography?  If crowd-sourcing becomes the norm for funding certain kinds of projects, won't we be concerned that by paying upfront, we've eliminated some of the incentive to creating the best product possible?  Absent the risk of losing their time, money, and effort, we have only a creative individual's integrity and ambition to rely on.  That will be enough for some creative folk, sure, but not everyone.

There is huge potential here, but it's not a solution to piracy.  It does, however, provide a means for public patronage of relatively small projects, by relatively well-known, but underappreciated artists.  I'm excited to see what happens next.

On a related note: http://www.lexisnexis.com/community/corpsec/blogs/vent-cap-blog/archive/2012/02/08/crowdsourcing-the-crowdfunding-exemption.aspx

Ideally, I'd like to think that should this become more common practice, games by some unknown developer would really need to have a kick-ass proof-of-concept to draw in 'donors.'  Obviously, it could never compete with the amount that some proven pedigree would get, but it shouldn't need to.

 

And hopefully, the incentive to create the best product continues due to the creators wanting to build that sort of credibility that brings in more money for a future project.

 

EDIT: They get their funds on my birthday!!!  IT'S A SIGN!!!

And to all those saying that that Schafer is in a unique position I give MInecraft. Notch was and still is an virtually unknown guy, yet his game has generated so far more profit than most AAA ones. Schafer and Gilbert  offer their names as an upfront guarantee, Notch offered an interesting, bare to the point of being a tech demo alpha version of his game. 

 

Personally, though I play and enjoy them, I would sacrifice every single one of the AAA franchises if it would guarantee me access to the games people like Schafer, Gilbert, Ancel, Avellone, Urquhart, Dessilets, the Doctors etc NEED to make.

I've never had any cause to support any Kickstarter until now. As it's been mentioned Schafer and Gilbert are known talents who can at least guarantee they'll deliver on the project they have planned. Notch's Minecraft at least proved itself with a running exe on their site to see if you wanted to play it before you had to pay for it. By most standards minecraft really hasn't advanced from its humble beginnings to something else, but it does what it does and that was fine enough for them to get my 10 bucks at the time...it's not like they promised with each new purchase we'd get closer to CrysisCraft.

In general I'm leery of panhandling in any form. Schafer and Gilbert are a guarantee, as Stelios has mentioned, that they should deliver on the project they have put on the table. On the other end of the spectrum Project Zomboid comes to mind with their recent setbacks. Unknown guys who promise big things, had their equipment and code seemingly stolen (with not even backup on dropbox or other external sites) while they were out getting drunk, and then have a very public meltdown flipping out on their supporters. I'm even more leery of Obsidian guy's grand plan of wanting to do a huge rpg, their record is spotty from game to game - can they really deliver, do they have the engine in place, the infrastructure to create the assets, and how about some real qa to ensure the game doesn't crash when you try transitioning from one zone to another? Such a huge undertaking, of an epic sized rpg, I'd try and pitch to a publisher...at least with Double Fine's adventure game it's a much more scalable project to undertake with good leadership.

After such a huge turnout to Double Fine's project I'm even more wary of con artists and scammers trying to cash in on the wake of this event. Look at me, I'm going to make a game where you're a Unicorn it's a fps mmo where you fight ninja dinosaurs and by years end our combined computational cycles will have created a vaccine to cure cancer. If 6 million of you guys just give me 10 dollars this game is all yours!

If you're indie the price of admission into game development isn't that large as you're probably a computer enthusiast/programmer with your hardware already in tow, unless you have unrealistic plans of wanting to make some 3rd person shooter using the Unreal Engine which costs a shit ton to license. There are plenty of affordable game engines/platforms to choose from as you try to make a name for yourself. If you align yourself with like minded team mates who have their own unique skill sets you can do good things on your own. Hell, I've been pecking away at my little game on the side for the past couple of months, in addition to my current job, something I want to play that nobody has made just yet...but I don't feel compelled to pre-sell it, I'll just let it stand on its own if it ever releases (and if zynga copies it I will burn their corporate headquarters down to the ground). Who says you can't do this development after hours in conjunction with holding a regular 9-5 job. I'm still blown away that Space Pirates and Zombies was only a two person production, that they've got their game on Steam, and it received a lot of praise for what it did - for being an enjoyable addicting game.

There are a lot of paths from starting out as an indie, and it's pretty god damned awesome indies are finding just as much success as major publishers. If you prove yourself, just as modders have done with DOTA or other fps games, like Red Orchestra team (though they shit the bed with RO2), or win any competitions you'll find yourself with richer friends who will give you license to more fancier pants game engines and/or deeper funding for your teams. Or you could happily just stay indie and make the games you want to make and sell them on indievania, desura, or on your own private site.

I just don't buy the notion of blindly giving money to anyone on promises of what they want to do, without seeing a good chunk of the end result first. On a completely different tangent, it's must really be nice to be Silicon Knights who've received millions of dollars from Canadian Tax Payers to produce garbage project after garbage project...wtf.

Bring top talent? Ron Gilbert and Tim Schafer are going to do it. Talent does not get any more top than this.

Just got an email from Kickstarter.

 

IT BEGINS. And will be DRM free.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TFKwplDBmgg&feature=youtu.be

Now can we crowdsource a sequel to Brutal Legend?

As long as we "investors" have a saying in the design plan, yes (just make it an insane action/adventure game, Tim, and i'll pay the full 60 bucks for it)

 

Also, Brian Fargo says hes pondering bringing back Wasteland through crowdfunding!

 

 

So far we have Schafer, Avellone and Fargo dipping their toes into this. My cynicism is working overtime trying to keep me from bouncing around the place like a five year old after eating a pound of chocolate. 

Just backed the project myself (lowest tier!).  Excited!

 

Is there any word on whether it'll be CG/3D (like the recent Sam and Max games) or hand-drawn?

 

Hand-drawn, I hope I hope I hope.

 

Hell, I'd actually be happy if it was SPRITEY!

A hand drawn two or three million dollar budgeted adventure would be fucking glorious. Just imagine the quality they will be able to afford.

Fuck yes. The game had its problems, but that design was made out of the inside of my head.

 

You know what I'd kill to be able to croudsource? Mirror's Edge 2. It's pissing me off, the way stupid EA is sitting on it doing nothing.

You're all wrong and need to crank the dial to 11 on your way back machines...

 

Whoa whoa.  Whatever happened to this Full Throttle 2???

 

 

Legacy

In spring 2000, LucasArts began production of Full Throttle: Payback, an official sequel to continue the storyline of Full Throttle.^[7] Since Tim Schafer had already left the company at the time, Larry Ahern, who was involved in the original game's development, was appointed the project lead and Bill Tiller, theart director. Both Ahern and Tiller left LucasArts in 2001, after Payback was canceled. At the early stages, the project received positive feedback from other LucasArts employees but according to Tiller, it eventually fell apart because of disagreements on the game style between the productive team and "a particularly influential person" within the management, which lead to a series of "mistakes". The production ceased in November 2000, when 25% of the levels and about 40% of the preproduction art were complete. LucasArts never released an official statement regarding the game cancellation.^[5]

The story would have focused on Ben's efforts to foil a plan by a "large corporation" and the local governor to replace all paved highways with hover pads, robbing the bikers and truckers of their traditional ground. In the first half of the game, Ben would have prevented an assassination attempt on Father Torque, who now leads the anti-hovercraft rally, then team up with a "persistent undercover female reporter" to bring down the villainous governor. In Tiller's opinion, Payback "was going to capture the feel of the first game yet expand upon the milieu".^[5]

In mid 2002, LucasArts announced Full Throttle: Hell on Wheels for Windows and, for the first time in the series, PlayStation 2 and Xbox. The game was to be an action-adventure, with more emphasis on action and fighting than adventure, because the designers wanted the game to feel more physical than the first.^[8] Sean Clark was named the project lead of Hell on Wheels and the development progressed smoothly until late 2003, when it was abruptly canceled. Just months prior to that, at E3 2003, a playable demo was shown and a teaser trailer was released by LucasArts. Simon Jeffery (then president of LucasArts) said that "We do not want to disappoint the many fans of Full Throttle, and hope everyone can understand how committed we are to delivering the best-quality gaming experience that we possibly can" in the official press release. Critics cited poor graphics compared to other 3D action adventures of the time and Tim Schafer's lack of involvement in the project as possible reasons for its cancellation.^[5] Additionally, Roy Conrad, the original voice actor for Ben, died in 2002.^[9]

Hell on Wheels would have been set in El Nada, Ben's "old stomping ground", whose roads have been mysteriously destroyed. Ben believes that one of the new gangs introduced in the game, the Hound Dogs, are behind this but soon discovers a more sinister and murderous plot. Together with Father Torque and Maureen, he would have thwarted the unnamed villain's plan and protected "the freedom of the open road".^[5]

Critics consider development of new sequels to Full Throttle unlikely. LucasArts' interest shifted away from adventure genre in recent years, and failure to develop two sequels will presumably hinder the possibility of a third. Also, nearly all developers who were involved with the original Full Throttle in 1995 have since left LucasArts.^[5]

 

 

 

The Full Throttle 2 that nearly got finished looked a bit duff anyway. I'd have been up for that graphic adventure sequel though, even though Schafer wasn't on it. Full Throttle always hinted at a bigger world than you actually saw in the game.

And here's a 35-minute interview between Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert, conducted a few weeks before the start of the kickstarter.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=re_LWmRJK-g

Tim is doing an AMA on Reddit right now. Though most of you follow his twitter and already know this...providing the link because it hasn't front paged just yet.

Double Fine Adventure has reached $3,000,000! Today is your last chance to be a part of history. It all ends 5:00pm PT.

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/66710809/double-fine-adventure

Tim Schafer will be broadcasting on USTREAM starting 3:00pm PT:

http://www.ustream.tv/channel/double-fine-adventure

In addition to the previously announced rewards, they've added special edition boxes containing the game disc with a DVD or Blu-Ray of the documentary, t-shirts and hardcover making-of books signed by Tim Schafer.



0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5
Edited by Barry Woodward - 3/14/12 at 12:21pm

People, now that the Doublefine Kickstarter is over, please don't forget to drop some money at the Wasteland 2 one. Seriously, you'd be stupid not to. It's Brian Fargo making a Wasteland RPG. If you like Western RPGs this is akin to having the chance for Tolkien to write a new Middle earth book and passing it up.

Thanks for the heads up, I threw some money at that one as well. I mean, why not?

And it got to the target amount in a single day. Fuck yeah! Turn based with full party management, post apocalyptic, story heavy, hardcore dice-rolling RPG in 2013. Damn.

 

Well, if the gaming industry doesn't want to fund the kind of games us old farts want, we'll have to make them ourselves.

Have to admit this one's more of a leap of faith for me. A Gilbert/Schafer graphic adventure is an instant buy, sight unseen. But I've never played Wasteland and paid for this one on the hope this new one will recapture some of the Fallout 1 + 2 magic - there's a limit to how 'old-school' I want my RPGs to be.

 

But anyway, that's two projects funded, so it's not just a one off. What's next? I'm guessing some kind of Black Isle related project would be a safe bet. I heard the makers of Broken Sword wanted to make a new 2D hand drawn adventure in that series - that would be an interesting test of this concept because that one feels a bit more niche interest than a game with the Lucasarts pedigree. Plus if more and more developers try to jump on the bandwagon the bubble may burst pretty quick.

Oh my god, I am over the moon about the Wasteland 2 news. Heck, my nick is based off the most powerful weapon in Wasteland. It was my first and most memorable rpg.

I'm telling you. It cannot be stressed, how influential Wasteland was for Western RPGs. Along with Ultima and the Gold Box pretty much defined the genre. And don't forget Fargo also made Bard's Tale. There are about five people with his RPG pedigree. And I hope he goes all out old-school hardcore. Turn based, action points, locational damage. The works.

 

As for what's next? I'm hoping for something from Chris Avellone in the vein of Planescape. And with Obsidian's current problems maybe he can get Tim Cain and J.E. Sawyer along. I mean look at the games they did among them:

 

Fallout

Fallout 2

Planescape: Torment

Icewind Dale

Icewind Dale II

Baldur's Gate: Dark Alliance

The Temple Of Elemental Evil

Vampire The Masquerade: Redemption

Arcanum

Neverwinter Nights 2

Neverwinter Nights 2: Mask Of The Betrayer

Alpha Protocol

Fallout: New Vegas

 

 

Watching Brian Fargo's kickstarter video almost brought tears to my eyes. I just sat there with a stupid grin on my face, remembering all the great Interplay games I enjoyed growing up. Everyone knows the greats like Planescape and MDK, but these lesser titles were sooo good too.

 

Star Trek 25th anniversary

Battle Chess

Blackthorne

Castles

Cyberia

Descent Free Space

Dungeon Master

Dragon Wars

 

 

 

Interplay was the shit. The animation of their logo is permanently etched in my memory.

 

 

You just know good times will follow this.