First off lets start this off with something positive today!
As you may have heard from previous updates or from around the web. Wild man will be including a Mod kit. However this kit is different. It runs in a browser using the bleeding edge of web technology. HTML5 and Web GL. It features real time collaboration in the browser. If you log off and go home your work will be there the same way as you left it.
What happens if the mod kit environment crashes?
Press F5 on the keyboard and you are ready to go again! Since it is based it the browser it is easy to get back up! Want to see the recovery in action check out this Video!
Is wild man a web game? I hate/love web games
It is not a web game it is a standard compiled game which you install on to your hard drive.
What language does the mod kit use?
JavaScript - Plain and simple JavaScript.
I want early access to these tools! Can I get early access?
Yes! Go over to the Gas Powered Games Kick starter and Pledge 60 dollars. This is for those Modders who want to use the development environment early pre-game launch. Keep in mind that the tier has not been finalized and may be limited when opened.
I want to use this for my own game. Can I do that?
Yes! If you want to use it for commercial use go over to Gas Powered Games kick starter and pledge 500 dollars. Keep in mind that the tier has not been finalized and may be limited when opened.
I want to monetize my mod can I do that?
Gas Powered Games is looking into this. Nothing concrete but they are looking into it.
Will there be a playable female counterpart to wild man?
I would assume, yes! I just uploaded her concept to Indie/Moddb. Here she is!
How does the publisher - Developer model work?
The developer approaches a publisher and asks them to fund the development of their game. Both parties agree to the terms. The publisher keeps 20% of the profits and the developer needs to pay the publisher back the funds for development. However if certain milestones are not met within a certain amount of time the publisher can liquidate the studio (Sell everything) and keep the Intellectual property. All the while the developer suffers. The publisher has almost complete say in what goes into the game features, art style, you name it. On top of that they can choose to shut down the project if it is deemed a risky or unprofitable. The publisher has allot of control over the flow of money as well through legal paperwork, more paperwork, etc.
Keep on the look out for more updates from wild man and do not forget to pledge!
What is with all the whining here about how bad publishers are? They give you money and you agree to their terms - whats the issue? If you dont like it, dont go that route - its simple as that. But telling us in nearly every post and repeatedly on your kickstarter how bad you feel about publishers gets a bit annoying.
Normal distribution platforms like Desura, Steam, Google Play, Apple Store do exact the same thing - they handle a portion of the work and risk and get a share of the money. Now on top of that, the "evil" publisher also funds your development cycle - its like getting a free credit from the bank - and you complain that you have to pay this back? Seriously?
Fair enough.
What would you prefer to see in the next post? I wont post any thing about publishers anymore.
I was talking publishers like EA, Activision, etc. not Steam or Desura. In all honesty Steam is pretty fair and so is Desura!
Thats fair, i hope i didnt sound rude...
In all honesty, i wish you best luck with your project.
What i prefer to see? Well, the usual stuff - post about your progress, your goals, what you accomplished. The things that show that you are passionate about your project. Nothing more, nothing less.
Hey no worries - You did not sound rude. You were expressing your thoughts! Which I encourage!
We will continue to post content - You can expect a big media push here on moddb/Indiedb come Monday!
This post kind of makes me angry :(
This game failed the moment they didn't take publicity seriously, 9k backers so far with 9 days to-go.
Totalbiscuit tweeted a while ago GPG ignored the chance to be interviewed by him, and his channel. That was a mistake.
I would imagine most people would think this will be like Demigod meets Age of Empires lite not a very attractive project im afriad they should of pursued a unique rich RTS in my opinion. Sure Planetary Annihilation has their thing now and GPG can't really compete but they could of made another niche.
GPG in their defense does not have a dedicated PR department - Currently they are all developers working on the game full time switching back and forth between PR and Development.
As for a RTS - I covered this in a previous update.
I like this article. The poorly informed comments by Abhuva articulate quite clearly why more disclosure is needed on the game industry.
Having said that, why does there appear to be no attempt by GTG to change the way they develop games? Why build things from scratch when there are cross-platform, open-source libraries and tools available? Why try and build brand new technologies to work around issues in your development process (one video mentioned some software (Perforce?) being locked or broken by an absent developer which prevented everyone from working!)?
Also, why is Linux listed here as a supported platform? It's a stretch goal, if that (which is unfortunate) according to the Kickstarter project.
From what I have seen so far the Mod kit looks great. Mods really add replay value to a game, but also for me at lest allows me to get sucked deeper in to the game universe.
Still not 100% sure on a web based mod system. But it would allow for making and sharing content with the community more convenient. Either way this game has great potential.