This last month, according to a few months old plan and timeline, we were all hype on "yeah, let's kickstart EiR and get money to pay the people we want to work for us".
I now realize how naive that was.
We think we are developing a high quality product, with very robust and optimized code in the engine, top-class graphics and a solid design featuring intriguing gameplay traits, about that we have no doubt.
It is not about boasting, but we are really putting a huge effort in have the above mentioned properties shining in our game. We also think that although this is the first independent game we work on, for ourselves and not for some imposed specifications from above, we have the technical experience to get something very nice out of that.
Given this premise (maybe then when we will delivery, people's opinion will prove us completely wrong, it might happen, but the little feedback received so far sounds promising), let's go back to the initial sentence : "oh, we kickstart".
True, experience is the best teacher, but as nobody was born experienced, we need to make our bones on that. So we spent the last months reading (a lot), discussing (a lot) and asking questions here and there (a lot) to understand what and how.
Kickstarter is a beautiful weapon, let's say a BFG9000 (for who gets the citation). It has only one little flaw. It has one bullet only. So if you aim unprecisely, or shoot in a moment in which no huge crowd of cacodemons is preparing to charge you, you just waste it. And then it's gone ( I don't believe in a second KS try, at least not in a short term).
So we took a look at Empire in Ruins (my preciousss!) and we coldly dissected it, to see what we have and what we don't. And I am talking of one year of semi-part time work (bills don't get paid by beautiful gamedev nights only).
- We have a setting for the game. It comes from a book i am writing since a while (620 pages and going). not saying it is the most beautiful and creative setting ever (even though i hope it is), but that means that i spent 2 yrs thinking on it, so i know habits and costume of every single of the populations that live in it (in setting-building having been a DM in D&D for years is an invaluable tool).
- We have a design. We know exactly how the game is and is gonna be structured, which features will be available and where the gameplay is gonna be focused.Not saying that it's never gonna change, but the plan is clear in mind and on doc files.
- We already have most of the basic engine for a single map
- waves and path system (newly rewritten, featuring also forests,water,amphibian, tunnels, flying,dynamically opened paths, etc etc, i am writing a journal entry about it but it's taking days)
- units movement/animation/death/all functions
- building and mouse interaction system (you can sneak a peek here Goo.gl )
- towers shooting/best enemy targeting/special abilities (flaming arrows, clouds of smoke, throwing nets, caltrops, boiling oil, etc etc)
- good-quality graphics for a single map demo (at least for terrains and towers)
- We have, almost ready, a 4 minutes original song recorded and processed by a real band (Red Dew Hellpipes, doomish military metal with bagpipes)
- We have a couple of sketches that demonstrate the skill of the illustration artist we will contract with the KS money.
Do you think all that is enough? After long long thinking, we decided that it's not.
First of all, I am absolute believe of the fact that a project shouldn't hit KS if it looks already complete or almost. I mean, why to ask money to produce something that you already produced?
But.
First of all you have to show some high quality stuff (bit of graphics, bit of video footage, bit fo drawings), to show that yes, you have a pool of skill available from which to draw what's necessary for a high quality product. And we think we are very close to that.
So what's missing?
Gameplay. People want to see a bit of all the gameplay features you will offer in the final game. Not finalized, but looking good, looking functional, looking interesting. Looking teasing.
In EiR for example we wanna put a large focus on two things that are not just the single TD map :R&D and tactics. (and RPG elements, but I will keep this for another entry of the journal)
An example of what the design states :
"The tactical map from which the single maps can be accessed is structured in regions. Each region has specific traits (e.g. forest regions, if developed, will confer a bonus to wood production during the fights in adjacent territories or on longer ranges depending on the development of the logistic system). Once a region has been conquered, mainly according to the plot flow (in several cases not only a single battlefield is open), it is up to the player to develop it and fortify it so that the enemy AI will not strike back, removing the region from the player's control"
Is this an appealing feature that might differentiate EiR from traditional TD games? We definitely think so.
Can we show that? No
Why not?
Because I think that development and showing off don't fit together. You don't rush superficially through features development only to have something to show off. I saw a few days ago a pic of of good old Bill Gates with the caption "It compiles?Ship it!".
Such a large game as we are developing (large for an indie company at least) implies a slow, accurate (to a level of paranois), modular development.
You start from medium-small components (a single map for example), then, keeping everything as modular as possible (you think you did it modular? probably is not modular enough yet), you build it. Feature after features, line of code after another. You develop the small component, you test it endlessly, then you declare it done and go with the next. And then you test the interaction over and over, and find all those if(...) cases that might arise in special situations and you solve them. And this way you go on, with a solid, robust, massive engine under your feet.
And if everything was done to perfection, a miracle will arise, a miracle called Emergence. (check this out Goo.gl
The one above about the tactical map is just an example among many, but the summarized moral is : don't do it quickly just to show it, and if you don't have it, don't rush towards showing it but take your time and do it well. It will pay off in the end.
Now my delirium of words, might be probably confused, ill-formed and emotional in its own way, but expresses my feelings about it, and the reasons why we decided to delay by at least two months our KS campaign.
Additionally, for exposure, if you sorta liked what I wrote, you could help us in enlarging the vital user base (that one also still too small in our case for KS and additional reason to decide to delay) and follow us on twitter or FB and retweet some of our stuff. If you don't like,
respect anyway that you got to read it until the end.
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As usual, if I didn't want any comment or opinion I wouldn't have wrote all this publically, so feel free to comment. The meaner the more useful it will probably be.
Cheers,
H
