Wasteland 2: Apostles of Quarex welcomed! BETA IS OUT!

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Wasteland 2: Apostles of Quarex welcomed! BETA IS OUT!

Rinkles: Oct 24, 2010; What I'm getting at is...
Do you feel the same way?

Nebelwerfer posted:

Video removed because too long. Try cutting it up for smaller pieces before Youtube auths you to upload longer stuff.

e: Or use Vimeo.

Just use Vimeo.

They've always been vehemently opposed to gameplay footage, LPs included. So unless something has changed that's not a good idea.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 09:45

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 27, 2024 02:39

lordfrikk: Mar 11, 2010; Oh, say it ain't fuckin' so,
you stupid fuck!

re: video removed because it's too long

It's probably because you don't have over 1000 (I think?) views on any videos associated with your account. After that you can upload videos virtually unlimited in length.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 09:46

inscrutable horse: May 20, 2010; Parsing sage, rotating time

bonds0097 posted:

I'm more than happy to receive any advice or critique either on the thread or via PM. And yes, I realize my mic was capturing my breathing in an annoying fashion at times, I'll work on that.

You might want to head over to the LP Sandcastle thread if you want advice. They know their stuff, and could also help you out with your hosting.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 10:09

RagingBoner: Jan 10, 2006; Real Wood Pencil

Statshot for 3/21:

Donations are petering out at a logarithmic rate. But don't worry! If this trend holds true, we'll still hit 1.5 million in the next couple of days. Anything after that is just making its own gravy, so yay!

# ? Mar 21, 2012 13:44

bonds0097: Oct 23, 2010; I would cry but I don't think I can spare the moisture.; Pillbug

Hey guys, sorry for the failed attempt at video upload. Here is a corrected link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMHOVlem9Eg

I just had to verify my account with a mobile phone and that allows me to upload videos of unlimited? length.

And I definitely intend to post in the LP sandcastle once I have a 2nd posting. I'm not sure how much can be gleaned from the first video since it's mostly chargen.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 14:41

Tarquinn: Jul 3, 2007; I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you
my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal.; Hell Gem

bonds0097 posted:

Hey guys, sorry for the failed attempt at video upload. Here is a corrected link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yMHOVlem9Eg

I just had to verify my account with a mobile phone and that allows me to upload videos of unlimited? length.

And I definitely intend to post in the LP sandcastle once I have a 2nd posting. I'm not sure how much can be gleaned from the first video since it's mostly chargen.

No, do it now.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:14

Rupert Buttermilk: Apr 15, 2007; 🚣RowboatMan: ❄️Freezing time🕰️ is an old P.I. 🥧trick...

RagingBoner posted:

... and 90% of the time I play with the volume turned down any way.

As a sound designer, you make me sad. Then again, VO aside, if the sound in a game is good, the player doesn't want it off.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:25

Saoshyant: Oct 26, 2010

New email update:

Brian Fargo posted:

I continue to be overwhelmed by the positive feedback and enthusiasm from the support I have gotten from Kickstarter. The groundswell of people cheering us on and the evangelism - people spreading the word - is unlike anything I have experienced. In fact, I would say the last week was the high water mark of my career.

We are closing in on the funding for 1.5 million which will allow us to add both a Mac and Linux version of Wasteland 2 to the release. One of the (more common) questions I am asked is whether we'll support console and I believe it to be unlikely. It is imperative that we deliver the core PC experience that the fans are expecting here and I want to avoid any elements that could distract us. The console interface is quite different when you consider the input device and proximity to the screen whereas the Mac and Linux are pretty much identical to that of the "PC". We will consider a tablet version due to the similarity of the screen and interface but even on that we need to do a bit more research.

There have been some nice human moments along the way that I thought I would share.

We started off strong in the first 24 hours raising nearly 50% of our minimum need but still I was nervous. All the signs of success were there but we all wanted it to happen so badly that it seemed to good to be true. Around 6:00 that first night we received an email from a wealthy software industry individual who is a passionate fan of Wasteland and offered to help fund the game if Kickstarter came short! Talk about feeling good. Of course I thanked him and said I hoped we would not need his assistance but he made my whole day/week/month/year.

On the next day I get a short tweet from an individual that confesses he pirated Wasteland as a kid and was donating to help make up for it. I of course forgave not knowing he had donated $10,000 dollars. An incredible gesture... now if we could get every pirate of Wasteland 1 to donate we could really beat the Kickstarter all time record.

Mason Douglass who plays the kid publisher in the Kickstarter video has gotten rave reviews for his performance. His delivery was great and I have had people wanting to contact his manager for parts in TV/film. I jokingly told him when we shot the bit that he might become famous from this. Perhaps he will.

And just today I got an email along with a donation from a kid who lived down the street from me when he was a teenager. His note was as follows:

"This message is intended for Brian Fargo. Brian, I was your next door neighbor when you used to live in Laguna. I was a pesky 15 or 16 year old kid that would come around and ask you about games. You would sit down and take time to talk to me about games, and the industry, and I just wanted you to know how cool it was that you didn't blow me off. It meant a lot to me. Recently, I found out about your Kickstarter movement for Wasteland 2, and I contributed to it because I believe in you and your ability to resurrect the glory of the franchise. I wish you the best of luck in your endeavors, and thank you again for creating some memorable memories for me during my teenage years. Take care!"

It shows that being nice creates goodwill 20 years later.

And speaking of goodwill it occurs to me that we can harness the power of Kickstarter in a more meaningful way. Fan funding is bigger than me or Wasteland 2 as I have remarked before. The development community has come together to support us in ways that I didn't think possible and our power as developers will ultimately come from us sticking together. Both gamers and developers have so much more strength than they realize. But in order to help facilitate the power of crowd funding I am going to suggest that all of us that do utilize this form of financing agree to kickback 5% of our profits made from such projects to other Kickstarter developers. I am not suggesting taking a backers money and moving it to another project.. I mean once a game has shipped and created profit that we funnel that back into the community of developers to fund their dreams. I am tentatively calling this "Kick It Forward" and I will be the first to agree to it. In fact, I will have our artists create a badge that goes on all Kickstarter projects that agree to support this initiative. Imagine the potential if another Minecraft comes along via Kickstarter and produces millions of dollars of investment into other developers. This economic payback will continue to grow the movement way beyond the current system. I hope others will join me with this idea and make this a true shakeup.

Let's get the power shifted around a bit!

No console version. Maybe a tablet version. Maybe.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:38

Tarquinn: Jul 3, 2007; I know I’ve made some very poor decisions recently, but I can give you
my complete assurance that my work will be back to normal.; Hell Gem

I really like the Fargo "blogging". While it isn't as funny as what Schafer did in his updates, it gives more insight into what is going on in his mind and company.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:46

etalian: Mar 20, 2006

Saoshyant posted:

New email update:

No console version. Maybe a tablet version. Maybe.

How could you even do a console version, it would requires lots of hoops to jump through plus all the standard licensing feeds?

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:48

Springtime Goddess: Sep 2, 2006; oh no i put a stupid title text here when i registered in 2006 please how do i change it i am not good with computer

I'm curious, how much effort is it to port a game from PC to Mac/Linux? Don't want to sound like an rear end in a top hat by asking, I just genuinely have no idea, and both Fargo and Schafer have set price thresholds for ports.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:51

Azraelle: Jan 13, 2008

RagingBoner posted:

Statshot for 3/21:

Donations are petering out at a logarithmic rate. But don't worry! If this trend holds true, we'll still hit 1.5 million in the next couple of days. Anything after that is just making its own gravy, so yay!

Where do you find the kickstarter data? That graph looks convincing enough that it would be fun to do a time series regression to predict the final outcome and see how far off the final estimate comes to the prediction.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:53

signalnoise: Mar 7, 2008; i was told my old av was distracting

Rupert Buttermilk posted:

As a sound designer, you make me sad. Then again, VO aside, if the sound in a game is good, the player doesn't want it off.

I turn off music when it doesn't enhance the game and really is only a distraction. I'll turn sound down so I can hear my friends over voice chat. Some game audio is so good though that I will use it as a replacement for music in other games. I seriously still play the old Fallout 1 and 2 music in the background of other games, most recently Skyrim. It never, ever gets old to me. More game audio should take that kind of direction and be just environmental enough to not just be ambient sounds, but also not actually sound quite like some tune you're going to get tired of.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:56

Saoshyant: Oct 26, 2010

etalian posted:

How could you even do a console version, it would requires lots of hoops to jump through plus all the standard licensing feeds?

I don't know, and if you're replying in a way as if I cared then you waste your time preaching to the choir. I just made a summary of the important bits in his update.

And there have been people wondering if there would be a console version, which is probably why he's addressing that topic now.

A tablet version would probably be nifty, though.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 15:57

Lurdiak: Feb 26, 2006; I believe in a universe that doesn't care, and people that do.

CrookedB posted:

"Brian's already noted that audio is going to be a component we'll be exploiting, and I agree strongly with that. Having an actor read text can put so much more nuance into things that it really enriches the experience. I think having text available as a back-up, or as the primary source of information in places where a voice would not be appropriate (like reading a message scratched on a jail cell wall), is a good way to go. ... The trick with text is going to be to make it engaging enough that folks will want to read it."

Dear Brian Fargo: Kick this guy off the team please, tia.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 16:09

BobTheJanitor: Jun 28, 2003

Saoshyant posted:

New email update:

That's pretty awesome. Between the heartwarming stories of the neighbor and the former pirate who dontated 10 grand, and his ideas for 'kick it forward' it's like Brian Fargo is trying to make me shed a single manly tear. I wonder if the 'wealthy software industry individual' is Notch again.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 16:45

Dreylad: Jun 19, 2001

The 5% kick it forward is a smart move. It heads off criticism from some people (like that article that was posted a few pages ago) that these companies aren't actually supporting other kickstarters.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 16:54

bonds0097: Oct 23, 2010; I would cry but I don't think I can spare the moisture.; Pillbug

Dreylad posted:

The 5% kick it forward is a smart move. It heads off criticism from some people (like that article that was posted a few pages ago) that these companies aren't actually supporting other kickstarters.

That's debatable. People like that will still complain that these KS's are just funding other dev kickstarters instead of whatever pet projects they actually favor (D&D art or whatever).

# ? Mar 21, 2012 17:18

cool new Metroid game: Oct 7, 2009; hail satan

The official forums are terrible, I hope the devs mostly ignore it. Seriously, the biggest thread (by dozens of pages) I saw over there was some dumb thread about how important it is to be able to get married and by a house to settle down in and :suicide:

Fuckin' Bioware, you guys ruined everything for everyone.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 17:31

Smol: Jun 1, 2011; Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.

Azraelle posted:

Where do you find the kickstarter data? That graph looks convincing enough that it would be fun to do a time series regression to predict the final outcome and see how far off the final estimate comes to the prediction.

Don't know where RagingBoner is getting the data, but I could periodically export mine in CSV/JSON/whatever format if you want to.

You should be able to mine the current data from the page source as well. The first column is the combined date & time in ISO 8601 format and the second is the amount pledged.

Smol fucked around with this message at 18:24 on Mar 21, 2012

# ? Mar 21, 2012 18:17

Largepotato: Jan 18, 2007; Spurd.

I visited the Guardian Citadel and Brother Goliath was chilling out the front.

First I had my created characters scorch holes in his armor with laser pistols to raise energy weapons up to level 7. Secondly I had all my characters throw dozens of spears at him to get brawling up to level 7. Finally I had my characters punch him in the face many, many times to get level 7 pugilism.

Eventually he fell under the barrage of punches. :black101:

# ? Mar 21, 2012 18:38

TOOT BOOT: May 25, 2010

Megadyptes posted:

The official forums are terrible, I hope the devs mostly ignore it. Seriously, the biggest thread (by dozens of pages) I saw over there was some dumb thread about how important it is to be able to get married and by a house to settle down in and

Fuckin' Bioware, you guys ruined everything for everyone.

The idea was pretty overwhelmingly being shot down in that thread judging by poll results.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 18:44

Smol: Jun 1, 2011; Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.

Megadyptes posted:

The official forums are terrible, I hope the devs mostly ignore it. Seriously, the biggest thread (by dozens of pages) I saw over there was some dumb thread about how important it is to be able to get married and by a house to settle down in and

Fuckin' Bioware, you guys ruined everything for everyone.

That's mainly Bethesda's shtick though, not Bioware's.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 18:47

TOOT BOOT: May 25, 2010

Smol posted:

That's mainly Bethesda's shtick though, not Bioware's.

Housing is, yes. Marriage is a recent thing.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 18:50

null_user01013: Nov 13, 2000; Drink up comrades

TOOT BOOT posted:

Housing is, yes. Marriage is a recent thing.

We used to make fun of people for playing Second Life, then they just put Second Life into all of our games.

But still, the shotgun wedding to my gay lover in Fallout was pretty awesome, probably because I walked away and didn't play house the rest of the game.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:00

Smol: Jun 1, 2011; Stat rosa pristina nomine, nomina nuda tenemus.

TOOT BOOT posted:

Housing is, yes. Marriage is a recent thing.

Of course, but you see neither in Bioware games.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:07

Saoshyant: Oct 26, 2010

Smol posted:

Of course, but you see neither in Bioware games.

No, just torrid sex, underwear humping.

In Fallout 2 you could marry and get a house, so having that option in W2 wouldn't be that strange a concept. Don't care either way, but it's not like Fargo's short on cash now.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:09

communism bitch: Apr 24, 2009

'nother interview with Brian up here.

Interesting titbit:

quote:

Additionally, we will job out much of the art to keep our fixed overhead low. Wasteland 2 will be as big or bigger than Wasteland 1.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:27

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know

I don't really understand the Kick It Forward thing. How are Kickstarter projects obligated to help each other? I thought the point was to let individuals fund things they want to happen. Are people still confusing Kickstarter with a charity?

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:44

communism bitch: Apr 24, 2009

HondaCivet posted:

I don't really understand the Kick It Forward thing. How are Kickstarter projects obligated to help each other?

They're not? Brian just thinks it'd be a nice way to give something back to the system that's helped him make the game he wants to make?

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:45

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know

Oberleutnant posted:

They're not? Brian just thinks it'd be a nice way to give something back to the system that's helped him make the game he wants to make?

In his email he suggests that anyone using Kickstarter join him in Kicking It Forward. Game studios throwing money at each other just sounds weird to me but I'm probably overthinking it.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 19:56

signalnoise: Mar 7, 2008; i was told my old av was distracting

HondaCivet posted:

In his email he suggests that anyone using Kickstarter join him in Kicking It Forward. Game studios throwing money at each other just sounds weird to me but I'm probably overthinking it.

Don't think game studio, think indie developer. He's trying to foster a community for people who want games that mainstream publishers won't fund. Turn based tactical RPG lovers should all support this.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 20:06

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know

signalnoise posted:

Don't think game studio, think indie developer. He's trying to foster a community for people who want games that mainstream publishers won't fund. Turn based tactical RPG lovers should all support this.

Yeah, after thinking about it more I think I'm down. The thought of developers and gamers huddling together for warmth around Kickstarter forever is kind of depressing now that the gaming industry is bigger than ever but it's pretty awesome to see the commitment and stuff I guess. :unsmith:

# ? Mar 21, 2012 20:35

Phil Niekro: Jun 4, 2005

I love the idea of cutting out the middle man in regards to production, but I can't help but think that allowing donators to have creative input would be almost as detrimental and antithetical to one of the main selling points of this project for me, i.e. a game completely dictated by the creative team.

Is there any mention of the amount of input donators will have?

# ? Mar 21, 2012 20:40

Cousin Todd: Jul 3, 2007; Grimey Drawer

Made the penny arcade frontpage today. I'm interested if this makes that curve graph more curvy. Graph goons, get on it!

# ? Mar 21, 2012 23:36

null_user01013: Nov 13, 2000; Drink up comrades

HondaCivet posted:

I don't really understand the Kick It Forward thing. How are Kickstarter projects obligated to help each other? I thought the point was to let individuals fund things they want to happen. Are people still confusing Kickstarter with a charity?

I think people are thinking kickstarter is some form of socialism/communism.

If everyone pays for games, we will all have money to make games and then buy them again?

# ? Mar 21, 2012 23:45

Spiky Ooze: Oct 27, 2005; Bernie Sanders is a friend to my planet (pictured)

click the shit outta^

HondaCivet posted:

depressing now that the gaming industry is bigger than ever but it's pretty awesome to see the commitment and stuff I guess.

Well, this is the happiest some of these people have ever been in the industry. Being allowed to pursue your creative work is an incredible thing.

Yeah it would be nice if the publisher system had any integrity in the first place but I see that as about as likely as Michael Bay making a thought-provoking film. Publishers only look for the fastest ways to make money, and those aren't very creative.

# ? Mar 21, 2012 23:50

HondaCivet: Oct 16, 2005; And then it falls
And then I fall
And then I know

Spiky Ooze posted:

Well, this is the happiest some of these people have ever been in the industry. Being allowed to pursue your creative work is an incredible thing.

Yeah it would be nice if the publisher system had any integrity in the first place but I see that as about as likely as Michael Bay making a thought-provoking film. Publishers only look for the fastest ways to make money, and those aren't very creative.

It's a very cool arrangement in that it's really win-win for everyone involved, yes. It was just cool when gaming was the new frontier and publishers could be more easily tricked into providing lots of funding for good games instead of games for people that don't like games. :v:

# ? Mar 21, 2012 23:56

Peas and Rice: Jul 14, 2004; Honor and profit.

Spiky Ooze posted:

Yeah it would be nice if the publisher system had any integrity in the first place but I see that as about as likely as Michael Bay making a thought-provoking film. Publishers only look for the fastest ways to make money, and those aren't very creative.

In the beginning, the developers were the publishers. The publishers grew up because of the need for marketing and distribution. Now that the internet has empowered developers to do their own marketing again (and fans to help them - look at this thread), and to distribute their own games without the need to get into every Wal-Mart and Target across America (and for a much better profit), it's great to see the system realigning itself.

# ? Mar 22, 2012 00:04

Adbot: ADBOT LOVES YOU

# ? Apr 27, 2024 02:39

communism bitch: Apr 24, 2009

Peas and Rice posted:

The publishers grew up because of the need for marketing and distribution.

Not to mention start up capital, which is probably the single most important factor in getting a game made. Those three factors (funding, marketing, distribution) are all essential to getting a game made, and were all monopolised by the publishers.
Publishers were (and still are to a great extent) the only ones who could front multiple millions of dollars to a developer in order to get a new game off the ground. In return the publisher inevitably gouges the gently caress out of those devs when it comes to sharing out the profits. I've heard horror stories of developers recieving no royalties from their games until the publisher gets back 150-200% their original investment, and we've all read recently about Obsidian and that Metacritic score.
Now that there's a system like Kickstarter to funnel needed cash directly to developers it's basically kicking another crutch out from under the publishers. I'm not expecting some imminent collapse of the publishing industry, but I am very glad that more and more develoeprs are finding their independence.

# ? Mar 22, 2012 00:34

The Something Awful Forums > Discussion > Video Games > Wasteland 2: Apostles of Quarex welcomed! BETA IS OUT!

«‹›233 »