
Double Fine launched a new game on Kickstarter - 6thSigma
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/doublefine/double-fines-massive-chalice
======
Irregardless
I'd be extremely hesitant to trust these guys with a single cent right now.
They requested $400k in their last Kickstarter and received over $3.3 million,
but that project (now called Broken Age) is STILL overbudget and delayed [1].
They're funneling profits from other games into it already, and now they're
asking for more money so they can work on a new game? Or is this just their
way of getting a much needed cash infusion after all other avenues have
failed, so they can fund their ailing project and then worry about this one
later?

All this on top of the fact that their most recently released game, The Cave,
was mediocre at best [2].

[1]
[http://www.gameinformer.com/games/broken_age/b/pc/archive/20...](http://www.gameinformer.com/games/broken_age/b/pc/archive/2013/04/26/double-
fine-breaks-tradition-with-a-modern-adventure.aspx)

> Broken Age was originally planned to be completed in April, but according to
> the documentary the schedule has been extended until September. The costs of
> a lengthened development have forced Double Fine to search for more money.
> Double Fine still welcomes supporters that missed the Kickstarter deadline,
> but in the documentary Isa Stamos, director of product development, affirms
> that the studio either has to dramatically increase funding or reduce the
> scope of the game. In Episode 8, Double Fine’s vice president of business
> development, Justin Bailey, reveals that profits from the release of Brütal
> Legend for PC will almost entirely feed into Broken Age.

> Despite the desire to stick within the confines of the Kickstarter money,
> Double Fine is facing the reality many developers face in the middle of
> production. Facing setbacks and asking publishers for more time or money is
> common in the video game industry, but possibly going over budget with loads
> of crowd-funded money is new territory.

[2] <http://www.metacritic.com/game/pc/the-cave>

~~~
nostromo
If you'll allow me to be a bit rude, why do you care?

I mean, it's $20 dude.

I understand the anger and skepticism a person feels when they make $30k a
year and back a project for $50 that fails. But I don't understand it on HN.
We're _programmers and entrepreneurs_. We know that timelines and resources
are difficult to forecast. We know that companies and projects fail, even when
they have millions of dollars to spend. We also generally make enough that $20
lost is negligible.

Yet everytime I look at the comments section for a Kickstarter I see mostly
permutations of this comment.

~~~
papsosouid
>fraud is totally cool because we're _programmers and entrepreneurs_

No, it really isn't. This is not a kickstarter to make a game, this is a
kickstarter to help pay for the game they already made a kickstarter for
before. It isn't about risk, it is about fraud.

~~~
levesque
Interesting how a lot of people in here assume this is a fraud to support
their previous project. Why couldn't they honestly be starting a new project
with a separate team?

~~~
6thSigma
Because there is nothing controversial in that.

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famousactress
I like that it looks like they learned a lot from the last kickstarter. Some
noteable differences:

\- Using an existing engine they're familiar with

\- Asking for lots more money

\- Cutting on shipping costs for rewards by moving them to higher tiers

\- Targeting fewer platforms, initially

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josh2600
I've wanted a replacement for Final Fantasy Tactics forever. That was a really
amazing, cerebral game. I think that Advanced Wars is kind of the epitome of
this genre, but I'd love to see what they can do.

These games are all about the execution; really easy to overcomplicate the
interface.

~~~
obviouslygreen
If you're looking entirely for the gameplay (or if you also enjoy Japanese
themes, art, and humor), try the _Disgaea_ games. _Vastly_ better gameplay
than _FF: Tactics_ , though the art and tone are almost polar opposites.

~~~
josh2600
Loved Disgaea but I feel like the endgame is too repetitive and boring. Like,
in one of the games, if you wanna go to the penguin world you're looking at
like 150+ hours of grinding. It's not World of Warcraft you know?

So I guess I'm looking for depth, but not depth for the sake of depth, more
like real continuous flow. I liked Disgaea a lot though back in the day.

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babuskov
I listened to Tim at NordicGame last week, and one thing was obvious, although
it seems he does not realize it yet: So far, he has been constrained by the
publishers to release the game.

During his talk, he said something like: "When do you release? When you run
out of money". When you see the publisher as only viable source of money, you
know that it has to be DONE, NOW. In that case, it's easy to cut the feature
list and just do essential things and release. As 37 signals guys would say:
do less ;)

Now, that they see they have many avenues to get money and still don't see the
end of it, it's hard to constrain the scope of the project. There is no
publisher to do the reality check.

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scott_karana
I was going to make a cynical reply about them not finishing their first
project, but this looks FANTASTIC.

I guess I'm a funder now instead :)

~~~
arrrg
What? Not finished? I guess you are technically correct, but I got my money’s
worth a long, long time ago. They have been delivering kick-ass videos all the
damn time. This documentary is fucking awesome.

I think only non-backers or very confused backers could say something weird
like it not being finished. I don’t think I want them to ever finish, I want
to get my documentary fix.

~~~
just_observing
"I think only non-backers or very confused backers could "say something weird
like it not being finished."

I backed it. I do not have a copy of the game to play.

That means it is not finished.

If I am wrong in that please do tell me how.

~~~
arrrg
You are an annoying pedant who takes everything way too literal and you should
think long and hard about that but not wrong.

~~~
vectorpush
You're just wrong. It's not pedantry to say they did not finish their project
if the product has not been released, especially in light of huge delays and
extreme budget excess. Maybe you're content with documentary videos instead of
the promised product but it's certainly a fair assessment to say that the
project is not finished.

~~~
jasonlotito
KickStarter is not for buying products. Hence, the concept of a "promised
product" doesn't exist within KickStarter backed projects. That people confuse
KickStarter with a store does not make KickStarter a store.

People that are upset at the project "being late" completely are people that
are treating KickStarter merely as a pre-ordering system. It's not.

~~~
vectorpush
Irrelevant. The project is not complete; that has nothing to do with
Kickstarter's purported use case or anybody's expectations, it's simply a
fact.

Five months delayed. Millions of dollars over budget. No product.

I can't think of a better example of unfinished.

~~~
arrrg
I’m honestly confused why you think they are millions (plural!) over budget.
Their budget was obviously the $3.3m, the funding they received. That’s what
they planned with. To act like their budget was $400,000 the whole time is
just weird and not true at all.

So if their budget is $3.3m I’m not sure where you are getting the info from
that they are (already) millions over budget. When all is said and done the
game will probably cost more than $3.3m, sure, but I‘m also not sure why that
matters. It’s not like putting their own money into it is somehow wrong. It’s
their game, they can do what they want.

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kinnth
This just pisses me right off. You do one kickstarter, get huge support and
then claim the rest of your company needs more. Get real, release the game and
give more back to your fans with this game, stop asking us to fund your ideas!
I develop games for a living and having the bloody luxury of a kickstarter
because of who you were doesn't mean your going to make a great game. This has
actually really annoyed me and I for one will not be supporting it but ill be
supporting one of the many other indie devs who work there asses off on a
single game because they love what they do!

~~~
Anderkent
Because obviously putting more people on Broken Age will make it release
faster. Man-months, right?!

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ambiate
I've always noted that it was interesting that link selling (in a non-obvious
manner) was not an incentive for these Kickstarter projects. Donate $20 and
get your name and link to your website on our contributors page! Shrug.

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M4v3R
Wow, the campaign was launched just a while ago, and while I was watching the
video it already gathered $35,000. Insane momentum.

Edit: After I wrote this comment it already had $39,000.

~~~
wikwocket
Many repeat Kickstarters get very quick surges when they launch. They usually
send a blast out to supporters of the first Kickstarter, so they have a
captive list of hot leads ready to go. (This shows the power of email lists
btw)

Also,I believe the media is more eager to cover them, as it is bigger news
when a past KS success launches follow-up projects, as opposed to an unknown
launching a new project.

~~~
pasquinelli
that and, double fine was never an unknown in the first place.

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etler
While reading 1000 years on english history on wikipedia one day, I was
thinking of a game just like this! I really like the whole legacy and
bloodline idea. I hope they have a historical recap so you can see the epic
history of your kingdom.

------
mey
[http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/doublefine/double-fines-
mas...](http://www.kicktraq.com/projects/doublefine/double-fines-massive-
chalice/)

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marxdeveloper
is it me or this new projects sounds a lot like Rogue Legacy?

