{"id":8982,"date":"2013-04-29T10:58:41","date_gmt":"2013-04-29T14:58:41","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/?p=8982"},"modified":"2013-04-29T12:05:31","modified_gmt":"2013-04-29T16:05:31","slug":"kickstarters-update-who-made-it-and%e2%80%a6-who-didnt-part-iv","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/2013\/04\/kickstarters-update-who-made-it-and%e2%80%a6-who-didnt-part-iv\/","title":{"rendered":"Kickstarters Update: Who Made It and\u2026 Who Didn’t – Part IV"},"content":{"rendered":"

Time for another Kickstarters update. In our\u00a0last\u00a0update<\/a>\u00a0(Nov 2012 to Jan 2013)\u00a0we covered the successful crowdfunding stories of Elite Dangerous – a sequel to the 1984 Elite classic space combat game; Limit Theory – a space combat sim with RPG and strategy elements; the turn-based space 4X game, Predestinaton;\u00a0Hegemonic, a\u00a0tabletop space 4X board game; the space combat and ship design app Skyjacker – Starship Construction. And finally, Galcon 2: Galactic Conquest, a simple fast-paced\u00a0real-time space strategy game.<\/p>\n

Let’s now see what our enthusiastic space, science fiction (and their fantasy cousins) devs have been cooking for us for the past 3 months or so.<\/p>\n

\"Battle<\/a><\/p>\n

Battle Worlds: Kronos<\/a> – military sci-fi turn-based strategy\/tactics \u00a0-> Made it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

KING Art Games proposed Battle Worlds: Kronos<\/a>, a military science fiction turn-based strategy game. It was to be a spiritual successor to the Battle Isle series. Advance Wars and Panzer General were also mentioned as sources of inspiration. It seems that the hexagonal style maps, the 2 single player campaigns, the varied multiplayer options and the availability for Windows, Mac and Linux were more than enough to convince a host of people to help them outsource their art, and speed up the overall development. Before going to Kickstarter, they tried to reach several publishers and failed. On Kickstarter, they managed to get $260,000, which means the “play everywhere” stretch goal (iOS, Android, Ouya) was also achieved. Release is planned for Q4 2013, with Alpha in Q2 2013 and Beta in Q3 2013. More information on KING Art’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Rogue<\/a><\/p>\n

Rogue System<\/a>: space trading and combat sim\u00a0-> Didn’t make it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Michael Juliano,\u00a0an aircraft enthusiast, and a flight sim and space sim lover, proposed Rogue System<\/a>, a\u00a0space trading and combat simulation with a realistic flavor and complex flight mechanics. Examples of this complexity would be: clickable buttons on the cockpit, dozens of systems, many different types of damage taken, pilots modeled in detail. Unfortunately, the story-driven single-player campaign, the open-ended trading system and the persistent multiplayer mode were not enough to convince \u00a0many people to join Michael’s vision (only ~17% funding of $300,000 reached). The fact that his Kickstarter came right after other space sim Kickstarters, like Elite or Star Citizen, probably didn’t help, as the genre was probably too saturated already. Michael didn’t give up though. In his “thank you” update<\/a> he said to be moving on to a simpler donation system to be up and running on his site<\/a>, soon.<\/p>\n

\"Net<\/a><\/p>\n

Net Gain: Corporate Espionage<\/a>: cyberpunk \u00a0strategy -> Made it!\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indie developer John Gosling from Level Zero Games, proposed Net Gain: Corporate Espionage<\/a>, a sci-fi strategy game set on the year of 2043 where you play the role of an agent working for a mega corporation in a cyberpunk world. Your job would be to spy,\u00a0sabotage or steal your rivals plans, and lead your own teams to success through a series of missions, each with its own set of min-challenges. All this from the\u00a0heights\u00a0of a \u201cpenthouse view\u201d. John turned to Kickstarter for the chance to work full-time on the game until its completion. And, he was highly successful, achieving 36K from the initial goal of 16K (~225% funding). Net Gain should be available for PC and Mac on Q1 2014, with an early playable prototype around June 2013. We’ll keep an eye on Net Gain’s progress. In the meantime you can check further progress through the game’s\u00a0blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Shackleton<\/a><\/p>\n

Shackleton Crater<\/a>: turn-based strategy\/space colony simulation ->Didn’t make it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Joe Ybarra, a 40 year gaming producer, and co-founder of Electronic Arts, went to Kickstarter for\u00a0Shackleton Crater<\/a>, a game about developing a sustainable colony on the surface of the Moon. The idea would be go hard sci-fi and seek a more realistic simulation experience. Both single-player and multiplayer were planned, but Joe’s description suggested a more \u201cnon-combative\u201d gameplay nature. Meaning, more cooperative than competitive style of play. This may have put some people off. That or the fact that Joe had little gameplay to show to people. He acknowledged this on his last update<\/a> “we realize that additional gameplay and game details are needed to effectively communicate our product.”. Joe pulled the plug when it was evident that his $700,000 goal could not be hit. He hasn’t \u00a0thrown the towel yet though. Joe\u00a0stated<\/a>\u00a0that he plans to continue with the development and pursue other opportunities to develop and publish his game and vision. His game’s site<\/a> has been down for many days though…<\/p>\n

\"Terminus\"<\/a><\/p>\n

Terminus<\/a>: \u00a0post-apocalyptical space colony simulation -> Didn’t make it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indie dev Ryan Czech proposed\u00a0Terminus<\/a>, a real-time construction simulator about space colonization on a post-apocalyptic setting. Terminus would deliver a city-building experience on other planets, with a focus on disaster management, with details like evacuation procedures and facility inspections. You would need to deal with fires, bio hazards, diseases, air-loss, meteor impacts, and other disasters. Unfortunately, Ryan didn’t make it, achieving only $4,721 of the $25,000 required. Too bad. Gameplay seemed deep, but perhaps many thought it was too deep on the disaster management aspect. That or the lack of actual gameplay to show, perhaps. It’s unclear if development will continue. Ryan suggested that he will continue looking for other crowdfunding opportunities and that progress on that could be checked through their website<\/a>. In the meantime, and with Shackleton Crater on-hold as well,\u00a0we’re left with Maia<\/a>\u00a0(successful Kickstarter) and Unclaimed World<\/a>, as possibilities to scratch the space colony management itch.<\/p>\n

\"Beyond<\/a><\/p>\n

Beyond Beyaan<\/a>: turn-based space 4X strategy (engine) -> Made it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indie dev\u00a0Brent Patterson decided to take Beyond Beyaan, his 3 years space 4X game project to Kickstarter<\/a>. Brent’s idea was to ask not for a lot of money, but just enough to help finance some art assets for his game. Brent’s original plan was to develop a Master of Orion type of game with his own ideas. Later on, he added modding support, put his game on Desura<\/a> for alpha funding, went open source, and now doesn’t exclude the\u00a0possibility\u00a0to offer Beyond of Beyaan as an engine for other space 4X game projects. Brent asked for $2,000, to be used mainly for art assets, and he got $2,651. A modest endeavor sure, but proof that Kickstarter may also be useful for other activities other than hard resource-consuming development. You can reach Brent or follow his progress through his blog<\/a>. Beyond Beyaan is currently open source, the code can be found in Google Code\u00a0here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Starbase<\/a><\/p>\n

Starbase Orion<\/a>\u00a0(porting job): turn-based space 4X strategy -> Didn’t make it.\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Chimera Software went to Kickstarter<\/a> looking for support to port its iOS space 4X strategy game, Starbase Orion<\/a>, to Windows, Mac and Android devices. Chimera asked for $40,000 for the porting job, to be completed in about a five month period. But, they weren’t able to convince enough people to proceed on that direction, achieving only around 19% of their funding goal. However, the devs haven’t given up on the porting goal just yet. They said<\/a> that, in the time being, they will continue improving Starbase Orion,\u00a0implementing real-time chat, game replays, cloud-based AI and other features. But, they have plans to “try again later this year” for another go. Let’s see.<\/p>\n

\"SaveHomeworld.com\"<\/a><\/p>\n

SaveHomeworld.com<\/a>: cause to bid for the Homeworld IP -> Didn’t make it.<\/strong><\/p>\n

In January of this year, indie dev teamPixel went to IndieGoGo<\/a>\u00a0looking for funds to go after the Homeworld franchise IP, on the scope of THQ’s insolvency auction. This refundable crowdfunding campaign would be an attempt, in teamPixel’s view, to “save” the Homeworld franchise – “to us this means preserving access to the game for fans, both old and new (…) [and] take the classic Homeworld game and re-implement it on mobile devices with touch controls”, and no more no less than go after Homeworld 3 – “we have big plans for Homeworld 3”. Wow! Now that would be wonderful. But, the harsh reality is that it was perhaps too good to be true. In their flexible funding IndieGoGo campaign they managed to get around $13,000 from their initial minimal goal of $50,000. They stated<\/a>\u00a0to have already started the refunding process. We now know that Homeworld was bought by Gearbox Software<\/a>, who have expressed their desire to make the original games accessible once more, and have plans for the future also.<\/p>\n

\"World<\/a><\/p>\n

Worlds of Magic<\/a>: turn-based fantasy 4X strategy -> Made it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Wastelands Interactive, the developers of games like Strategic War in Europe and Storm over the Pacific went to Kickstarter<\/a> for Worlds of Magic, a turn-based fantasy 4X strategy game project meant to become a spiritual successor to Steve Barcia\u2019s\u00a0Master of Magic<\/a>. The money would be used to buy art assets and speed up the overall development. The campaign isn’t over at the time of this writing, but Wastelands Interactive already achieved its \u00a330,000 goal. The first stretch goal (\u00a335,000) was already achieved \u00a0as well and adds a 7th faction. $40,000 unlocks more creatures. Linux and Mac come with the $45,000 stretch goal. $50,000 unlocks a couple more factions. Further goals will be revealed as they go. ETA for the beta is Q4 2013 for a targeted release of Jan 2014.<\/p>\n

\"Infinite<\/a><\/p>\n

Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars<\/a> – space roguelike \/ RPG -> Made it!<\/strong><\/p>\n

Indie studio Digital Eel went to Kickstarter for\u00a0Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars<\/a>,\u00a0a 3D sequel to their classic space roguelikes, Strange Adventures and Weird Worlds. The idea is that\u00a0Sea of the Stars should be very similar to their predecessors. The major difference would be the transition from a 2D to a 3D engine, and some other \u201cfresh new material and gameplay\u201d, said Digital Eel. Modding would be a central aspect, with specialized tools to be specifically developed for that purpose. The crowdfunding campaign isn’t over yet, but their $30,000 goal has already been reached. So, the Digital Eel guys will have their money to help fund their starship models, character illustrations, music and sound effects, and speed up the development. Infinite Space 3: Sea of Stars beta should start around October 2013 with a final release set for December 2013. More details can be found on the game’s website<\/a>.<\/p>\n

C<\/strong>onclusion<\/strong><\/p>\n

<\/strong>5\/10 of our Kickstarters have made it. Not a bad number, I guess. But, in our\u00a0last Kickstarters Update<\/a>, we got 6\/8 achievers. The gross totals seems much lower this last quarter too.\u00a0The star this time was Battle Worlds: Kronos, which along with the humbler performances of Worlds of Magic and Infinite Space 3, was proof that turn-based mechanics are reclaiming their importance in the gaming scenario.<\/p>\n

As always, this update list is by no means an exhaustive one, as there may have been a few other space and sci-fi crowdfunding projects that we missed in this assessment period (between Feb-Apr 2013). The list represents the ones that captured our attention the most. As always, feel free to point them all out in the comments below – only finished and not already covered ones please. All Kickstarter updates can be found here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

And now our little disclaimer. Till our next Kickstarters update, continue helping our indie sci-fi and space gaming adventurers. But, don’t forget to back thoughtfully! :) Crowd funding is still on its infancy, and there’s always high risks involved (delays, change of plans, others). Don’t forget to always have that in mind when backing.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Time for another Kickstarters update (Feb-Apr 2013). On the winners side, there’s military sci-fi, cyberpunk strategy, fantasy 4X, space 4X and space roguelike to look for. Others weren’t so lucky.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1668,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"registered_only","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[943],"tags":[1246,482,685,876,726,1170,1237,1219,1242,346,1204,1254],"class_list":["post-8982","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-kickstart","tag-battle-worlds-kronos","tag-beyond-beyaan","tag-homeworld","tag-indiegogo","tag-kickstarter","tag-kickstarters-update","tag-net-gain-corporate-espionage","tag-rogue-system","tag-shackleton-crater","tag-starbase-orion","tag-terminus","tag-worlds-of-magic"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8982","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1668"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8982"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8982\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8982"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8982"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.spacesector.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8982"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}