On a Roll (next-gen rollerblading game) Kickstarter is up!

[Antwan]

Thanks for the info Ironz.
Good stuff Luft.
Sorry about taking the thread in this direction, I only mean well.
I've lived all over the place. California, Florida, Ohio, people are shady no matter where you go.
So To trust the word of someone online feels no different for me until proven otherwise.
If it were a bunch of guys from this community I might feel differently.
So on the flip side, they've raised 50k with just a demo.
Those used to be free and now developers only seem to release them exclusively or have them at conventions.

[PoppySquidJr]

Thanks for the info Ironz.
Good stuff Luft.
Sorry about taking the thread in this direction, I only mean well.
I've lived all over the place. California, Florida, Ohio, people are shady no matter where you go.
So To trust the word of someone online feels no different for me until proven otherwise.
If it were a bunch of guys from this community I might feel differently.
So on the flip side, they've raised 50k with just a demo.
Those used to be free and now developers only seem to release them exclusively or have them at conventions.

the demo is a proof of progress, nothing more, nothing less. It's not intended as a marketing demo, akin to the ones that used to be provided for free. This is a game running completely off of donations.

If things still worked like the time period in mention (with free demos being a normal thing), many of these companies would not exist, and this game would not be an option. for anybody. Those were the days where without a AAA publisher to push your game, you had no chance of making it at all.

[Antwan]

Fair enough, you're making a lot of sense but I just can't seem to shake the thought.
People coming together, what's the budget even for?
It looks well along enough already. I Know nothing about the process.
I assume if they have terrain and physics, all that, it's ready to go.
Atleast demo worthy.
You make it sound as if they are building a city based on funding.
The only place it seems legitimate to me is if the demo is ready for feedback.
Is it really so expensive to release a game on the PC?
All I've heard about is the licenses for console releases.
The only thought I muster is money is motivating them to continue using what they already have.

[PoppySquidJr]

Fair enough, you're making a lot of sense but I just can't seem to shake the thought.
People coming together, what's the budget even for?
It looks well along enough already. I Know nothing about the process.
I assume if they have terrain and physics, all that, it's ready to go.
Atleast demo worthy.
You make it sound as if they are building a city based on funding.
The only place it seems legitimate to me is if the demo is ready for feedback.
Is it really so expensive to release a game on the PC?
All I've heard about is the licenses for console releases.
The only thought I muster is money is motivating them to continue using what they already have.

They need the money so that they can afford to work on it consistently, instead of having jobs that consume most of their time. The game is NOT ready for main release, the demo is plagued with delayed inputs, whack physics, bad animations, etc etc. It's all a work in progress, it needs a lot of polish and a ton of content before it's actually done. However, this takes a LOT of time and effort, and if they have to work full time jobs then the game won't be finished for years. Making a game costs money BECAUSE it takes so much time. People who make games for a living are seriously underpayed and overworked (unless they hit unprecedented success a la minecraft) because while this seems like a lot, it's not near as much as what they'd be making working a traditional job instead over the same time period.

I get the concerns, and there are a LOT of sketchy kickstarter projects, sketchy game projects in general. BMX and On A Roll however are pretty legit, as far as it all goes. Money isn't just a motivator, it's the means to work on the game - and nothing but the game - for months and get the game as good as possible in a reasonable time frame.

[Antwan]

Right on.
I didn't mean the game in its entirety.
A demo is usually a small portion, area or mission from the game.
Taking years to release a demo on a 50,000 dollar budget sounds crazy to me though.
This may be my own personal beef with the way it works.
General lack of knowledge about the process maybe, but it is interesting.
So what are you saying, they complete the game then give you a portion in demo form?
A demo.. Which will likely need more done based on feedback.
I get that you need something playable but nothing else is to be seen but this fabled demo.
So it kind of is what you're paying for especially if they say they can stop making it whenever they please.
The assumption is youll recieve a game out of it?

[PoppySquidJr]

Right on.
I didn't mean the game in its entirety.
A demo is usually a small portion, area or mission from the game.
Taking years to release a demo on a 50,000 dollar budget sounds crazy to me though.
This may be my own personal beef with the way it works.
General lack of knowledge about the process maybe, but it is interesting.
So what are you saying, they complete the game then give you a portion in demo form?
A demo.. Which will likely need more done based on feedback.
I get that you need something playable but nothing else is to be seen but this fabled demo.
So it kind of is what you're paying for especially if they say they can stop making it whenever they please.
The assumption is youll recieve a game out of it?

No no no, if they get the 50,000 dollars they need to *finish the game properly* you get the demo that they currently have IMMEDIATELY to give them feedback while they work on it! The 50,000 is for them to finish the game in a reasonable time frame, the demo is what they have *right now* to give to backers for feedback if they know they got the funding

[Roccityroller]

I've been summoned?

backed this day one, duh.

[Antwan]

Haha..
Got it. It's not anything I've ever looked into or heard about so I was just curious.
I have however seen developers release demos after a games release.
After that demos started to cease being made, atleast on last gen.
I guess I was relating it to the console side there.
It looks like The trial versions of digital games are the new demos and seem to exist just to make you buy the game.
You can't really give feedback on the trial version. Kinda crazy what it's become.