Torment did $1.48M the first day with 27,939 backers. I can't find an hourly breakdown for it, but BT4 is doing about $100K per hour right now. I doubt it can keep this up, but I'm really interested to see how the 1st 24 hours goes.
I really, really, really want this to work out. All the pre-late 90's cRPG homages have bombed almost uniformly on Kickstarter. Seven Dragon Saga not working out hurt. Dragon Wars 2 looks to be something of a mess (I don't think it's even called that anymore).
Edit: Wow, this is getting a lot of money very quickly. How does InExile do it? M&MX apparently didn't do all that well, neither did Grimrock 2, so the demand for this type of game is low. Bard's Tale is barely mentioned outside of cRPG nerd circles. Yet this is outpacing the latest Shadowrun, getting more attention than an Underworld reboot (which is also a de facto Looking Glass Studios reboot)...
I'm extremely happy about this, first person blobbers are some of my favorite games. But seriously... how the fuck are they doing this?
Reputation and free games probably. Personally it took turning off the grid to sell me; I appreciate throwbacks to old gameplay, but there are overlooked middle ground a between being Wizardry or Skyrim, and that applies to a lot of other subgenres and styles of gameplay. And we've had more than enough grid based dungeon crawlers for that to NEED more.I'm extremely happy about this, first person blobbers are some of my favorite games. But seriously... how the fuck are they doing this?
nXile Entertainment is proud to announce an unprecedented crowdfunding offer: anyone who backs The Bard’s Tale IV on Kickstarter in the first 24 hours of the campaign will receive a FREE copy of inXile’s Wasteland 2, or CD Projekt Red's The Witcher, or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. (until 6/3 at 6am, PST)
I'm a huge fan of SSI Games from back in the day, and even thought I knew that TSI was 'a thing' and that they planned a kickstarter... I never knew about the actual kickstarter until far too late. In fact, only recently I asked about it to find it had come, gone, and failed.
So to answer your question, I think a lot of it has to do with marketing and such. I saw Bard's Tale was up and I funded immediately. I would have done so with TSI's Seven Dragon Saga instantly... but I can't fund what I don't know about.
As for Dragon Wars 2... what? I didn't even know that was a thing at all. More info?
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Also where did you hear M&M LX didn't do well? I was under the impression it did well? I'd really like to see the genre resurrected.
And backed. Bard's Tale 1 - 3 were some of my favorite games.
For people considering getting this plus Wasteland 2, keep in mind the Game of the Year edition of WL2 is coming out this summer with tons of upgrades for free.
Damn Kickstarter is so rad.
Only thing missing for it to be GOAT would be a vampire bloodlines and alpha protocol sequels kickstarters
I don't think the former is possible, I doubt White Wolf would be willing to potentially confuse people about nWoD by allowing a major oWoD product. Sadly.
Yeah, I own all three for my C64. I spent an entire summer playing Bard's Tale III, mapping the dungeons on graph paper, taking notes, by the fall I had my own hand written strategy guide!
I can still hear the Duotime Rhyme battle ballad in my head. Man I loved those games.
Quick question -- I have BT I and III with the slim "album" box for the C=64. I never did get BT II, however, and looking on eBay for it they all have a thicker box (still album sized but it has a height to it that I and III don't have) -- at least for PC, Amiga, etc. Is your box the same size (l,w, and h) as I and III?
inXile Entertainment is proud to announce an unprecedented crowdfunding offer: anyone who backs The Bard’s Tale IV on Kickstarter in the first 24 hours of the campaign will receive a FREE copy of inXile’s Wasteland 2, or CD Projekt Red's The Witcher, or The Witcher 2: Assassins of Kings. (until 6/3 at 6am, PST)
For all backers of The Bard’s Tale IV at the $20 Reward Tier and above. Wasteland 2 will be delivered on Steam or DRM-Free on GOG.com after the Kickstarter campaign. The Witcher and The Witcher 2 will be delivered on GOG.com.
Edit: Wow, this is getting a lot of money very quickly. How does InExile do it? M&MX apparently didn't do all that well, neither did Grimrock 2, so the demand for this type of game is low. Bard's Tale is barely mentioned outside of cRPG nerd circles. Yet this is outpacing the latest Shadowrun, getting more attention than an Underworld reboot (which is also a de facto Looking Glass Studios reboot)...
i thought white wolf died and got taken by ccp.which then fucked up the wod mmo..(thanks ccp.. sure make eve forever god forbid you diversify).
anyway both games would take a ton of money to be made properly so i doubt kickstarter would work (unless roberts decided to do them or something..).
After the first two vids, I was rather disappointed to see this one was just a general "Publishers suck" video. Vid #2 had such an escalation. This one wasn't even funny.
I do love how Fargo went all the way to Scotland for the KS video, though.
BT2 always had a thicker box than 1 or 3. Like twice as thick or something close to that.
It feels like the 90s when all I did was play role-playing, strategy and sim games on my PC.Damn Kickstarter is so rad.
For The Bard’s Tale IV, we want a more dynamic experience: as soon as you decide what a character will do, they immediately act.
From what I was reading it sounds like switching to FF style ATB with the option of queuing up attacks. Whichever, just as long as I can pause it and take my time to think.Might back this, depending on further info.
This to me sounds weird though, it sounds like it goes against everything a phase based combat system is about.
edit: I think what I am trying to say is that this sounds more like a bog standard turn based system.
Quick question -- I have BT I and III with the slim "album" box for the C=64. I never did get BT II, however, and looking on eBay for it they all have a thicker box (still album sized but it has a height to it that I and III don't have) -- at least for PC, Amiga, etc. Is your box the same size (l,w, and h) as I and III?
Might back this, depending on further info.
This to me sounds weird though, it sounds like it goes against everything a phase based combat system is about.
edit: I think what I am trying to say is that this sounds more like a bog standard turn based system.
I think the distinction here is that its side based (party and enemy alternate) rather than character based (each thing in the combat acts at some specific time usually derived from a stat) . Though turn based is often used to refer to both.
Former White Wolf guys started a new publishing company (Onyx Path) that is licensing stuff from CCP to republish old stuff and republish new stuff for both Old and New WoD (also other WW games)i thought white wolf died and got taken by ccp.which then fucked up the wod mmo..(thanks ccp.. sure make eve forever god forbid you diversify).
The problem I have with it is that actions aren't delayed to then happen either sequentially like in wizardy/bards tale/etc or simultaneously like in frozen synapse. The two sides going on different rounds thing isn't exaclty new it just doesn't really feel like phase based if you see the results of your individual characters actions right away and don't have to plan ahead as much. I always thought phase based is supposed to be giving orders in the first phase, then execution of the orders(either sequentially, or simultaneously as either sides on different rounds or the same round). But I could be wrong.
The problem I have with it is that actions aren't delayed to then happen either sequentially like in wizardy/bards tale/etc or simultaneously like in frozen synapse. The two sides going on different rounds thing isn't exaclty new it just doesn't really feel like phase based if you see the results of your individual characters actions right away and don't have to plan ahead as much. I always thought phase based is supposed to be giving orders in the first phase, then execution of the orders(either sequentially, or simultaneously as either sides on different rounds or the same round). But I could be wrong.
Might back this, depending on further info.
This to me sounds weird though, it sounds like it goes against everything a phase based combat system is about.
edit: I think what I am trying to say is that this sounds more like a bog standard turn based system.
Former White Wolf guys started a new publishing company (Onyx Path) that is licensing stuff from CCP to republish old stuff and republish new stuff for both Old and New WoD (also other WW games)
On a related topic (Wizardry mention brought it to my mind):
How are they going to handle the difficulty and convenience feature stuff ?
This style of game is traditionally pretty brutal and the original lacked things like Auto-Maps and Journals.
I didn't see it being addressed much.
I think they should keep some advancements to the genre in mind, since some of them were made for good reason. That said, they shouldn't let the spirit of the series get lost in translation.On a related topic (Wizardry mention brought it to my mind):
How are they going to handle the difficulty and convenience feature stuff ?
This style of game is traditionally pretty brutal and the original lacked things like Auto-Maps and Journals.
I didn't see it being addressed much.
These are old school games and the developers know that they're making them for old school gamers. It would be neat to see some of them have greater support for alternate control schemes, but only if it doesn't detract from what they're trying to do. The original Bard's Tale didn't even have mouse control, so the chance of the new one not requiring one is decent. I wouldn't count on it though because the game might have mouse-based puzzles.I would kick a few bucks towards it if I was assured of controller support day one. This CRPG renaissance has been great, great that is until you realize that these devs for reasons unknown seem to be blind to the fact that PC couch gamers exist.