Double Fine Adventure game

[Family Fry]

The money from part 1 will help fund part 2, are we being serious here?
You can't see a problem with that, especially after $3million has already been funded to make the game.
What Double Fine should have just said was, we want to male a new point n click game and it will cost $5million, please give generously.
Imagine the fallout from that?

This is what happens when you go into business without a clear strategy, always annoyed me that Schafer just relied on his past stuff and presented absolutely nothing, no tech demo, no engine, nothing.
This game was literally conceptually created after kickstarter money was in the bank.
I really wish they would have just got $400,000 and made the best with that.

[Neon Ignition]

Double Fine do make some great games but it's stuff like this which always leaves me convinced something stupid is going to sink them at some point. Sod embellishing the game, they should deliver the title they promised. Sure, in the end they might put out a better title but in doing so they'll have further stretched sales requirements and spoiled faith in future Kickstarter projects of theirs. Good game design, bad business minds, true to form as usual.

[Decider-VT]

Stunning, really. The likes of 4A Games can churn out something like Metro: Last Light while freezing their arses off on camping chairs in portakabins and Double Fine can't finish a point and click adventure with $3 million.

Tim didn't ask for more money from the backers or anyone else. He said he needed more money to finish the game as he intended. Big difference.

He said they're going to get the extra money themselves and part of it is launching Broken Age Part 1 earlier so that the backers can play it and other people can buy it. The money from Part 1 will help finance Part 2 so the game doesn't need to be cut in half content-wise.

Are the backers getting both parts? I'd be pissed off if I'd backed this and only got half of the game.

[Guts]

The money from part 1 will help fund part 2, are we being serious here?
You can't see a problem with that, especially after $3million has already been funded to make the game.

I see a problem, obviously they've managed their resources badly and didn't have clear enough concept of the game they were making. I'm not denying that.

What I am saying, is that it's not the catastrophe made out to be. If they are making a much longer game than they originally had in mind, why shouldn't they break it up in two parts, take the cash flow from Part 1 and give backers earlier access to the game? Now (if all goes well) backers get to play the first part of Broken Age in January, or wait longer for the full game if they choose to do so.

People need to bear in mind that they we're probably blown away by the success of their Kickstarter and that messes things up. Instead of a small game, they now need to make a big game, obviously that will complicate things a lot.

Are the backers getting both parts? I'd be pissed off if I'd backed this and only got half of the game.

Yes, they are.

[eastyy]

does beg the question if they had only just got there goal what would have happened ?

As there new game on kick starter did not make as much as the adventure game so i am hoping they can plan it better now

[fuse]

So their own money is being used to help finish part 1, which in turn will then help fund part 2? What happens if no-one buys part 1? Why could they not have explored using their own money to fund their other project too, rather than another Kickstarter?

In general it just seems like the management of the project is a mess. Everyone wants Tim Schafer to write a new game yes, but I doubt many would care if it was a damn ScummVM game - blowing $3 million on a flashy but not even a half-finished title seems to have missed the point entirely. At least with a traditional business model the devs only piss off pubs with this kind of goalpost-shifting, whereas now they're disappointing the actual people who buy their games first hand - wonder if the publishers are watching all of this with a smirk on their face.

[Guts]

does beg the question if they had only just got there goal what would have happened ?

I already said what would have happened. They would have made a small, short game with a handful of people. Now they're making a full-length adventure game with a much bigger team.

People (in general, not anyone here) need to remember that participating in any Kickstarter is a gamble. You are not an "investor" and you're not entitled to anything, it's not a pre-order. You're donating money to a cause you think has potential and want to see the light of day.

[Golgo]

Schafer update via Twitter and glossed on Eurogamer, says that they're OK for money and aren't asking for any more: http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/20...ish-broken-age

Can't make head nor tail of this mess, to be honest.

[Deuteros]

When questioned about the suspect timing of this announcement coming out shortly after the Massive Chalice Kickstarter, Schafer replied, "Actually, we've been talking about BA's budget situation for months in our documentary."

Fair enough. Since I'm not a backer, I don't have access to the documentary.

He went on to explain that after fees, the documentary, and rewards, only $2 million of the $3.4 million raised ended up going into Broken Age's development.

That's actually a scary realization. I'd say the physical rewards offered on most Kickstarter campaigns turn out profitable in the end, judging by how much extra backers need to pay to get them. The documentary, on the other hand...

When asked why Double Fine didn't self-fund the project earlier, he said, "We didn't have it then. We just started making money since self-publishing... We DO have some money now, from self-publishing our own games this year. Also, money we make from pre-release is ours too."

Once again, fair enough.

I'm actually glad that they expanded the scope of the game manyfold to offer a more fleshed out product. I'll support it when it's done, though, and by that I mean when both parts are released. I don't like this whole 'chopping games in half' and other episodic release strategies.

[MisterBubbles]

Why do Tim Schafer and DF not back it themselves with their own money? , well pretty easy why risk their own money when they can pass all the risk onto fans.

[Guts]

Why do Tim Schafer and DF not back it themselves with their own money? , well pretty easy why risk their own money when they can pass all the risk onto fans.

Because at the start of their Kickstarter they didn't have the money. The whole point of the Kickstarter was to see if there are fans who want to support a point-and-click adventure game. And what "risk" to the fans? That in worst case you lost ?10? It's called a "donation" for a reason. It's not a "purchase", it's not an "investment". It's good will.

Obviously you have a passion for hating Kickstarter, like some people seem to do, but if you'd bother to read the posts in this thread you wouldn't have to ask these questions.

[fuse]

Because at the start of their Kickstarter they didn't have the money. The whole point of the Kickstarter was to see if there are fans who want to support a point-and-click adventure game. And what "risk" to the fans? That in worst case you lost ?10? It's called a "donation" for a reason. It's not a "purchase", it's not an "investment". It's good will.

You may be flippant towards ?10 of your own money, the issue at hand though is DF being flippant towards ?3,000,000 of their fan's money. As you've highlighted, none of which was taken under the guise of investments or purchases, but you're wrong in saying that it's a "donation" too - the language of Kickstarter is very clear that this is a "pledge", and the two have very different meanings. What DF promised to deliver was not legally binding, but people weren't just putting money in for the sake of good will. They made a promise to deliver a product, and they are currently floundering to do so. Yes, ?10 is neither here nor there to most people, but to take this much money from your own fans and then be this careless with it is not something that should be glossed over.

[FelixofMars]

Kickstarter is not much different from someone putting funding into a company, its just more investors. I think you would struggle to find a company where all the investment has been successful in the outset. That is not to say that funded company's are never successful but unlikely in one round of funding.

From what I understood they just ended up making the game larger than their initial estimates even with the extra funding, but it sounds like they are paying it to be finished and splitting off some of the extra content to a new game. I think its fair enough and to be honest they probably underestimated the funds they needed even with the ridiculous amount they where over funded by. By the time Kickstarter/Amazon/Tax/Currency Conversion took their cut it was probably 30% less than they thought.

Also if you think that games do not change budget all the time due to publishers wanting to change the scope or development issues then your are sorely deluded.

[FelixofMars]

Oh a few years back I actually did some calculations to work out the bare minimum I could do a game for with 3 people and start a studio from say 6 months. I think the cost was about ?100,000 obviously that included some of the initial startup but yeah that is an indication of the sort of cash you would need.

[Brad]

Difference with Kickstarter to other investment schemes is the devs don't have to answer to anyone. There are no investors demanding monthly reports and authorising large changes to the plan etc.