Would you fund another round of RimWorld development?

Started by akiceabear, August 29, 2015, 01:56:04 AM

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How much would you contribute for 1 more year of full time development after RimWorld 1.0?

$0
18 (7.8%)
$1-10
43 (18.6%)
$11-20
57 (24.7%)
$21-30
56 (24.2%)
$31-50
28 (12.1%)
$50+
29 (12.6%)

Total Members Voted: 231

akiceabear

Tynan has previously said he is unlikely to make RimWorld his life's work, and that such expectations are unrealistic - in reference to the very long development cycle of Dwarf Fortress which as seen giant features like z-levels, adventure mode, etc added 5-10 years after the game first launched. I think that is a fair stance for Tynan to take - he's obviously a creative guy and I'm interested in what other games he might come up with!

Let's assume two things:
* RimWorld 1.0 comes out sometime in 2016, fulfilling and exceeding the promises to original backers, but still lacking some of the giant features on the community wish list.
* Tynan is open to further development of the game by another programmer employed at Ludeon, funded by a new round via Kickstarter (or other tool), while he continues onto other projects.

Assuming these two things, would you be willing to chip in on more funding? Last I saw (the data isn't shared anymore) RimWorld had sold over 90k copies, so if even just 10% of players chipped $10, that could easily fund another year of a programmers' time (if not more, either time or programmers). Perhaps allow someone from our intrepid modding community to go full time.

If you were to fund another year of development, what is the one feature you would absolutely expect to be included? What is the one feature you are most opposed to funding? No need for long descriptions, just curious about people's strongest preferences. And, let's assume that any new features include the necessary optimizations (so no need to demand that :) ).

Fund another round of development: yes, I'd chip up to $30 one-time if the features were right, or do a $10/year for a steady development commitment
Must have feature to fund: z-levels
Feature I wouldn't fund: multiplayer

And, of course, this thread is just for discussion, not intended to put words in anyone's mouth or rile up expectations!

Too-DAMN-Much

i would for more than i have for rimworld honestly, but i wish that tynan would still be part of it in some way, it started from his vision after all, but a track record would improve my willingness to help more.

:)

Rahjital

I would. It'd be like being an early backer of an expansion pack, and considering Tynan has already proven to be more than reliable, I see no problem with it.

However, I would NOT back if multiple z-levels was on the plan. It's a nice feature in theory, but it would complicate the game immensely, especially because it's viewed from a top-down perspective. Dwarf Fortress has already shown that it ends up to be chaotic, and even in Gnomoria with it's isometric perspective it's hard to see at times what's going on, which is crucial in Rimworld.

GamerGuy

Maybe $5 and would love to see 50+ more events they can be small like 'something strange has happened all your batterys have been drained' or something big like 'a massive sandstorm will be here in 1 hour get inside or your colonists will be lost'

Mihsan

I would think about it when RimWorld will be ready.
Pain, agony and mechanoids.

ttgg

I would happily throw in another bucket of dollaroos, if it means that Rimworld will continue to evolve. While it is currently quite great, it has so much potential for more. I'd personally like to see added social options between factions, as well as perhaps an ability to extend your zone/travel to another zone on the world.

It doesn't sound like a bad idea to bring in another developer, for that dose of fresh perspective and ideas.

haywire-2014

Quote from: Rahjital on August 29, 2015, 05:37:34 AM
I would. It'd be like being an early backer of an expansion pack, and considering Tynan has already proven to be more than reliable, I see no problem with it.

However, I would NOT back if multiple z-levels was on the plan. It's a nice feature in theory, but it would complicate the game immensely, especially because it's viewed from a top-down perspective. Dwarf Fortress has already shown that it ends up to be chaotic, and even in Gnomoria with it's isometric perspective it's hard to see at times what's going on, which is crucial in Rimworld.
I agree with this, I would gladly hand over $50 in order for 1 more year of development, only if Tynan had the last say as to what was implemented.... but Z levels would put me off the idea straight away

Tynan

This is an interesting poll.

If something like were ever to happen, though, I couldn't just hand the game off to someone. I'd still have do the design work. However, I can do that in much less time than it takes to do the whole design/programming/management shebang, so it could still be valuable.
Tynan Sylvester - @TynanSylvester - Tynan's Blog

pktongrimworld

careful, wouldn't want people to mistake this for another Stardrive/Stardrive 2.


one step/thing at a time please.

(but yes, Tynan did a decent job thus far, wouldn't mind "expansion packs" etc etc).

*I would fork over 20 bucks tops personally.

IskOtter

The game has potential for all kinds of additions. It's understandable that Tynan would like to eventually focus on different projects but I think he can feel secure knowing that there will always be an appetite for new RimWorld content whenever he feels like making new features/additions. I'm looking forward to the 1.0 version and steam release as that will no doubt increase the visibility and audience of the game.

Too-DAMN-Much

Quote from: Tynan on August 29, 2015, 01:10:13 PM
This is an interesting poll.

If something like were ever to happen, though, I couldn't just hand the game off to someone. I'd still have do the design work. However, I can do that in much less time than it takes to do the whole design/programming/management shebang, so it could still be valuable.

good to hear, i guess that's what i was thinking of too, more like helping with it or a less hands on job than making the game from the ground up yourself, at least something that would give you time off to be creatively fulfilled while still keeping an ear close to the ground.

TLHeart

I would gladly pay $30 for actual faction relationships. Where we actually hosted the visitors, with a feast, around a campfire, or around a table. Lots of social interactions, and mood boosts. Have a "feast" button, where you draft who attends the feast.

Actually have an inn where the visitors could bunk down for the night. And depending upon the colony's attractiveness, a visitor might ask to join. The visitors leave a token of the happiness with the visit, either silver or gifts.

Trading with the visitors, where they bring items, some unique.

The factions attitude towards the colony would be influenced by the trades, and the hosting. Not trading/hosting would be seen as an insult, and faction relations would drop.

And pirate raids would be actual raids, for items. Steel what ever they can, and leave quickly. Protection of the visitors from the pirate raids would also affect relations.

Too-DAMN-Much

#12
Quote from: TLHeart on August 29, 2015, 09:23:07 PMActually have an inn where the visitors could bunk down for the night. And depending upon the colony's attractiveness, a visitor might ask to join. The visitors leave a token of the happiness with the visit, either silver or gifts.


i honestly would have liked to be able to build visitor quarters too a bit, i mean they sleep in my colony already, would be a cool level of depth to be able to assign beds for visitors, should also prod players to keep spare bedrooms instead of filling the beds to 100% capacity.


[edit] not to mention, maybe we should be able to charge visitors for a night's stay and operate like a small motel or something if you want to put the work in, just a key and a door type business, but still, and if they don't want to pay they can still use the ground, after all, the rimworld could be a vacation destination at least somewhat maybe :)

heck the more i think about it, it could be cool to have nearby factions or something ask to use your medical facilities as a random event too, probably a lot of things could be applied to being something colonists could run as a service industry.[/edit]

akiceabear

All nice ideas. Good to see Tynan finds the idea interesting, at least. I obviously agree with others that there is a huge amount of potential with RimWorld. If Tynan doesn't want to commit 100% of his time to it, it would be great to see this gem continue to improve steadily with his guidance.

Understood regarding the concerns of some on z-levels being a potentially unruly feature to implement - but I still would love to see it done right. I suppose I should also soften my stance a bit on the "must have" - I would almost certainly fund more development even if it didn't include z-levels, trusting Tynan to focus development in the right direction. I do stick by multiplayer being a deal breaker, for me at least.

kingtyris

I've been thinking about what a Rimworld expansion pack would look like for a while now, and I think this poll is right on the money. I'd pay for more content to be added into the game.