Quick update

[Tynan]

Just for you forum-goers, a news update!

So I'm working right now on assembling a Kickstarter campaign. I shot some of the video today and yesterday, and Alistair Lindsay is getting ready to do the audio. This sort of thing will eat my time for a bit, so unfortunately progress on the game has stalled. It'll probably stay stalled until the Kickstarter launches sometime in early October (and a bit past that).

The good news is that if the Kickstarter is successful, I'll be able to get some help with the game. Al Lindsay is a real find, he's done audio for DEFCON and Prison Architect, so he knows this kind of game. I'm also in talks with several really pro artists about developing the look of the game and getting past my janky pseudo-placeholder art.

The email form on rimworldgame.com has collected almost 700 emails, who I'll message when the KS opens. I hoping to get a good amount of momentum on the first day or two from that.

[British]

Now that's sweet, can't wait !

[Kalesin]

[The Ataraxist]

Woo! 700! Noice!

As for the Kick starter, does this mean you have to decide on a price point/revenue model before you go live in october?

[Tynan]

Well, the Kickstarter price doesn't have to be the final price. But I think it'll be $20 for game preorder. And there will be a couple reward tiers higher than that. Not sure if I have anything to give for one lower.

[The Ataraxist]

You could add their name to the credits somehow. Like maybe add contributor names to a random character name table for anyone who contributes $15+. Ive seen some pretty interesting methods of giving rewards on KS.

Or you just make that the base level, I would imagine that if people want to help, they would want the game right?

[UsF]

Are you planning on building up media exposure while preparing for the Kickstarter? I mean you got some coverage on RockPaperShotgun, but if you send some internet people some early access codes, they could look at it, post their impressions and maybe you could connect it with the release of your Kickstarter.

Still no idea how far the game is and if that would be possible.

[Tynan]

Oh yes, definitely, $20 is the pre-alpha get-the-earliest-publicly-released version tier.

I have to sit down and think through the KS rewards. Planning on doing that while Alistair Lindsay our audio hero is working on the trailer sound treatment.

And yes, I'm doing stuff now (to the degree I have time) to build up some exposure. There are already 700 emails in the signup list, so that's pretty good. Search Reddit, you can find a bunch of RimWorld threads. And a few sites have covered it. I'll be doing more though. But for now it's trailer-making time. A real one, this time.

[IIFaust]

Good job Tynan and keep going your goal.

[thekillergreece]

Nice, waiting for more new updates!

[Kalesin]

Oh yes, definitely, $20 is the pre-alpha get-the-earliest-publicly-released version tier.

Great news, few campaigns give access to the pre-alpha, it will be well received by all.

[Yarkista]

Realy great news, I'll be buying into the kickstarter for sure.

[Hypolite]

I like the idea of a Kickstarter campaign for Rimworld, but I was wondering if it was the good time to do it, especially since you don't have your graphic style yet. If it's a financial necessity that you grab a little money to be able to continue working on the project, I'd totally understand the early Kickstarter campaign, but if not, I would advise you to delay it, at least until it gets its own graphic identity. And you could use the time to further improve the game mechanics to provide during the Kickstarter campaign a more representative demo of what you want the game to look and feel.

700 people is already great, but I feel Rimworld could do more than that given its premises and the quality already achieved. A too early Kickstarter campaign will probably succeed, but I feel like it would yield substantially less money than with its very own graphic style.

[Yarkista]

I like the idea of a Kickstarter campaign for Rimworld, but I was wondering if it was the good time to do it, especially since you don't have your graphic style yet. If it's a financial necessity that you grab a little money to be able to continue working on the project, I'd totally understand the early Kickstarter campaign, but if not, I would advise you to delay it, at least until it gets its own graphic identity. And you could use the time to further improve the game mechanics to provide during the Kickstarter campaign a more representative demo of what you want the game to look and feel.

700 people is already great, but I feel Rimworld could do more than that given its premises and the quality already achieved. A too early Kickstarter campaign will probably succeed, but I feel like it would yield substantially less money than with its very own graphic style.

Perhaps. One of the main criticisms so far is that it looks too much like Prison architect, it could turn people away or make them think that the game is a PA clone.

[Tynan]

I hear ya, but the game really needs some help at this point and I can't do the things it needs myself.

I think the market is far bigger than I'll ever reach (e.g. millions and millions of players out there) so I'm not afraid of "using up" some limited reserve of goodwill. I think there will always be more people to reach when you're as small as this operation.

So I'm hoping it'll work in stages. First the Kickstarter. That gives resources to get the public Alpha done well (which is the quality you're thinking of). Which gets resources to refine the game into what it really want to be.

At least, I'm hoping it'll work that way.