Annie



Posts: 144





Dead State game designer





DeveloperPosts: 144Dead State game designer 3/26 Monday Design Update - Kickstarter Discussion Update! « on: March 26, 2012, 10:24:03 pm » Dead State's future Kickstarter, and wanted to update you on what ideas we'd collected from your input.



FIRST: what you want to see. We got basically:



- "Show us videos of the main systems of the game, with basic voiceover explaining what they are, what they do, and what role they play in the overall scheme of Dead State." WE CAN TOTALLY DO THIS AND IT IS A SOLID CALL. We're thinking a little chatter about the dialogue system, combat, the Shelter and its upgrades, and an example Crisis Event. Sound pretty solid?



- "Say a little more about yourselves as devs." This we'll do our best to put together. We'll try rustling up one of those video-camera things and making a short video about who we are, what Dead State is, and why we could use your help. We can't guarantee you the highest production values (thanks a lot for setting the bar so high, Double Fine! /shakesfist) (just kidding, I love those guys), or that it'll be hilarious, but it'll be honest and direct and will hopefully get across why we love Dead State, and why you should too.



- "Say when you expect the game to be out." Whew. Got a lot of people saying "NOW" on this one, but thankfully that was followed by things like "lol" and then more realistic estimates. We've been working with the team to nail down a much more specific timeline we feel is achievable without making our fans /tableflip or even be /disgruntled. From what I saw, a lot of estimates were right on the money, so hopefully we'll put a number out there that'll make everybody happy.



- "Update [the site/the forums/general stuff] more often. Like, twice a month." We can totally do this. And sorry for the radio silence previously! Things were brewing. Good things, like the Age of Decadence beta, and plans for this. The point is, MESSAGE RECEIVED, we'll be a lot better at updates. Totally reasonable request.



SECOND: what you want to GET from the Kickstarter. This one is a bit more involved:



- "Boxed copy." OK - gonna tackle this one first, since we heard a lot of it. We absolutely understand why people want this, and heck, I love getting boxed versions of stuff FOR REAL, but the sad thing is that this is something we very likely can't pull off, because when we thought about it, stuff steamrolled in the following fashion:

OK, so we need to put the game on probably a huge bunch of DVDs. We gotta find a place that does that.

Well, now that we got the DVDs, we need to label them. Um... what place makes labels for DVDs? And will hopefully label these ones? Yikes, and we gotta get a graphic together for that...

OK, we've got the DVDs labeled. Now we need to either get a DVD case (with a printed graphic for it) or a box for them to go in. I think people want the box more, but then we need to design a box, find a place that prints boxes, and will sleeve the DVDs and pack them in the boxes so they don't get smacked around during shipping.

Aw, nuts, if we've got a box and a DVD, we'll need a manual. Time to get together a physical manual design, get THAT printed out, and put in the box with all the other stuff...

OK WE GOT ALL THAT. Now we just need to put the game in the box... in ANOTHER BOX... and mail it out to everyone. Now it seems like our first copy is going out to... South Africa. And shipping on that is... like... twenty five dollars. Oh my god. /dead SO. When we mentally walked through that process, we got scared and kind of cried a little bit. We could attempt to get all that underway, but sadly it'd be so expensive that we'd have to make it a major tier contribution item, which would probably make a lot of people on the lower tiers really upset. I know there are other Kickstarter projects - like Double Fine Adventure and Wasteland 2 - that are offering physical copies, but Double Fine and InXile are larger companies who have released printed copies of games before, and they have the connections and deals in place to do so. For smaller teams, this isn't really an option - Stoic, the team behind The Banner Saga, isn't offering boxed versions, for example - and though it broke our collective hearts, we decided in the end that a boxed version wasn't something we'd be able to do. (We WILL be offering a DRM-free version, though!)



BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE THE APOLOGY FOR THAT TAKEN CARE OF, HERE'S SOME OTHER AWESOME STUFF:



- "Pre-purchase." But of course! We'll absolutely have that. That is a thing we will do.



- "Special 'Supporter of Dead State' forum tags." That's a great flippin idea! We're still working with our admin to figure out if this is possible and how we'd do it, but we definitely love it and will pursue that possibility.



- "Personalized zombie/character portrait." Definitely. This will be higher tier and limited, of course, so our hardworking artist Kim doesn't go crazy or murder us, but this is assuredly something we're planning on.



- "Additional writing." It made Brian blush sheepishly a bit when so many people requested more of his writing, but dammed if there weren't a whole lot of you doing so. We'll make it happen. (and be "we" I mean he'll write, and I'll make him do so)



- "Additional content." Definitely interest for a prequel type game (and no, not the "day at the office" kind of game that Brian joked about in forum updates past, but a real episode with a similar style of gameplay to Dead State itself, which will come out after the game is finished and will only initially be available to the Kickstarter contributors) We'll be putting together plans for something like that and telling you a little more about it in the final Kickstarter reveal.



- "Personalized items in game." Definitely a high-tier option, but we absolutely have plans to offer this kind of incentive to fans. It's a big deal to many to have something important to them included in a game (just ask any game developer who snuck a cameo of one of their pets into something they've worked on), and we want to offer options for that WITHOUT totally inundating the game with them. We'll have several intriguing options open in this regard.



- "Party with the devs." We were a little surprised to see this come up, but hey, why not? I can't promise you adventure, I can't promise you excitement, but I sure as heck can promise you hangouts. If hangouts with Brian and I is what you crave, I think we can arrange that, if the price is right. (...And imagine I just said that in a way that doesn't make us sound like whores.) [And we can't promise alcohol, according to Kickstarter rules, so be sure to get drunk before you get here - Brian]



Now - that isn't the entirety of what we're planning, but I wanted to get the key elements there so you know your voices have been heard. It's a hectic time for everyone on Dead State right now, but we're all really excited about moving forward with this Kickstarter thing, and hopefully you guys are too. We'll continue to keep you posted with the latest developments, and when at last we go live with it, of course we'll let you know.



Thanks again so much for your feedback, and posts, and being an amazing community in general. If the zombie apocalypse ever DOES happen, I can't think of a better crew to get stranded with. (Especially because a lot of you are apparently survival experts, and have guns.) Feel free to post questions/concerns/ideas here and we will get back to you about them. Thanks! Hey guys! Welcome to another exciting forum update, this time by Annie, the other designer on Dead State (SEE, I'M NOT DEAD). We wanted to let you know how much we appreciated your feedback and suggestions about's future Kickstarter, and wanted to update you on what ideas we'd collected from your input.We got basically:WE CAN TOTALLY DO THIS AND IT IS A SOLID CALL. We're thinking a little chatter about the dialogue system, combat, the Shelter and its upgrades, and an example Crisis Event. Sound pretty solid?This we'll do our best to put together. We'll try rustling up one of those video-camera things and making a short video about who we are, what Dead State is, and why we could use your help. We can't guarantee you the highest production values (thanks a lot for setting the bar so high, Double Fine! /shakesfist) (just kidding, I love those guys), or that it'll be hilarious, but it'll be honest and direct and will hopefully get across why we love, and why you should too.Whew. Got a lot of people saying "NOW" on this one, but thankfully that was followed by things like "lol" and then more realistic estimates. We've been working with the team to nail down a much more specific timeline we feel is achievable without making our fans /tableflip or even be /disgruntled. From what I saw, a lot of estimates were right on the money, so hopefully we'll put a number out there that'll make everybody happy.We can totally do this. And sorry for the radio silence previously! Things were brewing. Good things, like thebeta, and plans for this. The point is, MESSAGE RECEIVED, we'll be a lot better at updates. Totally reasonable request.This one is a bit more involved:OK - gonna tackle this one first, since we heard a lot of it. We absolutely understand why people want this, and heck, I love getting boxed versions of stuff FOR REAL, but the sad thing is that this is something we very likely can't pull off, because when we thought about it, stuff steamrolled in the following fashion:SO. When we mentally walked through that process, we got scared and kind of cried a little bit. We could attempt to get all that underway, but sadly it'd be so expensive that we'd have to make it a major tier contribution item, which would probably make a lot of people on the lower tiers really upset. I know there are other Kickstarter projects - likeand- that are offering physical copies, but Double Fine and InXile are larger companies who have released printed copies of games before, and they have the connections and deals in place to do so. For smaller teams, this isn't really an option - Stoic, the team behind, isn't offering boxed versions, for example - and though it broke our collective hearts, we decided in the end that a boxed version wasn't something we'd be able to do. (We WILL be offering a DRM-free version, though!)BUT NOW THAT WE HAVE THE APOLOGY FOR THAT TAKEN CARE OF, HERE'S SOME OTHER AWESOME STUFF:But of course! We'll absolutely have that. That is a thing we will do.That's a great flippin idea! We're still working with our admin to figure out if this is possible and how we'd do it, but we definitely love it and will pursue that possibility.Definitely. This will be higher tier and limited, of course, so our hardworking artist Kim doesn't go crazy or murder us, but this is assuredly something we're planning on.It made Brian blush sheepishly a bit when so many people requested more of his writing, but dammed if there weren't a whole lot of you doing so. We'll make it happen. (and be "we" I mean he'll write, and I'll make him do so)Definitely interest for a prequel type game (and no, not the "day at the office" kind of game that Brian joked about in forum updates past, but a real episode with a similar style of gameplay toitself, which will come out after the game is finished and will only initially be available to the Kickstarter contributors) We'll be putting together plans for something like that and telling you a little more about it in the final Kickstarter reveal.Definitely a high-tier option, but we absolutely have plans to offer this kind of incentive to fans. It's a big deal to many to have something important to them included in a game (just ask any game developer who snuck a cameo of one of their pets into something they've worked on), and we want to offer options for that WITHOUT totally inundating the game with them. We'll have several intriguing options open in this regard.- "Party with the devs." We were a little surprised to see this come up, but hey, why not? I can't promise you adventure, I can't promise you excitement, but I sure as heck can promise you hangouts. If hangouts with Brian and I is what you crave, I think we can arrange that, if the price is right. (...And imagine I just said that in a way that doesn't make us sound like whores.) [And we can't promise alcohol, according to Kickstarter rules, so be sure to get drunk before you get here - Brian]Now - that isn't the entirety of what we're planning, but I wanted to get the key elements there so you know your voices have been heard. It's a hectic time for everyone on Dead State right now, but we're all really excited about moving forward with this Kickstarter thing, and hopefully you guys are too. We'll continue to keep you posted with the latest developments, and when at last we go live with it, of course we'll let you know.Thanks again so much for your feedback, and posts, and being an amazing community in general. If the zombie apocalypse ever DOES happen, I can't think of a better crew to get stranded with. (Especially because a lot of you are apparently survival experts, and have guns.) Feel free to post questions/concerns/ideas here and we will get back to you about them. Thanks! Logged WILL GAME FOR WORK