UPDATE – Various parts of this article have been updated with further information from Bartholow, regarding the start date for the fundraising drive (February 25th), the possibility of new music, the dollar amount quoted, and more. These additions have been visibly denoted as such.

Mike Z and Peter “Ravidrath” Bartholow of Lab Zero Games revealed a tremendous amount of info on the upcoming Skullgirls crowd-funding drive at the last Salty Cupcakes. Vadsamoht of the SkullHeart.com forums has collected all the info in one place. Here are the important facts.

Squigly

UPDATE – The fundraiser will open on February 25th.

– The fundraiser will open on February 25th. Squigly will take approximately $150,000 to complete.

UPDATE – Peter Bartholow

I know that $150k sounds like a ton of money, and it’s only that cheap because we’re taking huge paycuts to try and make it happen at all. A full cost breakdown will be provided so that people can see how their money will be spent.

The rough outline of the drive’s goals and stretch goals are as follows: Squigly, Squigly’s Story + Stage, Male DLC Character, Male DLC Character Story + Stage, Third DLC Character Chosen By Popular Vote, Third Character Story + Stage

If the original Squigly goal is met, production will begin immediately regardless of whether or not the funding drive has ended.

Official Squigly voice additions have ended, but interested voice actors can still e-mail Lab Zero asking for an audition script for a chance to try out.

If Squigly is completed, she will be made free for a limited time for everyone, not just people who contributed.

UPDATE – This free period will last three months and will be open to all platforms.

– This free period will last three months and will be open to all platforms. eightysixed will donate 50% of sales of their Salty Cupcakes pins and $10 from each t-shirt sale to the fund.

Other DLC Characters

Leduc is not the male DLC character the first stretch goal is talking about

Stanley Whitefin, the Science Shark, and Panzerfaust are both eligible contenders for the popular vote DLC character. However, there are several other characters, some of which players have not even seen yet, that will be revealed and made eligible as well, should the funding progress that far.

Marie is a contender for the third DLC character, but is not “easier” to make than any other character. Only 100 frames of animation out of an average of 1500 were made for her, and only 5 lines of dialogue out of an average of 100 were recorded.

Peter tweeted that Stanley Whitefin is Ms. Victoria’s husband but very quickly said that was a lie.

PC Version

UPDATE – Peter Bartholow

One of the reward tiers will include a Steam code for the PC version, and exclusive beta access. This is basically a chance for non-Daigo people to playtest characters and provide feedback.

The PC version is not very system-intensive. It runs on Mike Z’s “toaster” of a computer and should run on any modern setup. Pete says it runs just fine on his Macbook Pro.

The team is looking into porting Skullgirls to DirectX11

The PC version is confirmed to have online lobbies.

The team is currently looking into adding online training mode and replay recording to the PC version.

Crossplatform play with the PS3 will, unfortunately, not be included. Steamworks, the technology that makes it possible, is not an approved middleware.

Other Details

UPDATE – Michiru Yamane agreed to compose NEW music for Skullgirls if new stages can happen.

– Michiru Yamane agreed to compose NEW music for Skullgirls if new stages can happen. Skullgirls is capable of running at 1200 FPS unrendered on the PS3 and Xbox 360.

The Skullgirls team has reached out to Zone, creator of high quality NSFW flash films, for the vectorized lifebar assets created for one NSFW Filia parody.

Autumn Games is still very interested in working with the LabZero team on Skullgirls. If their legal troubles turn out well it is likely that a Skullgirls 2 will be greenlit.

Mike Z signed off the night by saying that this crowdfunding drive is, essentially, the only way development on Skullgirls can continue. The team is currently receiving no money from their publisher due to the lawsuit. If the crowdfunding drive is not successful, then the team would have no money coming in from the publisher or the fans, which will effectively halt development on Skullgirls all together.

So this is your chance Skullgirls fans. Support your favorite game and see if you can make it something great. Want to see Venus Lovelace, D. Violet, TJ Maximum, or any other crazy obscure Skullgirls characters finally be made playable? Now is your chance!

Source: SkullHeart, tip via Sairus