Status of the Double Fine Adventure

[Trapezoid]

Well, except the kind of people who show up to a party, cross their arms and ask sourly, "Why did you buy so much booze?"

[Jared]

I'm picturing the entire dance floor being covered with industrial-sized pallets of beer kegs.

[dactylopus]

$400k wasn't their budget. It was their minimum.

They asked for $400k, insinuating that it would be possible for them to make a game at that budget (which is quite possible).

It is. But the Kickstarter let the public determine the (initial) budget, and the public chose a game larger in scope.


speaking of food and pie, this is the analogy I posted on the Double Fine forum:

Tim Schafer is throwing a small party. He asks some folks to chip in for beer.

87,142 people chip in $3,336,371 for beer.

“Oh shit,” thinks Tim. “I can't throw a tiny little party and just pocket the rest of the cash. I need to make this an amazing party.”

Tim plans out an amazing party. It has been a long, long time since there's been a party this amazing. Everyone wants a party like this. But in order to get really nice drinks and music and whatnot, it turns out it's going to cost even more than what's been chipped in.

“Fuck it,” Tim says. This party is already going to be crazy, why not go the extra mile? Tim decides to make it a full weekend. Everyone who's already on the guest list is welcome to attend. The party will be so rad that people who aren't on the guest list will want to show up. They're welcome tooâ€"but they have to throw in some cash, just like everyone else. That extra cash will pay for the tigers and fire-breathers.

Everyone is happy.

Much better analogy.

I don't know why I cared, as I have nothing invested in the game.  I suppose I just thought the whole thing was dishonest in general, and worried about those who backed it.  I can understand that most of them would be supportive, as that is what backing is all about.  Kickstarter and crowd funding is a new model, so it requires a new way of thinking about the relationships between developers, fans, and finances.

I like the fact that he's being transparent about it, so there's that.

[Mati256]

Analogies can be tricky in this situation. They will adapt to each one point of view. Personally I'm not happy about the way they handled their budget. But theres nothing I can do about it and as I said before, I'm not even a backer.

[Armageddon]

After three million people would be a little upset at a two hour long Flash game, no?

[Eric]

Are you saying we shouldn't try to Kickstart Emogame 3?

[Misj']

made me smile...thought I'd share: How to avoid being sad about kickstarter projects - A common sense guide to being a happy backer.

[dactylopus]

made me smile...thought I'd share: How to avoid being sad about kickstarter projects - A common sense guide to being a happy backer.

That's actually a really good write-up.  Thanks for posting.

[Gribbler]

Interesting topic related read. I thought you might wanna check this out. Have you heard about this project?

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/967459848/lioness

"We disagree with the idea that there's any direct correlation between quality and scope in a project like this. When you force a game or film past its own scope and design it just begins to cannibalize its own narrative and vision by stretching it until it breaks."

[Gribbler]

http://valleywag.gawker.com/kickstarter-project-canceled-after-dude-spends-all-the-912176282

I guess there's no "early access" for board games

[dactylopus]

Those are both interesting reads.  It's fascinating to read about how other companies are handling things in the wake of this experience.

I was curious, so I started to read up on other Double Fine games.

Psychonauts cost $13 Million, and Brütal Legend cost at least $15 Million.  The budget of $400K seems unreasonable after that, and so does $3 Million.  Double Fine seems to have consistent issues meeting deadlines and satisfying their publishers.  In fact, they had asked for additional time and $7 Million more to finish Brütal Legend.

They always seem to make quality products, though.  Really, that's all that should matter in the end.  I believe that going to Kickstarter was a smart move for Double Fine, because the crowd that supported them there is more likely to be sympathetic than some big company like Activision Blizzard.  The backers are more concerned with the end product than they are with the production costs and delays, and that makes all the difference.

[Snarky]

But they made Stacking for about $2 million. I assume if they'd raised $400K we'd have got something on the scale of Samorost, maybe.

The problem isn't that they can't make an adventure game for the budget they had, it's that the expectations and ambitions far outstripped what a net of $2.4 million dollars (or so) actually buys.

"We disagree with the idea that there's any direct correlation between quality and scope in a project like this. When you force a game or film past its own scope and design it just begins to cannibalize its own narrative and vision by stretching it until it breaks."

This would be more relevant to Broken Age if the game had had a design before they did the Kickstarter.

[cat]

Might be a bit offtopic, but did someone hear something about The Big Sheep? Also looks like Davy hasn't been visiting the forums for almost a year 

[dactylopus]

That's a good point, Snarky.  Stacking and Costume Quest each cost about $2 Million to make.  The low (for them) cost could be related to the process of development, as those 2 games began as projects in their Amnesia Fortnights.  There is no information (on Wikipedia, at least) on the budgets of any later releases.

And if they didn't have a design, then the question becomes: Why design a game that goes beyond the scope of your budget?

I'll reiterate the point, however, that they ultimately answer to the fans who helped back the game.  As long as the game is eventually released, and is a quality product, then the fans in this case are satisfied.  That's one of the benefits of crowd funding, especially for a well known developer like Double Fine.  I wonder if the crowd would be as forgiving with lesser known developers.  From what I've seen, backers on Kickstarter are generally much more forgiving than traditional publishers.

[Calin Leafshade]

Might be a bit offtopic, but did someone hear something about The Big Sheep? Also looks like Davy hasn't been visiting the forums for almost a year 

Or Kinky Island which was supposed to be released months ago after it's funding campaign was a success.

Not good form.

[Babar]

Might be a bit offtopic, but did someone hear something about The Big Sheep? Also looks like Davy hasn't been visiting the forums for almost a year 

I get the feeling that The Big Sheep might be on hold for a while now.

[cat]

Do you have more information? I didn't get any updates...

[Stupot]

So, the project (well, part 1 anyway) is Alpha.*
I must say, despite any doubts earlier this year with all the hoohar about funding etc, I am REALLY excited about being able to play this game before too long.  And the art (which I wasn't 100% taken with at first) has really grown on me, especially now that we've seen quite a reasonable amount of in-game footage and animations.

I think, and I HOPE, that this game will kick ass, and all the drama about financing and splitting the game into parts will be justified, DF and Schafer will come out of this process with their heads held high, and probably win all kinds of awards.

[MiteWiseacreLives!]

I've got to say, I am really enjoying following this whole thing. I would have been on board with this one anyway, but the 2PP documentary is so worth the price of admission. The whole thing is a bit of a zoo I suppose, I think that's what you get when a studio like this is suddenly thrown into being expected to make the greatest adventure game ever with technology 15yrs ahead of the genre. I understand what people seem to be saying lately about keeping modern games short, but I really hope to be able to meander around the game world for many hours

[selmiak]

So, anyone got some more backer/insider info on broken age?