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aw gawrsh, thanks. I'm glad you liked it so much, and I hope whoever got it also likes it.

Aw man thanks guys! <3

Thanks guys!

Dropsy is fantastic. Things I have learned so far:

1. Squeaky clown shoe toggles in the options menu are underused.
2. Word balloon symbols work really well for replacing dialog.
3. You can make a story about a horrible-looking mutant clown and somehow come out with one of the most uplifting games on the market. What.
4. Don't press the butt button if you have kids. You will be stuck spamming the butt button for 5 minutes while they laugh like little demonspawn.

I'm so relieved about the symbols. We tested them, but they went through way less iteration than I would've liked. I'm happy that you're enjoying it.

Guys, I am super pumped. I feel spiritually linked to your project since we ran our Kickstarters at roughly the same time and both failed the first time around. Also both of our games have vague theological metaphor stuff.

My method for Dropsy was similar to moloko's. I'm big into lore/mythos/worldbuilding, so I drew up a worldmap and created a few documents detailing its past and present people groups, major events, economy, etc. I then used that as a setting to write the game's story in, and treated it as if it were a real, living place.

All of that was the fun stuff. Then I divided the major plot points into their own little sections, and created contextually appropriate puzzles around them. The real challenge, for me, is guiding the player through the story without it feeling like they're being coaxed into it. Puzzle+plot integration was the hardest part to plan, and is something that still changes as the game matures.

I'm probably going to be a very later confirm-er because everything is riding on my game being released by June so I can afford the trip. I'll update you guys as soon as I can. :0)

I may be able to go to this! I'm a central floridian and have a bunch of friends in New Orleans. Woop woop.

I enjoyed each film better than the last. I felt that the first was the weakest, second was better, and third was best. In the first film I hated the goblin town action sequences, in the second I didn't like the barrel chase scene, and in the last I didn't like the tower-bridge-thing that Legolas spent 3 years doing acrobatics on. They all felt like some kind of theme park ride and took me out of the experience.

My biggest qualm is the lack of character development. There wasn't enough quiet time with the characters in The Hobbit, and I wouldn't have cared if any of them died. The Lord of the Rings trilogy was amazing in that it introduced ~12 important characters and made you care something for nearly all of them.

This is likely mirroring what everyone else said - but I've become quite averse to games that push gory, bloody, violent angles in their marketing. 12 year old me wanted all the gore I could get. My favorite screensaver was that Duke Nukem 3D body-parts-piling-up thing. Blood shooting everywhere was often implemented before any actual gameplay in my old Klik & Play games.

I'm not really morally opposed to it, it's just lost its draw for me. It's old. It doesn't feel edgy or exciting or fresh anymore. I also don't think it helps the reputation of video games in the public eye. They're still seen as toys for teenage boys, and I think excessive violence shares some blame in that.

That said, I did dig Hotline Miami's subversive tone. I don't think the message would've been as effective had the gore been toned down.

[I'd like to hear about your experiences in leading the player and dropping hints in ways other than using text.]

Episode 65

I have a topic request since you asked.

I'm working on an adventure game with no text. All dialogue is handled through little animated pictograms/icons. Needless to say, puzzle design gets a little weird when you're never able to tell the player things directly. I'd like to hear about your experiences in leading the player and dropping hints in ways other than using text. How do you design environments or place characters or make other choices to point a player towards a puzzle's solution?

I'm not sure how much you can really talk about that, but I'd love to hear your thoughts.

Daw, thanks guys! I'm so crazy excited to make this game, ahh. I can't believe I get to spend the next whole year working on it. It's a freaking dream come true.

Also, big announcement coming soonish, hopefully.

I think the game looks incredible, but man, this is the third kickstarter campaign for the same game... your very first backers must be getting impatient?
Anyhow, good luck!

Yeah, it looks pretty bad on me. I appreciate your positive tone, as some people get the impression that I'm trying to run off with peoples' money. I don't blame them, since there are pleeenty of campaigns that end up crapping out, but that is definitely not the case here. I've lived and breathed this game for the last 2-3 years. My original backers are getting a pretty nice deal too, and it's been nice that most of them are still pretty enthusiastic about the game.

Only the first Kickstarter succeeded, and the money I made with that went towards software + a tower after my computer died. The goal was $225, and we ended up with $1,600. It was really naive of me to think that I could just get some software and poop out a game in two years. I tried for about five months to pick up programming, but it's just not for me. The funds for this campaign are going towards a programmer, and (if we hit a stretch goal) an additional animator/composer to help finish it.

While I do consider that first campaign a bit foolish, I haven't stopped working on it since then - and I won't stop until it's done. I'm really proud of the mythos/universe I've been detailing for the past two years and I can't wait for people to explore it.

EDIT: Also, The Samaritan Paradox looks super rad. I've been following since I came here during the last campaign.

Unity is an interesting choice of engine for a 2D adventure game. But it looks like it's working great. I especially love this old SNES-y heat warp effect.

Yes! I'd attribute that to the Earthbound influence. I loved those old crusty rudimentary effects, and wanted to keep the same vibe.

Here's a bunch of early music I put up a few days ago. It's free: http://dropsytheclown.bandcamp.com/album/dropsy-early-tracks

[Click HERE to check out Dropsy on Kickstarter.]

Hi guys! I just to use AGS wayyy back in the day. I was always back and forth between here and the Klik community, but never really contributed anything worthwhile. (Hey, I was like 14.) This game isn't an AGS title (my programmer is using Unity) - but it's definitely influenced in part by my time following the community here.

That said, the past 3 years of my life have been consumed by this project. My friend posted a thread about it a while back, but I figured it would be better to start a new one myself, with updated information and such. I ran a campaign over the summer, but it didn't really work out. So, I took two months off of work (read: got fired :'() did my research, and worked hard to finish a few little disjointed prototypes of the game to show off. Just relaunched and it's going really well. I'm amazed at the response this time. As I write this, we're at about $15,500. I'd love to get my friend Chris Schlarb on the project to compose, and we'll need to hit 19k for that to happen.

Here's more on the game, but read the KS for a more fleshed out description:

Click HERE to check out Dropsy on Kickstarter.

Dropsy is an open world adventure game with an emphasis on surreal atmospheric elements and environmental storytelling. It extracts the humor and rich narratives from classic adventure games and places them into a unique exploration based framework. You guide Dropsy, a perpetually carefree clown (ex-clown to be precise) through a richly detailed world full of colorful characters and sinister secrets.

Dropsy subverts the traditional tendency of game protagonists to be destructive forces in the world. Instead of slaying enemies, Dropsy's innocence and kindness act as a catalyst for redemption. Dropsy doesn't recognize anyone as his enemy, and will lovingly embrace them whether they like it or not.

Though its roots are in the point-and-click titles of old, Dropsy is an almost entirely text-free experience. There are still colorful characters to communicate with, but the dialogue is handled visually rather than linguistically.

This helps emphasize another theme central to the game, a sense of not belonging. Players may not always understand what a character is trying to communicate, resulting in assumptions based on how they interpret the visual symbols. This came as a way to deal with the fact that Dropsy cannot speak, and has become one of its most unique aspects. It also gives the game a universal appeal as people who speak any language can enjoy it fully.

Click HERE to check out Dropsy on Kickstarter.

Thanks all! I'll be happy to answer any questions you guys may have.

Just want to throw in a little bump because this game looks incredible! And the theme/setting is crazy unique for an adventure game. I hope you guys make it!

Yeah, Dropsy looks awesome (although I was kinda surprised to see it n Kickstarter again after it already got Kickstarted successfully).

Howdy! I wanted to expand the budget to hire an animator, more capable programmer, and a composer to collaborate with.  The composer is Chris Schlarb, who worked on Nifflas' Night Sky and has a whole slew of incredible solo albums.

I'm really excited about this happening, so thanks for posting about it!