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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.

I finally got around to voting.  This was a lot of fun.

There was an awful lot of talent this round, I didn't get to vote for everyone I wanted to vote for.

It should be interesting to see how it all pans out.

What if,rather than a king, you play as a peasant who has to compete in a contest to become the heir?

Excellent!

The wizard could submit a young man to compete on his behalf.

mostly fantasy games

In that case, I would recommend a wizard be present.

there once was something similar and it produced 7 contributions and iirc I still have one of the hidden pieces on my hdd...

That's awesome.  I hadn't seen that, but it's another great idea.

I think both of these would make for fun activities, but maybe only one of them should run at a time.  Unless the idea is to keep the Exquisite Corpse going indefinitely, in which case we could either continue that old one or start anew at any time.

I wouldn't think the collaborative background would be fit for a Blitz, but it is similar.  Not sure how that one should be organized.  To solve issues of choosing the puzzle pieces, PixelJoint's collaborative project had rules like this:

"The first 5 tiles may be anywhere at all and require no neighboring tiles."
"From the 6th tile on your tile MUST have at least one neighboring tile already posted that your tile blends into."

Of course, they had 72 tiles in that image.  There are also rules about palettes, scale, and light sources to keep things consistent.

I'm just posting this for reference in case it would help anyone who decides to run one of these activities.  I'd love to see it, even if only as an observer, but it might be a good challenge for me as an artist as well.

I had an idea for a little art game where we start with a blank jigsaw template and take it in turns to draw a new piece of the jigsaw and eventually ending up with a somewhat seamless (hopefully) image.


Maybe I would start the first one and to avoid two or more people clashing over the same puzzle piece, we could get 12 people to claim which parts they are doing before we actually start drawing.  Each person has to try to make their piece work well with the pieces around it, while also trying to set up interesting challenges for the people who have yet to take their turn on the blank pieces adjacent to it.

How does this sound?  I would probably wait until after the Workshop is over before starting this, in case anyone taking part in that wants to join this too, but is worried about time. But just thought I'd throw this idea to out there and see if anyone's interested.

I'd start with this small 12-piecer, but if it goes well we could do it again with an even larger puzzle.

I like this idea.  I think it would work really well.  I've seen many similar works on PixelJoint, and they really turned out well.  Here's an example, their current isometric collaboration:
[imgzoom]http://i.imgur.com/P7L2rBd.gif[/imgzoom]
Of course, that's specific to pixel art on a forum dedicated to the form.

Music group Bent has used similar art by artist Rob White as album covers.  Here's an example:
[imgzoom]http://www.thearthole.co.uk/clients/ministryofsoundrecordings/ministryofsoundrecordings_bent_always_front_cover.jpg[/imgzoom]

I think AGSers would be able to do something similar if the idea was to make a 'background' type image.  Kind of like a collaborative Background Blitz.

You've got my support.

That's a wonderful background!

I think the tree in the foreground might be too blurry.  Making it blur is good, though.  You might also want to blur the deep background some.

Well done!

These games are a lot of fun.

Some of them are quite... unsettling.

Good work, everyone!  I'm playing through some of them again while I decide how to score.

Not sure about the voting, but I just finished preliminary plays through all of the entries.

Really good stuff!  I'm going to have to come back to a few of them.  I was really enjoying them!

$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.

I do the same thing (compulsive screenshots), so thanks for posting this!  I've only glanced, but you've got some great shots.

I guess I hadn't considered it would be 75.  I just remember participating in the voting for the Ludum Dare game jam, and ratings were on a 1-5 scale in each category.

I do see the point, however, that most people are not likely to take the time to rate all 15 of the games in this way.

I'd support choosing the top 3 games in each category.

I love it.  I just need to find a pair of 3D glasses so I can love it some more!

I'd like the ability to rate each game in each category.

I gave White Wedding a playthrough, and found it seamless and well-made. The interfaces had neat functionality. I'm definitely interested to see what you do with this. Just know that one day, I'm probably going to try to push the engine to its breaking point. SOMEHOW. Maybe I'll use it to make a nude racing game.

Please do.

$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).

Dark #2 gets my vote.

On one hand, I see your point, and I am happy that they are pledging to provide their own money rather than ask for more.

My main point is that they should have been able to make their game without needing the extra money.  I just can't see why (short of poor judgement and shoddy budgeting) they wouldn't be able to make their game for the amount of money they received.

Edit: If you had your own money, you shouldn't need to ask me for $8 (unless you only went a couple of bucks over budget).  And if I gave you $50, you should have been able to eat at least 5 meals.

I actually agree with your last statement about being ashamed.

OK fair enough, but if you set out to make a game for $400k, you should be able to accomplish that goal as long as you get the $400k.

It's fair to expand upon their original concept.  But expanding beyond the scope of your budget (which is 833% of what you said you would need) is ludicrous.

I find it morally reprehensible that Double Fine should make anything other than the $400k game they pitched in the first place.

They asked for $400k, they got $3.4million. How do you suggest they spend that extra $3million without making a bigger game?

Profit?