Double Fine Adventure Will Be Available DRM Free For IOS, Android

New submitter Garth Smith writes "Tim Schafer has a video update for his crowdsourced project, Double Fine Adventure. Because of the nearly $2 million in funding, the budget is now large enough for language translations, voice acting, music, and more platforms. The XBox and PS3 are absent. I wonder what would the chances of a DRM-free release have been if funding had come from a traditional publisher?"

Comments

post

[Anonymous Coward]

First

IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

what?

Re:IOS, Android and

[i kan reed]

Mac, Linux, and PC. With both Steam and DRM-free versions to be available for all-purpose platforms.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Drinking Bleach]

I'm guessing it was going to say the Java platform, but they encountered a NullPointerException

Re:IOS, Android and

[i kan reed]

In spite of this being a joke, Java is not allowed on IOS, so no.

Re:IOS, Android and

[GameboyRMH]

Excellent, one customer ready to buy.

Re:IOS, Android and

[newcastlejon]

IOS, Android and what?

And nothing.

I've noticed that American headlines often use "X, Y" instead of "X and Y" when there are two items.
I assume it's to save space but, like you apparently, I still find it rather jarring (of course, it could be just a typo). Please let's not argue over which is better.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

Actually, URL says "double-fine-adventure-will-be-available-drm-free-for-ios-android-and-more" and I'm guessing the GP was wondering what the "more" is.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

The words "IOS" and "Android" just get more visitors to /. and /. gets more income.
They didn't have more space in the title, if they had it would've also contained "Linux".

Re:IOS, Android and

[Samantha Wright]

If it's on Android, don't you think there's already a Java port in the works? :)

Re:IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

It won't be PS3 and 360, that's for sure.
The pressing/licensing fees for those consoles were over $10 a disc when I was involved with game development. Payable upfront. Making 100K runs would be their entire budget. It's just not going to happen.

Re:IOS, Android and

[newcastlejon]

I stand corrected, thank-you.

That'll teach me to assume a subtle linguistic misunderstooding exists when it's actually just sloppy headline-writing or lackadaisical editing.

Re:IOS, Android and

[i kan reed]

I find your sig + your statement + the context an amusing combination.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Chaos Incarnate]

At the scale of game we're talking about, these wouldn't be pressed discs, they'd be XBLA/PSN titles.

Re:IOS, Android and

[s73v3r]

I would imagine that, much like some of Double Fine's previous titles (Stacking, for one), it would be available as a downloadable title. No disks needed.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

Is there still the 50MB DL game size limit? I haven't looked into that in ages. All the games I worked on needed heavy compression to fit on a DVD.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Garth Smith]

Not sure about PSN, but I know we recently had a discussion about the cost of Xbox patches.

This makes me wonder how much it costs to get a game onto XBLA. Does anyone know?

Re:IOS, Android and

[TheCRAIGGERS]

How so? Are you claiming Double Fine is a bully in the video game industry? I could presume you meant Steam, but since the whole point of this article is that DRM-free options will exist, I am back to being confused again.

Re:IOS, Android and

[mcl630]

What about downloadable through Xbox Live and PSN?

Re:IOS, Android and

[Garth Smith]

Does anyone know much does it cost to get a game on Xbox Live and PSN? $2 million is quite a small budget for a game and I imagine cost is the sole reason of not releasing the game to more platforms.

Re:IOS, Android and

[chrb]

No, since you can't do Java on iOS, it is easier to do a cross-platform app in C with SDL for the graphics and audio stuff. There are some other options: C# via monotouch/monoforandroid, Javascript via phonegap or titanium.

Re:IOS, Android and

[flimflammer]

I don't get it.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Bengie]

They said XBLA won't happen because they only work with licensed publishers. 360 won't happen because patches cost $40k each.

Re:IOS, Android and

[NeutronCowboy]

Downloadable games are any size now. I've got a few that go past the 1GB size.

Re:IOS, Android and

[i kan reed]

the relevant context is that 2 of the 5 platforms are apple products. That's all.

Re:IOS, Android and

[subanark]

If you can do it in c#, you can do it in Java with IKVM.

Re:IOS, Android and

[PopeRatzo]

The words "IOS" and "Android" just get more visitors to /. and /. gets more income.

Exactly! That's how the Slashdot guys were able to get all those private jets and mansions and stuff.

Re:IOS, Android and

[slugicide]

Unfortunately, backers who run Linux won't be part of the closed beta.

Re:IOS, Android and

[Anonymous Coward]

How is that relevant? Is Double Fine giving their earnings from the game to Apple?

Re:IOS, Android and

[thetoadwarrior]

I'll buy both the Mac and Linux version to support this way of working and to support Linux gaming.

Re:IOS, Android and

[i kan reed]

First, it's just humorous, not an actual contradiction of the GGGP's principles. Second, yes deploying to a platform does, in fact, increase the effective value of that platform, thus indirectly giving earnings to Apple. It's not a serious issue, and I hope this isn't a debate.

Re:IOS, Android and

[X0563511]

Generally you'll find it a lot rarer for people to say "i won't buy unless you remove platform X" than "i won't buy unless you add platform X"

And....

[Anonymous Coward]

And...

Re:IOS, Android and LINUX

[Garth Smith]

The last word was "Linux". Tim Schafer had already let it be known that OSX and the PC (obviously) would be supported.

If you want to support DRM-free Linux development, please consider financially supporting the project!

Traditional Publisher

[IamGarageGuy 2]

I would believe that this project would not be able to come from a traditional publisher on the basis that a "traditional publisher" nowadays feels that a game is not able to survive without DRM. Behold the brave new world of independant publishing ( am i showing my optimism there?)

Re:Traditional Publisher

[i kan reed]

Be optimistic. One of the "promises of the web" is coming true. We actually have democratization of a process that used to be limited by the wealthy. Just don't be irrational, and don't expect this to end the existing model which works just fine for what it is (able to produce highly marketed, general audience games).

Re:Traditional Publisher

[w_dragon]

And it's only getting better. KickStarter is great, but limited (intentionally) to a specific list of project areas. Imagine what could happen if you crowd-sourced VC or angel financing. Bypassing the stock market to be able to acquire shares of a company pre-IPO when they need start-up funds, having the high-risk, high-reward options currently only possible for people with millions. And from the other side, it would be an option for companies that want financing without the traditional VC breathing down their neck.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[i kan reed]

Not currently legal in the United States. Kickstarter is expressly a money->product business. Buying shares or bonds of a start-up this way would be illegal, and you'd probably land in hot water with both the IRS and the FEC. If you believe legislators could be elected to fix this problem, go for it.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[LordLucless]

The whole point of this sort of model is that nobody really needs to care about piracy. I blogged about it four years ago (and basically describe Kickstarter in that post) as a way for creative industry to adapt to a digital world. If everyone's paid (by backers) before production begins, then there's no complaining about lost income due to "piracy". I wonder if I can get a job as a futurist?

Re:Traditional Publisher

[SomePgmr]

I'm not disagreeing, just curious... why is it illegal? VC firms, individuals and existing companies invest in start-ups well before they ever go public (for those that ever do) all the time. Why does doing it through a Kickstarter-like service make it illegal?

Re:Traditional Publisher

[Anne Thwacks]

If you dig deeper, you may be able to discover powerful vested interests.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[SomePgmr]

As it turns out, there's a current push to change this situation. It sounds like the illegal bit is soliciting investments in return for equity "from unaccredited investorsâ"defined as investors with less than $1 million in assetsâ"who are not friends or family."

http://www.crainsnewyork.com/article/20120111/SMALLBIZ/120119980#

It sounds like a great idea to me.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[Half-pint HAL]

Except that this is not the case here. The original Kickstarter target wouldn't have covered costs, and they would have needed sales. Even now, I suspect they will still need additional sales to make a profit. They won't be giving it away for free, so they may end up still complaining about piracy...

Re:Traditional Publisher

[w_dragon]

Good article. Thanks for sharing that.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[hitmark]

I suspect that came about because at least one guy was doing just that up and down the Mississippi, only later to be found out to have sold well beyond 100% of some riverboat or something.

Re:Traditional Publisher

[TurtleBay]

Google the phrase 'Chinese reverse merger' to see why this is the case, this was a scheme for companies to avoid securities laws by being registered in China and avoiding a traditional IPO. While paternalistic, regulations force companies which sell to the investing public to register their securities and provide certain information relating to the companies assets, cash flows and earnings on a quarterly basis. Likewise, representatives who broker the sale of securities are required to be registered by FINRA (was NASD). Before these laws (roughly before 1933) these was a ton of fraud. People would sell investments they didn't own, companies would lie about what assets they had, people would sell stock in companies which didn't exist, brokers would disappear as soon as the check cleared, or companies would sell 20 different people 10% stakes.

Re:IOS, Android and LINUX

[Garth Smith]

For those wondering why this question was even being asked, the last work was cut off for whatever reason. timothy cleaned it up within a couple of minutes of the story posting. =)

Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[so1omon]

DRM free versions will be available for Mac, PC and Linux. The game will also be made available through Steam, and the IOS App Store, etc.... which definitely have DRM. Title here (and other places) make it sound like it will be DRM free only.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Drinking Bleach]

Steam games don't necessarily have DRM -- not even the kind that Steam itself provides. See for example DOSBox games on it, Witcher 2, VVVVVV, and a few others that allow you to copy the game files and play without Steam, without the need to crack them.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[pdboddy]

Steam's DRM is ... sign in to play. The game will likely allow you to play offline, without the need for a CD Key, jumping through hoops, or installing rootkits that slowly shred your hard drive and CD Rom.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Garth Smith]

• Double Fine Adventure will be available for iOS, Android, and Linux.
• Double Fine Adventure will also release a DRM-free version to backers of the project.

As the story submitter, I realize now that the title makes it sound like the iOS and Android versions of the game will be DRM-free. Sorry! I majored in mathematics, not english. >.<

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Anonymous Coward]

Steam is DRM. If Valve turns off their servers, you lose all your games.

With a DRM-free download, I back up the installer and can keep playing as long as I can find hardware to run an OS that the game can handle.

People often mistakenly say Steam isn't DRM because it's less annoying to them than the more in-your-face measures that Ubisoft and their ilk employ, but it's still a measure that gives Valve the capability of taking your purchases away sometime in the future.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[jandrese]

If you've downloaded one of the DRM free games (like VVVVVV), you can run it directly from your Steamapps directory even if Steam does go down.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Anonymous Coward]

As long as steam doesn't feel like baning you for some random reason or no reason at all.

Or when the valve goes bankrupt and get liquidated. Which means that anything of value(like the control of those games) get sold to some other company, and who know what that company will do.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Garth Smith]

As long as steam doesn't feel like baning you for some random reason or no reason at all.

The game mentioned in the grandparent would not be affected by a Steam ban. You can copy the game data files to another PC and run the game, no Steam required.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Barefoot Monkey]

That's true for the most part. DRM is a major function of Steam and the vast majority of games there are dependant on Steam allowing you to play them, but there are exceptions. Obviously games that run through some sort of VM (such as ScummVM, DOSBox, Snes9x, possibly Flash, etc) can be run independently of the Steam service, but there are also a handful of native games that don't bother asking for Valve's permission to play. Binding of Isaac, Super Meat Boy, Dungeons of Dredmor. The post to which you are replying also gives VVVVVV and Witcher 2 as examples. Those are all games that Valve cannot take away from you (well, I suppose they could in theory push an update that turns the client or some of your games into a backdoor and then go into your computer and delete stuff, if we really want to go into paranoia territory, but then your backups of those particular games will still work even on computers without the Steam client).

Steam has DRM and, while it seems to cause no problems for many people, it has been more intrusive for me than any other anti-piracy system that I have ever encountered (running a game usually forces the client to start first, client takes long to load and much longer to log in, trying to start a game bring us a "Preparing to launch" message that lasts anywhere from 90 seconds to 10 minutes before the game even begins to load, games are often "unavailable" for unspecified reasons, offline mode often demands a connection to the internet, automatic updates are appalling in every way possible, there's a risk of having games revoked, there's a risk of losing your entire account). However, despite all that, Drinking Bleach is absolutely correct in that Steam gamed don't necessarily have DRM.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Kalriath]

You can always run games straight from the SteamApps directory - they just launch Steam first. Have you confirmed that Steam does not launch when you run the game?

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Drinking Bleach]

Yes; I didn't mean to imply that DRM-free games are the norm on Steam, but they do happen, rarely. And for what it's worth, I've experienced all of those Steam woes myself except for losing games or my account. Steam is quite frustrating and annoying when it doesn't stay out of your way.

Hell, even when I want to play a game on Windows, I usually avoid it. Windows Updates, Steam updates, Firefox updates... everything seems to want to hammer my disk and CPU time as soon as I boot Windows. Just makes me avoid running it, and it's a bit self-defeating in that end; the longest I've gone between booting Windows is probably two months, and then it took around two hours before anything settled down and was usable again.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Anonymous Coward]

You wouldn't even have to copy it to another computer. No need to run steam at all, just run the game's exe in the steamapps folder (or copy it somewhere, then run it).

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Anonymous Coward]

Apologies for AC, but I don't log in on public computers ;)

There are quite a few games (like the ones mentioned above) that can be run directly from the executables without steam launching. These games are in the minority though. I found this out not by doing research, but rather by being away from an internet connection for a lengthy period of time and unable to get steam to run in off-line mode. Most of the games I had installed would not run, as they invoked steam when I tried to run the executable, but quite a few games ran with no problem, examples in my case: Doom, Doom 2, Dangerous Waters and a few others.

Although, I'm not really sure why I was playing Dangerous Waters, since I was kinda doing the same thing for real at the time ;)

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[WCLPeter]

If Valve turns off their servers, you lose all your games.

I used to think this way too, until I realized that just about every game eventually goes on sale for the amazingly cheap 75% - 90% off. I've never bought a game full price, most of my stuff is in the 10-15 dollar range, and I get a lot of hours of enjoyment out of it. At that cheap price its like a rental I never have to return, making it incredibly convenient.

Besides, its not like I can't go online and find cracked copies of the executable files that would let me play the game without Steam if I really wanted to.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[Patman64]

Yeah, nothing worse than "Sorry, we've arbitrarily decided that the game you purchased with your money and already installed on this computer is now unavailable for no particular reason. Please try again when the stars re-align."

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[EvanED]

Same here. I've only bought one Steam-only game at full price, and that was Portal 2. I won't buy a full-price, heavily-DRM'd game (anything which requires online activation) just on a whim. I can't say I have the willpower to completely resist, but it has to be a damn good game for me to do that. (Starcraft 2 is the other one I've gotten like that.)

However, I have a ton of cheap-ass games I've picked up on their holiday sales. I have enough that I can't say that I'd not care if Steam went down, but at least at an individual game level, I don't really care if I lose the $2.50 I paid for KOTOR or whatever.

Re:Both DRM free and DRM'ed versions.

[IronSight]

My take from watching the kickstarter video he posted, was that people that donated would be the only ones to receive the DRM free copies.

shit commentary

[Anonymous Coward]

I wonder what would the chances of a DRM-free release have been if funding had come from a traditional publisher?

The same chance you have getting laid by something other than your left hand. Can we leave out the shitty editorials.

Re:shit commentary

[pdboddy]

Hey, they'll lay off the shitty commentary if you'll lay of the shitty comments.

Re:shit commentary

[i kan reed]

We'll start with yours. Editorializing about editorials are the worst.

Re:shit commentary

[CanHasDIY]

I wonder what would the chances of a DRM-free release have been if funding had come from a traditional publisher?

The same chance you have getting laid by something other than your left hand. Can we leave out the shitty editorials.

You must be new here...

Welcome to the internet!

Re:shit commentary

[Garth Smith]

I wrote that editorial. Parent's comment was good for a laugh. =)

Did you know that adventure games are more popular with girls than Call of Duty or Madden ever was? I know quite a few females, that aren't my left hand (correction: my RIGHT hand), that are excited about this game.

I'll buy at least 2 copies.

[pdboddy]

iOS and PC. :)

Re:I'll buy at least 2 copies.

[Anonymous Coward]

But aren't you buying a license for you to play the game? Wouldn't DRM free mean you can actually get the game in whichever medium or format you need as long as you own the license?

Re:I'll buy at least 2 copies.

[s73v3r]

It would mean he can. Doesn't mean he has to. If he wants to show support for this kind of thing by purchasing it on multiple platforms, more power to him.

Re:I'll buy at least 2 copies.

[Anonymous Coward]

I'd buy two copies of the PC version. That way, you'd support the devs even more since nobody will be siphoning off an egregious 30% tax.

Probabilities

[Digital Vomit]

I wonder what would the chances of a DRM-free release have been if funding had come from a traditional publisher?"

Somewhere between zero and the temperature (in Kelvin) at which Hell freezes over.

Re:Probabilities

[Anonymous Coward]

Depends on your choice of reference frame. According to the Divine Comedy, the deepest circle of Hell (the fate of traitors) is an absolute bitter cold, without the comfort of simply going numb and freezing to death. That would imply something colder than an Alaskan winter night, and it is already frozen.

According to the more simple and Biblical "lake of fire and brimstone" model, the materials in question are solid at casual room temperature, so "freezing over" could be as warm as 300K.

Using the easier to define statistic, you scope the probabilty at somewhere between 0% and 300%, meaning the average is 150%. At a 150% chance of something being DRM free, that implies that the EULA requires you to give the attached secondary copy of the game to another person before your usage is approved (but does not actually do anything to enforce this clause).

...and LINUX

[Anonymous Coward]

"For IOS, Android"

What happened to /.?

Re:...and LINUX

[Garth Smith]

The title originally included "and Linux" but it got cut off for whatever reason. Slashdot could use a character limit in the title field of new submissions if this is a common issue.

Re:...and LINUX

[Anonymous Coward]

The RSS reader reveals there were three iterations of the headline on /.

"IOS, Android and Linux"
"IOS, Android, and More"
"IOS, Android"

What about investors?

[Anonymous Coward]

Say I invested in his 2 million dollar drive...other than the sense that I helped someone out, do I get a part of the returns on the game(s)? Will we get to see Tim Schafer's accounting for this money?

Can he send me a note saying how much he liked my quarter and the loose cigarette he used it to buy?

Re:What about investors?

[Garth Smith]

The word "investor" is not used anywhere. They ask for backers or "donations" though most people who backed the project are thinking of it as a pre-order.

Re:What about investors?

[s73v3r]

If you bothered to check out the Kickstarter page, the "returns" start at getting a copy of the game. They even had a level of $10,000 donation which would get you lunch with Tim Schaffer. If you went to Double Fine's site, they had even higher levels than that. $15,000 would get you dinner with the dev team and Tim Schaffer. $20,000 would get you dinner and bowling.

iOS = DRM

[Anonymous Coward]

Isn't everything on an iPhone under DRM? I mean you can't transfer ownership or anything.

Re:iOS = DRM

[i kan reed]

They said that there will be a DRM free version, not that all versions will have no DRM.

Re:iOS = DRM

[Garth Smith]

Isn't everything on an iPhone under DRM? I mean you can't transfer ownership or anything.

You are most likely correct. Tim's update doesn't say the iOS version specifically will be DRM-free, just that the game will have a DRM-free version available. Also, the game will be released for iOS. I tried to make a concise title that hit both these points but instead managed to add to the confusion. I regret that now and wish I could go back in time to correct myself.

Wait

[eternaldoctorwho]

Will I be fined twice for playing it? Versus just once for other big-name game producers, that is.

MacWinnux

[Anonymous Coward]

What do we call software available on all consumer PC's? MacWinnux.
What do we call software available on all popular mobile devices? Apps
What do we call drm-free software available? Piracy bait.

See what's going on here is that by pre-paying for the project up front, it ultimately doesn't matter if it has DRM or not, because there's no immediate claim of piracy, even if it's being distributed in a piracy fashion. Everyone who pre-paid for it, gets a copy, and the pirates get it last. See, there's your piracy solution. Get everyone to pay first. If there's not enough financial incentive to fund your effort, then you go it alone. Anyone who buys it after it's released, actually wants to support the creators, and anyone who obtains the pirate copy , even though they paid for it, can't be pirating it. Might be hard to tell who actually paid for it this way, but because it's effectively been "pre-sold", you can't make the "lost sale" claim, since if you wanted more sales, you'd have set the target higher.

Re:MacWinnux

[Half-pint HAL]

But what if you're not the two biggest names in adventure gaming? How is some unknown supposed to get funding for a really good game? Double Fine didn't give any information about what the game will be -- they didn't have to, because they're who they are. But an unknown backroom programming squad is going to have to give more info than that... then watch as some big budget software house dedicates umpteen corporate programmers to producing something to his spec and making a fortune....

nmod 0p

[Anonymous Coward]

All our times have Corporations Obvious that ,there

Strange choice of languages

[Optic7]

"And for all our lovely friends overseas, we'll be localizing the text in French, Italian, German, and Spanish."

Spanish makes sense, but not the others: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_languages_by_number_of_native_speakers

I have a hard time believing that, for instance, Italy has a larger market for games than Brazil, Russia, India, or China.

Re:Strange choice of languages

[Garth Smith]

I have a hard time believing that, for instance, Italy has a larger market for games than Brazil, Russia, India, or China.

I too wondered this. The only reason for EFIGS I can think of is that it must be easier to release the game for the EU market as a whole than it is to prepare releases for individual markets around the world. I don't know if this is for legal or regulation reasons. Perhaps Double Fine has more experience dealing with EFIGS than it does for Russian. E.g. they might not have anyone in the office that is fluent in Russian. Backers have offered to do translations to other languages themselves if they get access to all the text in the game.

Re:Strange choice of languages

[godrik]

maybe this has to do with the population that gave money more than the world's population distribution.

Re:Strange choice of languages

[BeShaMo]

Which again comes down to where they play this kind of games. Lucas Arts were always huge in especially France and Germany, while I would think China less so. Another language they ought to consider i Japanese. The old school Lucas Arts games were quite popular there. Of course another consideration is that adding a whole new writing system adds another level of complexity to the language question.

Re:Strange choice of languages

[Half-pint HAL]

Markets are markets. I've been to Spain, France and Italy in the last couple of years, and I can personally attest that adventure games -- including the old Lucasarts titles -- are more prominent in games shops than in the UK. There are studios actively developing adventures in Spain (Pendulo) and in Germany (Crimson Cow). Central/Western Europe is there best target market.

DRM Is To Recover Your Investment

[rsmith-mac]

As it stands the game is effectively pre-funded. Every sale Double Fine makes on top of the Kickstarter campaign is going to be pure profit so long as they don't go over budget, which greatly changes the market dynamics. DRM is first and foremost about being able to recover your investment, after which there's not nearly as great a need to stop freeloaders. So I don't think anyone should be surprised that their game will be DRM free; it's a nice gesture for sure, but it's not as if Double Fine is in a position where they need to use it.*

* Even more so since Notch is effectively writing them a blank check for their next game, Psychonauts 2

Re:DRM Is To Recover Your Investment

[Garth Smith]

Even more so since Notch is effectively writing them a blank check for their next game, Psychonauts 2

I wish! However Notch has admitted he didn't realize how expensive the budget for Psychonauts was. It was $19 million. So while Notch wants to be a major investor to the tune of a few million dollars, he alone is not able to completely fund Psychonauts 2 by himself. I have no doubts that Double Fine can find creative ways to make up the difference though! ='p

Re:DRM Is To Recover Your Investment

[MobileTatsu-NJG]

With a couple of exceptions, there is no such thing as freeloaders with regards to piracy. DRM, however, is a cost that continues to grow for as long as the company is in business.

DRM is like poltergeist-proofing your office space.

Re:DRM Is To Recover Your Investment

[mattack2]

* Even more so since Notch is effectively writing them a blank check for their next game, Psychonauts 2

I hadn't heard anything about Psychonauts 2, so googled it. Apparently it's not actually the next game, and not positively on track at all.

http://www.gamespot.com/news/psychonauts-2-pledge-made-semi-jokingly-minecraft-creator-6350572

I'm a big fan of the original, even though I'm stuck on the last level. (It's so frustrating that I try it then give up for months..)

Something seems to missing here.

[westlake]

I look at the web page and I see talk about funding, platforms and DRM.

But I haven't a clue about the game itself other than that it appears to patterned on the old-school low-res Lucas Arts graphic adventures.

What I need to know as an investor is whether you have a story, characters, setting and design as original and compelling as Grim Fandango. What I want in a developer is someone who can say no to the crowd and it make it stick.

Duke Nukem Forever is the perfect example of the game as fan service.

Re:Something seems to missing here.

[PRMan]

If the guy who made the Monkey Island series is behind it, my kids and I will be buying it and playing it.* (*As long as it is content-appropriate and not rated M or something.)

Re:Something seems to missing here.

[Garth Smith]

I *donated* to Double Fine because of Tim Schafer and Ron Gilbert's reputation for making great adventure games. I fully realize that new game developers would not have the same success on Kickstarter. There is a benefit to putting in the time and effort to build a reputation! I find that myself I have much more opportunities available to me now than I did at 18. I realize that is because others feel more comfortable gambling on me when I can show that gamble has paid off in the past.

Also, Kickstarter is not for investing money. And even the best investments can fail horribly. At least Double Fine promises an interesting documentary out of it!

Re:Something seems to missing here.

[Anonymous Coward]

Co-writer/co-programmer: Monkey Island, Monkey Island 2.
Co-designer: Day of the Tentacle.
Project lead/writer/designer: Full Throttle, Grim Fandango, Psychonauts, Brütal Legend.

All of these felt like they were developed with next to no executive interference. These are games that amused the people who made them, first and foremost.

Also note that Ron Gilbert (lead on most of the rest of Lucasfilm's adventures) is involved with this project in some capacity. The team for this game has a HELL of a good track record.

So basically if you like the point-n-click adventure, this is a chance to give an acknowledged master of the form the funding to make a new one. Which you can have for as low as $15.

Re:Something seems to missing here.

[gargll]

Your comment reminds me of a Billy Bob Thorton interview in which he states he accepted to star in the Cohen Brothers' film "The Man Who Wasn't There" without even reading the script since he liked everything they had done: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=G6tWv-HaHAc. Whether or not you consider the track record of Schafer and Glibert sufficient to blindly give them money is another story, but I actually like the way this project is being funded on no other ground than "it will be a point & click adventure": there can be no mistake as to the reason why people are backing this project.

Summary bias?

[Anonymous Coward]

The XBox and PS3 are absent.

As is the Wii. Which probably would make quite a nice platform for a DotT-style point-and-click adventure.

Re:Summary bias?

[Garth Smith]

As is the Wii. Which probably would make quite a nice platform for a DotT-style point-and-click adventure.

I could see this working awesomely on the Wii. I didn't mention the Wii because I don't have one and haven't used one for quite some time. I have heard people asking for a Wii version of the game so who knows? I have a feeling the main reason the consoles are being passed up is because of how much money it costs to get a game approved by Microsoft/Sony/Nintendo.

Re:Summary bias?

[sd4f]

Broken sword on the wii worked surprisingly well, i was quite impressed. Wiimote for point and click is perfectly fine in my opinion, whereas the controllers, and realistically, even the kinect aren't all that brilliant on xbox and ps3.

Ios will NOT be DRM free..

[Lumpy]

Apple does not allow that. Or are they selling it only on the Cydia store and skipping the apple store? That would be interesting if they only sold to jailbroken Apple owners.

Re:Ios will NOT be DRM free..

[Garth Smith]

Copy-pasting:

Double Fine Adventure will be available for iOS, Android, and Linux.

Double Fine Adventure will also release a DRM-free version to backers of the project.

As the story submitter, I realize now that the title makes it sound like the iOS and Android versions of the game will be DRM-free. Sorry! I majored in mathematics, not english. >.<

Other report

[advid.net]

There is also a game news report talking about Double Fine:

Game report (Double Fine part is at 0'45")

It is russian spoken but I don't know why I didn't found it difficult to understand the whole report.

By my count...

[DdJ]

...they are already going to have to include over 4,000 people in the game's credits. Anyone who donates $100 or more gets "special thanks in the game's credits".

(Yes, my name will be one of those.)

Its the least a begger could offer.

[Anonymous Coward]

Tim goes out and begs for money because he cant make a game that will sell so he can make more games to sell people later. Basically he asked for people to give him money to make something so he can sell it to them again later and all he can do is offer it drm free. What a scam.

Re:Its the least a begger could offer.

[Garth Smith]

People who donate $15 or more will get a copy of the finished game. For all purposes it is a pre-order with the option of paying more if you want. He is perfectly open about his motives and his goals for the project. In fact, with the documentary being made about the development of the game, as it's being developed, you could say this is one of the most transparent development processes ever. Scam? Opposite! If you don't like the terms don't pay the $15+. No reason to start name calling.

Re:Its the least a begger could offer.

[deek]

Yep, it's an ingenious scam, and it worked perfectly. Sucked me in, that's for sure. For all his affability and good nature, Tim Schafer is one hell of an evil genius. You have to give him cred for that.

I can only hope he tops it off by making the game about an evil genius who swindles millions from unsuspecting netizens. Using the SCUMM game engine. Now that would be inspired evil!

Re:Its the least a begger could offer.

[deek]

Ahhh, the art of subtle sarcasm has drowned in a sea of surly moderators.

As much as I hate to spell it out, please read the above with a sense of humour.

Re:IOS, Android and PC!

[Anonymous Coward]

Article title make my panic a little. No PC?? After checking the video,.. phew..

Dear EA...

[WCLPeter]

Dear EA...

Please follow this example and do a refresh, please no remakes or re-imaginings, of the Wing Commander series.

I, and a few friends I know, would be more than willing to drop 50 - 100+ dollars into a Kickstarter project that would portray the original Wing Commander stories with modern updated graphics, sound, all new voice overs with the established series voice actors, and full HOTAS support.

I'll even drop an extra 50 bucks if you provide a Steam-Play version so I can play it natively on my Mac.

Thanks,
A Wing Commander Fan who want to give you money...

PS: Lets do this for System Shock and System Shock 2 as well okay?

Re:Dear EA...

[Anguirel]

Some of that is already being done by fans.

Just like music

[Anonymous Coward]

This reminds me of how the pay-as-you-will album from Radiohead totally changed the music industry with its completely viable new system of begging for donations. To think, we still have some sectors of our economy in which you are actually expected to pay for a product!