Quoting myself from another forum:
I really don't think kickstarter is the right method to get funding for indie games. It makes a whole lot more sense for things like physical objects that are being manufactured, where you actually *need* a certain amount of money before you can get the molds or dies or whatever that you need to produce the thing in quantity.
For software? Notsomuch. Nothing is blocking game development from continuing without that $40k--it's not like their programming skills will evaporate if they don't reach that goal.
IMO, a "funding model" similar to Minecraft or KSP is much more appropriate, and well-proven, for indie game development. At first, offer it for free, with the option to pay in order to get a guarantee to get all future versions of the game. Then, freeze the free version as a demo and continue developing, and require people to pay in order to get the latest version (and all future versions), raising the price as you get closer to completion.
From the video:
The planet and other mass points in the UI are to scale; the ships are not, they are exaggerated in size.
Well then I guess the planets aren't to scale, are they? I mean, what else would the planets be "to scale" relative to, if not the ships? If you're going to have the planet size be accurate but the ships too large, you might as well have the ships accurate size but the planets too small...
I develop commercial applications for a living, I have dozens of applications in the app store...
Great, but do you have any experience making video games? And why exactly do you need $40k all in one lump sum to fund a hobby project?
From the website:
It will be released for Windows & Mac first, and then later for the iPad.
Why an iPad release? Planning an iPad version will just dilute the "real" version, IMO.
So what are they using Kickstarter for when they don't even have a playable demo available?
Server and hosting fees for multi-player portion of the game during the beta test and initial launch
This isn't something that needs to be funded at the start of the project.
That's $2000, not $40000.
Professional 3-D art & models
Or you could, you know, find a friend who's pretty decent at modelling to do it for free for now, and then as the game takes off make it better...
Additional sounds and music created for the game
See above.
Development of additional levels, systems, and features.
Why do you need to get paid in advance for this?
Polish, fine-tuning, and game-play balance.
Again--why do you need to get paid in advance for this? This is something that can come with time.
I can't support this project. The idea is interesting, but the methods are all wrong. I purchased KSP for $10, because I could see that Harvester and his crew were capable and dedicated, and the game was already pretty darn fun. I knew they were going to put it to good use, because they had already shown (as a playable version) that they had a strong team and the concept was sound.
But with this--all he has is a simple video showing a few very simple things and a website straight out of the 90s. There's not even a playable demo available, they have graphics that are placeholder at best, and they claim they're shooting for a full version release in five months? :facepalm:
If he succeeds, more power to him, but I'm not about to give him any money until I can see what he's capable of outside of a 6-minute youtube video.
