Psychonauts 2 Reaches $3.3 Million Funding Goal

[wulf3n]

...snip...

That's a criticism I can get behind. It also highlights one of the inherent risks of kickstarter, in that you're funding a concept, but whether or not that turns out to be what you wanted or expected is a gamble. Doubly so for the DFA as there wasn't even a game pitched just the vague notion of a point and click adventure.

Are you talking about the same game where Double Fine got more than 6 times the original proposed goal listed

True, but if you look back at the original kickstarter there wasn't actually a "game" in the Wasteland 2 or FTL sense. It was just give Schaefer money and he'll try and make a game with what you give him. So whether he got 1x the original goal, or 100x the original goal isn't really an indication of mismanagement as the project planning came afterwards. eg. it's not like they planned out a game, thought it would cost 400K and then spent 3 Million before realising even that wasn't enough. If that makes any sense?

Another thing to note is that the original kickstarter wasn't even actually for a game... technically. It was dually an experiment to prove that there was still an audience for point and click adventures, and to see what Schaefer could/would do without Publisher intervention, with a promise of a behind the scenes documentary and maybe a game.

then said they only had enough money to make the first half of the game

Maybe a glass half full/empty kind of thing, but from watching the backer documentary it was less a case of "we only have enough money to make the first half of the game" and more "we can limit what we do with the game and release something I'm not happy with, or break up the game into 2 parts and use the money we make from sales on the first part to fund the second part and do everything I want with the game"

then put out another Kickstarter for the second part?

I'm not aware of a second broken age kickstarter, so I'm assuming you're referring to the Massive Chalice kickstarer? (correct me if I'm wrong) If so is there any evidence any money from that went to Broken Age?

That said starting a new kickstarter and waiting until it finished before releasing the update that they were releasing broken age in to parts was a poor way to handle the situation. Whether or not they had malicious intent it gave off the impression they were worried that if people knew broken age was being broken up they wouldn't kickstart Massive Chalice.

but its development seems almost entirely mismanaged from both staying within budget and meeting deadlines.

Glass half full/empty but to me a better management decision is to take more time and spend a bit more money to release a better game rather than end abruptly, I'm looking at you Rage!


Projects go over time all the time, it's part and parcel project estimation. How you handle going over time is what shows good management. That they were able to go over time and budget and still release a full game without asking for any more money form their backers seems to be good management to me.

 

[Leg End]

Hot damn, I still have it.

Deja freakin vu, eh guys?

 

[Raioken18]

Wait Double Fine made the car crash of a game that was Massive Chalice too? Holy crap.

Yeah I'm gunna sit on the negativity bus on this one.

 

[Fulbert]

I suppose it's a good thing there are people who still trust Mr. Schafer with their money. I'm kinda curious what DF comes up with but I'll be damned if I throw money at them again after Broken Age and Massive Chalice campaigns.

 

[Maze1125]

Are you talking about the same game where Double Fine got more than 6 times the original proposed goal listed then said they only had enough money to make the first half of the game then put out another Kickstarter for the second part?

That never happened.
Stop repeating lies.

The only thing that went wrong with the production of the game is that it took longer than expected and so, rather than make backers wait, they released half of the game before the other half was complete. At that point they also released it for sale in case anyone else wanted to play the first half before the second, but they repeatedly explained that they still had enough money to finish the second half even if not a single person bought the game after the original Kickstarter.

I don't know if you made up the lie yourself, or if you believed someone else who made it up, but you need to stop repeating something that is completely false.

Edit: Looking at the details more closely, the specifics of the finances are this: Tim designed a game which was going to cost more than they had so, he did exactly what he should, reassess the finances so they wouldn't run out. He redesigned the game so it wouldn't cost as much but, rather than just give up on the ideas he wanted, he also released it on Steam to see if he could make enough to add those too.

There was not a single part of that that was bad planning and not a single person was asked to pay twice. The only problem is that some people who backed the game didn't particularly enjoy it, but that's always a risk when you buy something, particularly something before it's been made.

 

[Kingjackl]

Everyone's cynical about this, and they have good reason to be so, but I want to believe. I want another Psychonauts game; the first was so good, and this era of gaming I'd argue is much less hostile to that type of game than the PS2 era.

 

[TheMann]

Well, I'm not going to be excessively negative towards this. I realize that some backers felt burnt by the excessive production time of Broken Age. I didn't back that game but I have it and it's a decent point and click. Nothing super special, but not all that bad either. I loved the art style.

I have to say, I have no idea how Double Fine expects to make Psychonauts 2 for $3.3 Million. Back when Notch was thinking about funding the game he was considering an investment of around $13 Million for it, IIRC. Basically, I'm not going to give Timmy any of my money to back the game, but if he manages to pull it I will most definitely buy it.

 

[Dalisclock]

Well, I'm not going to be excessively negative towards this. I realize that some backers felt burnt by the excessive production time of Broken Age. I didn't back that game but I have it and it's a decent point and click. Nothing super special, but not all that bad either. I loved the art style.

I bought Broken Age when part 1 dropped, expecting part 2 would drop in short order(Maybe they announced part 2 would take a year and I missed it). What bugged me is that somehow, with part 1 finished and a year to work on it, part 2 used pretty much all the same assets, enivroments and aside from being a bit longer and having more puzzles, didn't seem to justify the year-long production time.

There's also the issue with part one ending with a rather cool plot twist and most of part 2 desperately handwaving in an attempt to justify it. Apparently none of that $3 million or that year was involved in writing a decent script.

Really, if you're gonna make people wait for something, you should probably show that you were doing something consturctive with that time. For example:If Valve ever does drop Ep 3(which I don't believe will ever happen at this point), it better be a revolutionary, insanely polished experience or the fans are gonna wonder what the hell developers were doing the past 10 years.

As for PN2, I'm willing to give DF the benefit of the doubt. If PN2 is awesome when it releases, I will gladly fork over cash for it. However, I want to see a finished product before I give money, not the other way around.

 

[Maze1125]

I have to say, I have no idea how Double Fine expects to make Psychonauts 2 for $3.3 Million.

They don't. That's only about 1/3 of their budget. They're getting the rest from investors and their own pocket.

 

[munx13]

I can do nothing but admire Schafer.

So many times the guy showed that he can't be trusted with money, yet he STILL manages to lure people in. That takes skill.

 

[TheMysteriousGX]

Hey, at least this time there are actually investors.

Which means the inevitable whining about crowdfunding won't be entirely wrong. For some people at least.

 

[Pirate Of PC Master race]

After Broken age, Massive Chalice and Spacebase DF-9(for extra salt), I am very excited for upcoming firestorm.

I will savor some tears with any luck.