Home » FULL CONTROL GAMES » JA: Flashback (Solutions. Tips. Spoilers!) » Jagged Alliance: Flashback now on Kickstarter
Re: Jagged Alliance: Flashback now on Kickstarter[message #318558] Fri, 03 May 2013 09:26 Go to previous messageGo to previous message
gdalf is currently offline gdalf

 
Messages:89
Registered:May 2013
Hi all,


Long time lurker and 1.13 fan here. I found this conversation very interesting and wanted to add a few thoughts. Like many fans I am no modder but have probably played more JA2 than any other single title in my life. The modding community are 90% responsible for giving this game the legs it has (I recently re-played vanilla UB and it was far too easy and unworthy to repeat). To be clear, I have also pledged a relatively large amount and may increase this if FC deliver. What I can't help but feel however is that there are too many unknowns about their KS campaign to pledge more.

Where's the game?
The first question is where is the game? They launched this campaign too early. I have heard their response that they want to make sure they're on the right track with the fans etc as their reason for not having more already but I do feel they had plenty of feedback already to go on to be at the pre-alpha stage they're at now. 15 years of JA2 community alive and well with plenty of evidence about how the game could have progressed if you interpret what were the successful mods with the community. Feedback from BIA. Response/reviews to XCOM. It's all there if they wanted to look.

Where's the commitment and fore-planning?
I can't help but conclude that the real issue is that the small studio was actually still needing to spend all their important time on their current projects, and JA:F has not had the attention it deserves as yet. That's fair enough - they need to pay their bills. But the it makes the timing of their launch look cynical as others have pointed out. The net result is they are clearly making it up as they go along. They're asking polls about what should be added, stretch goals and merc priorities... I mean this stuff should all have been decided before launch. They (should) know technically what can/cannot be easier or less easy to achieve. If fans decide everything, then they will end up making promises they can't fulfill.

Where's the leadership and inspiration?
A more established name in the field would have stamped their mark on the game and said "I know JA, played it, designed it, modded it (etc) this is what is going to work in 2013." They don't seem to be demonstrating leadership on their project and there's very little enthusiasm rubbing off from their updates (to me). It may be because they've not worked on the title, but the reason Chris Roberts, Chris Avellone, Mark Jacobs, Richard Garriott, Brian Fargo, etc all could raise millions is because even if they've had misses (and god knows they've had them) they had the self-belief to promise they could knock it out the park and the experience of what went wrong with their misses (too much publisher interference?) to lend confidence to the fanbase. A well-run KS campaign also reflects their ability to manage a well-run game project (and SC and CU had their share of hiccups but the ability to pull through and reflect on those problems actually builds confidence). I don't know a lot about game development, but I do want the devs to project the aura that "we know what to do" rather than have me thinking "jeez these guys should be doing X Y and Z"

How are you appealing beyond the existing fanbase?
Another serious repercussion is that with no product to show off, FC can only appeal to the relatively small amount of people who already are very familiar with the JA franchise and can't appeal to a wider demographic of current gamers by wowing them with something they could believe in. Do you really think all the people who backed Star Citizen played WC1-5/Privateer? Tons hadn't but when Chris Roberts showed off his working demo, he got a huge number of new fans who'd only known the games through reputation to believe. That's the power of launching when you're ready.

What can be done now?
Ok I've been really harsh and its not my intention to shoot anyone down. So here's what I think needs to be done to 'get it right' now they've committed to launching and the campaign is underway.

1) Involve the community more. Not just polls about what next. But you need to get the WASTE model from Wasteland up and running in detail posthaste (they also use the Unity engine, learn from them). There is some excellent talent here. Get them excited by saying how they'll be involved. How much is the artwork going to cost you doing it all in-house? Well outsource it to the fans and save some money and get them involved.
2) Yes I've read that the old developers of the originals and modders can't publicly commit to working on the title. But they could publicly endorse your project? You could officially instate them as project consultants (not employees)? You should have got them in before because your track record is so thin. There's still time to get them in now.
3) Working demo (or video). Should have been done before but it's not too late now.
4) Don't make things up as you go along. Get all the available feedback you can then plan everything between now and the closing date (including stretch goals) and hint what you have planned rather than keep saying "it's still undecided" "we're not sure yet" "we want to get fan feedback on this" etc.

I assume you've already got the publicity plans in place so keep at it on that front. The number one weakness of FC is your track record (aka thin CV). It's also harmed by association with bitComposer and BIA (not your fault, but it is there), and other than a working demo that blows everyone away, the next best thing to overcome that is fans, modders, old designers, etc. demonstrating they have faith in you, but you have to give them something so that they can believe.

Good luck Full Control.

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