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Flippin awesome idea.
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/260688528/clang
Watch the video and pony up some cash – I gave 25$
I am just reading neal stephensons book snow crash by coincidence… it is awesome… and has some cool virtual sword fighting in it.
I think I’ll wait and see how they get on with it because while I think they may be able to develop some technology which could later be sold onto bigger developers, the game they seem to be developing themselves doesn’t strike me as having much more than a niche appeal. It could be something that maybe sword enthusiasts will find a use for in the same way plane enthusiasts might enjoy MS Flight Sim, but I find it hard to imagine how they could make this fun in the long run without introducing some crazy ass ninja stuff or lightsabers.
I will watch this space though.
Fair enough… Though to some extent kickstarting a project like this ie partly done from altruism… I.e. pay the cash to help make sure the thing gets off the ground in the first place regardless of what you get back.
I love the wee video they did for it. More power to their elbow! Only thing missing is someway to provide meaningful tactile feedback to limit aimless swonging about. Strwight away i am imagining some sort of powered harness that you wear on your sword arm that brings your sword to qn qbrupt halt when you hit bone etc.
Would recommend snow crash to anyome who likes a bit of sci fi by the way. Has various interesting ideas that may turn out to be on the money.
I like your use of the word “Swonging”, but I’ll pass. If he feels that passionately about the project and truly believes there’s a market out there he’d put up the 500k himself like every other business person. Cheeky shite actually.
im still not entirely certain about the whole kickstarter stuff. it feels like getting people to invest in a program and not get anything in return. i can understand from the perspective that some projects dont get funded by major publishers but there is usually a good reason for this. secondly, lots of the studios dont seem to put their money where their mouth is. some do but very few.
maybe im just a miserable cynical (cheap) sod but i cant see myself giving any of these people money.
@crazy hippo wrote:
im still not entirely certain about the whole kickstarter stuff. it feels like getting people to invest in a program and not get anything in return. i can understand from the perspective that some projects dont get funded by major publishers but there is usually a good reason for this. secondly, lots of the studios dont seem to put their money where their mouth is. some do but very few.
maybe im just a miserable cynical (cheap) sod but i cant see myself giving any of these people money.
No, your not being miserable at all. They are looking to make a commercial product and as such any investment should be rewarded with a share of the company.
Lol you cynical bastards.
You have a lot of faith in big corporate entities it seems.
If you look at kickstarter projects a lot of them are for indie films. You don’t need to know much about making movies to realise that it is incredibly expensive and that all the main studios are incredibly conservative.
I would much rather sink some cash into a young guys dream of making a movie if he has the spunk to organise enough people to support him / come up with a plan and then get momentum going amongst people who would like to see the kind of stuff that he might produce rather than send it to
to be wasted. As for games… you can’t really lose… the developer is saying… pay us up front so we can actually make the game…. you will get a copy for your $25 investment which is what it would cost anyway – so take a gamble. I think you will find that most of the people on kickstarter have actually sunk all of the money they have got and then some into whatever their dream is by the way – that is an outrageous statement you made there ben with no proof to back it up.
@xdc the doc wrote:
that is an outrageous statement you made there ben with no proof to back it up.
Which statement? That the guy should invest his own cash if he believes enough in his product? Damn right he should. I don’t buy the picture of some highly talented poor wee lads who need a hand up the ladder. The writer guy is a best selling author with 13 novels, and 11 non-fiction publications. Every corporation began as a start up, every successful company has had at some time had to take financial risk to grow and (granted) through some kind of investment whether it be internally or otherwise. BUT! crowd funding is fine if there is an ongoing share of the company, not a copy of (and I’m making a presumption here) a poxy sword game. It’s lazy business shrouded in some kind of “cool” social togetherness. If you want to go and eat some tofu, do some meditation, hold hands singing kumbya and bask in the glory of your Shwonging game, thats fine, I’ll stick to meat eating, chest beating capitalism.
@xdc the doc wrote:
Lol you cynical bastards.
You have a lot of faith in big corporate entities it seems.
If you look at kickstarter projects a lot of them are for indie films. You don’t need to know much about making movies to realise that it is incredibly expensive and that all the main studios are incredibly conservative.
I would much rather sink some cash into a young guys dream of making a movie if he has the spunk to organise enough people to support him / come up with a plan and then get momentum going amongst people who would like to see the kind of stuff that he might produce rather than send it to
to be wasted. As for games… you can’t really lose… the developer is saying… pay us up front so we can actually make the game…. you will get a copy for your $25 investment which is what it would cost anyway – so take a gamble. I think you will find that most of the people on kickstarter have actually sunk all of the money they have got and then some into whatever their dream is by the way – that is an outrageous statement you made there ben with no proof to back it up.
i just feel that investing in a company and getting a “free” copy is a complete copout. if i am investing in a product why should i not be asking for returns on that investment? without getting into the various pitfalls of capitalism too much 🙂
i gladly pay for a game while it is in alpha/beta ala minecraft. it proves that the person(s) who are making it are serious and not some fly by night ex developer star that is seeking glory again but aint putting his money where his mouth is. i bought a game called frozen synapse while it was still in alpha, i paid for a product and i got it, rather than giving money to someone in the hope that the product they make will be good just because i have my rose tinted nostalgia goggles on.
and that is unfortunately what most of these kickstarter programs are, they are remaking old games and it plays on peoples nostalgia who say “yeah that was an awesome game…..15years ago”.games needn’t cost the world to make, sure if you are after the next great AAA title selling millions of copies and have a schedule of 18 months to do it then it costs. but we are talking about predominantly indie games for PC which was being done 25 years ago by people in their bedrooms, so what has changed in that time for these people to be demanding cash before they even start work?
just my additional 10cents
I have to agree with Ben and CH on this, crowdfunding should be based on a return on the investment or else it’s just charity. Very noble to give to charity and all but if the charity is aiming to make themselves a profit, they should return the favour to those who supported them at the start. This isn’t really cynical either Doc, it’s just business sense, and when people recognise a completely free source of credit they’d be fools not to take advantage.
I can see your argument though, in that your paying for someone to make you something, but there’s a lot of risk in there.
Just reading through the bbc site this afternoon and came across this item, which will please you doc:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-18768907
However the article that linked to it was this:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/technology-20003916
An example which showing the risks involved in crowd sourcing.
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