Think we'll make it?

can you show it?

It will certainly be a photo finish, but we'll make it. There's too many of us that are unwilling to take no for an answer this time around.

thats true i guess. still..

Dave_Murphy323 wrote:thats true i guess. still..

Continue your thoughts...

This thing is in the bag. We're easily hitting the needed average daily, and that doesn't take into account the swell of pledges at the end of the campaign. So many "close calls" go well over within the last few hours. No need to sweat at all. Just persist in what we've been doing.

he is gonna make it. I believe in Tex!

Yes, I do. We've got a lot of passionate people, and more press is on the horizon per the chat we had with Chris/Aaron/Adrian. Plus, there will be the drive at the end. I know I will be adding another chunk of $ (prior to the final drive.)

The "experimental" Kicktraq chart (which the webmaster of Kicktraq said is more accurate than trending and can be found by clikcing the [π] bottom left of the page) at the very least puts it a fraction under the goal at worst and many would probably up their pledge in that case if it was just a bit under. I am more worried about getting past the goal and into the +30% they mentioned to make the game bigger with more paths and cast "very recognisable actors" (though they said in the Skype chat that they could maybe get some sort of name actors it did feel like they were also saying theyd still need to get past the goal to truly have a better chance in seeing who they can reel in (like the Michael York etc. of past).

If you just got the 450k goal, would you still be able to cast even just one of those "very recognisable names" in the contact list you mentioned, like in past games? And if not how much past the goal would be required? If possible I'd also be curious how much past the goal for the other things you mentioned: longer game, more paths, increasing caliber etc.

Chris & Aaron: Chris says: When you look at how much the other Kickstarter projects exceeded their goals, we'd need something similar - like +30%. We can't really say who we would go after for actors, but we would certainly put as much quality as possible into the production.

I thnk we'll make it. I'm not sure about goingt 30% over, but I expect that the last few days of the project will see an increase in pledges.

Sai wrote: I am more worried about getting past the goal and into the +30% they mentioned to make the game bigger with more paths...

This is exactly my concern. There's no doubt in my mind that we'll make it but it's really a question of how far. For reasons different to yours though, I want to see them go the extra distance so they can include foreign subtitles and also have the game ported for tablet and console. These two things will increase the potential of sales and be conducive to the potential of a sequel. I'm really happy for them to scale back on the "bigger name" acting talent and instead just focus on good writing, fluidity in the gameplay and in general just a genuinely satisfying gaming experience that will please us, the fans, but also attract some new ones too. If we have those things in place, i'm sure the rest will take care of itself.

Joel wrote:I want to see them go the extra distance so they can include foreign subtitles and also have the game ported for tablet and console. These two things will increase the potential of sales and be conducive to the potential of a sequel. I'm really happy for them to scale back on the "bigger name" acting talent and instead just focus on good writing, fluidity in the gameplay and in general just a genuinely satisfying gaming experience that will please us, the fans, but also attract some new ones too. If we have those things in place, i'm sure the rest will take care of itself.

Well part of me wants the "very recognisable names" (as Chris put it) because it'd be a shame after Pandora and Overseer not to just have at least 1 and another part of me wants it for the same reasons you'd want subtitles/tablet/console etc. (which should hopefully get covered if we hit +20%, at least I know subtitles will from the page FAQ). If it was just the original cast on the box (or download) us old fans know very well but others dont, itd sell well to the existing fanbase, but if it had a "very recognisable name" on the cast non-fans and a new generation of players may be more inclined to check it out and secure a future for further Tex Murphy games. Even some old fans have said part of what got them curious was seeing such great actors on the cast list of past games. Plus with Project Fedora some comments on forum threads have been similar, like this one:

I've never played any of these, but holy $#it, Michael York was in one of them? The clips of them look fantastic. Can't wait to play a new one.

Of course I also would love the more paths/longer game since as you say the writing is great and any expansion on that in a +30% push would be glorious.

If we stay at or near the minimum average, we will be hitting $400,000 next Saturday, June 9th. This is a very important milestone and will likely be the "tipping point". Every Kickstarter I can see, when it gets this close to goal, suddenly has a surge in contributions to take it over the target. We can easily be at goal by June 12th, and maybe over by this point. Add to that the likely surge in the last few days as people try and attain the stretch goals, and people on the fence realize this is their last chance and I can see us hitting $500,000 - $530,000.

My current prediction is $500,000 for this project, but I'm willing to be wrong, as long as it means my prediction is too low!

One thing I feel needs addressing to bring in a new generation of fans too is the Kickstarter page needs an overhaul. I have heard some say they referred their non-fan friends and though they liked the pitch, skimming the page nothing stood out to them. Most people only will sit down through 1 entire video (the pitch) and then browse the page for the rest. But right now most new info is contained in videos and then a single chunk of text before some review links and an outdated interview link. Personally with other Kickstarters I tend to skim the page for visuals, bulleted info and such then watch the pitch if it looks interesting.

Now that they've removed the videos rather than putting them further down the page under headings (e.g. "NSFV") there is a lot less content for newcomers who tend to not want to trawl through the Updates tab. If you scroll down the page to read the rewards and "About" on the right, you'll notice how much empty space there is on the left. Compare this to other Kickstarters like DoubleFine, Jane Jensen, Carmageddon, Banner Saga, Wasteland 2, Shadowrun Returns, Republique etc. Even those that are shorter than the reward tiers, Tex's goes as far as the 11th tier down. Larry is 16 tiers down (some with mroe text than Tex) and Spaceventure 31 tiers down.

Of course I know that length/quantity doesnt equal quality of content. I'm just saying I feel theyre being too cautious on keeping the Kickstarter page growing with content, visuals and up to date information. There is a lot more space for Tex's Kickstarter to grow in this respect and with less than 2 weeks to go this is starting to feel more and more urgent for people who aren't already fans to get pledging.