Forum Overview :: Double Fine Adventure
 
Now you know what it's like to publish a Tim Schaefer game by Horrible Gelatinous Blob 07/03/2013, 12:29am PDT
Title stolen from NeoGAF.

A Note from Tim
Hello, Backers of Adventure!

Those of you who have been following along in the documentary know about the design vs. money tension we’ve had on this project since the early days. Even though we received much more money from our Kickstarter than we, or anybody anticipated, that didn’t stop me from getting excited and designing a game so big that it would need even more money.

I think I just have an idea in my head about how big an adventure game should be, so it’s hard for me to design one that’s much smaller than Grim Fandango or Full Throttle. There’s just a certain amount of scope needed to create a complex puzzle space and to develop a real story. At least with my brain, there is.

So we have been looking for ways to improve our project’s efficiency while reducing scope where we could along the way. All while looking for additional funds from bundle revenue, ports, etc. But when we finished the final in-depth schedule recently it was clear that these opportunistic methods weren’t going to be enough.

We looked into what it would take to finish just first half of our game—Act 1. And the numbers showed it coming in July of next year. Not this July, but July 2014. For just the first half. The full game was looking like 2015! My jaw hit the floor.

This was a huge wake-up call for all of us. If this were true, we weren’t going to have to cut the game in half, we were going to have to cut it down by 75%! What would be left? How would we even cut it down that far? Just polish up the rooms we had and ship those? Reboot the art style with a dramatically simpler look? Remove the Boy or Girl from the story? Yikes! Sad faces all around.

Would we, instead, try to find more money? You guys have been been very generous in the tip jar (thanks!) but this is a larger sum of money we were talking about. Asking a publisher for the money was out of the question because it would violate the spirit of the Kickstarter, and also, publishers. Going back to Kickstarter for it seemed wrong. Clearly, any overages were going to have to be paid by Double Fine, with our own money from the sales of our other games. That actually makes a lot of sense and we feel good about it. We have been making more money since we began self-publishing our games, but unfortunately it still would not be enough.

Then we had a strange idea. What if we made some modest cuts in order to finish the first half of the game by January instead of July, and then released that finished, polished half of the game on Steam Early Access? Backers would still have the option of not looking at it, of course, but those who were sick of waiting wouldn’t have to wait any more. They could play the first half of the game in January!

We were always planning to release the beta on Steam, but in addition to that we now have Steam Early Access, which is a new opportunity that actually lets you charge money for pre-release content. That means we could actually sell this early access version of the game to the public at large, and use that money to fund the remaining game development. The second part of the game would come in a free update a few months down the road, closer to April-May.

So, everybody gets to play the game sooner, and we don’t have to cut the game down drastically. Backers still get the whole game this way—nobody has to pay again for the second half.

And whatever date we start selling the early release, backers still have exclusive beta access before that, as promised in the Kickstarter.

I want to point out that Broken Age’s schedule changes have nothing to do with the team working slowly. They have been kicking ass and the game looks, plays, and sounds amazing. It’s just taking a while because I designed too much game, as I pretty much always do. But we’re pulling it in, and the good news is that the game’s design is now 100% done, so most of the unknowns are now gone and it’s not going to get any bigger.

With this shipping solution I think we’re balancing the size of the game and the realities of funding it pretty well. We are still working out the details and exact dates, but we’d love to hear your thoughts. This project has always been something we go through together and the ultimate solution needs to be something we all feel good about.

In the meantime, I’m hoping you are enjoying the documentary and like the progress you’re seeing on Broken Age. I’m really exciting about how it’s coming together, I can’t wait for you to see more of it, and I feel good about finally having a solid plan on how to ship it!

Thanks for reading,

Tim


Keep in mind:

  • They raised $3MM+ after originally asking for $400k.
  • They released Brutal Legend on PC earlier this year, which generated pure profit almost immediately since it only cost the two weeks' pay it took three programmers to port it from 360 to Windows.
  • They presold this game in one of those bundles earlier this year as well.

    This is probably the best way to go about solving a problem like this, but a problem like this shouldn't arise in the first place. I would link to and quote the RPS and Kotaku comments defending Double Fine and Schaefer, but honestly I can't stomach it right now.
  • NEXT REPLY QUOTE
     
    Now you know what it's like to publish a Tim Schaefer game by Horrible Gelatinous Blob 07/03/2013, 12:29am PDT NEW
        Well two of the top five funded video game kickstarters are a disappointment by Worm 07/03/2013, 9:50am PDT NEW
            Star Citizen is technically in the top 5. NT by WITTGENSTEIN 07/04/2013, 4:46pm PDT NEW
        You're being too hard on him. I'd like to see you work with 750% of initial budg NT by Geniuses don't understand spreadshe 07/04/2013, 9:53am PDT NEW
        So Erik wasn't joking about working for that guy. NT by MM 07/04/2013, 10:32am PDT NEW
        Re: Now you know what it's like to publish a Tim Schaefer game by Souffle of Pain 07/04/2013, 5:58pm PDT NEW
        Play4Real Gaming is once again correct by The Warezwolf 07/05/2013, 11:33am PDT NEW
            at what point do you start rooting for the kickstarter scammers? by Com Thick 07/05/2013, 2:00pm PDT NEW
                You're replying to a joke article. You're aware of that, right? NT by Of course you are. 07/05/2013, 2:12pm PDT NEW
                    I pulled a TDARCOS. I apologize :( by Com Thick 07/05/2013, 2:23pm PDT NEW
                        Eh, uh, oh, I was sleeping. Did someone mention my name? Oh. Ok. Zzzzzzzzzzzzz NT by Commander Tansin A. Darcos 07/07/2013, 2:20pm PDT NEW
                    Ah shit by The Warezwolf 07/05/2013, 2:24pm PDT NEW
        Question for anyone who backed this, or even seriously considered it. by Jerry Whorebach 07/05/2013, 4:08pm PDT NEW
            Re: Question for anyone who backed this, or even seriously considered it. by Ice Cream Jonsey 07/05/2013, 10:35pm PDT NEW
                Diaspora asked for more money today NT by Ice Cream Jonsey 08/27/2013, 3:29pm PDT NEW
            I wouldn't have cared if they put the money into the game and actually finished by Rafiki 07/06/2013, 8:33am PDT NEW
            future torrenter, just as soon get all at once, still outraged NT by bombmexico 07/07/2013, 8:04pm PDT NEW
                hahaha NT by Brandon Flick 08/29/2013, 10:05pm PDT NEW
        Good thing they ended their other Kickstarter a few days before saying this by skip 07/07/2013, 7:26pm PDT NEW
            Re: Good thing they ended their other Kickstarter a few days before saying this by VG Subsidies 09/20/2014, 6:21pm PDT NEW
        They're abandoning an Early Access game, DF-9 by skip 09/20/2014, 9:04am PDT NEW
        ICJ and others who backed it. Now that the full game is out, what do you think? NT by skip 05/07/2015, 8:45pm PDT NEW
            ICJ and others who backed it. Now that the full game is out, what do you think? by Ice Cream Jonsey 05/08/2015, 4:07pm PDT NEW
            Sucked, not worth it. Contains spoilers for the awful plot by Rafiki 05/09/2015, 2:39pm PDT NEW
                Embarrassing revelation time by fabio 05/09/2015, 7:18pm PDT NEW
                    Need a KickStarter to make fabio post his Psychonauts screenplay. Name your pric NT by Fabio Funder 05/10/2015, 3:59am PDT NEW
                        Funding goal: whatever Schafer or his publisher is charging for the movie rights NT by fabio 05/10/2015, 1:39pm PDT NEW
                So he literally steals a major plot point from Puella Magi Madoka Magica? by Worm 05/10/2015, 9:33am PDT NEW
                    Or Bioshock. NT by skip 05/10/2015, 6:10pm PDT NEW
        Four and a half years later, a year and a half after the full release, and I jus by Rafiki 11/17/2016, 10:42am PST NEW
     
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