34 replies to this topic

[Succhiateste]

Hello people of 0 A.D.,

I really love this game, and I (like many others I guess) am shivering with a full playable release of 0 A.D.; and I (like many others I guess) think this game has a huge potential to become a wonderful game.

There is a crowd funding site called Kickstarter that recently is becoming decisive for the development of videogames that aren't backed by big videogame companies (example 1, example 2, example 3); watch the examples, they speak for themselves (Double Fine alone raised 1.000.000 $ in one single day!!!).

I think 0 A.D. would have a huge success on this site, so you developers could enjoy of the deserved takings, we gamers could hope in a final release in a relatively short time, and a great open source game could enter in the videogames wall of fame :-)

With love

Maurizio

[Jeru]

Thanks Maurizio!

We are developing 0 A.D. for fun and not interested in compensation. (We only decided to compensate one specific developer temporarily and under special circumstances.)

[Spahbod]

Can't this be helpful during pledgies?

[k776]

Kickstarter needs a U.S.A. address and U.S.A. bank account, and conforming to U.S.A. tax laws, so it doesn't work for a world wide team of developers.

Pledgie on the other hand can go into any Paypal account, so isn't tied to U.S.A. address, account or laws.

So Kickstarter is not for us, we might stick with Pledgie. But thanks for the feedback.

[Peter]

Kickstarter is all over the media these days, practically screaming for interesting new projects. The gaming community have just discovered that it can have a say in game development and the result is a bonanza over at Kickstarter with Double Fine-studio and the recent Wasteland project being prime examples that gain instant media recognition. I think it is foolish not take advantage of this new development. I don't know much about the "behind the scenes" work of this project, but I can hardly see the requirement for a USA based bank account, address and tax regulations as a problem if such a Kickstarter project were able to generate sufficiently large funds. It would take some organization and administering to get it up and running, admittedly some effort, but if the will was there I'm sure it could be realized. The funds could even be used to set up a USA based development studio with paid developers to work on the project full time. If the concern for the current developers being out of work has supremacy over getting a quality project out in a timely fashion for all of us players to enjoy I think the very core philosophy of the project should be reevaluated. But then again I'm just another gamer with a desperate hunger for quality games in this era of bland Triple-A, releases.

[feneur]

Peter, on 07 May 2012 - 04:05 PM, said:

Kickstarter is all over the media these days, practically screaming for interesting new projects. The gaming community have just discovered that it can have a say in game development and the result is a bonanza over at Kickstarter with Double Fine-studio and the recent Wasteland project being prime examples that gain instant media recognition. I think it is foolish not take advantage of this new development. I don't know much about the "behind the scenes" work of this project, but I can hardly see the requirement for a USA based bank account, address and tax regulations as a problem if such a Kickstarter project were able to generate sufficiently large funds. It would take some organization and administering to get it up and running, admittedly some effort, but if the will was there I'm sure it could be realized. The funds could even be used to set up a USA based development studio with paid developers to work on the project full time. If the concern for the current developers being out of work has supremacy over getting a quality project out in a timely fashion for all of us players to enjoy I think the very core philosophy of the project should be reevaluated. But then again I'm just another gamer with a desperate hunger for quality games in this era of bland Triple-A, releases.

Well, the issue with the latter is probably more the opposite. Setting up a kickstarter project or something similar, and especially having some studio do some of the work, would mean the introduction of deadlines, and more importantly, the need to have something to show at a set time. (Even if that wouldn't be required when setting up the kickstarter project/wouldn't be stated, it would still be implied and expected.) And that would mean that we might have to release something we're not satisfied with.

Regardless I doubt getting enough money to support a larger team working on the project isn't likely to happen, I mean it took 3 and a half month to reach 3250USD. Either way, the problem is probably more to be able to find someone/someones to do the work. The current team members don't generally aren't able to/want to, and it would take quite some time for someone else to know the code good enough for us to entrust with working on the game for money during a longer time. Once/if we'd have the funds necessary it might be enough to convince someone to spend the time to get knowledgeable with the code (provided we'd get the money without having someone, it's not so trustworthy to just say "we want to have a lot of money, if we get it we might find someone to pay" ). By then we'd probably be finished with part 1 anyway =)

All that said, once part one is finished all cards are on the table again. If some members of the team wants to go through all the work and do part of the work/something different but still using the same engine/etc as a professional (i.e. for profit/or at least with paid developers) studio, then that's something we have to decide at that point. For now though it's out of the question. (The game is open source after all though, so it's not like anyone is forbidden to try and do something like what you describe )

[majapahit]

Jeru, on 16 March 2012 - 11:34 PM, said:

Thanks Maurizio!

We are developing 0 A.D. for fun and not interested in compensation. (We only decided to compensate one specific developer temporarily and under special circumstances.)

Is there any programming competition or something that 0 AD can at least have a chance to be funded?

Edited by majapahit, 08 May 2012 - 08:31 AM.

[ImG]

but you can pay money for professional models, textures, shaders, music, sounds, scenario and etc.

[Arthur_D]

I doubt we'd get much better results from buying stuff. Either they would be buying generic models which may be used in other games, or they'd pay oodles of cash to get specialized models. The quality of the stuff already in 0 A.D. stands well enough on its own that I'd say it would be almost a complete waste of money.

[Catalanoic]

There are some people that wants freeware and opensource videogames and projects on kickstarter. It's a source of money but isn't the way of 0 A.D, I think. But we can make a local campaign in US with kickstarter for make a campus party or anything similar for 0 AD.

---
Sorry for my bad english.

Edited by Catalanoic, 21 June 2012 - 02:14 PM.

[Mythos_Ruler]

Catalanoic, on 21 June 2012 - 02:14 PM, said:

There are some people that wants freeware and opensource videogames and projects on kickstarter. It's a source of money but isn't the way of 0 A.D, I think. But we can make a local campaign in US with kickstarter for make a campus party or anything similar for 0 AD.

Indeed. I don't think you need WFG's express permission to do things 0 A.D.-related. You only cannot claim to do things in the name of WFG or defraud people claiming to be WFG.

[majapahit]

Mythos_Ruler, on 21 June 2012 - 04:50 PM, said:

Indeed. I don't think you need WFG's express permission to do things 0 A.D.-related. You only cannot claim to do things in the name of WFG or defraud people claiming to be WFG.

Perhaps community activities & crowdfunding should be informed to WFG before and after the event to prevent misunderstanding?

However it should be acceptable to publicly claim as 0 A.D. community or 0 A.D. supporters.

Edited by majapahit, 24 June 2012 - 03:28 AM.

[wrod]

Maybe the staff can contact a college and ask if they can present students working on video game design to help so that they can get experience for when looking for a job like an internship

[majapahit]

wrod, on 26 June 2012 - 01:24 AM, said:

Maybe the staff can contact a college and ask if they can present students working on video game design to help so that they can get experience for when looking for a job like an internship

This is a nice idea so some students can get their internship points from WFG. However WFG must provide a proof/notification after the internship period is over to the faculty stated that the following student has performed internship and so on.

Edited by majapahit, 26 June 2012 - 05:29 AM.

[Arthur_D]

In that case, Google Summer of Code would be a better bet. Less management for 0 A.D. folks - they mainly have to provide guidance to one or more students, while Google and the student takes care of the more organizational aspects. At least that's what I've understood from it; no direct experience.

[Peter]

"Where there's a will, there's a way" is an old English proverb that I think is fitting in this case. Have a look at this:

http://www.kickstart...-generation-rts

I think there is a huge interest for this game and if only people were alowed to contribute financially to it's success.. Please think about it one more time, please..

[Mythos_Ruler]

Peter, on 19 August 2012 - 08:05 AM, said:

"Where there's a will, there's a way" is an old English proverb that I think is fitting in this case. Have a look at this:

http://www.kickstart...-generation-rts

I think there is a huge interest for this game and if only people were alowed to contribute financially to it's success.. Please think about it one more time, please..

Thats pretty great, and I agree with you. But such decisions are based on consensus, so some more discussion might take place.

[Arthur_D]

Problem is that it puts pressure on the team on several levels. And people still haven't gotten all of what they've already donated for in the previous two donation campaigns (mainly a more efficient pathfinder). I don't mind waiting, but I think people expect a higher level of responsiveness with larger campaigns like on Kickstarter.

[k776]

If we did a kickstarter, we'd need someone in the US that would be happy to lend their bank account (which is not likely given tax issues).

We'd also need someone willing to work full time. We'd probably want to get 2 years worth to make it worth it (~$100,000 USD).

[plumo]

I would vote against kickstarting 0 A.D.