The Final AI War Expansion

[Captain Jack]

@x4000: I would recommend one change to AI War: once the sequel goes up for pre-order and sale, rename the original "AI War Classic" or something to that effect. Lessens the chance of confusion.

Also if you do decide to go the crowdfunding route, announce the definite date you are going to launch the campaign a MINIMUM TWO MONTHS in advance. AI War could rake in that Kickstarter cash but you'll want to maximize the first few days.

[x4000]

Got it, that makes a lot of sense.  We'd also solicit a lot of help on getting the campaign designed, too.  I've noticed a few other folks doing that if you've already been on one of their prior kickstarters.  Seemed like a good idea.

[Captain Jack]

Got it, that makes a lot of sense.  We'd also solicit a lot of help on getting the campaign designed, too.  I've noticed a few other folks doing that if you've already been on one of their prior kickstarters.  Seemed like a good idea.

Glad to hear it. 

Anyone in particular you're reaching out to? The serial Kickstarters I know are Harebrained Schemes with four and inXile with three, and I know Brian Fargo is approachable on social media. Different genres, but both companies are good about shouting out new projects.

Also, I just skimmed your AMA, and to answer the question no one asked, we named SR on October 10th. I delivered you a word salad and you liked Starward Ark and Starward Rogue. We went back and forth for a while longer before your wife told you to stay with SR (and that subtitle). We were moving toward Starstrike at the time, which is a good name for the expansion now that I think of it.

[x4000]

Oh god yes, that's right!  Man, you and I were really in it up to our necks on that one and the one before, weren't we?

In terms of reaching out, I'd do so with the forum at large, I think.

[Captain Jack]

Oh god yes, that's right!  Man, you and I were really in it up to our necks on that one and the one before, weren't we?

In terms of reaching out, I'd do so with the forum at large, I think.

Actually it convinces me that the naming process was absolutely charmed; we started on the 8th, had the title two days later and finalized on the 11th. Compare Yet-Unnamed-Survival-Game which we simply stopped working on. X.X Heck, rewriting SR's premise took less than a week, and around Christmas to boot.

Speaking of, should I send you a list of names once Raptor is released?

[Cyborg]

Shouldn't we do a poll on what people want? Because for me personally, I think the game systems need some added surprises. The AI needs an update. It's a little easy right now to manipulate, and we compensate for that by making everything else more difficult. I would like the AI to be smarter and maybe some different emergent combinations.

[x4000]

Ah yes, that's right on the SR one going so quickly.

On the survival game, I'm kind of putting that on hold right now in the original form I had in mind.  I need to rethink that some and come at it from a more unique angle.  I have some good concepts, but I'll need to do some prototyping to see what is feasible and in budget.  The design there will definitely play into the name for that game.

Re polling what people want, please feel free to do so.  I'll be interested in hearing all sorts of feedback from folks at the time of, either way.

[Captain Jack]

Ah yes, that's right on the SR one going so quickly.

On the survival game, I'm kind of putting that on hold right now in the original form I had in mind.  I need to rethink that some and come at it from a more unique angle.  I have some good concepts, but I'll need to do some prototyping to see what is feasible and in budget.  The design there will definitely play into the name for that game.

Re polling what people want, please feel free to do so.  I'll be interested in hearing all sorts of feedback from folks at the time of, either way.

Oh, good. I'm not big on survival games as a rule, and now that the genre seems to have peaked it'll need a hook to set itself apart. Let me know if you need someone to brainstorm on, and when you have the gameplay premise.

[x4000]

Absolutely.  I have several really cool hooks that I think could work, but I want to see which ones are technically feasible and I also don't want to get people here TOO excited about any of those in case they don't work out.  But suffice it to say, it would be far more up the alley of this crowd.

[Elestan]

Shouldn't we do a poll on what people want? Because for me personally, I think the game systems need some added surprises. The AI needs an update. It's a little easy right now to manipulate, and we compensate for that by making everything else more difficult. I would like the AI to be smarter and maybe some different emergent combinations.

To repeat something I said on this thread close to a year ago, there's an important question to answer before polling the people here:  Are you mainly looking to (re)sell the revamped game to the people on this forum?  Or are you hoping to bring in new players to expand the audience for the game?  It makes a really big difference on how you should prioritize things like improving the learning curve vs. adding more new stuff.

[Pumpkin]

Shouldn't we do a poll on what people want? Because for me personally, I think the game systems need some added surprises. The AI needs an update. It's a little easy right now to manipulate, and we compensate for that by making everything else more difficult. I would like the AI to be smarter and maybe some different emergent combinations.

To repeat something I said on this thread close to a year ago, there's an important question to answer before polling the people here:  Are you mainly looking to (re)sell the revamped game to the people on this forum?  Or are you hoping to bring in new players to expand the audience for the game?  It makes a really big difference on how you should prioritize things like improving the learning curve vs. adding more new stuff.

While that remark is pertinent, I, for one forum member, would happily buy a revamped version with only UI revamp, improved learning curve and mod support.

[x4000]

AI War is still our top-selling product at the moment, so we're bringing in new players already despite whatever hurdles.  So I'm not sure what to make of that.  Usually I'd write more with a lot of pondering on the subject, but there are a variety of ways to interpret the data and I'm short on time so I'll just leave that there for once. 

[Draco18s]

Got it, that makes a lot of sense.  We'd also solicit a lot of help on getting the campaign designed, too.  I've noticed a few other folks doing that if you've already been on one of their prior kickstarters.  Seemed like a good idea.

Yeah, the big secret to Kickstarter success is that you need a fan base ready and willing to shove money at you before you've even gone live.  You literally can't be spending KS time trying to find your base.  If you haven't hit your goal by Day 3, you've done something terribly, terribly wrong.

[Cyborg]

Got it, that makes a lot of sense.  We'd also solicit a lot of help on getting the campaign designed, too.  I've noticed a few other folks doing that if you've already been on one of their prior kickstarters.  Seemed like a good idea.

Yeah, the big secret to Kickstarter success is that you need a fan base ready and willing to shove money at you before you've even gone live.  You literally can't be spending KS time trying to find your base.  If you haven't hit your goal by Day 3, you've done something terribly, terribly wrong.

That's really not true…

[x4000]

It is substantially more varied than that, yes.