Larry Laffer Dot Net

Home of Leisure Suit Larry

Larry Laffer Dot Net

Hero-U Project Update #68: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

When we created Quest for Glory, we set out to tell a story with the best features of both adventure games and RPGs. We didn’t set out to change the world – we just wanted to make better games – but the result was the first role-playing adventure game.

Adventure game characters explore the setting and solve challenging puzzles. The characters themselves don’t change much.

Role-playing game characters explore complicated labyrinths, mash monsters, and collect treasure. Their stats improve throughout the game, and they get better equipment, but the characters have more numbers than personality.

In a story, characters change and grow as the result of overcoming conflicts. There might be some tricky puzzles to solve, and the characters might become stronger, but the important thing is that they learn something new.

Quest for Glory games – and now Hero-U – combine all three types of game play and storytelling. We think they belong together.

Mixing adventure game exploration and rich stories with skill advancement and combat was our biggest innovation, but we didn’t stop there.

Quest for Glory used a unique “practice makes perfect” skill advancement system. Other RPGs had level-based advancement where characters gained better abilities only when they reached a new experience level. Our skill-based approach let players focus on the skills they wanted to improve.

The passage of time was important in Quest for Glory. If you left the safety of the town at night, you met a different and tougher class of monster that what ran around during the day. If you went too long without eating, your character would become hungry and more easily tired. Starting with Quest for Glory II, we introduced story events that changed the game over time.

For Hero-U, we are again using a skill-based character system. This time skills are just as important in school as it is in the dungeons. Shawn uses and develops his charm, street smarts, and moxie in conversation, his agility and combat skills by fighting monsters, and his stealth and tool use by acting like a rogue.

Time is even more important in Hero-U than in Quest for Glory. As a student in the Hero University, your character needs to attend classes and pass exams between adventures. Shawn has to make some difficult choices about how best to use his time.

Choice is a major theme in all of the Hero-U games. Conversations are more advanced than in Quest for Glory – other characters respond to Shawn’s attitude, and their relationship with him, as to his words. Each time you play Hero-U, the story, dialogue, and relationships will change in subtle ways.

We’ve added more role-playing game features – tactical turn-based combat, a wide variety of equipment choices, and more things to buy and learn. Shawn can use these items and techniques to solve problems, fight effectively, and build friendships.

The biggest strengths of our Quest for Glory games were the storytelling and the balance of serious stories with humorous situations and plentiful puns. Our goal is to continue those traditions in Hero-U with new and exciting stories and plenty of fun moments to help make the serious ones more meaningful.

Each Quest for Glory game had its own story – “coming of age” in the first game, experienced adventurer in the second, peace-maker in the third – all part of the greater story of the hero. In the final game, he could even become a King.

In Hero-U, Shawn O’Conner is again a young man with no real experience, but his coming of age has a difference. All we knew about the player’s character in Quest for Glory is that he wants to become a hero. Shawn doesn’t start out wanting to be a hero; he just wants to survive. But Shawn also has a past cloaked in mystery. In Rogue to Redemption, Shawn will discover his heritage as well as create a new destiny.

The Hero-U stories are in layers. World-changing events occur inside and around the school while the player character is trying to get an education. Each game reveals more of these events, and each character is involved in parts of them. What happens to one character, and how the player has that character act, affects the future games.

Hero-U is our spiritual successor to Quest for Glory. We are using modern technology to create even stronger stories, with more meaningful choices. These games are our response to fans who asked for more games like Quest for Glory. Thank you for being part of this new series.

The best way you can help us make all of the planned Hero-U games is to spread the word to other adventure and role-playing gamers. Please share this post and the new Kickstarter campaign (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game) to your friends and networks. The hardest part about Kickstarter is getting the word out to players who would enjoy our games.

Visit us and share the posts you like on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/TheSchoolForHeroes), Google+ (google.com/+Herou-Game), Twitter (@HeroCorey or @Hero_Lori), and our web site (www.hero-u.com). Lori regularly blogs about Hero-U on the site.

Also please support our Steam Greenlight campaign at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=444566574. We are 98% of the way into the Greenlight Top 100. Voting for Hero-U, marking it as a Favorite, and sharing the page will help us make the game successful.

Thank you for helping us make Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption a success.

King’s Quest by The Odd Gentleman – Voice talent.

Here’s a full list of other voice actors announced for King’s Quest as provided by Sierra:

  • Tom Kenny (SpongeBob SquarePants)
  • Michael Benyaer (Transformers: Revenge of the Fallen)
  • Loretta Devine (Crash)
  • Gideon Emery (Teen Wolf)
  • Jean Gilpin (Frozen)
  • Michael Gough (Batman: Arkham Origins)
  • Andy Pessoa (Transformers Prime)
  • Kevin Michael Richardson (The Cleveland Show)
  • Kath Soucie (Rugrats)
  • Fred Tatasciore (Marvel’s Avengers Assemble)
  • Richard White
  • Michael-Leon Wooley (The Princess and the Frog)

Read the full article here:
http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/10/8581201/kings-quest-voice-cast-reveal-video-christopher-lloyd-josh-keaton-zelda-williams

Watch the video here: http://www.polygon.com/2015/5/10/8581201/kings-quest-voice-cast-reveal-video-christopher-lloyd-josh-keaton-zelda-williams#ooid=g4YjIwdTrYGiRKmEDqrK5PyC1MeUXye1

Hero-U Update #67: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

Most of this post originally appeared as an update to our supplementary Kickstarter funding campaign. Several backers requested I repeat it here. I’ve expanded portions and added more links to other Kickstarter games, as well as recent news and interviews.

Hero-U is now on Steam Greenlight at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/filedetails/?id=444566574. Please visit the project page, vote for us, and share the project with your friends. This will ensure that Steam carries Hero-U, and will help other gamers learn about it.

The Tower Garden

We had moved the Tower Garden to the optional “stretch goal” content list. At a major backer’s request, it has been restored to the “must have” game features. This is equivalent to the “Wings” and “Dungeon Lairs” we gave as premiums in the first campaign – the Tower Garden is sponsored by a backer.

Tower Garden at Night

Tower Garden at Night

What Is the Real Cost of an Adventure Game?

Games such as Hero-U, SpaceVenture, Moebius, and Underworld Ascendant are in a tricky position. We are making games to professional standards, and paying professionals to help make them, but we don’t have large teams at a big company to do them. A game in the $500K to $1M budget range is expected to compete with AAA titles that have budgets in the $10M+ range.

Looking Back – a 1990’s Game Budget

In the mid-90’s, Lori and I set up a company to make a game for a publisher. The experience was similar to making Hero-U, and our basis for this project. Here’s what the budget looked like:

  • Design and Programming (three programmers): $170K
  • Art and animation (22 artists – 8 on staff, 14 doing piecework): $270K
  • Music and sound effects: $25K
  • Voice direction and acting (non-Union): $25K
  • Equipment, software, overhead, travel: $65K
  • TOTAL: $555K in 1995 dollars ($855K in 2015 dollars)

That actually understates the cost. We used the publisher’s adventure game scripting system, and four programmers at the publisher did some work on the game. It also does not include the cost of manufacturing and shipping the boxed games.

I include this budget mostly to show that $400K is not a large adventure game budget when team members are being paid (even below-market) salaries for their work.

First Pass On the Hero-U Budget

We worked out a series of budgets for Hero-U based on possible fundraising amounts. The “sweet spot” was at $800K, which would give us $650K towards game development. The catch was that we knew we could not ask $800K, so we looked at what we could do with $400K. That budget looked like this (with a planned $125K deficit):

  • Design & Admin: $200K
  • Programming: $70K
  • Art & Animation: $70K
  • Music & Audio: $30K
  • Overhead & Misc: $45K
  • KS & Amazon: $36.5K
  • Rewards & Shipping: $73K
  • TOTAL: $524,500

Back then, we planned to modify an existing game to create the framework for Hero-U. The art would be minimal – cartoony top-down characters and very simple top-down rooms.

We had a slight communication breakdown here, in the the lead programmer normally made almost double the programming budget, and we had four artists on the team who would have overwhelmed the art budget. The rest was reasonable, but we would have gone over budget by about $150K between the art and programming. That would have been manageable with loans.

Incidentally, my original project completion estimate of Oct. 2013 was based on this estimate – We could not afford to spend any more time on development without running over the budget. At the time, I was new to Kickstarter and did not realize we could seek additional funding afterwards, as in fact every other major adventure game project has done. I apologize for the wildly unrealistic date estimate; I based it on bad information.

The Revised Full Project Budget

  • Design & Admin 200K
  • Programming: 150K
  • Art & Animation: 270K
  • Music/SFX: 30K
  • Misc/Overhead: 30K
  • Kickstarter/Amazon: 50K
  • Rewards/Shipping: 80K
  • TOTAL: 810K. Funding to Date: 435K, Deficit $375K.

Obviously we still can’t cover the entire deficit from a $100K Kickstarter goal, but we don’t have to – the object is to complete and release the game, not to make a profit from crowdfunding.

We are deferring costs in two areas: Lori and I aren’t paying ourselves, and some team members are deferring their pay until after release. These deferrals make a big difference in the project’s cash flow.

  • Deferred Expenses: $250K
  • Kickstarter Goal: $100K
  • Adjusted Deficit: $25K

We can carry a $25K deficit plus our personal debt until the end of the project. Of course, it will be helpful to our piece of mind if the Kickstarter overfunds enough to reduce or eliminate the remaining deficit.

Why is it ok to go $150,000 or more in debt (the result of not taking any salary) making a game? It’s because our backers are funding this project, not our personal lives. The current Kickstarter campaign will give us the time to complete Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption, and the rest will be up to us.

Should we have asked more than $400,000 in October 2012? The funding campaign would have failed, and we’d have gotten zero.

Then were we obligated to make a game under a $400K total budget? It turns out that none of the major games manage it. Star Citizen invested $2 million before coming to Kickstarter. Double Fine spent an estimated $2 million extra after exhausting their $3.3 million Kickstarter fund.

I just read an interview with Brian Fargo about the upcoming Bard’s Tale IV Kickstarter. They will be asking for $1.25 million and expect to spend at least that much from their own funding in addition. The only difference with us is that we are returning to Kickstarter to raise additional funding instead of looking for venture capital. Sorry, but we didn’t have $1.25 million or $125,000 in the bank.

In theory, if the game is successful, we can recover that debt from game sales. If it isn’t successful, the game isn’t as good as we think it is. Here is how we plan to use the first income from game sales (not Kickstarter funds):

  • First we pay our contractors their deferred fees
  • Next we allocate 50% of income to our back pay, i.e. getting out of personal debt
  • Any remainder funds continuing operations, i.e. Hero-U 2 development

If we get out of debt, we may start seeing actual profits:

  • A portion will go into a revenue pool to reward our contractors
  • A portion will pay royalties
  • 5% will go into Kicking It Forward pledges to other crowdfunding projects
  • We will start getting a salary, keeping the IRS happy
  • Anything left will be used to fund continuing operations

Other Interesting Kickstarter Adventures

If you’re still with us (whew!), the developers of the Visionaire adventure game development system are Kickstarting their mystery game, Oak Island, at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/visionaire-studio/oak-island-some-treasures-are-best-left-buried. Currently the project has over 75% of its 15,000 Euro goal., and it looks interesting.

Check out Unraveled at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/696564/unraveled-tale-of-the-shipbreakers-daughter. The campaign is about halfway through and halfway to its goal.

Elsinore, a game based on Shakespeare’s Hamlet, looks interesting. It has reached its Kickstarter goal, but as you can see from the above, all adventure game projects need more funding than the base goal. https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/235466673/elsinore-a-time-looping-adventure-game

There are six days left in the campaign for Herald (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/herald/herald-an-interactive-period-drama), and it’s about 2/3 of the way to its goal.

These indie projects are helping to keep the flame of adventure gaming alive, and we hope you will support them.

In case you missed the link to our supplemental funding campaign, it is at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game and doing very well so far ($55,000 of $100,000 after one week).

Interviews and News

Also check out the interviews Lori and I had with Don Parsons of TechRaptor at http://techraptor.net/content/indie-interview-corey-lori-cole-hero-u and with KickstartVentures at http://www.kickstartadventure.com/home/an-interview-with-corey-cole-on-hero-u/. The latter has more information on why we are using Kickstarter for supplementary funding instead of venture or publisher capital.

We also talked with Richard Cobbett of Rock Paper Shotgun on heroes in games. That interview is here: http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2015/05/18/hero-u-interview/.

We are doing a “live” forum chat, similar to a reddit Ask Me Anything, on Adventure-Treff on Tuesday (8 pm in Germany, 2 pm in U.S. East Coast, and 11 a.m. in California). Visit this page (https://www.adventure-treff.de/forum/viewforum.php?f=49) to participate or to read the discussion afterwards.

Visit www.hero-u.com for Lori’s art and game development blog and other information about the game.

Thanks for staying with me on an article that probably belongs in a museum rather than a Kickstarter update. Feel free to ask questions in the comments if anything was unclear.

Hero-U Update #66: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

I’ve received messages from a number of people who backed our first Kickstarter campaign and want to move up to higher tiers in the new one. Yes, there is a way to do that! You can find the new Kickstarter campaign at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game/description.

First, if you’re moving from the old $20 tier to the new $50 tier, we have a big discount for you – Simply pick the $20 Double Time tier. You are already getting the game from our first campaign, and Double Time adds the hint book, soundtrack, and the “Making of Hero-U” art book (which is going to be BEAUTIFUL).

If you backed at the $35 level the first time, and want the rewards of the new $50 level, you do not need to do anything – We will give those rewards to everyone who backed at $35 or higher in the first campaign.

By the way, if you’re happy with the tier you supported in the first campaign, AWESOME – Thank you so much for supporting us when this project was just a glimmer in our eyes. There’s nothing else you need to do.

Let’s say you picked the $75 Senior level in our first campaign, but you really want the fancy Collector’s Edition with the t-shirt (or cap), lucky coin, Hero-Unicorn Varsity Letter, soundtrack CD, and key ring. That’s a $200 tier, so you need to add $125. To do that, simply choose the $10 Supporter tier, but instead of pledging $10, pledge $125.

After the campaign, we’ll ask about add-ons and upgrades and you can tell us you went from the Senior level to the Collector’s Edition level. We’ll also ask your t-shirt size.

Here’s a chart of upgrade costs from the original tier to the new $80 and $200 tiers. We are giving full credit to backers at previous physical tiers, and partial credit to those who previous chose digital-only tiers. That’s because shipping is included, and it’s very expensive for us.

Hero-U Backer Upgrade Chart Hero-U Backer Upgrade Chart

We will also have some really cool add-ons that you can order “a la carte” in the new campaign. Just support the campaign at any level and add the price of the add-ons to your pledge. This time we’re including shipping costs in the price of each add-on. Check the first update to the new Kickstarter campaign for the available add-ons and prices.

By the way, I will mostly be posting public updates (you don’t need to support it to read them) about the Hero-U project to the new campaign, so check in there occasionally to learn what’s new with Hero-U. Here’s the update page: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game/updates.

Also drop by www.hero-u.com occasionally to read Lori’s news emphasizing the Hero-U art and story.

Hero-U Update #65: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

Hero-U Funds Again

Hero-U Funds Again

Our second-round funding campaign is now live at https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/transolargames/hero-u-adventure-role-playing-game. We hope many of you will join us there to learn more about the game. Most posts will be public, open to everyone.

Here is the section from that page on why we decided to do a second Kickstarter campaign instead of getting venture capital or looking for an outside publisher.

It is unusual for the same project to raise funds on Kickstarter twice, but it is not unusual for a game to need additional funding. We have talked to many adventure game developers, and nearly all of their projects went over budget. They have either absorbed the costs themselves or obtained venture capital.

We chose not to seek outside funding because we want Hero-U to be a game of, by, and for our many heroes. Kickstarter is where we began, and we would like this to be a wholly crowd-funded game.

In October 2012, we had very little to show, but many amazing fans pledged to support our vision. We now have so much more to share. Check out the game art examples here, and try the combat and game play demos for yourself!

If you like what you see, please contribute to this project. We will use the funds to finish developing the game, add new art and music, and polish everything to a quality level where all of us can be proud of the game we made together.

SpaceVenture Update #102: Two Guys SpaceVenture – by the creators of Space Quest by Two Guys From Andromeda

We are still pushing really hard to get this game done this year. As soon as we have a ship date, we’ll announce it.

So I’m sure you all have been wondering what we’ve been up to for the past two months. Well the main focus has been on a pretty important chunk of the game. Our time has been mostly spent showing some love to Cluck Yegger and his story. We’ve said since the beginning that Cluck Yegger is a fictional video game character in the Ace Hardway universe. Yes that’s right, a fictional character from a fictional character’s universe, go figure.

In the last update we introduced you to an 8-bit Cluck Yegger mini game called “Clucky Bird”. Not long after we wrapped that last update we began working hard on the next part of Cluck Yegger story in SpaceVenture. It is kind of another Cluck Yegger mini game that Ace will have to take part in within SpaceVenture, but this is no 8-bit game. Entering into Cluck Yegger’s virtual reality world is a critical plot element of our story, and we know you’re gonna love it!

There is a little bitter sweetness to this, because although this is such a fun and cool concept we’ve put together, I’m limited to what I’m allowed to show you. Below is a small video that is more of a teaser than anything else. Now keep in mind that the Cluck Yegger scene you are about to see is actually a fully functional mini game. There is a lot more that you can do in this part of the game that is fully functional, that won’t be demonstrated in the video.

https://youtu.be/Dkom5Xb3VuU

And here is a little photo to compliment the video:

Here is a photo of another scene from the Cluck Yegger mini game/virtual reality experience:

_______________________________________________________________

ANDROMEDCON

In the last update we gave you a peek at the Andromecon Centari Center exterior scene. It was in a very early stage. Below is the updated scene. Keep in mind it is still a work in progress, but here is how it’s looking now:

Below is a test video of Rooter exploring the Andromecon convention floor. This scene still has a good deal of work to go, but we thought you all might enjoy a quick look at how it’s coming along.

https://youtu.be/0JarMh-bbpk

_______________________________________________________________

TACO NOVA

We also previously gave you all a look at the exterior of our SciFi fast food joint, Taco Nova! Well now you can have a look at the interior. The artwork for this scene is not polished yet, but you should be able to see how well it’s coming together.

Current Interior:

Current Exterior:

_______________________________________________________________

MEET VERONICA7

This is a character that has been planned for the game since the beginning. She has a very big part in the SpaceVenture story. Her name is Veronica7. Have a look at her below:

(No Sound)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bMsBcmm9zpQ

_______________________________________________________________

LANDING ON THE SCRAPYARD

We’ve shown you a good deal of progress within the “Scrapyard”, but how about a little clip of docking in the Garage?

(No sound)

https://youtu.be/H7sQdTauKJs

_______________________________________________________________

CONCEPT ART

How about a look at some concept art? This is an early look at Nurb’s bar. You should be able to get a good feel of the layout. I’ll be showing you a completed version of the scene in the future.

And here is concept art for a scene that I’m not allowed to give any details about whatsoever. Make of it what you will 😉

_______________________________________________________________

COREY AND LORI COLE

If you haven’t already heard, our friends Corey and Lori Cole(creators of the Quest for Glory series) are launching another Kickstarter to help push them over the finish line. They are aiming for May 12, so keep an eye on their Kickstarter page for details.

_______________________________________________________________

Thanks for all of your support everyone!

Chris Pope a.k.a your humble local intergalactic SpacePope

PS- Some of my fellow Space Quest fan friends created a fun little adventure game called “Late Last Night”. Check it out if you have a moment 🙂 Link: http://gamejolt.com/games/adventure/late-last-nite/59209/

Hero-U Update #64: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

A number of backers were angry at my previous update, feeling that we were asking them for more money without having delivered anything for their previous pledges. That was never the intent. The object of that post was to:

  • Announce the upcoming supplementary Kickstarter (starting May 12)
  • Share the new version of the break-in room demo
  • Show how the game is finally progressing from concept art to a real game
  • Show that a small donation from many people can make a big difference
  • Thank you for your past support and bearing with this delayed game

That was all. It certainly was not intended to demand more money from backers who were generous to us when we had nothing more than a game concept. You are the 6,000 who believed in us more than any of the other hundreds of thousands of Quest for Glory and Castle of Dr. Brain players. You mean the world to us.

As you know, nearly all of my updates have been open to everyone. Yesterday’s update was the first of a series of backer-only updates to keep you posted on why we are doing the new Kickstarter and other project details that we feel are of more interest to you than to the rest of the world. There won’t be any secrets here, but there will be some very honest talk that some will take negatively.

One of the questions raised several times yesterday is, “What did you do with the first $400,000? Why do you need more?” It’s a great question, and I’ll answer it here.

But first let me put it in perspective – $400K after our costs of making and shipping rewards, Kickstarter fees, and so on, is actually less than $300K net towards the project. That was enough money to pay for one programmer and four artists for a year, even with no other expenses (music, Unity licenses, etc.) and paying Lori and me nothing.

We started with four artists, a musician, and a programmer. If nobody had left the team and we completed it in 8 months, we’d have broken even. That lasted one month before a key team member quit and we could not find a replacement.

Let’s look at all the money we’ve received from crowdfunding and our site:

  • Pledged on Kickstarter (Gross):            $409,000 (but some did not pay)
  • PayPal and Humble Bundle (Gross):       $26,000
  • Total Crowd-Funding to Date (Gross):  $435,000
  • Deductions and Funding Costs:              $60,000
  • Total Crowd-Funding to Date (Net):  $375,000

Here’s where we spent the original Kickstarter funding:

  • Art and Animation  $205,000 (includes work on virtual rewards)
  • Programming           $85,000
  • Music                       $25,000
  • Taxes/Fees/Overhead  $75,000 (includes cost of funding)
  • Software/Supplies   $10,000 (Unity and other licenses)
  • Rewards and Shipping  $35,000
  • TOTAL:  $435,000

Of the $85,000 spent on programming, $45,000 went to work that proved unusable by team members who later left the project. We’ve deferred about $25,000 of additional programming expense until after the game is released.

$84,000 of the art expense went to Contract Art House for 3D character models and animation.

Note that there is no category for game design, writing, or management. Lori and Corey each took a $20/hour salary for the first year, resulting in $15,000 in taxes. Once we started running low on funds, we returned every dollar of our salaries to Transolar Games in the form of a personal loan.

We estimate the total project cost at $550,000 to get the game out the door. We are deferring an additional $75,000 in costs until after the game becomes profitable – Deferred contractor payments and cost of producing and shipping physical rewards such as game boxes.

Lori and I are personally covering all expenses beyond the crowd-funding amounts. In fact, we’re literally betting our house on the project – Since we have no income from the project, we are using a $150,000 home equity line of credit to cover Hero-U development and pay our living expenses. We are completely committed to finishing Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption and making it a game that players will love.

We will not make any money from Hero-U until everyone else is paid, backers have their games, and we manage to sell some copies.

If this campaign is successful, here is how we will spend the funds (based on exactly meeting the $100,000 goal):

  • $10,000  Kickstarter and bank fees
  • $20,000  Cost of project rewards
  • $40,000  Programming
  • $20,000  Art and Animation
  • $10,000  All other expenses

If the project reaches $200,000:

  • $20,000  Kickstarter and bank fees
  • $40,000  Cost of project rewards
  • $70,000  Programming
  • $40,000  Art and Animation
  • $20,000  Game testing, production, and shipping
  • $10,000  All other expenses

Any additional funding will be used for:

  • Improved game play, art, and sound effects
  • Debt reduction to lower interest expense
  • Additional section of the Sea Caves (Temple of Gog-sosloth)
  • Localization and Voice Acting
  • Android and iOS Tablet versions of the game

Our artists have been doing amazing work on the project over the last 2.5 years even as we had to change the specs because of programming issues. Our new strike team of four part-time programmers are all doing great work. Many of the team members are making sacrifices to keep the development costs reasonable, and we hope we can make it up to them later. They are Hero-U’s biggest fans (all were backers before they joined us), and we are blessed to have them on our team.

Lori, I and the team are really excited about recent progress and what we expect to happen this year. We’ll keep you posted on all of it!

Hero-U: Ten Reasons For Running Another Kickstarter

http://hero-u.com/top-ten-reasons-for-running-another-kickstarter/

Top Ten Reasons for Running Another Kickstarter

10) We’re running out of money (Sad but True)

9) It would be a shame to waste the cool art of the Master Wraith room

8) We really want to see the Temple of Gog-Sosloth in the Game

Gog Temple

7) Somebody has to pay the artists for their work!

6) The more money we get, the better the game

5) We want the scary parts to be even scarier

4) We’ve got an awesome new t-shirt design!

3) The castle needs more backer paintings

2) Wanted Posters (Everybody wants to be Wanted, after all)

Wanted Alexian

And the Number 1 reason:

We bet the ranch on this Project. (Do you want to be responsible for thousands of homeless flying Aardvarks?)

 

Hero-U Update #63: Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption by the Quest for Glory designers

Starting May 12, we are taking a very unusual step – Two and one-half years after successfully completing the Hero-U Kickstarter, we are coming back to ask for more funding and more support.

We will need your help to succeed, and I want to show you here why supporting our second Kickstarter is both the right thing to do, and why you will benefit from supporting us.

It won’t take much – If every backer from our first Kickstarter pledges just $10, we will be more than halfway to our $100,000 goal. If you all pledge $20, we can reach our goal on the first day.

This game will be amazing! Thanks to you, we’ve made amazing progress over the last two years. Here is an example of what we showed you in late 2012 compared to what the game looks like now:

We are putting in the time, effort, creativity, and expense to bring this level of quality to every scene and every aspect of Hero-U. This will be a game that each of us – backers and developers – can look on with pride and say, “I helped make that!” Thanks to your support, you are part of our team.

Check Out the New Game Play Demo

We have a great new version of the playable demo for you with all-new art, programming, interface, and dialogue. If you log on to your Humble Bundle account, you will find WIndows, Macintosh, and Linux versions waiting for you to download and enjoy.

We have also just completed our first combat prototype, a playable experience that lets you explore a section of the cellars underneath Hero-U, fight monsters, and collect incredible treasure. We plan to release that to Insider and Beta Test backers today to get their feedback, and to everyone next week.

The rest of the game is also progressing well. We recently added Aaron Martin to the team to work on 3D environments. Most of the castle is now explorable, and we are steadily filling out the text and dialogue. With the demos complete, we expect to make rapid progress on other areas.

There is still a long way to go. Each scene is like a rough gem that needs to be refined, cut, and polished before becoming a jewel worthy of adding to the Hero-U treasure chest.

How You Can Help, and What You Will Get

Every dollar contributed the new Kickstarter campaign will make a big difference to the quality of Hero-U.

For those of you who backed us at the $20 level in 2012, we’ve created a special $20 pledge level just for you. For that second $20, you will receive all the benefits of our new $50 tier. That will include a hint book with tips and strategies for reaching different goals in Hero-U. We will give you the complete soundtrack with all of Ryan Grogan’s stunning musical compositions along with any music we add to the game in the coming months.

You will also get the “Making of Hero-U: Rogue to Redemption Art Book”, highlighting many of the stunning portraits, paintings, and background art from the game. It also includes an insider look at the process our artists went through to complete the game art, including the original design notes, early sketches, and “color comps”. It’s a pretty awesome reward level!

More than half of you (3300 of 6100 total) backed at the original $20 level. Check out the math – As a numbers guy, I think it’s pretty cool. 3300 x $20 = $66,000. That leaves about 2800 backers. Each of you kick in just $10, for 2800 x $10 = 28,000. Add those together and you get $94,000, and the new campaign is nearly funded. It doesn’t take a painful amount from anyone – All it takes is a community and a commitment to this game.

Would you like to help more? We have added some great new rewards at the higher levels including a new t-shirt design depicting all of the types of Heroes at Hero-U. A new hat design will feature the awesomely cute Hero-Unicorn.

Then there is the mysterious Rogues Gallery deep in the catacombs beneath Hero-U. If you are one of our Most Wanted Backers, your picture could appear on a Wanted Poster in the Gallery.

Is there a reward you would treasure more than anything else? Contact us at support@hero-u.net with your ideas.

What’s New At Hero-U?

We’ve simplified our main www.hero-u.com web site and made it mobile-device-friendly. The latter is important for Google’s changes to search priority. From the main page, you can get to the Kickstarter, the What’s New blog, our stores, and the discussion forum. The latter are still on hero-u.net for now. Here are the main links:

Let’s Make This Happen Together

We’ve had an amazing and exciting time developing Hero-U so far, full of ups, downs, and sideways. For all the challenges, we wouldn’t trade the experience. We have been thrilled, delighted, and relieved by your continuing support, confidence, and encouragement for this most difficult project.

Check back on Kickstarter on May 12 for the start of “Hero-U Adventure Role-playing Computer Game” by Corey Cole. www.hero-u.com/kickstarter will count down the time left, and then link to the Kickstarter page once it goes live.

Be sure to share the good news with your friends on Facebook, Twitter, Google+ and real life. We’ll see you there!