Broken Age
 

It's the Doublefine Adventure, now in trailer form!




Now in very early trailer form, I hope. It's all too vague and undetailed to form an opinion.

Official website here.

This looks really interesting and has potential to be really exciting.

I can't wait for it to get released so that it can get reviewed so that I can decide if I want to buy it.

I like that art style.

It's what's known in the industry as the Bagel Filter.

So am I not supposed to like it or what?

Looks like Doublefine alright.

Just a teaser trailer right now, but it still looks fucking gorgeous.

That's entirely your choice. I was just stating a fact.

It doesn't really interest me. Maybe gameplay will help.

DAT MOVIE FEEL. I like it. And bagels too. Am I popular now?


OT: A pac game from Double Fine? It seems interesting and mysterious. Count me in.

Gameplay is point and click. It's not going to look much different from what's in that video.

The game seems too slow and faded, y'know what I'm saying? Psychonauts and Brutal Legend were more fast paced, clear and solid. This seems boring, pastelly, and soft. The art style is too glarey and chalky, it looks like something off a poorly-made wedding cake. I wouldn't be able to play a whole game like this.

It’s an adventure game though. Both of the games you mentioned are action games.

Oh.

Well I've got no interest then!

Looks like there might be two protagonists.

This reminds me of the time I said that I was unsurprised that you didn't like Psychonauts. And I meant it as an insult.

I still enjoy point and click games, as long as they don't look like vomit and the pink sawdust they put on it.

Can you at least open it up so I can posrep you, and you alone, as many times as I want? Second time today I haven't been able to.

I'm a fake mod, too. I should be able to posrep whoever I want as many times as I want.

Actually that's an admin privilege, otherwise Gishy would have like, ten red thingies by now.

Now I have to become a fake admin? Fucking shit.

Talk to STM, some say he's a great pimp.

Yay, thanks!

Pure comedy already.

They're making a bigger game than expected, and exploring options on how to do that without getting a publisher. They are pouring all of the profits from their other games into this one. Thing is about this game, is that it is going to define who they are as a studio. They don't want to let anyone down, and they also want the game to be a financial success because whether or not it succeeds is going to determine their business model for the future. If the game is a real success, they will be able to forgo the publisher model completely. To just laugh at good people trying to make their company viable is kind of stupid, don't you think? Especially in an industry that sees clever, brilliant companies going out of business left and right, along with huge companies. It's a tough business.

I'm not saying that the method of solving the problem is funny. It's funny that they couldn't properly calculate the costs and so they made the problem.

They could have shortened the length of the game considerably. They chose to make the best game they possibly could, and find ways to make that happen. This is what happens in all, and I mean all, game development. It's just that we don't normally get to see the inside shit.

I've got no objection to them making a better game with more money. However, if they claimed they could make a good game with x amount, recieved several times x amount, and now claim that the game they can make with that money isn't good enough, it won't exactly fill their backers with confidence.

It seems like the sensible thing to do would be to tell everyone what they've paid for so far and what specifically they need the money for now.

If you were a backer you would already have that information. I know exactly what is done, and what is still needed to do.

Edit: Also, the game that they claimed that they could make with x amount was going to be an extremely short flash game. The additional funds made them look to make something far superior to that, and they overshot the mark. They are doing what they can to deliver the best game they can, and are doing it in an open, and honest way, without begging, or going back on any promises besides time frame. What could possibly be bad about that?

OANST knows how can be done.

I just get tired of the culture of jaded cynicism. Especially when dealing with people who always convey a kind of wide eyed optimism and joy. Did things work out exactly as planned? No. Did anyone get screwed? Are they being deceitful? Are they even acting arrogant about it? Nope. So, why bitch? Just to bitch? Just to be able to point a finger? Kind of shitty.

I think, given how difficult it is for most projects to get funding, asking for more gives the impression of being ungrateful. This is an industry that is saturated by greed, and not everyone has the blind faith in Double Fine that you do.

But they're planning to use Steam to try and get more people to fund their game. Those people haven't been given that information (yet). It just looks like they're being somewhat nonchalant about the news that the millions of dollars that they claimed would make Broken Age as good as it could possibly be suddenly isn't enough to do that. Nonchalance may be part of their character, but you can't be surprised if it upsets some people.

Yes, the game hasn't become any worse. Yes, all the money donated is still being used as intended. But there's such a thing as diminishing returns, and people are going to be more stingy about giving money to a project that already has earned more money than most people in their lifetime.

Just for the record, I quite like Double Fine, but am fairly indifferent about Broken Age. I hope it doesn't turn into too much of a car crash, and I hope that DF and all their backers are happy with what gets made, but I've got no emotional or monetary investment in it.