Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter journey is now almost completed, and as of press time , there's a little over a day remaining. City State's RvR Sandbox, a fantasy game, is currently at $1.82 million of its $2 million goal. Mark Jacobs has created an official diary of development to help push the game's funding.
Jacobs discusses the many challenges inherent in managing both the Kickstarter campaign and an ambitious MMORPG project. He explores the highlights of the former which include three factions of RvR, Minecraft-style building options, and an engine designed specifically for the project which has been able to handle hundreds of concurrent players at over 200 frames per second. In the end, Jacobs thanks CU's current backers, whom he says have given unprecedented support in the form of $160 in pledges.
Jacobs' full diary is available after cutting.
Dev diary
As I write this, the Camelot Unchained Kickstarter is getting close to its end, with about 38 hours left to go. The total is $1.73 million. We are confident that we can reach our goal of $2 million. Every comparable game has had a strong last day.
No matter what happens, I'll be forever grateful to our backers. CRANIALCAVITY.NET They're simply amazing. The average pledge currently is $160. This is an amazing feat. I've been to many games that are crowdfunded, but none of them are in the same league. Some have raised more total dollars, but they have all done it by attracting larger numbers people at a lot less per head, averaging $55-$60. Camelot Unchained is a niche game, and we hoped our average would be higher. Like they say, "never" is a goal we set in our wildest dreams
But this is just one aspect that is quantifiable. How do you gauge sheer enthusiasm? Or emotional commitment? Or positive attitude? Although I cannot imagine it, I am sure that our fans would be amazing. They have been an inspiration to me and my entire team, far beyond what we could have imagined or expected. This is why I am forever and deeply grateful.
I am also extremely proud of the team we have assembled. Each person on this team has given more than I could have asked for. We knew at the time we began that, with only 12 of us, preparing and running the Kickstarter campaign would require lots of work. We thought we were prepared for it. We were not prepared for the enormity of the task. Everyone was up for the challenge and worked all day, on weekends, and weekends to keep us on track. We had to contend with the usual outbreak of illness and injuries and today's fun and laughter with Amazon Payments servers being down for four hours certainly was a very unexpected challenge.
If we can keep our feet on the ground and continue to raise funds the game, we'll soon embark on a larger adventure: actually creating the game. Making an MMOG, even a focused one, is a huge task. I'm not convinced it will be easy. It will be rewarding and enjoyable. It's been an extended time since I've had the privilege to interact so closely with a game community. With their support I believe Camelot Unchained can be something unique. My job is to be sure that it is. I reiterate my commitment that my team and I will make every effort to live up to the trust that our supporters have shown in us.
I'm happy to report that we've already made some very positive steps in this direction. A prime example is the work that Andrew Meggs has done on our engine. When we looked at a variety of commercial solutions it became clear that we'd require something optimized to our focus on large-scale battles and not a "jack of all trades" designed to support many types of games with different requirements. As anyone who's participated in our tech demos can attest that we've come a long way in a matter of a month or so. We've had hundreds of players running around and fighting in a tiny space, and particle effects, and have consistently been able to run more than 200 (well, not to be a snob, but we topped out at more than 1200) frames per second, all the while playing with other players all over the world.
Another highlight is our building system. Our game will include crafting however, crafters will also be able to make other types of equipment, such as weapons armor, weapons, and other weaponry. They'll also build houses, other buildings and defensive structures, etc. A modular building block-like system uses a combination o individual "cells" and larger "prefabs". They'll also be able to "blueprint" their creations so they can be duplicated, rebuilt or repaired more rapidly than starting with a new design each time. This is unlike anything I've ever seen in an MMOG. Actually, it's more in the vein of similar building games like sandboxes, such as Minecraft.
Camelot Unchained's heart is RvR between the Arthurians, Tuatha De Danann and Vikings. Anyone who enjoys this kind of game is invited to visit our site to see what we're trying to make. If you are impressed by what you read and see, there's enough time left to make a pledge. :)
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