Massively Exclusive: Jacobs on Camelot Unchained’s Kickstarter home Stretch

6 min read


Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter odyssey is almost complete at press time, there's a little over a day remaining. City State's RvR Sandbox, a fantasy game, is only $1.82 million of its goal of $2 million. Mark Jacobs has created a dev diary to help increase the game's funding.



He outlines the many challenges inherent in managing both the Kickstarter campaign and an ambitious MMORPG project. He hits the highlights of the former which include three factions of RvR, Minecraft-style building options, and a custom engine that can easily handle hundreds of concurrent players at over 200 frames per second. Jacobs also thanks the current CU supporters, who , he claims have given an unprecedented amount of support, with an average pledge of $160.



After the cut, Jacobs' complete diary is available for viewing.



Dev diary



Camelot Unchained Kickstarter is nearing its conclusion. There are only 38 hours to go. Our total stands at $1.73 million. Every similar game has had a great final day, and while we're still not at our goal of $2 million, we're pretty hopeful.



No matter what happens I will always be thankful to our supporters. They have been simply awesome. Our current average pledge is $160. This is completely unprecedented. I've watched several games that have been funded by crowds, and none of them has been in the same ballpark. Some have raised more total dollars, but they have all done it by attracting larger numbers of people at a lot less per head, more like $55-$60. We knew Camelot Unchained was more of an exclusive game, and as such, we expected / hoped our average would be higher. Editum Like they say, "never" is the goal we set in our dreams.



This is only one aspect that is quantifiable. How do you gauge sheer enthusiasm? Or emotional acceptance? Or positive attitude? I'm not sure, but if I could, I believe that our fans are out of the ordinary. In the end, they have impressed me and our entire team far beyond anything we could have expected or even imagined. This is why I am forever and forever grateful.



I'm also extremely proud of our team. Every member of this team has done more than I could have asked for. When we started we realized that with just 12 people, it would be a lot of work to plan and implement an Kickstarter campaign. We thought we were ready for it. We weren't prepared for the sheer magnitude of the task. Everyone stepped up to the challenge, and worked not just long hours, but weekends as well to ensure that we were on the right track. We had to deal the usual number of illness and injuries and today's amusement of Amazon Payments servers being down for four hours was definitely an unexpected challenge.



If we keep the course and get the money, we'll shortly embark on a bigger adventure, which will involve the actual development of the game. Even a smaller MMOG is difficult to make. It will not be easy but I don't think so. It will be rewarding and enjoyable. It's been a while since I've had the opportunity to interact with the vast majority of people in a game community. Camelot Unchained could be something exceptional with their support. My job is to make sure that it is. I reaffirm my commitment to my team that we will do everything possible to fulfill the faith that we have received from our patrons.



I am delighted to say that we have already taken some positive steps in this direction. Andrew Meggs' early work on our engine is a prime example. We looked into a variety of commercial options and realized that we needed a solution that could allow us to concentrate on large-scale battles and not just an "jack all trades" solution that could handle different kinds of games. As anyone who has played in our tech demos can confirm that we've come a long way in just a month or so. We've seen hundreds of players bouncing around and fighting in a small area, as well as particle effects, and consistently been able to run more than 200 (well we're not trying to be boastful but we reached over 1200) frames per second, all the while playing with other users around the world.



Another thing to note is our building system. Crafting will be a key aspect of our game and our crafters will be able accomplish more than make weapons armor, weapons and other equipment. They will also build houses, other buildings, and defensive structures. by using a flexible construction block-like system that makes use of a mix of individual "cells" and larger "pre-fabs". They'll also be able "blueprint" their creations , so they can be duplicated, rebuilt , or repaired more rapidly than starting from scratch each time. This is unlike anything I've ever seen in an MMOG. Actually, it's more similar to the sandbox-like building games like Minecraft.



Of course, the main focus of Camelot Unchained will be RvR among the Arthurians, Tuatha De Danann and Vikings. I would like to invite anyone who enjoys this type of gameplay to take a look at the game we're planning to create. If you like what's being presented and read, you can make a pledge. :)

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