Game on Kickstarter 28 May!

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

Hey guys!

Check out this video on our SFML game, Luman. We'll be on Kickstarter the 28th of May.
Please back us if you like it.





Life&Dev Team!

[Hapax]

But... you already have a thread for this project: http://en.sfml-dev.org/forums/index.php?topic=18047.0

There doesn't seem to be much information on why this is going on Kickstarter. Is it not finished? Why do you need Kickstarter investment?

[Nexus]

It would also be nice if you added more gameplay footage, or if it's not implemented yet, say what is planned. In the video, all you're basically showing is running around. Especially if you plan to go on Kickstarter, you should give people a feeling what they can expect, and what makes your game special (I guess a mechanic associated with the light(bulb))

[Sub]

How much are you guys going to be asking for? 

I'm sure I'm going to come off as a jerk, but I think the reality is that indie platformers are a dime a dozen nowadays, and you'd have to have something that looks pretty amazing for it to be successful on Kickstarter.  It's unfortunate and it defeats the purpose a bit, but you really need something that looks more or less complete, and you need an active following in order to have a successful kickstarter. 

I'd look at Moonman as an example.  Extremely professional art / animation, relatively popular dev blog (3k+ comments, 800k+ views), exposure from multiple news sites + staff pick on Kickstarter, and even that struggled to reach its modest goal.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's really cool what you've managed to build so far.  I suppose it all depends on the goal you set, but with no gameplay other than a character running around, and with the state the art / animation is currently in, it's going to be a rough road.   

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

But... you already have a thread for this project: http://en.sfml-dev.org/forums/index.php?topic=18047.0

There doesn't seem to be much information on why this is going on Kickstarter. Is it not finished? Why do you need Kickstarter investment?

About the thread, I apologise if I caused any inconvenience.  Our Kickstarter page (not active yet) has lots of information on the game and where it's going! We're asking for $20,000 (AUD). Thanks for the advice! We're on it!

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

It would also be nice if you added more gameplay footage, or if it's not implemented yet, say what is planned. In the video, all you're basically showing is running around. Especially if you plan to go on Kickstarter, you should give people a feeling what they can expect, and what makes your game special (I guess a mechanic associated with the light(bulb))

Thank you! Your advice is gold, we're working on it and will probably produce another video before our launch! 

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

How much are you guys going to be asking for? 

I'm sure I'm going to come off as a jerk, but I think the reality is that indie platformers are a dime a dozen nowadays, and you'd have to have something that looks pretty amazing for it to be successful on Kickstarter.  It's unfortunate and it defeats the purpose a bit, but you really need something that looks more or less complete, and you need an active following in order to have a successful kickstarter. 

I'd look at Moonman as an example.  Extremely professional art / animation, relatively popular dev blog (3k+ comments, 800k+ views), exposure from multiple news sites + staff pick on Kickstarter, and even that struggled to reach its modest goal.

Don't get me wrong, I think it's really cool what you've managed to build so far.  I suppose it all depends on the goal you set, but with no gameplay other than a character running around, and with the state the art / animation is currently in, it's going to be a rough road.   

No worries, you're not coming off as a jerk at all! We welcome negative feedback! We are taking on quite a challenge since gamedev is very very competitive. I suppose our video doesn't show much and we need to show our mechanic. Would you say our art is too plain and it doesn't seem like there's a lot going on?

[lsmod]

I suppose our video doesn't show much and we need to show our mechanic. Would you say our art is too plain and it doesn't seem like there's a lot going on?

Hi! Great works it look nice it's artistic and it got a soul. I don't believe Your art is too plain. But that it doesn't show what we expect has a player. I mean when I look at video game presentation:
1) I look for the art (in this case I like it)
2) I want to know the gameplay and see how the game is really play(and i don't like the video for it)

So basically show that luman needs to run ! And after that he is fragile (he break very easily but we see that only at the video's end) then what's it's rewards, adversaries, ...

Why does he need to run ? 
because he has too or it's intensity decrease and luman don't shine no more ?
time is limited ?
collect some stuff ?
Really I don't know from the video

After 30 sec of video start asking my-self where are the enemies. I don't see them. I see that hero is vulnerable when he run. Therefore I know it's not super mario like so I really want to know what the gameplay. and I don't get it

In resume I don't really get hero goals and what I will do as a player from the video, so It's frustrating.

Hope I help somehow

edit:
Maybe the video doesn't aim to explain the gameplay in details. It doesn't have to if it's explain on kickstarter

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

Hi Ismod,

Thank you very much for your helpful feedback. The points you've made are quite fair and something definitely needs to be done about it ASAP. I've used your feedback, as well as others' to compile a new, more exciting video which will be uploaded soon. We're also planning on updating our video again a week into our campaign starting the 28th. I've added collectables, which gives you perks (and changes your light colour) such as an extra double jump and acceleration boost, and we've also added a new mechanic -- you will fall through platforms when Luman's light is switched off. We're rendering a cut-scene sample now as I type this which might also help getting people excited. (We're aiming for something like Super Meat Boy, where you have these funny little cuts between levels.) The aim of the game will be explained on the Kickstarter page through animated GIFs, etc. and we're working on a developer video too.

Our biggest concern ("Sub" pointed this out) is that we haven't really spent enough time building a fan-base. We're just going to have to see where it goes and try our best. I will post a link to our updated video and cut-scene example soon.

Thanks again for taking the time to write to us,


Regards,



Robert

[Life&Dev Games Australia]

Here it is, a cut-scene example!

[lsmod]

Here it is, a cut-scene example!

I love the video nice!
I check luman on facebook and I saw Uncandescent. "rumoured to be suffering from acute Napoleonic complex." It's funny.
Perharps you don't need to show more about gameplay. I thought about what I said and: we all know plateformer. 2sec of the video and we recognize that's one plateformer. What's intriguing it's luman universe  you made great video about this. Also I really like the picture with "The cast of Luman" it show that there more to discover that what we see in the video.

[DarkRoku12]

Hahaha! Great and funny cutscene, well done game, need some shaders for lights effects, you can use too LTBL2

[piticroissant]

Very interesting work!
The game looks nice, the audio sounds good, it all seems playable. Also, I have to admit the sample cut-scene is quite funny. :p
However, if you start a Kickstarter now with such a goal, I don't think you should expect it to be easy. I fear these videos won't be enough. You will need more, and I hope you are very inspired.
Also, I was very surprised when I first saw the video, and the light bulb. In fact, I made a game two years ago (http://en.sfml-dev.org/forums/index.php?topic=12526.0), and even though the player is now a mexican toilet paper roll, he originally was a light bulb, looking a lot like yours. :p

[Mario]

Here it is, a cut-scene example!

You should embed/link that video in your first post rather than just the attached image which isn't very "elaborate".

[Sub]

For anyone curious, I checked it out and the page is live.  Figured I'd post the link here

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/147621009/luman