We have been pretty successful with Defender's Quest as of late, being fortunate enough to get on Steam, GOG, and reap the benefits of that attention. We're still not filthy rich, but we're now generating enough sales that if this keeps up I can switch from doing game design as a risky part-time hobby to a full-time job.
However, a seemingly inescapable trend in this and almost any other field is that the "rich get richer." In order to make sales you need attention, and to get serious attention you need "social proof," which you get from... either having made a lot of sales or having got a lot of attention. I'm not sure if this is an intractable problem, but I promised that if I ever got my head above water in this business that I would do my best to help other projects succeed.
So, when I saw my friend Craig Stern was launching a Kickstarter for his Strategy-RPG Telepath Tactics, I decided to put my money where my mouth is. I pledged what I can, but even with our game's recent success my contribution is just a drop in the bucket.
What I do have is the magical ability to create free copies of Defender's Quest, which people seem to think is worth something. So, right now, if you pledge at the $100 level or higher, you'll get a DRM-Free copy of Defender's Quest that runs on Mac/Windows/Linux, as well as the Soundtrack, AND you'll get a Steam Key. And that's on top of all the other swell rewards that Craig is handing out. Most importantly, you'll be helping a cool dude make a really cool game happen.
Unlike some other Kickstarters, this one's a slam dunk. Craig has a great track record of finishing really fun games, is an excellent designer as evidenced in his many thoughtful posts about RPG design
Those of you who know me personally might be familiar with my philosophical/economic views, which tend towards Distributism/Georgism as an alternative to both Capitalism and Socialism. The two key tenets of Distributism are "Subsidiarity and Solidarity."
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| A really great book on the subject of Distributism |
Subsidiarity means that power and control should be pushed down the social hierarchy as far as possible - ie, individuals, communities, and local governments should have more control over their lives than a distant and aloof authority. And yes, this principle applies both in government and in business. The Independence Movement in games (a term I prefer to "indie") is all about this - being empowered to make games the way you want to make them, not the way a publisher, distributor, or greenlight committee demands.
To actually achieve subsidiarity though, you need to escape the control of the powers and bureaucracies who Have All The Money who demand your freedom in exchange for funding. And that's where Solidarity comes in. Without solidarity, subsidiarity becomes plain ol' individualism, and we all die alone.
Solidarity means pulling together as a community for the common good. I wouldn't be here today if it weren't for other Indies who have freely given their time and effort to contribute to the commons. Adam Atomic and the volunteers on the Flixel project gave me a great game engine, the FlashDevelop project gave me a great development tool, Daniel Cook and the FreeSound project gave me some great public domain assets to get started with, and on and on and on.
It's time I gave back. This is just the first step. I'll be thinking of more things I can do in the future, but this is the least I can do for a great, deserving, FUN project that needs to get off the ground. Even better, he's got a playable demo of the game you can try out right this minute.
Seriously, why are you still reading this?
Go give Craig some money.
PS:
Also check out these awesome Indie RPG's. It's almost a crime they haven't gotten more coverage.
Frayed Knights
3D dungeon-crawlery type game, with an emphasis on characters and humour. Dev is currently working on a sequel.
NEO Scavenger
Pitch: Ex-Bioware dev, post-apocalyptic survivalist skill-based "western" RPG
Phantasmaburbia
JRPG-style game about teenagers vs. the supernatural, emphasis on story, has an Earthboundy-vibe to it. Except it's way, way, better than Earthbound, IMHO.
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12 comments:
Hey mate, Rioter here! Super thankful for a promotional key, and it's led to me perusing this article. What server and summoner name do you have on LoL, or is your mention of it simply from being well-read in the industry?
Haha! Glad to see you lot :)
I'm a big fan of LoL, but I must admit as a spectator rather than a player as development keeps me pretty busy. I know some of our other team members have played LoL off and on, but I don't know their summoner names offhand.
Hello Lars! It's been a while since I've checked your blog. I'm excited to try out the demo of Defender's quest.
I posted a question on your "Zombies" post and I've emailed you, but never gotten a response to if you're interested in someone making a map/mod of Starcraft 2 for your Super Energy Apocalypse game. Perhaps I should take the hint that you're not interested in that?
@Michael:
Oh wow! that must have been a really old post! A SC2 mod sounds pretty cool - though I don't have any time to contribute anything myself. Are you officially asking permission or something?
Yessir. I would sent it your way for approval before posting and of course credit you as the source.
Hello Lars, haven't heard back from you but you seem ok with the SC2 implementation so I've talked with a small group of friends and we're looking at working on this now.
Do you have SC2?
Sorry about not getting back to you - I have a million different channels to check for people responding to me (forum, blog, twitter, steam, gog, etc) so I don't always look at them all.
And yes I'm fine with a SC2 implementation of SEA :)
I'm afraid I don't have SC2 :(
Ok, that's something I'll keep in mind, maybe make a video demonstration for you instead of providing the map file. Is there a different way I should communicate with you? It would be nice to get input or requests from you. I know you had some things you wished different, like being able to skip the tutorial, added difficulty etc.
Email!
Contact button at the top of the page. :)
Hello Lars! Could you confirm you received my email last week or so? Also, any chance you have the music files somewhere available so I don't have to try and rip from the game?
Also, I rather enjoy Defender's quest.
@Michael:
I don't think I got the email you're referring to, what address did you send to and what was the topic?
Also, if you bought the game on Steam, GOG, Kongregate, or directly from us the soundtrack should be available to you as a ZIP file.
On Steam, it's in:
C:\Program Files (x86)\Steam\steamapps\common\DefendersQuest\
On GOG, it's on the game page as a goodie.
On Kongregate, there should be a direct download link on the save slot screen.
Direct from us, there should be a soundtrack download link in your original email (let me know if you don't have one, I can resend it if so).
I sent it to Lars dot Doucet at Gmail dot com though obviously with correct formatting. Mine is a hotmail account and has dragon reborn in it (rather not put my full email address in a forum).
Subject line is: "super energy apocalypse sc2 mod"
Date: 1/25/13
As aside, I also sent an email to your address 1/26/09. :D
I think you're referring to Defender's Quest when you are speaking of the music location? I was referring to Super Energy Apoc? Forgiveness please if you're somehow talking about SEA.
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