Final Stretch Goal and Beyond Stretch
about 5 years ago – Mon, Feb 22, 2021 at 12:48:27 AM

Made Marion has officially been fully funded and has met all its stretch goals in a single week!  I am delighted and frankly blown away by all the support.  As of this writing, 473 of you have pledged to support our project, which is amazing.

In thanks for this exceptional level of support, our final stretch goal is a free copy of our DLC for all backers at Early Bird/Registered Rebel (digital copy of the game) level and up.

Our DLC is called Made Marion: Light and Shadow.  It will be standalone, but it is strongly recommended that you play the main Made Marion game first so you understand the game world and the base story of the Sherwood v. Nottingham struggle.

Where Made Marion itself is a politically charged action adventure with a sprinkling of magic, Light and Shadow delves deeply into a supernatural conspiracy that is happening behind the scenes of the main story.  The love interests featured here are our resident rebel druid, Layton Tuck, and a mystery love interest who will be revealed after Made Marion's release. We'll talk about it more at a later date!  It will not be completed at the same time as the main game, so make sure to keep your e-mail address updated with Kickstarter over time!

Beyond Stretch: What Now?

Since we've reached all our stretch goals in the first week, what's next?  This is a tough conundrum for all super-successful Kickstarter campaigns. I was a journalist covering the game industry during the original rise of Kickstarter, and I've watched a lot of campaigns come and go. 

One big thing that happens with games that exceed their original funding goals is massive scope creep. There's a temptation to make huge promises on top of the original stretch goals, and then suddenly your game that was supposed to come out in two years ends up taking five.

We don't want to do that with Made Marion! So instead of further stretch goals, we're going to release two Beyond Stretch phases.  These phases come with a number of possibilities for spending the funds, and as we get further into the phases, we'll be asking you all to help us prioritize those possibilities by what you're most interested in seeing in the game.

$23,000-$30,000 = Beyond Stretch Art and Sound

This phase will fund more art assets for the game!  Looking at it, I probably priced the More FX and Cut-in Graphics a bit too low, and I'll be able to do a lot more with that stretch goal with added Beyond Stretch funds.

Other possibilities here include more outfits for the characters, purchasing higher-quality sound effects, creating more creature sprites, and ambient sound packs, and more original music.

$30,000 and up = Beyond Stretch Goodies

Beyond Stretch Goodies are things that will enhance the game, but that I can pay other people to do, so they won't greatly impact development time.  Some possibilities include creating a maps of the game world and the Sherwood/Nottingham area, hiring somebody to program a more full-featured glossary (with sorting and cross-referencing and such), and providing Linux support.

Things We Won't be Doing:

Here are a few things that we're commonly asked about, but that we won't be considering for various reasons.  Usually the reasons are a) because they would add a ton of development time or b) because I'm not yet experienced enough as a coder to properly support the feature.  Often both.

1. Voice acting

2. Translation

3. Character customization

4. Console or mobile ports

Console ports are a future possibility, but I don't want to tie them to our Kickstarter. I've seen this backfire on a lot of devs, and I'd rather fund it myself without disappointing backers if it doesn't work out. Mobile ports aren't happening because the mobile marketplaces have made the release of a one-time paid game quite untenable.

Party Time, Excellent!

As our Kickstarter progresses, keep an eye out for polls about what you'd most like to see added to the game.  Have an excellent weekend, everyone!

1st Stretch Goal and Campaign Q&A
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 07:46:56 PM

Wow!  We've hit our first stretch goal - some original music by composer Alexander Nakarada!  Alexander is a talented (and extremely nice) guy who has a goal of making his music available affordably to indie content creators.  We're members of his Patreon, which generously gives us the right to use his previously composed music in our game royalty-free (and technically attribution-free, but I want to give him credit).  Celtic-themed music is one of his specialties, so he was a great fit for our project. Most of the music in our demo is his work.

With this stretch goal, we'll be able to commission some original pieces for our game from him.  I'm looking at a number of possibilities to flesh our our game soundtrack, including a theme for John (I have a general theme for most of the characters, but haven't had a chance to show them off for our Sherwood guys yet) and possibly an original arrangement of the Ballad of Tam Lin for Alanna to sing to.

Next up is More Visual Effects and Cut-In Graphics!  Please don't hesitate to help spread the word so we can meet these stretch goals!

Campaign Q&A

Here are some questions I've received about the campaign. I'm posting them here in case you had them, too!

Q: Can I customize the name in the credits?

A: Yes! At some point after the campaign, we will send out backer surveys, and you can add whatever name you like (within legal and taste limits, naturally) to the credits. Feel free to back in the name of a loved one or go by Long John Silver; it's all good. Just make sure you keep your Kickstarter e-mail updated so we can reach you!

Q: Are there any physical rewards?

A: We decided against physical rewards for environmental reasons, because of the continued shipping issues during the global pandemic, and because VC Games Central is located in Canada. That adds extra shipping costs onto rewards for the vast majority of our backers. Our booklets are all digital, as outlined in the reward descriptions.

Q: What will the wallpaper set entail?

A: The wallpaper set will include one wallpaper per love interest at the least.  I think Anna’s considering a group shot or two, as well. She likes to give 110%, so I think everyone’s going to love what she comes up with. The wallpapers will all be related to a particular theme (A Gift for You, Bath Time, In Their Element, something like that). After the campaign we'll ask for suggestions and have a backer poll for which theme you'd prefer!

Q: Can I add on to my pledge after the campaign?

A: We are hoping to facilitate this, and I should have a more solid answer before March 16.

Q: Does Erotic Adventures include Layton and the mystery DLC love interest?

The original version of Erotic Adventures does not, because the stories are set after the end of each character's route, and the booklet will come out before the DLC does.  Since EA has been so popular, though, I'm definitely considering adding in the DLC love interests later. 

Q: Most tiers say "Add $20 for beta access."  So I just add $20 on top of my pledge?

A: Yep, that's what you do!  We'll make sure you're properly enrolled as a beta tester during the backer survey process.  We wanted to make it an official add-on, but that feature isn't yet available for all Kickstarter campaigns (it was in Beta for a while, but hasn't been rolled out to everyone yet).

Q: Tell me more about the top two tiers!

A: I'll be doing that in an update soon!  

Q: May I join the Made Marion Discord server?

A: Yes! So far we've only been open to our early Beta testers and Patrons, but I'll be sending out an invite to the server in a backer-only update within the next few days. We're trying to expand slowly and avoid a spambot invasion, so the server will be existing members + backers only for a bit.

That's it for now!  In our next update, I'll be talking more about our big tiers (Magnificent Menagerie and Character Designer) and about the possibilities for backers at that level.

Stretch Goal 2, Visual Effects and Cut-In Graphics, Unlocked!
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 07:46:46 PM

It's Day 3 of our Kickstarter, and two of our four original stretch goals have been reached.  You all are the very best!

This stretch goal unlocks better visual effects and cut-in graphics. What does that mean? Let's look at Meissa's tarot reading from the Nottingham side of the demo for an example.

Right now, Meissa's tarot reading is only described via text and a cute tinkling sound effect. With this stretch goal, you'll get a lot more out of the scene.

Picture three blank cards popping up in the middle of the screen. At the right time in the story, they will come alive with a swirl of color, which forms into the images of the Knight, Spy, and Death cards. Much cooler and more interesting than what we have so far, right?

Depending on prices and post-stretch-goal funds, I'll try to sprinkle these bits in important scenes throughout the game.

We'll be looking for an artist who specializes in animations to help us with this goal, so if you know anybody who fits the bill, keep an eye out for an update post-campaign when we start our search!

If we go past our final stretch goal (which is looking likely the way we're trending, so cross your fingers and tell your friends about us!), I'll be able to devote even more funds to this goal.

Stretch Goal 3 - Love Interest PoV Segments - Unlocked!
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 07:46:41 PM

Holy moly, late night backers!  You've unlocked our third stretch goal, Love Interest PoV Segments!

Made Marion's main story is written strictly from her point of view. I decided on this because there are a lot of secrets and intrigues swirling around Marion, and having the player remain in her shoes at all times helps reinforce that sense of mystery.

Of course, I know some of the things that happen when she's not around, and now you all will have a chance to learn about them, too!  For instance, when Marion is Lord Geoffrey's Lady Chamberlain, Gui becomes her retainer in order to help protect her. However, this only happens on Geoffrey and Gui's route, not on Alanna's.  Why?  Well, a little scene between Gui and Alanna will help shed light on that.

And, of course, we'll have some scenes in which players will be able to find out what the love interests were thinking about Marion at certain crucial moments. Especially nice for love interests like Robin and Will who don't exactly wear their hearts on their sleeves.

Love interest PoV segments will unlock for a route once you've reached a good ending. I'm planning 2-3 per love interest at this point.

This has been such an amazing week, and I'm thrilled to bits that you're all coming along on this journey with us!

Made Marion Discord Access
about 5 years ago – Fri, Feb 19, 2021 at 07:46:34 PM

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