Alpha Colony Update

Back then on July 18, 2012, I mentioned Alpha Colony project by DreamQuest on Kickstarter. It failed. I have been following it on and off, and the last thing I heard about it is that they're looking for a 3D Maya animator. It surprised me that they're looking for one right now. They have been putting out new animation so far. How come the walk cycle animation is work-in-progress? But I digress.

Apparently, they learn their lesson well. They are working on a new Alpha Colony Kickstarter project, this time without the license. They are also downgrading their goal from $500,000 down to $50,000. You probably wonder whether or not they can do $500,000 game for $50,000. The answer is: They can't.

They acknowledge this by going to stretch goals: Mac and Linux version at $130,000. Multiplayer version at $250,000. And that is as it should be. They should have done it that way the first time!

Still, it is good that they learn from their mistake. I am waiting for their newly relaunch Kickstarter project. It has been delayed several times, which tells me that they are rather over-ambitious regarding their capabilities, especially in the fact that animation isn't done yet.

I would like to see a lot of concept art in the newly re-launch kickstarter project. It will be interesting indeed, since they promised to let you design a new alien character along with its special ability. I'm sure that right isn't cheap, but hey, you're a professional game designer! If you can't work it, buy your way into the industry!

Lest you think that is bad, actually it's pretty common for some uppity business person to design a game and hire professional game designer to flesh out the ideas and implement it. There has been some extremely questionable games in the gaming history! I'm sure this one will be fine, though. The premise is fixed, and the gameplay is based on existing game. It'll be very hard to mess it up.

If there is a chink in the armor, it'll be game balancing. I don't know how good they are in balancing their games, but looking at their catalog, it doesn't really give me confidence that they'll be great at it. Oh, well. We'll see.