10 replies to this topic

[Kamatsu]

Looks like the 3rd installment of The Longest Journey might just be upon us, if the studio doing this can get the funding for it. To help fund & create the game the studio has started up a Kickstarter project for it.

http://www.kickstart...longest-journey

"Dreamfall Chapters: The Longest Journey is an adventure game for the PC that continues the epic journey that began in the critically acclaimed and award-winning adventures The Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey.
Independently produced and funded by Red Thread Games, this project brings back the core team behind Dreamfall, including Ragnar Tørnquist, creator of The Longest Journey saga."

From reading the site and interviews, it appears that Funcom (who published both The Longest Journey & it's sequel Dreamfall) have no interest in making, funding or producing the 3rd chapter because they can't see how to turn it into a multi-player game or MMO. So the studio, which is made up of people who worked on the original games, is seeking funding via Kickstarter - they have licensed the rights to the game from Funcom, and are attempting to make, produce and publish it themselves.

An interesting article / interview about this whole new installment, the kickstarter, etc: Gamespot article/interview.

Personally I'm really hoping they can get the funding and pull this off. Because I loved the 1st two games, and have been bitterly disappointed that no 3rd installment was in the works (when it was obvious there was need for a 3rd installment). It comes as no surprise to me that it was not going to come about due to Funcom not being able to turn it into some crap MMO / Multi-player game, however hopefully this group can get the funding and make a game of the same caliber of the previous games.

Edit: Kickstarter has reached it's goal and made some stretch goals. This game will be going ahead! whoo! Now all it needs is help in getting through Steam's Greenlight process so they can sell the game on Steam once it's been made. Here's the Greenlight page:

http://steamcommunit...s/?id=129797136

Edited by Kamatsu, 27 February 2013 - 01:42 PM.

[Rhododendron]

This is incredible.

[Rhododendron]

At this rate they are going to reach the million treshold in 2 days. # already @ 500000 $$$!!!

[Rhododendron]

I only hope that Sarah Hamilton is still up for it.
http://www.sarah-ham...ah-hamilton.php



Whaddaheck man, nobody else is into this game?

Edited by Rhododendron, 12 February 2013 - 04:20 PM.

[MisterB]

I love these games. It made me sad every year that the sequel still hadn't begun. I truly hope they are successful, and make buckets of money to make Funcom feel bad. These two games are the only reason I still had any lingering goodwill towards that publisher, but it seems that was misplaced. At least they licensed the rights.

[Kamatsu]

Sooo close! $833K raised with 21 days to go. Just a bit more and it'll be funded... here's hoping it makes it. Just needs another ~$17K raised/funded.

And AWESOMENESS!!!...Sarah Hamilton who voiced April Ryan in both previous chapters will be back and part of the production! woot! They have not said what role she will be playing... but my speculation: April Ryan lives and makes a comeback! (one can hope!)

And final bonus.. screenshot of Riverwood:

[Winterclaw]

I liked the first but never finished the second.  I'm not sure how they can make a game that should cost at least 5-10 million for one or so.



Funcom sucks for not finishing this series themselves.  It was their first real hit and all their MMOs have a lot left to be desired.

[Kamatsu]

Winterclaw, on 20 February 2013 - 05:38 AM, said:

I liked the first but never finished the second.  I'm not sure how they can make a game that should cost at least 5-10 million for one or so.

You should play the second. It's somewhat shorter, and has some blah actiony bits in it, but it's still a good story & game imo.

As for the funding - Kickstarter helps pay for some of the development. Having a good sized chunk of money from kickstarter, as well as their own funding, will help in getting funding from other sources (ie publishers, banks, etc) on their terms - this way they can attract investment by offering a more completed product that will cost the investor less as they have already received 1+ million in funding elsewhere. And because they are already partially funded, they have more leeway when it comes to making sure the project is done to their terms - ie done to their satisfaction, and not rushed out the door asap because the publisher wants it out no matter what (as we've seen too many times to count).

ie. If a game costs say 15 million, and they can say they already have say 5 million already, a publisher/investor will look at that a lot more favorably than if there is 0 funding. Also, it shows that there is a market for the game, so any investor is more than likely going to get their money back and make a profit - as there are already thousands of ppl putting money in, and those people have family & friends & connections to get the word out for increased sales. Yes people who kickstart already have purchased the product - but thats a bonus, because if the game is good... then you have thousands of ppl posting on facebook, google+, twitter, irl, etc about how they liked the game and recommending it to everyone they know. Free publicity like that is a huge deal.

[Cube]

I'm soooo excited about this game. I've played both the Longest Journey and Dreamfall: The Longest Journey(which is where I started), and I've waited for the saga to continue for so long now. I was crushed when they said they where gonna make another MMO_{(The Secret Shit)} since sure they got good ideas but they aren't good at making successful MMO's and they lost a ton of great artists and people by being so stupid. So I'm glad Tørnkvist split and made his own company. I hope he reaches great success cause he deserves it, the games are amazing!

[Kamatsu]

I'm so very happy - so far just via kickstarter they have raised $1.055 million. They have exceeded the goal, so the game will be made, and it's reached several stretch goals - which is always a good thing to get more! So we will now get:

- Linux & Mac versions
- The Loremaster: In-game library, books & lore.
- A Longer Journey: More locations, characters & stories
- "Mystery is important Senorita": Explore the House of All Worlds

I'm really excited about this and really glad it's going ahead. I'm also thrilled at getting more locations, characters, stories and lore. I'm really excited to see what they will do with the added lore - I'm a bit of a lore hound in games I play. With 10 days left, and with them also having a paypal option now available (which does not show on kickstarter) it's a good chance they will reach further stretch goals - including a graphic novel regarding previous events/story, better sound & music & in-game gallery, and more voice-overs. All good things... so here's hoping it can go ahead.

Also - lets talk about Steam Greenlight. Because the company developing & producing Dreamfall Chapters is not a "well known" company, they aren't able to automatically sell the game on Steam. They have to go through Steam's Greenlight process - which sadly means this might never see itself being sold on Steam, which would be a huge shame IMO. So please, if your excited about seeing this game made and sold - I'd suggest supporting it's Greenlight application to allow them to sell it via Steam. While I know there are lots of people who don't like Steam for various reason's, games sell on steam and there are a lot of ppl who have the attitude "If it ain't on Steam, then I won't buy it" - I'd prefer people have choice of where and how they buy the game, so lets get it on steam so it can reach those who would want to buy it but otherwise won't if it's not on Steam

http://steamcommunit...s/?id=129797136

Edited by Kamatsu, 27 February 2013 - 01:43 PM.

[Kamatsu]

And a small bump with some more info.

http://au.ign.com/ar...apters-released

IGN article with the full 3 min trailer for thew game, with an overview of the game and some pretty screenshots.