Crowdfunding Projects of Interest (zombie mode)

Looks like its a great game, thanks for the notice! :)

Added.

Also added Shenmue 3 Post Campaign Pledges page to the Slacker Backer List, in case anyone missed the campaign.

Oh cool. Allison Road looks like it could be a real hit. People are starved for good horror, so I wonder how they'll handle something primarily atmospheric and creepy instead of just jumpscares?

Pixel Noir seems pretty solid too.

Updated and bumped.

The Dark Inside Me shows potential, I wonder how that'll turn out.

Updated with some new campaigns.

For the time being, I'll probably resurrect it eventually, but work, my wallet, and christmas recovery has me hibernating~

Feel free to suggest any crowdfunding stuff in the meantime though, I'm quite happy to check and add anything you feel is worthy!

I actually felt the first game was really lacking, compared to what I thought it would be. It felt somehow that the freedom was all so much illusion, but then again I didn't really feel the urge to replay it and my few savescum moments didn't yield a whole lot of immediate difference. Maybe I'm just biased because I'm terrible with remembering names, and the crew's naming scheme just constantly threw my immersion out, haha.

It's a shame, I really wanted to like it. The trailer reminded me of the old PSX / PC game Sentient, which had a kind of Shenmue approach to progression (explore, and be in the right places at the right times to make choices that alter the direction of the story). Not that Sentient would hold up nowadays in the slightest.

Meh. I guess I just don't feel they'll be able to hold up to their whole ambitions, but hey, that's just me. Added to the list, and definitely hoping they can prove me dead wrong. :D

Oh yeah, I saw that, but given the amount of unpolished animations and such, I did hesitate.
There isn't anything in particular that makes this stand out beyond any other cRPG, at least not at this stage in devleopment.

Still, added! Here's to proving me wrong <3

Added.
There was another game like this on Kickstarter about a year ago, but it sadly missed it's funding mark. We could always use some variety in our horror, and given this one is being funded in CAD, the price point is actually lower than it seems to pledge.

Thanks for the suggestion!

Thanks for the bump, buuuuut the game's already in the list!

Nice thread indeed. :) Bump!
Edit. Might wanna add this: https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/creepyroad/creepy-road ? Atleast it looks great. :)

Thanks for the bump, but that game's already in the list too. ^^

Yep! That's already on the list too!

Couldn't the same be said of AI NPCs?
The fact that they're being controlled by other humans means that they can at least fit the narrative, and won't get stuck in some weird behavior loop. Computer controlled monsters can become very predictable, and once you find the weakness in their coding you can often exploit it to your advantage. An intelligent monster will try to outsmart you and work against it's own limitations and rules, or if they're following the spirit of Kaidan or the narrator, they may actually act appropriately to the given story. Though you're right that if the survivors go about it with the wrong mindset, they can end up in a giggling mess and ultimately lower the pure horror factor, but I've found that even when avoiding jumpscares you can still spook someone even when they're in an upbeat group-gaming mood. I suppose it's down to the individual if they want to immerse fully, or if they go in just to fight against startles. I wonder why someone would buy into the game if they would run around as a group joking with each other and ignoring the ambiance though...

There is a game called "Damned" that actually did the monster VS survivors thing pretty well, but the gameplay was pretty weak away from the hunted moments, and with only three monsters the novelty wore off pretty fast. Kaidan is trying to avoid that by having the objectives controlled by a player, and the cast of survivors (as well as the monster) are set up by them too. It seems the monster's form chances depending on what powers and qualities are assigned to it, so there will be a number of monster archetypes but with individual looks and behaviours. A ghost-type with spacetime powers will screw with your mind and be almost impossible to escape, but would probably be slower and less directly threatening. A different ghost-type with a whole 'hunt' powerset would be faster and would attack you directly, relying on physical senses to track and corner you, but you would be able to give it the slip if you're fast and cunning. The spacetime ghost would look like a poltergeist whereas a hunting ghost would probably look like a snaggled, jagged barb-covered floating torso.

Trolls or abusers would be more of a concern I think, but that goes for the victims as much as the haunter. Another concern is how well the archetype / ability sets work in such a game, because creative freedom is what would keep the game alive and fresh, but too much freedom and it can get sloppy, imbalanced, or just feel like a whole bunch of aimless filler. Procedural / generative games have a lot more replayability than normal games but tend to have weaker content as a result, and with player-driven improvised narrative there is a chance it could just be plain boring. An even bigger concern is whether or not the playerbase stays active enough to keep the game alive, or whether it fizzles out.

Online-centric games that don't have regular servers and hosts have a quickly withering presence. If there aren't many active servers, there can be a long wait for a game. Long waits for a game mean people are less willing to log in and try to play. Less players means less servers. The death spiral of servers, wait times and vanishing players can kill games like these pretty quickly. Even great games like Strike Vector die out because of this. It always happens eventually as per a game's normal lifespan, but some great games die prematurely, sometimes even before they really live, y'know?

I-uh... sorry for the huge post? Aheh.