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[nenjin]

Sounding like he's mostly correct. A mockup "based on the prototype" is still a mockup. He's right in that the animation is all scripted.

It doesn't bug me overly much. I backed Net Gain on an even more mockup-y mockup.

[burningpet]

Not really, i think i was mostly correct.

What i will do though, since i do feel kinda bad for pointing them out in such a harsh manner, is be willing to accept that this was not done in an attempt to inflict false impressions (Although, it did just that) but as a result of honestly wanting to convey how they envision the game. because of that i will back them in one of their lower tiers.

Although, i still think you should edit that video and add a statement that makes this issue clear.

And in my opinion, if you had just shown still concepts of how it should look, coupled with a video demonstrating you generating large number of varied rooms in an instant, it would have been much more exciting and promising.

[Neonivek]

Awesome project!

Though it is one with very weak sauce stretch goals.

Which I guess isn't a problem, after all no project needs stretch goals... but It always feels weird when the stretch goals are lacking.

[nenjin]

Awesome project!

Though it is one with very weak sauce stretch goals.

Which I guess isn't a problem, after all no project needs stretch goals... but It always feels weird when the stretch goals are lacking.

There's something to be said for keeping your stretch goals to a minimum, as feature creep is dangerous for every game in development, regardless of how it's funded.

And yeah, in the interest of full disclosure, it sends the right signal when you explicit say what's a mockup vs. what's the prototype running in its native environment.

[hemmingjay]

Not backing. The whole thing seems off. I don't know if they are new to programming in general or just new to game dev but I just don't have faith in their ability to deliver. I have backed a couple of projects that I didn't believe would be able to be executed but those devs were fairly honest. I wish them the best of luck but I won't be joining the party.

[Neonivek]

There's something to be said for keeping your stretch goals to a minimum, as feature creep is dangerous for every game in development, regardless of how it's funded

Well it is that the first stretch goal is sort of a "Non-stretch" as it is 10 new items of vague use.

The third is an App of vague use.

I don't know what it is about people who make Kickstarters and don't reveal anything and just go "We will add 100 new items!" and expect people to somehow use their imaginations to make those stretch goals somehow greater then it actually is.

Which is kind of the thing. They are stretch goals made intentionally vague in vain hopes that people go the extra mile and imagine the possibilities.

Not backing. The whole thing seems off.

Admitting I didn't check their video since I can't back it and I am not interested in buying a game of its type (A game of FTL micromanagement without the cool ship).

I just really like the idea of a game where you catch ghosts, and the sim aspect is what peaks my interest.

[nenjin]

What exactly is your beef hemmingjay, other than things seem "off" and the whole production is fairly amateur? There's a couple weird yellow flags to me. (Who pushes ringtones as a backer reward, seriously. Or a PDF. I guess the art would make it worth it?)

If one thing truly bugs me about this KS project, it's that it effectively has a publisher already.

The Application Systems Heidelberg Software GmbH is a distributor, publisher and developer in one. Since 1985, we take care of the distribution of outstanding products that we use ourselves and therefore are very familiar. We provide you with technical support and all the information you need. Many of the products we have also been translated into German, produced in Germany and often provided the necessary local fine-tuning. Have fun at what you can discover on our site!

A developer/publisher/distributor, to be exact. That's....that's a little weird. It explains a bit about the why's of the KS though. These guys strike me as a German version of Stardock. I'm not sure how I feel about what looks like a reseller outfit being the entity behind a KS game...but for $5, I'm willing to find out.

[nenjin]

Wow. This plateau'd really quickly.

[hemmingjay]

Nenjin, you asked what my beef was with them. Well, the publisher is doing a KS to raise money for a game to be made by another dev team, Bumblebee. That's red flag 1. A Publisher should have more than enough ability to fund the dev of such a small game. Red flag 2 is that Bumblebee's only game is Days of Dawn, which is not done and just finished it's own KS in february. In fact, it is a long way off from complete. This whole thing stinks and as much as I want the game to happen and be good, my gut and brain both tell me it's not going to happen. I think this is a money grab to help fund the other game and hopefully make enough on sales from that to fund this cheap game.

It's more than a little suspicious.

[nenjin]

Nenjin, you asked what my beef was with them. Well, the publisher is doing a KS to raise money for a game to be made by another dev team, Bumblebee. That's red flag 1. A Publisher should have more than enough ability to fund the dev of such a small game. Red flag 2 is that Bumblebee's only game is Days of Dawn, which is not done and just finished it's own KS in february. In fact, it is a long way off from complete. This whole thing stinks and as much as I want the game to happen and be good, my gut and brain both tell me it's not going to happen. I think this is a money grab to help fund the other game and hopefully make enough on sales from that to fund this cheap game.

It's more than a little suspicious.

Fair enough. I didn't really do any research prior to posting it.

[hemmingjay]

My thoughts are pure speculation based on superficial research. Once again, I hope it is legit and above board, but I don't see why such a simple game needs to raise funds from the outside. It's essentially Game Dev Tycoon but with ghosts. And why are they trying to raise money and start work on a game when they haven't finished their last one yet?That other game is supposed to be finished in Feb 2014 but this one will somehow be done in September of this year?

[nenjin]

Well, let's not forget, inExile and Doublefine have both gotten a pass on asking for more money despite their first projects haven't shipped.

[hemmingjay]

But they have produced games before and also have multiple teams.

[nenjin]

Looks like this will do alright. A few grand overfunded with about a week left to go. They've been putting out a pretty steady stream of art and assets, although no true game play video has yet....materialize.

[nenjin]

So they just sent me the beta-something build of this. They call it the first fully playable build which implies there's more builds before release.

Played the tutorial and the first level. Other than a few confusing elements that took a bit to figure out....

I think I kinda dig it. While the screens didn't present too well the pixel art is actually pretty decent, and you can zoom into pretty much all scenes and enjoy it at a larger size.

Gameplay at the mission level is a lil bit like XCOM. Guys have two actions, movement points on a grid, and a set of specific actions they can do. (Attack, Use Scanners, Place Traps, Open Doors, ect...) When your turn ends, the ghosts on the map act. The goal is to capture them while doing as little damage to the property as possible because it eats into your payment. If the structure takes too much damage, the mission is a total failure. On their turn, ghosts will either smash objects in the structure, or spook one of your hunters. For Hunters, their sanity is basically their life, and if it goes bye bye, so do they. Hunters that simply get too scared will flee the map, and return for next mission. The lower a hunter's sanity gets, the easier they get spooked.

That's the mission to mission gameplay. Outside of missions, you've got your base where you store gear and ectoplasm recovered from ghosts, which you sell for cash to buy new gear, vehicles (which govern how fast you get across the city map, how many people you can take on missions and how much gear you take stow for the mission) and a new headquarters.

You've got a little iPhone that is constantly ringing with people calling for jobs. Accept a job, and you've only got so long before a rival company takes it from you. (There are other Ghost Hunter teams you can see on the city map.) You've also got to put gas in your car periodically, so you have to kind of balance accept jobs with running errands (like taking Ghost hunters to the hospital or buying stuff).

Special note for the music, it's actually pretty decent too. Nothing amazing but it kinda captures that Ghostbuster's 80s upbeat vibe without becoming obnoxious.

Thematically is about what you'd expect by looking at it: yucks and jokes rather than anything scary. But like I said, I only played a little bit.

I'm a little concerned that it will be a pretty small game all around. It feels like it's already laid out most of gameplay for me. I'll have to reserve judgment on that til I play some more. But I found myself thinking it's something I will probably enjoy. Hopefully there's more to it than you can see at a glance.

No idea where it will be for sale other than direct from them.