From the latest KS backer update:
Hello backers,
As you know, Q2 has ended, and we have not pressed the launch button yet. We worked very hard to finish up as planned, but fell a bit short.
The good news is that RCRU is now content complete!
Our remaining tasks to get to launch are about fixing bugs, adding polish and balance, and making sure the game plays well with Steam.
For a team as small as ours, working as we have, getting to content complete feels great and lets us focus on quality from here on out.
We want to get the game out to you as soon as possible, but we also don't want to rush it out the door just before it's ready. So we'll continue to work on getting the game ready to launch, and providing a release date as soon as possible.
When the game is feature complete (works with Steam), we will release a final preview to backers as planned, which will closely match the final product. We'll use that preview to iron out any remaining issues, and then we'll join you all at the finish line.
*does a celebratory round house* (it's actually an acknowledgement of the delay but hey, milestones.)
One would think, based on appearances, that there has been nothing happening on this game forever, which is totally not true. But due to their restrictions on media sharing, their refusal to turn over half-finished content to backers, and the near total absence of PR I wouldn't blame anyone for believing that. I read back over their updates that they'd brought a "media/logistics" team member on but I don't think that really panned out.
They're a pretty small team which doesn't leave them a lot of time for doing media, responding to their forum or just moving as quickly. And TBH compared to other Kickstarter games where they've been really talkitive and showing lots of the game over the course of development and seeing how that occasionally goes....I can appreciate the benefits of long bouts of radio silence even in their own backer forums. Their animator and sprite artist however always would show us a few new characters and moves and stuff every month or so to reassure us something was happening. There was some fairly extensive communication on the forums when the backer previews were made available, but otherwise long periods of silence while they worked, worked, worked. The whole team is really committed to not spoiling the game, even for backers, so anything they show is done reluctantly, it seems like.
I think this game is genuinely a work of love. It can be trite and hype-y to say that for games but for RCR:U, given all the things it does that would have been the first ideas/features cut by a team who is slipping behind their deadlines, it seems like it's done out of love and fandom rather than because it NEEDS to be in game.
And I can respect that. It probably helps that their backer forum is pretty small and not as vocal in the way, say, That Which Sleeps backers are. It's a lot easier to do what you think you need to do when you don't have a forum full of people questioning each month's effort.
Anyways, I think this game is going to be a real treat when it comes out. It's simple enough it doesn't get easily lost in its own maneuverings. The original RCR was not a complex game. When something simple is done competently though, it leaves a lot of room for a whole bunch of additional stuff that can't completely bork the game by its absence or bugginess. If I'm honest I can't really say I know the truth of that with RCR:U, but based on what I've already played I feel confident in it.
So not too much longer until you too can enjoy bashing people in the head with a trash can lid and punching them so hard you make them barf, and getting tossed around the screen by [REDACTED] like a rag doll.
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Topic: River City Ransom Underground. New soundtrack is out (Read 13456 times)