New kaiju game from Matt Frank + Simon Strange [Archive]

[Gojira-Fan]

I think there are too many hassles to really realistically get a fan-created original monster in the game. Who knows how Toho would react to it. I think that sort of reward would disappoint someone who felt like they would be ripped off.

[Chris55]

Guys...those new consoles are *years* down the pipeline. A PS3/360 release would make a lot more sense, because they already have a large established user base.

From what I've been hearing, we could be getting next gen consoles as soon as late 2013 or 2014. Either way, wasn't this going to be a PC release?

PC to start for sure

[Godzillabrawler]

How about $500 dollars guarantees that a monster of your choice from a license already acquired put into the game. $1000 allows you to get the game a month before retail release. $1500 gets you 1 overriding vote on a license (Say the team gets the rights to something you really don't want, you can override them once, they can come back and get it at a later time though) and $2000 gets you your own monster in the game.

I think this is really, really pushing it. A whole month before release? An overriding vote by one person on a major issue? And $2000 for one monster?

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I say we do this:

$500
Option A
Donor can choose to put a licensed monster from the licensed monster pool higher up on the list in terms of priority.
Option B
Donor gets their name added to the bottom of the custom monster design list. They will probably have a long wait ahead of them, but eventually they'll get their monster designed and added to the list of custom monsters waiting for implementation.

$1000
Option A
Donor gets to put two licensed monster higher up on the priority list.
Option B
Donor gets their name added to the custom monster design waiting list, but a few spaces higher. Say that there are 20 other people in waiting, your monster is now at the 15 mark instead of dead last.

$5000
Option A
A licensed monster of the donor's choice gets knocked up to the nearest spot in development. Say Gigan is in the earliest stages of production and the donor requests Baragon, Baragon will be worked on following Godzilla's finish as he is almost done.
Option B
Donor gets their name added to the custom monster design waiting list, but a few spaces higher than with a $1000 contribution. Say that there are 20 other people in waiting, your monster is now at the 10 mark instead of dead last.

$7000
Option A
Two licensed monsters of the donor's choice gets knocked up to the nearest spot in development. Say Gigan and Baragon are in the earliest stages of production and the donor requests Kiryu and Gamera, they will be worked on following Godzilla's finish and Anguirus' finish as they are almost done.
Option B
Donor gets their name added to the custom monster design waiting list, but a few spaces higher than with a $5000 contribution. Say that there are 20 other people in waiting, your monster is now at the 5 mark instead of dead last.

$10,000
Option A
Three licensed monsters of the donor's choice gets knocked up to the nearest spot in development. Follow the same pattern as before.
Option B
Donor gets their name added to the custom monster design waiting list and instantly at the top.

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All chosable licensed monsters must have been pre-bought by the design team, obviously. When getting custom monsters designed, I believe the community should vote for them when implemented. Say a Custom Monster pack is going to be released, the fans vote on the 10 custom monsters ready for development and the top five hit development. Democracy!

[DagarahX]

How about $500 dollars guarantees that a monster of your choice from a license already acquired put into the game. $1000 allows you to get the game a month before retail release. $1500 gets you 1 overriding vote on a license (Say the team gets the rights to something you really don't want, you can override them once, they can come back and get it at a later time though) and $2000 gets you your own monster in the game.

$2000? That's less attractive to the point that those who would invest $500, would just invest a lower sum since the possibility of getting their own monster is out the window. We're trying to get more bees with honey not vinegar.

I think there are too many hassles to really realistically get a fan-created original monster in the game. Who knows how Toho would react to it. I think that sort of reward would disappoint someone who felt like they would be ripped off.

I don't find it to be a hassle, its pretty much a process that has to be matured carefully as stated before here. It can happen, the only thing needs to happen is telling the donor that their monsters will be in the lab for a long while. Break down the process to them truthfully, how many months it could take due to licensing more monsters playing as a factor. Plus, a tie in movie with Pacific Rim should be the last thing to ever be considered or released. Since getting and paying for the rights to use the monsters within the movie could be more of a hassle than just simply make a time frame to work on the custom monsters and releasing them.

Toho could play a factor, probably not wanting their monsters to battle against others who were ironically inspired by their creations. But if they understand that these are from fans who greatly helped build up the funding, and understand that their creations were created through them, so long as they know this and more, then they might reconsider. They'll probably want to look at some of the original monsters as well before completely deciding. Toho may be protective of their work, but they aren't completely unreasonable.

[Gojira-Fan]

I think there are too many hassles to really realistically get a fan-created original monster in the game. Who knows how Toho would react to it. I think that sort of reward would disappoint someone who felt like they would be ripped off.

I don't find it to be a hassle, its pretty much a process that has to be matured carefully as stated before here. It can happen, the only thing needs to happen is telling the donor that their monsters will be in the lab for a long while. Break down the process to them truthfully, how many months it could take due to licensing more monsters playing as a factor. Plus, a tie in movie with Pacific Rim should be the last thing to ever be considered or released. Since getting and paying for the rights to use the monsters within the movie could be more of a hassle than just simply make a time frame to work on the custom monsters and releasing them.

Toho could play a factor, probably not wanting their monsters to battle against others who were ironically inspired by their creations. But if they understand that these are from fans who greatly helped build up the funding, and understand that their creations were created through them, so long as they know this and more, then they might reconsider. They'll probably want to look at some of the original monsters as well before completely deciding. Toho may be protective of their work, but they aren't completely unreasonable.

Toho is so slow in it's approval process I don't even think it is worth the bother.

I know it is a cool idea, but what if Toho outright rejected the idea and the original monsters don't get in the game. Wouldn't the person who created that monster feel burned? Especially after a long approval process that delays the production of the game?

[Chris55]

I know it is a cool idea, but what if Toho outright rejected the idea and the original monsters don't get in the game. Wouldn't the person who created that monster feel burned? Especially after a long approval process that delays the production of the game?

The original monsters wouldn't go up against Godzilla etc.

I'm all for the custom monsters to be fully implemented for like $5k+. It's A LOT of work plus it would weed out really crappy monsters that wouldn't work in a fighting game etc.

[MechaJahgeezilla]

I know it is a cool idea, but what if Toho outright rejected the idea and the original monsters don't get in the game. Wouldn't the person who created that monster feel burned? Especially after a long approval process that delays the production of the game?

The original monsters wouldn't go up against Godzilla etc.

I'm all for the custom monsters to be fully implemented for like $5k+. It's A LOT of work plus it would weed out really crappy monsters that wouldn't work in a fighting game etc.

Thats what I was going for with the 2K for a monster, just a little less so it is more feasible for more people.

[Living Corpse]

I wish I could donate but theres's a different project I'm planning to donate
to...

Let me guess, Dick Figures the Movie?

Are you skreeonk serious?

[Mr. Strange]

I think $500 is a reasonable amount for getting a monster all planned and designed.

Actually creating the skeleton, mesh, animations, sounds, and building the .XCF file for the monster, plus play-testing and balancing - probably comes in at around $10,000. I wouldn't expect anyone to pay for that, unless it was a vanity thing.

Of course, it's not really necessary for people to pay for those costs - because those costs are (hopefully!) made up in sales of the game.

So $500 to design a monster such that it's ready to implement seems ok, provided we make it clear that we only get to make ~8 monsters each release, and we'll have the community vote from the custom monsters we have designed.

Maybe 20 people pay the $500, so we have a roster of 20 potential monsters to select. When we get started on a release we'll have the community vote for 8 of those 20. (Actually, I'd probably have the community pick 6 of the 8, and then we'd pick the last 2 internally to make sure there is good variety).

[UltramanGoji]

I wish I could donate but theres's a different project I'm planning to donate
to...

Let me guess, Dick Figures the Movie?

Are you skreeonk serious?

I wish I wasn't.

[Living Corpse]

There's plenty of fans who will donate to Dick Figures, it's Godzilla that needs help since he's shall we say not mainstream.

[hammysammy59]

My only comment/criticism is to maybe go into a little more detail as to what you mean by asymmetrical characters the first time they're brought up. The Biollante/Kiryu fight does a good job of getting the viewer most of the way there, but maybe you could drop a quick line explaining what you mean by asymmetrical characters--maybe by describing the wild variety of characters in past games. At the risk of sounding like a dummy, if I hadn't already known what you meant, I would have assumed that the monsters themselves were asymmetrical (well, Orga was, but he's the exception, not the rule).

[Chris55]

^There's an explanation on the kickstarter page that isn't up yet

[Mr. Strange]

^There's an explanation on the kickstarter page that isn't up yet

This. The video isn't really meant to explain anything - it's just there to satisfy some basic goals. That said, it should be easy to watch.

[Lenbo]

Any estimation on when the Kickstarter will go live?

[Mr. Strange]

Unfortunately, we've hit more delays - I think Friday is my new goal.

[Lenbo]

Unfortunately, we've hit more delays - I think Friday is my new goal.

Thanks for the update. I think everyone's chomping at the bit here to see this launch, so I can only imagine how you must feel.

[Showa Gyaos]

How much money did Toho want up front? I know the goal is $300,000, but is that what they wanted?

[Mr. Strange]

How much money did Toho want up front? I know the goal is $300,000, but is that what they wanted?

That's not something I feel comfortable discussing explicitly. Negotiations with Toho are ongoing.

[PopInPicsPresents]

I'm gonna share this on the Toho Kaiju Union on facebook, that should get some feedback, there's around 400 people, many of whom I'm sure would be willing to donate.