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EDIT: October 26, 2009 - A fellow game developer, Graceworks Interactive, has donated more games to our rewards opportunities! Thank you for your support!
What do I get for Pledging to the Visions project?
It's the question everyone wants to know first! So we'll answer it for you first as well.
$3 pledge: Special Donor Only forum access.
$12 pledge: above+ 20 exclusive Desktop Screens to download (Visions), Download of Interactive Parables
$40 pledge: above+ Download of Chariots and a PDF map, 1 account with 3 months unlimited access, Download of Interactive Bible: James
$70 pledge: above+1 week pre-launch access, + Website supporter listing with link, 1 account with 6 months unlimited access, Download of Interactive Bible: 1 Peter* (* when available - late '09 or early '10)
$144 pledge: above+ 1 Ancient Roman coin, 1 year unlimited access for 1 account, Download of Interactive Bible: 2 Peter* (when available - late '09 or early '10)
$969 pledge: above+ 1 signed Visions DVD upon release, 7 total Ancient Roman coins, 3 accounts with lifetime access
$3000 pledge: above+ Name an NPC, 3 signed DVDs upon release, 12 total Ancient Roman coins, 50 total Desktop screens, 7 accounts with lifetime access (Something for the whole family!), Download of all future GraceWorks Interactive games.
$5000 pledge: above+ Name an NPC + Suggest a Quest (In honor of a loved one?), 5 signed DVD's upon release, 30 total Ancient Roman coins, 100 total Desktop screens, 12 accounts with lifetime access (Get your friends in the game!)
Visions is Awesome!
Visions is the flagship project that brought our team together. Visions is a 1st person 3D graphics MMORPG with a quest based and skill based gameplay in a persistent online world set in the 2nd century holy land. Visions is currently being developed by an entirely volunteer team.
By quest and skill based game we mean that the game mechanics are focused on interacting with the game world, and learning from a wide variety of skills for players to customize their character. Where most other online games have the play character kill a never ending hoard of enemies to gain experience and purchase levels from a trainer, Visions will have play characters learn their skills by completing quests, and then use their skills to improve their ability that skill. The skills they use the most will be the skills they are best at.
Players will have a vast variety of opportunities and experiences in the ancient world. They will be able to choose what role they wish to fill in society through a rich quest based Professions system. We currently have 19 professions planned. We have professions planned for all play styles: Adventurers, Competitors, Intellectuals, and Creative minds.
Craftsman
Blacksmith
Tailor
Baker
Mason
Potter
Artizan
Carpenter
Outdoorsman
Fisherman
Ranching
Farming/Vineyards
Miner
Physical
Soldier
Hunter
Mercenary
Athlete
Scholastic
Disciple
Innkeeper/Merchant
Entertainer
Physician

A major aspect of Visions is for players to experience history! There will be non-profession quests involving the Ancient Roman time period and regions. Our timeline begins at 100 AD with Emperor Trajan and will progress through the linear history so players who stay with the game long term will be able to experience history through a variety of successive Emperors. The quests will change as each new Emperor takes the throne, so the game will perpetually be changing. And yes, players who start later will miss the earlier emperors. A great amount of research is being invested into the game to create an immersive history experience that is as accurate as possible within the limitations of our technology.
And for those who wish to pursue spiritual enlightenment and experience Visions as a Christian game there are Scripture quests based on the King James Version of the Bible as originally planned as the foundation of the game. From these quests we derive the name of the game as well, as players will be able to travel backwards in the time of Biblical history through visions and dreams. Is should be noted that we understand no one likes to be clobbered with Bible verses around every corner and with every breath of the game. We play games to relax, to escape, and to connect with distant friends in an engaging environment. Our goal is first and foremost to create a FUN game, one that friends want to play together and that strengthens and encourages strong friendships. The Christian content fits into this relationship building experience, it will not overpower or interfere with the gaming experience.
We do plan to implement player housing, avatar customization, various mounts including chariots, a variety of clothing choices, and vast expanses of terrain to explore to appease even the most diligent wanderer. For our first Beta launch our goal is to include the Basic Skills stage of quests, and the city of Kourion on the island of Cyprus.
Due to the volunteer nature of our team, we have had to approach our launch plans with a somewhat unconventional solution. We have a 5-stage release planned for Visions which we feel is our best chance of success for getting the game into the hands of players. We will release the public Beta 1 stage with just the very first piece of the game content, the Basic Skills, and 1 city. The following releases will include the Novice, Journeyman, Master and Grandmaster skills, and will expand the terrain as far as our worldbuilders are able to create it across the Mediterranean. We anticipate the first very small increment is to be released for public play around March 2010.
You can learn more about Visions from it's own website at http://www.visionsgame.com
Where is the money going?
We are asking for funding through Kickstarter because we need some help with the final push to get to our first Beta to launch. We can all donate our time and talents for free, but we've found that just because we are working for free doesn't mean that companies will donate their equipment or services to us for free. So we need the money to pay for those things. Specifically:
Technology software
Tech Hardware, including a game server
Utilities and bandwidth services for 4 months
Office Supplies for 4 months
Marketing for 4 months
We will launch our first Beta 4 months after the end of this funding drive if it is successful, and we will re-evaluate our situation at that point.
NOT IN THIS BUDGET:
TV Spot on Heart of America with William Shatner
Conference attendance expenses for marketing
Salaries for staff
We have only requested what we need to get the game done. Any surplus money pledged over our basic budgeting needs will go to meet these additional budgeting needs.
We have been invited to appear on Heart of America with William Shatner! However, there is a significant expense associated with this amazing marketing opportunity as well, and we're hopeful to obtain surplus funding to meet this need.
There are also 2 game developer conferences coming up between now and March, and we need funding to pay this expense as well. Conference attendance is important for reaching players with news of our game.
And finally, anything beyond these financial accomplishments will be distributed evenly among our staff as a token of appreciation for their many hundreds of hours they have contributed to the project. Some of our developers are continuing to contribute their time and talents despite being unemployed in this economic recession, and we really appreciate their dedication to the project. We couldn't make the game without their help!
OK, I must know! What's with the unusual Pledge amounts?
Thank you for asking! We thought it would be fun if we added a bit of mystery to our proposal. Each number represents a number that has some significance in the Bible.
3 = Jesus rose from the dead back to life again after 3 days.
12 = There were 12 Apostles
40 = Moses and the Israelites wandered in the wilderness for 40 years, Jesus fasted for 40 days, and he was with the Disciples for 40 days after His resurrection
70 = Jesus sent out 70 Disciples in pairs to teach.
144 = Revelations talks about the 144,000 redeemed who kept themselves pure.
969 = Methuselah was the oldest recorded man in history, he lived 969 years.
3000 = At the Pentecost more than 3000 people were baptized.
5000 = Jesus fed 5 loaves and 2 fishes to 5000 people (and they collected 12 basket fulls of leftovers when everyone was full)

Project location: Newberg, OR

5

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$107

pledged of $58,692 goal

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Project By

Laurene Wells

OR

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Pleased to meet you! Thank you for stopping by.

I'm a Christian game developer, producing a MMORPG with an entirely volunteer team. I've been leading the team since the onset in 2003. All volunteers contribute to the project from their own homes, on their own time, using their own equipment, connecting to the team using the internet. We enjoy the benefit of being with our spouses and children, to have a high quality of life that includes our families in our daily activities, rather than leaving them for the end of the day. Family is very important to our company, in everything we do and in the games we make. We are revolutionizing the world of game devlopment, from the the content of our games to the location of our developers. The internet has allowed us to bring people together from all over the world. I live in Oregon, but in the last 6 years we have had developers from Canada, England, New Zealand, Australia, Ireland, Cuba, and of course from all across the United States.

And we all sacrifice our free time, nights, and weekends because we have a passion to make fun games that are suitable for the whole family, and friendly to Christian values. We believe it is possible for fun games to be meaningful, and for educational games to be fun (so fun, that the player forgets they are learning something!), and for online games to strengthen relationships. We want to see friends drawn closer together, and families to have fun and meaningful bonding time together in the games that we make. We also want to bring the events of the past to life, so that players can experience history like never before. We want to see players gasp in awe as they enter a hippodrome for the first time, or see mosaics on the floor of the Eustolios house, just as if they were really there in 100 AD. We want to engage players in the creation of the world by having them participate in the restoration of the theatre at Kourion or Paphos, as mandated by the Roman Proconsul of the region. They will use Roman coins of accurate denomination (Quadrans, Semis, As, Dupondius, Sestertius, Denarius, Aureus) and be exposed to ancient languages like Latin, Greek, Hebrew and Aramaic. Players will do all these things and more, and we're very excited about the opportunities we have planned for the development of Visions, the Christian MMORPG we are working on.

Visions is a family friendly quest and skill based game set in the 2nd century Roman empire, starting at 100 AD with emperor Trajan. Initially players will start on the island of Cyprus (though we're hoping to expand out to cover the entire Mediterranean over time as we expand the growth of the development team), in the city of Kourion near the capitol of Paphos. We've gone to great lengths to represent history as accurately as possible within the game, studying archeological excavation maps, ancient texts, and numerous research sites and books. We are keeping our focus on fun first, and family friendly second, but trying very hard to keep the content meaningful and as accurate as possible within the constraints of technology. Visions has three primary quest tracks, Professions, Roman history and Biblical history. Professions make up the bulk of the players daily experiences, learning such skills as Pottery, Blacksmithing, Soldier, Hunter, Farmer, Athlete, Mercenary, Physician, Disciple, Carpenter, Entertainer, Baker and a few others. This means a play character that is studying the Baker profession will learn actual recipes they can duplicate in their home kitchen (and get points for practicing it in the game!) such as onion soup, goat cheese, or popanae. A play character studying the Soldier profession will learn about the actual weaponry and armor that was used by the Roman army, and will fight in some of the historic battles. A play character studying the Hunter profession will learn to identify, track and tame the wild animals of the region, those native and imported (as indicated by many Roman writings that some exotic animals were imported from other regions). A play character studying the Athlete profession will learn all about the sports that the Romans practiced in the ancient Olympics. We currently have a total of 19 professions planned, and are working on developing the content for the quests and skills related to each profession.

Our intent is to have the game follow a linear timeline. As time progresses, the Roman Emperors will change reigns of power, and the quests will change to reflect the new events of the period. When a player completes a Roman History quest, and the timeline advances to the next era, all the previous quests associated with that Emperor will go away and new quests with the new Emperor will replace them. So literally, players who play from the onset will have an experience that players who join the game later will not be exposed to, just like we experience time in our daily lives. Many people ask me "Will there be fighting in Visions?" Ancient history definitely demonstrated it's share of violence and so my answer must be yes, there will be fighting in the game. However, we hope to make Visions as family friendly as possible, so that families can play together, and we will be omitting or glossing over much of the immorality that was prevalent in ancient Rome as well.

Visions will be an opportunity for players to experience history like never before. And the name of the game is drawn from the opportunity for play characters to experience visions and dreams that take their character "back in time" to witness and experience key events from the Bible without actually changing the outcome. These visions or dreams may be triggered by encounters with rare or unusual items, by the completion of a quest that triggers the event, or by fasting and praying (in the game) with particular intent. The players will then "travel" to a different encounter where they will be able to witness the battle of Jericho, the escape of the Hebrews from Egypt, or possibly even the birth of Jesus. Our goal is to use as much archeological and historical data as possible to recreate an accurate interpretation of the environment and architecture, and allow players to be part of the action and experience history as a participant in these treasured Bible stories.

We're hoping to have a first stage beta version of Visions available by March 2010, but full release is not expected for about 2-3 years, depending on variables relating to developing with volunteers. We have a multi-stage release planned where we will bring a very small portion of Visions live to players, and as we progress further through development, we will release more content. Initially for the first stage Beta players will be able to experience the Basic Skills in the city of Kourion on the island of Cyprus. We had hoped to release our first Beta by Christmas 2009 but our team suffered numerous setbacks, difficulties, and challenges this year so we have had to postpone our release date.

The funding we are requesting from Kickstarter is what we need to be able to get past some of the immediate obstacles that are delaying or impeding our progress. We have need of some specific technology, equipment, utilities, and marketing funds that we frankly do not have funding to obtain right now. In particular we need a cluster server and business class internet to be able to host the game live, in addition to some software programs that would help us with development. Some of our team members have been donating their time without compensation for 3-4 years as well, and while they are some of our most experienced developers, they are also reaching burnout. We have a very real need for funding to pay our staff, even if it's just a small token of appreciation, to encourage more consistent and dedicated daily progress on the project development. I know it is extremely unlikely we will get the funding we need to pay a full scale team (right now we're working with a skeleton crew) full time for even 4 months, but anything we can get to reward our team for their long years of perseverance would be most appreciated.

One of the items we expecting to offer as a reward for pledging a donation to the Visions project, is a download copy of Chariots. My team also produced this little game that started out as a team building exercise that grew into a 19 month project. Chariots is a single-player or hosted multi-player racing game with a little bit of a role playing twist. Chariots is set in ancient Rome on a small-scale representation of Cyprus. Chariots is NOT Visions, it is just a racing game with some collection quests. (Visions is on a much more grandiose scale, with much more quest intensity, and much more content.) The entire island can be explored and there are collection quests for players to earn elite mounts and vehicles. Players can race on Foot, on a Horse, or of course in a Chariot. Horses and chariots must be earned as prizes from the races. Chariots is available for sale right now from it's own website at http://chariotsgame.com if you would like a closer look.

I'm sure everyone here already has fascinating game projects they are working on. But just in case someone is interested in gaining game development experience on our volunteer team, we are actively seeking to grow our team. To learn more about our development needs please see this page: http://www.visionsgame.com/HBTZ_Volunteers.htm

Or, if you prefer you can read about some of the things I've been doing on my blog: http://laurenewells.wordpress.com/

Thanks for listening.
God bless you,
-Laurene

1. tinyzoo.com
2. visionsgame.com
3. laurenewells.wordpress.com
4. chariotsgame.com