On Upcoming Updates, Communication Clarity and the Importance of Concept Art
What's happening and what's coming?
Hey all!
So we're putting together another cool video for you to launch sometime next week. This one is going to focus more on the personal development side of the game. Learning new skills, training etc.
We are also spending a lot of time and effort trying to read internet reaction to our campaign and to figure out what we need to do to get it the attention it deserves. We're still emailing, tweeting and sharing the campaign link to people and we're still getting the odd response back, but nowhere near the rate we were anticipating.
If any of you lovely people out there are members of the games press, please get in touch and let us know what it was about our project that you found newsworthy when we first announced and what you think is lacking now. We have spent extreme amounts of effort to provide ample detail with regards to what we're trying to put together in our videos and project page. So it's really disheartening to see campaigns with a single image in place of a pitch video getting enough press coverage to reach twice what we're looking to raise in just a couple of days.
We really hope we can give this Kickstarter the fighting chance it deserves and for that to happen the project needs to reach enough people. So we'd really appreciate your help with that be that in the form of coverage, blogging, sharing and tweeting or simply feedback on our campaign and promotion strategy.
Is Kickstarter a glorified pre-order platform or marketing tool when it comes to games?
One of our favourite gaming news sites, Rock Paper Shotgun, covered Kung Fu Superstar in a recent post. We were delighted and flattered to see that, as we love RPS, although some of the coverage was a bit negative. In particular the RPS guys seemed to have been a bit confused as to what exactly we were looking to Kickstart through this campaign and they expressed their confusion through this article in a way that made some of their readers think we were trying to "pull a fast one" on people. We sent an email to RPS explaining that we didn't sacrifice our job security and stability because of some masterplan to rid people of their money on Kickstarter.
We sacrificed our financial stability because we have a dream.
A dream to build a fighting game franchise that aims to not just entertain people but also improve them through the positive benefits of practicing martial arts.
This is what we're looking to Kickstart through this campaign.
The RPS article seemed to confuse what we are looking to Kickstart with what we are offering as rewards. It went on to suggest that we should have had less text on our project page and should have titled our campaign Kung Fu Superstar: Origin (i.e. the work-in-progress codename we have given to the game one gets at the £15 reward tier).
We explained to RPS (over email) that actually KFS: Origin is just one of the rewards that we offer our backers. At the ADEPT (£40) tier you get both that and our next game (plus all sorts of other goodies). At the SWORDMASTER level you get a pair of wooden swords. Should we have named our campaign Kung Fu Superstar: Wooden Swords?
No, of course we shouldn't. Because we are not looking to kickstart rewards. We are looking to kickstart Kung Fu Superstar, the innovative fighting game franchise. And depending on a backer's contribution towards helping us realise that dream they get one game, two games, all our games ever, wooden swords, kung fu uniforms, trips to our studio and all sorts of other cool things in return.
We believe it's a fair, transparent and, we thought, well communicated system. However, the RPS article did make us realise that maybe we should clarify this even further.
So hopefuly this will benefit some of our backers (or backers to be) who were unsure about all this. If there's still confusion, please get in touch and we promise we will get back to you asap with answers to your questions, like we've been doing so far through this campaign (I am sure there's many of you out there who can attest to this).
Set your sights high
I was going to close this update with another cool image from the game and whilst browsing through our screenshots catalogue, I came across this really nice composition that someone had put together:
It made me think of the importance of concept art in the games development process and how it is the discipline that effectively kicks everything off (at least in the visual side of things).
It also made me think about the difference being comfortable with setting your sights high makes in the end result.
When Matt (the super talented concept artist who drew the top image) and I were discussing the Temple level, I was afraid my vision for it was a bit too ambitious. Then Matt came back with that amazing piece of concept art and when I saw it I was firstly blown away and secondly convinced that the design was ambitious :)
As you can see though from the bottom image our amazingly talented team of artists did a pretty good job of capturing the vision. If Matt or I thought "you know what? we don't have the resources or time to pull this off" we wouldn't have ended up with a level that the whole team is proud to have created.
As long as you aim high and have confidence in yourself and the people around you, no goal is too ambitious.
Till next time!
Kostas
534
Backers
£94,010
pledged of £200,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Unsuccessful This project reached the deadline without achieving its funding goal on December 4, 2012.
Funding period
Oct 31, 2012 -
Dec 4, 2012
- First created · 18 backed
- Kostas Zarifis 526 friends
- Website: kungfusuperstar.com
Pledge £5 or more
19 backers
ENTHUSIAST (WHITE SASH REWARD): All backers pledging at this level and above get an account for our exclusive backer forums, where you can stay on top of the developments around the game before anyone else and engage with the community and the development team. You also get a special thank you credit on our website.
Estimated delivery: Feb 2013Pledge £10 or more
49 backers Limited (1951 of 2000 left)
FLASH-BACKER: *FLASH SALE* Limited version of the BACKER reward! Grab them while they last! (Approx. $16)
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge £15 or more
95 backers
BACKER (WHITE SASH REWARD): Digital Download of the finished Kung Fu Superstar: Origin game on PC
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge £20 or more
34 backers
GRASSHOPPER (WHITE SASH REWARD): Previous Tiers + Digital Download of the game's Original Soundtrack + Digital Download of the "Art of Kung Fu Superstar" book
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Pledge £25 or more
7 backers
CINEPHILE (WHITE SASH REWARD): Previous Tiers + Poster from the game You get a choice between a poster of the actual game or a movie style poster of one of the movies in the game! Kungfuception!
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £30 or more
6 backers
CURATOR (WHITE SASH REWARD): If you're like us and you get a warm fuzzy feeling when you organise your games library this one's for you. A physical high quality digipack style box that includes a DVD of the game, a CD of the game's Original Soundtrack and the game's manual
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £30 or more
40 backers Limited (1960 of 2000 left)
FLASH-KUNG FU ADEPT: *FLASH SALE* Limited version of the KUNG FU ADEPT reward! Grab them while they last! (Approx. $48)
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £35 or more
10 backers
DISCIPLE (WHITE SASH REWARD): Previous Tiers (So yes, that means both a digital AND the digipack physical copy) + Beta Access to the game. Get to play Kung Fu Superstar: Origin before anyone else and actively contribute in the development of the game
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £7 to ship outside the UKPledge £40 or more
116 backers Limited (4884 of 5000 left)
KUNG FU ADEPT: Previous Tiers + a physical copy of the full scale Kung Fu Superstar game, when that gets released, for a platform of your choice (PC/Console). For your early support and long term commitment to the Kung Fu Superstar vision, you get both Kung Fu Superstar: Origin AND Kung Fu Superstar for the price of ONE game (plus all the other goodies)
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Add £7 to ship outside the UKPledge £45 or more
5 backers
OUTFITTER (BROWN SASH REWARD): Stylish high quality "Kung Fu Superstar" T-Shirt exclusive to this Kickstarter campaign developed in collaboration with select video games apparel partners + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £7 to ship outside the UKPledge £50 or more
12 backers
MONK (BROWN SASH REWARD): Stylish high quality "Kung Fu Superstar" Hoodie exclusive to this Kickstarter campaign developed in collaboration with select video games apparel partners + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £7 to ship outside the UKPledge £55 or more
7 backers
STUNTMAN (BROWN SASH REWARD): Signed copy of the book "Fight Choreography: The Art of Non Verbal Dialogue" by Stuntman and Fight Coordinator John Kreng, the definitive textbook for Fight Choreography in action cinema + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £55 or more
3 backers
SCHOLAR (BROWN SASH REWARD): Copy of the book "Kung Fu Superstar: Development Diaries", the definitive source of insight into the intrigue, suspense, thrill and romance behind the making of this game + GRASSHOPPER Reward. Actually it might be lighter on the romance and heavier on incredible true anecdotal stories that happened during the development of the project. Some of which include romance.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £65 or more
3 backers
SCULPTOR (BROWN SASH REWARD): Limited Edition "Danny Cheng" Figurine exclusive to this Kickstarter campaign + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £8 to ship outside the UKPledge £75 or more
0 backers
CALLIGRAPHIST (BROWN SASH REWARD): Limited Edition, high quality, hard cover, physical copy of "The Art of Kung Fu Superstar" book, with exclusive additional content to the PDF version + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £9 to ship outside the UKPledge £85 or more
2 backers
MNEMONIC COURIER (BROWN SASH REWARD): A Limited Edition custom made 16GB USB Flash Drive in the shape of a Baat Jaam Dao, the iconic Chinese "Butterfly Sword", preloaded with the items from the GRASSHOPPER Reward. Stylish as well as functional. Be the envy of your friends or challenge them to minitature sword fights.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £5 to ship outside the UKPledge £90 or more
14 backers Limited (986 of 1000 left)
FLASH-MASTER: *FLASH SALE* Limited version of the KUNG FU MASTER Reward! Grab them while they last! (Approx. $145)
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Add £7 to ship outside the UKPledge £100 or more
36 backers Limited (1964 of 2000 left)
KUNG FU MASTER: Incredible value LIMITED Reward Tier for early and long term supporters of the Kung Fu Superstar vision. A physical copy of the full scale Kung Fu Superstar game, when that gets released, for a platform of your choice (PC/Console) + ALL WHITE SASH Rewards + 2 BROWN SASH Rewards of your choice. Maximum value for your invaluable support.
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Add £10 to ship outside the UKPledge £150 or more
4 backers
GUARDIAN (BLACK SASH REWARD): Limited Edition, 3 piece, elegant Kung Fu outfit exclusive to this Kickstarter campaign + Exclusive "Danny's Locker" In Game Content (see FAQ for details) + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £9 to ship outside the UKPledge £200 or more
7 backers
SWORDMASTER (BLACK SASH REWARD): A beautiful Limited Edition, hand crafted pair of hardwood Butterfly Swords exlusive to this Kickstarter campaign + Exclusive "Baat Jaam Dao Forms" In Game Content (see FAQ for details) + GRASSHOPPER Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £12 to ship outside the UKPledge £300 or more
12 backers Limited (488 of 500 left)
KUNG FU GRANDMASTER: The Ultimate Kung Fu Superstar Reward Tier for Reward Completionists! A physical copy of the full scale Kung Fu Superstar game, when that gets released, for a platform of your choice (PC/Console) + ALL BLACK SASH + ALL WHITE SASH Rewards + 3 BROWN SASH Rewards of your choice + GRANDMASTER Credit in all our games EVER!
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £400 or more
9 backers
KUNG FU LEGEND: So you think the GRANDMASTER Reward is cool, but it's just not LEGENDARY enough for you? Ok, how about this! ALL WHITE SASH Rewards + ALL BROWN SASH Rewards + ALL BLACK SASH Rewards + All future releases + LEGEND Credit in all our games ever + "Honorary Dev" rights (FAQ for details)
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £500 or more
4 backers Limited (26 of 30 left)
INFILTRATOR: Join in over Video Conference for a team meeting (pick your discipline, design, art, code, etc) and chat with the developers live, ask questions, contribute ideas, give feedback + LEGEND REWARD
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £750 or more
5 backers Limited (15 of 20 left)
IMMORTAL: Work together with our character art team to lend your likeness to one of the extras in the game (early adopters of this reward tier will be given more prominent roles, maybe even one of the main bad guys if we think your face is evil enough?) + LEGEND Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £1,000 or more
2 backers Limited (3 of 5 left)
SHOT ON LOCATION: Video call not good enough for you? Well why don't you come over and join us at the studio for a week? That's right, pledging at this level means that we'll invite you over to the studio for a full working week where you'll join the team meetings and have your own desk and workstation to playtest or even work on the game if you want to. Socialise with the team in the evenings, make friends, have fun! We will pick up your acommodation costs, but you'll have to make your own travel arrangments + IMMORTAL Reward + LEGEND Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £2,500 or more
3 backers Limited (2 of 5 left)
TOURIST: Same as SHOT ON LOCATION only we will ALSO pick up both your accommodation and travel costs. ALSO the time of your visit will coincide with the game's EXTRAVAGANT launch party to which you will receive a +1 invitation. ALSO you won't just experience the Kinesthetic Games studio, but we will show you around the various studios of Guildford, the Mecca of games development in the UK, where you'll get to meet and greet with prominent games developers (participating studios TBA). ALSO the LEGEND Reward. ALSO the IMMORTAL Reward. ALSO... no, that's everything.
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £3,500 or more
3 backers Limited (2 of 5 left)
MOOK YAN JONG: A beautiful, high quality, custom Mook Yan Jong (WOODEN DUMMY) designed according to your needs with an optional 功夫巨星 (Kung Fu Superstar) engraving + Exclusive "Wooden Dummy Forms" In Game Content + IMMORTAL Reward + LEGEND Reward
Estimated delivery: Nov 2013Add £15 to ship outside the UKPledge £5,000 or more
2 backers Limited (8 of 10 left)
SIFU: Be one of the first individuals/martial art schools/organisations to join our "Kung Fu Superstar™ Training Partners" programme. We will work together to create training scenarios and other content around your specific style and curriculum needs, with a view to make it available through the game as an officially licensed product. Get in touch for details to ensure you don't miss out on early access to the definitive martial arts gaming platform + IMMORTAL Reward + LEGEND Reward
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014Pledge £5,000 or more
5 backers Limited (5 of 10 left)
DIRECTOR: Playing Fight Choreography Sequences is cool and all, but you're actually more interested in *building* them. Well, as a Licensee of our "Fight Choreography Engine" technology, you can! Whether you're a production house looking to previsualise the fight sequences of your action film in a fast and intuitive way or a mod team looking to create the next big machinima hit, our tools will help you unleash your creativity through ultra fast iteration. Pledging at this level won't just ensure you get a lifetime License for the FCE suite of tools, you will also get early tech previews so you can request features, suggest improvements and help shape this innovative and groundbreaking technology. Get in touch for details!
Estimated delivery: Jul 2014
Comments
Creator Kostas on November 11, 2012
Thanks Andrew! Like I said we did think we were pretty clear about what we are trying to build here, but RPS gave us a good reason to clarify even further so that's cool. Thank you for your supportive words too, we really appreciate it.
Corellianrogue, thank you for continuously promoting the project! You rock!
Creator Andrew Casey on November 10, 2012
It's a shame that RPS didn't spot that you were kickstarting a franchise. I read through the whole kickstarter page (devouring it, so excited!) and it became clear that this is going to be a great gaming dynasty.
Stay strong guys, this idea is incredible and from what you've shown so far your execution is going to be just as awesome!
Creator Corellianrogue on November 10, 2012
Can't wait for the newest video, I'll post a new article when it comes out. Also it's funny you mentioned pre-ordering as although you're right that Kickstarter isn't "a glorified pre-order platform" I do think that angle can be a positive thing. For example since I like the look of this game and I'm 99% sure I would buy it anyway when it comes out since there isn't really anything like it out there I decided that it's worth essentially pre-ordering it very early by going for the "Adept" pledge. If other people who really want this game and often pre-order their games anyway would do the same thing then all it would take is 5000 "pre-orders" to meet your goal.
I think I'll put those last 2 sentences in the next KFS article I do actually. :D (I did already briefly point out in a previous article that the Adept reward is basically pre-ordering both games for the price of 1 but I think it's worth pointing out to people how few "pre-orders" are actually needed for the goal to be met. Really high profile games can get well over 5000 pre-orders in just their first week of being available for pre-order for example.)