713
Backers
$31,337
pledged of $8,000 goal
0
seconds to go
Funding Successful
This project successfully raised its funding goal on December 6, 2010.
Pledge $3 or more Pledge $3 or more
Hadean Lands for iPhone. A $5 value! (If I ever port to Android or Kindle or any other mobile platform, you can have those versions too, for free.)
Pledge $10 or more Pledge $10 or more
Hadean Lands collectible postcard! With bonus IF quick reference on back. (And also the game for iPhone, plus any mobile ports.)
Pledge $25 or more Pledge $25 or more
Hadean Lands Limited Edition: shipped on a rune-inscribed CD. Playable on Mac/PC/Linux. This will *only* be available through Kickstarter. (Plus the game for iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $40 or more Pledge $40 or more
Hadean Lands full-page, full-color map poster! This map will be part of the game docs, but this poster will be larger and prettier. (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.) (Belated note: the poster will be added to all rewards $50 and larger.)
Pledge $50 or more Pledge $50 or more
Your name will appear in Hadean Lands, in some form, as an ancient alchemist or sage or spell-rubric. ("The Sulphuric Dragon of Andricus Plotinus", that kind of thing.) (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $75 or more Pledge $75 or more
You will have access to the closed beta-testing phase of the game. Early access! Opportunity to offer feedback! (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $100 or more Pledge $100 or more
You will be credited in the game as a Hero of the Calcination. (Plus the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $180 or more Pledge $180 or more
You will receive the source code of the game, for your edification and amusement, as a printed volume. (Plus special credit as Hero of the Dissolution, and the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $250 or more Pledge $250 or more
A mystical alchemical calligraphical formula of ancient (made-up) lore, hand-written on (freshly-made) ancient paper. With incomprehensible mystical symbols! (Plus special credit as Hero of the Coagulation, and the game for Mac/PC/etc, and iPhone, and the postcard.)
Pledge $1,000 or more Pledge $1,000 or more
The traditional Kickstarter "I'll fly out to visit you and bake you cookies!" offer. (Continental US only please.) We can hang out and talk about IF, or play the game together, or go out for Peruvian -- whatever's agreeable. Plus all of the above.
Project By
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I'm a hacker, game designer, and general messer-around of code, art, and language.
Thanks. I am too, believe me.
Fair enough. Like I said, I don't regret my contribution, and I hope it all comes together wonderfully. You've been up front about the "Hadean Lands will be my day job" part of it not turning out to be true. I do think, though, that a lot of the enthusiasm that got you the pledges to begin with came from excitement about Hadean Lands; about the idea of commercial IF being possible on iPhone and your work proving (or not proving) the concept. I'm still very eager to see how that eventually pans out.
The deal I offered was $8000 to work on HL *and other IF work*. HL has seen some progress, although not as much as I should have gotten done in a year. The other IF work has seen some progress too: three IF API spec updates, a lot of work on the iOS IF interpreter. Again, there's more that I had hoped to have done by now, but it's not been ignored.
The answer to your question is: the difference between $31k and $8k would not have made much difference to me, because the plan was always to *combine that with my savings* and launch myself as a independent developer. My reserves have not run out and I have time to finish HL before they do. If I had $23K less, that would still be true -- although I'd have to dig deeper and I'd probably have taken on contract work in June instead of starting Secret Hideout.
It's not a question of obligation being proportional to money. It's price points that change my planning. $8000 was the bare minimum for this plan. The next plan up would have been at maybe $80000, where I wouldn't look at contract work at all for the foreseeable future.
Andrew, the stuff you say you're working on all sounds awesome. BUT.
"I started out 2011 thinking that Hadean Lands had to be my big money-making breakout. That was, in truth, kind of a paralyzing notion. But it was also kind of illusory. Here I am; I've finished one project, nearly finished another, and I also have some iPad contract work lined up. (Not story-related; it's a board game port.) None of these projects now has to be The One That Succeeds And Pays My Rent Forever. But they all could be. (Okay, notMy Secret Hideout, probably.)
...In the long term, I hope to offer you an ever-growing tally of interesting projects across the game and narrative domain. And I hope that, in aggregate, they pay my rent."
I hope they do too. But we've all already funded the one thing that consistently hasn't seen results for going on a year; your IF on iOS. Specifically, Hadean Lands, the game in the title of the Kickstarter. To the tune of $31,000.
I'm not trying to be a jerk and I don't regret my pledge, but I am curious: you'd be no less "obligated" to do Hadean Lands if you had only made your $8,000 goal, let alone $31,000. That was the deal you proposed: $8,000 of funding for HL on iOS. Would it EVER be getting done, if that had been the result?
My most recent blog post ( http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/zarf/hadean-lands-interactive-fiction-for-the-iphone/posts ) is my best explanation. I described the Kickstarter project for HL and other IF work. I have been making better progress on the other IF work -- API spec updates aren't exciting, but they're important for the field. HL has slipped down my priority list this past summer, but now I've got the two short-term projects almost done.
If I gave you an estimated date for HL, it would be a lie. Sorry. There's a reason I haven't been giving them. (When I finish HL, I'll have a basis for estimating the work time on *another* large IF game...)
Echo Jeremie. We were backing HL right? What's with all the other stuff?
At least throw us an estimated date. I've almost completely forgotten about this project.
any other updates? how's Hadean Lands coming?
Signs point to "no", I'm afraid. I don't intend to update the teaser again. It has what I want in it.
Darn you, Zarf, now I'm impatient for an awesome new Zarf game!! Can we have another puzzle in the teaser in, like, March or April? Although I don't know if that would temporarily satisfy my craving, or just give me another taste of the forbidden fruit...
Hi. I only went for the cheapskate pledge but if you need any extra help with the beta I will willingly help. I have done a bit of iPhone development so I know what its like.
It is crazy to think that something like Kickstarter can help you quit your job and "live the dream". ;)
Did anyone point out already that your final funding number is a hacker-speak dream? '31337' in net speak is 'elite' (ELEET).
Oooooooooooo! Mystical and stuff! ;)
Congratulations! I'm sorry I found out about this too late.
(if i'm really desperate)
alternatively, there might just be a few iphone emulators out there ;)
me too, thx anyway :)
That's correct. I've decided that I don't want to collect further donations (or orders) now that the Kickstarter thing is over. Sorry! It would be a distraction, and it would reduce the perceived value of the supporter rewards.
I very much hope that I am able to announce Mac, PC, and other versions some time next year.
Shit, I can't afford Apple products either. Guess I'll wait for the PC release, if any.
Can't believe I didn't hear about this before.
Wait, does this mean it's too late to pre-order?
I saw that, and it will help, but international app gifting is what I really need.
Hey, Andrew... iTunes can now accept international promo codes. Looks like one problem has been solved before it even became urgent!
http://www.tuaw.com/2010/12/08/itunes-sports-international-promo-codes-push-notification-secur/
Great news, Andrew. Have been following progress eagerly over the last few weeks. Delighted for you - and of course very keen to play the finished article.
Best of luck with what's to come!
Thanks.
Mazel Tov!
Woo Hoo! Congrats!
Thank you everybody. $31337, and I win the Internets.
For the graph, and other wrapping-up comments, see the Updates page.
Whoo, I'm tired. Good night.
"$31,337" /\/1C3 :)
Damn, I almost forgot about this.
I'm glad I made it with my contribution, because I'd feel really guilty not giving back to the IF community after I played them so much back in the days for free when I was a broke-ass student with a crappy computer.
And to Andrew: Thank you for all the countless hours you poured into your games and (especially) programing efforts, they were much appreciated.
C'mon, guys, let's get it above $32,767 -- it is for Glulx, after all. :)
(Zarf, will there be graphs? Please make there be graphs.)
Darn. Was hoping that would push you over the $30,000 mark.
Still many hours to go.
$29,288 means you'll write 3.66 new IF games, right?
What will I do with the extra money? I'll go into more detail when I post the final results tomorrow night. But the short answer is, "have more time to spend on IF, and burn less of my savings."
Hi there! What will you do with the extra money?
Whether it makes it or not, thank you for pushing.
OK, I just resubmitted this on the Boing Boing Submitterator, with some more excitable happy-blurby language. There was an earlier submission but it didn't get posted, despite 13 up-votes. If any of you want to help get this noticed further in the remaining two days, please go pile on and up-vote!
Thanks so much for your years of work making great IF and for starting this amazing project!
I hate Apple. Their censorship policy alternates between ricockulously dumb and maliciously subversive. So here's my vote for a non-limited PC version, backed by Messrs. Franklin, Grant, Jackson and Hamilton.
Plus, the associated title sounds really awesome.
Thank you.
I want to re-iterate a sentiment expressed earlier in the comment list - Andrew, I feel like I already owe you at _least_ $20 a pop for each of your previous works. It is weird and ridiculous that I live in a world where I can play games like Spider & Web for free. Helping support this effort feels like paying you back part of what is already owed.
I do not plan to release the source code online. I'm not comfortable with that level of openness for a major commercial game project. Sorry.
(Sure, someone could OCR the entire thing. Then I'd be, well, uncomfortable.)
I know the bound-and-printed source will only be made available to the $180 level; will good old-fashioned electronic source be made available at some point as well?
(Sorry about the multiple posts... my browser's acting up.)
I know the bound-and-printed source will only be made available to the $180 level; will good old-fashioned electronic source be made
I know the bound-and-printed source will only be made
I couldn't find anyone else I haven't mentioned this project to, so I bumped my pledge up. The teaser has only got me yearning for more
Andrew -- your contributions to IF have been so immense, that this whole outburst feels like just payback. So many fans you didn't realize you had -- I guess you reap what you sow. Reminds me of the ending of "It's a Wonderful Life". :-) Hope there's another rally this week.
Wow. That's -- thank you deeply. That means a lot.
(Zarf, KGB alumnus and one-semester-past-founding member)
Capture the Flag is still played semesterly (though the rules have changed considerably since your original) and is our biggest event of the semester by far. Since the organization can't officially use its money to donate to a private individual, the membership unofficially collected something for you. Thank you -- we haven't forgotten about you, Zarf!
-- jwatzman, on behalf of the membership of the CMU KGB
Awesome project Andrew -- really great to see how much support you've gotten with it! Best of luck!
Apropos of some email:
A few people have found they are unable to use Amazon Payments. (In particular, a sight-impaired IF fan said that the Amazon site was not accessible to him.) I don't want to bypass Kickstarter -- this site exists because they take a percentage of the payments through Amazon. However, if you are truly unable to send money that way, send me a private message and we can talk about Paypal options.
I only stumbled across this by accident (and I've been a long-time Plotkin fan). Too bad the higher-level goodies went so fast! :-)