Kickstarter

Ken Andrews on February 5, 2013

Darn, didn't win the lottery last weekend. Oh, well, made my donation via PayPal.

Dan Kez on February 1, 2013

I am truly saddened that this did not garner the support need to reach the goal. I hope you will try again later in the development path as I am sure with more publicity and a ready pool of interested backers you will kickstart (pun intended) to success :)!

Daniel Sato on January 31, 2013

Why is this not 100% funded yet? Has humanity failed itself? Though I'm late to the game, I figured I'd kick in my support.

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 28, 2013

Hi Ross,

I'm not sure about the answer to your first question but with regards to the second and third; they will be continuing to work on the project regardless of the result of this KS project. So far there has been a lot of interest within the media, industry and even government to see this project come to fruition. Despite the interest, there has been a lack of funding support given to this KS project for one reason or another, so with only 7 days to go it is unlikely for this KS to get funded.

Moving forward, the Heavy Water team will be keeping the Paypal donation options open via their website and as mentioned above, will continue to work on the project with the same estimated completion date. So what is likely to happen is that the KS will fail to fund, then everyone that is still interested will go over and donate via Paypal and any private backers will fund and support behind the scenes to get this project finished by October.

Ross Tunney on January 26, 2013

Oh! I have a couple of questions!

1. Since this toolset is an extension of Unity, will it support export for different platforms, ie. Android, Windows etc (sorry if this has been covered, I missed it)

2. Will you relaunch if you don't hit target? I don't have spare cash to pledge more in the next 9 days, but in a month or so, I will.

3. Why not launch with a 60-day campaign? I don't see the logic in limiting your exposure time.

Thanks! Ross

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 25, 2013

Devon - I was equally surprised about the Star Trek Renegades KS project.. yes, they eventually met the goal but it only barely scraped over the line.. even if every Star Trek fan in the world pledged a dollar or two, there would have been millions of dollars to work with but they barely managed to hit their 200k goal.. it is just plain weird.

Devon Mullane on January 25, 2013

I'm truly amazed this project has no paced better. It has obviously offered something tangible and shown results, yet that apparently isn't enough. I guess when people say more money is spent on ideas than tangible products, here's the case in point.

Yeah, I'll look for ways to support your guys regardless of the outcome. I keep hoping to click and see it jump a hundred k though. Stunned doesn't begin to describe my feelings on this.

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 24, 2013

Even though I know you're going to continue on regardless of KS and I know that you've been receiving a lot positive feedback from the industry, media and even government agencies.. it is still saddening to see the KS funding is not higher than it already is. As Philip says, you will still have my support one way or another after the KS is over.

Philip Konczak on January 24, 2013

It is great to see such passion for your project. I wish i could increase my pledge but cant afford more than the $65 pledge but you have my support.

J. "Tech" Priest on January 24, 2013

I love your dedication to your project and dreams, Matt.
You have my support and I've been supporting your products on Playstation Home for some time now.
I hope more people see what an amazing tool this is and blast this project to infinity and beyond.

Matthias Hädrich on January 24, 2013

@Matt

THAT'S THE SPIRIT!

You have my support whether or not AGF will succeed on Kickstarter!

Marcus on January 23, 2013

The project sounds very promising. What is your monetization model for the future? Are there just one time fees for new sets and effects or is there a continual subscription neccessary?
Furthermore I also wonder what you are going to do if this Kickstarter fails.

Matthias Hädrich on January 23, 2013

Hi, what are your plans to reach the goal of $400.000? So far you have only $23.251 which means you have to raise almost $320.000 in only 12 days. What do you do to increase the popularity of the Axis Game Factory?

Marco Rosenberg on January 19, 2013

I really like your project and hope it gets funded! I haven't had time to try the prototype yet, but what I found really annoying during the demo videos are the bleeping noises that the characters make when they walk. I hope that can be edited.

Mycroft on January 19, 2013

I have a couple of questions.
I'm looking at the Pro version but am curious as to whether it matches up with some of my visions for what I'd like to create (like to and do are unfortunately two different things).

1) What is the limitation on the size of the world you can create?
So far the demos have shown relatively small sized worlds can something the size of a Star Wars The Old Republic be created or even larger something the size of WoW be created?
Is there a limitation?

2) Will there be a scripting language that the behaviors of the environment and NPCs can be modified with? (When you get within 10 yards the NPC does this or When you walk over an area the terrain does this or it triggers something happening such as spawning creatures or events? think Neverwinter Nights)

3) I know it's early but in the demo the Prince and Princess character do not have any changing emotions or facial features (lips moving etc) when they spoke. Is there a plan to add this level of complexity?

4) How easy will it be for people with the pro version to incorporate new 3d objects and characters? What 3D editor are you using or will it be compatible with? Is it possible for Blender to be supported?

I know you haven't necessarily thought all the way through Pro yet but I'm curious if it will be able to handle a large scale vision.

Thank you it looks like a great product thus far.

Ken Andrews on January 17, 2013

Made my pledge ($65). Now to wait (im)patiently for Beta to open. Assuming I can set up what I want, this'll be a real surprise for my D&D players.

Kytana on January 17, 2013

I pledged it for a little bit money.
Its sad thats not more backed this too.

Philip Konczak on January 17, 2013

Just pledged $65 looks like a great idea and i always enjoy playing about with this kind of thing. Good luck with the project hope you reach your goal.

Ross Tunney on January 17, 2013

I was thinking the same thing. $20k? That's a bit poor. However, maybe backers think that the target is a bit high considering what has been achieved so far.

I'm incredibly interested in upping to the professional tier, however my PC is bricked and present and my single core laptop won't even touch the prototype. So for now, I'm locked out of testing the platform for my future projects :/

Maxim Bardin on January 17, 2013

I just don't understand why this unique project doesn't get the funds he needs.
Maybe there are not enough people who's dream is to create games :(

kyle on January 16, 2013

Love this. I was browsing Kickstarter, and never have I seen a project I loved and wanted so badly as this.

Jack Victor John Waller on January 16, 2013

65$ pledged =] "or whatever that is in GBP =p" Looks like a great project and I hope all goes well. All the best.

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 13, 2013

This is early alpha build stuff but already there is so much you can do with it.. I think there's been what.. 7 or 8 weeks of development? Think what can be accomplished in 9 months working FULL TIME because that's what the KS is about.. turning this from a part-time project into a proper project with all hands on deck developing for 9 months and then beyond. Right now there is the basic functionality to do stuff and with every build, more functionality and accessibility is added.

Like anything it takes a bit of effort to master the tools but I have no doubt that any one could create a basic game with the current tools in less than an hour, even less if already familiar with similar tools. When I first got hold of the build from December, it took me a little while to understand all the bits and pieces but I would have been able to create a basic game within 10-15 minutes without any trouble at all.

Can't wait to see what future builds bring because it's really shaping up to be an awesome tool for home users and professionals alike.

Thomas Kristiansen on January 13, 2013

Just pledged 65$! Hope this gets founded.

Good luck guys, and I am looking forward to more updates. Looks great so far! :)

William Ross on January 13, 2013

I've been an AGF backer for 24 hours, and here's my impressions thus far:

COMMUNICATION
So far I've communicated via email with the dev team twice and received quick responses. Kickstarter backers get access to the development site and latest builds. There we have direct discussions with the devs to make this a better product. Everytime I've posted on there, their has been a response by someone usually within 30 minutes. They have all been friendly and receptive to user feedback. In my experience it's been extremely rare to have this level of communication and interaction with the devs, HW is doing it right.

FUNCTIONALITY
The whole point of AGF is to make game design easy. They have accomplished that.. Traditional game development you would have to master a programming language to create an engine and tools to create your game. Then you would have to master the art direction of 3D modelling. After all that you have to craft a game/story idea that people will want to play. AGF removes the biggest hurdle of programming and simplifies the art creation to a sculpt/splice mentality. Ideas are the easy part but executing the ideas is always the hard part. Not anymore.

I've been a would-be game developer for many years, but my skills have never been comparable to the idea that I have in my imagination. Having a great idea is only as good as the person trying to create it. Not everyone is a Picasso, but what AGH does is remove the learning curve that so many of us hit like a brick wall. In the past 24 hours I've created a mock-up of my game. From this point forward it's just further refining, putting in better assets (created by me or imported with a Pro version) and as AGF is developed further putting the refining touches like particles, the weather add-on, customizeable keys, quests/dialogue etc.

@TORBEN
The camera changes are new in the past 24 hours, it takes some getting used to but as HW mentions it mimics Maya. I would prefer a couple of different options selectable in preferences. You mention having the 4 windows in most modellers, however AGF is game designer software not a modeller. It is intuitive in that it snaps the model placement based on collision to the other models therefore rendering the other views unnecessary in my experience. Remember to change the grid up/down. As HW mentioned, a new feature is the fill option and there are many sized to the terrain objects.

FINAL COMMENTS
All in all I've been extremely happy with AGF in the short time I've used it. I feel as if my feedback makes a difference and can foresee how this rapid game designing will be the wave of the future (anyone tried to program a game in Pascal back in the day? or nowadays with C++ for that matter?) Any would-be game designer would be crazy not to back this kickstarter project.

Torben S. on January 13, 2013

So after I tried AGF for myself I want to give a bit of feedback:

First and most important I realised why every 3D program out there have at least 4 view windows (3D, topdown, side, front). It is so difficult to place an object excactly where you want it to be if you just have a 3D view. I understand why you dont want to have this other views(normaly only a grid view). They are hard to understand if you work the first time with a 3D program and new users might get overwhelmed by them but if you deliver good video tutorials it isn't too hard to understand.
And working with those views is much easier than without. (It took me over 3 minutes just to place a roof how I want it to be, because I could only view it from one side(or top) and after I placed it and moved around the house it was wrong positioned on the backside.)

Second: There is no kind of block which you can transform. If I want to start my map(game) with a large layer of green gras and then add hills,villages,mountains, rocks,plants etc. I have to place hundreds of small litte gras cubes instead of just drawing one big layer and choosing a texture for it.

Other small feedback (which is propably just because it's an early demo):
- There are no toolstips or descriptions for the buttons. You have to guess what they do.

-avast antivir software says it is a dangerous/harmfull program ^^

- you can only move your camera in the editor by pressing "alt + mouse buttons" and the mouse buttons are very unintuitive (I would prefer: holding mouse wheel to rotate or pressing and holding first the right then the left button to rotate, just pressing the right button to move(does the right mosue button alone even have any fuction?) and of course mouse wheel up/down for zoome. I didn't try it but maybe you could move your camera with WASD in the editor too?!)

Jeremy Wilfinger on January 13, 2013

To everyone on the fence of backing this project, please read!

I don't think I've ever seen a Kickstarter have a working prototype which was not only demoed, but made available to the backers before the campaign was completed. I'm definitely excited to get my hands on it. It seems sad though, that the campaign is not picking up steam, despite all the extra effort the staff at Heavy Water have put into it. There's so much stuff up on Kickstarter these days (many of them really bad ideas) that it's very refreshing to see something more original. Though game making software is not entirely new, no one has managed to make the process of game development a game in itself (yet), and making it easy is what it's all about. Just look at the impact Google Sketchup has had on the 3D scene, and it's entirely because of it's user friendliness. AGF is a very progressive software idea that could really make some waves in the industry, in addition to creating jobs and a quality consumer product. I don't know of any other project on Kickstarter that is more deserving of getting funded. Let's make this happen people!

William Ross on January 11, 2013

I'm really excited for this game development software, it has huge potential. I can't wait to get my hands on the deluxe version so I can hone my skills with it for the pro version. Keep the videos coming, loving every one of them. Also, a bunch of us are eagerly awaiting the official forums. :c)

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 10, 2013

One thing I really want to see is the dialogue ability and user input via keyboard stuff. I am thinking of using the game factory to create edutainment stuff for myself, friends, family and kids.. the game world itself is just the enticement to get them to play it.. but the content is about the learning without specifically studying..

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 10, 2013

So I'm thinking what you might do is share a link to the project that you have created, which is hosting on the AGF community website. On the description of that project, it would have links to download the free "player".. and would essentially be promoted as being like a player of any kind (Quicktime player etc) that you can play the game/creation with.

Another option, which I'm unsure whether the AGF team has thought about, is to use the Unity Web Player. Since AGF is based on Unity, there is the option to have anything created in Unity to use the Unity Web Player to access the content.. so maybe a link from the project to download the free player but also a way to link to the project on the Unity Player, hosted by AGF.. Maybe creations that are upvoted by the community could be given this ability rather than every creation, to keep bandwidth down..

A pro option, down the line, might be to allow embedding of this player on your own website while a non-Pro user would have to use the AGF community website hosting, to prevent people monetising the game using website ads etc

Jeremy Wilfinger on January 10, 2013

Thanks Stephen for the follow up. I wasn't aware of the free-ware when I made the first post, I think that this is actually a very acceptable solution. I'd still like to see an effort made to allow for monetization, but clearly that's a pro feature and I'm totally OK with that.

The hands on video was fabulous also, should help a lot with this campaign.

light487 - Kickstarter Junkie on January 10, 2013

Great to see more hands on video being shown, this is the kind of thing people need to see.. not just how easy it is to make worlds but how to convert those designs into a game that people can actually play because at the end of the day, that's what this is all about.. making games (and machima to of course!).

Alex Constantinescu on January 10, 2013

I've seen many world builders around Kickstarter. I wasn't confident in what they had to offer and I haven't backed any of them. And to be honest it seemed like nobody else did since I haven't seen any of them in the successfully funded list.
For the first time ever I am actually thrilled to see this type of tool. Please plan your marketing strategy out. This needs to be seen by more and more people and it needs to see the light of day.