Original project video is here:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=W6DJ7OACmc0

NEW!! STRETCH GOALS!!

Stretch Goals have been added! Here's an overview! Want to take your monsters on the go?

$3500 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$4000 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$4500 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$5000 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$6000 - Online multiplayer! Battle, race, and show against friends! Trade and breed with friends!

$7500 - Full voice acting for an exciting story experience!

$10,000 - XBox Live Indie Games special edition!

Ambitious? Maybe!

The Legend of Red Dragon ranch is an in-development monster-training RPG + pet simulation video game for PC (and, with enough funding, iOS, Android, Windows Phone 8, and more!) that seeks to breathe new life into a genre dominated by a few popular franchises.

No longer will a pet game be nothing more than clicking on cute pets, and no longer will a monster training game be the weaponizing of monsters solely for fighting.

Train monsters for a variety of competitions like races and wrestling matches. Expand your land to grow crops, build training facilities, or give your monsters places to play. Watch your monsters change and grow with your play style, and develop based on the way you take care of them.

Do you want to raise monsters in your own way, not the way the game wants you to? That's the inspiration for The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch.

After going to visit an uncle that you've lost touch with, you've found that no one has heard from him in years, and his farmland has been collecting dust. When you volunteer to take care of the ranch in his absence with the help of your older sister, you discover that your uncle was researching a legendary dragon monster while raising monsters on his ranch. Maybe if you learn to connect to monsters, too, you'll discover the secrets of the Red Dragon legend and solve the mystery of your uncle's disappearance.

How will you raise monsters and solve the mystery? The choice is yours. Your monsters and land develop with your play style.

On your ranch, take care of monsters your way. Maybe you want to take care of them as your beloved pets, making sure they are happy and healthy with no stress or worries. Maybe you would like to train the ultimate fighter and enter sparring competitions to prove you have the strongest monster of all. Maybe you want to breed racing monsters for money and fame. Maybe you'd like to become a professional caretaker with only the most elegant and beautiful monsters that always take away first place in shows. Maybe you'd like to raise a jack-of-all trades monster or many types of monsters... or maybe you'd like to focus on whatever you feel like at the time!

Build your ranch how you want--do you want it to be an intense training facility? A relaxing place for monsters to play? A crop farm dedicated to bringing in the big money? Or maybe a mix of everything? You can choose how you want to expand and utilize the land, and change it when you want, too.

Because this is the style of game we're shooting for, The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch will also be an experience molded by the fans and backers. We will listen closely to the suggestions you make for the game as we work toward the final build and try to add features that will create an experience you want to play. Is there something you've always wanted from a pet monster game? Or something that you loved from another game that you must see in this one? Let us know, and we'll see what we can do!

Every player can have a unique experience. Not only can you care for monsters and build your ranch in your own way, but your monsters will change according to your play style, as well. Watch as your monsters change in appearance based on how you've taken care of them. A monster that does a lot of physical training might get beefed up, where one that spends a lot of time running may become slim and sleek. A monster that is poorly taken care of may look sickly, while a healthy and happy monster may look beautiful.

Each monster has different looks it can take as it grows into adulthood, and when it finally becomes of age, different adult forms it can take, too! Will your Fen pup grow into the wolf-like Fenris with a vicious and powerful look? Or maybe your puppy will grow into the stylish and intelligent Fenx, a fox-like monster. Or maybe there's another creature it can change into.

Every monster has unlimited potential. Who says your monster has to specialize in a certain area just because it's a certain species? Every monster has its own interests and talents, and you can influence these by the way you raise it. Any monster can grow in any way -- so you can use your favorite monster in your favorite way, no matter what!

And the story experience will be different depending on how you play, too. Depending on how you make your way in the world of the game, the way you uncover the mysteries of the legend and your uncle's disappearance will change as well.

At first, The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch was a personal project of mine--after teaching myself computer programming, I wanted to do my first big game project, instead of small hobby games. I wanted to create a game on a more professional level.

After brainstorming with friends, I created a working prototype of the game. I got a lot of positive response from people close to me and online, and a lot of people were begging to play the game and buy a copy. Programming is one thing, but I couldn't possibly do all of the art, animation, music, etc. on my own and make it look as good as I wanted to, nor could I market it properly.

I started talking to composers and artists. I found a few that were also excited about the project, and wanted me to hire them to work on it. A childhood friend of mine became the lead composer, and even did some work for free. But he's a professional and busy, and I can't possibly have him write an entire professional soundtrack for free. And the same kind of situation is true for the artists--when you make a living doing this for free, you can't possibly work on a large project for free just because some guy has an idea you like.

I started to realize that I couldn't finish this project on hopes and dreams alone. I needed the support of other artists, and the support of money. I'm using what little money I do have to my name, as well as leaving my own commission art business in hiatus to work on this project.

Funding will be paid to officially hire and pay the staff, as well as commission some extra work that will need done. It will also pay for some basic licensing, publishing, and marketing so the game can reach its intended audience. Additional funding will also work toward the stretch goals.

I'm confident that The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch will be an exciting, unique experience that monster fans will love. All we need is the funding, which is something one or two people scraping by cannot afford on their own. And that's why we've decided on a Kickstarter campaign.

Currently, The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch has three devoted staff members (considering funding is successful), and potentially more. Feel free to contact me if you'd like to work on the project yourself!

Thaao Hanshew (Programmer, Director) - I've been teaching myself programming since I was a child. In elementary school, I played all day on an Apple IIe, trying to make games with BASIC. Even as a 2nd grader, I was making SkiFree-like games and card games. As I grew older and got a Windows PC, I started delving into DOS games and using creation software like ZZT, Megazeux, and later RPG Maker and Klik'n'Play to make games while focusing on the design aspects. When I was in college I was able to take a course in Java and used the concepts to teach myself C++, where I started playing with graphics libraries and engines to make all kinds of pet projects for myself. They were getting to be more and more complex, so I decided to finally attempt a "real" project. After a few prototypes, the game became way more than I imagined, and evolved into The Legend of Red Dragon Ranch. 

Joseph Diko (Composer) - Joseph has been playing percussion for 15 years, and has been teaching music and percussion for eight years. He also has published music for percussion ensemble, and has arranged percussion music for schools across central and southern Indiana. In his spare time, Joseph enjoys playing video games and and writing biographies in the 3rd person.

Bethany Borne (Animator) - Note: Our animator is currently busy with a move, and we hope to have her profile up shortly. We would rather she write it personally herself :)

$3500 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$4000 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$4500 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$5000 - iOS, Android, Win8, or WinPhone8 support! Backers' vote.

$6000 - Online multiplayer! Battle, race, and show against friends! Trade and breed with friends!

$7500 - Full voice acting for an exciting story experience!

$10,000 - XBox Live Indie Games special edition!

Music Samples - Note: These are works in progress.

Check out more at the development blog!