I Got Nothing Done
Jan 06, 2015
I got nothing done on the engine yesterday. I had the best of intentions. Sleeves rolled up, hot coffee poised within easy grasping, then I decided to check the Kickstarter page and proceeded to get lost in spiral of spreadsheets and budgeting for the rest of the day.
When your Kickstarter ends, you don't get a bunch of money. A big truck with a Kickstarter logo doesn't drive up and dump a pile of cash on your driveway (idea: do a Kickstarter to get a truck that dumps Kickstarter money on people's driveways). Instead you have to wait at least 14 days while all the credit cards clear (or don't clear). Amazon's web page is very confusing about how much money you will actually get and when it will show up.
Yesterday was the first day the money was actually available and we had a real total. Kickstarter takes 5%, Amazon takes anywhere from 3% to 5%, and then there is the unknown of failed credit card transactions. When the Kickstarter ended, we had a lot of failed credit cards, but over the next week most everyone updated their information and the pledges cleared.
When all the dust settled, these are the final numbers:
Raised: $626,250
Fees: -$57,198
Failed Transactions: -$4,890
Available: $564,162
All those number lined up with what we expected and budgeted for, so that was a big relief.
Many of the failed credit cards came from backers who were having issues with Amazon and they went on to back using PayPal, so maybe only half of the $4,890 was actually lost.
The total PayPal money (after fees) is around $8,000.
We budgeted the project using just the Kickstarter money and we're going to use the PayPal money as a safety net or for improvements. If we want to add some new feature, or spend a little more on music or art, then it will come out of that fund.
The PayPal money is all going to make the game better.
OK, now I'm off to do some programing. This time for real. Honest.
- Ron
#HowToMakeMoMoneyWithoutUsingYoMoney
https://www.kickstarter.com/blog/making-payments-easier-for-creators-and-backers
But whatever, I'm glad things are working out.
Just ..hoping that you don't feel that including PayPal was a waste of time and resources. Without it, I'd have a hard time as a backer.
Hey, don't underestimate toilet paper.
It beats having to ...
I think that is a blessing in disguise. A big part of the charm of MM was the fact that you could be completely screwed, and not even know it.
Back in the Commodore 64 days when I used to play an adventure game (text or a lucasarts one) I generally just started over from the beginning. Even though most of those games had a save facility, I only used it if I thought I was doing really well but had to stop playing for some reason. It never occurred to me to play them any other way. At the time I never viewed the fact that you could hit a dead end as a problem because of this.
It sounds a little weird to imagine now, but that was just how all games were back then. Games were brutal and I had no expectation of seeing the end. Action, adventure, strategy or otherwise. But every play though you learnt a bit more, got that little bit better. And when you did beat a game it felt like a big deal.
Not sure how this is relevant to Thimbleweed Park of course, I'm not suggesting that you add dead ends! Maybe just that Maniac Mansion didn't so much have design issues as it was just a product of its time.
It was cool not only to know the dos but also the don'ts.
You know what would be fun, though? Faux-dead ends.
The great thing about Monkey Island 2 was if you died in the acid pit, it went back to Guybrush talking to Elaine. Of course Guybrush couldn't have died in the acid pit; he's telling the story. Something like that in Thimbleweed park would be great. Or perhaps even deaths that are so easy to avoid, that if you're stupid enough to make the character get into a no win situation, you deserve it. In other words, letting Guybrush drown in Monkey Island 1 when the way of getting to the surface is glaringly obvious.
Lot of fun, it involved some "cross mind" concepts, reminds, memories, etc. etc.
(P.S.: I "hated" dead-ends in Maniac Mansion! Especially when Dr. Fred played videogames before they were fixed!)
For instance, if their standard fee for 500 000 dollar projects were 5 000 dollars, in addition to 1 percent, they would have received about 11 000 dollars in this case. (Which in my completely facts-bereft eyes seems reasonable.) I guess we need a proper competitor to Kickstarter to drive the fees down.
I was surprised by the amount as well, but as a business model it's an epic win.
Also, they are running a business, not a charity. They are probably taking a loss on all the little Kickstarters, but making it up with the few big wins.
A Truck dumping Money in your driveway... that sounds great :) I take one too.
I hope you all have fun while programing this fantastic game - I bet it will be fantastic once it´s ready.
Of course there will be hard times. too. But at all I hope it will be like you imagined it would be.
You made big parts of my Childhood a great time with lots of fun and that lasts untill today.
You partly formed my way of thinking, my imagination and much more with your games.
I need to say: THANK YOU FOR THAT! To all team members from the past and today.
Keep on going that way!
And keep the updates coming like now. To see what it means to program such a game is a great chance to better understand and that´s a lot of fun for me, too.
Best Regards
Tim Lammert
One update per week should do it. that would make 52 + 26 in the next 1 and a half year. keeps us more excited when an update pops up.
cheers and fully trust in the whole team,
Mario
It's also exciting to read an update more than once a week. I can't get enough and so far the updates were great.
Cheers. Michael
We waited 27 years for a successor to Maniac Mansion, so one or two more years will not matter! :-)
An another note - is Maniac Mansion obtainable anywhere? Been ages since I played that.