The Visual Novel
Posted: Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:44 am
I just want to know what happened. I think we're owed that, at least.
Sorry, I understand. I haven't posted any updates lately because there really hasn't been anything to talk about. I've been poking Fred to post a Rant or something that covers the visual novel among other things. He's been putting that off while he gets some other things straightened out with the store and such. But hopefully he can do that soon.TheOneElectronic wrote: ↑Mon Jan 22, 2018 7:44 amI just want to know what happened. I think we're owed that, at least.
If I gave the impression that that was Fred's attitude, then I did a very poor job of explaining. If Fred were capable of thinking that way, he wouldn't still be doing megatokyo after 18 years. Fred wants to keep working on the visual novel. He feels he's made a commitment.
I'm sorry. You have every right to be unhappy about this. No one is happy about it, especially Fred. I hope that when we get a release out of what we have so far, that it will make it feel a little less like "absolutely nothing".TheOneElectronic wrote: ↑Sat Jan 27, 2018 6:21 pm
Yeah, I can't help but feel rooked. That's a lot of money for absolutely nothing in return.
How about you tell the truth that Fred got sidetracked with health issues of his family and used the kickstarter funds to pay for medical bills instead of game development. How much money does Fred require to work full time on this game exactly? He got $299,000 minus kickstarter fees out of only $20,000 he said he needed for the project. What does Fred need a half a million dollars or more to work full time? How much does his comic actually bring in a year? Tell the truth Fred isn't even working on the game part time. After almost five years of development there is no reason why you only have about an hour of game play done for this. How come other indie game companies are able to produce more content without all the money Fred received and don't tell me inexperience because many of them are also and they at least put out something with far less money or no money from kickstarter. Care to explain why the physical rewards for this haven't been shipped out yet and never will be. Does physical rewards have anything to do with game development or did Fred over promise on what he said he could deliver to milk his fans to pay for his families medical bills?paarfi wrote: ↑Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:39 am
As for what happened, well, it just didn't go well. Inexperience with game development; Fred learning to delegate and work with a team; major feature creep; a big underestimation of the quantity of artwork required; the realization that only Fred could draw stuff that looked "Megatokyo"; and lots more. By the time some of these issues had improved, the Megatokyo comic had been neglected for too long and Fred couldn't afford to work on the game fulltime anymore.
Fred in the comments section on kickstarter wrote: This was more about the way the VN will probably be released than than it has to do with the idea of anything being 'canceled'. We lost our primary developer in the fall of last year and we have had to re-assess much of what we've been doing so far with the design and feel of the VN. This loss had a big impact why I haven't been able to show continuing (albiet slow) progress on the art for the game. Paarfi was talking about how we might be looking at our initial release of the game to be limited to the standard (Piro) canon route with branches. This does not mean that anything else has been canceled, just that we are looking at releasing paths of the game in stages rather than trying to wait to finish all paths to be able to release a first part.
Losing our developer was difficult and it was entirely my fault. It has required me and my remaining team to look long and hard at how to address not only how to continue from here but into the problems that have bogged down production on my end. I don't want there to be a jaring difference between the current feel of the game and what we do from here onward. Our initial goal was to make this something more than a 'talking head' game with very static sprites and our primary developer did a fantastic job of making this happen. In moving forward, I don't want to lose that, but I am going to have to try to simplify some of my approach to be able to move forward without getting bogged down in producing unique artwork that is only used once or twice in the game. We are also looking at how to release the game in smaller chunks that would fit together as a whole. For a branching game, this is a challenge, but I think it can be done well and within the scope of our original plans.
I apologize for the lack of updates on the VN - Losing my primary developer was very difficult and it has made it hard to determine how to move forward. I'm a comic artist, not a programmer, and my lack of experience with how to put a game like together has been the biggest impediment in this game. There is a lot more to it than just slogging out artwork. I want to say a big thank you to my developer who got the game to where it is now, and also to my remaining team who will be working with me from here on out.
My first goal of the year was to increase production on the main Megatokyo comic, which I have done. The next goal was to move forward and ahead with the VN work once I had my revised production well under way. I apologize for not provoding an update - I wanted to have our revised approach under way to include with that update. Our team has some of its own concerns too. Paarfi feels that we should focus on only the main Canon route and has concerns about more distant milestones (which is reflected in his forum post). I feel this is a good approach to getting a first part of the game out, I have no intention of this being the only path we produce.
I am sorry for the internal issues here (which are my own fault) but much like Megatokyo itself I have no intention of 'canceling' anything. Thank you for your patience, and I will provide more information and a progress update soon.
Your cynicism is misguided.xion5139 wrote: ↑Thu Feb 01, 2018 4:19 pm
How about you tell the truth that Fred got sidetracked with health issues of his family and used the kickstarter funds to pay for medical bills instead of game development. How much money does Fred require to work full time on this game exactly? He got $299,000 minus kickstarter fees out of only $20,000 he said he needed for the project. What does Fred need a half a million dollars or more to work full time? How much does his comic actually bring in a year? Tell the truth Fred isn't even working on the game part time. After almost five years of development there is no reason why you only have about an hour of game play done for this. How come other indie game companies are able to produce more content without all the money Fred received and don't tell me inexperience because many of them are also and they at least put out something with far less money or no money from kickstarter. Care to explain why the physical rewards for this haven't been shipped out yet and never will be. Does physical rewards have anything to do with game development or did Fred over promise on what he said he could deliver to milk his fans to pay for his families medical bills?
Not misguided. For nearly five years the backers of this kickstarter have waited for something anything to show for the money that has been given to Fred. For nearly five years we heard a lot of excuses. After five years I find it troubling that there is only about an hour of gameplay and none of the physical rewards have been shipped out which has nothing to do with game development. Fred has been given over 10 times the amount of money he asked for. We all have problems in our lives but we still do our work because most of us don't have people giving them a quarter of a million dollars.
There isn't an hour of gameplay. Here's what Paarfi was saying at the end of September:xion5139 wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2018 1:42 pmNot misguided. For nearly five years the backers of this kickstarter have waited for something anything to show for the money that has been given to Fred. For nearly five years we heard a lot of excuses. After five years I find it troubling that there is only about an hour of gameplay and none of the physical rewards have been shipped out which has nothing to do with game development. Fred has been given over 10 times the amount of money he asked for. We all have problems in our lives but we still do our work because most of us don't have people giving them a quarter of a million dollars.
Fred Gallagher I ask you this after nearly five years how long do you expect your fans to wait for the game they gave you a lot of money for?
Looking at Fred's most recent unofficial update, I don't think he intends to discuss where the funds went. I don't think that us posting here is going to change that.The whole visual novel project has not gone as anyone had hoped, and I can tell you for sure that no one feels worse about that than Fred. We're close to having something that we can release to backers. It's only book 1, Piro-route, with no story branches, which is a small part of what was originally planned.
So there is an hour of the game done after five years. How long will the rest of the game take at this pace?legitalltheponies wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:39 pm
There isn't an hour of gameplay. Here's what Paarfi was saying at the end of September:
The whole visual novel project has not gone as anyone had hoped, and I can tell you for sure that no one feels worse about that than Fred. We're close to having something that we can release to backers. It's only book 1, Piro-route, with no story branches, which is a small part of what was originally planned.paarfi wrote: ↑Mon Jan 22, 2018 10:39 am
The MTVN is not quite dead (yet). We do have book 1 of the Piro canon route nearly done. It's actually kind of fun, and at least an hour's worth of game play. Our current intention is for Fred to finish cleaning up some of the artwork, and then push that out to people. It's not nearly what was originaly envisioned, but at least it will be something.
There should be some accountability for how the funds are used. Where are the physical rewards promised they have nothing to do with game development no reason they cannot be produced and shipped out?legitalltheponies wrote: ↑Mon Feb 05, 2018 2:39 pmLooking at Fred's most recent unofficial update, I don't think he intends to discuss where the funds went. I don't think that us posting here is going to change that.
@cidjen How many updates have we had over the years citing health issues? We get a sorta update in the comments now explaining the reasons for the delays but fails to mention the numerous health issues. How much are health reasons delaying this game being made exactly is it the main reason? So care to explain how my judgement is questionable for questioning why there is only an hour of game play after almost five years?
Because health issues like that, they don't usually simply 'go away' otherwise than the 'terminal' way ? They are persistent till they die ? Speaking from experience seeing, living with one till the end. No experience with the heart issues (lucky me) and my SO is healthy (double lucky), but living with the family member terminal sickness is something I can understand. And it's not like there weren't any updates on that over the years either. This kind of chewing in, equaling the health issues to any other that were encountered on the way, is, IMO, misguided.xion5139 wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2018 4:38 am@cidjen How many updates have we had over the years citing health issues? We get a sorta update in the comments now explaining the reasons for the delays but fails to mention the numerous health issues. How much are health reasons delaying this game being made exactly is it the main reason? So care to explain how my judgement is questionable for questioning why there is only an hour of game play after almost five years?
@cidjen People can get better even with heart problems. Is it misguided to question where the majority of the delays for this game are coming from? Do you just give money over to people who promise you something and five years later have nothing to show for it? Maybe you are the misguided one who has mental issues if you feel you shouldn't ask questions after five years of nothing.cidjen wrote: ↑Tue Feb 06, 2018 5:34 am
Because health issues like that, they don't usually simply 'go away' otherwise than the 'terminal' way ? They are persistent till they die ? Speaking from experience seeing, living with one till the end. No experience with the heart issues (lucky me) and my SO is healthy (double lucky), but living with the family member terminal sickness is something I can understand. And it's not like there weren't any updates on that over the years either. This kind of chewing in, equaling the health issues to any other that were encountered on the way, is, IMO, misguided.
Can you tell me how I am misguided by asking about how health issues that are delaying this game when they appear to be significantly delaying this game? It has been mentioned that Fred does have heart problems. Do you feel that all the health issues cited over the years that they should all be checked into hospice care because there is no hope for them? You obviously are on Fred's side a man who received a quarter of a million dollars and has given the people that gave him that money nothing after almost five years. Should people blindly just give money to anyone no questions asked? Should Fred have the convenience of putting family first because he has a quarter of a million dollars? Can you explain to me why exactly none of the physical rewards for this kickstarter have been shipped out? Can you answer my questions cidjen?
Please be less cryptic about this, I can guess at what you're referencing here, but it's not inherently obvious.
My question is how much are the health issues delaying this game compared to other reasons stated. We get a sorta update and they mention numerous issues but none of the health issues and as you said they don't simply just go away. Why hasn't the physical products been produced or ship after nearly five years? Fred has received a quarter of a million dollars out of the twenty thousand he said he needed for the project. They could easily produced the physical goods and ship those out to people so they would have that done and people would have something. You know what is mean taking peoples money and giving them nothing after five years. Do you not believe in accountability cidjen? I know I remember reading a post about Fred using shipping funds paying for medical bills.