Switch Theme:

Beyond The Gates of Antares - Official Kickstarter Thread  [RSS] Share on facebook Share on Twitter Submit to Reddit
»
Author Message
Advert


Forum adverts like this one are shown to any user who is not logged in. Join us by filling out a tiny 3 field form and you will get your own, free, dakka user account which gives a good range of benefits to you:
  • No adverts like this in the forums anymore.
  • Times and dates in your local timezone.
  • Full tracking of what you have read so you can skip to your first unread post, easily see what has changed since you last logged in, and easily see what is new at a glance.
  • Email notifications for threads you want to watch closely.
  • Being a part of the oldest wargaming community on the net.
If you are already a member then feel free to login now.




Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Nottingham

Our Kickstarter is live! You can pledge your support here -  Gates of Antares

We know we're doing something a little different from the other table top guys, and hats off to them for wisely using Kickstarter in a way that's beneficial to them. Kickstarter can be utilised in many different ways, and one of the ways is to get new ideas off the ground that wouldn't normally get the chance, which is what our kickstarter is all about. 

We know that not everyone will buy in or even like the idea, but we're on KS so that we can find out. We put a long time frame on our KS so that we could adapt if we needed to and of course, because we're asking for so much money. The 300k is the minimum required to create a game (from where we are) with a decent enough miniature range which is of great quality - we ran the numbers a billion times to make sure. We thought about doing it the 20k route, but that would have meant that we couldn't have legally gone onto KS and offered the whole range of rewards that we have, which would have reduced us to simply offering the book until we got there and then only offering a couple of miniatures per stretch, all of which, we thought, would completely hamper our ability to hit the 300k we actually needed to make the game. So we put the min at 300 so that if it does come off (and fingers crossed there!) we get to make the great game we have planned. 

We would have loved to have more concepts and miniatures out there, but we just didn't have the money in order to pay for that. All of the people involved have worked the last 5 months without getting paid - and I'm not complaining here, I'm happy to bet my life on things I believe in - so regardless of how much time we applied to GoA we still wouldn't have had more things to show. So we did a deal with a very kind company who said they would lend us some money to start paying some sculptors and artists, but they wanted it launched and wanted to see how it would go first. I'm happy to say they lent us the money, so we started Kev and a number of others off in order to respond to the feedback we've been having and hopefully gather some more pace on KS. It's not much money, but if we use it wisely it's hopefully enough to cover some of the main concerns and get us funded. 

We get lots of comments saying we should just put more concepts out, and we do have the option of rushing things out, but to be honest, we're not really into that. We don't think you'll respond well to us doing that anyway, so we're trying to make sure that we do it right, which unfortunately just takes a little time. We do have things in the pipe now that we hope will impress and have some great updates coming through that will show you what we've been up to and give everyone the chance to play the pre-alpha game (by 18th Jan if all goes to plan!) as we know that’s a big concern to some people too. 

Ultimately we're in your hands, if you decide you'd like to be part of GoA then thank you, we truly appreciate your support. If not, no worries, thanks for reading this anyway, please remember that we're just a small company right now, we're only human and we're trying our hardest to make this successful. 

UPDATE:

Checkout our basic rules outline PDF here:
http://www.darkspacecorp.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Beyond-the-Gates-of-Antares-Outline-Rulebook.pdf

Updates:

Hey guys, we've been watching your responses and taking both the praise and critisisms to heart, as our kickstarter progresses the number of people helping shape it has been phenomenal and we've been putting together updates as we went. Hopefully you've all taken a look at some of the concept art and greens being produced but in order to keep you best informed we've put together a compilation to keep the first post upto date.

NEW CONCEPT ART:

Isorian Shard


Art:
Freeborn
Spoiler:


Concord
Spoiler:


Greens:
Finished Hansa (Limited edition model)
Spoiler:


Wardrones PART 1
Spoiler:


Boromite Overseer PART 1
Spoiler:



Thank you! 

Rik

This message was edited 8 times. Last update was at 2013/02/06 21:19:44


 
   
Made in gb
Speed Drybrushing





The eye of terror

Excellent, it's always a good sign to see an official thread for kickstarters, especially with a project like this that quite clearly relies on a lot of community feedback.

It's a shame we can't integrate some of the points from the previous thread automatically, but I'm looking forward to seeing some of those concept sculpts and a little more information as that's what seems to be holding most of the sceptics back at the minute.


 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Nottingham

Looking forward to getting into the brilliant fierce debate that's been going on in here

We'll try and answer your thoughts, questions and concerns in here so first off a quick preamble:
Some of the miniature kickstarters that have gone before us have brilliantly used Kickstarter as a great marketing tool and pre order system, but we're doing what we call a 'pure kickstarter' - in that kickstarter can be used to get projects that wouldn't normally happen, off the ground if enough people want it to happen.
This is an idea that we really can't do without enough backers pledging to make it happen, and we've added the backer development Program so that those that want to, can join in the fun & hard work of creating a new wargame universe.
We know that the 300k is a big dollop of cash, but it's set at that level as that's how much we need in order to pay for all the equipment, plastic tooling, artists, designers and modellers to actually create a new wargame universe with enough miniatures/factions/species to be able to make it fun and interesting.

We have started working already (4 months and counting!) and have 57 daily updates where we will be sharing more and more of our game as we develop it, including more concepts, gameplay videos and greens. We don't expect everyone to get involved, but hopefully over the course of our Kickstarter we'll be able to convince some of your that we are worth backing.

We are experiencing rather a high volume of traffic at the moment so please do bear with us in getting back to you

Thanks for reading
Rik (no, not that one, the other one)

PS Rick P will be on here in a bit too!



 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







DSC, are you guys going to be looking for an editor for the rulebook?

2021-4 Plog - Here we go again... - my fifth attempt at a Dakka PLOG

My Pile of Potential - updates ongoing...

Gamgee on Tau Players wrote:we all kill cats and sell our own families to the devil and eat live puppies.


 Kanluwen wrote:
This is, emphatically, why I will continue suggesting nuking Guard and starting over again. It's a legacy army that needs to be rebooted with a new focal point.

Confirmation of why no-one should listen to Kanluwen when it comes to the IG - he doesn't want the IG, he want's Kan's New Model Army...

tneva82 wrote:
You aren't even trying ty pretend for honest arqument. Open bad faith trolling.
- No reason to keep this here, unless people want to use it for something... 
   
Made in au
Veteran Inquisitorial Tyranid Xenokiller




Down Under

Hey there Rik, glad to see the KS getting its own thread.

Something that is pretty useful is keeping the first post updated with the latest updates and concept art that is released.

Going to lay down some honesty here.

Good: The pictorial pledge levels images are awesome.
Bad: The Kickstarter page is damn long and wandery. You need to go a heck of a long way to get to the pretty pictorial representations of the pledge levels.

Good: Great art and great examples of Kev's awesome sculpting.
Bad: Very little actual concept art. Great to get community feedback but it is hard to feel like there is a solid plan at the is point in time. Hopefully this changes in the coming updates and we can get some "Getting to know you" posts on the different factions and their units.

Good: Kev White.
Bad: Kev White can do no wrong in my eyes and will make me have to commit for the Dark Energy level if he makes anything I am even remotely interested in.


Ok, keenly watching but guarding my purse strings until I see more concept art at least.

Glory is fleeting. Obscurity is forever.




 
   
Made in gb
Hulking Hunter-class Warmech




North West UK

Good to see this thread here, I'm really excited about this, and I backed it as soon as I heard about it yesterday morning. When I can I'm going to try and jump into your forums and join in the discussion! I've had a browse and I really like that you're listening to people's input and taking their thoughts on board at such an early stage of the project. Good luck, and I hope it goes well!

Not One Step Back Comrade! - Tibbsy's Stalingrad themed Soviet Strelkovy

Tibbsy's WW1 Trench Raid Diorama Blog
 Ouze wrote:

Well, you don't stuff facts into the Right Wing Outrage Machine©. My friend, you load it with derp and sensationalism, and then crank that wheel.
 
   
Made in gb
Fixture of Dakka







I've got to agree about lack of concept images.

I'm not willing to put down £125 quid for the 'main' pledge level if I'm going to end up not finding an army that doesn't specifically apeal to me...
   
Made in au
Oberstleutnant






Perth, West Australia

I'm happy to back a project based on the strength of its lineup, with few details on what the final deliverable will be. Looking forward to seeing the project develop! Happy to lend a hand with bulking out the universe if you want some free gruntwork. One thing I love about 40k is the highly detailed setting, I hope GoA can do some of the same - minus 95% of the cheese.

10% done in 3 days, that's a good effort given so many people are holding back until they get some more details. Glad I got in for one of the collectors editions even sight unseen.

This message was edited 2 times. Last update was at 2013/01/02 12:44:48


 
   
Made in us
Terminator with Assault Cannon





 Dark Space Corp wrote:
This is an idea that we really can't do without enough backers pledging to make it happen, and we've added the backer development Program so that those that want to, can join in the fun & hard work of creating a new wargame universe.
We know that the 300k is a big dollop of cash, but it's set at that level as that's how much we need in order to pay for all the equipment, plastic tooling, artists, designers and modellers to actually create a new wargame universe with enough miniatures/factions/species to be able to make it fun and interesting



I don't get it. If you guys don't have artists, designers, or models and you want the backers to help make the " game rules, artwork, miniature range, tactical abilities, scenery, vehicles and everything else..." what do you have?

A name and a few ideas for mechanics?

There are some pretty well-known names involved in this, but I really am not sure what I would be paying for here. It kind of sounds to me like you want the community to make you guys a product and pay for the privilege of doing so, which seems like a pretty bad value proposition to me. Am I misunderstanding you somehow?

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 12:40:47


 
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



Derbyshire, UK

This is the first time I've got involved with KS, as it seems an opportunity to get in on the ground floor and not simply a pre-order system for something that would have come out eventually anyway, that cuts out the game stores, like some of the other gaming KS projects.

What with it being just after christmas etc I'm basically broke at the moment and don't want to make commitments I can't fulfil, so I've just dipped my toe in the water with the £1 pledge level to show support and get involved, but I hope I'll be able to increase it in February.

I'm not too worried at the lack of concrete images and greens at the moment, simply because as far as I'm concerned, I'm not doing this to buy models, I'm doing it to get involved in the development process and invest in the future of the game. With the opportunity for my input and the established talent involved, I'm confident that there will be something at the end I'm interested in, so specific model designs aren't important at this stage.
   
Made in au
Oberstleutnant






Perth, West Australia

 Kingsley wrote:
There are some pretty well-known names involved in this, but I really am not sure what I would be paying for here. It kind of sounds to me like you want the community to make you guys a product and pay for the privilege of doing so, which seems like a pretty bad value proposition to me. Am I misunderstanding you somehow?

Leveraging the community to help expand the system is an excellent idea - and far from a new one. No matter how much the community helps, you still need a talented core of staff to bring the whole project together and give it that quality you expect from a product.
   
Made in us
[DCM]
Dankhold Troggoth






Shadeglass Maze

I have a silly question, but shouldn't the acronym be "BGoA" . I have trouble dropping the "beyond"!
   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut



Derbyshire, UK

 Kingsley wrote:

There are some pretty well-known names involved in this, but I really am not sure what I would be paying for here. It kind of sounds to me like you want the community to make you guys a product and pay for the privilege of doing so, which seems like a pretty bad value proposition to me.


Not to me. I regard being involved in the development process and seeing how some very experienced and successful designers work, as a very big benefit. As a budding game designer myself I think the experience of being closely involved in the process will be invaluable for my own projects, quite apart from the excitement of the project itself.

   
Made in us
Stabbin' Skarboy



Dirty Jersey

They are looking for player input of what the player wants to own or would purchase. Starting up the game would you rather have 4-6 forces that players said they would love to play? Or release a bunch of forces that no one connects with?

About play testing i can't count how many times i've heard people say "so and so is broken they should of play tested it more" or "... and there is another faq". By opening it up to the community you expand the play testing group to proof read the work and suggest any changes before it goes in print. You can also put in creative input if the force is what you imagined it to be etc. It seems people have a weird notion that all play testers get paid for what they do... usually it is some sort of credit system they have for product..

I will say it again but it seems that the "kick starter morals" are only ever used when people don't like something. Kick starter is SUPPOSED to be used to fund an idea before it even gets off the ground. But people will complain if its just an idea and doesn't have any models/concept work. They will also complain if it becomes a pre order store...but only if t hey don't like the models.. =/

I will agree that more concept work would be a great thing, they are supposedly updating the site everyday so hope that they release some rough concept sketches..

Follow me on twitter @cerealk195

Add me on league: Cerealkiller195 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





New Jersey, USA

Mehhhhhh

Pretty much sums up my feelings so far. Right off the bat there are two things keeping me from backing this project. First is the lack of avalible rules, it doesn't have to be your finished ruleset but you have to show me something. Show me your alpha rules or your beta rules and that would go a long way. Second is that your project is in GBP, I'm not sure how much attention you've paid to kickstarter in the past but projects in none USD don't generally do so well.

Right now you have a Kickstarter page and a website with alot of words and pretty computer generated pictures. What you don't have is content.....

One last thing, this isn't the first "Dynamic Real Time blah blah blah", it's been done before and failed pretty hard.


 
   
Made in au
Oberstleutnant






Perth, West Australia

 Catyrpelius wrote:
First is the lack of avalible rules, it doesn't have to be your finished ruleset but you have to show me something. Show me your alpha rules or your beta rules and that would go a long way.

Understandable, however their ability to create rules systems is not in question imo. Their goals for the rules system - a skirmish - large scale, mixed turn (I forget their term), decimal based system gives a good idea of what's to come.

Second is that your project is in GBP, I'm not sure how much attention you've paid to kickstarter in the past but projects in none USD don't generally do so well.

Do you have a source for this? It should have no impact given the automatic currency conversion.

Right now you have a Kickstarter page and a website with alot of words and pretty computer generated pictures. What you don't have is content.....

So you want them to have ready, what they need money to develop? ie. the reason kickstarter exists - to make the content after getting the money. They have the concept and some big names to show ability to produce what they're offering. I understand if it's not enough for you, but it is for me and really is the core of the kickstarter concept.
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





New Jersey, USA

 Yonan wrote:
 Catyrpelius wrote:
First is the lack of avalible rules, it doesn't have to be your finished ruleset but you have to show me something. Show me your alpha rules or your beta rules and that would go a long way.

Understandable, however their ability to create rules systems is not in question imo. Their goals for the rules system - a skirmish - large scale, mixed turn (I forget their term), decimal based system gives a good idea of what's to come.


Past sucess does not guarantee future success.

Nothing that you've listed makes the system unique anymore. If their not bringing anything unique to the table they need to show me how their going to apply game mechanices to make something that is both enjoyable to play and different from the game systems I currently own.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 13:40:47



 
   
Made in us
Fixture of Dakka





CL VI Store in at the Cyber Center of Excellence

However, past success is one of the biggest indicators of future performance/success.

Look at who gets promoted in most companies and gov't agencies. You don't promote the guy who fails...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 14:01:30


Every time a terrorist dies a Paratrooper gets his wings. 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Nottingham

 Dysartes wrote:
DSC, are you guys going to be looking for an editor for the rulebook?

Hi Dysartes - not sure yet, though I believe Rick's wife does have lead position on this should she want it

 
   
Made in gb
Grim Dark Angels Interrogator-Chaplain





Cardiff

You've repeated a typo in 'Roll Of Honour' several times in site copy, unless 'Role of Honour' is a pun?

Sad to say, I love Rick's work, but am holding out until I see miniatures too. I'm shallow, sue me...

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 14:18:06


 Stormonu wrote:
For me, the joy is in putting some good-looking models on the board and playing out a fantasy battle - not arguing over the poorly-made rules of some 3rd party who neither has any power over my play nor will be visiting me (and my opponent) to ensure we are "playing by the rules"
 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





New Jersey, USA

CptJake wrote:
However, past success is one of the biggest indicators of future performance/success.

Look at who gets promoted in most companies and gov't agencies. You don't promote the guy who fails...


While I agree in part it isn't enough to get me to back a project. I need to know more and intentions just aren't enough for me. You need to show me you've got a detailed plan about all parts of the project, from design to fufillment.

I'm not saying that eventually I won't back this project or that other's shouldn't if it's worth it to them. I'm simply saying that with the information I'm given now I'm not inclined to back this project.


 
   
Made in gb
Fresh-Faced New User




Nottingham

@ Vain – Thanks for your honesty! good point on the long KS – should have a more streamlined version within the next couple of days. We’re working on the concept art and more right now and hope to have some stuff to start showing potentially as early as this evening (potentially!!!)

@ Tibbsy – thank you

@ Compel – see above, I’ll make it my personal goal to convert you by the end of this kickstarter!

@ Yonan – thank you! head into the backer development forums, we’re looking for info for various things right now!

@ Kingsley – thanks for your thoughts, I think the other chaps countered before I could

@pgmason – thank you for your support, and welcome on board!

@ RiTides – we thought about this and to be honest it’s not set in stone yet (see you’re having an influence already) BeGAnt was another…

@ Catyrpelius – We’re a UK company, doing it in $ would mean we have to have a USA company. You can get round that by using a shell co of course, but we didn't have time or money to do the complex legal agreements first unfortunately.


This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 14:26:14


 
   
Made in de
Trustworthy Shas'vre





Augsburg/Germany

Well the plan is there to see: In the Development Section of the GoA Forum.

André Winter
L'Art Noir - Game Design and Translation Studio 
   
Made in si
Foxy Wildborne







 Yonan wrote:
 Catyrpelius wrote:
Second is that your project is in GBP, I'm not sure how much attention you've paid to kickstarter in the past but projects in none USD don't generally do so well.

Do you have a source for this? It should have no impact given the automatic currency conversion.


It has an impact because non-USD Kickstarters do not support Amazon Payments. That alone would be enough to kill it for me - if I were inclined to throw money at projects with nothing to show but some big names from 20 years ago in the first place, of course.

Posters on ignore list: 36

40k Potica Edition - 40k patch with reactions, suppression and all that good stuff. Feedback thread here.

Gangs of Nu Ork - Necromunda / Gorkamorka expansion supporting all faction. Feedback thread here
   
Made in us
[DCM]
-






-

Non USD-Kickstarters DON'T use Amazon Payments?

This is news to me!

What do they use - 'regular' credt cards? PayPal?

   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





I think, and I could be misremembering, the only option available when I backed was the Credit Card one.

Glad to see an official thread, and interaction on here as well. Looking forward to seeing where this all stands in a month, hopefully enough info gets out to get me to raise up to Starter or Feeder level.

   
Made in gb
Regular Dakkanaut




There are various different options (in general - I don't know about GoA as I'm waiting for more info before deciding if I should pledge), I’ve funded 2 different UK kickstarters (non wargaming things) one did use a direct credit card payment and the other used PayPal. Personally I hate PayPal with a passion but that one was something I really wanted to fund so I did it using PayPals credit card payment system so that I still have credit card protection for when they inevitably mess it up.

Honestly, I don’t see a problem with the credit card system, I fail to see what makes Amazon payments any better or worse than this but to each his own and since I usually refuse to deal with companies that will only accept PayPal I can understand having a prefered payment vehicle.

As a point of interest, before I started using kickstarter I didn’t even know that Amazon had a payment service – I’m guessing this is something restricted to the USA?
   
Made in de
Trustworthy Shas'vre





Augsburg/Germany

Well actually Amazon is using the normal credit card system but you can use your Amazon normal account for it. This Kickstarter does accept alls major Credit Cards, so don´t worry.

And big names from 20 years ago....

Black Powder, Bolt Action and quite some rules set seem rather recent to me. Tha same goes for the artist that only recently put out some really nice miniatures.

This message was edited 1 time. Last update was at 2013/01/02 15:35:35


André Winter
L'Art Noir - Game Design and Translation Studio 
   
Made in us
Longtime Dakkanaut





Kev White was the name that really got me interested. Not that I don't have huge respect for the others involved, but Kev has been consistently putting out some of my favorite mini's of the past few years. It'd be very cool to get a GoA Libby.

   
Made in gb
Longtime Dakkanaut





I used my debit card for this with no problem.
   
 
Forum Index » Other Sci-Fi Miniatures Games
Go to: