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I don't believe I've ever stepped up on the soapbox on Dakka and tried to make a plea to people before, and its certainly not something I intend to do very often, if ever again, but I feel personally obligated to get the word out in this case.

Full disclosure here: The makers of Exodus Wars have not paid me or Dakka anything, and quite the contrary, I have dropped a rather large chunk of my own money towards helping to fund this project.

So what is Exodus Wars?

Well, it is basically a video game being made by an indie developer who is trying to make a game that captures the gameplay and overall feel of a tabletop wargame, in particular an 'Epic' scale (6mm) sci-fi miniature game.

If you're like me at all, for years you've always wished that game companies would make video games that felt more like the miniatures games we enjoy as wargamers. Not in any way to replace tabletop miniature gaming (because there is no replacement for the tactile sensations of playing with miniatures on a 3D board), but simply as a supplement to our gaming experience...something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game.

However, there's a reason that games like this never get made, and its because publishers have figured out that the pure tabletop wargaming market is incredibly niche when compared to the overall video game market and that's why when they do make games based off the IP of tabletop games they translate them into different (more popular) formats like action games or real-time strategy.

But tabletop gaming is all about careful planning and brilliant moves, so it desperately needs to be turn-based. Sure there are lots of turn based games out there, many of which are based around warfare. However there are very, very few (if any) of these turn-based strategy games that are modeled in a way that replicates the complexity of a true tabletop miniature game.

However, that time is here now. Somebody is making that game, but because a publisher would never touch this genre with a 100 foot pole, we as the wargaming community need to step up and show that there is a market for this game and this indiegogo campaign to fund Exodus Wars is the way to do just that!

So watch the teaser video below (remembering that this is still pre-alpha) and then visit their indiegogo page and please join me in helping to fund this game that is clearly being made by mini-gamers for mini-gamers. Heck, even a $10 contribution gets you a (digital) copy of the game when it comes out, so at the very least you hopefully can afford to shell out $10 for a (IMHO) incredibly worthy cause.




Thanks for reading!


P.S. - they also do have a general thread here on Dakka in the video games forum where the developers are answering questions asked. So if you've got a question about the game or the project in general, head there and ask it!

I completely agree, this Exodus Wars game is a much better and more interesting crowdfunder made by someone who actually owns a wargames company and has a genuine passion for the concept rather than the "minis with enemies" one, which comes across as a half-hearted effort to cash in on the "wargaming crowd" rather than caring about the product (they seem to have put more thought into their microtransactions strategy to make money rather than the core gameplay).

Whereas this one looks like it is coming from the approach of "gameplay first", and wants to charge only a small amount of money for a large-scale 3d tactical strategy game that replicates epic-scale wargaming directly.

$10 for a complete copy of the game isn't bad, you can't go wrong with this really, and I 100% recommend just throwing a little cash towards it to make it happen.

I work as an independent game developer myself, and can confirm that $35k is a realistic estimate of what will be needed to pull off a project like this. Basically, it's a case of a year's wages for 2 extremely dedicated people willing to work for peanuts while they're getting the game made.. or for one multi-skilled dev who never sleeps.

It looks pretty good. I enjoyed the older Epic 40k videogame, this game looks like a great update. I guess I can spend $10 on this...

Definitely pledging to this one, thanks a lot for the heads up!

A whole game for just $10??

Hell yeah Im in, and I dont even play computer games that much, but this looks awesome!!

Its the same price as a couple of pints of beer.. everyone should put some money into this!!

AH

Hmmmm well since there are 30 days left, I'll be at least doing $10 (hopefully the get it out for macs or compatible with wineskin....). I'd like to do more, but I need to see how my financial situation is here....

Looks awesome though and I hope Dakka rallies round to help them out!

Ben

Does anyone know what this business is about limited edition minis being made? Is there going to be some kind of cool little 6mm game to go along with it?

From the quick look I gave it is it seems to basically be just a 6mm mini to use in your existing 6mm games.

Will definitely donate on payday when I can afford to. Looks sweeeeeeeeet.

Yak, is there any info on gameplay? Apologies workblocked from the links.

The video seemed show two opposing forces lined up opposite one another. A 40k deploy and attack affair would not be that interesting to me but I guess I'm reading too much into what was essentially a demonstration of the look of the game.

The final liberation game was quite good for its time but a turnbased game now would seem like a waste of processing power or have I missed the point and it's a straight TT wargames on the computer?

Does indiegogo skim a % of pledges like kickstarter does?

I might be happy to pledge towards Exodus Wars, I am less happy giving money to Amazon.com.

It looks like it has potential, nothing concrete enough to make me want to contribute at the moment however.

It's probably already been mentioned (or thought of) but I seem to remember the combat mission games done this a few years ago.

Went in for $25.

I have friends who would love to see this game made.

Orlanth wrote:Does indiegogo skim a % of pledges like kickstarter does?

I might be happy to pledge towards Exodus Wars, I am less happy giving money to Amazon.com.

AFAIK Indiegogo doesn't take any money from the pledges...

notprop wrote:Yak, is there any info on gameplay? Apologies workblocked from the links.

The video seemed show two opposing forces lined up opposite one another. A 40k deploy and attack affair would not be that interesting to me but I guess I'm reading too much into what was essentially a demonstration of the look of the game.

The final liberation game was quite good for its time but a turnbased game now would seem like a waste of processing power or have I missed the point and it's a straight TT wargames on the computer?

From the sound of it, I would expect some kind of turn-based affair. Their mission statement on the site is that this is the kind of game that would never get funding from a major publisher, short of in Japan with some of their RPGs, but there is nevertheless a niche of gamers who want it.

From the site:

Fractured Empire will replicate the tactile nature of tabletop wargaming in a way that no other computer game has to-date. We want the player to be able to pick up the units within a fireteam and move them, just as you would on a real-world tabletop.

The core gameplay of Fractured Empire is still being developed in an iterative process; however, just as the mechanics of all tabletop games differ in some ways and are similar in others but are always familiar thanks to their turn-based nature, so too will Fractured Empire be familiar to new and seasoned wargamers alike.

We're also working very hard to ensure the interface is as intuitive as possible so players can focus on import things like their strategy and tactics.

Whether you play games like Warhammer 40,000 Apocalypse, Epic:Armageddon, Blitzkrieg Commander and Warmaster or not, we are confident you will pick up the mechanics of Fractured Empire quickly and easily.

We are aiming for strategic and tactical depth, though. Make the right decisions, plan your moves and execute at the right moment, and you will be rewarded.

I would guess that the video of them all lined up together is just a technical demonstration rather than an indicator of two armies just setting up 2-feet apart as it were, then shooting each other. God I've had enough of that over the years in various games and I thought it was finally being left behind, I would hate if they made the game like that!

Orlanth wrote:Does indiegogo skim a % of pledges like kickstarter does?

I might be happy to pledge towards Exodus Wars, I am less happy giving money to Amazon.com.

Yes, Indiegogo takes about 5%.

Not my style of game, never been a fan of epic or warmaster or such, but with a friend of mine loving them and the Big Boss Ork telling us we should.... if i have the money i'll drop 5$on it come payday.

Dropped a tenner on it. I figured as long as I was donating, I might well get something.

Video games? Ugh.

Glorioski wrote:Video games? Ugh.

Coming into a thread just to say Ugh? Ugh.

Back OT, I'm thinking about joining up on this one.

Contributed Looks fun.

pretre wrote:

Glorioski wrote:Video games? Ugh.

Coming into a thread just to say Ugh? Ugh.

Back OT, I'm thinking about joining up on this one.

Ok fair enough. To elaborate:

"something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game."

Personally I feel there is nothing a video game can offer which would compare to the things I enjoy about wargaming.

Glorioski wrote:

pretre wrote:

Glorioski wrote:Video games? Ugh.

Coming into a thread just to say Ugh? Ugh.

Back OT, I'm thinking about joining up on this one.

Ok fair enough. To elaborate:

"something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game."

Personally I feel there is nothing a video game can offer which would compare to the things I enjoy about wargaming.

You already said what it offers: "something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game."

That alone is pretty cool.

pretre wrote:

"something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game."

Personally I feel there is nothing a video game can offer which would compare to the things I enjoy about wargaming.

You already said what it offers: "something to play when we get a knack to play a miniature game but don't have the time or opponents available for a game."

That alone is pretty cool.

I was quoting the OP. If the video game doesn't compare in any enjoyable way then it's not really an alternative.

I'm confused as to why exodus wars isn't asking for 20, hell, 50 million dollars compared to what mini's with enemies is asking for.

Apparently software development can only take place during tropical vacations in some companies.

//already funded EW a little

Chucked down some money, loved epic 40k and this looks good.

Looks sweet, but I don't see system requirements... they might not know that yet, but I'm on a netbook at home and thinking I probably can't run it :-/

Anything that gives me a "Final Liberation" type of experience is quite welcome!

And.. only $10? Yes!

Pledged.