Shaking booty, making sweet love all the night

The Good Life was an ambitious looking game helmed by Swery65 (of Deadly Premonition fame) that took to crowdfunding site Fig to get backing. It failed pretty damn hard and it seemed like the end was nigh. Swery then said he'd try again on Kickstarter the following Marc?h. If you were miffed the game failed and wanted to pledge support, today is yo??ur lucky day!

The game is now available on Kickstarter and has a much lower funding goal than before. The graphical style has also been overhaul??ed and looks much better than the previous version. While the first two pledge tiers don't include the game, you can end up sa?ving a few dollars on the title if you pledge $25 and land your name in the credits. The game is still scheduled for PS4 and PC with a potential release date of 2019.

HidetakaSwerySuehiro [Twitter]

The post Swery’s The Good Life is relaunching its Kickstarter today appeared first on Destructoid.

'The only way to truly fail is to give up'

[Update: Fig has se?nt us a reply to explain things from its perspective. A Fig representative says that the company advised as to the risks of such a high goal, but that Swery "unfortunately still decided to go for the $1.5 million." Also, the email wasn't sent prematurely, but rather part of Fig's Backstage Pass program where investors are given an early heads-up about projects that are soon to be announced. The recipients are told the emails are confidential, but most everyone involved expected this one would probably leak given Swery's passionate fan base.

Fig's representative also added "We love Swery, and we'r??e all really sad this didn't hit the go?al."]

[Original story:] Barring a surprise injection of approximately $950,000 in the next five hours, Swery's crowdfunding campaign for The Good Life is going to fail. Over a st??retch of 40 days, the campaign managed to raise something around $556,000 at time of writing. That really can't be considered anything other than a disappointment, as it's merely 37 percent of the $1.5 million goal.

Swery isn't giving up,?? though. In a lengthy post on Twitter, he explains all the things this first?? push got wrong. Here's the tweet (the message is spread across three of the images):

This is my final message of the FIG campaign of The Good Life.
Little bit ling, so I attuched pic.@yukiof @ryanpayton #Thegoodlife #supportswery #supportcreativedevs pic.twitter.com/VPAS2M48tI

— HidetakaSwerySuehiro (@Swery65) October 12, 2017

There's plenty of blame to go around. First, it seems as if Swery thinks that the initial leak caused a lot of confusion as to what The Good Life actually is. That's Fig's fault as a premature email blast outed the game's existence a full two weeks before it was set to be? revealed. Then, Swery says that t?he concept trailer only added to that confusion.

Other sources are: They could've better messaged all the notable people working on The Good Life; no one really understood what the reward tiers meant for the various contribution levels; and the ga??me suddenly featured al??l dogs instead of all cats. Swery is clearly not happy with almost all aspects of how this campaign was executed.

So, he's going to try again, but he's ditching Fig for Kickstarter. It's unclear if this is because there's already a negative stigma of failure between The Good Life and Fig, or if ?it's because he views Fig largely responsible for the f?irst campaign's missteps. "The only way to truly fail is to give up," Swery writes.

There will be key changes this time around, though. The Kickstarter will feature a decreased goal? "due to some great partners that are joining production." It's also going to better message all the unclear stuff from the first campaign. Swery's s??tudio is even teaming up with Limited Run to produce a physical edition.

It won't be long before the Kickstarter goes into effect. The second campaign is set to launch before the end of 2017. It's clearly a game he believes in. "We refuse to give up on bringing you The Good Life," S??wery says. He's not going to let a botched crowdfunding campaign bring the whole ship down.

@Swery65 [Twitter]

The post (Update) Swery’s The Good Life failed on Fig, so he’s gonna try Kickstarter appeared first on Destructoid.

Who says work can't be fun

Swery decided to do some motion capture for his studio's, White Owls, first title The Good Life as the protagonist, Naomi. In the video he's mostly just goofing around and even a caption suggests they're not going to use the animations. One involves "sheep shearing" where he uses his stuffed monkey Public Relations Representative, Sharapova, a?s the sheep.

It's not really clear if this is just a funny snippet of a longer, serious capture? session, or if they just decided to goof around ?for a little while. Either way, you have to kick back and have fun every once and a while to keep yourself sane.

The post Watch Swery goof around in motion ??capture for The G??ood Life appeared first on Destructoid.

If they hate then let 'em hate and watch the (FIG) money pile up

Allow me a moment to tell you about a quaint little ?town? known as Rainy Woods.

Nestled in nature and surrounded by forests in England, Rainy Woods is a happy village with happy people living amidst charming architecture from the Middle Ages. The residents say they’re the happiest people in the world. They also turn int?o cats at night, waking the next morning with no memory of the transformation. It’s the type of place a Yank would picture when asked to describe a small town in England, complete with cobblestone streets, five pubs, and a babbling brook where the bloody body of Elizabeth, the pastor’s wheelchair-bound daughter, has just been found; stabbed through her heart with a medieval sword.

Yes,?? Rainy Woods is quite the curiosity, and you know what they say about curiosity, don’t you?

From White Owls, the studio founded by Deadly Premonition creator Swery, The Good Life is a Murder Mystery Debt Repayment Life Simulation RPG – probably hobby grade too – that puts players in the shoes of Naomi, a photographer from New York who is deep in debt. Her ticket out of the red is this gem of a town and the people who live there. I’ve been following The Good Life since we first ??got word of it not too long ago and I wasn’t that entertained by the initial reveal. Now that I’ve read about its intentions, I’m in awe of its ambition.

Obviously inspired by Twin Peaks, it looks as though Swery is doing everything he can to give people a real sense of what it would be to live in a town as odd as that one. The life simulation aspects of The Good Life sound intricate. Players will have to monitor Naomi’s health and well-being, her finances, her alcohol intake and more. Apparently, you can turn her into a straight-up alcoholic if you so choose. Naomi makes money by taking pictures of residents and filing reports on the town, as well as doing odd jobs for the people who live there. The townies of Rainy Woods operate on their own 24-hour schedule similar to Deadly Premonition that can change?? depending on the weather and season.

The photography mechanic also sounds incredibly detailed with aim and focus factoring big into the picture quality. There’s also camera upkeep to worry?? about like buying new film, charging batteries and cleaning it. You’??ll also have to buy toiletries so you don’t get sick, get a bite to eat once in a while so you don’t starve, strike up conversations with the weird-ass people of this town to solve Elizabeth’s murder, and, oh yeah, turn into a cat at night for some goddamn reason.

Of course, all of this will come to fruition if White Owls meets its fundraising goal. Swery is seeking $1.5 million in funds through FIG and honestly, with everything this game is looking to accomplish, I’m surprised it’s that low. White Owls is developing the game with Republique developer Camouflaj and G-rounding, a studio founded by Phantom Dust creator Yukio Futatsugi. 

For non-??investment backers, rewards for the campaign start at $29 for a digital copy of the game. The next tier is at $69 -- nice -- which nets you the digital download, wallpapers, soundtrack, digital concept art portfolio and digital storyline overview. Now, if you have $35k to spare, you can become a resident of Rainy Woods and eat dinner with Swery in the game. Your avatar can also be brutally murdered, which would be the highlight of any yearly Christmas letter.

Oddly enough, if you want to have a real dinner with Swery, that's not available in the highest tier but it is in the Swery Super Fan tie??r at $15k.

I am a little shocked that, at this moment, there is no physical copy rewards for the game. I imagine that will change when a publisher picks this up because we all know that's what is going to happen here. Currently, the aim is to launch The Good Life in the later part?? of 2019 on PC and unnamed consoles, so feel free to ready your “Switch Port Please” comments for below. [Update: It has been confirmed this game will launch for PC and PS4 first, with a Switch version maybe possibly coming via a stretch goal.]

The post Swery’s new game The Good Life promises cats, murder and mystery in 2019 appeared first on Destructoid.

Catatonic

The debut trailer for Hidetaka "Swery" Suehiro's newest game (and first at White Owls), The Good Life, is here, and it's not exactly great. Set in a rural English village where everyone becomes cats at night, a photographer from New York (likely the protagonist) discovers the dead body of a young woma?n and must figure out who the killer is.

I reserve full judgement until gameplay is shown, but it definitely looks like a low-budget role-playing game, almost indie. Makes sense in a new start-up company relying on crowdfunding, but it doesn't have any unique style to it. The art looks to me like it was made in Microsoft Paint, and I'm not getting that "what the fuck is going on" vibes Swery's games are known for. The theme just appears to be cutesy cats and I'm frankly just not feeling this yet, which I hate to say because I absolutely love Deadly Premonition and D4.

The murder mystery of a dead girl in a rural town once again rings of Twin Peaks. Fair enough that all of Swery's games have involved investigated the murder of a young woman, but D4 had its own identity beyond that.

The post Debut trailer of Swery’s new cat game, The Good Life, isn’t impressing me yet appeared first on Destructoid.

With $500K raised, stretch goals are up next

There's a clear desire for more turn-based tactics games, and when game designer Julian Gollop sets out to "create an entirely new game whose essence lies in the XCOM genre," good things happen. The X-COM creator's new project, Phoenix Point, has passed its $500,000 funding goal on Fig.

You know what that means: stretch goals. The next funding milestone is $650,000, at which point Phoenix Point will see drivable vehicles add??ed to its production schedule. They can transport your troops in, provide heavy weapons support, and help with material gathering and civ??ilian evacuation.

At the next goal, $850,000, there will be?? "a floating fortress which can tr??avel by sea and conduct air operations inland from coastal areas," which, yes. Heck yes. That'd be grand.

If this is your first time hearing about the game and you need context for the setting, in which most human life has been killed off by a nasty virus that's? also able to mutate survivors, here it is:

"You play as part of the Phoenix Project, a worldwide organization set in place before the Pandoravirus, and designed to activate in times of world peril. You and your team must find out what has happened to the other Phoenix Project sleeper cells as you race to bring humanity back from the brink of extinction. Along the way, you will encounter constant threats from an ever-increasing variety of alien mutants (procedural generation system) armed with varying tactical abilities and intense boss battles with massive monsters and alien land walkers. Aliens are not your only concern as you will come face to face with unpredictable interactions with human factions with their ideologies and ??rife with internal conflicts including kidnappings, assassinations, sabotage, military coups, and base defense missions."

L?ike Steven, I'm also repuls?ed by and in love with this game's horrible mutated monster people.

Phoenix Point [Fig]

The post X-COM creator’s new strategy title crowdfunded appeared first on Destructoid.

Asking for half a million in crowdfunding

Phoenix Point is a "turn-based tactics and world-based strategy game" from the creator of the original X-COM, Julian Gollop. The project is seeking $500,000 in funding on Fig and meant to release at the end of 2018.

"We are creating Phoenix Point by taking influences from the famed X-COM franchise. We are updating our favorite gameplay features from X-COM titles such as UFO: Enemy Unknown and X-COM Apocalypse that I designed, and mixing them with some of the amazing ideas Firaxis Games executed brilliantly in their franchise reboots, to create an entirely new game whose essence lies in the XCOM genre," Gollop said.

Taking stock in what Firaxis has done well with the series is smart. And I like the Cronenberg'd-up world and monsters; incidentally, I recommend watching the recent practical-effects-filled horror movie The Void.

The post Phoenix Po?int is a new strategy game from the creator of X-COM appeared first on Destructoid.

New gameplay shown

Tim Schafer and Double Fine have announced that Psychonauts 2 will be published by Starbreeze (The Darkness, Payday 2), who is bringing eight million dollars to the table, more than doubling what was raised on Fig (a crowdfunding site similar to Kickstarter that has direct ties to Double Fine). Double Fine is also contributing funding to the project, but just how much is not confirmed. Based on Minecraft creator Markus "Notch" Persson's claim of Dou??ble Fine looking?? for $18 million to fund the game (the original cost $11.8 million), then that suggests about six million being fro?nted by ??Double Fine.

To make that eight million back, Starbreeze will take an 85% initial revenu?e share, dropping to only a 60% share of profits. The other 40% will be divided between Double Fine and its Fig investors, who unlike Kickstarter backers are entitled to a return based on the project's success. Despite this, Double Fine will retain "100% of the intellectual property." Whether or not this implies retainment of creative freedom is not clear.

In the announcement video, Schafer and the team?? show off some platforming and new areas. Gameplay appears identical to the original game, swinging on horizontal bars, walking on tightropes, and jumping with psycho balls. The art looks fantastic, but can that same platforming work in 2018? Even for its time, the original was praised for its style and humor, but was held back by sub-par platforming. 

In general, style does not make up for lackluster gameplay, but Psychonauts' platforming and combat was just acceptable enough to wade through to get to the jokes. I can't imagine Psychonauts 2 having d?rastically different gameplay, but with systems seemingly identical to the original title, I can only hope there are improvements including to overall level design.

As far as the big investment by Starbreeze goes, it was known from the start that a large portion of the budget would be handled by (at the time) an unknown publisher, but something feels weird about proper developers and publishers using crowdfunding to get additional funding. I suppose the idea of Fig and Kickstarter being platforms for game makers to have projects 100% funded by fans to allow complete creative freedom rather than serve as mere venture capital is a fantasy. Ther?e is no explicit word on how much creative freedom Double Fine will retain, but it makes me wonder.

Starbreeze invests $8 m?illion in Double?? Fine's Psychonauts 2 [GamesIndustry.biz]

The post Psychonauts 2’s new publisher Starbreeze dumps $8 million into game appeared first on Destructoid.

If it can raise $1.1 million, that is

Pillars of Eternity is one of the best video game crowdfunding success stories there is. It raised nearly $4 million during its Kickstarter campaign, and then developer Obsidian took that money and made a quality product. Pillars of Eternity was well-received and eventually nominated on many end-??of-year awards lists.

That was all so nice that they're doing it twice. Today, Obsidian announced Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire. The sequel resumes the story of The Watcher of Caed Nua. The god Eothas, who was thought to be dead, breaks free from his burial place and almost kills The Watcher. Deadfire's plot deals with this conflict as The Watcher travels across the titular land of Deadfire. Obsidian also says that choices in the first Pillars of Eternity affect going-ons in the sequel.

This CRPG isn't definitely happening, though. Obsidian's again going the route of crowdfunding, this time through Fig. Pillars of Eternity II needs to raise $1.1 million by February 24; the campaign was around $400,000 at time of writ?ing. Judging by the different rewards tiers, it seems as if Obsidian's aiming for a release in the first quarter of 2018.

The first Pillars was complex, and the sequel will be too. The development team describes all the minutia on the game's Fig page. Check that out if you're interested in the finer details of Deadfire. There's another epic role-playing game coming from Obsidian, as long as peo??ple pony up another $700,000 or so.

Pillars of Eternity II: Deadfire [Fig]

The post Obsidian’s making Pillars of Eternity II, again turning to crowdfunding appeared first on Destructoid.

FIG also now open to non-accredited investors

The latest update to backers of the crowdfunded sequel to Psychonauts ??;went live a little ??while ago, and Double Fine's president Tim Schafer sat down with project lead Zak McClendon to show off some of what their team has been working on.

Schafer began the video by letting everyone know that FIG, the crowdfunding platform used for Psychonauts 2, has just been ??certified by the Securities and E??xchange Commission. As such, those people who committed to invest in the game can now do so. While it's too late to back the project to get traditional crowdfunding rewards, it's possible to invest and be rewarded financially depending on how well it does when it's released. The big news is that this certification means n??on-accredited investors can now invest in FIG games going forward. Prior to the certification, investors in FIG games had to be accredited, meaning a lot more paperwork and hassle from banks before they'd be allowed ??to invest.

With the business out of the way, Schafer and McClendon sat down to demonstrate what they've been working on for Psychonauts 2. They said that the level they're showing off probably won't be in the finished product, and that they made it as a prototype, a way to get a feel for the Unreal 4 engine using a location they were already familiar with. While the art and level design looks great, both men agreed that Psychonauts 2 won't be returning to the Whisp??ering ?Rock Psychic Summer Camp. "No one's ever going to see this except for right here," said McClendon. Schafer agreed: "We built it to burn it." 

The video continues by demonstrating some of main character Raz's movements, from his walk and jump animations to more complicated movements involving tightropes and trapeze bars. They also showed off a new gliding animation Raz can utilize to slow his descent -- something I wish he'd had when I was guiding him through Psychonauts' infamous Meat Circus.

Once Raz's moves were established, they moved on to the combat, showing off Psychic abilities. These include old favorites like Psyblast and Telekinesis, but there were some new abilities on display as well. At one point he is seen juggling psychic blades that he can throw long-distance, and he'll also gain the a??bility to project copies of himself to confuse enemies or just even the odds against a group.

The video closes with some rudimentary combat, though McClendon cautions that this is still very early on. He explained that they have to solidify Raz's movese?t b??efore designing enemies that he'll have to use different abilities to overcome, which makes a lot of sense.

It seems like Psychonauts 2 is shaping up nicel??y, and the team still has plenty of time left before its scheduled release in fall of 2018.

Psychonauts 2 backer update [Fig.co]

The post Psychonauts 2 update camps it up in Unreal 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

Paint the snow red

As we first told you last week, developer InXile Entertainment is working on Wasteland 3 and is looking for your help to make it happen. Its Fig campaign launched today and is already raking in the dough. The developer is looking to raise $2.7??5 million dollars on the platform to help cover what we've been told is an at minimum $6 million budget. The reveal came with a few screenshots, but today we're seeing the game i??n action for the first time.

Outside of that guy's disgusting-??ass ear holes, I'm digging the look of it so far.

If you're planning on backing it, doing so in the first 48 hours of the campaign will get you a free game, either STASIS or Underrail. Those who have donated to previous InXile campaigns will also receive a $5 discount on reward?? ti?ers.

The above clip? wasn't the only video released today. There's also the one below, f?eaturing special effects and comedy straight out of bad 90s syndicated television.

The post Check out the first footage of Wasteland 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

Looking to raise nearly $3 million

In 2012, the folks at InXile Entertainment turned to Kickstarter to finance the development of the critically acclaimed Wasteland 2. The next year, it returned to the crowdfunding platform to fund 2017's Torment: Tides of Numenera. Next week, the company will once again be asking fans to open their pocketbooks, this time in a Fig campaign for Wasteland 3.

Breaking away from the desert and city locals of Wasteland 2, this new entry in the isometric post-apocalyptic strategy series will be set in the snowy hinterlands of Colorado. You play as the last remaining member of Team November, dispatched to the icy tundra to build your reputation?? amongst hostile factions and deadly lunatics. In one of the several changes fans can expect from the sequel, you no longer have to go about it alone. With online co-op, you can tackle the frosty backwoods of the Rocky Mountains with a friend.

The press release announcing Wasteland 3 wanted to make it perfectly clear that you can play through the game by yourself and experience everything it has to offer. However, if you team up with a friend, you both have control?? of you?r own group of Rangers, giving you the ability to split up and cover more ground. If you start a game with a friend, you can continue on without them, but decisions you make in the story will affect them when they log back in.

Other additions to the sequel include an upgradeable vehicle that you can pimp out with weapons to assist you in battle, team-based attacks?, and an expanded home base that will do more than just give you your next quest. It will now allow you to gather materials, reach out to other factions via radio, set up trade routes, research, and more.

On board for the project is concept artist Andrée Wallin, who worked on Wasteland 2 and Star Wars: The Force Awakens. STASIS developers Christopher and Nic Bischoff are also assisting with the project and are responsible for the concept art seen in the gallery below. Writing duties will be covered by the Tides of Numenera team and will incorpo?rate that game's revamped dialog tree system.

If you want to help fund Wasteland 3, the Fig campaign will start October 5. The goal is to raise $2.75 million with $2.25 million?? of that possibly coming from accredited investors. There will also be opportunities for unaccredited investors as well as rewards for people who just want to give whatever money they can. So far there is no launc?h window for the game, but when it does come out it will release simultaneously for Windows, OS X, Linux, PlayStation 4 and Xbox One.

The post InXile Entertainment is?? banking on Fig for Wasteland 3 appeared first on Destructoid.

There will be no encores

In what may or may not be a surprise depending on your perspective, the PC version of Rock Band 4 isn't going to happen. The crowdfunding campaign, held on the investment-based Fig platform, failed to meet it?s goal.

In total, the c??ampaign only managed to pull in $792,817, just barely above 50% of its $1.5 million ask. There just wasn't enough interest, or faith, in the project to give it wings. Bummer news for fans of ??plastic instruments everywhere.

Rock Band will always have a special place in my heart, but I can't say this outcome is totally shocking. Given the unenthusiastic response to Rock Band 4?? on console and the general genre fatigue for rhythm games, this campaign looked like a bit of a non-s??tarter from the get-go.

I'll solemnly hold a lighter in the air for you, Rock Band 4.

Rock Band 4 for PC + Rock Band Network [Fig]

The post Rock Band 4 crowdfunding campaign fails appeared first on Destructoid.

Sometime this fall

Harmonix is going back to the crowdfunding well after its successful Amplitude campaign,? but it's not going the Kickstarter route. It's going with something far more ?trendy right now.

The music game developer plans to launch a campaign on Fig -- the new games-only crowdfunding platform where investors can also make money back. Details are sparse at the moment. All that's known is that it'll take place sometime this fall; after the release of high-profile Rock Band 4 is a good bet.

Harmonix will be a bit more involved than just putting a game on the platform. Its chief creative officer Alex Rigopulos is joining the board of Fig. He joins CEO Justin Bailey, Tim Schafer (Double Fine), Brian Fargo (inXile ??Entertainment), and Feargus Urquhart (Obsidian).

For now, Harmonix has a fair amount on its plate. Rock Band 4's launch and post-release support will likely require sizable resources. And, Amplitude has been delayed into 2016, so that still needs to be fini?shed. But, it also has its eyes trained on the future, and we'll learn more about that in the months to come.

The post Harmonix ??will need your help (again) to make its next game appeared first on Destructoid.