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[diegokilla]

Well, and right now Mythruna is essentially exactly like Minecraft creative because it's just a test engine.  The best way for me to test my engine was to let players put whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted.

When "game mode" is built out enough that it is the default mode, then things start to get clearer.

But on top of that, a few other features will resonate as "different" when they are included in the stock game, I hope. 

...when I can show a generated city with a thriving NPC population.

...when I can show a video of chopping a tree down... like hack hack hack... "Timber!" as it falls over sideways.

...when I can shoot a video of a house burning down and collapsing under its own weight as the flames sap its supporting structure.

...when there is a bobbing sailing ship at the docks that you can talk to the captain or purser and book passage.

...when you can forge your own sword in any shape you want, etc.

...creating your own magic based devices.

...glimpses of the seven races of Mythruna.

Some of these are not too far off and can be nice 30 second glimpses into "what's different".  Short and to the point.

I have a written story-board for a trailer.  I'm considering turning it into an simple mostly hand-drawn animatic when I have more concept art completed.  Then filling in the sections that get implemented as they come online.  I just have to see where the work takes me.

My jaw was dropped reading this... literally. The tree bit really hits home with me. Levitating treetops have always been a pet peeve of mine. (On my MC server it is a bannable offense to leave half cut floating trees )

[steric]

Thats funny that you made it a bannable offense LOL. BUT it makes sense and is a good rule. I HATE having floating trees.

[Neuromancer]

Did you ever think about jumping on kickstarter.com?

Kickstarter is an all or nothing thing.  You either raise all the funds or you don't get them.  I cannot think of an amount that I could raise that would let me quit my job while actually being achievable.  On the other hand, without significant life changes, I can keep working on the game indefinitely... and most of the big changes are happening in the next six months, anyway.

You don't necesarilly have to quit your job.    Suppose kickstarter got you $600,000.  You could hire developers to help you make progress quicker.  Just a thought.

[ap0r]

Problem with Kickstarter is that it's all or nothing.

[Neuromancer]

Problem with Kickstarter is that it's all or nothing.

It's free publicity.  Plus if you don't get the full amount, you have lost nothing.

[Michael]

hmm.. I didn't even know this post existed..
Those people who have posted on here never get on..

[pspeed]

Problem with Kickstarter is that it's all or nothing.

It's free publicity.  Plus if you don't get the full amount, you have lost nothing.

I'm not looking for publicity at this point.

Also, if I can't quit my job then 100% of my free time would be spent managing others.  I'd never get to code again except fixing the stuff they break.

[pspeed]

I didn't mean to sound harsh.  I go over this stuff in my head almost every day... so I have quick answers.

No one is more frustrated with the development speed than I am.  I can guarantee that.

[Moonkey]

Family is more important than Mythruna. If we neee to wait, we'll wait.

[belgariad87]

Well, and right now Mythruna is essentially exactly like Minecraft creative because it's just a test engine.  The best way for me to test my engine was to let players put whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted.

When "game mode" is built out enough that it is the default mode, then things start to get clearer.

But on top of that, a few other features will resonate as "different" when they are included in the stock game, I hope. 

...when I can show a generated city with a thriving NPC population.

...when I can show a video of chopping a tree down... like hack hack hack... "Timber!" as it falls over sideways.

...when I can shoot a video of a house burning down and collapsing under its own weight as the flames sap its supporting structure.

...when there is a bobbing sailing ship at the docks that you can talk to the captain or purser and book passage.

...when you can forge your own sword in any shape you want, etc.

...creating your own magic based devices.

...glimpses of the seven races of Mythruna.

Some of these are not too far off and can be nice 30 second glimpses into "what's different".  Short and to the point.

I have a written story-board for a trailer.  I'm considering turning it into an simple mostly hand-drawn animatic when I have more concept art completed.  Then filling in the sections that get implemented as they come online.  I just have to see where the work takes me.

You know what would be very good for publicity purposes? if you could make a "glimpse into the future of mythruna" video and put it on youtube and your main site. that way you can at least have an example of what will make this game unique. even just one example at a time.

on another note, keep doing what you need to do at home. everyone here understands and no one is pressuring you. and if it seems like that then let me clarify, we are just excited

[ap0r]

Well, and right now Mythruna is essentially exactly like Minecraft creative because it's just a test engine.  The best way for me to test my engine was to let players put whatever they wanted, wherever they wanted.

When "game mode" is built out enough that it is the default mode, then things start to get clearer.

But on top of that, a few other features will resonate as "different" when they are included in the stock game, I hope. 

...when I can show a generated city with a thriving NPC population.

...when I can show a video of chopping a tree down... like hack hack hack... "Timber!" as it falls over sideways.

...when I can shoot a video of a house burning down and collapsing under its own weight as the flames sap its supporting structure.

...when there is a bobbing sailing ship at the docks that you can talk to the captain or purser and book passage.

...when you can forge your own sword in any shape you want, etc.

...creating your own magic based devices.

...glimpses of the seven races of Mythruna.

Some of these are not too far off and can be nice 30 second glimpses into "what's different".  Short and to the point.

I have a written story-board for a trailer.  I'm considering turning it into an simple mostly hand-drawn animatic when I have more concept art completed.  Then filling in the sections that get implemented as they come online.  I just have to see where the work takes me.

You know what would be very good for publicity purposes? if you could make a "glimpse into the future of mythruna" video and put it on youtube and your main site. that way you can at least have an example of what will make this game unique. even just one example at a time.

on another note, keep doing what you need to do at home. everyone here understands and no one is pressuring you. and if it seems like that then let me clarify, we are just excited

That would be useful for showing to people that say this is just a clone of Minecraft.

[Iggyjeckel]

also if he does a huge publicity push now...before stuff is actually implemented...who's to say someone from somewhere else doesnt go..."oh crap thats a great idea....lets add that to what we are working on" and then it would appear that paul has just been taking ideas from others...even though its the opposite.

if things get implemented first, and then goes public with those things, then people will see them and see it as an original, not just a copy

[Neuromancer]

I'm not looking for publicity at this point.
Also, if I can't quit my job then 100% of my free time would be spent managing others.  I'd never get to code again except fixing the stuff they break.

If you got $600k, you could hire a project manager.  They are easy to find, and you could spend all of your non day job time coding.  They could have you work on all the stuff you like working on, and the other developers could do all the grunt work fleshing out your ideas (or whatever it is you don't like doing).  Money can buy you whatever you want.  This isn't so unrealistic.  Mythruna, as it stands, is an incredible achievement.   Lots of people would be willing to get behind it.  Myself included.  I've seen some games on kickstarter get over $3 million.  Your game's potential is better than theirs.    Here's the thing, you can ask for $600,000.  Lots of projects get over-funded.  You could wind up still getting $3 million.  Then my friend your day job could be Mythruna.   That would be cool.  

You would have to hire good people, really good developers who wouldn't break things but could help you take Mythruna places you never imagined.  

[Iggyjeckel]

but what if he likes to do the coding himself (which if you are a programmer, then sometimes you see that additional people mean additional problems) having the additional funds would help yes, but money CANT buy you everything, sometimes money just creates more problems. if you wish to help, why not donate now?

[pspeed]

I'm not looking for publicity at this point.
Also, if I can't quit my job then 100% of my free time would be spent managing others.  I'd never get to code again except fixing the stuff they break.

If you got $600k, you could hire a project manager.  They are easy to find, and you could spend all of your non day job time coding.  They could have you work on all the stuff you like working on, and the other developers could do all the grunt work fleshing out your ideas (or whatever it is you don't like doing).  Money can buy you whatever you want.  This isn't so unrealistic.  Mythruna, as it stands, is an incredible achievement.   Lots of people would be willing to get behind it.  Myself included.  I've seen some games on kickstarter get over $3 million.  Your game's potential is better than theirs.    Here's the thing, you can ask for $600,000.  Lots of projects get over-funded.  You could wind up still getting $3 million.  Then my friend your day job could be Mythruna.   That would be cool.  

You would have to hire good people, really good developers who wouldn't break things but could help you take Mythruna places you never imagined.  

To get that kind of money, I would have to produce a video showing more than just another Minecraft clone.  That's a pretty huge time sink.

And that amount of money doesn't go as far as one might think.  I'd be lucky to afford a staff of three for a year with that (two decent devs and a project manager).  There is also the delay that comes from hiring decent folks... standard metric is 2-3 months.  Given that the situation is risky it's even tougher to find the right people... and bad hires are worse than no hires at all.  That amount would more than find my own time for a year or more but then I run into kind of a weird catch 22 where demand and expectations will still exceed what I can probably deliver.

Organic growth is slow and frustrating but it has it's perks.  The game succeeds and grows on its merits and there is little in the way of risk other than my time and a minimal amount of capital.  The downsides are that it's slow.

Also, people can already donate and already get perks.  It's just not an all or nothing-bandwagon thing.


After alpha (or closer to alpha), I may do a kickstarter to fund getting the real mod store done.  I will have a decent trailer video by then and can more easily speak to a lot of features.  Making decent web sites is not my favorite thing and there are many professionals who would do a better job, anyway.  Also, it's perfect for community funding because for some long period of time, the community will benefit from it more than Mythruna/Simsilica will from any tiny percentage I scape off.  The community gets a game-integrated place to explore and download free and $$ content from other community members, a way for server operators to easily charge subscriptions, etc... and Simsilica gets a tiny admin fee from the transactions.  It has to reach critical mass before it becomes a nice revenue stream to fund game development but from the first day it's useful to the community.  Also, if the project doesn't get funded then it's a good sign that the community isn't there for the feature anyway.

By then I will have a better idea of what that after-market will look like and the risks involved, too.  I can then better estimate the amount of community funding required versus the potential of securing other funding... though I really think it's perfect for 100% community funding.  At any rate, the perceived growth rate will aid in planning for staff and development.  All questions we'll have to wait and see on.