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Charlotte’s Dream Kickstarter

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Hello, fans of classic adventure games. My name is Robert Guiscard, and I’ve just launched a Kickstarter for a game called Charlotte’s Dream.

More information on Kickstarter: Charlotte’s Dream Kickstarter


Charlotte’s Dream is a game that I started working on when I was barely 12 years old, during the golden era of adventure games. Games such as Monkey Island, Beneath a Steel Sky and Legend of Kyrandia inspired me to make my own. I started working on it on the Commodore Amiga, with a little program called GRAC2 (by Edmund Clay). Suffice to say that completing an entire game is a bit demanding for a mere 12 year old, so it never got finished. Plus there were technical limits that fortunately no longer exist.

Now 20 years later, I’m an experience game designer, and I have decided to finish this childhood project of mine. However, I wanted to make sure that the game retained its nostalgia factor, so I remained faithful to the pixelated style and the limited colors.

The game has been completely redone in an all new engine (No more GRAC2 of course). The new and improved Charlotte’s Dream will feature role playing elements, and of course updated graphics and controls. It also features a crafting system, and has a color blind option.

Unlike most Kickstarter games, a lot of the game has already been made, as you can see in the Kickstarter video. So this should you give you a good idea of what to expect from the full game.

For more information, you can also check out the website,
or follow the project on Twitter.

The goal is to release the game for PC, possibly through Steam. If you would like to see this game be made, then please spread the news, and back it on Kickstarter. I thank you for your time.

     
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Total Posts: 259

Joined 2004-03-09

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This looks great. I strongly encourage you to put more images or an unedited gameplay video from the game on your Kickstarter page. As high as possible as people don’t scroll much. I’m not even sure the main video is even clicked that often these days.

Have you discussed or mentioned this game before? Because I can’t help feeling that I read about Charlotte’s Dream sometime before Smile

     

Senscape // Founder // Designer | Working on: Asylum | Twitter: @AgustinCordes

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Total Posts: 259

Joined 2004-03-09

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You might want to include some more details about the story as well. Who’s Charlotte? What is she looking for? Lots of interest for female characters in the industry, so it would be wise to stress this quality of the game.

     

Senscape // Founder // Designer | Working on: Asylum | Twitter: @AgustinCordes

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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First of all, thanks for the complements. I’m glad you like it. I haven’t posted about this game before (I’m a new user), but perhaps the title has a familiar ring to it. I’ll definitely include some more screenshots of the game on the Kickstarter page, like I did on the website, so thanks for that advise. I’ll also add some more details regarding the story.

I also recommend to anyone that wants to see more of this game, to check out the screenshots on the webpage.

Cheers,

Robert

     

Total Posts: 343

Joined 2012-03-13

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It is interesting that you are going to have a color-blind option for puzzles. It had never occurred to me before that so many puzzles rely on color and that people who are color-blind would naturally have problems with this.

     
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Total Posts: 259

Joined 2004-03-09

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I tweeted about it and I’m hoping the pledges pick up soon. The 60 days limit probably wasn’t a good idea, but that shouldn’t be an issue.

The game looks (and sounds!) fascinating.

     

Senscape // Founder // Designer | Working on: Asylum | Twitter: @AgustinCordes

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Indeed, not many games take into account that there are quite a lot of people with this sort of disability. More than most of us think.

The game will have an option to toggle a puzzle to color blind mode, so you can see clear color labels when ever this is important for a puzzle.

The backgrounds will also all be tested for their readability for various kinds of color blindness. Because not everyone is blind to the same colors.

Thanks for your support Agustín Cordes!

     
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Total Posts: 197

Joined 2015-05-25

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This sounds interesting Smile

Your story is a bit similar to mine (a game started at childhood after playing some classics, though I was older and did finish mine)

I can’t help but think you may be asking for too much money, though. I know, you probably need that to complete it - but nowadays, it seems you just can’t ask for the real amount of money…

Especially after some big game projects lied about their true budgets (Yooka Laylee, Bloodstained, Shenmue 3… main goal is 1/10th of the real budget they need) so people believe we shouldn’t ask that much for small projects. The general public has NO IDEA how much it costs to make a game.

It’s a shame because it kinda distracts from the goal of Kickstarter (to fund games), but people pledge much less nowadays than they did 2-3 years ago.

I intend to launch a Kickstarter for my game in the coming months, and the game seems interesting, so I’ll follow your project. Smile

     

French creator & solo developer of “BROK the InvestiGator” (coming soon) and “Demetrios” (Available on PC, iOS, Android, PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita and Nintendo Switch)

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Thanks for your support COWCAT, and yes I agree, it can be difficult with the funding and all. People tend to forget that taxes take a big cut as well, and there are a lot of additional costs involved. I do assure everyone that these are the exact costs of making the game. I made sure to include a lot of actual game play in the Kickstarter video, so people can see that this is a real game, and not just some trick.

Small games like this need to rely on a lot of publicity to get funded, so if you like this project, put the word out, spread the news.

     
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Total Posts: 197

Joined 2015-05-25

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I have retweeted your Kickstarter announcement, hopefully this helps Smile

     

French creator & solo developer of “BROK the InvestiGator” (coming soon) and “Demetrios” (Available on PC, iOS, Android, PS4, Xbox One, PS Vita and Nintendo Switch)

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Much appreciated COWCAT! Cheers!  Smile

     
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Total Posts: 278

Joined 2012-12-22

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Looks pretty cool. Think you’ve captured the retro essence.

     

Story rich DRM-free games for Windows, Mac and linux for direct download - https://fireflowergames.com/. Half the profit goes to projects that benefit the environment and game related projects.

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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Thank you for your compliments. And I guarantee that the game will also feature those lovely floppy loading screens. Smile

     

Total Posts: 182

Joined 2012-01-08

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I like the attention to detail like the loading screens and that changes like the freezing of the lake are animated.

I agree that the trailer seems to tell us mainly your story and not the story of the game characters.I have honestly no idea if that’s a good or bad idea. Perhaps try to do both?
Anyway, while mentioning the 12 year old you is a good way to tell people what this is all about and make them relate to it, I’d be more interested in the outlook of the present you. Because while many of us had that book or game or movie they wanted to make as a kid and might empathize with you, most of us had to realize at one point that our brilliant idea wasn’t so brilliant after all. So tell us what makes your idea different and add your credentials and experience to the trailer. Maybe add a part were you address people directly.
Don’t count on people reading though the whole Kickstarter page.

Also I’d avoid important sounding but ultimately empty phrases like: “Conceived during the golden age of adventure games.”
That really tells me nothing more than this will be an attempt at a classic adventure game. The “conceived” part makes it sound to me like you think that’s some guarantee of quality and makes your game special. In the text you have many actual selling points, so I’d rather mention them.

About the money: That can go either way. I think the main deciding factor is to get as much coverage as possible.
Personally I’m always hesitant to give money to one man projects that look like they started as a hobby and could be finished as such. I know that’s completely wrong and unreasonable, but it is what it is. So that side of me would need a reason why you need the money, and I don’t really care if I get the game in half a year or two years.

I realize the right reaction should be: “I like this idea and I’d like this guy to be able to fulfill his dream so I give him some money.” And luckily there are still people like that out there, but with the plethora of Kickstarters asking for support that’s not how it works anymore in my case, unless I’m totally blown away.

     
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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Thanks for your insightful comments Shnubble. Somewhere this week I will release a video that will reveal more about the game itself, and how it is different from the games of old (because it IS different). As for the original trailer, I wanted the initial trailer to focus on the story behind the game, rather than the game itself. Nostalgia is an important aspect of the project, and I wanted to convey to my audience how this game is kind of like opening a time capsule.

And you are right. While rebuilding a game from your youth, you will come across a lot of things that on second thought were not such a great idea after all. 12 year old me had no concept of how to design a game. So looking at the game as an adult, you’ll notice plenty of things that could use improvement. In the next few days I’ll try and post some behind-the-scenes articles in the update section of the Kickstarter page. I’ll go into detail on what has changed, both visually, technically, and conceptually.

This week I have posted a short article that shows how a lot of the background graphics are being updated:

Pixels all the way - Creating the environments of Charlotte’s Dream.

You’ll be able to see what a backdrop originally looked like, as drawn by 12 year old me, and how changes are made to the details, perspective, puzzles and lay out of the scene.

     
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Total Posts: 15

Joined 2015-06-22

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Small update. I have just revealed the backer reward for anyone that pledges €500 or more, this handmade Charlotte doll. Every doll is unique and in limited supply, since they are handmade. They come with their own clothes, and a little backpack that contains a little map.  Heart

The Skull of Lies hairpin is a separate reward for anyone that pledges €100 or more. The rewards stack, so if you get the doll, then you also get the hairpin. The Skull of Lies fits neatly inside mini Charlotte’s backpack.

     

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