Republique (story driven stealth game by Camouflaj Studios, founded by Ryan Payton)

[robertto]

So awesome republique made it. Love anything to do with big budget ios games. Congratulations to RP and the gang.

However i'm extremely disappointed by Eli's attitute, and more so his conduct and demeanour. keep in mind this is coming from a touch arcade fanboy, ive read the site for years since the heady NGmoco days, and listened to every podcast since the reboot, but i dont think i will continue to recommend the website, and have been soured on the podcast.

Eli is completely entitled to his opinion, but i feel let down disheartened.

[diffusion8r]

Originally Posted by robertto

So awesome republique made it. Love anything to do with big budget ios games. Congratulations to RP and the gang.

However i'm extremely disappointed by Eli's attitute, and more so his conduct and demeanour. keep in mind this is coming from a touch arcade fanboy, ive read the site for years since the heady NGmoco days, and listened to every podcast since the reboot, but i dont think i will continue to recommend the website, and have been soured on the podcast.

Eli is completely entitled to his opinion, but i feel let down disheartened.

So you're disappointed that his opinion isn't the same as yours? I thought he is 'completely entitled to his opinion'. If he doesn't like the game and Kickstarter, yet you do, that is a difference in opinion and so not recommending the site based on that is contradicting yourself and not allowing him an opinion.

[syntheticvoid]

Wasn't there suppose to be a separate thread for that crap?

[squarezero]

Originally Posted by syntheticvoid

Wasn't there suppose to be a separate thread for that crap?

It was deleted.

[syntheticvoid]

Originally Posted by squarezero

It was deleted.

Ah, gotcha... Maybe that should tell us somethin?

[squarezero]

Originally Posted by syntheticvoid

Ah, gotcha... Maybe that should tell us somethin?

Yes, it does. But let me state it more clearly:

This thread exists to discuss Republique as an upcoming game. Any discussion about Kickstarter as a concept should go on the Lounge or (perhaps) the developer's section. Discussions about the whole NeoGAF drama, what Eli said or didn't say about Kickstarter, and any of the soap-operaish nonesense associated with that can be held in a different forum altogether.

[arta]

http://www.slidetoplay.com/story/sli...st-141-e3-2012

On this week's Slide To Play podcast, Shawn and Andrew take some time during E3 in Los Angeles to talk about the best upcoming iOS games we played at the show. Then, we snag an interview with Ryan Payton, one of the developers behind the million-dollar iOS game, Republique. Read on for your shownotes and links!

[arta]

http://www.edge-online.com/features/...oper-camouflaj

Given the slick-looking art and well-produced promotional material for République, you could be forgiven for imagining that developer Camouflaj LLC was a well-funded startup with sleek offices. But next to the gleaming modern towers of Bellevue, Washington – which host well-established studios such as Valve, Sucker Punch and 5th Cell – the building that Camouflaj calls home looks as though it’s seen much better days.

“The roof leaks when it rains, and the bathroom smells throughout the whole building,” says Ryan Payton, the studio’s founder and owner. “We have a really slow Internet connection. They won’t upgrade the wiring because the place is going to be bulldozed within a year. If I need to send a big file, I go home and send it from there – it’s faster.”

There’s good reason for the cut-rate digs, though: Camouflaj is operating on Payton’s life savings. And the team’s ambitious goal – to bring a weighty, emotionally engaging, narrative-driven stealth-action game to the iPhone – comes with the added mandate to do so while working with a fraction of the budget for a typical console title. This ambitious project will live or die based on the team’s ability to make a little stretch a long way.

[snip]

[Estupendo1]

Originally Posted by arta

http://www.edge-online.com/features/...oper-camouflaj

Sweet, Edge does awesome articles. Big fan of their media.

Yeah, I admire the ambition of this project greatly, to get a kick-ass aaa-quality title on mobile platforms and I think it was the best decision they made to go cross-platform and include PC, that way the 500k makes a lot more sense, is less risky.

Just a risk to go with a film-like game on mobile due to the cost of the graphics, audio. And I hope that there is some good gameplay included. For eg I often see comments that applaud Thief for it's stealth gameplay. So it would be good if we see this married with the quality assets. And the question of how much replayability is the next one on the list for me? So from the pov of genre I'm sceptical. But,

from the pov of the mobile market, there's too much freemium junk the size of Texas in the app store, so to see an aaa console quality title on mobile would be just the right thing. Maybe it's a bit like an interactive movie and the power of these smart devices could be a promising path for this stuff? Hollywood watch out!

[arta]

Ryan Payton wrote a 5 page article detailed with charts and personal reflection on the Kickstarter campaign. Here's the highly abridged version with a link to the full article.

http://www.gamasutra.com/view/featur...publiques_.php

How Camouflaj saved République's Kickstarter
by Ryan Payton

I was driving across Seattle's 520 bridge on a beautiful, sunny afternoon on the third day of our Kickstarter campaign, dazed and confused, and momentarily considered hitting the red "abort mission" button on our whole Kickstarter. Fifty-five hours into our campaign and we had only gathered 11 percent of our funding goal.

Even worse, I had just glanced at our backer list and recognized nearly half of the names: mostly friends and family. Over 95 percent of visitors aren't pledging. Our funding goal of $500,000 didn't feel "aggressive" anymore, but impossible. We were getting hundreds of thousands of views on our Kickstarter and nobody was pledging, but I knew that they're definitely keeping an eye on us... And if we gave up, what would that say about my team, our game République, and me?

It was then that I recommitted myself to doing whatever it took to run a great Kickstarter campaign, even though I was certain we wouldn't achieve our aggressive $500,000 funding goal unless by some kind of miracle. I decided that I would do this without distracting the team anymore, as we were running low on money and couldn't afford to spend a month running a Kickstarter instead of developing the game.

As the indigo toll bridge lights scanned my car and I unwillingly coughed up $3 to the state of Washington, I thought, "How am I going to get 10,000 people to willingly pre-order our iPhone game on Kickstarter?"

What Went Wrong

1. Too Polished
2. It's a Marathon, Not a Sprint
3. Understanding What Was Wrong
4. Late To The Party
5. The Emotional Toll


What Went Right

1. Exhaustive Prep Work
2. Focus On The Team and Game Vision
3. Staying True To The Vision
4. Generating Buzz
5. Friends Who Kept Hope Alive


Final Thoughts



Three months later, it's fun to look back at the crazy 30 days we spent promoting our Kickstarter, and is equally rewarding now being an alumni and offering guidance to future Kickstarter hopefuls. But we feel like this is still only the beginning -- we've got a year to deliver on our promises, not only because we want to make a great game, but also because we feel like we owe it to the 11,611 friends who backed République.