Omnimaga

General Discussion => Technology and Development => Computer Projects and Ideas => Topic started by: Kerey on June 13, 2013, 01:42:41 am

Title: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on June 13, 2013, 01:42:41 am
Hello everyone! It's great to see that the TI community is alive and well after my many year absence.

You may know me as the author of The Shadow of Narkemen, the RPG for TI-82/83. After a stint in the real software world at Amazon, I've decided to return to my roots of game development along with two of my friends. We are working on an online turn-based strategy game, and will be doing a Kickstarter next month. We would be especially thrilled to have the support of anyone who enjoyed my old TI games.

Some brief features:

EDIT: We are now live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/tooth-and-cog-turn-based-strategy-game (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/tooth-and-cog-turn-based-strategy-game)

More info is available at our website:
http://www.rivetinggames.com/ (http://www.rivetinggames.com/)

Also we'd appreciate it if you add us on Twitter and Facebook. We're actually trying to decide on a game title now, so let us know if you have any thoughts.
https://twitter.com/Riveting_Games (https://twitter.com/Riveting_Games)
https://www.facebook.com/RivetingGames (https://www.facebook.com/RivetingGames)

Thanks!
Kerey
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: TIfanx1999 on June 13, 2013, 07:47:42 am
Hello Kerey, welcome to Omnimaga. It's always nice to see old community members around. Sounds pretty nice that you're working on a new online game. Best of luck with that! :)
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Sorunome on June 13, 2013, 07:47:48 am
Nice, i hope that you can pull it through, it's sounding cool!
Good luck with it!
EDIT: 6 seconds ninja? HOW???????????? lol
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on June 17, 2013, 05:42:22 pm
Heya and welcome here. I remember the Narkemen series and even visited the website a few times. Too bad it wasn't finished, but I was glad to try the first Narkemen game on emulator a while back because it's quite good.

Glad you are still doing video games, even if not for calcs. I wish you good luck with your new project! :)
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: aeTIos on June 17, 2013, 05:48:35 pm
Can't wait to see what it turns out to :D
Just make sure to not piss off players with overpowered in game premium stuff (that you must purchase)
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on June 17, 2013, 08:48:25 pm
Thanks for the support everyone!

@aeTIos: no worries, we're on the same page as far as premium items go. We are not fans of F2P games ourselves when they cram that stuff down your throat.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: tr1p1ea on June 17, 2013, 09:03:31 pm
Hey! Kerey Roper if i recall correctly? TSoN was awesome.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on June 17, 2013, 09:53:19 pm
Yep that's him. I actually figured out when I saw his post on MaxCoderz forums, but I guess if I didn't see it I would have remembered after reading "Narkemen" :)

And yeah personally I don't mind premium stuff, but not if it's required to buy it in order to avoid grinding for 8 hours just for a single level up or if with the free version we can only play through like 1 dungeon, and I especially hate individual games that has a monthly fee like World of Warcraft, Final Fantasy XI and XIV. Xbox Live or PS4 online fees plus the Internet bill are already enough, so I don't want to have to pay $9.99 a month just for one single game.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Sorunome on June 18, 2013, 03:22:25 am
As long as it is Free to Play i'll maybe give it a try :)
And tons of online games have premoium stuff to buy extras or gait quicker progress and I don't mind that, i just don't buy it, have better things to spend my money on.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on June 18, 2013, 02:51:23 pm
Quote from: Sorunome on June 18, 2013, 03:22:25 am
better things to spend my money on.
Especially when I hear stuff about MMORPG companies going bankrupt then shutting everything down as a result, causing people who invested years of time and hundreds of bucks in the game to lose everything. Granted, it takes money to support the MMORPG, but I think I would just put in-game ads and make everything dirt cheap so people will feel more like buying it.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: aeTIos on June 18, 2013, 03:08:32 pm
Quote from: Kerey on June 17, 2013, 08:48:25 pm
@aeTIos: no worries, we're on the same page as far as premium items go. We are not fans of F2P games ourselves when they cram that stuff down your throat.
Glad you have the same view on that :D You could have premium skins or so though (like, fancy outfits for your units or so)
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: pimathbrainiac on June 18, 2013, 03:10:09 pm
Hey, may I beta test???

/me wants to REALLY badly
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Scipi on June 18, 2013, 03:57:03 pm
Hmm, there's not too many good online strategy games out there. It'll be interesting to see where this goes and how it develops.
Title: Re: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Streetwalrus on June 19, 2013, 03:25:06 am
Quote from: aeTIos on June 18, 2013, 03:08:32 pm
Quote from: Kerey on June 17, 2013, 08:48:25 pm
@aeTIos: no worries, we're on the same page as far as premium items go. We are not fans of F2P games ourselves when they cram that stuff down your throat.
Glad you have the same view on that :D You could have premium skins or so though (like, fancy outfits for your units or so)
Agreed. I hate expensive game breaking purchases, but cool cheap items are OK for me. ;)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 02, 2013, 03:45:05 am
Hey, just wanted to update this thread with our new game title, Tooth and Cog. And while I'm at it and feeling generous, I'll leave you guys with some concept art.

(http://www.rivetinggames.com/wordpress/wp-content/uploads/2013/07/concept21.png)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Sorunome on July 02, 2013, 05:12:59 am
The name sounds interesting and I like the art, nice work on it :)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Streetwalrus on July 02, 2013, 11:21:05 am
That does look pretty epic. :D
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: TIfanx1999 on July 02, 2013, 03:47:59 pm
Steam punk stylized art? Very nice, that looks quite awesome! :D
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on July 02, 2013, 03:55:31 pm
Looks very nice. :) Could you give more details on the title and its background by the way or is it to be revealed later? I am wondering what does Cog means, for example.
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 02, 2013, 04:00:34 pm
Thanks! I'd love to be able to take credit for it, but all the talent was provided by Anthony, one of the artists we are working with.

Yeah, we're going with a steampunk aesthetic and having the world influence the gameplay too. For example, you'll be able to discover ancient artifacts to unlock building epic machines.

We picked the name because it goes with the steampunk world we are creating. Tooth and Cog is a bit redundant of a name, as they refer to the same part of a gear or cogwheel, but it's a silly pun in English as well. I'll leave it as an exercise to figure that part out. :)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: tr1p1ea on July 02, 2013, 07:26:43 pm
The concept art looks great!

What stage of planning is the project at?
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 03, 2013, 12:19:15 am
Hey tr1p! How've you been? Somehow I must have missed your other post.

We've basically got a playable Alpha, but due to a lack of features compared to the vision, it doesn't meet our standards for being fun. We are aware of most of the shortcomings, and have plans on how to fix them, but it's a process that takes time as you know. The game itself is also not pretty enough for mass consumption yet, but we've made substantial progress in that area too.
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: tr1p1ea on July 03, 2013, 12:21:46 am
Ive been well!

Ill be keeping an eager eye on this project as it progresses. Im sure your talents will shine through once this baby nears completion :).
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: aeTIos on July 03, 2013, 12:30:38 am
FYI a cog also is a medieval ship.
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 08, 2013, 05:21:49 am
We're about to go live on Kickstarter! Here's a preview link for any last minute feedback:
Spoiler For Spoiler:
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/1257205995?token=d25beaa0 (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/1257205995?token=d25beaa0)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: pimathbrainiac on July 08, 2013, 10:17:08 am
The guy talking in the beginning needs to have more excitement, but at a believable level, if that makes sense
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Scipi on July 08, 2013, 11:13:47 pm
Quote from: pimathbrainiac on July 08, 2013, 10:17:08 am
The guy talking in the beginning needs to have more excitement, but at a believable level, if that makes sense

I agree, he sounds a bit too lackluster. You can tell it's from a script. Though if pitched correctly, more like he'd addressing a crowd, it's a good intro. It just needs be a bit louder with more of a sweeping tone. Like he's talking to a great number of people.

Also, it would do well to explain some of the mechanics of the game in the video while you are showing gameplay footage. I like the look and the apparent gameplay mechanics the game has (especially the hex map and the grand strategy genre feel it seems to have), but I couldn't tell what it is you are actually doing in the gameplay footage or how those systems work to make me interested (from a theoretical standpoint, I already am interested) :P

Else it looks solid with a realistic kickstarter goal. I'll back it when it goes up.
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 09, 2013, 12:15:35 am
Thanks guys, maybe I'll put acting lessons as a stretch goal.

Is it mostly the audio track of the intro? I can try to redub it, but I've never synced with lips before, so I dunno how good it will turn out. Unfortunately, reshooting the video portion is a bit difficult, as Sam is in another state and some of the props were borrowed.

For the in-game footage, we've got a ton more flexibility, and that is meant to be a more trailer-style intro to the game. We'll have a longer, more gameplay-oriented video as well. In this sense, is the brief footage enough to make you want to learn more? We tried to keep it short and sweet.
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 15, 2013, 09:27:34 am
Woohoo, we are live on Kickstarter!
http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/tooth-and-cog-turn-based-strategy-game (http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/630327008/tooth-and-cog-turn-based-strategy-game)

Help us spread the word!
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Scipi on July 15, 2013, 04:13:53 pm
Great to hear :D

$600 raised already. Looks like you guys are up to a good start. :P
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 19, 2013, 09:20:13 pm
Yay! Excellent discussion going on in /r/civ and /r/truegaming http://bit.ly/155sfzt (http://bit.ly/155sfzt). Now this is why I got back into game design!

Please upvote to help us get our name out in the broader world of gaming. Thanks!
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on July 27, 2013, 06:19:38 pm
I'll look into pouring some money in this if my finances allow it next week or so. :)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: Kerey on July 30, 2013, 07:18:23 pm
Awesome! I appreciate it and remember there are plenty of other ways to support us too, like telling your friends who might be interested.

As an update, we've finally gotten some press coverage on Rock, Paper, Shotgun!
http://bit.ly/1c7mnLx (http://bit.ly/1c7mnLx)

And a podcast interview on Darkstation!
http://bit.ly/12DdYwj (http://bit.ly/12DdYwj)
Title: Re: Tooth and Cog: Online Strategy Game
Post by: DJ Omnimaga on July 31, 2013, 12:38:04 am
Wow awesome to hear and congrats! :D It seems that the comments in general are quite positive.

Off-topic: Regarding the kickstarter ad unrelated to your project in one of the news (I can't reply there since I don't feel like making an account yet, so I'll say it here), I believe that some ads work this way: You allocate a certain budget and how much you want to spend daily, then you target a certain demographic or region. The higher you spend, the higher the chances your ad will display when opening the page, but if you choose a wider audience, this might reduce the display chances. The budget is slowly depleted based on clicks (more expensive but more reliable) or page views. Once the entire budget has been depleted, the ad no longer displays at all. It's possible that they allocated an high amount of money to keep the ad displayed for a while, but the page got less traffic than expected. Another possible cause is that they might have chosen to allocate their ad budget every month but forgot to cancel it.