Notes

Massively Exclusive: Jacobs on Camelot Unchained's Kickstarter home Stretch

Camelot Unchained is close to finishing its Kickstarter adventure. As as of press time, there are just a few days left. City State's fantasy RvR sandbox stands at just $1.82 million of its $2 million target, so Mark Jacobs has penned a diary of development that aims to push the game's funding to the highest levels.



Jacobs discusses the many difficulties that come with managing a Kickstarter campaign and an ambitious MMORPG project, and he discusses the highlights of the former which include three factions of RvR, Minecraft-style building options, and an engine designed specifically for the project that can easily handle hundreds of concurrent players at over 200 frames per second. In the end, Jacobs thanks CU's current backers, whom he says have been incredibly supportive in the form of $160 in pledges.



After the cut, Jacobs' complete diary can be found.



Dev diary



As I write this, the Camelot Unchained Kickstarter is getting close to the end with just 38 hours to go. Our total stands at $1.73million. Every comparable game has had a great final day, so even though we're still not at our goal of $2 million yet, we're pretty hopeful.



No matter what happens I will always be thankful to our supporters. They've been absolutely amazing. Our current average pledge is $160. This is an amazing feat. I've watched quite a few crowdfunded games but there hasn't been a single one that has been in the same ballpark. Some have raised more dollars, but they've all done so by attracting more people at a lot less per head, more like $55 to $60. We knew that Camelot Unchained was more of a niche game, and because of this we anticipated that our average would be higher. However, as they say, "never in our wildest dreams ..."



This is just one aspect that is quantifiable. What is the best way to measure enthusiasm? Or the level of emotional buy-in? Or positive attitude? I'm not sure however, if I could, I know our fans would be beyond belief. As a result, they have been a source of inspiration for me and our whole team to a level that is beyond anything we could have imagined or even imagined. For this too I am forever and deeply grateful,



I'm also incredibly happy with the team we have. Every single person here has give more than I could have thought of asking. We knew at the time we began that, with just 12 of us, planning and conducting an Kickstarter campaign would require lots of work. We thought we were up to tackle it. The sheer magnitude of the job exceeded our expectations. Everyone stepped up to the challenge, and worked not just for long hours but also on weekends to keep us on the right path. We had to contend with the usual spate of illnesses and injury as well as today's excitement and frolic Amazon Payments servers being down for four hours certainly was an unexpected challenge.



Assuming we stay the course and fund, we'll soon begin an even bigger adventure, and actually develop the game. Even a MMOG with a narrower scope isn't easy to create. It will not be easy but I don't think so. It will be enjoyable and rewarding. It's been a while since I've had the chance to meet the vast majority of gamers in a gaming community. With their help, I believe Camelot Unchained can be something unique. My job is to make sure that it is. I pledge to my team that we will do all things possible to fulfill the faith that we have received from our supporters.



I'm pleased to say we've already taken a few positive strides in this direction. A good example is the work that Andrew Meggs has done on our engine. We looked at many commercial options and realized that we needed a solution that could let us concentrate on large-scale battles and not just a "jack all trades" solution that could be able to support different kinds of games. As anyone who's participated in our tech demos can confirm that we've come a long way in just a month or so. We have hundreds of players in a tiny space and fighting, and we consistently play at more than 200 frames per second. All of this was playing with other players across the globe.



Another highlight is our building system. Crafting will be an integral aspect of our game and our crafters will be able perform a lot more than create weapons as well as armor and other pieces of equipment. They will also build homes as well as other structures, and defensive structures. Minecraft Servers A modular building block-like system uses a combination o individual "cells" and larger "prefabs". They'll also be able "blueprint" their creations, which allows them to be duplicated, rebuilt or repaired faster than having to start from scratch each time. This is unlike anything I've seen before in a MMOG. It's actually more in the vein of similar building games like sandboxes, such as Minecraft.



Camelot Unchained's heart will be RvR between the Arthurians, Tuatha De Danann and Vikings. I encourage anyone who likes this type of gameplay to check out what we're aiming to create. If you like what see and read, there's enough time left to make an offer. :)


Read More: https://proximal.org/