Incline Colony Ship RELEASE THREAD

[Nikanuur]

Well, dear Vault Dweller, come what may, I wanted to at least thank you for your continuous support, the awesome games you gave us, and last but not least—your activity here on RPG Codex.

 

[Lord_Potato]

What are you working on right now anyway? Preproduction of CS sequel? AoD Sequel? New title?

Most likely CS is our last game so none of the above. We'll continue improving CS throughout 2024.

Well, if this is what it seems to be, having played all your games to completion I can say it certainly was a good run.

But I hope this won't be the case.

 

[Goral]

If the situation is so dire then why not going with Kickstarter (ask for money that would allow you to continue, if you won't raise it then so be it) or Patreon? Unless you're bored with making RPGs and prefer to do something else. Your games were always very niche for special kind of players so it's not surprising that they don't sell too well.

 

[Vault Dweller]

I don't think that Patreon would work at all. As for KS, it gives you a bit of money and then you start looking for a publisher. It's not something we're interested in.

 

[EverlastingLove]

Kickstarter and Patreon are also quite powerful marketing tools. Patreon is also a source of steady income and a way to interact better with your fans or should I say - fans of your work.

 

[donmaslanoz14]

I don't think that Patreon would work at all.

WHY DON'T YOU JUST FUCKING TRY
I WANT TO GIVE YOU MY MONEY

 

[Tyranicon]

My 2 cents from someone who has run five successful kickstarters and had a patreon account for a while.

Kickstarter is a marketing tool first and foremost. Don't discount it's reach, even today when most people have wizened up to the fact that most game projects on that platform are scams. Since Iron Tower Studios has an outstanding reputation, you would do well there. But, and this is a huge but, if you run a kickstarter for a large game, it will essentially lock you into that project and you'll take a very large reputation hit if you flake out or run away with the money. Don't campaign for projects that take years and years, people are fatigued by failures and scams.

Patreon is not really an option for unless you want to veer into adult games, there simply isn't the support there for other gamedevs. Even I really just use it as a tip jar because it requires a lot of work that I unfortunately don't have time to put in. Also people are hurting for money right now, so there will be fewer longterm fans that are willing to basically give you free money.

Ultimately, both are only going to amount to a small, small fraction of your steam sales revenue, so view them as mostly marketing platforms, not some kind of financial solution.

 

[Goral]

As for KS, it gives you a bit of money and then you start looking for a publisher.

Ultimately, both are only going to amount to a small, small fraction of your steam sales revenue

That depends on the amount of money you would ask and that's why I've said that you should ask for the amount that would finance the whole game (without any publisher) and if you won't raise then so be it.

 

[Vault Dweller]

There's zero chance of us getting even a third of what we need, I can tell you that much without even trying. That's why nobody ever asks for it. Obsidian asked for 1.1 mil not because they thought it might be enough, even though the game ended up costing them 8 mil.

 

[Lhynn]

What are you working on right now anyway? Preproduction of CS sequel? AoD Sequel? New title?

Most likely CS is our last game so none of the above. We'll continue improving CS throughout 2024.

Spoiler

In b4 years down the line we get a new release with the sweet baby treatment

 

[Agesilaus]

What are you working on right now anyway? Preproduction of CS sequel? AoD Sequel? New title?

Most likely CS is our last game so none of the above...

I do not consent. Therefore, you must continue to make games. Simple as.

 

[JarlFrank]

Can't you just switch your diet to roots like a certain Frenchman?

 

[Beans00]

This is going to be harsh, but if you wanted to make more games, you should have made better games.

Atom and Underrail are slightly larger and I believe slightly smaller teams. Their games are more successful because they managed to find their own niche and actually make something players wanted. Atom made east slav fallout, then did it again. Now they're making east slav baldurs gate. Underrail made serbian tunnel simulator, and they made 2 expansions and are doing it again with a full sequel.

Nobody except a few autists on this forum wants to play an RPG with shitty CYOA events that remove player agency. No one wants to play an rpg where every single character is generic nihilistic autist. It's pure trash design and writing. For all the interesting world building in AOD and even CS it's undermined by how retarded every character is.

Somehow the strongest part of AOD/DR was the combat. Not sure how ITS managed it but despite some annoying railroaded encounters because the devs don't understand player agency. I found it to be consistently pretty fun. Now the combat in CS is garbage and basically feels like a worse version of dead state.

It frankly boggles my mind that ITS didn't fix the flaws AOD had, and instead doubled down on them and spent 5 years making a somehow worse game.


Several old codexers who are genuinely well respected(at least for their game opinions) have agreed with me about this game. I'm assuming they just can't be bothered to stir the hornets nest of fanboys.

 

[CRD]

maybe this doesn't help, but talking about this on another non english forum where I opened threads for your games, on the colony ship one, 2 persons that play a lot of crpg, said they didn't even know it was released already and they thought it was still on EA.

Maybe shipping an update as "big" or rework, or something similar that gaming sites love to report about, could do something for your marketing and help the sales. Or maybe those 2 were simply outliers, but could be taken into account to see if a small marketing campaign could help the studio to live and if not, to at least not lose money on all the time you took to make this gem.

Another one chimed in to say that he was following the game, but waiting for a translation even if it was fan made

hope for the best

Several old codexers who are genuinely well respected(at least for their game opinions) have agreed with me about this game. I'm assuming they just can't be bothered to stir the hornets nest of fanboys.

I don't consider myself a fanboy of anyone at all, and I really liked this game and their setting. I do really think there is a market for them, but probably they failed on the marketing.

There's even some respected youtubers like mortismal who have this game as one of their favourites because the scenario, dialogues and C&C.

You may not like it, and you may be even right about how people don't like CS, but it's not because is a shitty game, it's a good one.

 

[std::namespace]

Several old codexers who are genuinely well respected(at least for their game opinions) have agreed with me about this game.

you should just fucking off yourself

 

[Tacgnol]

Not to pile on, but I definitely was much less of a fan of CS than I was AOD. It felt like it had a bit of an identity crisis as to what it was supposed to be.

Still, I'm disappointed to hear about ITS and I wish VD all the best in his future endeavours.

 

[Abu Antar]

Generally, I liked it, but the game did get worse as you got further into the story. The last few areas, and especially the faction locations were underwhelming. I'm also not sure learn-by-doing was a good choice. It really felt like you had to grognard your way through the game at points.

Would I call it a bad game? Not really. Do I prefer AoD and DR over CS? Yes.

 

[Lhynn]

Its a bad game. Why are people trying to soften their blows? Why are you trying to be polite? Its actually harmful being like that. (I refuse to believe people actually enjoy this shit. Every time either I get a non answer, or they tell me they hated everything, but it somehow worked for them. Fuck off, thats not a thing.)

The game is shit, its dull and boring. Its mechanics are a strange mix, the writing makes you just want to get on with your actual life instead of spending time with these assholes. The pacing is jarring, one moment you are walking around an area, the next you are teleporting around areas by picking dialogue options. Progression is silly, though I'm beating on a dead horse. Character system isnt engaging at all.

Its why I say dungeon rats is ITS best game, at least the design was consistent and the writing didnt get in the way of my enjoyment. There was a very good difficulty curve for someone that enjoyed a challenge.

Thing is, lack of marketing in this day and age is rarely an excuse. Games tend to find their audience.

But what is CS audience? I know it certainly isnt me. I only bought this shit because I post on the same forum, and I only waste my time sharing feedback because contrary to what you retards may think, nothing makes me happier than watching small devs with potential succeed.

 

[thesecret1]

I definitely was much less of a fan of CS than I was AOD

I think that's the popular sentiment around here. I don't think the game was as bad as some make it out to be (as I've noted in my review earlier, anyway), I'd say the game was a pretty solid 6/10. Unfortunately, 6/10 won't really bring in the sales nor spread the word of mouth – while I've never missed an opportunity to promote AoD any time I could, I can't really bring myself to shill CS.

 

[Tenebris]

I enjoyed my time with it. I liked it enough to buy copies for a couple of my friends even. I do wish the quality of the writing had stayed consistent from the beginning to the end though. The further into the game you got the more rushed it felt. Even some companion dialogue as I've mentioned before got too same-y. Ending every conversation with "Lets keep moving" was very noticeable. When it comes to the setting and combat though you completely nailed it. I hope you change your mind on the Kickstarter even if it means going for something smaller scale like a prequel or something to allow you to reuse assets.

 

[Tyranicon]

I didn't like CS enough to finish it, but I think it was more a matter of taste than anything else. There's a lot in the design here that I respect, but the writing and teleporty sequences weren't for me. That being said, the steam reviews are something like 87% positive, so clearly the game clicked with some people.

something to allow you to reuse assets.

I agree with this. A lot of the work in any game is just the foundational stuff. Even for RPGs, which is a genre that's more content focused than most.

Take the Colony Ship framework and use it make shorter games, whatever. Not everything has to be 30-40 hours.

 

[Alienman]

Could make a light X-com game on a space station or something. You got the setup for it, and the assets, as pointed out here.

 

[Agesilaus]

A Dungeon Rats for CS? That could be fun. I would certainly buy it. Maybe you can start as a deputy prosecutor, and then get appointed as the sheriff and execute warrants in other parts of the ship. Crafting was a big part of the AoD/DR combat, so perhaps that can be a way to develop/expand the game. I don't know but I want more Iron Tower Studio. I liked CS; I think it's more linear than AoD, both games do lead you to the same general destination but AoD had a number of very different endings and very different ways to get there/factions. In my ignorance of CS, I think there's just two notably distinct endings (the normal person ending and the lol ending that gets you immediately killed by everyone). Very excited to see how the patches expand/develop the game story/ending, I see the latest patch added more character interactions.

 

[flushfire]

Their games are more successful because they managed to find their own niche and actually make something players wanted.

ITS' games does fill a certain niche, a brief look at their steam discussions and threads here, especially with AOD, makes that apparent. The following is there, for better or worse. I think confining themselves to that niche is exactly the problem since ITS kind of trapped themselves with being a niche within a niche. Take a broader approach and risk alienating the fanbase. IMO the type of game they make is better as passion projects where commercial success takes a backseat. It's not really a bad game, I just don't think the production values of CS is suited for its target market.

That said setting out to do something and sticking to their guns is at least worthy of respect.

 

[Lord_Potato]

I agree with this. A lot of the work in any game is just the foundational stuff. Even for RPGs, which is a genre that's more content focused than most.

Take the Colony Ship framework and use it make shorter games, whatever. Not everything has to be 30-40 hours.

Sure, but Colony Ship was already a game for 20-25 hours.