KickStarter Phoenix Point - the new game from X-COM creator Julian Gollop

[Infinitron]

Phoenix Point SEC filing: https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/1658966/000121390017004971/f1apos7_figpublishing.htm

Snapshot Games Inc., a California corporation formed in November 2013, is a privately held video game development studio with locations in Los Angeles and Sofia, Bulgaria. Snapshot has its principal development studio in Sofia, Bulgaria, with nine employees.

Snapshot’s mission is to create deep and engaging strategy games based on the ideas and experience of Julian Gollop and his previous, highly acclaimed games – in particular the X-COM series. Julian Gollop is the CEO of Snapshot, as well as the managing director of the Sofia operations and principal game designer. Julian has 34 years of experience in the games industry, with involvement in 17 published titles. He also worked as a producer and creative director for Ubisoft for six years. The President of Snapshot is David Kaye, who leads business development and serves as a design consultant. Mr. Kaye is the founder of Gaming Insiders, an organization that connects professionals in the games industry.

Snapshot previously self-published the game Chaos Reborn in 2014, using crowdfunding to generate development funds of $210,000, which exceeded the crowdfunding campaign’s goal of $180,000. That game, a tactical turn-based wizard combat game, was based on an earlier 1985 game created by Julian Gollop, Chaos: The Battle of Wizards. Chaos Reborn generated sales receipts to Snapshot that exceeded Snapshot’s development costs for the game. Snapshot financed the development of the game not only through crowdfunding but also through early sales of the game on Steam’s Early Access program. Snapshot recruited the necessary personnel and freelance talent from around the world in order to complete the game within budget.

Since its inception in 2013 and to date, the only game Snapshot has developed is Chaos Reborn:

Developers such as Snapshot face a number of risks and challenges to their businesses, including the potential failure of a game to generate enough sales to justify the development effort or to generate sales for more than a short game life cycle; the length, expense and uncertainty of the development process; creative and technical challenges; competition for game sales and development talent; the difficulties of protecting intellectual property rights; and other risks. In addition, relying upon crowdfunding as a business practice involves additional risks and challenges, including: working with funding sources that may be smaller and less creditworthy than large, traditional publishers; potential difficulties in being highlighted on popular crowdfunding sites or otherwise being able to successfully publicize their crowdfunding campaigns; attracting crowdfunding backers and investors; collecting crowdfunding proceeds; and being reliant on distributors for the generation and collection of sales receipts.

Fig believes, and Snapshot has reported to Fig that it believes, that the funds from the Fig crowdfunding campaign and internal investment by Snapshot will be sufficient to complete the development of Phoenix Point to a commercially marketable level, consistent with the Phoenix Point License Agreement.

Phoenix Point is currently the only game in development by Snapshot, and Snapshot anticipates that it will not take on additional projects until the release of Phoenix Point. Fig and Snapshot are of the view that Snapshot is sufficiently staffed to handle the development of Phoenix Point.

It is Fig’s view that, based on our knowledge of the Developer and its operations, including the information discussed above, the Developer is qualified to deliver the Game on time and as agreed in the Phoenix Point License Agreement.

Snapshot currently estimates that the expected delivery date of will be no later than September 30, 2018, as may be extended only by mutual agreement of Snapshot and Fig.

 

[CyberWhale]

No Paypall for slacker backing.
Pity.

It's not a pity, it's basically retarded. Star Citizen got the most of its money from their own crowdfunding page.
It's pointless to say that PP wouldn't have repeated even a fraction of SC success, but extra money is still extra money.

Either way, I'm glad they succeeded in collecting enough for their campaign to be legit and I'm happy we're getting another Gollop game.
The setting and atmosphere look genuinely awesome, even if the gameplay looks terribly disappointing atm (even when compared to titles like Mario & Rabbids: Kingdom Battle).

 

[luinthoron]

I could swear I saw him mention somewhere, possibly in the stream, that they were in the process of setting up a PayPal option as well.

 

[Jimmious]

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Hi Guys,

While it hasn't been widely announced, Julian did indeed mention that we will be accepting PayPal pledges. We're still in the process of deciding which is the best backer management system for us to use. The backer management system not only allows us to take payments more safely through PayPal, but also through other services too. While PayPal only provides a way to send and receive money, a backer management system also allows us to capture the relevant data for each pledge, and to allow users to edit their pledge later.

As I said in my reddit response - these things really do take time to implement, especially when the two senior business partners are both at E3 in back to back business meetings. So I would like to apologise to those few of you calling my reddit statement BS, for having to prove you wrong.

I haven't got a solid date for the PayPal system yet, but we're trying to get it in place as soon as we can. Hopefully within the next couple of weeks.

If you have any questions about Phoenix Point, hit me up, and I'll do my best to answer them.

UV

 

[Infinitron]

DarkUnderlord Devtag for UnstableVoltage (Snapshot Games)

 

[veevoir]

Hi UnstableVoltage , sorry to see you here. I really am, try to keep your sanity intact.

Also congratz on landing PR job with Snapshot! Well deserved, you and FWG probably did most of CR promotion through yt gameplay.

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Thanks, veevoir,

I'll try to hang onto my humanity! Obviously, I am concerned with the success of Phoenix Point - I was, as a backer, even before being appointed CM. There are always going to be sceptics, who won't believe something until it's put in front of them (and even then they can still be a hard sell). This is why I've put myself here to try and answer questions, and honestly. I might not always have the answers, and when that is the case, I'll tell you (and try to find those answers). I'm not in the role to spout PR BS - if there's something that I'm not at liberty to say, then I'll just say as much.

As someone else did mention further up in this thread (forgive me for not rescanning 34 pages to find the name), I was, at least in part, responsible for the gameplay being shown in its current state. Many of our Fig backers (and potential backers) were asking to see gameplay, some gameplay, anything! We'd been working on Phoenix Point for a year before coming to Fig, so people were rightly asking "why isn't there anything to show?" A fair question. After to speaking to Julian, and learning that he himself and some of the other members of the dev team had concerns that in its current state, the game could just come across too much like nuXCom. This is when I first received a copy of the build, from January (which didn't have the Queen, and was pretty much the "Alien Horde" scenario. I had to agree, the mechanics in the demo were almost identical to nuXCom. However, I understood that this is a pre-alpha prototype for development and testing, and was never intended for public viewing. After talking to Julian at length about it, he explained to me how all the "final" mechanics were intended to work - and from what he has so far, it is very much like the traditional X-Com, even though it does take some cues from nuXCom.

It was a dilemma. What do you do? Show the pre-alpha in its current form and risk people getting the wrong impression of the game, or refuse to show anything after saying you've already been working on something for a year? As the Fig campaign was starting to lose momentum, it was decided that showing something was better than nothing. The Queen scenario was added, and a few tweaks were made here and there - but that was all done over a weekend. The plan was for Snapshot to make an in-house video that was highly curated so that it wouldn't focus too much on placeholder mechanics. The decision to show an exclusive with IGN came quite late in the day. However, the thought of IGN covering it was promising, that it might increase awareness and traffic to the Fig (which it didn't as IGN forgot to even link to the Fig). IGN also rejected the first video and asked for some changes, which is why the video came quite late towards the end of the campaign. It is fair to say, that while Julian is an excellent designer and developer, he hasn't really had a lot of experience with video creation. The IGN video was short and unscripted. Julian mainly focusing on trying to show off the Queen and her varying abilities. Not enough time was dedicated to explaining that pretty much everything in this pre-alpha build is just there as some virtual scaffolding to build around. At the same time, I was also given the latest build. I had permission to stream it, but only once IGN had gone live. I took that opportunity to try and show the build while driving home the message that it is all very placeholder.

So once again, for anyone who has any questions about mechanics, ask away. I'll answer the best I can. Do remember though, with 18 months of development left, things as subject to change. There are a lot of great ideas on the drawing board, but until they've been implemented and balance tested, it's hard to say with 100% certainty what will go and what will stay. Julian certainly has his vision though, and it isn't a nuXCom clone.

 

[Infinitron]

However, the thought of IGN covering it was promising, that it might increase awareness and traffic to the Fig (which it didn't as IGN forgot to even link to the Fig). IGN also rejected the first video and asked for some changes

 

[ArchAngel]

Thanks, veevoir,

As someone else did mention further up in this thread (forgive me for not rescanning 34 pages to find the name), I was, at least in part, responsible for the gameplay being shown in its current state. Many of our Fig backers (and potential backers) were asking to see gameplay, some gameplay, anything! We'd been working on Phoenix Point for a year before coming to Fig, so people were rightly asking "why isn't there anything to show?" A fair question. After to speaking to Julian, and learning that he himself and some of the other members of the dev team had concerns that in its current state, the game could just come across too much like nuXCom. This is when I first received a copy of the build, from January (which didn't have the Queen, and was pretty much the "Alien Horde" scenario. I had to agree, the mechanics in the demo were almost identical to nuXCom. However, I understood that this is a pre-alpha prototype for development and testing, and was never intended for public viewing. After talking to Julian at length about it, he explained to me how all the "final" mechanics were intended to work - and from what he has so far, it is very much like the traditional X-Com, even though it does take some cues from nuXCom.

So once again, for anyone who has any questions about mechanics, ask away. I'll answer the best I can. Do remember though, with 18 months of development left, things as subject to change. There are a lot of great ideas on the drawing board, but until they've been implemented and balance tested, it's hard to say with 100% certainty what will go and what will stay. Julian certainly has his vision though, and it isn't a nuXCom clone.

There is a fair chance that the finished product might cause some people to scream betrayal as they based their pledge on game to look like Xcom clone. After the video there were still a fair bit of pledges.

 

[UnstableVoltage]

There is a fair chance that the finished product might cause some people to scream betrayal as they based their pledge on game to look like Xcom clone. After the video there were still a fair bit of pledges.

Then those people really should have read the wealth of information that detailed the plans for the game, and not based their pledge from watching a single 8 minute video. It's never going to be possible to please everyone.

While nuXCom was a huge departure from classic X-Com, there were still those who found it to be both a good game and enjoyable experience. We hope that people will find the same to be true of Phoenix Point. It isn't going to be X-Com, nor is it going to be XCom, but hopefully it will tick enough boxes for the people who play it to enjoy it. Snapshot did perform surveys early on, asking people to vote on the importance of a number of mechanics from both generations of XCom, in an attempt to try and find the perfect balance.

 

[Grotesque]

Hi UnstableVoltage , sorry to see you here. I really am, try to keep your sanity intact.

Also congratz on landing PR job with Snapshot! Well deserved, you and FWG probably did most of CR promotion through yt gameplay.

Do you sense the smell of shit?
It's coming from this guy's nostrils filled shut after all that brownnosing.

 

[Alienman]

Hey UnstableVoltage

Is the half-full cover nuXcom mechanics just a temporary thing or is it something that will be in the full game, and if yes, how will Phoenix Point differ now again from nuXcom? I know you are planning some extra stuff that will separate itself from nuXcom on a minor level, but there is no way around that mechanic. Very curious!

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Hey UnstableVoltage

Is the half-full cover nuXcom mechanics just a temporary thing or is it something that will be in the full game, and if yes, how will Phoenix Point differ now again from nuXcom? I know you are planning some extra stuff that will separate itself from nuXcom on a minor level, but there is no way around that mechanic. Very curious!

It's just a temporary thing. The plan is that every physics object on the map (scenery, barrels, enemies, friendlies, even body parts shot of bosses) will have a collision mesh. These objects will act as physical obstacles for the simulated bullet trajectories. The currently implemented (full cover/half cover) system wouldn't work with that, as that system is basically just a statistics modifier used on an RNG calculate hit chance/damage model.

 

[veevoir]

Hi UnstableVoltage , sorry to see you here. I really am, try to keep your sanity intact.

Also congratz on landing PR job with Snapshot! Well deserved, you and FWG probably did most of CR promotion through yt gameplay.

Do you sense the smell of shit?
It's coming from this guy's nostrils filled shut after all that brownnosing.

You do realize some games have communities and people know each other from that? Other than that - carry on edging.

 

[Jaedar]

Hey UnstableVoltage

Is the half-full cover nuXcom mechanics just a temporary thing or is it something that will be in the full game, and if yes, how will Phoenix Point differ now again from nuXcom? I know you are planning some extra stuff that will separate itself from nuXcom on a minor level, but there is no way around that mechanic. Very curious!

It's just a temporary thing. The plan is that every physics object on the map (scenery, barrels, enemies, friendlies, even body parts shot of bosses) will have a collision mesh. These objects will act as physical obstacles for the simulated bullet trajectories. The currently implemented (full cover/half cover) system wouldn't work with that, as that system is basically just a statistics modifier used on an RNG calculate hit chance/damage model.

Does simulated ballistics include free fire like in x-com?

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Does simulated ballistics include free fire like in x-com?

Yes. Julian did confirm in one of the Q&As somewhere that it will be a free aim system.

 

[Jack Dandy]

Ahhh - the more I hear about it, the more I feel you guys should have made that clearer in the gameplay videos in some way.

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Ahhh - the more I hear about it, the more I feel you guys should have made that clearer in the gameplay videos in some way.

I couldn't agree with you more. Sadly, I had no part or say in the original IGN video. I didn't even see it before it went live as it happened before my official appointment. Hopefully we can avoid this sort of thing going forwards. In the mean time, I'm just going around putting out fires.

 

[veevoir]

Does simulated ballistics include free fire like in x-com?

Yes. Julian did confirm in one of the Q&As somewhere that it will be a free aim system.

More importantly - how cover level will be indicated? With actual bullet ballistics this might get tricky. Plus models "sticking to cover" like in nuXcom would mean they are 100% behind cover, physically. Any workaround for that?

 

[Taka-Haradin puolipeikko]

I'm just going around putting out fires.

Speaking about fires.
Will those be part of the destructible environment?

 

[UnstableVoltage]

More importantly - how cover level will be indicated? With actual bullet ballistics this might get tricky. Plus models "sticking to cover" like in nuXcom would mean they are 100% behind cover, physically. Any workaround for that?

That one I honestly can't answer at the moment. The UI is completely placeholder, and I'm not aware of how that information is going to be fed back to the player. There are also going to be weapons with penetration that can still hit enemies through full cover, or even through other enemies. If I get any more information on how cover will work in the UI, I'll let you know.

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Speaking about fires.
Will those be part of the destructible environment?

Phoenix Point will have fires, explosions and fully destructible environments just like classic X-Com. The ballistics and destructible environments are being worked on next, and there should be a first implementation within the next 3 months.

 

[Raapys]

More importantly - how cover level will be indicated? With actual bullet ballistics this might get tricky. Plus models "sticking to cover" like in nuXcom would mean they are 100% behind cover, physically. Any workaround for that?

Ballistics could be simulated with a solid line portraying the bullet path from the weapon to the targeted position, no? Then color the line depending on how much stuff it has to penetrate to get to its goal.

 

[UnstableVoltage]

Ballistics could be simulated with a solid line portraying the bullet path from the weapon to the targeted position, no? Then color the line depending on how much stuff it has to penetrate to get to its goal.

The bullets can travel anywhere within the cone of fire to simulate bullet spread. Obviously, the more accurate the shooter/weapon, and the closer you are to the target, the smaller the end of the cone will be. So you won't know the path of the bullet until the shot has fired.