Project GODUS, the ultimate Peter Molyneux fiasco

[Kraszu]

I don't know why does every stupid garme journalist thinks that Double Fine, Obsidian, Molyneux, Fargo could easily find funding for their oldschool games elsewhere? Don't they know what is the state of the gaming industry today, where publishers only fund AAA wannabe blockbusters and wouldn't touch an oldschool game with a ten foot pole? I dare them to show me one publisher, who will a fund turnbased isometric hardcore RPG. Or even a real time RPG, which is not about the awesome button. Yep, Molyneux could have found money for his godgame elsewhere, that's why we are seeing so many godgames on the market.

Molyneux has far more clout amongst publishers and probably far more personal wealth than anyone at Obsidian, Double Fine, or Brian Fargo.

Yes that's probably true. Even than, that guy talked about the industry veterans in general fucking up KS, including Obsidian, Fargo and Double Fine (even though he didn't mention them, but who else did he think of). It's just he explicitly singled out Molyneux as the main "bad guy".

This. Also it is simply not true that Molyneux takes away money from other projects, more known people, and known developer teams drive interest towards KS, how much money did indie games got off KS before double fine? They actually allow less known teams to get money not take away from them. Now there is likely too much competition on KS, but that should stabilize with time, there isn't that many known developers we will not see them make couple projects per month like now.

 

[Blaine]

I haven't seen much of an interface at all, if he's gonna do one that isn't "simplified", he hadn't yet for the prototype.

What's shown in the videos is a pre-pre-alpha tech demo with one Hornet, one Vanduul fighter, one Bengal carrier, and some planets and asteroids modeled and rendered. The RSI forums are being renovated at the moment, but I remember the introductory thread from the UI designer Chris hired being less than a month old.

Is this how far you've got to reach for a counter-argument? It's like criticizing a house that only has its foundation built for having ugly siding. Pathetic.

Further he was not only approached by EA for Wing Commander but apparently by other publishers for this exact project, they've been generally banking MMOs for a while now which are PC only and introducing Macro- and Microtransactions and they start panting for more.

Star Citizen isn't an MMO, despite your insistence to the contrary. For the sake of argument, however, let's assume that it is. The MMO market is currently a scorched no man's land of dead World of Warcraft clones, shovelware embarrassments that went free-to-play within eight months, and other failed projects. It's not a booming area of video game development, and investors and publishers aren't "panting" for more, free-to-play elements or otherwise.

I have a feeling you're pulling the vast majority this out of your ass, so I'd like to see your sources rather than a bunch of vague waffling and unsubstantiated claims. I want to know which publishers you're talking about, their track records, and a reliable source indicating that these propositions actually occurred.

Another obvious thing regarding ancient hardware would be that the "Next Generation" of consoles will be out next year and this game won't be out for another two at least. I wouldn't even be surprised if he ports the game to make more money given it is successful in its initial run. He wouldn't be relying on gullible people to bankroll him anymore at that point.

That only partially addresses one problem involved in using AAA publishers: the hardware requirements. I say "partially" because in two years' time, PCs will still be at least half-again as powerful as consoles. Congratulations, you've reached as far as possible to semi-refute one of my arguments. It also matters not one whit if you "wouldn't be surprised" if Star Citizen goes cross-platform. I should probably mention you that if you knew anything at all about netcode and the way Sony's and Microsoft's online infrastructures work, you'd realize just how stupid that sounds... that's not the only reason, but it's a big one.

 

[Infinitron]

http://www.rockpapershotgun.com/2013/05/21/godus-publishing-via-f2p-mobile-distro-pc-unmentioned/

GODUS Publishing Via F2P Mobile Distro, PC Unmentioned

By John Walker on May 21st, 2013 at 12:00 pm.​

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Eyebrows to the top half of your forehead – it’s concerned speculation time. There’s been an odd announcement from Peter Molyneux and 22Cans, about their Kickstartered GODUS. In a video oddly aimed at backers only, but available on Youtube (and below), Molyneux has announced a publishing partnership with mobile moneymakers DeNA, for the mobile version of the game. Not so odd? Well, there are two factors here. Firstly, there’s absolutely no mention of the PC version at all, and a related press release refers to GODUS as “a new type of game for mobile devices”. And secondly, DeNA specialises in F2P mobile games with micropayments.​

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GODUS, and its slow-to-get-there Kickstarter, promised a return to a Populous-style god game, from the inventor of the genre. While Molyneux has certainly been a… controversial figure when it comes to delivering on his claims over the years, this definitely sounded like the sort of thing we’d like to see. The project was described as something that, “will be developed for the Mac, PC and Mobile devices, we hope to be able to add more platforms as our Kickstarter campaign progresses.”​

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The first tier price that secured a copy of the game was £15, which sold out. It was £20 for the one that was still available at the end of the run, and that rather implied a full-price PC game, and not a typically priced mobile release. Let alone a game that would be released by the typical model of publishers DeNA. They are behind the Mobage platform, which offers “free” games that are funded through microtransactions within. We don’t know that this means GODUS will be funded in similar ways, but their release does state:​

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“The game will also utilize DeNA’s Mobage mobile social games platform in Western territories, Japan and Korea.”​

So, this appears a very peculiar situation for a game that had sold a “digital downloadable copy” as equivalent for PC, Mac or mobile. Obviously mobile games are almost never priced at the levels of a PC release, so this was already an odd way of things. But with this ecumenical approach, it was specifically expressed to backers that they were equivalent.​

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It’s also concerning to see the PC/Mac/Linux entirely unmentioned in the press release, which in doing so strongly implies to readers that the game is mobile only. It’s hard to work out who should be more concerned at this point: mobile gamers who thought they’d paid for what now looks like might be a “free” game, or PC backers who seem to be forgotten or sidelined.​

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Then there are the issues of there being a publisher at all. Kickstarter usually implies, but by no means states, that a publisher is being avoided. The new video explains that using a publisher means they won’t be, “distracted by all the distribution and publishing and submitting and server stuff that we tended to get a bit distracted with – to be honest – with Curiosity.”​

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Again, no mention of the PC build, especially in the sense of their surely still needing to worry about PC/Mac distribution, publishing, submissions and servers? It also rather bucks the implications given by Molyneux when he spoke to Nathan about the project last year:​

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“We could have done a thing that I’ve done on every game I’ve ever made. We could have gone to a publisher, and maybe we should have gone to a publisher. Maybe that’s the sensible big-boy thing to do, signing up to a publisher. But I’ve always said, I’m exploring a way to make a really good, really well-balanced game. One of the great things about Kickstarter is you’ve got people that care enough to spend money. There’s a lot of talk about alpha and beta and people coming in and helping us with the design.”​

More explicitly, their original Kickstarter pitch contained the lines,​

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“Funding it via Kickstarter allows us to stay a small independent team with unlimited freedom in our creativity. It’ll just be you, us and our unbridled dedication (no publishers).”​

So, they went to a publisher? Odd. It also asks questions of their promise that the game would always be available to play offline.​

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Right now, this is confusion, not facts. It’s possible that 22Cans will say, “No no no, you completely misunderstand!” With Peter Molyneux likely adding, “And the game will include a mode where if you sneeze while playing, baby monkeys are born… in the real world.” We’ve tried to get hold of them, and are awaiting a call back, and will update to clarify. In the meantime, if anything, this is an example of how not to communicate with your backers.​

 

[Minttunator]

RPS just updated the article - they got a hold of someone at 22Cans, who confirmed that the PC version is still going ahead as planned. No clarification with regards to possible microtransactions on the mobile version.

 

[Infinitron]

New Information:

We’ve spoken to Sam at 22Cans, and he emphasises that the PC version is not part of any publishing deal, going ahead as planned. The alpha version should be in backers’ hands by next week, in fact. Sam believes that when backers are playing it, they will have their many concerns put to rest. The poor man was up until 2am dealing with the blowback from the confusion. He stresses, “We take our community extremely seriously.”

The news about the mobile version doesn’t impact the PC version at all, and 22Cans express their regret that this wasn’t made clear in the new video, and say it should have been mentioned. However, there are still some issues regarding the mobile version, especially for those who paid the £20 in order to get one. So, it going to be free-to-play on mobile? We still don’t know. “That’s purely speculation,” said 22Cans, explaining they can’t answer that question at this point, and that they still haven’t made their minds up about final prices on any platform. So that certainly isn’t going to put any minds at rest at this point, especially since Mobage is currently exclusively used for F2P/microtransaction games.

Another question they don’t have the answer for yet (Peter being away in America at the moment isn’t helping, it seems!) is whether the mobile version will still be entirely playable offline. Sam believed it would be, but couldn’t confirm at this point. There are also questions that still need answering about whether you’ll be able to continue playing between the two devices. That’s obviously of primary concern to those who paid for the £30 tier to get two copies, one for each. 22Cans will hopefully have some more answers soon.

 

[Horus]

Someone has to post this whenever his name is mentioned.

 

[Dexter]

RPS just updated the article - they got a hold of someone at 22Cans, who confirmed that the PC version is still going ahead as planned. No clarification with regards to possible microtransactions on the mobile version.

That wasn't really the point and the RPS article is expectedly kind of stupid.

But they were all "we want to avoid publishers and do this game on our own, please throw your money our way" at first and have now turned around and basically contacted the Zynga of Japan: http://www.gamesindustry.biz/articl...cks-plunge-as-japanese-government-cracks-down (possibly even worse) to "publish their game" (and likely turn it into a F2P nightmare bordering on gambling) on at least all mobile platforms.
How many less people would have pledged towards the game if they knew this from the start, and why did they need money again if they are going to run to a publisher anyway?

It basically gives validity to that Rab Florence article from last page.

 

[Blaine]

Confirmed on the first day of the Kickstarter campaign for made-for-smartphone casual game with micropayments.

It's interesting that they've turned around and contacted a fly-by-nite cash shop publisher after using a Kickstarter campaign to secure funding. In any event, the people who gave Molyjew money will get what they deserve one way or another.

 

[Spectacle]

Mollynix probably expected that he'd get 3 million on kickstarter like all the other old dudes did, so when he barely got over the funding minimum he had to find the rest of the budget somewhere else.

 

[sea]

Confirmed on the first day of the Kickstarter campaign for made-for-smartphone casual game with micropayments.

It's interesting that they've turned around and contacted a fly-by-nite cash shop publisher after using a Kickstarter campaign to secure funding. In any event, the people who gave Molyjew money will get what they deserve one way or another.

https://play.google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.pm22cans.curiosity&hl=en

This is a new thing to you?

 

[Blaine]

I'm not sure why you'd ask me that, I was pretty clear that this isn't surprising at all.

 

[Metro]

http://steamdb.info/sub/27902/

 

[Syril]

Godus is the size of Jupiter and Molyneux big reveal (aka big bullshit or is it?)

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oKN7-BdeKzo&feature=player_detailpage#t=738

 

[Mortmal]

So i am one of the kickstarter backers, a huge populous fan and just got my CD keys... Finally after all those years a worthy successor of populous, molyneux doing games like he used too, going back to his roots and bullfrog! except not...

Basically all i am doing is clicking on red balls doing music notes to get mana,it looks like they thought hard on how to horribly screw this game, as in this case it really really requires tallent , they do have that kind of evil genious, mana requires clicking on each one of your settlements, same for getting populations ! I cant fucking believe it, i just cant .You think fable was bad ? Ah behold this new masterpiece, this is molyneux crowning achievment, no less !

Terraforming is excruciatingly slow and boring . I think i am getting carpal syndrom , this is an horrible clickfest, theres no words to express my disapointment .Its tutorial level i guess, yet i think ive seen enough already, i dont see any reasons why anyone should endure this.

 

[Destroid]

Sounds like they made a facebook game.

 

[Mortmal]

Y trid it?! fnger hurts.. cat typ

 

[Mortmal]

ITEM SHOP TOO! ITEM SHOP ICON!

 

[Blaine]

GODUS really is the complete package. Witness the fraudster himself fast-talking and bullshitting here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mLwRlW8fwt4&t=15m18s

"We may never charge money for gems...."

Peter Molyneux angers Godus Kickstarter backers with pay-to-win gems

• multimillionaire with AAA industry connections starts a Kickstarter, then contracts with an Asian free-to-play publisher mere months later
• billed as a PC game at first, mobile versions added as stretch goals later, yet clearly designed (from graphics to UI to controls) primarily for mobiles
• absolutely no mention of blatantly pay-to-win gem shop until someone uncovered it and it turned into a shitstorm
• game itself sucks ass, Molyjew fails to deliver on flowery ambitious promises yet again

I'm not mad, I'm glad. The Kickstarter pulled in a relatively tiny amount of money considering that Molyjew is a celebrity developer. Backers who did pledge are getting exactly what they deserve and should have expected, meanwhile he's damaging his reputation yet again amongst at least a sizable swath of the gaming populace. Couldn't have asked for more, really.

 

[J1M]

I guess it is nice to be right about things. Though I would prefer to be wrong and get good games once and a while too.

 

[Blaine]

I guess it is nice to be right about things. Though I would prefer to be wrong and get good games once and a while too.

I just know someone's going to come along and needle me about Star Citizen, although in my opinion that's like comparing a candle to a bonfire (said bonfire being GODUS and related drama). Also, nine-tenths of the things people complain about regarding Star Citizen were at least stated upfront back in October-November, during its funding campaign—and the rest of what's known has come more than a year before release, with donations still pouring in. The rest is speculation.

The point being, I can't really enjoy "I told you so" moments on the Codex until Star Citizen proves its mettle, even if I disagree with my hecklers making direct comparisons. Whatever, it's an Internet forum.

I'll say this: If Molyneux ever again creates a good game and it's not loaded down with DRM or obnoxious microtransactions, I'd buy it.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I've played Godus for about 2 hours now. It's basically a Facebook game. My hand hurts like hell after all the clicking, too. The world sculpting mechanic feels so sluggish and you constantly have to go through layers and layers and layers of earth to elevate the ocean floor into dry land. Or do the opposite and bring down the land to unearth chests with resource cards, destroying some houses in the process. I tried the God vs God against an AI and shit is horrible, but the developers said as much themselves in their developer notes. It's a spastic rush to kill the others' followers. Basically you just click on your houses to spawn villagers, then drop a "GO HERE" beacon in their village and watch as the enemy is decimated. No tactics, no point, just shit.

Honestly, though, there really isn't much gameplay to speak of in this game. I think they felt desperate to add gameplay to keep the ADHD kids interested so they make you click through 300 houses every 5 minutes, but in the end this is just non-gameplay and they forgot to add any proper town / civilization growth gameplay like in Populous. The game flow is basically like this:

clear trees, rocks, make flat land for your people to build houses -> wait for them to reproduce -> gain a level; gives you a bigger radius of influence to build more houses -> repeat from start
Sometimes you might come across some broken altars that will give you some powers, and then there are chests buried within the earth that you have to get for resources. Getting these chests is a bitch once you start getting into the more mountain areas.

 

[Hobo Elf]

I just got a spell that lets me create settlements. Basically it connects all surrounding houses by roads into a large statue, and all of their faith gets concentrated into that statue, so you don't have to click through a gorillion houses to get faith. Just one statue.

 

[Astral Rag]

 

[Metro]

Honestly that description makes it sound exactly the same as Populous (let's not overstate the 'town growth' mechanic in that, you just created flat land). Jesus Christ, this guy has some balls to take millions of dollars from people morons and just reskin the same fucking game.

 

[DraQ]

So, project BOGUS?