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Blogs

  Dr. Kickstarter or How I Jumped on the Bandwagon
by Evan Combs on 06/18/12 12:30:00 pm
2 comments Share on Twitter Share on Facebook RSS
 
 
The following blog was, unless otherwise noted, independently written by a member of Gamasutra's game development community. The thoughts and opinions expressed here are not necessarily those of Gamasutra or its parent company.

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     As someone who has never really had much interest in being another cog in the wheel I have never found the idea of working in an office doing work for someone else as the end goal like so many Americans seem to want. The trouble with this mindset has always been finding a way to by pass all of that, and until recently I have never been able to come up with a good answer. I had dreams of what I would do once I graduated from college, but I always knew my dreams wouldn't work out the way I wanted them to. I would have to eventually get the job that I really didn't want, while my real goals became more side projects until I had the financial stability or partners to  do what I really wanted. That was before I knew of Kickstarter. For me this is essentially a dream come true, a way to build my future empire without having to give up control or go into loads of debt. Now obviously Kickstarter isn't all sunshine and roses, but it offered a new path. A path that may be more difficult, but also so much more rewarding than the traditional path.

     After I graduated this past April, and after the remarkable reception my capstone project recieved I devised a plan to turn what was just a student project into a commercial game I could release. At the center of this plan was Kickstarter. I would get the initial funding from crowd sourcing, then I would hopefully be able to ride the wave of my first game into my second game, possibly through profit or through a new Kickstarter campaign. So I created a website DeadDodoGames.com, made my student project available for download as a prototype, and created a pitch for Kickstarter. Now my campaign is live, and ready to be funded.

 

You are probably now asking what my game is, so I'm not going to hold you up any longer.

 

Dots

     My game, Dots, is a simple game with a simple premise. It is a 2D shooter with the only goal to survive until the end of the level. It is a throwback in many ways with a bigger focus on high score and core mechanics over a story or pretty graphics. At the same time it isn't like many Astroid clones where it is just an open space with waves after waves of enemies. It is set up into levels, and each level is made up of rooms full of enemies and obsticles.

     This focus and set up has led to a very addicting and fun game, that one could play for hours or just a few minutes. At my schools capstone event which consisted of over 70 students, and only 4 hours many people spent up to a half hour only playing my game. One person even came back for a second round, and another said it was the best game they had played in a month.

 

 

Dots Kickstarter

Dead Dodo Games

Facebook

 
 
Comments

Alexander Lagarias
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It is so satisfying when people respond positively to something you produce; we are doing the same thing as you, all a year out of college and redesigning and remaking our senior project to receive funding on Kickstarter. Glad to see we aren't the only ones.

Evan Combs
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It defiantly is satisfying, do you have your kickstarter up for all to see yet?


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