Questions about Hero-U

[k0SH]

1) I know Hero-U is not QfG but will it be possible to import a QfG character?
That would be both: super retro and super cool

2) What exactly happens if you're not reaching the new $100k goal?

3) You provided two in-game demos. How final are those from a gameplay, animations or graphic perspecive?

Thanks lot.

[Corey Cole]

1. Import from Quest for Glory is not possible. I would have to use code copyrighted by Sierra to know the file format. All of the work I did for Sierra was "work for hire", so I do not have the right to use that code.

2. We will reach the goal; we are more than halfway there after one week. If the campaign failed, I would have to find other funding. That would be difficult if the campaign failed because it would mean there are not enough fans of the game idea to expect good sales. Investors want to see that people are excited about the game before they will risk money on it.

3. The combat demo is marked "prototype" because we expect to change many things about it. But it is a solid test that I think has the right ideas. The break-in room demo is mostly final. I will probably rewrite some text to improve the mood (fewer jokes). We are working on improving the walking animation.

[k0SH]

4) Does the final game differs a lot from QfG? Like the turn-based systems vs real-time fights.

5) Is the final budget, including the $100k, comparable with any QfG budget?

[Corey Cole]

Here is what I posted on Steam Greenlight (please vote for and favorite the project at http://steamcommunity.com/sharedfiles/f ... =444566574) about the difference between Hero-U and Quest for Glory:

Hero-U is both like and unlike Quest for Glory. If anything, the story is richer because we have had more time to craft it and no restrictions on memory. There is more conversation.

The new game is less puzzle-intensive than old Sierra games. You can get through Hero-U without very many head-scratching moments... but you will want to play again to experience a different path through the game and do some of the "quests" you bypassed the first time.

Combat also has a different feel. In Quest for Glory, it was real-time, so you didn't have much opportunity to use tactics. Combat in Hero-U is turn-based, and Shawn has a variety of tricks and traps to help him win.

We've also cut down on deaths - loss in combat results in a trip to the infirmary and some wasted game time, but not a "restore game". Time is an important resource in Hero-U, so it will still be a fate you will try to avoid.

[k0SH]

to experience a different path through the game

Is that class-based? Are there different character classes like in QfG?
Or does some puzzles have multiple solutions? Are there different endings (e.g. good/ bad)?

[Corey Cole]

The original Hero's Quest, released in 1989, had a budget of about $250,000. In 2015 dollars, that's $473,000. That is less than the combined Kickstarter income, but more than the amount that actually goes to the project.

For example, let's say the new campaign exactly funds at $100,000 and we've made $435,000 between the original Kickstarter and our web site purchases. That's a total of $535,000. Kickstarter takes 9% and rewards cost about 20%, so that leaves $380,000 in the project budget.

By the time we did Quest for Glory II and Castle of Dr. Brain, budgets had almost doubled to $450,000 (over $800,000 in 2015 dollars).

So the answer is "No". Our current game budget is smaller than what we had for our least expensive Sierra production. Back then Sierra programmers made about $12/hour, artists made less. The game was in 16-color (4-bit) low-resolution graphics. We used SCI, a system that allowed us to focus on scripting the game without needing to do graphics or sound programming.

We probably had a smaller budget when I helped create Barbie's Fashion Pack for the GameBoy Color, but I'm not sure. That was a *slightly* smaller game than Hero-U.

[Corey Cole]

to experience a different path through the game

Is that class-based? Are there different character classes like in QfG?
Or does some puzzles have multiple solutions? Are there different endings (e.g. good/ bad)?

The paths are not class-based - Each game in the Hero-U series features a particular character class, in this case Shawn the Rogue.

There are not many "puzzles" in an adventure game sense. No endless deserts where you die of thirst. No cat hair mustache disguises. Instead there are conversations and interactions. As in real life (and unlike Quest for Glory or Monkey Island), what you say triggers more of the conversation. After someone admits they're having trouble with a homework assignment, you can't click on the "Make a snarky comment", then go back to the same message and make a helpful response. You make a choice and the game goes on from there.

There is in a sense a "good" and an "evil" ending, but neither one is absolute. Your story is the sum of everything you've done in the game, not whether you won or lost, or did a good thing or a bad thing, in the end. You can do many "good" and many "bad" things during the game, but really none of them is the right or wrong answer. You're working with us to tell your own version of Shawn's story, not throwing dice until you get rich, lose everything, or get bored with the game.

[k0SH]

No cat hair mustache disguises

[k0SH]

So the answer is "No". Our current game budget is smaller than what we had for our least expensive Sierra production.

That is what I thought (and think is the situation with all the kickstarted adventure games. Except Double Fine Adventure (Broken Age),but that is another story as we all know).
Two aspects there:
1. People think that is A LOT money to develop a game but it's not. But that could result in peoples expectations. Some may be not happy with the final game because they want something AAA-ish.
2. It surprises me time to time that small indie developer creates really good games with a very small amount of (kickstarter) money.
Take Quest for Infamy as an example. Great and long game.

Talking about QfI.
Are you somehow proud that you've created / influenced a genre - Adventure game RPGs - that still have a huge fan base and that other developers use for their games ("in the style of QfG")?

[Lori Cole]

The major reason we are creating Hero-U is because we have so many wonderful fans of QfG who wrote to encourage us to make another game. There are easier ways to make a living than by game development. Game making is hard, stressful work. Fortunately, the fans of QfG keep reminding us that our games were more than entertaining distractions but that the QfG games impacted their life in positive ways.

Hero-U could not be made without the backing of our fans. We want to make sure that Hero-U brings the same joy, delight, and meaningfulness that QfG did.

[Corey Cole]

The funds that indie developers raise on Kickstarter do not actually pay for all of the game development. They cover things such as licenses and other direct expenses, and help defray costs. Those developers are mostly making games with their own resources, the most important of which is their time and donated time from some of their developers.

We are also benefiting from a zealous and helpful team. While we pay all our team members, the rates are closer to 1995 than 2015. This is why we have lost several team members to full-time jobs elsewhere - they like us, but also need to eat. Some of the team are deferring their pay until after the game is released, and I suspect that some are putting in far more hours than what they put on their bills.

So yes, there are some great indie games being made on unbelievably low budgets. They are covering the costs in other ways.