Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast !

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Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast !

Post by Christuserloeser »

There's a Kickstarter campaign to bring the officially licensed Saber Rider and the Star Sheriffs - The Video Game to SEGA Dreamcast

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/sa ... ideo-game/

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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Nice to see more support for old system, but this particular project needs to hit a $200,000 stretch goal for Dreamcast support and a $250,000 stretch goal for SNES/PCEngine support. That doesn't make much sense to me, for a couple of reasons.

For systems as limited as the SNES and PCEngine, wouldn't the game have to be built from the ground up with support for those systems in mind? Unless the team thinks it can completely rebuild the game from scratch and adapt all its assets for an additional $50k :P

Dreamcast I can see happening, as that port wouldn't be quite as complicated. SNES has me worried.

It also seems strange that modern platforms like PS4/Xbox One are farther down the list of stretch goals than Dreamcast and SNES, which will be much more challenging ports. And supporting those systems first would also open more potential revenue streams.

Another issue with platform support: typically, supporting vintage systems is a good way to bring in additional backers. But locking all the vintage releases behind stretch goals also creates a problem if those versions are the only ones a backer is interested in. That could lead to either a lot of frustrated backers, or a lot of pulled pledges in the final hours of the campaign if it doesn't look like it's going to hit those stretch goals. The base goal also seems unrealistically low, especially since Kickstarter itself takes a chunk.

The project looks like it has all its ducks in a row in terms of rights and a team with impressive resumes, but the business plan is a little concerning.



To me, it would make more sense to set the base goal higher, and include all contemporary systems in that base. Too many projects run into trouble because they set a base goal that's unrealistically low in order to make sure the project gets funded... then they get halfway down the road and realize they're going to run out of money. Set a higher base goal, and either integrate anything that's going to be really difficult into the base or behind a suitably high stretch goal. Otherwise, you're asking for trouble. And the whole time, keep running calculations for each tier to make sure you're going to be turning enough of a profit to keep the endeavor afloat, regardless of which goals are/aren't met.


Evaluate how many Dreamcast and SNES-exclusive backers you think you're going to draw, and either include those in the base goal as well (if you think they're going to bring in significant support) or as the first stretch goal (if you think you may need to jettison them). Be sure to offer these versions as backer rewards, so that backers don't have to worry about separately buying/competing for copies of the version they wanted in the first place... and if they're set as a stretch goal, give clear instructions as to what will happen if that stretch goal is not reached.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by Christuserloeser »

I completely agree with you but they cannot change anything anymore now that the Kickstarter has launched.

The reasons PS4 and Xbone are stretch goals is understandable though as there likely are additional license fees involved.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Christuserloeser wrote:The reasons PS4 and Xbone are stretch goals is understandable though as there likely are additional license fees involved.
True, but it seems strange that they are so much farther down the list than SNES and PCEngine.

Depending on how the game is constructed, a Dreamcast build could require a bit of heavy lifting... but SNES and PCEngine could require a complete rewrite, possibly two--plus a major overhaul of the assets. Are Sony and MS licenses and relatively trivial ports to those systems really more costly than the work to get the game running on an extremely limited system from 25 years ago?

The only way to avoid all that is to build the game with those systems in mind from the outset, so that everything is already structured properly for as easy a port as possible--at which point, why not include them in the base goal? I can't really see how they can do both PCEngine and SNES without building two separate versions of the game, simply due to differences in architecture.

General best practice for something so widely cross-platform is to build the game on the most restrictive system and port up.

Heck, they could even build the SNES version as a base, and just license an emulator to wrap it in for the other versions (excluding PCEngine). It means they wouldn't be able to add new features on more powerful systems, but it would simplify the cross-platform aspect, and it would ensure that all versions were the same. It'd also make it a "more authentic" retro experience, for whatever that's worth.

I've often thought about creating a game for NES and doing something similar; I'm surprised more NES authors haven't taken this approach with their games. In this day and age, you could even combine versions: an NES cartridge with a USB port that also lets you play the game on Windows/OSX/Linux, or a Dreamcast disc that also contains Windows/Mac/Linux builds. That way you don't have to make as many different physical versions, either... and even people who don't have a cartridge system would still have an incentive to buy that version.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by DaMadFiddler »

That said, I'll definitely be keeping an eye on this project. The Dreamcast could use more new releases that aren't just space shooters.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by Christuserloeser »

Elansar for Dreamcast also contains the PC/Mac/Linux versions.

And yes, now that I reviewed the Kickstarter page from a more neutral point of view I am quite baffled how they could go with 3DS instead of SNES or Dreamcast. And why is the video so bad... ? And why are they allowing payment via credit card only when most Germans still don't have credit cards. :(
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Christuserloeser wrote:And why are they allowing payment via credit card only when most Germans still don't have credit cards. :(
Germans don't have credit cards? :confused:
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by Christuserloeser »

Well, some do, obviously.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

Thank you very much for sharing our campaign!
If you have any questions, please let me know and I will answer them ASAP.
Right now we a thinking about to reorganize the strtechgoals a bit. There are a lot of people who want to see a Dreamcast version, therefore we will lower the DC Stretchgoal in the next update. Would that be interesting for you guys?

Thank you very much for your support!

Kickstarter: http://kck.st/1WWmbEH
Web: http://www.saberridergame.com
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/SaberRiderOfficial
Twitter: @SaberRiderGame

PS: Here is some first Pixel Art from the PC/DC version
western.png
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

DaMadFiddler wrote:
Christuserloeser wrote:And why are they allowing payment via credit card only when most Germans still don't have credit cards. :(
Germans don't have credit cards? :confused:
We are looking into a paypal solution right now.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

DaMadFiddler wrote: True, but it seems strange that they are so much farther down the list than SNES and PCEngine.
That is easy to explain. Kickstarter is there to make ideas a reality. If we succeed with the 75k, we will have a PC and 3DS version.
The PC Version uses the unity engine and with that we can port it to PS4 and Xbox at any time we want.
So even if we wont reach the PS4 and Xbox Stretchgoal, it still can happen later if our game sells well on Steam and 3DS.
So they are not priority one.
For the classics are different and more a niche. There is demand but this is nothing we can sell in very large quantities so we will need funding from the community for this and there is only this one chance.

Anyway, the Dreamcast stretch goal will be reduced to 90k in the next update.
This should be doable. Redux Dark Matters made 50k just for DC and nothing else. We also fund for PC and 3DS.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

Breaking News!
Just for the Dreamcast Community we have added the DC as main goal too and will be released after the PC version.
You can pledge for it in 3 Versions.

Dream Special Level 1 - Game only with Manual and Spine Card $49 - USD
Dream Special Level 2 - includes also the Games Soundtack on a second CD - $99 USD
Dream Special Level 3 - includes also the the Saber Rider Art Book - $139 USD

Please check the reward list on our Kickstarter campaign for details.
http://kck.st/1WWmbEH

Now lets see what the DC community is capabel off. Let us show them how a community works!
If you have any questions or suggestions, please let me know.
Thank you very much for your awesome support!
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by DaMadFiddler »

Christus, you may want to update the main post.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

Some more WIP Pixel Art from the PC/DC version:
Image
Image
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

Let us break the 25% today!
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

26% done!
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

I have awesome news for you guys! We have started to work on the game cover.
What is awesome about this? Well the artwork for it is being made right now in Japan!
I can't reveal the artist at this time but just believe me , it will be amazing!
To convince this artist in the first place was very hard.
I hope the receive the first sketch soon. I am so exited about this.
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

Attention to all who pledged for the $49 DREAM SPECIAL LEVEL 1!
I forgot to include the EBU Star Sheriff Badge in the reward text.
I can not edit this anymore.
The EBU bagde IS incuded in the $49 DREAM SPECIAL LEVEL 1!
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by Christuserloeser »

You guys really need to get into contact with some of the major indie blogs and see if they'd be willing to write short features about your project.

REALLY looking forward to that cover art btw!! :D
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Re: Saber Rider & the Star Sheriffs coming to SEGA Dreamcast

Post by teamsaberrider »

can you tell me which blogs they are?
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