The Heavy Gear Assault kickstarter has started and they are looking for $800.000 for their online multiplayer version in the spirit of the old Metal Gear 1 and 2 series.
the game features:
To be honest I was not aware the unreal engine 4 ran on Linux unless they talking about the web version?
Originally we had Heavy Gear 2 on Linux thanks to Loki Games the old Linux porting house that is with us no more. Looks like we may finally get a really good mech combat game on Linux.
the game features:
- E-SPORTS -- Compete in tournaments and organized matches for fame and fortune. Spectate and sponsor other players. Vote on performances. Put bounties on poor sports and pay their enemies to take them out.
- DYNAMIC COMBAT -- Rip apart the arena with fully destructible terrain. Blow an opponents limb off and use their weapon against them. Pull the trigger at range or melee up close. Play as your pilot and move freely in and out of Gears.
- CUSTOMIZATION -- Stealth or armor? Guns or melee? The choice is yours. Customize your weapons or powerplant, sensors or CPU. Fine-tune your performance, and hire a support staff to keep your Gear in the fight.
- SOCIAL INTERACTION -- Create a profile and cultivate your fan base. Stream your matches and highlights to your favorite social media site. Rate players and spectators on their sportsmanship, teamwork, cooperation and style.
- FREE-TO-CHOOSE -- Choose your level of involvement to pay and play how you want. Play entirely for free or pay for premium membership that doesn't break the balance of the game. The free-to-play model has evolved.
- UNREAL ENGINE 4 -- Battle for dominance in photo-realistically beautiful arenas. Enjoy performance that scales to high- and low-spec PCs. Watch fully destructible environments and Gears rip apart, changing the shape of the fight.
To be honest I was not aware the unreal engine 4 ran on Linux unless they talking about the web version?
Originally we had Heavy Gear 2 on Linux thanks to Loki Games the old Linux porting house that is with us no more. Looks like we may finally get a really good mech combat game on Linux.
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I'm dubious as to the accuracy of those claims. If that were the case, why would Trendy Entertainment have gotten Ryan to port Dungeon Defenders when they could have licenced the engine itself? Also, what about all the UE3 using developers over the years who never once released a Linux client for their game (if support truly did exist and was licenceable, "not many" is actually "zero"), not to mention the Linux friendly developers using UE3 who claim that the engine doesn't support out platform.
Of course, they could be saying that Epic licenced the ability to port the engine and release it on Linux, but that in itself is kinda bizarre (paying a licence for a platform that an engine doesn't support is madness).
After the stunt that Epic pulled, I'm going to view any Unreal 4 Linux talk with a hefty amount of scepticism (and probably not buy them since I'd rather throw my money at developers making their own engines or using other middleware).
A cursory pass over Epic's site did reveal this, which I don't recall seeing previously, though it isn't explicitly referring to UE3:
Their projection cones give a slightly better idea of possibility space, but since this campaign is only a couple of days old, there's not enough data to calculate those.
Yes I know that, but it IS an early indication and I know of no example of any game that has had the required turnaround to make it after such an extremely weak start and there is nothing about the project that makes me believe otherwise. It is only at 2% of the funds gathered with almost 10% of the time passed. Somehow I don't see this project suddenly increase its pledge rate per day to the fivefold of what it is currently.
Given the initial data, the concept involved and what we have seen with other similar Kickstarter campaigns I am more than comfortable with pronouncing doom over the Heavy Gear Assault kickstarter campaign. There is no industry heavy weight behind it, there is no real press coverage, etc
Personally I use Kicktraq as a filter for what Kickstarter projects I back. I back DRM free games with Linux support, a strong concept, (typically) people with a good track record behind it and a Kicktraq trend (or preferably projection) that gives me hope that it will make it. So far that system has served me really well.
Whilst your other measures are great, using Kicktraq like that is probably steering you away from projects that you might otherwise be interested in supporting. Since you don't get charged for campaigns that don't reach funding, there's not really anything to lose from backing a project that you want to support which has its future in question.
It's also not a very scalable attitude - if everybody took that approach, crowdfunding wouldn't work, as it's about getting people who like an idea to say that they like it and would support it if enough other people did as well :)