Ideas for Kickstarter

[Ravn7]

I've been thinking about the Kickstarter campaign. Although it's late but, on the other hand, there was no official announcement, so probably it doesn't have to be exactly on May 4th and not a single day later?

Anyway, as we all probably know by now, it's not possible to make a good game without money. And the more money, the better (usually, there were few exceptions). Thus, maybe it would make sense to talk about some ideas on how to make the KS campaign possibly most successful. My thoughts and proposals are:

The subtitle. It would be great if there was a good subtitle. Something catchy and easily understandable. It might remind of classic XCOM games. Alien Terror, Terror From Space, Enemy Hidden, Warfare Unknown. Or something more original, like Alien Conspiracy, Alien Infiltration.

The video. In my opinion one of the most important things is a good video. My personal favorite is the video for Project Eternity. It has great music at the beginning, which focuses viewer's attention. Battletech video starts good, too. You could also add some scores and quotes from the best reviews. Showing more studio members on the screen could also be beneficial from the PR point of view. This time I'd show some desktops with PCs in the background and how design something on the screen. In short, show you are already hard working and efficiently pushing development forward. I can imagine some dynamic gameplay (i.e. with cut or quick mouse movement). And I'd hire someone with better recording equipment to get higher picture quality than the video for X1 campaign.

Campaign description. I looked at a few of the most successful crowdfunding campaigns and I think in your first campaign the description was quite OK. This time, I'd just say it with greater confidence, like "we're a group of experienced and passionate people who are committed to make a true and long-awaited successor of classic XCOM games" etc. Unlike X1 I notice usually there are specifically designed title bars. Such details make the campaign feel well prepared and serious. I think it would also be a good thing to make a graphics with clearly presented tiers (in most cases it's not clear at all, in my opinion). Oh... I've just noticed there are many, possibly inspiring, guides on the web.

Continue with fundraising and pre-orders. I have an idea here for something that hasn't been done before. I don't know if you have already decided on a way to continue raising the money after the campaign itself has ended. I mean it may be beneficial to offer a few options of pre-orders, because people like to have a choice. Therefore my idea is to start another campaigns on Fig and/or Indiegogo for the longest duration possible with higher prices. Of course it may be better to ask them first but when it comes to Fig it's not like there are many ongoing campaigns these days.

In-game features that can be shown during the campaign. I have one idea in particular (I guess you have many others). Radio chatter. It's a thing that added to the game would easily make it feel much more dynamic and alive, while not being expensive. I think X2 could also distinguish itself by featuring more realistic than most games realistic radio chatter. If I may recommend anyone, that is if you want any expertise, I know this physicist who has a channel on YT was in military, likes strategy games and is even working on one now, just on the game's world building and physics. I don't know the guy personally but he seems really passionate about the work he does.

Good luck.

[Chris]

On 4/22/2018 at 8:02 PM, Ravn7 said:

<snip>

Thanks for the post. We will be releasing a bit more information on the KS campaign and maybe showing a preview of the KS page in the coming week(s) - we've got a first draft of the page up and we're working on the video, but we're probably not going to get everything finished by May 4th.

Specific comments are always useful but remember that the Xenonauts 1 KS was from 6 years ago, so I wouldn't judge the quality of this one too much based on what I did in my living room back in 2012. You will indeed probably be seeing some other team members in the video other than myself, tapping furiously away at their keyboards to craft you guys the ultimate X-Com spiritual successor!