Camelot Unchained Kickstarter Campaign Launched
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As a (niche) and RvR-focused MMORPG, CU is a very risky venture for most traditional game publishers. Even if we did find one willing to take the risk, it would come with so many strings attached we couldn't make the game we want to, or would face constant battling to ensure our vision remains intact. That's why we're attempting to fund some, but not all, of this project's costs through Kickstarter.And don't forget to check out the artwork in our image gallery.
While we at CSE believe in Camelot Unchained, we could be wrong about it having even enough appeal for backers to fund this Kickstarter. We will create this game only if there is a demand for it, so if we can't get the partial funding we seek, we will not go ahead. OTOH, if we do successfully fund, Mark Jacobs will add $2M dollars to the development budget himself. This is covered in more detail below.
From his days at A.U.S.I. and at Mythic, Mark has preached (sometimes to very deaf ears) the importance of talking with and listening to the players. As part of our studio's mandate, every developer at CSE will have a presence on our backer forums. You want to praise, complain, question, probe, make suggestions, etc. to them? You'll get your opportunity on our both community and moderated private forums.
Every dollar we raise from this Kickstarter campaign will go towards development. Our staffing plan includes hiring three additional engineers, two artists, one designer and one part-time writer immediately. The MMO engine will be developed in-house with one purpose, to make a great RvR MMORPG; the engineers will work with Andrew on it, and our existing programmers on the server tech. While this game won't require the amount of content as Dark Age of Camelot, we still need to hire a few more artists in-house and a writer so, dragons be praised, Mark can go back to his day job and stop writing all these documents.
Over the next thirty days, Andrew is going to be showing off some of the tech that he has been working on recently in his less-than-copious spare time. Andrew has helped build in-house engines at Bethesda and Troika. He has also worked with the deepest innards of Source and Gamebryo and pushed the limits of Unity. He knows the technical challenges of putting together big open worlds, from content production through rendering, and there's nobody we'd rather have in that role. What he is going to show you will run the gamut from UI prototyping, smooth flowing combat, engine rendering speed and the challenges and ultimately the rewards of creating our own in-house engine to ensure that Camelot Unchained RvR-battles are everything we need them to be in order to make this game a success.
Ask yourself if any current MMORPG has delivered a long-lasting RvR experience. Would you like to help create that kind of experience? Our backers will be part of the creation process right from the beginning with our private forums and access to the development team. What we can do together over the next few years will set CSE and this project apart. Other developers talk about how much they embrace the community (and some truly do) but Mark has been doing this for almost 30 years, without fail. He hasn't been afraid to talk with the players and listen to their feedback, but he is also willing to say no. That approach is something everybody at CSE willingly signs up for when it comes to communicating with our backers in order to make this game a success.
Together, we can create an RvR world that is more immersive, vibrant, challenging and fun than anything we've seen in a long time. But we need your help to do so. We hope you'll join us in this great adventure, and we thank you for your interest in this project.
