trooper6 wrote:So...when I see a Kickstarter for a Ren'py VN asking for $4-10 thousand dollars? I am very, very skeptical. That game would have to be very special and bring a LOT more than your average VN.
I have to disagree with this. I might be biased though because I'm not using Ren'Py and because of my life situations. Sorry if I get off-topic.
I'm currently making my VN, AIdol and have been carefully writing down and budgeting costs and estimations.
My kickstarter estimations are around $5k. I believe this is a reasonable price for the quality I am hoping to deliver, but I'm sure not everyone will agree with me.
Some notes before I get into it.
-It is my firm belief that the basic formula for calculating the minimum cost of producing a game is:
Cost of Living x Time x Team Size
I mostly use this estimation to calculate games made entirely by me--art, music, writing, code, etc. are all done by me, and me alone. It would be impossible for me to properly pay anyone else at this rate.
When my fiance made a game in two months, we estimated the minimum cost of producing the game. It came out to about $1986 thanks to food costs, shelter costs, utilities, and equipment. It is a small game that we released for free, and had he made any money from it, that $1968 would be the basic goal of what we would want to make back for the effort put into the game. All in all, he's made under $1 from ad revenue.
-I am dirt poor. I am too sick to be able to work, I'm on public assistance for food, and I scrounge up about $75 per month if I'm lucky with commissions. That doesn't always happen though, and now I'm too sick to work on commissions. I live and sleep in a 4'x3' closet with my fiance thanks to our really kind friend who did not want us to be homeless. Because I don't have a diagnosis, I cannot get on disability. I have a lot of problems, especially financial ones. Those problems are no fault of my own, I was just not born into affluence, luck, or a good situation in any way.
When I started AIdol, I was determined to do everything myself. The art, writing, code, music, GUI/HUD, you name it. I soon realized that, with my health, I would never complete the project alone. So I found artists who wanted to work with me, ones I believed to be up to my quality standards, and started in on the game.
Despite my crappy finances, I firmly believe in paying my artists and anyone who helps with AIdol, and it is my desire to pay them well, no matter how small or grand their contribution is. To be able to do this, I have to scrap my belief in the "minimum game development cost" formula, which would only really benefit me.
Any money I get goes towards the game's assets and my bills. When you're sick like I am, you rack up a lot of medical bills. Currently I owe thousands of dollars that I'll never be able to pay off in my lifetime at this rate. The only way I can make this game
and pay my team is to have a kickstarter.
Let's get to the point.
To make the AIdol demo will cost me at least $400. I am paying all of this out of pocket. The demo will be there so I can show the work, effort, and quality I hope will be in the final product.
Current cost predictions to complete the game are a little shy of $5,000. Let's break that down.
Programming - My programmer works for $10/hour. We estimate 200 hours of programming sessions. So there's $2,000.
Background Art - I want the highest quality of work that my artist can produce, so we will estimate $75 per BG and $8 for edits. At 16 BGs and 11 edits (at the very least) that adds $1288
Sprites - Full Body are $25, Waist up are $15, Outfits are $8, Expressions are $1 each, Pose arm changes are $1, and Complex Pose changes are $5. I have 13 sprited characters that will be shown waist up. With basic expressions and outfits calculated for just the bare minimum at the moment, it is already $414.
CGs are $25-35 each, and there will be several.
I have had assistance with character designs from two designers at $5 per design so far. Thirteen characters will make this a bit costly, and I might consider cutting this out.
I still don't know how much it will cost me to pay for promotional art, GUI, logo, achievement buttons and other art features.
I'm considering voice actors.
I have no idea how much music will be when I find a musician, but you can bet it'll be expensive.
I also plan to have a limited release hard copy edition which will cost $452.56 to produce.
Not mention Kickstarter fees ($200+), Amazon Fees($200+), and backer rewards.
So far my estimations are at $4,889.02 for a kickstarter just to get the game produced. This is not counting any hefty legal fees, like DBAs, seller's permits, taxes, etc. There are a lot of costs people don't consider, and any intelligent game developer should give themselves a buffer in case of an emergency or miscalculation, no matter where their funding comes from.
TL;DR--Even free games are expensive to make if you give a modicum of care to quality and treating your partners fairly, and even if you sacrifice paying yourself in favor of others.
I will be releasing the game in a "Pay what you want" format because I want everyone to be able to experience the game no matter their financial situation. I wish I could sell it for $20 online, but that would go against my personal values. If people want to support the game on their platform of choice, they can. If people want to pirate it or give it out to their friends, they have my blessing. I will sell any remaining copies of the disc version at convention tables, which I will pay for out of pocket. Let's hope I can make some sort of profit, because that will help with my next game if I'm lucky. I am not going to be paying myself for this project, and I hope that this sacrifice will get me closer to making my game a reality, because if I included my own wages for the game, the game's kickstarter would be way over $5k.
And if there are people who have their doubts about a game's kickstarter being $4-10k, especially mine, I hope that my transparency with production costs will clear their suspicions. Of course, I know not all gamedevs are THIS transparent with their crowdfunding, but I think honesty is the way to go when it comes to these things. I don't plan on cutting corners budget-wise. I'm just making a game for people to simply enjoy because I feel the need to, and it will be pretty and of a quality that I can stand by, dammit.
Also I don't feel like I'm pushing any political agendas in my game, so maybe that wouldn't be interesting to some players. (Though I suppose some people might think that my LGBTQA+ characters are pushing some agenda. They're wrong. Art reflects life. That's all.) Their loss. I think people need to keep a more open mind when supporting fledgling projects. I don't claim that my game is going to be special or bring a lot more than the average VN. I just want to produce something that I think will be up to my quality standards that others might have fun with and enjoy.
If you want to see me current Production Costs list, you can see it here.
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As for fanbase, Lishy, I'd work on that before the kickstarter for sure. Good luck!