project idea: kickstarter a G1-3/D1-3/Q project

Hello, yesterday while talking with a friend we came up with the idea of adapting G1-3 (Against the Giants), D1-3 (Descent Into the Depths of the Earth) and Q1 (Queen of the Demonweb Pits) classic AD&D modules as a CRPG. We taught there would be a real market for it.

This would be a full time job for maybe more than 1 programmer, but If I was 20 years younger/better programmer, I think I would try this:

1st: see how much the licenses would cost.
2nd: see what are the financial needs for a viable project.
3rd: launch a KickstarterTM campaign for the 1st module (G1) with the implication that if founded other modules would follow (btw at 10$. 10K supporters=100K$, depending on the results of step 2, that could be enough).
4th: if step 1-3 OK then quit job and program it with the TOEE engine (best D&D adaptation).


I'm pretty sure we're not the 1st to have this idea, but I looked around and didn't saw anything (feel free to show me if otherwise).

BTW I'm a HUGE fan of what Shinning Ted (and coll.?) did with KOTB without (as far as know of) any financial support (thank you Ted!).

thx for reading, feel free to comment,
Jean-Pierre

 

So much to say, forgive me for rambling off in various directions with no coherency...

I often wondered how much I would pay for a new full campaign for this game that brought you from levels 1-20. I mean everything done top-notch, with quality art, voiced NPCs, dozens and dozens of interesting quests, intelligently scripted combat encounters; something you could get lost in for weeks and replay countless times till the end of your days.

I'm not ashamed to admit I would pay into 4 figures if it was done right.

I still remember how giddy I got the first time I saw that KOTB existed, let alone that it was done so damn well for a free non-profit mod. I play it all the time, and it's really a fantastic counterpart to the original game.

Cost: I'm not sure what level of quality you would be reaching for, but IMO a project of this magnitude, if done right, would cost well into the hundreds of thousands of dollars. One or two programmers, even working full time for a year, are not going to get the job done. Since the core engine is already there, it's the artists, story writers and actors that will be needed more so than coding nerds. There is not much dialog written in the original module, and unless it's going to be mostly hack and slash where you create characters and head right to the first map of G1 with bare-bones art, someone needs to come up with all those dialog lines and voice them. And artists will need to create interesting beautiful stuff like this for 100 different maps:



Anyone paying real money for this is going to expect a fully explorable world map with a quality fleshed out "town", lots of side quests, random encounters, in short a real full campaign.

Campaign: If the time were going to be spent putting the amount of money and effort into such an endeavor, I would personally prefer to have a clean adventure that I have never seen before. The parts of KOTB I enjoy the most are all the original quests that were not part of the B2 module (Mad Wizard, Dragon, all political intrigue at the Keep,various quests at the Caves of Chaos, etc.), or were expanded upon greatly based on a one paragraph encounter description (Lizard Men, Hermit, etc.). If KOTB were just a straight copy of the module room-for-room, without those additions and embellishments it would just be pretty stale.

As much as I enjoy the GDQ7 experience, I'd really like something new. Also, staring with G1 would put your initial party at around level 5 or 6 if i remember right, which is kind of awkward to start with.

Licensing: I know absolutely nothing about this at all. But I would think that would be the first step to nail down solidly before even thinking about going any further, as you indicated.

Interest: I'm not sure how many people would be interested in this. But if there is promise that it would be high quality, and you get enough wackos like me you only need a few hundred... :crazy:

 

What about www.dndclassics.com?

http://www.dndclassics.com/product/...e?src=hottest_filtered&it=1&filters=0_0_44700

 

It's a good idea but once you start taking money for the mod, then you have to get approval/negotiate a % for everyone involved in the original TOEE (in addition to WotC for whatever modules you adapt).

 

I love the idea, but it sounds very complicated. You may need to consult a lawyer if you want to do it for money.

 

thank you all for your comments, all valid points. (i still secretly hope something can be done with those old classic modules (and IMO the TOEE engine the best adaptation of DnD for CRPG)).

JP

 

Just a heads up.... this has been done already using the NWN engine!

http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/against-giants-g1-steading-hill-giant-chief

through

http://neverwintervault.org/project/nwn1/module/queen-demonweb-pits-q1

 

WOW, thx, I think I'm gonna reinstall NWN!