MeanMF

There will almost certainly be a GRFS 2. They've done this with practically every previous TC game. Same engine with minor tweaks, a new campaign, and new multiplayer maps. It's a good way for them to cash in on their investment at relatively little expense. I don't know what the GRFS budget was, but given the way the game is selling, it might even be something they need to do just to try to break even.

PC version is half price at Amazon... http://www.amazon.com/Spec-Ops-The-Line-Download/dp/B0085NTITS?tag=gmgamzn-20

Here's another review: http://penny-arcade....at-how-war-make Clearly not a great game, but I'm picking it up to see what they're trying to accomplish. I'm all for experimentation and risk-taking when it comes to storylines and not treating gamers like we're morons or kids, so I'm eager to see what they did even if it's maybe not the best game ever.

This is just a stab in the dark, but when I've seen those symptoms it's been the GPU overheating. Try running a benchmark/burn-in utility like FurMark to make sure everything is stable with your hardware before you start messing with game settings. http://www.geeks3d.com/20120510/furmark-1-10-1-gpu-burn-in-stress-test-videocard-geforce-radeon/

Windows automatically partitions and formats your hard drive during installation. You don't need to do anything. As long as your drive has TRIM support there's really nothing you need to do to maintain it.

Thanks I appreciate it, and I share your frustration although I'm sure to a much lesser degree considering how much work you've put into the project.

Grfs fails at this as well, IMO. The stealth/sync shot mechanic is enjoyable when it works, but the game occasionally arbitrarily decides to prevent you from being able to use it by means of invisible triggers that make you detected even when you weren't, and enemies that spawn into areas that you've already cleared. And sometimes your squad mates just bug out and refuse to target an enemy or acknowledge that they even exist, even when standing literally right next to them. The game is broken. There is very little chance of them ever fixing it. And don't get me started on multiplayer or how terrible the coop is.

It depends on your definition of "work" It will get you some donations. But it won't get you anywhere near the volume of traffic or donations that you need to make the campaign successful. You dont need to bring 100 people, you need to bring in 50,000 and get 10% to contribute. I'm in the same boat - I'm between jobs and relocating across country. I need every dollar I can keep in my bank account to cover moving expenses and put together a deposit for a new place. Give me another 6 weeks and I could go a lot higher

Exactly - and those are the people that Notch and fourzerotwo brought in droves on Takedown's last day. And many of them may not even care that much about the game, they just want to support indie game development. If I'm remembering correctly, there are still a ton of takedown supporters who haven't even signed up for the private forums yet. I don't know what's going on with the hardcore fans if there really are that many who havent stepped up yet. Yes there's some risk in putting money towards a game that might never be finished or might not be perfect, but on the flip side if you don't take that risk on people who want to make these kinds of games, then there is zero chance of anything ever being made and you've saved what, $15? Great, blow it on a pizza to celebrate.

And that is unfortunate in my opinion. Though, I was as good as sold once the coop thing I asked here on the forum was sorted. For the hardcore fans like us I don't think it really matters. We know exactly what we want to see and are looking for details. But for people unfamiliar with the genre or who are more casual fans, I think it makes sense that they'd be looking for an entertaining presentation. It's an entertainment product after all - what they really want to know is that it's going to be fun. Having an entertaining video goes a long way towards demonstrating that the team making the game knows how to put together a fun experience.

Yeah it's not so much that the idea is a PR stunt or a marketing pitch. It's about grabbing people's attention and showing them that you are capable of putting together something interesting and creative, no matter what it is. The video for the CLANG Kickstarter is a great example. I seriously doubt a tenth of their donors know anything about swords, but the pitch makes it interesting and entertaining, and something that even casual supporters can get behind. That's where the big numbers come from, beyond the core fan base.

Google Drive lets you upload 10gb files if I remember correctly...

Eurogamer put together a gaming PC which they say is 4x as powerful as current-generation consoles for under £300 / $400. Good stuff.... http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/df-hardware-introducing-the-digital-foundry-pc

They're using Photon for their net code... There are some licensing restrictions around that but I suppose it could work. I've never used it so I'm not sure how good it is for an FPS.

I've played with Unity a bit and it is indeed very easy to get up and running. The main problems for an FPS is that the network code is pretty poor. It's just not anywhere near what other engines provide. And for single player, the AI and even basic pathfinding is pretty lacking. They'll get there eventually, and maybe Unity 4 is better, but in v3 it's just not there yet. I think if you want to see something like this, then modding an existing game is the only realistic way to make it happen. Even using an off-the-shelf engine, building a new GR from the ground up wouldn't be much easier than building it the first time, and that took dozens of full-time people many months to put together.

Apologies if I've stirred anything up or my posts came across as anything other than trying to help. I'd really like to see this project succeed, and I frankly wish I could afford to donate more than I have. Anyway, I'm done so carry on

No offense or manipulation intended, and I am not trying to paint anything in a bad light. There was a response in a very public Reddit thread that I thought you might not realize reflected poorly on your staff. If I was trying to start something I would have started it on Reddit where a lot more people would be looking at it.

Nothing aggressive at all, just trying to help. If you don't want to hear it then I'll shut up. Best of luck with the rest of the pledge drive.

Yes/no answers to those questions would have take no more than five minutes to put together. And its not like there was much activity in the AMA. But sure I can see maybe you wouldn't want to just focus on that one guy's post. So how about answering a couple of them and adding "I want to make sure other people have a chance to ask questions too so I'll come back later and answer as many as I can". No, he gets an attitude and basically "I don't have time to read your wall-of-text post, filter it down to one question because that's all the time I'm willing to spend answering you". There are no time limits on Reddit other than the ones that you set yourself - they could have stayed there answering questions all night if they really wanted to. They need to raise $350k in under two weeks. That's an insanely difficult thing to do, and copping an attitude with potential donors in a public forum that you've been heavily trying to promote is NOT going to get it done.

I am stunned by this response in the AMA today: http://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/vjam4/indie_game_developer_ground_branch_by_blackfoot/c54ziwr There's a guy there who's obviously interested in learning more about the game. You have the developers doing an AMA, a forum where they've invited people to ask questions. The guy asks a bunch of detailed, on-topic questions looking for simple yes/no/maybe answers, and the answer is basically "sorry I don't have time to read your list". Do they not understand that they're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars in donations with no guarantee of people getting anything back in return? And they can't be bothered to take the time to answer this guy's questions in a highly-promoted event that a lot of potential donors are going to see? WTH? The team should be bending over backwards to get information out to people like this, not blowing them off and making snarky comments like that.

I meant hardcore fans of Ground Branch - people who already know about the project and what John has put into it. For somebody without that knowledge the video has to make a convincing case that the developers are serious about the project and capable of pulling it off. First impressions are incredibly important - if they aren't impressed within the first minute or two, they're more likely to click away to something else than they are to dig deeper to find out more about the project (who's doing it, how long it's been in production, why it's different than other "tactical" shooters, etc) More than 60,000 people have watched (or started watching) the pitch video on youtube. That's 10x as many people as donated to Takedown. The problem isn't getting them to look at it, it's getting them to donate once they've watched it.

I know that and you know that, but does that come across to somebody watching the video who has never heard of the project before? It's not the hardcore fans that need convincing.

That may be true, but people could also get the impression that you're not confident enough in your project to risk your own money. You're basically asking for people to hand you money with no guarantee of anything in return. They're going to want to see that you're serious about the project. A professionally-done (or at least professional-looking) video goes a long way towards building that confidence.

Sure, but people still want to see that the team can put together a quality product. If you're asking for hundreds of thousands of dollars but aren't willing to shell out enough to hire somebody who knows what they're doing to put together a good promo, what does that tell people?

The video, or at least the first minute or two of the video, is purely an exercise in marketing... When it comes down to it, the it's basically a commercial. Facts are less important than getting people's attention and showing them something interesting or entertaining. Facts can come later - first you need to get their attention and differentiate yourself enough so they'll want to learn more. And you've probably got no more than 60-90 seconds to grab them before most people zone out or click away. A good video also demonstrates that the team is competent and knows how to create an entertaining or interesting experience. A bad video makes potential donors think "why should I think these people are capable of putting together a game if they can't even do a 5-minute video that won't put me to sleep?"