OS X GODUS (Populous reinvented) coming to Mac and iOS

I can't wait

While i've never actually played Populous, i've always loved god games and I love Peter's work. This game seems like its going to be awesome, what they have set up already already seems pretty fun and considering that this is only after around 2-3 weeks of work the end result will be simply amazing. I've always loved to play games where you have a definite role in the world, but not complete control, where your worlds denizens make their own decisions to some extent and work without your presence to their fall or success, often dependent on your guidance.

I'm a believer

This post pushed me to join Kickstarter. £20 pledged!

Populous was great, but...

You've basically just agreed to pay £20 for an as-yet unwritten iPhone game that's going to cost 69p.

Peter Molyneux doesn't need Kickstarter money to get a game published - completely cynical abuse of the system by a very wealthy man who runs a full-time professional development studio.

I'll buy it when it's done for a price I consider to be fair.

garnerx said:

Peter Molyneux doesn't need Kickstarter money to get a game published - completely cynical abuse of the system by a very wealthy man who runs a full-time professional development studio.

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How do you know he's wealthy? See this interview with him where he talks about that exact thing. He talks about it at 1:24.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHTXxsXCY0

SilentPanda said:

How do you know he's wealthy? See this interview with him where he talks about that exact thing. He talks about it at 1:24.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=boHTXxsXCY0

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The guy sold two businesses he founded and ran to two very rich companies (EA and Microsoft), and unless he's awful with money he would have come away with a good chunk of the purchase price.

Molyneux is a far cry from the independent developers who typically turn to Kickstarter to make their dreams a reality.

His utilization of Kickstarter to fund a game is strange given his long, established resume of creating games. But is certainly no stranger or questionable than Amanda Palmer's use of the site to dubiously fund an album while she panhandles her fans to help pay for her lifestyle.

I loved Populous...but Molyneux is a difficult man to like. I'll wait to see more about the game before deciding if I'll buy it.

While I'd love to play a new Populous that's somehow as good today as the original was back in 1989 or whenever, this isn't how great games get made.

Regarding Molyneux's personal wealth: so he says in the interview that he's not rich, but I doubt he's exactly impoverished. He employs a full time staff, for god(game)'s sake. He's one of a select few developers who's almost as famous as the games he's made. Regardless of whether or not he'd have to remortgage his house or sell a Bentley to fund it personally, he could easily get the green light for a big project like this from any number of publishers, and not necessarily just the Triple-A corporate monster types.

If he's genuinely going the "indie" route, indie developers don't have a 20-person team working on a single game.

Kickstarter is a begging bowl. It's completely undignified for a guy like him to be doing it. Plus, if it all goes wrong then he's under no obligation to refund your money or deliver any kind of product. He could just dissolve the company and go back to making more of those obscure little indie projects like Fable or Black & White.

Edit: I see he's hit the target now. Well, if the game ever comes out then I'll buy it on iOS for the price of a Snickers bar (assuming the Metacritic rating is any good)

Why does it seem like all the games i've dreamed of for years are current kickstarter projects (years away from release)..... ?

Yujenisis said:

The guy sold two businesses he founded and ran to two very rich companies (EA and Microsoft), and unless he's awful with money he would have come away with a good chunk of the purchase price.

Molyneux is a far cry from the independent developers who typically turn to Kickstarter to make their dreams a reality.

His utilization of Kickstarter to fund a game is strange given his long, established resume of creating games. But is certainly no stranger or questionable than Amanda Palmer's use of the site to dubiously fund an album while she panhandles her fans to help pay for her lifestyle.

I loved Populous...but Molyneux is a difficult man to like. I'll wait to see more about the game before deciding if I'll buy it.

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I kind of have to agree with this. But I can see why he's doing it - obviously he doesn't want to spend his own money, nobody would. And Kickstarter reduces that risk now. You can get money to fund your dream project and there is minimal financial risk for the people involved.

Could he afford to do it himself? Possibly. Could he take these ideas to any big publisher and call the shots? Definitely. But there's a lot to be said for complete freedom with a game studio.

Dagless said:

I kind of have to agree with this. But I can see why he's doing it - obviously he doesn't want to spend his own money, nobody would. And Kickstarter reduces that risk now. You can get money to fund your dream project and there is minimal financial risk for the people involved.

Could he afford to do it himself? Possibly. Could he take these ideas to any big publisher and call the shots? Definitely. But there's a lot to be said for complete freedom with a game studio.

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I completely agree on your added comments.

I'll also clarify that whether someone's fundraiser, in my view constitutes abuse/waste, is of course up to the awesome democratic process of fundraising that Kickstarter provides. I'll pass even though I may very well end up buying the game.

P.S Darkplace is an utterly fantastic show.

I liked Populous a lot when I was a kid and thought Black and White was fun until it became micromanagement hell.

But in 2012 I think Molyneux is crazy. His last big game was to get everyone to hack at a cube and he ran around telling everyone what's in the center is life-changing. I can't wait til someone gets to the center because I have a feeling it'll be a joke of epic proportions

Huacanacha said:

This is my first Kickstarter project too... I've checked it out in the past without taking the plunge, but I couldn't resist helping Populous be remade!

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How's this working out for you? (and anyone else who backed the Kickstarter)

I still haven't tried the game but it sounds like a disaster so far. Have they got the 'god of gods' guy who won Curiosity on board yet?

The user reviews on Steam are diabolical. Doesn't sound like they're updating it all that often, either. Does the Kickstarter thing come with an obligation to deliver a finished game? Because I bet Molyneux would rather move on to a new project...

http://steamcommunity.com/app/232810/reviews/

The whole idea behind Kickstarter is an abuse to begin with - I find it ridiculous that you pledge to support something without even an obligation to reimburse you that money if things go awry or are conducted irresponsibly.

In other words, development risks are offloaded to a bunch of benighted "supporters" (this was never needed before for independent software development in the 80s or 90s) who end up receiving vaporware and little else in most cases...no, thanks.

BRLawyer said:

The whole idea behind Kickstarter is an abuse to begin with - I find it ridiculous that you pledge to support something without even an obligation to reimburse you that money if things go awry or are conducted irresponsibly.

In other words, development risks are offloaded to a bunch of benighted "supporters" (this was never needed before for independent software development in the 80s or 90s) who end up receiving vaporware and little else in most cases...no, thanks.

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In the eighties and nineties, game development was a lot cheaper than it is now. Yes, Kickstarter is a risk, but I think it's great that we are seeing more niche games being developed (especially adventure games) that would never have seen the light otherwise.

Regarding Molyneux, the game looked promising but I stayed far away because the guy is pretty much the epitome of overhyping and failing to deliver. But there have been several devs whose work I admire greatly, and I trust them to deliver a solid product.

But yes, you should treat kickstarter as though you'll never see anything for that money (especially if hardware is involved, it's far riskier). If that doesn't sit well with you, there's nothing wrong in waiting for the final product.

BRLawyer said:

The whole idea behind Kickstarter is an abuse to begin with - I find it ridiculous that you pledge to support something without even an obligation to reimburse you that money if things go awry or are conducted irresponsibly.

In other words, development risks are offloaded to a bunch of benighted "supporters" (this was never needed before for independent software development in the 80s or 90s) who end up receiving vaporware and little else in most cases...no, thanks.

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Kickstarter is not a store. Of course you are not entitled to get anything in return. It is a way to kickstart projects, and sometimes projects fail.

I've pledged for several Kickstarters, and none of them have failed to deliver so far.

T'hain Esh Kelch said:

Kickstarter is not a store. Of course you are not entitled to get anything in return. It is a way to kickstart projects, and sometimes projects fail.

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They offer incentives that make it very much like a store - spend this amount, get this stuff. Spend more, get more stuff. If you were legitimately backing a project, you'd own a share in it. It's basically a fancy pre-order scheme for non-existent products.

I was more curious about whether anyone's enjoying Godus and feels they've got value for money from the kickstarter. Especially given that the reviews are bad and the game was recently offered at half price in the Steam sale, still in alpha.

garnerx said:

They offer incentives that make it very much like a store - spend this amount, get this stuff. Spend more, get more stuff. If you were legitimately backing a project, you'd own a share in it. It's basically a fancy pre-order scheme for non-existent products.

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No some Kickstarters do it, but not all of them. It may be a preorder scheme in practice, but legally it is not. The people behind each kickstarted is not obliged in any way to actually deliver anything.

I bought it and have found it quite boring... loved the graphics style and the concept, but gameplay just doesn't seem to be there.

Just to be fair, I have purchased other "green lit" games and have really enjoyed them... Insurgency is a prime example enjoying seeing a game progress from alpha to beta and so on. I'm enjoy and am closely watching a interstellar marines and fork tale as well. Unfortunately, for Godus.. it just seems like it has no clear direction or goal right now.

T'hain Esh Kelch said:

It may be a preorder scheme in practice, but legally it is not. The people behind each kickstarted is not obliged in any way to actually deliver anything.

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So, you're saying it's basically a fancy pre-order scheme for non-existent products?

bluespider said:

I bought it and have found it quite boring... loved the graphics style and the concept, but gameplay just doesn't seem to be there.

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That's a shame. They gave away the original Populous on Origin recently and it reminded me just how great that game was.

Hopefully they turn this around while it is still in development, taking user feedback into account and doing something about it. Otherwise, judging by the review comments on the Steam store page for the game from people who've logged some hours playing it, it will be dead on arrival. Right now it sounds like a mind numbingly boring clickfest unfortunately.

Perhaps Universim will be a better bet?