I hope it doesn't turn out to be some kickstarter bollocks.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nightworkgames/blackroom-a-new-fps-from-romero-and-carmack?token=07458251 

But considering the team it's hard to feel let down. Exciting none the less as I know the thing will be funded in no time. 

I'm a whore for kickstarter + romero :( 

 

"FROM ROMERO & CARMACK" is really pissing me off. It's so obviously to make people think it's that Carmack. 

Which is funny, because, if it was John, it wouldn't mean as much to me. I'd love if he were involved, seriously, but Adrian being a part of this has a lot more impact for me.

Also, liking that all of the maps are by Romero. Even more so liking that the theme is basically an excuse for mappers to make what they want and put gameplay in it. The layouts you can glimpse in the trailer definitely jive with his vague claims back in December that e1m8b was a dry run for something new. e1m8b wasn't flawless, but I'd love a UE4 powered game packed with maps like that. 

That video did sound promising. Decent premise to allow for some good experimentation and diversity within the SP game. 

https://www.twitch.tv/theromero 

Twitch doesn't resolve on the work connection... Isn't blocked, I see something different for that. Probably just something needed that is closed off. Oh well. I hope it goes on YouTube later. 

Adrian Carmack does look like a very grumpy potato. 

is a shit show 

"Are you going to make us your bitch again?"

"How about we just make you all a game."


Hehe 

He wants to make 10 hours of singleplayer content in ~2.5 years. Asking for $700k of funds. I doubt they are going to just be 2 guys and a musician, so they'll need to hire on some others. That figure works out to $93k a year for 3 devs, $70k/year for 4, $56k/year for 5... $56k a year is roughly what an entry-level artist or designer might get for salary at a AAA company. $70k is roughly what a year or so experienced programmer might make. So not terrible figures, but seems like a tight budget for the content they want to make. Obviously they are hoping to exceed their asking figure.

Let's not even talk about the unknown costs of the various partners of their kickstarter campaign.

If each level is a 30 min experience, that's 20 levels. He's given himself and an artist 1.5 months a piece to make them given their schedule. Even if their levels are an hour of gameplay and they instead spend 3 months on each of them... Again, this seems really tight if they're making the game in UE4.

Plus, 6 planned multiplayer levels? And who is doing the gameplay programming, Romero alongside his other duties? Is Adrian making all the character art, animation, AND environment art? Effects and shaders too? Are they really attempting to do singleplayer AND multiplayer, the needs of each are vastly different beasts in 2016? Even with some hires, this seems like a lot of work, and sounds like a recipe for burnout.

Basically, it sounds a bit much for the time, budget, and manpower they've given themselves. And let's not forget that Romero has over-promised and under-estimated in the past, most visibly in Daikatana, but even in the last 10 years he's announced 2 separate FPS games that never came to anything, which he had venture capitalists funding.

I'd like to see some gameplay or something of substance shown before having more confidence in him. He's talked a lot about his ideas in their trailer, but any designer can talk about ideas and dreams until the cows come home... Proof is in the pudding, as they say. There's a lot of handwaving and 'interesting and unique' said, but let's SEE some of that please. 

the open-endedness and gameplay focus seems promising. I think something like this would need a certain amount of self awareness to not come off as cheesy. 

I'm guessing the Kickstarter is only part of it. I would imagine they have other sources of capital. 

Thanks for that, I am also waiting for something with a bit more substance before I pledge. 

True, and he could be self-funding a bit. Funny thing about co-creating Doom and Quake is swimming in dollars. But wish he'd disclose some of that if he is. 

really interesting.

What about the level design is the biggest time-sink in your opinion? If he had decided do do this in something comparable to quake instead of UE4 would the schedule seem more doable? 

"I am designing all the levels" probably just means he is mostly giving a bunch of sketches and notes to a team of level monkeys working under him. 

The Kickstarter is just like Kingdome Come: Deliverance's. Test the waters and if it gets funded then the project will receive external funding on top of it. 

The level design itself isn't too bad, no matter the engine. It's simply the time to make it look nice and unique in the engine which takes a lot of time.

UE4 implies a high resolution of environment models and textures. Quake you can get away with a flat BSP wall with a 64x64 brick texture. UE4 that still works, but the brick is maybe a 512x512 bump mapped displacement material with several layers you generated from a hi poly model, and you have various environmental detail models as well alongside that to really sell it. It depends on their style of course how detailed things are, but it's a lot of work! 

Romero states he never made a penny from Quake. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9v_0HD7iOz4 

On the stream he said the $700k is a measure of interest for the external funding groups. If the KS hits that, they will come in with a larger figure. It is not the development budget, just the amount to trigger the investors and to fund the beginning of development. He did mention that the moment they hit $700k, they get to work on proper dev. 

seems a lot to float a sales pitch.