u/Klightgrove

Yes, it was a promotional campaign for a charity event about dogs, but the twist on the Starfield IP and art was so well crafted it felt like there was more there. You have to wonder if someone experimented behind the scenes to make more concepts about what a Barkfield game could have been like.

And yes, that is me wishing for one. I've often considered just cracking open the modding tools and bringing on some of my old team to make a proof-of-concept.

With the current market, a cute animal mascot that targets all ages seems like a solid strategy instead of an ambitious game which targets a niche portion of potential players. There are obviously dozens of major factors playing into what IPs a company chooses to pursue. Then again it took 20 years for Commander Keen to come back which no one talks about anymore.

Hey, I'm primarily following the game development community but am interested in tabletop games as well. I recently found a public investment opportunity for a tabletop game and wanted to shoot some questions here to get feedback. No one here is able to give financial advice. I am asking designers about their thoughts on compatibility with the current market.

The rundown is:

• This is a finished diplomacy / political tabletop card game with a rulebook, prototype, and over 200 play sessions.
• They are seeking $50K to invest in user acquisition over a 2-month period for a Kickstarter they project to raise $150K
  • They have already raised $93K from various investors to develop this game.
  • $25K for promotional content and $10K for a campaign trailer, other misc costs.
• The creators are 2 college students with a network of advisors from business schools or management funds.
  • They have a strategic partner whose own campaign raised $500K but has been plagued with scope creep and delays in delivering physical goods, according to one backer I talked with.
• Their exit strategy is to get acquired in 5-7 years for 10m-100m valuation. This is the biggest red flag to me.
• They have no social media following at the moment and have not built up any communities.

The tabletop market is hot right now on Kickstarter, especially if you have actual investments funding marketing campaigns like ones I have been involved with, but I am rather hung up on how receptive general audiences would be to the diplomacy niche.

One of their stretch goals at $360K is a D&D 5e adventure set in their game's world which does make it more palatable but that also feels like the hook you should be leading with. Would greatly appreciate your thoughts and I can always toss out more info, even if there is a mismatch between what is on the proposal and their pitch deck.

Project Dumpling is an initiative taken up by an indie developer collective that believes in creating portfolio pieces for early-career professionals, hobbyists, and students to gain experience working with roles they would not normally have exposure to. We are putting together a team of 15 to 20 creatives to finish a 5-minute pilot rough animatic along with other key deliverables essential to various portfolios in the animation space, such as character turnarounds, a pitch bible, and narrative outlines among others. 

You can view some of our prior projects on Itch, although we have a rotating cast of contributors with over 100 members and many projects are not under the main account: tablefortwenty.itch.io. Our first project, Run Shiba Run, has been released to Steam and shipped over 20K units, with over 50 developers contributing to it. Animation and writing take a back seat in the game jam scene, which is why we want to have a long-term project to highlight these disciplines.

This project will not start pre-production until the full team is assembled because each member will have a chance to bring their ideas to the table and be involved in the creative pitchout process. 

This is an unpaid hobby project with no guarantee of getting picked up, but once pre-production is wrapped up after a 6-month period the team will vote on 1 of 3 outcomes:

1. Polishing the animatic as a portfolio piece
2. Building a Kickstarter campaign to fund completion of a 12-minute pilot
3. Pitching to studios and distributors to find support for a full production

 

While we are open to applications of all levels, there are a few baseline criteria for us to have in our selection process. This might be a lot to ask for a volunteer project, but because of how long animation takes we want to ensure only people who are dedicated apply so that we can minimize turnover: 

• You must be 18 years or older, this is non-negotiable. 
• You are in North America, but exceptions can be made.
• You have a specific role you are targeting and have a portfolio for it.
• You follow animation news and stay up-to-date on the industry.
• You do not utilize generative-LLM technology in your artwork, voice acting, or writing.

For this project we ask that you have the following mindset:

• You are comfortable working on a project that is designed for marketability.
• You are comfortable having your ideas cut or criticized. 
• You are able to work with distribution partners you do not personally like.

This project is headed by Klight, an engineer-turned-producer who has been working with content creators in the animation space for over 8 years and has spent the last 3 years helping an indie animation studio run their online community, culminating in a successful Kickstarter last year. He has spent 5 years designing services utilized by dozens of animation and gaming studios to protect their assets during development. He will be overseeing the creative direction of the project while working on the script. He enjoys watching Critical Role, being in tabletop campaigns, playing Stardew Valley until 2am, and finding bogo deals at the supermarket. 

Iris, our lead cleanup artist, has done cleanup on an award winning short under celebrated filmmaker Esther Casas Roura while contributing to coloring work for a professional web comic with 2.7m views. She has been creating art for almost a decade with a passion for animation matched only by her commitment to volunteer work. She has been a major investor in a kickstarter campaign for an indie studio, being involved in the pre-production process from table reads to shadowing in for recording sessions. Outside of her career she runs a small farm with donkeys.

We are likely unable to accept any applications for composer or sound designer since there are only 2 spots and we have community members who we have worked closely with in the past and are familiar with their processes and workflows. We understand that this is an over-saturated field in both the games and animation industry and hope you can find other projects to work on.

The full list of roles are:

Creative	Story	Art / Design	Animation	Audio
Writer x2	Storyboard Artist x2	Character Designer	2D Animator x4	Sound Designer
Producer	Editor	Background Artist x2	Cleanup Artist x2	Composer
Concept Artist		Prop Designer	In-Between Artist	Voice Actors*

*Voice actors depend on the pitch chosen by the team.

You may reach out to me for the Google Forms link for the applications. We will review the applications and reach out over Discord or your preferred method to those who we wish to talk further with. If you have any questions please feel free to leave them below, thanks!

Hey everyone, since this community has been rebooted we would like to hear more about the people posting and how they discovered the show. For me, it was pretty typical of seeing it pop on and off Nickelodeon. The nice thing was I never felt I was losing a critical part of the plot by casually watching, even later on when I watched the full series multiple times in orders.

The way the characters are so memorable you can recall one-offs and how the gaang changed their lives in such a short time. It's why even though the communities I see always bash on the Great Divide, I still find it entertaining because Aang is able to still help people who need it and we see how divisions are not just between nations, but also the people inside a nation.

I do feel like a bit of imposter at times for not reading the comics, but there are few fandoms I get deeply immersed in ever since the tragedy of Voltron. So how did you all stumble upon Avatar and what would you like others to know about you?