Hello supporter,
my name is Dirk Nordhusen. I am a 40 years old German guy and in my daily job I'm a professional developer of desktop applications. My hobby though, is creating games for mobile platforms, expecially for Windows Phone.
When I started developing games in 2006, I had the vision of creating my own role playing game sometimes in the future. I made a lot of games since then but I never finished my role playing game. The concept and idea of Valgards Fate grew a lot over the years and I already implemented a lot of stuff and created a lot of graphics, sounds and levels for the game. But it's still not finished.
The problem with such a big project is simple: You need A LOT of assets and a lot of time. The latter is not the big deal, I've been working on games for so long in my spare time, I know I can and I will complete this game. But the assets and all the other things that cost money already ate so much money, I can't handle this all alone.
And this is why I'm asking you for help now.
The video shows a trailer that was made for the Dream Build Play 2012 contest. In the end it says that the game will be available in summer 2012 which was my goal if I had won the contest and got the 20.000$ :)
But in the end I got a place in the top 20 which was a good result for just a demo of a game!
Interesting, but what is Valgards Fate?
As you might have already guessed, Valgards Fate is a mobile top down role playing game, planned to be released on Windows Phone, Android, iOS. I just bought an Ouya and thought that Valgards Fate would also be a nice addition to the Ouya market.
In the game you play Valgard, the son of a leader of a viking clan. Unfortunately your father just died and the clan needs a new leader. This leader should be you, but the gods need proof of your braveness before they accept you as the new leader. So you
start your journey to show that you are dignified.
The game itself is played from top-down perspective (birdview). You wander around the world, fight, explore and loot caves and dungeons. On your journey you will talk to many people, get quests and solve riddles. The wilderness, caves and dungeons are full of monsters and traps and treasure. While you proceed your character gains experience and levels up. You can set some attribute points each level and learn new special abilities. Magic is cast via runes. To cast a magic spell you have to equip the appropriate rune in your secondary hand. There are a lot of different runes in the game, from simple fireballs or icebolts to area damage spells, healing and helpful effects spells like the haste rune which makes you run at double speed for some seconds.
![Dialog]()
![Spine chilling dungeons]()
![Shop system]()
![Graveyard]()
![Exploring villages]()
I already put a lot of work into this game, so its not like you would support a simple idea, the game is already playable. Most of the game mechanics already work and so you can already explore a small world with some dungeons, talk to NPCs, get quests, buy and sell things, cast spells, fight monsters, use your inventory, lockpick chests and a lot of other stuff.
Now you might think: "Cool, so why does he need us?"
And what will you do with my money?
The most important thing for the game at this state is "content". For example, to create the 2D graphics, I use 3D models and render them. After that I edit the graphics with Photoshop and rearrange all sprites with some other tools so that I can use them in the game. Every tree, stone, building, weapon, etc is based on a 3D model.
In big teams there are some specialised guys who create the 3D Models for the game. Since I am alone I have to buy every single model. To keep going on with the world creation, I need a lot of more models. A good portion of the funded money will be spend on this.
I have a lot of programs in my workflow, some of them are bought and licensed for a lifetime, other (Adobe products) are rented on a monthly basis. Another portion of the funded money will be used to pay software licenses.
There is a lot of other things that need money like test hardware, developer fees, sound effects, music, localization etc.
The whole money (minus fees and taxes) will be spent on the game and even if I do not reach the full amount of money, the project will be continued and all the funds help me to go on.
Should the campaign raise more than the aimed amount, there are already plans on how the money will be invested:
at 20000 Euros I will add a complete additional island with dungeons and some new monsters.
at 23000 Euros I will add the possibility to store the characters online. This will help people to keep their data after reinstalling the game or changing the mobile OS (or to play your game on the Ouya and phone). The money will also pay the server costs. This stretch goal is also a preparation for the next stretch goal.
at 30000 Euros I will create an arena where people can play a deathmatch game online against other players. The game character from your current single player game will be used, so if you progress in the game, you have a better chance in the arena. The arena lets you get special items with earned "arena points".
Ok, but what will I get in return?
To show my appreciation I prepared some cool stuff you get for your support.You can find the perks on the left. The list starts with simple perks like ingame credits but includes also some very exclusive things. Wouldn't it be cool to work on a whole dungeon with me that will be part of the final game. Or design a whole quest line with me. NPCs (non player characters) could be named after you.
Imagine millions of people playing a game you helped creating!
For me it is important that you know I can make this game. A whole role playing game is a big bunch of work and I know that many many developers tried and failed doing it. But here are some facts I want you to consider:
- This game is my dream :) I already put a lot of work and love into it. The core game engine is working (as you can see in the video). I would never ever throw it away or discontinue it.
- I made and released several complete mobile games on Windows Phone Store and Windows 8. If you own a Windows Phone or use Windows 8, search for DiNoGames in the store and you will find games like FrogSling, Colorball, Beanstalk Tale and others. Meanwhile Colorball is also available on Android devices. This shows that I am able to complete games.
- My experience of six years of developing games helps me a lot. I know the whole process, starting at planning a game to creating it and finally releasing it.
I like the project but I can't give you money
If you consider this project interesting but cannot support me with fundings, you can support me in another (important) way. Tell your friends about my Valgards Fate campain and share this campaing on social networks like Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn etc. And don't forget to use the IndieGoGo tool for that. Thank you very much for spreading the word!
Thank you very much for reading! Any kind of help is highly appreciated.
Dirk