Rock Simulator 2014 funded on IndieGoGo

General Discussions
#1

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It seems like Goat Simulator wasn’t dumb enough (no offense though, that game at least had some content), people are starving for more dumb stuff.
Rock Simulator 2014 was posted on IndieGoGo at Jun 26 and just in 5 days it doubled it’s goal (that means they’re over $1000 now).
Here’s their IndieGoGo campaign link: Link

So what’s your opinion on this guys?

Personally I find it disturbing that so many good games disappear into nothing because the developer wasn’t lucky enough to make the next big hit and he can barely make money out of it, then someone comes around, makes an IndieGoGo campaign for something that is completely pointless and most of the people here could develop in a few hours and his project gets funded with $1000 in 5 days. :-\

#2

I agree. It’s all about marketing, exposure, and how cute your video is. Actual quality/gameplay aren’t as important when it comes to marketing the game. The passerbys just want something flashy that grabs their eye, and lack the ability to see the potential (or lack of). :confused:

#3

I think what got me was “Occulus Rift support” HAHAHA :slight_smile:

#4

I think it has potential, people can do lots of things with rocks. The game has a theme that has really attracted attention, we never actually seen the gameplay. Its obvious the developer has a sense of humour that allot of the community likes. No matter what, this game will be popular. Good or Bad.

I went to his youtube channel and found this; (Not for the faint of heart)

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#5

“Pinecone Simulator 2015 now on Indiegogo!
Please give me all zhe monayz!”

Yep it’s stupid :stuck_out_tongue:

#6

I am really really scared…

#7

I think games like this are supposed to be “ironic” with the developers and “players” not taking themselves too seriously. That can be a breath of fresh air in the indie community, where there is seemingly always something to complain about. I don’t think the developers are doing something as insidious as a well-timed cash grab, but I suppose I could be wrong about that.

I don’t really care about these types of games either way, but I hope they go away soon. Or I hope the developers use the spotlight to showcase other upcoming indie games. There are so many other beautiful things being created, and while this is funny for a few minutes, the entire community could be so much more than it is now.

What I’m really afraid of is when this goes “mainstream” and the app stores are flooded with “simulators” in the same way they’re flooded with zombie-run-and-jump-flappy-bird-2048 clones now.

#8

I must admit though, these people are really f**king clever.

Getting so much money off of a ‘game’ that was made in less than a day, That’s pretty damn impressive.

I envy ‘developers’ like this.

  • Jev

EDIT: Please don’t take this too seriously, or else I’ll kick you in the knee.

#9

See also: Notch’s Cliffhorse

The story behind it: http://www.reddit.com/r/dogecoin/comments/27m24r/i_dont_know_if_its_a_joke/

#10

Also see also: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pet_Rock

#11

I agree!
To bad I have a consciousness…

#12

Eh, I’d rather skip wasting my time making crappy fake-games that might get funded for a few thousand dollars and work on a real game that could easily net a few hundred thousand dollars. :wink:

Even if it takes a year+ to make a real game, it’s still more end-profit.

#13

There, FTFY :point:

We can always dream, though :slight_smile:

#14

Lol, point taken. It’s obviously not an easy process. I just mean that a I think the ROI on hours-spent from making a real game trumps the ROI from spending tons of time trying to market a fake one.

This of course assumes the person has the skill, experience and determination to complete a real game in the first place though :smiley:

#15

It was only funny when Surgeon Simulator did it. These pathetic cash-in attempts that came after it are the worst. It’s like the video game version of buying fake vomit from a novelty store. The joke is incredibly old at this point, and the developers are ever-more-transparently hoping that they can give players as little as possible and charge a premium for it. They’re not deserving of praise just because they happen to be successful. They’re polluting the indie marketplace, and they’re not even being funny about it anymore.

#16

I agree. Also I know people from other forums who said that they’re not happy about indie games coming to consoles because they’re poor quality games with small amount of content to offer. While obviously this is a naive viewpoint, these kind of games do make this stereotype stronger. :frowning:

#17

Yeah. The reason why I think Surgeon Simulator works is because a) it came first; b) it was a funny, on-the-mark reference to the ridiculous numbers of “legit” Simulator games on Steam; c) aside from the Simulator thing, it harkened back to crazy, difficult, old-school surgery simulator PC games like Life & Death; d) the game was a polished product with jokey mechanics, rather than an unpolished product we’re meant to believe is part of some purposeful humor.

What I find most obnoxious are the people who buy into it, who just find the joke oh-so-funny, and won’t think twice about tossing $10 down a hole for the chance to hear it again, only with ever-crappier delivery. It’s part of the impulse purchase culture that Steam has introduced and perpetuated. Don’t get me wrong, I think Steam is overwhelmingly a net positive for gaming, but discovery is bad enough on there without the top of the list being populated with endless reams of joke games and early access projects.

#18

Yeah, I agree.

The mobile “buck an app” market doesn’t help either, personally I think projects like these are just well marketed to kids/impulse buyers. I mean honestly, this personality type has always existed. It’s just that with the advent of dirt-cheap games via steam sales and the really cheap less-than-McDonalds apps it’s made people a lot more willing to just toss $5 at something just for the reward of saying they funded it, for humor’s sake. These “developers” for Rock Simulator are just taking advantage of that. :confused:

Now, the one and only redeeming thing I could say is, chances are almost everyone who funded Rock Simulator problem didnt take funding money from other projects, they’re probably “funding regulars” anyway. I can’t imagine many first-time funders funding it. But then again, who knows, maybe because it’s so brainless/stupid it made people fund it for the hell of it who would normally not fund anything.

#19

But wait! There’s more!

http://gamejolt.com/games/strategy-sim/bus-stop-simulator/28751/

Where will it end?

#20

Nah, thats something different. It seems to be not about actually waiting for the bus but about something “horrific” that happens while. Hopefully.

EDIT: Also, it was not crowd funded, was it?