Kickstarter game project raises $10k, made using a DIY Platformer tutorial.

What is the point of this article? The guy said he'd make a video game, and people pledged money. He's pretty upfront about what he's making on the Kickstarter page. The article author is upset because the fellow is using a tutorial? Who the hell cares? So long as the supporters get their "sidescrolling platformer action/adventure game, reminiscent of console classics like Super Mario Brothers and Sonic the Hedgehog", like he promised them, what's it your business anyway? They paid for a game, and he's developing a game. What's the problem?

Pick on it because its a poor game, not because of how it is written. It shouldn't matter to the backers if the guy was learning to program (how many experienced programmers would be happy with $10k-expenses for 2 months work?), or what tools he used to get the job done, as long as it does what it says on the proverbial tin.

Does this author not understand how prototyping games works?<p>You'd never spend the time drawing the assets and <i>then</i> code up the platformer... first you just grab a bunch of temporary placeholder art, so that you can work on the actual gameplay. This is incredibly common in any project like this.<p>This particular game might well end up being completely terrible, but the whole post shows a crazy misunderstanding of game development.

I really feel this is getting blown out of proportion. The game wasn't even built yet and all of the assumptions the article makes are based on what they found in open directories on the server.

Don't forget, he'll also spend $3000 to produce and send all the t-shirts and posters promised to the backers.

At first I thought that failed Kickstarters were a small minority of projects, but I've come to think that failed projects (or at least greatly delayed) are the norm, rather than the exception. Of 4 projects I've funded 1 was delivered as promised and on time, 1 is currently on pace to be delivered only slightly late (~1 month), one is 5 months late and still being designed, and one is mostly content complete but over a year late for physical delivery. People really, really don't seem to realize what they're getting themselves into with these, and drastically underestimate time to completion.

This is the second article I have seen in similar form criticizing a funded project for being simple/theoretically easy to make or relying on prefab tech.<p>Every person on KickStarter has a chance to vet projects and decide for themselves. Most of these people are not professionals promising a slick top of the line product. They are just people who want to make something. Sometimes its a team of well qualified professionals but a lot of the times it is people who just have the desire to do it. Why are people bashing them? Sure, the guy didn't throw it out there that he was not experienced but most people wouldn't. He will probably deliver what he promised.<p>In my early days, I did more than a few tutorials to complete clients objectives.I refined it and refined it before they ever saw it.But at the end of the day, I learned it and made it my own. I think tech-savvy people tend to judge here but a lot of these backers have no clue how to even begin thinking about how to make a game. To them, it may not matter.<p>Besides who knows, I bet the backers are just aching for a Ron Paul platformer and thats all they heard when they watched the video.

<a href="http://nibruki.com/games/rp2012/core/screens/TitleScreen.js" rel="nofollow">http://nibruki.com/games/rp2012/core/screens/TitleScreen.js</a> now is forbidden!

I'd be interesting if you could actually invest in Kickstarter projects and not just give away money.

Have these types of things happened on Kickstarter before (or has anyone attempted to just completely game the system?) What types of recourse do investors have? Any?

Don't know about this project, but the problem with kickstarter is that once you back a project is no longer your money, and there's nothing you can do about it.<p>It's right there on their TOS: they are not responsible for the project, nor to provide ways to keep the project's creators from running away with the backers' money.<p>This "give money and something MAY happen, eventually" model is going to collapse on itself.

Considering what it costs to produce a new title, is it any surprise?

Fake it 'til you make it, kid