Interview with Ice-pick Lodge: If successful on the public fundraising website Kickstarter

Xsolla was delighted to interview the studio from Moscow . Ice-pick Lodge the Golubeva. A few days ago, the company has successfully raised funds on the Kickstarter to create the most well-known game "pathologic" . It's a huge and complex project, with a budget well over $250,000. Alexander told us about the technology used in the remake and disclosed some tips for effective fundraising.

Tell us about your studio. After the game The Void is released, are you through this difficult day?

I often say that we are a small studio, but actually if we look at the standards of self-development, we are big enough. We have a team of nine people. Most of them live in Moscow. Once the feathers are hung on the door of our Moscow office, some black forces will take it away. After the game "the Void", and "Knock-knock" before, we have released a game "cargo!". This is a comedy game. And it's time for our studio to decide to launch a game like this, to prove that we're really going through a tough time.

Tell us about the recent Kickstarter competitive activities. Why did you decide to go back to the fundraising steps? Why didn't you issue pathologic before? It seems that players are very interested in this game over the years, why is it released now?

Why do we ask for funding resources when we can get users directly? We like this simple and honest idea. The games you do are designed for real players, so these people will help you improve the game. You don't have to waste unnecessary time and steps. However, Kickstarter is not enough. So it's time for us to mention again that we have other investments.

We haven't started to announce it because it's a huge project, and we're still hesitating. Everything is available, we have the ability of the team, the necessary technology and all, at the most appropriate time will be released pathologic.

However, surviving games are another problem that must be faced, and we are always a little afraid to do some complicated, hardware investments, but at the same time, we don't want to change anything-we don't simplify the game so that more players can get in. It is now clear that people are not afraid of hardware products and are more willing to play adventure and challenging games.

How does the new version differ from the others?

Overall, it's not entirely new. We are all starting from scratch-graphic design, translation, balance-everything should have been done in the first. The previous version was too hurried. We don't have to spend 11 hours this time to complete the scripting work.

The budget for this game is $250,000, right? Do you have a general budget? Ready to announce?

The budget is very large. Honestly-we use other investments. We obtained the current figures by raising funds. This can make our ideas a reality.

What we have to say is that we have an estimate! In general, most of our money is spent on programs and models. The small town in the game is not very large, but very dense; there are many characters, interior decorations, tools, and all the interesting things.

What is the main difficulty in developing such a complex game "pathologic"?

The hardest part is from giving valuable advice to our visual designers and art director players (no one teaches programmers how to do their job!). ）。 In my opinion, the most difficult thing to do in such a big project is priority. Each member of the team believes that their task is the hardest (so do me for example, I am a simple translator). And there is no doubt that everyone does their job very well, but it may be difficult to make our labor fruitful come together into a single organism.

How did you prepare for the event? How long does it take? Is it expensive to prepare for promotional videos and awards?

Unfortunately, we have been preparing to fight for more time than the original price, and let us think about the details of the event. We've been thinking about the redo of the "pathologic" game before the "Knock-knock" Release! Everything we do is done by ourselves. A good carrier, Scott Mсlesly, helped us a lot. Of course, we have a lot of friends, and many people are willing to help us-for example, school team scripts.

How did you work in the community before the event was officially started?

More than a year ago, we announced that Pathologic was going to redo. We often ask the community for help: They help us take videos, lend us props, and so on.

What new technology do you use in graphic design?

we will adopt Unity. The engine was very early, and it also established a connection with many game developers. Our previous game was also made by unity. We have a full suite of art rooms-the best rooms can be fully used by them!

You insist on making your own game localization. Why not find an agent?

As far as translation is concerned, I would like to remind them that it is difficult for them to devote themselves entirely to the same project and to understand what each individual's job is. The previous pathologic translation was done by the agent, but not very well. Not that all the agents are bad, but it seems that the pathologic is not suitable.

This game was written by the CEO of a game company. In the pathologic, there is no random text, it is filled with puns, metaphors and double meanings of words. Only after working closely with the writer can you understand the meaning of the translation and you have every detail of the work. Of course, it's possible to find an outsourcing that can help you do an in-depth investigation, but if we need it, we'll take care of the team.

We have a very professional team to translate the German version of the Void. They are not the official team of Ice-pick Lodge, nor are they living in Moscow. They actually do more in-depth than ordinary translations.

If your event is successful in Kickstarter, would you like to receive a donation from a fan?

If they're willing to donate. Some of the rewards are possible. We are also doing our small fundraising platform called "Strings". It is not open to the outside, but we will open it again after the event is over.

How are you going to work with the community? How often do you usually update?

We try to answer all the questions and have no reservations about our players. We are now updating every two days, and it may be slower after the end of the activity, but still there. Both in-beta and public beta are already in the Kickstarter awards. It is hoped that this openness to Chengdu will benefit us and the entire game community.

What is the reason behind game pricing?

We are very honest in pricing-this price is our basic price at the beginning. The list is very diverse: background music, magazines, posters, jewelry, statues, masks, etc. And everyone who supports our game will get rewarded in the game.

Can you tell us some chess games about pathologic?

We have seen a group of chess game designers. They say pathologic encourages them to do an interesting project and asks if we would like to help them with visual effects and text content. We accepted this opportunity with alacrity. Our cooperation is very smooth: they know better than us how to do a card game, and we are responsible for the design of this piece, therefore, the result is also to continue the video game style.

What kind of channel do you plan to use to sell your game? Steam, GOG?

Fortunately, all the channels in this era are appropriate. We'll sell pathologic games on Steam, GOG, maybe Desura or humble store. We will also design our own shop.

Interview with Ice-pick Lodge: If successful on the public fundraising website Kickstarter