Why AAA Indie?

AAA Indie rocks!

This is fascinating. I can’t think of other AAA indies out there... I just made a google on it - and nothing really. I take it you guys are starting something new here?
This might just usher in a new era of game development – let’s hope it does. We could do with some competition to the big publishers out there. Handing the gamers and the developers the power to create the games that they want!
Re-reading this makes me sound like a fanboy – but I really see this as a great step in the right direction… Welcome to the 21st century. And let’s all make this possible!

I know graphics isn't all, but I easily recall your "demo trailer" back then. And I was proud, it was danish. And indie.

Now when I see your "in game" photo session, and the thoughts you've had on how to keep the community informed and in on it, I'm very interested in following this closer.
Hence the Spearhead donation, which I hope counts as double for a broke student! :)

I think the Spearhead-idea is brilliant and I can only hope that this form of promotion will pay off - I've done my part! Whatever can be done to get rid of the evil publishers! :)

You want gamers to act as venture capitalists but without paying them back as if they were venture capitalists? Wow, nice scam.

@Zoot, Our investment in the game is a pre-order with an up-front payment and our return is what looks to be an awesome game at a great discount! So, we're not venture-capitalists expecting a pay-off, but gamers making a great deal (hopefully). That's at least how I look at it...

@Zoot - it's absolutely NOT a scam in any way, I've known a few of them from Online-Graphics Forums, these are HARD working artists that BELIEVE in something, one of them - have been working on an animation project for years, and never gave up on it - THIS is the kind of people you'll find in Zero Point Software

http://www.aaaindie.com/

Zoot, call it a scam if you like... Of course they can't make empty promises of paying back, if the game won't be finished. It's better to play with open cards and be honest that part of the deal is, that we get the game IF it gets released.

I will take the chance. Even though it takes 10 companies to try this model, before one succeeds. I won't to support the idea. Not bash it with pessimism.

I must admit, whether the game comes out or not, I'm glad I supported a good cause.

If its not real, its not in the game! Thanks Hicks for the link - Awesome!

hi, very cool....
i am trying to find the video where the small "auto support shooter" is walking /shooting in the office!!!! where can i find it?

pleaseeeeee

Hicks postet a link above: http://www.aaaindie.com/ <-- thats what you are looking for

I love how the litle robot blows holes in the file cabinet and he's like "whoops". :)

I think of it this way.

If this doesn't pan out for whatever reason, I've cost myself maybe an hour or two of working. I've lost about $30.00 USD. Shame on me, I've learned my lesson.

If it does pan out, and I admit this does take a bit of a jump of faith and trusting people that you have no personal history with, then I've supported a business model I hope to see succeed and get a game that I will hopefully get a lot of enjoyment from.

It's up to the person to decide if the benefits outweigh the risks in this case and there probably isn't a 'right' answer.

@Ghost1800:
This is what makes us try this against all odds! - you (the community) believing in us. We obviously cannot guarantee success, but we can promise you that we will live/die trying! - hint: watch the "For the Love of the Game" video and tell me that Nicolai's "nervous" grin at the end dosen't say it all!
Spread the word - Spearheads!

Well, that's the plan :)

If you've donated, or have doubts about a possible donation, then tell your friends about it, spread the word, thats the only way to guarantee succes. Sure, you donated 220DKr, but if no one spreads the word, theres a dead end to it..

So its really up to YOU to make this happen :)

If I had a credit card, I would really donate, don't want ads here in the site, want the game to be excellent (but I'm aiming at the PS3 version, my PC is horrible), and no need to give me anything in excange, just want the game to be great. About telling to my friends, I bet they would like the game but they're not the type of person to go to game sites and not even donate, wish they were more open-minded.

Keep working! I'm going to buy as soon as it comes out!

I always want to support whats danish :D, and the game looks so damn cool! I hope the game is released so I can say I am proud to be danish!

Held og lykke! det ser satme godt ud!

I've already spread the word about this site as much as I can. So hopefully more people can take a look and maybe register and donate. :)

Nice bussines concept. I realy like how u guys think of "new-open-door-development"! JUST GREAT!

This game looks great !!! and the business model is also very innovative !

Some of my favourite memories of gaming are surely FPS Coop, first with Doom, Quake with various mods, one mod which allowed quest coop mode witg level gains. Halflife 1 with the awesome SVEN coop mod ! latest coop with my National Guard group in Battlefield 2, which took it to a new level. I have only briefly tried Left 4 Dead, but coop features are one of their Unique Selling Points, and it seemed quite good
I am therefore thrilled to see a Danish developer making a scifi FPS game with a strong focus on the coop part. Good teamplay is such a joyful fullfilling experience.
With a game that creates the structure for that, and with a transparent open development process I can only hope that 31/12/09 the game will ship and be absolutely awesome, see all of you Spearheads in approx. ½ a year ingame :)

@ Hral

I'm not sure where you got that release date but if you go to "The Game ? INTERSTELLAR MARINES - An overview" it says "Release Date: N/A".
I’m sure this means as soon as possible, but 31/12/09 sounds a bit premature with the knowledge I have of the project.

@Hral - Bulldog is correct, we are looking at 3-4 months before we have a "playable-beta-tester" (only for Spearheads), which is the pre-amble, leading up to the release of the IM Prologue (see more elsewhere) in Feb 10.
It's a long process, when you only have 20% of the resources that you actually need (we appreciate your patients), this is Indie, still low budget, not to mention the small matter of paying nearly $2 mill for a Commercial Licence for our Engine - hence we will be gearing up our efforts to Commercialise in the IM Shop, get more paid Support via this Community and selling more ZPS Shares - all with the ultimate objective - to make our dream happen!
g

@ Gert, I stand corrected :)

What about a Facebook fansite/group whatever, seems like a nice free way to promote yourself.
I just went in to check the danish stock market, it seems you aren't there, being partially userowned would be nice for a company like u I guess, no conflicting incentives.
But there may be stock market fluctuations which will prove undesirable for the company's operation...
I for one would welcome a small high-risk stake in Zero Point Software.

@Hral

There is a Facebook-IM fan site:
http://www.facebook.com/home.php#/pages/Int
erstellar-Marines/80174683431

hi gert, are you allowed to tell us what engine you are using? :D
was also wondering where you are getting financed besides community support? looking at the new "meet the team" page i can imagine running the whole thing costs quite a lot pr month...even if people are working for very littel. The team is a lot larger then i thought at first heh

Have to admit the main reason i havent jumped onbord and joined the spearheads yet is because, as i posted elsewhere, i would consider it an investment as there is no real product yet... as with any investment its always nice to get a general idea of the risk involved ;)

I understand if you cant/wont answer... but would be awesome if you could!

I didn't have the spare cash earlier (stupid textbooks cost so much) but I got paid today and now I'm a spearhead to help support you guys. I'm really excited about watching this project develop :]

I also am kind of hoping I can play the game in Danish. I don't know any Danish at all but hey that doesn't mean I can't start learning it!

Heck, if it had subtitles I'd love to hear the characters speak any number of languages. Would spice things up a bit.

Yeah I second the subtitles idea. I've been playing the Half Life 2 Universe games (HL2, EP1, EP2, Portal) in spanish w/ subtitles. Was good practice for me, although now I've done it without subtitles to get a better grasp of the natural quickness that a native speaker has.

I Will, and i am alrady spreading the word. Abaut this great game. Looking forward To the Beta/Demo version.

Wish I had a creditcard, otherwise I'd definitely purchase a Spearhead upgrade. Maybe someday in the future if they're not all taken up by that time.

Great project! Glad that I could support.

Man I can't wait to play this game! I hope there is an online skirmish mode. I'll be donating to this one!

Funny This is close to what our mission statement is as Caffeinated Games. Completely different type of game though. We were hoping we could ramp up to a AAA product but it looks like you guys are on the mark.

http://www.caffeinatedgames.com/profiles/blogs
/the-new-indie-is-aaa

The new Indie is AAA so welcome to the future I guess :). We are upgrading our title now to AAA. Time to bring on the reflection, bumped, parallax, specular maps :).

This game is gonna be great.

This game is great

Who else publishes this way? Tbh, haven't heard about AAA Indie before, although I'm a big fan of indie developers (S2, Unknown Worlds, Tripwire).