Looks lovely - shame we'll probably never see it

The developer of the Zelda-inspired RPG Midora has admitted that he knew full well that the amount of cash raised during its Kickstater campaign wouldn't be enough to cover the full cost of development.

The crowdfunding drive raised $73,470 in 2014 - a little over the base target of $60,000 - but recently ran out of cash, putting its future in doubt. However, it would seem that more than twice that amount is required to complete development on the title, which was slated for launch on the Wii U and 3DS.

There was hope that the game would reach Steam Early Access, but doesn't seem to be the case now.

Creator Mhyre has posted the following update:

Our search for publishers and investors is, unfortunately, still not over. We've had opportunities with big names in the industry and, while they were all truly interested, their own schedule and projects was often the number one reason a partnership/agreement could not be made.

I am never giving up on this game, and this has never been my intention. I will do whatever it takes to get the game I want to make into your hands. The game is complete on paper and the team has nothing but talent. Money is all that we need. Nothing can happen without money. Money is our final boss.

I will admit that the amount needed to create this game was largely underestimated for the campaign. I knew that the game would need more than $60,000 to be made. However, like many others, I didn't think for one second we could reach a goal higher than $60,000, especially after two failed campaigns and no prior advertising.

After hiring another artist and paying existing debts, there was not much to work with... and yet we tried. We tried as hard as we could to bring you Early Access and we nearly succeeded. Running out of money quick has a way of pressuring you and transforming your life into a mess, simply because you need to secure more before it happens.

If you want to know exactly how much money we need to finish this game, I will tell you: between $120,000 and $150,000. The programming of the game can be done in a matter of three to four months if we get a second programmer on the team, while the art would take six months with the current artists, perhaps five if we hire a third talent. That is if everyone works fulltime and is paid fulltime.

I would like to call all publishers and investors that could potentially be interested in the game. We have all that you need to make a decision and we're ready to be generous, provided that you help us in the first place.

If you're brave enough to venture there, the user comments to this update are pretty brutal.

How do you feel about this news? Did you back the back in the hope that it would come to a Nintendo console? Let us know by posting a comment.

[source mcvuk.com, via kickstarter.com]