AloftStudio

@nintendobynature A healthy number... 8-9 for each!

Yeah, this will be available on its own for sale later!

Dawnthorn is expected to be 12-15 hours!

@Bunkerneath We plan to try to get them both one cart, if nothing stops us, at least for the limited edition.

HB is coming to the Switch. Dawnthorn will very likely come as well, given enough interest. It is also planned for Spring 2019 release (vs Fall 2020 for HB). You can choose to wait for the Switch copy of Dawnthorn, if you back.

We'd like very much to put both games on the limited edition cart from the KS, if nothing stops us.

Sure, but I may not understand the question. Could you ask the question more directly / completely? Which info would you like to know the source for?

@SwitchForce That is a misconception; we will offer it both after, and at release.

@SwitchForce NDA'd, sadly... I hate having to say that

@8-Bit_Superman Actually, you will probably see a store version too, and it will be cheaper than what we are offering it for in the campaign; the campaign physicals are a hair pricier, since they are helping us to finance production of the whole batch (it costs 60,000 USD, and is needed upfront!!!), and we are giving thanks by offering a Limited Edition cover for those!

Campaign Limited Edition Physicals go for 50 USD, and the standard post-release are expected to be 40 USD.

@AcesHigh Yeah I hear that. I am a fairly experienced indie dev... yet when I am looking at the Kickstarters of other projects... I really have to think carefully about whether what I am seeing depicts competence and habits that will lead to full success. I haven't been burned yet, but it is a hard process. For someone outside the industry... pretty hard to discern. Waiting for after reviews is the advice I would give for most consumers... which is pretty odd advice, as a KS creator, hehe... but it is what it is!

@Perryg92 That is one of the songs Shannon and I were thinking of when we made the trailer song! Doesn't appear in the game though, just a one-off for the trailer.

@Spectra I don't disagree at all. I think waiting for full release is best for most games as a rule, but we are super thankful for those helping us out at this point! As a reference:

The Digital copies are 15 USD in campagin, expected 20 USD at launch.
The Physical copies are 50 USD for the campaign special cover, and expected to be 40 USD at launch for Switch.

Waiting for launch mostly doesn't lose you many opportunities, other than being involved in dev!

@SmaggTheSmug That one is a bit older (I should replace it on the presskit) Improved the heroine a bit, but admittedly that cover is only a mockup, as a placeholder for a later professional promo artist.

https://gyazo.com/0201f5aa171b8f520c782ef5c0b09d8d

@Tendogamerxxx Hi Tendo, HB devs here!

I can definitely understand that sentiment. I studied Midora very carefully. I can give you a quick rundown of the redflags that are present on that project's KS page, which as someone considering backing future KS, are good to look out for again:
The video for Midora does not depict actual gameplay scenes, but only mockups. The creator is relying on other people (contractors) to do the work, and he doesn't have the money to pay them full time, even with 73k USD. There is no demo present, which would allow a user to evaluate the work and their competence. The boss appears as a concept, not a working game asset; the presentation is art-centric, with no indication of design.

I can confidently say that we don't have these issues. Our video depicts full gameplay scenes; there is a demo present, which is quite substantial; we are doing the work ourselves, not paying contractors- we will continue working even with no money, as we have for 2 years already, and we aren't giving ourselves much to begin with; we are around 50% done with development, and quite a lot of finished systems are shown in the video; we have a detailed budget that you can check out in the campaign.

Hope that helps!

@BongoBongo123 Sometime in mid 2020, most likely!

@Oat Thanks a lot! We watch stuff like the religiously, and make sure everyone has the full story!

We understand! KS is not for everyone! Too much risk, and you can bet there will be delays! We are incredibly grateful to the few who stand behind us there! People who put down money for something they get years later are really doing something pretty extraordinary...

@goggles789 No, in fact it is only somewhat like LTTP. That wasn't even really a goal...It is closer to LoZ, and the art is inspired by LoZ, Startropics, Secret of Mana, Chrono Trigger, ALTTP, Minish Cap, Alundra, Terranigma, and a few other titles.

@goggles789 Yeah, this is captured at 30 FPS, but some of the animations are higher than that. The game runs at 60 FPS.

Well... you could ask youself that question about any of the other 2D Zeldas... no matter which one you pick, Zelda 3 ALTTP is going to be the better game. That is unlikely to change anytime soon.

This is a different game, which is more focused on puzzles and story.

-216x288 was the resolution that both scaled well on even multiples (to get pixel perfect, or close to it on most screens), and was closest to 4:3 resolution on the SNES, since our design is similar
-We have a CRT filter! You can play it on CRT if you have the right converters!
-We are getting professional translations for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian to start! More in the future! If you'd like apply for that, send us an email!

-216x288 was the resolution that both scaled well on even multiples (to get pixel perfect, or close to it on most screens), and was closest to 4:3 resolution on the SNES, since our design is similar
-We have a CRT filter! You can play it on CRT if you have the right converters!
-We are getting professional translations for Spanish, French, German, Portuguese, and Italian to start! More in the future! If you'd like apply for that, send us an email!

@EdScissorshands I'd say the scale of content. Blossom tales is modest length, just longer than the demo for our title. Hazelnut is planned to be around 30 hours of content.

@AlexSora89

20-25 USD is what we expect at launch! 20 is a safe bet! Not... set in stone though.

@AlexSora89 Yeah We always lurk when we are posted about XD

Usually I only surface when there is confusion about a crucial point that I need to clarify, or there is a technical issue that needs fixing. Best to otherwise give folks their own space to express their real and accurate thoughts without the devs breathing down their neck, in my opinion!

@jhewitt3476 Yeah, the New label we are running with (which we feel is most accurate, causes least confusion) is: "Topdown, Zelda-like ARPG in a 16bit-like character". It is a bit of a pedantic point, but the original LoZ (The game this is most like on a design level) is known as the first Metroidvania, but that is a long conversation, and saying Zelda-like Metroidvania is also redundant, so we dropped that label.

Thanks for the support! We urge all users to try out the demo: https://www.aloftstudio.com/hbdemobuilds

I think it is an excellent tool for figuring out if this is something you want to back or not. We don't want people to back on promises, we want them to back because they are confident in what we provided there (especially the dungeon, since that is pretty similar to actual full game content). https://youtu.be/yMgvF643AA8?t=1159

@AlexSora89 Console physicals will be offered for every console unlocked in the campaign. PS4 is also on the table, under an ???? (I guess not so ???? now....

@jhewitt3476 Yeah, the manufacturer of the physicals is currently an NDA subject. We are very sorry that we can't disclose that yet, and we hope it changes in the future; I can't say you aren't right to be suspicious.

You can read our personal bios on our presskit though (I know, not the same information). https://www.aloftstudio.com/hazelnutbastillepress

@nintendobynature We have committed to the Switch, but there still remains the issue of paying for the costs, so we can develop them in tandem. We are NDA'd, sadly, but the costs are quite substantial.

@jhewitt3476

We are at around 50% development point I'd say. We have 90% of our mechanics finished and tested, and a framework for level design. We are well into our community testing, which was one of the big goals of the demo ( you can try that here: https://www.aloftstudio.com/hbdemobuilds ); that demo offers grossly simplified overworld content, but the Dungeon it features is comparable in scope to one from the full game. There is a pretty robust editor we built for the game which front-loaded a lot of the development, which is why the level design is coming a bit later (minus the demo preview).

@jhewitt3476 Could you tell us where the link you tried was, and what it was for?

There are a few variables in play here: When the number of physicals is small, the cost per unit is very very high. We may in fact be offering these at a moderate loss to ourselves, meaning it would hurt development, rather than help it. There is a certain threshold where that changes, and it starts to be effective, which we believe we will pass. Physical copies were our fan's number one request, and it is something we can add without having to bloat our development further, so it is something we'd really like to offer the community! If physicals are offered outside this campaign, they will almost certainly be cheaper. The best value tier for a backer is 15 USD. At that level, you are getting an even greater bargain than it may seem, as there are hidden benefits we don't want to announce until they are confirmed. Past 60, you are into the enthusiast tiers, where it is more about supporting the development costs.