Update!
Moby’s Interview With Carey DeVuono!!!
Well, that was not good. The games creator, HMDesigner, called it with about 3 days to go…it was not to be. Not enough support to warrant a fourth installment in the series. Not the result Moby was looking for. I was really looking forward to HM4.
The goal was to raise $120,000 for a project that had a delivery date of December 2014 and was to include the base game and also two expansion packs at the same time. It was ambitious, it was needed, and it failed badly. Of the $120K goal, less than $9K was pledged. For the record, Moby was a backer at the $100 level and I have waited until now to say anything (as though anyone cares).
I miss good business sims.
The fact is there’s just not quite any other game out there like Hollywood Mogul. I miss good business sims like Aerobiz. There are a ton of ‘tycoon’ games out there, but most are second and third rate. The Movies by Lionhead Studios was great and there are others, but this was THE Hollywood game Moby wanted to see.
What is to follow are my thoughts, and it is all made up. I don’t ‘KNOW’ any of this so take it all with a grain of salt, especially if you are mad at HMDesigner because I am going to defend him a bit.
The basic complaint seemed to be the goal of $120K being unreasonable. Other complaints seemed to be that the kickstarts are supposed to be used to market and not fund game creation, which is debatable. Look, the tagline to Moby’s is ‘A Happy Place’, so I’m going to keep this ‘G’ rated. But yeah, I got some strong feelings about the whole thing. I really, really wanted this to happen and in the back of my mind, I keep thinking maybe somehow it will. But for now, I get to add my two uninformed cents.
My perspective is that if HMDesigner decided that he wanted 2000 or so copies pre-sold before he committed to the project…then so what. If he wanted to take his time and work on the game for two years and was upfront about it…then so what. My *guess* is that he figured if enough people want the game to make it undeniably worth his while, then he would make the game. If the reaction is soft and it looks like it’s not a surefire winner, then he would move on to who-knows-what. And whether you or I like it or not, that is his prerogative. Period.
I don’t like it when people get expectations of others that precludes them from exercising their prerogative….you know, acting like someone OWES you something. It’s not cool. Would I have done it differently? I guess so, but it sure looks to me like HMDesigner had been working on it at least a bit…like since August of last year maybe? The kickstart seemed real to me…it just failed. And that was not an ideal outcome for a guy who writes a ‘Happy’ blog.
Maybe something will happen. Maybe a third-party developer will step up and make an offer, perhaps there will be another kickstart for the base game (then another later for the expansions), and perhaps monkeys will fly out of your butt. That would be funny.
If HMDesigner wishes to respond to this, he is very welcome to do so. Everything here is just my uninformed opinion, and I’m just proud I was able to work the word ‘ideal’ into such a tragic post.
Here was the last and only update for the kickstart:
Thank you.
To each of you who pledged Hollywood Mogul 4, thank you very much. It’s obvious that no real market exists for this game anymore, but I very much appreciate your support.
Best Wishes,
HMdesigner
In any case, thank you Carey for the Hollywood Mogul series and for at least trying for Number 4.
The “so what” is that he is obviously very detached from reality of he thought 120k would be possible. He has also shown a lot of disrespect to his past fans by completely ignoring any inquiries before AND after the fact. Truth be told it’s very clear that he lacks any passion for gaming and only did this project to supplement his income over the next two years. Nobody feels like they are “owed” anything, other than him apparently.
You claim you want to keep this “g” rated and then you rant about the people who ACTUALLY SUPPORTED HIS PROJECT. Give me a break.
Also, I sincerely doubt he’ll respond to you, but here’s the whole of his attitude.
“If HM4 doesn’t get funded, there’s no HM4. It’s simple. It’s an indication to me that there isn’t enough interest to warrant the time required to create the game.
That’s why I did it in a Kickstarter campaign. It was a relatively inexpensive way to determine if there’s a market for HM4. If there isn’t, that’s okay with me.”
Carey felt the game was only worth it if he received 120 grand. Clearly, it wasn’t, but it’s still worth something to those who have supported him for over a decade. So yes, we’re gonna be a bit frustrated that he isn’t even CONSIDERING any alternatives. “You want a game? Give me 120k!” Ridiculous.
I don’t mean to sound harsh toward you but you’re preaching to people (who have supported carey for years) about what they should and should not feel about a situation. You’re free to think however you want, but don’t tell the rest of us that we need to contain our frustration.
[MOD: two comments were edited together]
First, welcome to Moby’s!
Now, what do you mean actually supported? I was a bug tester for HM3 (and found a good number of them), I had an unpaid advert for Hollywood Mogul 3 on this site for about a year (it was just taken down last month), and I pledged $100 for HM4 and blogged about it. How about you? What was your support?
And for the record; no, I don’t like it either.
[[ …you’re preaching to people (who have supported carey for years) about what they should and should not feel about a situation.]]
Sorry if it seemed like I was trying to say anywhere in there that you had to like it. Come to think of it…I did not say that, anywhere in there. But *if* Carey decides he wants to be, in essence, paid upfront for the two years he will spend developing the game, then yeah, SO WHAT. If he decides that is his bottom line, then that is his prerogative. Plain and simple. We don’t have to like it, and that is what I was saying in the post. He doe’s not owe me anything, and he tried.
[[ You’re free to think however you want, but don’t tell the rest of us that we need to contain our frustration. ]]
Let it out, it really sucks. I said as much in the post, not ideal in the least. But I still respect Carey for trying. And I DO wish for an alternative that allows for HM4 to get made and even took the time to write about it on the forums too.
Nothing personal, I really do understand where your coming from. Thanks for stopping by.
I didn’t mean to insinuate that you did not support, but you seem to be arguing against those of us who also pledged. Many of us who pledged had reason to be doubtful of this project from the moment its Kickstarter was launched, because we knew it was likely over before it had begun. I understand your point, believe me I do, but it just doesn’t really fly. I *understand* that 120k was “his prerogative” or whatever — but do you mean to say that you actually AGREE with that amount? Do you really think it’s a reasonable number for a small indie game with one producer behind it, and VERY little progress behind it considering all he did was make mock pictures and throw a rather lame (by today’s standards) opening credits system together? (All of this took months by the way)
Look, ultimately HM is Carey’s baby, and I respect the fact that he probably just doesn’t have any passion for the project anymore. But the fact that either of you actually thinks 120k was a reasonable number bugs me, and I feel like our hopes were raised for nothing. The “SO WHAT” statement can apply to anything — yes, it was his choice to have completely unrealistic expectations. We still have a right to be annoyed. How 120k for a text-based PC exclusive with zero mobile support and completely outdated DRM is thought of as “reasonable” is beyond me.
By the way, I’ve been a fan of HM since the days when we were promised a TV biz sim, etc. I don’t blame Carey for backing out of these things, but I am simply annoyed that he seems to want to go back to completely ignoring his fans (many of whom still have no idea there was ever a Kickstarter to begin with, because Carey DID NOT advertise properly
!)
Johna, I put up a post here in response.
Awesome, thanks.
I just found out about the kickstarter a few yours ago and have been playing the game for years and as a joke browsed “Hollywood Mogul 4” I am slightly confused as $120k for an indie game was never going to happen. Over $8k for a month should be seen as a roaring success.
The kickstarter should have been left open for a year while programming continued and if it reached $15k the project should have been guaranteed. I’m of the impression $8k should have guaranteed it.
Carey hasn’t produced a game in a number of years, you cannot disappear then pop up on kickstarter one day and demand $120k in 28 days when you don’t use social media to promote your brand, yourself, or your game. The fact he received the pledges he did was incredible and speaks miles to the quality of the game.
I can only say he was very naive and greedy to believe $120k was justified. This game should happen simply due to the fact he held it out there with unrealistic expectations and got a lot of hopes up as my eyes beamed when I saw the game was in production. The previous versions of HM didn’t have any such projects, so the entire situation is slightly off putting and I’d feel much better if it was all a joke and the game was in progress.
“Carey hasn’t produced a game in a number of years, you cannot disappear then pop up on kickstarter one day and demand $120k in 28 days when you don’t use social media to promote your brand, yourself, or your game. The fact he received the pledges he did was incredible and speaks miles to the quality of the game.”
Indeed, my research says that to have a very good chance of success on Kickstarter, one should have at least 500 to 1,000 ‘Likes’ on Facebook. But, as I have posted, I disagree with wordings like ‘demand’ or ‘greedy’ to describe what the Kickstarter was.
As I posted on the subject, everybody who pledged $25 or more was going to get the game. I believe (just my opinion) that Carey was trying to pre-sell the game (to the tune of about 2,000 copies) to make sure there was a market out there and not invest his time if there wasn’t. I don’t think he was out to rip people off or laugh at us.
And yes, it looks like there may be a sequel in progress…let’s hope, eh?
Be sure to see the related post to this one: http://mobys.ws/03/06/more-on-hm4-kickstart-fail/
He got 15k in a month? Most indie developers would be praising the heavens, especially considering the game hasn’t been relevant for years.
Hi iAN, thanks for stopping by. The thing about the game is that there’s still nothing close to being as good in the same genre, and to be honest there was A LOT of stuff left out of HM3 (awards buzz, the multi-shoot sequels was dropped, etc.).
That is what keeps it relevant…no one else has done as serious an effort for a movie studio ‘tycoon’ type game…and the traffic my site gets on this one topic might not be awesome…but it is steady. People love this game and want more like it.
And it looks like there may be a sequel after all. We’ll see. 🙂
If he created a mobile version of this app, i believe it would do very well. I would never consider playing the game on my computer because I mostly use my ipad now. It’s always with me. I love Hollywood Mogul but I would only consider buying an ipad version and I would be willing to pay $20 for it.
Maybe you can try Movie Business 2 game… it is simpler than Hollywood Mogul but according to players it brings a lot of fun… For few months it is available also in English
http://moviebusiness.tomiga.net
Still under developement but most of the features is already there.