Spectrum Next Kickstarter Launched

[Buleste]

The beautiful looking, and in no way to be associated with the Vega+ fiasco, Spectrum Next kickstarter has been launched.

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1835143999/zx-spectrum-next

[Harrison]

That looks really nice and I can see they have already exceeded the goal, so that is brilliant.

I'm not so into the Spectrum as I never owned one myself (played my friend's quite a bit though), but it looks like a lot of detail has gone into this project. I really like the case design and the motherboard being able to fit the original cases is a brilliant idea too.

[DonAmiga]

This looks great :) I could be tempted, anyone backed a project before?

[Teho]

Only about 120 or so... (https://www.kickstarter.com/profile/teho) anything you want to know? ;)

Most projects deliver as promised, however most projects tend to be very late. So don't expect to have it by the date they promise. It's just a thing I guess, they don't account for real world issues, production delays, those sort of things. Usually they can't be blamed directly for the delays but really, they should be better at anticipating that there will be unforeseen delays. There always are.

Out of all those projects I've backed, only one turned out to be a scam. And even that I'm pretty sure that didn't start out as a scam, it just devolved into "take the money and run" at a later point. If you look at that project's page (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/829559023/confederate-express) you can see that they put an awful lot of work into it, with some interesting tech and a genuinely good concept. I still wish this game would be made as outlined there. But, the guys ran off with the money not too long after they got funded and that's that.

Another I've backed is After Reset (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/blackcloudstudios/after-reset-rpg-rebooted/description), a hard sci-fi RPG which is just dead in the water so to speak. It's no scam, the guy is still working on it as he still posts updates every now and then with recent developments. But after all this time only the tutorial section is done, the money is long gone and he's just never going to be able to finish it. I think he's hoping for some developer or publisher to take an interest these days.

There's around 20 or so projects I backed that was unsuccessful so never got funded. The rest have either been delivered (late) or are still in development and are definitely coming. So based on my experience the odds are pretty good that the developers will deliver on what they've promised as long as the project's goals seem realistic to start with. Do read the project page and determine if these guys seem to know what they're doing.

You know how kickstarter works, right? You pledge money that aren't deducted from your account before the campaign ends. If the project hasn't reached it's goal by then, they don't get anything. No money is then taken from you. If they've reached their goal, which these guys have and then some, your money will be taken once the campaign has ended. Pretty much right away.

I haven't backed this one by the way, I am tempted but it is a bit too much for me as I was never that interested in the Spectrum to begin with.

[DonAmiga]

Hi Teho

Thanks for taking the time in sharing your experience it's very helpful indeed :) I am a big fan of the spectrum as a first computer for me so the project looks good to me, don't mind waiting for something as long as I do get it in the end but the whole idea of not having any protection if it doesn't happen is a bit scary especially if backing one of the higher pledges which I would happily buy off the shelf at the price, I'll need to have a think about it, sometimes you've just got to take a leap of faith ;)

[Demon Cleaner]

Most projects deliver as promised, however most projects tend to be very late. So don't expect to have it by the date they promise. It's just a thing I guess, they don't account for real world issues, production delays, those sort of things. Usually they can't be blamed directly for the delays but really, they should be better at anticipating that there will be unforeseen delays. There always are.
Sigh... reminds me the Elite Archives. Backed it on 11th of June 2014. Do you know anything about the project Teho?

[Teho]

I've backed this also. Yes, it's late. The estimated release was september '15. So a year and a half overdue. Good news is the guy is still posting updates and the project still seems to be moving along, so I'm not too worried. I expect it'll get there in the end. According to the latest updates he's still finalising the last couple of interviews with followup questions and such. He's not mentioning any estimated release or even when he thinks the physical production will start. Wonder why? ;) This is just another of the many examples I know where the producer grossly underestimated how long this would take him. But I'm not very worried with this particular project.

I do look forward to seeing the finished product, I contributed some material myself and am curious if it made it in. :)

The very worst example I can give you is SpaceVenture (https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/spaceventure/two-guys-spaceventure-by-the-creators-of-space-que) by the two guys from andromeda. You may remember these are the guys behind the old Space Quest series? Well, SpaceVenture is a new adventure game which is a new Space Quest in all but name. You control a space janitor yet again for example. The kickstarter for this was way back right after Tim Schafer's runaway success which popularised kickstarting in the first place. That means before projects like Pillars of Eternity or Elite: Dangerous was even started. The estimated delivery of this game was february '13! It's over four years late now! But this one is also still being worked on. They still post updates and they are getting there. They've had all sorts of issues imaginable and then some, real world personal stuff that had nothing to do with the project but caused huge delays. Since it is still being worked on I still think it'll be delivered at some point.

[DonAmiga]

Well I've signed up and made my first pledge :) here's hoping all goes well, I had been thinking it over all day and some Internet reading tonight, check out the thread over at wos and just decided to go for it :)