I'd just like to post a few of my thoughts after spending nearly a year lurking, following development and just recently contributing to Sui Generis.
I've become rather weary of kickstarter and crowdfunded projects over the last couple years as have many of us. It's not that they don't meet expectations or because any that I backed have failed... I simply have been overloaded and bombarded by half finished would be gems. So going into Sui Generis I was already weary, and beyond that, the game itself seemed nearly too good to be true. While the initial tech demo video was impressive and immediately landed Sui Generis on my radar, it also made my inner skeptic raise an eyebrow. A small studio creating a game using all in-house technology which aimed at doing something no one else has accompished fully yet?
So I quietly watched and waited...and waited....and waited....
Lets face it, I was starting to question if development was moving forward at all. There seemed to be so little in terms of news or progress reports showing up. I would ritually open the forum up each day, hoping and dying for some little bread crumb of information. As the plans for the combat demo and prelude began to take shape my vigor was renewed but I still couldn't quite take the plunge given the eerie silence that seemed to engulf the development process after each cautious update from Bare Mettle.
Fast forward to the present... Just like a good little dedicated lurker I continued to check the site and forums each day. Only now, I had come to expect the silence... no longer did I feel that small disappointment of finding nothing. I no longer brought the game up to my friends because they had long sense dismissed the game. I had accepted the fact that I couldn't chance contributing given the information at hand. That is when something magical happened!
Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but who of us here didn't read the interview with @Madoc and not feel like a child on his/her birthday? His passion for this project came through in that interview bright as the midday sun. The interview also opened a flow of information that finally broke the dam, rushing me towards contributing.
Here I sit, newly adorned with the "Insider" tag which those of you lurking out there, as I did, will shrug off thinking you have no interest in that and continue to wait quietly in the shadows of indecision. Let me tell you that contributing and gaining access to the deeper development process has not only been incredibly exciting but it has also wiped away any fears I had regarding the game, the team, or the technology.
The work being done on this game is truly "next gen" unlike that term's namesakes. The development team has a clear desire to see this project succeed and the clear talent to back it up. Probably the biggest surprise I have come across is the level of personal, one on one interaction that Bare Mettle puts into the private forum. They are actively listening and discussing suggestions/changes/bugs. The dialog being created is positive, constructive and only adding to my excitement. I've quickly come to appreciate what they are trying to accomplish by using this carefully constructed haven of dedicated people to help direct their game rather than a flood of random, unpredictable users in an open forum. It has helped me understand why that silence, while troubling, needs to exist at least for the short term.
I haven't wrote all of this in an attempt to make you start throwing your credit cards at the screen. I simply want to give a personal perspective on the project and to assure you that regardless if you contribute early or buy the game on release... you will NOT be disappointed in what you find.
I've become rather weary of kickstarter and crowdfunded projects over the last couple years as have many of us. It's not that they don't meet expectations or because any that I backed have failed... I simply have been overloaded and bombarded by half finished would be gems. So going into Sui Generis I was already weary, and beyond that, the game itself seemed nearly too good to be true. While the initial tech demo video was impressive and immediately landed Sui Generis on my radar, it also made my inner skeptic raise an eyebrow. A small studio creating a game using all in-house technology which aimed at doing something no one else has accompished fully yet?
So I quietly watched and waited...and waited....and waited....
Lets face it, I was starting to question if development was moving forward at all. There seemed to be so little in terms of news or progress reports showing up. I would ritually open the forum up each day, hoping and dying for some little bread crumb of information. As the plans for the combat demo and prelude began to take shape my vigor was renewed but I still couldn't quite take the plunge given the eerie silence that seemed to engulf the development process after each cautious update from Bare Mettle.
Fast forward to the present... Just like a good little dedicated lurker I continued to check the site and forums each day. Only now, I had come to expect the silence... no longer did I feel that small disappointment of finding nothing. I no longer brought the game up to my friends because they had long sense dismissed the game. I had accepted the fact that I couldn't chance contributing given the information at hand. That is when something magical happened!
Alright, maybe I'm exaggerating a little, but who of us here didn't read the interview with @Madoc and not feel like a child on his/her birthday? His passion for this project came through in that interview bright as the midday sun. The interview also opened a flow of information that finally broke the dam, rushing me towards contributing.
Here I sit, newly adorned with the "Insider" tag which those of you lurking out there, as I did, will shrug off thinking you have no interest in that and continue to wait quietly in the shadows of indecision. Let me tell you that contributing and gaining access to the deeper development process has not only been incredibly exciting but it has also wiped away any fears I had regarding the game, the team, or the technology.
The work being done on this game is truly "next gen" unlike that term's namesakes. The development team has a clear desire to see this project succeed and the clear talent to back it up. Probably the biggest surprise I have come across is the level of personal, one on one interaction that Bare Mettle puts into the private forum. They are actively listening and discussing suggestions/changes/bugs. The dialog being created is positive, constructive and only adding to my excitement. I've quickly come to appreciate what they are trying to accomplish by using this carefully constructed haven of dedicated people to help direct their game rather than a flood of random, unpredictable users in an open forum. It has helped me understand why that silence, while troubling, needs to exist at least for the short term.
I haven't wrote all of this in an attempt to make you start throwing your credit cards at the screen. I simply want to give a personal perspective on the project and to assure you that regardless if you contribute early or buy the game on release... you will NOT be disappointed in what you find.
Last edited:
