Link🔗https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/gamedevmikey/little-islanders
Up until this point I have developed Little Islanders on a very slim budget and personal savings. It is a labour of love and a passion project so I haven't really priced how much time I've put into it. It's currently in a fully playable pre-alpha state where most of the core game systems have been implemented.
I'm now at a point where I believe I need to reach out for help from people who are interested in the game, to push it to the next level in terms of production values. It is something very important to me, so it's not taken lightly the decision to ask for funding on Kickstarter.
With your generous help, Here is what the Kickstarter support will be contributing towards:
Translations 🔠 - In order to release the game with as many languages as is possible professional translators will be needed. I want it to be high quality and include the proper context so the hiring costs reflect that.
Voice Actors / Narrators 🔊 - I would like to hire a professional narrator to tell the lore of Little Islanders, I imagine either in-game narration of the story or an intro cinematic that were the norm back in 90s and 2000s era games. I would like to hire voice actors to provide voices for the settlers too. If you are familiar with the concept of 'Speaking Simlish' heard in the game 'The Sims' speaking not-quite-real sentences, this is how I plan to give settlers their own language in a similar fashion.
Software to Help Production 👨💻 - The software I need to push up the production values of Little Islanders. For example; I will be looking at purchasing Zbrush, which is a type of 3d sculpting software that I can use to create higher quality assets.
Music Composition 🎶 - I have some basic experience with making music as I created the whole soundtrack for Giant Bear Rampage myself. I may try my hand at making some music for Little Islanders however, I think it would be better to hire a composer with some experience making the theme and genre of music that I'm aiming for with Little Islanders. This will also give me some more focus on the other creative aspects of the game.
Sound Effects and Audio Equipment 🎤 - I have a side hobby of making foley sound effects and I created all the sound effects in Giant Bear Rampage. I would like to use the funds to create a higher quality foley recording set up, purchasing some new microphones and some equipment necessary. I also know that there are potentially ten-times as many sound effects needed for Little Islanders. I think buying sound effects that can be found on websites like Sonniss will help a lot with the process too.
Hardware for Development (Apple Mac etc...) 💻 - In order to build Little Islanders for other platforms I will require the relevant hardware needed to develop and test on. For Mac, I will be seeking the purchase of an Apple Mac to test and build Little Islanders for Mac. The same applies for a Steamdeck, I need the hardware to develop and test as progress continues. Another piece of hardware that will help with development would be a graphics tablet that has a screen on it, this would help immensely with the art / asset production pipeline.
Game Development Plugins 🔌 - These are code plugins that can be found on the Unreal Marketplace that will speed up development. For example, I'm looking at using a plugin called "Steamcore" to implement features that work alongside Steam.