Paypal Solution, Backer Survey, and pledge processing!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jan 04, 2019 at 01:46:22 PM

Hi Everyone!   

So we we are now a week after the ending of the Kickstarter, and we have a few pieces of info!  

Paypal Solution

First off, apologies on the delay for the Paypal appearing, for those looking for it; our plan has updated to now mostly likely offer it in early January. Some of the things which contributed to this are:  

• Paypal crowd funding is a bit more gray in terms of tax-status than we were aware of. The KS money itself, which will be handled by the LLC business account, is being managed by a system called “accrual accounting”, where it is only taxed after pledges are fulfilled, and operating costs are deducted from it, or in a way similar to pass-through freelance income subject to medicare and SS taxes in the US as some it reaches either of our accounts via monthly stipend. The Paypal income should be subject to this same system, but it depends on our individual case and how the government decides. We decided, to avoid further complicating our tax reporting for this year, that it would be helpful to separate the two into different tax years, which the end of the year makes convenient for us. 
•  We will likely end up building a system similar to an online merchant to handle it, and we will need to build a rigorous system for handling the survey in a way similar to what KS does for the main pledges already made, with a system for handling change requests as well. 
•  There is a lot to investigate in terms of accounting, data-management, and testing for this. We decided to push it back so we don't rush and make crucial oversights. 
•  We will likely need to file for an online commerce permit, since it looks like we will need to handle it on our own shop front. 

If you are waiting with bated breath for the arrival of the Paypal option, we apologize and solute your patience! You can sign up for the newsletter on the landing page if you'd like an instant notification when it goes up (and conveniently, you can also unsubscribe right after getting that email, if you don't want to receive the near-monthly updates about HB and DT development that will follow!) Backers can also use this mailing list to keep up to date, but also it will mainly be duplicate info to what we will also send out in the Kickstarter updates, so no-need to use both!

https://www.aloftstudio.com/hazelnutbastille

Surveys

I think we have everything we need worked out in terms of questions we need to ask the backers. There are a couple unusual ones here or there, such as the need to determine directly if any of the backers also live here in Virginia (since this means those pledges are subject to intra-state sales tax on our end). 

We are still deciding on the platform to use, but I think we may use the basic Kickstarter survey system. Other campaigns have used the “Backerkit” site in the past, and they seem to offer some good services, but I think in our case their pricing model doesn't quite fit for us. They would demand 2% of the entire campaign funds, and 5% of any post campaign money, which would be around 6,000 USD projected for us. I would feel pretty bad handing a company 6,000 USD of the Backers' money for something we could probably handle on our own. We will speak to them soon to see if they have any alternative plans not advertised that may better fit our case. 

Some campaigns send out the surveys just before releasing their products, with the interest being getting a current address not likely to change, but I think you will see ours relatively soon, mainly because of Dawnthorn. We need to ask our Backers what platform they would like their copy of Dawnthorn to be! Kickstarter does allow backers to update their address later, so that is a plus. 

Backer Processing

So after the payments were processed, only 87 payments of 4828 failed to properly process. So roughly 98.2% of all payments went through without issue! Roughly 3.2% of the money, or 5700 USD failed to go through. This number was a bit larger because one of the 2500 tiers failed to process, due to bank-side fraud protection. I think this user is still interested though, so that pledge may be made possibly through Paypal later. 

So before Kickstarter fees, the current sum amounts to around 172,000 USD! Not bad at all! We will have the budget breakdown to you once money hits accounts in a week or two! 

Kinda Funny Games Showcase 

Hazelnut And Dawnthorn should be appearing in the “Kinda Funny Games Showcase”, which is an event being hosted by Greg Miller, filling in for this year's canceled “Playstation Experience” show. The event is meant to be a showcase of indie projects meant for release in 2019 (so Dawnthorn qualifies us). 

I think our segment will be a trailer or two for HB and DT, and maybe a short call out. The show should be available on Twitch at:  

twitch.tv/kindafunnygames 

It is slotted to begin 10 am Pacific time, which is 1 pm Eastern Standard time. 

In reverse, for folks now reading this update in the future because they may have seen the show and run here, see above for the discussion of paypal backing, and how to be notified! Thanks for all of those interested!

And Something Totally Different:

Remember these guys? They've met their goal, but they could use a bit of a hand getting a bit more funding, as they are sort of still in Shoestring Land! Give them a look-see!

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/koruldia/koruldia-heritage-a-pixel-painted-adventure-rpg

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Koruldia Heritage is a story-driven RPG with merciful fights and non-linear progression. The game combines various exploration views in a unique pixel-painted experience.

Koruldia Heritage is coming to Windows, Mac and Linux and will be available in English and French. With the support of the community, we aim to accelerate its delivery and go on Nintendo Switch and Sony PS4 consoles! Support us today and unlock rewards that will help us reach our stretch goals.

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Koruldia is a game being produced by a pair of French folks living in the UK (incidentally, their project page is also available in français !); It is an ambitious turn-based RPG with several different artstyles, which has gameplay informed by several of the recent hits.

Koruldia is about a decade in the making, and claims to have thought of the Undertale mechanics before that game was even announced! We can't wait to see how this one turns out!

Hazelnut Bastille Successfully Funded for 177,713 USD!
over 5 years ago – Fri, Jan 04, 2019 at 01:46:12 PM

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So what comes next? Well this is also an update about updates, of several kinds! 

In the near future you should be awaiting these updates on the KS page (which get sent to backer email of course, as well):  

• Paypal: We will discuss the paypal system that will be setup to take in backing mainly from international users who didn't have access to a means of payment used with Kickstarter, or for a few of you guys who missed the campaign deadline by a bit. For at least a little while longer, we will have the campaign tiers up this way, and certain tiers will stick around for quite some time!    
• Backer Survey: we will discuss the important form to fill out, which indicates to us crucial information we will need to know, such as what platform everyone would like their copies to be for, what your name will be for the credits, what shipping address you would like your physical copies sent to (changeable later), details about the few of you who entered the art contest, details from the others who chose to do a compound pledge by combining two tiers, and even some fun stuff, such as design suggestions. Regardless of what level you backed at, you will need to fill this out for us!
• Budgeting report: once the money clears Kickstarter and Amazon, and they each take their small cuts, and we have an idea for the pledges that may have dropped due to banking issues, we will have a total KS income figure, and can prepare a budget breakdown of how the money is intended to be partitioned into separate funds for supplying each obligation or development sector, and what our accounting system will look like for responsible dispersal.  
• Development and content updates: we will discuss what elements make up our future development sequences for Hazelnut Bastille and Dawnthorn, and how backers and other interested folks can closely follow the progress of content on a month-by-month basis, and continue communication with us.   
  

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In other words, we've just bought our fleet of 35 Jet skis, and are shipping out to Costa Rica to start a tourist business in paradise! It was a nice run!  

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But seriously, be looking out for those updates, they are all important! After the stress of the campaign lead up and campaign itself, we can't wait to get back into dev, which is what we love to do! We were amazed at the number of people who supported this work! Dawnthorn will be our little extra thanks!

Dawnthorn! There is another Hazelnut Game, And Backers get it for Free!
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 07:20:59 PM

Dawnthorn is announced! But what is it?

Dawnthorn is a standalone prequel to Hazelnut Bastille, set in the same universe as Hazelnut, but in an 8bit character! It is almost like the game that would have come before Hazelnut, during the NES generation! 

Dawnthorn is built in the same engine as Hazelnut, and features many of the same enemies and items, but as totally different 8bit versions! It also features a lot of content completely unique to itself, and an entirely different overworld and dungeon list! The overworld will be overbrimming with secrets to find!

The story focuses on the adventures of the hero who wieled the eponymous sword before the events of Hazelnut, a hero everyone remembers but no one can quite name...

Dawnthorn is projected to be a full length game at around 12-15 hours to complete, and is likely going to be available Spring of 2019! It should come to Windows / Mac / Linux to start, and possibly the Switch and PS4 if it does well enough at initial release!

Best of all, Backers of Hazelnut will get Dawnthorn as a digital copy for no extra cost, if they have backed at 5 USD or more! This also includes the 50 USD tier! 

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But Why is Dawnthorn?

• Dawnthorn is a project that we worked on during our down hours working on Hazelnut, in secret
• It is built in the same engine, and it is a way for us to stress test this engine for a full release, but in a project that requires less work to prepare; this will allow us to make the Hazelnut Release as smooth as possible later!
• We will have the experience of releasing Dawnthorn to Steam, so we will be veterans at it for Hazelnut's release!
• Any bugs or engine issues or input issues we catch during the Dawnthorn release can be fixed in the Hazelnut engine so they are already accounted for
• The project may make a bit of money, which will further help us make Hazelnut as good as it can be, which means everyone wins!
• The NES is COOL
• Dawnthorn was the project that Hazelnut was originally conceived to be, before it grew to be what it is today! Going back and making Dawnthorn as it was meant to be became a fun side project!

We can't wait to bring you more info on this imminent release soon, and we are happy to make it available to our incredible Hazelnut Supporters! Think of it as our "Thank you" gift!

Fan Art Contest Results!
over 5 years ago – Sun, Dec 16, 2018 at 07:20:43 PM

Ok, so after scoring each of the entries... it is too close to call! There is a  two-way tie for first, one second place winner, and a two-way tie for 3rd!

So I guess that means... More Prizes!

1st Place Winners:

2nd Place Winner:

 3rd Place Winners:

 Honorable Mention:

Door Prize: Everyone Else!

Here is something we conveniently left out (maybe because we only wanted people interested in the art contest for its own sake?)

Everyone who entered gets a free step up to their backing!

• If you didn't back, you get the 15 USD Digital Copy Tier!
• If you backed at 5, you step up to the 20 USD OST Tier!
• If you backed at 15 or 20, you step up to the 40 USD tier!
• If you backed at 40, you step up to the 60 USD tier!
• If you backed at 50 or 100, you can get an extra digital copy!

If you entered the contest, indicate that on the checkbox that should appear for it on the post KS Backer Survey, and give the name you entered with (no funny business the rest of you! we'll know!) If you didn't back, but you entered and want to claim your door prize copy, shoot me an email at: [email protected]

Fantastic Work Everyone!

New Stretch Goals, Reddit AMA!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Dec 04, 2018 at 03:41:00 PM

We have revealed a number of new Stretch goals!

120,000 USD: Localization 2- Support for Japanese, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and Russian languages! 

135,000 USD: More Kikuta-San- We add 2 additional tracks to the OST from Hiroki Kikuta, composer for The Secret of Mana!  (The Signed Sheet music tier also funds additional Kikuta-San tracks!)

150,000 USD: Minigames, Arena Rush- We add several minigames to the overworld, including an interesting one where the player can take on a constantly-changing arena full of wave after wave of enemies to fight, in a many-round challenge it will take all of your skill to master!

165,000 USD: Newgame+ - We add new modes to restart the game in a harder version of the main quest, with less health drops, harder-hitting enemies, and rooms which feature more challenging collections of enemies in general, as well as small changes here or there which add up to big challenge increases!

180,000 USD: PS4 - We speed up development of the PS4 version, now offering it as close to launch as possible, meaning you will get your digital and physical copies for this console much faster!

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We are doing an AMA on reddit: IAMA: Ask Me Anything!

Meet us there on November 16, and pummel us with all of your questions!

https://www.reddit.com/r/IAmA/comments/9xokrf/we_are_aloft_studio_llc_a_small_independent_game/