M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

[Jun 19, 2012, 12:01 pm ET] - Share - Viewing Comments

This Kickstarter campaign seeks to raise funds to develop Alpha Colony, an upcoming strategy game that is a licensed homage to M.U.L.E., the seminal multiplayer strategy game from 1983 designed by the late Danielle (née Dan) Bunten. Here's word:

M.U.L.E. is making its long-awaited comeback to tablets, smartphones, and desktops everywhere. With a license granted by and partnership with Dan Bunten's family, DreamQuest Games aims to raise funds by July 15th to bring a modern update of M.U.L.E. to life. The original Atari 400/800 game allowed up to four players to simultaneously select an alien race, outfit robotic workers called MULEs, and take turns producing, managing, and trading resources on the planet Irata.

Boulder, Colorado - One of the most respected video games of all-time, M.U.L.E. is making its long-awaited comeback to tablets, smartphones, and desktops everywhere. A family-friendly economic video game similar to SimCity or Civilization, 'Alpha Colony: A Tribute to M.U.L.E.' will deliver a modern sequel to this classic game and strive to fulfill the original developer's ambition.

With a license granted by and partnership with Dan Bunten's family as well as special access to previously unseen designs, DreamQuest Games aims to raise $500,000 by July 15th to bring a modern update of M.U.L.E. to life. As an added bonus, DreamQuest is also partnering with 'M.U.L.E. Returns' to deliver a faithful reproduction of the original game on iOS and Android mobile devices enabling supporters to enjoy both the classic original and a modern tribute to M.U.L.E.

M.U.L.E. was originally developed in 1983 by Dan Bunten and his company Ozark Softscape. It was the first major hit game published by a young upstart at the time, Electronic Arts. The original Atari 400/800 game allowed up to four players to simultaneously select an alien race, outfit robotic workers called MULEs, and take turns producing, managing, and trading resources on the planet Irata.

"M.U.L.E. is a landmark in the history of video games worthy of a modern 3D sequel for mobile players," relates Christopher Williamson, Creative Director at DreamQuest Games. "Computer Gaming World named M.U.L.E. as #3 of the "Best Games of All Time." M.U.L.E. was also named #5 of the "Ten Greatest PC Games Ever" by PC World in 2009.

"We look forward to seeing our dad's legacy continue," shares Melanie Bunten, the oldest of Dan Bunten's three children.

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15.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 20, 2012, 16:45

ELITE

Way too much $$$ - this is a company investment not a game investment.

14.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 19:42

Orogogus

Dev wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 14:49: Parallax Abstraction wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 13:13: I'd love to see a new take on M.U.L.E. but while this is getting a PC version, it seems very focused on mobile first which really saps a lot of my interest. I think half a million bucks is very ambitious for a nostalgia project but we'll see. The mobile version is the exact original MULE game. The PC version is the redesigned one. Thats why the different releases, they are different games. My guess is they figure that someone who want to play the exact original mule game on PC can find and use the original game itself, but it needs a few changes to use a touchpad. The redesign is also going to run on iOS devices, according to the Kickstarter page. I have to say that their rationale for the $500K goal does not inspire confidence. We wanted to make sure we raised enough to do the game right. For example, we have experimented with both a simultaneous play prototype and an asynchronous turn mode similar to Words with Friends and both were fun. Do our fans want to play this way or something more like the hot seat turn-based original? We would like to see: - more clear race benefits (such as one race being able to move a little faster, better at catching wampus, producing food, etc.), - a more intuitive auction trading interface, - a beginner tutorial, - and more story. - Perhaps even an interactive single-player campaign, like we are used to seeing in hit games like Starcraft, Diablo, and Civilization. This is why we wanted to go for a more aggressive fundraiser so we could really add some special AAA-level features, music, and visual polish to a game that deserves it. There have been several attempts at remaking M.U.L.E. in the past and they have always been on the cheap. I really want this game to shine and give the creator's family and the fans something as awesome as the original game was. None of those bullet points really justify a $500K budget to me, and most of them (race benefits, story, singleplayer campaign) don't even seem like a good idea. I haven't played a Civ game since 3; did 4 or 5 start incorporating a campaign?

13.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 19:32

Dev

Rhialto wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 19:08: HorrorScope wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 17:11: 500K seems to be asking for a lot... My point too... do they explain why they need that much? Haven't seen it explained. Did you bother to RTFA? They have a whole page on it. Its also 2 games in 1 kickstarter. They also don't mention an obvious additional reason, the license. I'm not a big MULE fan so I'll probably pass. And if the amount being asked for is something that turns you off, well anyone is welcome to refuse to kickstart it for any reason at all.

12.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 19:23

Nate

Never played the original but certainly have heard it talked about enough.

11.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 19:13

jdreyer

Rhialto wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 19:08:
HorrorScope wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 17:11:
500K seems to be asking for a lot...
My point too... do they explain why they need that much? Haven't seen it explained.

I read on Neogaf that they were going to buy a Lamborghini and decorate the car with the M.U.L.E. logo for "advertising" purposes.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

10.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 19:08

Rhialto

HorrorScope wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 17:11: 500K seems to be asking for a lot... My point too... do they explain why they need that much? Haven't seen it explained.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 17:11

HorrorScope

500K seems to be asking for a lot...

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 16:24

TangoBaker

There's always Planet M.U.L.E. [url=]http://www.planetmule.com/[/url]

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 15:01

Gas Bandit

I freakin love MULE. I still play it sometimes on my C64 emulator.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 14:49

Dev

Parallax Abstraction wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 13:13: I'd love to see a new take on M.U.L.E. but while this is getting a PC version, it seems very focused on mobile first which really saps a lot of my interest. I think half a million bucks is very ambitious for a nostalgia project but we'll see. The mobile version is the exact original MULE game. The PC version is the redesigned one. Thats why the different releases, they are different games. My guess is they figure that someone who want to play the exact original mule game on PC can find and use the original game itself, but it needs a few changes to use a touchpad.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 14:14

El Pit

PONG kickstarter now!




Consoles? I owned two: a Pong clone and an Atari 2600. And that's it.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 13:50

jdreyer

Cutter wrote on Jun 19, 2012, 13:34:
Not to mention the art style is horrible. Way too cutesy. Nauseatingly so. Pass.

Well, they're an improvement over the original graphics.




Man is equally incapable of seeing the nothingness from which he emerges and the infinity in which he is engulfed.

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 13:34

Cutter

Not to mention the art style is horrible. Way too cutesy. Nauseatingly so. Pass.




"Peter, breakfast for dinner is anarchy!" - Lois

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 13:20

Jim

Kickstarter for a video game, maybe that's what 38 Studios should have done, instead of the kick-in-the-balls we ended up getting for it.




Jim

Re: M.U.L.E. Homage Kickstarter

Jun 19, 2012, 13:13

Parallax Abstraction

I'd love to see a new take on M.U.L.E. but while this is getting a PC version, it seems very focused on mobile first which really saps a lot of my interest. I think half a million bucks is very ambitious for a nostalgia project but we'll see.




Parallax Abstraction Geek Bravado \| Retro Flashback \| All Together Now

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