Deirdra Kiai Productions

The Dominique Pamplemousse Indiegogo campaign is ending tomorrow, in just 36 short hours, and is 80% funded and counting. Amazing, considering just a week ago, it wasn’t even halfway there! However, there’s still $1860 left to raise, or else none of the money gets to me. Not a single cent.

So many people have expressed to me, in the past month, that they really want to see this strange, artsy videogame exist. That it deserves to happen. That they’ve never seen anything quite like it. To have an idea and to believe in it enough to develop it is one thing, but to know there are others out there who also want to see you realise that idea… it’s awe-inspiring. I’m overwhelmed with gratitude. And I’m more determined than ever to make this game for you.

To come all this way and not make it… it’d be a real shame, wouldn’t it?

So, if you’re reading this, please do me this favour, if you haven’t already: check out this unique and offbeat new interactive musical detective story I’m making, which features stop motion puppets and brass instruments. Read what other people have been saying about it. Play the online demo. And, if it makes you smile, and you want to see more, make a contribution. $5 gets you a preorder of the game, and every dollar counts.

Support independent, do-it-yourself, non-corporate videogame development. Support new forms of interactive storytelling. Support quirky mishmashes of seemingly disparate art forms. Support socially conscious games that shatter stereotypes. Support accessible, affordable games. Support Dominique Pamplemousse.

Thank you.

The Dominique Pamplemousse campaign ends this Friday and is still not yet fully funded (though it’s getting closer and closer) so I figured it would be as good a time as any to announce the thing every crowdfunding campaign must have… perk updates!

First off, the two highest reward tiers have had their price points lowered! Now, you only need to contribute $250 (previously $300) to own one of the actual puppets used in the game, and $400 (previously $950) to get me to make you a custom-made short movie featuring the characters!

“But wait,” you protest. “I still can’t afford anything near that much!” Well, in that case, I have something for you as well: contributions at the $15 or above level will now receive… sheet music of every song in the game!

Inspired by Beck’s upcoming new album, I’ve decided to offer something both old and new-school: the ability for you, too, to perform music from Dominique Pamplemousse! So, pick up your favourite instrument, get your band or community choir or whatever together, and have some fun playing along. And record yourselves playing and post it on Youtube. Join the user-generated content revolution!

Of course, if you don’t read music, you get a neat printable, decorative memento of your contribution to this strange but awesome videogame project. And that’s a pretty cool reward in and of itself.

So, what are you waiting for? Head on over and make your pledge! And remember: if you’ve already contributed, you can just pledge the difference between the tier you want and your previous contribution.

The Pamplemousse campaign has come halfway,
With only six more days still left to go.
That’s not a lot of time, as you all know,
Though what the future brings, no one can say.
Can half the funding be raised in six days?
The cynical sorts think, most likely, no.
But we’ve seen past campaigns of this sort grow,
So anything is possible, I say.
Hence, let us all go forth and spread the word!
Keep blogging, tweeting, emailing your lists,
And tell them of this goal we must break through.
I know for one, I shall not be deterred,
For after all, how many games exist
With singing and stop motion puppets, too?

If you check out the front page of Indiegogo today, you may notice that one of the featured projects on the big rotator up top looks a little familiar. I’ve taken a screenshot for posterity’s sake:

Would you look at that! And it’s all thanks to everyone who’s been sharing, writing about, and contributing to this little project that could. So… thank you!

We’re still teetering on the brink of halfway funded, though, with only one week left on the clock, so it would be a good time to reiterate that if this project doesn’t get fully funded, no one gets anything. So let’s keep on keeping on, and make this a rousing success!

As of today, the Pamplemousse campaign stands at $3915 funded, $5585 to go, and 10 days left. That’s 41% of the way there, and while that’s still a bit less than half, there’s still time for the project to hit its funding goal. Here are a few new ways you can help it get to the finish line…

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I’ve been blogging and tweeting a lot about my Indiegogo campaign to get Dominique Pamplemousse‘s development funded, lately. As of the time of writing, 122 awesome people have already contributed $3025 to make this unique stop motion musical detective adventure game happen, and I don’t have enough words to express my gratitude. That said, I still have $6475 left to raise and only two short weeks left, which… isn’t a lot of time.

So, as you can imagine, I’m going to need to convince a lot more people to take a chance on this project. Perhaps you, dear reader, are one of them. You may be asking yourself, why this project? It seems like every game developer and their cat has a Kickstarter or Indiegogo campaign these days, anyhow. Why throw money at yet another one? After all, in these tough economic times, people are looking for any excuse they can not to spend money. Believe me, I know how that feels.

Of course, I’m biased about my project. It’s my own. Why wouldn’t I be? But I still think it’s pretty special, particularly because as far as I know, nothing quite like it exists. And that’s in large part because the kinds of videogames I enjoy — the kinds I think deserve to get made — are so few and far between, compared to everything else. Artistic games. Games that try new things. Games where you don’t kill people. Games that don’t assume the player is straight, white, and male. Games that speak from personal experience. I know for a fact that I’m not the only one who feels this way.

So, with that, I’ll do my best to convince you.

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Today, we just blew past the 30% mark for the Dominique Pamplemousse Indiegogo campaign. It’s an oft-cited statistic that when crowdfunded projects hit 30%, they become exponentially more likely to succeed than those that don’t. 16 days left and $6576 to go!

So, now it’s time for the next installment of “How to Pamplemousse”, wherein I talk about my process for composing and recording music. When I think up the music for this game (and in general) it comes to me in somewhat of a sketch-like form — some kind of melody or riff in my head. I use that as a base to write lyrics around, and as I do so, the melody solidifies itself a bit better.

When it comes time to play and record the music, I approach it with an idea of what I want it to sound like, while also leaving room for improvised ideas. I don’t write out sheet music or chord charts, but that’s only because it’s just me playing all the instruments; if other musicians were collaborating with me, written music would be a tad more necessary.

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