Cursed Treasure 3 is on hold

We haven’t posted about Cursed Treasure 3 progress for quite some time already and people are asking about the progress here and there, so here is the update. Cursed Treasure 3 development is on hold for almost a year already. The reason for that is simple — we run out of development budget and the game is not good even for open beta. We hoped to have a build with at least 6 levels to launch Early Access on Steam, but that didn’t happen.

What we have at the moment:

  • 3 levels playable, but not fully balanced
  • squads system working, but not polished
  • some art: title screen, logo, characters, towers, map etc.

The development may only continue if we find some funds. We are partnering with ArmorGames, so they may secure some funds for that sooner or later. We tried to get some money from Cursed Treasure 2 too — it was ported to Steam and Android, but the income from these versions is not sufficient.

We thought about crowdfunding, but unfortunately Kickstarter doesn’t work in Russia. IndieGoGo does, but will require some extra efforts and fees because we’ll have to use PayPal, and the chances to be funded are worse on IndieGoGo, we believe.

We showcased the game on DevGamm conference 2 times and the players were not very excited (same as these who commented on YouTube videos), seems like the game will need serious revision, if we find funds to continue.

The reasons for the game to run out of budget are (as we see it):

  • We focused the features that we thought are important, like squads, and spent too many times there. We should focus on the core gameplay elements instead: towers, enemies, skills etc. Besides these who played the Alpha didn’t like squads…
  • We tried to rise the art quality bar and probably set it a bit too high and spent too much time polishing art. This includes the levels art that is one big picture — probably we should have stick to tile system instead.
  • Project management was not good. We should have planned more careful and control the milestones goals more strict.

Hope we’ll be able to continue one day, fix all the issues and make a great game that will become the best installment in Cursed Treasure series!

50 комментариев к “Cursed Treasure 3 is on hold”

  1. Прискорбно, что дела с третьей частью застопорились. Поделюсь своим мнением, насчёт собираемости денег со второй части, хоть мне, как поклоннику серии, это будет и не выгодно. Но надо же поддержать отечественного игрописателя, если не деньгами (увы), так хоть советом. Мне кажется проблема здесь в том, что игра прекрасно проходится и без доната (как я и сделал). А к тому моменту, как проходишь пиратов и добираешься до подземелий гномов, у тебя накапливается достаточно черепов (увы, без них подземелья не пройти), чтоб не покупать их за деньги, поэтому и отпадает надобность в донате. Мне, как игроку, это конечно нравится, но вам, как создателям игры хотелось бы, чтоб ваше детище приносило доход. А для этого, как мне кажется, нужно усложнить добычу черепов и экспы. Я не знаю, какой алгоритм у вас стоит на генерацию черепов, но они выпадают и при повторном прохождении уровней. А повторно их проходишь не по одному разу — охота же чтоб все уровни на три звезды были пройдены, да и сам процесс завораживает, особенно музыка и звуковые эффекты. Стоит снизить количество генерируемых черепов при повторном прохождении, ибо за один раз они не добираются, или сделать дополнительные локации, которые открываются за черепа. Если взглянуть на мир игры глазами экономиста, то мы видим следующее: в игре присутствуют два (теперь уже три) вида ресурсов — золото, мана и черепа. Первые два исправно добываются и исправно расходуются, т. е., являются восполняемыми, а вот третий — он как плутоний, добывается мало, но и расходуется редко, но даже несмотря на это, его добычу можно считать высокой, потому как когда возникает в нём нужда, накопленного хватает с лихвой. А по сему, надо организовать его отток. Чтоб к тому моменту, как черепа понадобятся сильно, их не хватало. Простите за сумбур, но вот как-то такие мысли.

    Пишу на русском, ибо с инглишом не ахти, а мои соотечественники меня прекрасно и без толмача разумеют.

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    • Да, черепа прикручены не лчень хорошо сейчас, но не хотелось и не хочется делать их необходимыми. То есть не хотим сложность уровней поднимать так, чтобы без черепов невозможно было их проходить — черпа скорее для упрощения прохождения нужны, чем для проъхождения вообще. Гномьи уровни и так вызывают негативную реакцию игроков, не хочется, чтобы вся игра оказалось такоцй.

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  2. Hope the game is in dev. I loved CT2 (not really as much CT1) and I know him better than anyone. I have 478 hours on this steam game and moreover on internet version.
    CT2 is the best tower defense i played.

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  3. Good luck!
    The fact that you don’t want to release the game with gameplay being unbalanced and the artwork unpolished just means that you care about the experience, and I am sure that it will show once the game is out.
    There are too many games out there where it’s clear that not enough time was spent to make a good experience.
    Hope you can secure some funding soon!

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  4. Probably this is very hard to do, but what I miss more from CT1 and 2 is a level editor. If you observe, in Kongregate the most played games are, lots of times, the ones that let you create levels.

    Probably you had already thought on that and probably is too hard to do, but.. I would love it helps to fund you.

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    • Thanks! We thought of creating a level editor for Cursed Treasure indeed. It’s not simple, since the level editor for internal use and the level editor for players are two different things in terms of interfaces, bugs etc 🙂 Devs can live with bugs and hotkeys, players need better quality.

      The level editor still may happen though — either for the existing versions of Cursed Treasure or as a part of a new game. No exact plans for the new game yet, it may be part 3 or some extension of part 1 or 2, it depends on many things and we can’t decide or even confirm it will happen yet.

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    • When the project was put on hold, we needed around $8ok to get to the release candidate version. But things changed. It’s clear that the game must be reviewed and redesigned if we want to continues, so these estimations are not valid anymore. The new estimation will require some work that we can’t do atm, meaning that we don’t know how much would we need to finish the game. This is one of the reasons why we do not try to start a fund raising campaign — first we want to be sure that we can make the game if the funds are raised, and more important — we want to know what game will we develop. The current game vision doesn’t seem to be good 🙂

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  5. That might be for the best, as rude as it may sound. CT1 was absolutely amazing with its spot-on visuals, satisfying gameplay, no units on player’s side, and very straightforward progression. CT2 was okay still, but the art style took a huge hit and gameplay was kind of tedious. CT3 was looking straight up worrying, so it’s for the best that you take a while and rethink it.

    Honestly, CT1 + level pack (with slightly poshed up visuals — just hq, not that annoying cartoonish look of CT2) would do well on Steam. And if you included a level editor with an option to share maps with other players… well, I’d drop $50 on the spot. And I know a few folks that would as well (CT1 is all we play during downtime at work).

    I really hope that it ain’t over for you guys, and you either come back with retrofitted CT1, or a proper CT3 that takes the evolution — not revolution — route in the wake of CT1.

    Best of luck, and hope to see more of you soon!

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  6. CT Sereis is one of best tower defense game ever I played. I purchased CT2 on steam. I hope CT3 release sooner or later.

    Would you plan to release CT1 HD version Android or Steam? It’s only in appstore, but I don’t use apple machine. I can’t play HD version.

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    • Thanks! Actually CT1 HD is not available on iOS at the moment — we need to update it. Had several requests about CT1 on Android and Steam, so we should really think of it! 🙂

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  7. Dang, this is really unfortunate to hear. I really hope everything comes together. I’d hate for you guys to waste all of the progress you’ve made so far. These games are my favorite!

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  8. Thanks for the update. It was interesting and helpful to read your development notes. Thank you for that.

    I’m sorry to hear that development is on hold. I hope it works out. I enjoyed CT2 and was looking forward to CT3. I also enjoyed Road of Fury and Sacred Treasure. You make great games and I hope you can continue.

    I would buy a CT2 level editor.

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  9. Keep it simple. CT 1 is still quite a good game. Just make it slightly different. New maps. New enemies. Maybe some kind of new tower or map interaction.

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  10. Hello,

    From Wisconsin, US! Just downloaded CT2 again and now I’m playing it for the third time… This is a gem among tower defense games just like Kingdom rush. I’m willing to donate some money if there are in-app purchase optionsa in CT2, as well as your further crowd funding project, if possible.
    Please continue your awesome work on TD3!

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    • Hey! Thanks for your warm words. We will ask for crowd funding and donations support only when we are 100% sure we are able to proceed with CT3 development and the money will go there. So far it doesn’t look like we’ll be able to continue anytime soon…

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  11. Hi from Beijing, China. CT 1&2 are the two of the best computer games I’ve ever played! I have revisited CT 1&2 several times during the past years when I felt stressed out and always got relaxed after playing them. Today when I finished CT 1 again I searched CT 3 and surprisingly found this update! It is so good to know that there is a CT 3 that might be coming! I really hope you can make it. CT series shall never end.

    And thank you so much for bringing CT 1&2 to us!

    Best,
    Xiaorou

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  12. Best TD game I’ve ever played including kingdom rush. I didn’t even know you were working on a v3. I dropped by just to see if you had any expansion packs to purchase. CT 1&2 have such high replayability that it was probably over ambitious to start a v3 if you’re still running a shoestring budget. Continue to mine 1&2 for revenue with expansion packs and extension packs. Expansion packs= new levels, extension packs= overlay features to extend (i.e. tweak, not revamp) gameplay so that new strategies open up or are required.
    I’m voting for a ‘hard mode’ where resources are thinner, including bonuses, leveling is harder, and there are more and harder waves to deal with.
    Also- what if you involved the player base in helping to design the new expansion packs? If you had some sort of level design app, we could all help to develop a game we love. This would be relatively easy to monetize and control if you design it properly. Then you get to host the download page and sell the level packs. Give a reasonable royalty (maybe site credit?) back to the dev/artist to really ramp up production and deployment. Nothing builds customer engagement like being able to participate in a products development!
    Y’all are struggling because you’re not using the resources available to you. Remember what the great American industrialist John D Rockefeller said- I’d rather make 1% off of 100 people’s efforts than 100% of my own efforts. The *real* resource you have here isn’t your own abilities or even the intellectual property you’ve built- it’s the loyalty of your fan base to the great game you’ve started. Capitalize on the talents and enthusiasm of the people you’ve engaged with your creation. Look at Minecraft for example- gameplay is mediocre at best and it’s easily the most successful video game ever. All because the creator decided to allow fans to help build that world. I think you’ve got a compelling game milieu that you can build into a full fledged world if you’ve got the vision for it. But no large vision or project is built by a single individual, right? You’ve got a small team now, find a way to expand the team if you want to grow your business.

    (Sorry about the book length comment!!)
    -Anthony

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    • Thanks for the feedback, Anthony!

      We did have a decent budget when we started CT3 development. But we focused on wrong things and wasted it. And the budget was cut. These two factors didn’t let us even finish a 3-levels version…

      Actually, it is a good idea to work on extra content for the existing game — we believe CT2 still has some potential, especially if we will add new gameplay features. We also thought of making a standalone level editor for CT2, but it’s quite a lot of work, because we used Adobe Flash to design levels.

      Overall, good points, thanks! We will definitely think about the possibilities and discuss it with our partners!

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  13. Thanks for the update!
    Cursed treasure 1 and 2 are the best flashgames i,ve played and i’ve replayd both multiple times.

    I agree with your assesment, the strenght with your games is that they are easy to understand but hard to master.
    Adding to much is not a sure way to make a better game, just working on honing the existing systems with new levels would do just fine and i think the fans would love it.

    best of luck in the future, hoping to play CT3 one day 🙂

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  14. Greetings from Brazil!

    Cursed Treasure is the best TD i’ve played and i’m really looking foward for the third installment! Really hope you guy get back to full force soon!

    PS: please, if possible, discard squads and try to inovate in other areas like maybe a fourth tower type, more tower upgrades, new enemies, and more waves per mission!

    Anyway thank you for the first two games, they’re classics!

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  15. Hello from south of Brazil. Cursed Treasure is one of the best TD games I’ve played. Congratulations on the great work. Put the first Cursed Treasure and level pack expansion on Steam. The original Cursed Treasure remains great.

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  16. hello,

    well Cursed treasure 3 would be a good new
    if you can gain money with my new CT2 maps, no problem for me

    once all is done, I will send you all the files, you can count on me, if this can let you have some extra money
    maps are compatible with steam version so maybe it can help

    see you

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  17. Hey!

    I really hope you guys get the funds for this! Cursed Treasure was my favorite flash game by a long shot, rivaled only by Kindom Rush. It sucks that ArmorGames won’t set up a kickstarter; your first 2 games are evidence enough that there is some real talent at work.

    I noticed a comment back on an older post by you guys asking why it was that CT1 was better-received than CT2, and I think I know why. CT1 was a game that took a simple idea: having 3 tower types that could only be built on certain areas, and did a lot with it. CT2 added a bunch of stuff, but it lost that key idea, and so it was less organized.

    For CT3, I would expand further on the system: perhaps there is a fourth type of land with its own tower, and a «swampland» where everything can be built but it deals 75% damage. To incorporate the mechanics with squads, perhaps squads change based on the kind of ground they stand on. I feel this is the reason squads weren’t well received: they don’t mesh with the towers well, they don’t add to the current systems. If you made it so the land and the towers affect the squads, I feel they could be salvaged.

    I hope that whatever happens, this project can be completed, because Cursed Treasure was awesome!

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    • Thanks!
      Really hope we’ll be able to proceed with the game development one day 🙂
      Yes, we understood already that CT3 needs some serious revision from the player’s comments and from the feedback we got during showcases. So the first thing we do if we proceed, is the generation of the ideas for the core gameplay.

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  18. Guys I appreciate your honest announcement but you broke my heart. That is so sad.

    I hope you will find some ways to solve these obstacles. Your project seems like a first one which can supported by me on Kikstarter or other any crowdfunding site else 🙂

    I wish you good luck!

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  19. Firstly: there has to be a way for you to get on Kickstarter. SUPERHOT was funded there, and it’s placed in Poland, so there shouldn’t be many differences in that regard.
    Also: Armor Games could launch the KS campaign in your name, which would be completely 100% fine.
    Secondly: I hope you will get the moneyz you need and we will get Cursed Treasure 3 some day.
    Last: It’s great to hear you listen to feedback — that gives a lot of hope that when CT3 launches it will be great 😀

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    • 1) Yeah, there are some workarounds, like partnering with someone from the eligible country. It involves some service fees ofc…
      ArmorGames refused to set up Kickstarter campaign on our behalf — they don’t want to be in charge if we get the money and don’t release the game.
      2) Thanks! %D Yes, we do listen to feedback and understand that we must change the game dramatically.

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