Executive Summery
This GoFundMe is tailored toward the funding of a 2D multiplayer video game titled 'Stickmen Race'. In it, up to 24 players sprint over obstacles and each other to reach the winning flag first
I have been a game designer since I was four years old. I designed Stickmen Race when I was 10 years old, in 2022.
Originally I worked mostly on designing many 3D games but they proved too difficult for my dad to engineer from the drawing board into actual installable applications, so I made the switch to 2D for Stickmen Race thinking it would be easier to develop, and it was, but still proved too difficult to construct, which is why I am here.
My dream is to become among the youngest published game designers in the industry, and I believe that can be achieved with your help. I have worked very hard to accomplish this.
I sincerely appreciate you stopping by and giving this project your consideration. There is much to follow and my dad and I have done our best to make this as clear, concise, detailed, and fun for you as possible
Original Concept Trailer
Introduction
Hello everyone, Nicholas In the Household here, and welcome to my GoFundMe for what I am sure will be an exciting new video game release called Stickmen Race! We've invited you here to share with you my dream of becoming a game designer - a dream I've had since I was four years old - which was a really looong time ago. I am much older now and with your help, after all that time, I hope to finally transform this dream into a reality. My ultimate goal is to start my own game studio called Nicholas Games, and I believe that getting this project off the ground will be a great first step.
History
We are very grateful you dropped in because it has been quite a long road to arrive at this GoFundMe. Our journey began all the way back in 2021. My dad had tried to make a number of 3D game titles I had come up with, but Unity - the design software - turned out a bit (well a lot) too difficult to master in three dimensions, so that's when, in 2022, I came up with the idea for a 2D game called Stickmen Race! Surely a 2D world would be easier to construct, right?
Well... yes, but still... not so easy. What have we learned in our three years of trial and error? Sadly, that if you're not a already video game engineer - which requires years of dedicated study - starting from scratch to learn how to do it requires - you guessed it - years of dedicated study. After spending many hours reading technical manuals and watching YouTube videos to learn how to do it, dad did manage to put out a small tech demo, but more advanced gameplay proved too difficult.
Stickmen Race Tech Demo
I won't say that after nearly three years of trial and failure that I was heartbroken over this, but... This accomplishment IS my dream that I want more than just about anything, so...
The Reason for this GFM: Building The Stickmen Race Game, But What is it?
After all that, you're probably itching to know just what Stickmen Race is all about, right? Well boy I'm glad you asked! Stickmen Race is an action packed 2D racing game where up to 24 players sprint through eight gauntlets filled with spikes, saws, perilous falls, moving platforms, zapping floors, wind tunnels, gravity inversion zones, you name it! All while attacking and dodging each others' aggression in order to beat the crowd and earn that sweet fame & glory that comes with capturing the flag at the end!
The progression is tailored so that each level introduces a new mechanic for the player to learn and navigate along - as shown above - with an added layer of difficulty on top. And if you do happen to navigate these hazards all the way to the end, all I can say is WATCH OUT!
What We've Tried So Far to Obtain Funding
Once it became clear we could not build it alone, I've tried more than a few things to get funding so we can hand the 'SR project' to an experienced game studio. From a failed KickStarter to designing and attempting to sell mountains of merchandise on T-Spring...
Here is my shop: https://n-merch-2.creator-spring.com
...to even offering to make custom videos for my YouTube subscribers. But very little merchandise has sold since I launched my storefront in 2022, and no one even responded to my custom video campaign, ugh.
Earlier this year we reached out to a game studio and they are eager to make Stickmen Race for us. We sent them all our diagrams and design specs and they returned with a detailed proposal, and let me tell you, it was a very exciting time for me! They were in sync and knew almost exactly what I wanted! It was happening!!
But, sadly upon arrival of price the cost was just too high to consider, clocking in at a whopping $15,000... Now I am just hoping that this GoFundMe can make this dream a reality. I've hit so many brick walls, and I just do not know where else to turn.
But that's not all that Stickman Race has to offer, and boy, do I have something to show you!
But Wait, There's More
You see Stickmen Race may have started out as it's life as a racing game, but it soon became a fully-fledged web series cartoon called 'Stickmen' with songs and music and action and drama and comedy and it spanned 50 - yes - 50 entire episodes - with a total frame count somewhere in the range of 15,000, all animated! You can find all of them here:
Fun Fact 1: The very first episode of Stickmen was actually a Stickmen Race concept trailer that ended up launching the entire series.
Fun Fact 2: That very first episode was only 14 seconds in length—the lengths of each episode steadily trended higher over time. By the time the series concluded last May, the final episode was over seven minutes long! Here is a remake of the first episode which clocks in a little longer than the original:
Whew, it's been quite a journey, and I've really put my heart and soul into both of these projects (I have many more as well) - from the hundreds of items for sale on my merchandise store to the hundreds of hours put into the Stickmen animated series, to promoting it to my friends at school, and wherever I was in front of a crowd, and sharing it and showcasing it (one of the episodes even made it onto a public art competition when I was 11), well, I guess you could say it's been a long effortful journey, but boy am I dedicated! How and where this road takes me next is now up to you, dear patron.
So whatdoyasay? =) Wanna help make my dream of being one of the youngest published game designers come true? Oh wait, I forgot something, I need to give you some technical details of the game first!
Technical Data: Game Overview
Stickmen Race is a fully realized 2D Platformer, featuring characters from Stickville (the town from the Stickmen animated series) that go all out to win the glory of the flag. All menus, move sets, game rules, damage counters, win conditions, control schemes, hazards, platforms, physics, extras, level and boss designs, have been fully mapped out and are ready and eager to go. All we need is some help to get it developed, and that, dear GoFundMe-Er, is where you come in! Need more information before jumping on board? Oh we are bursting at the seams with it, and thank you for asking.
The game features local and online play with up to 24 characters running, jumping, flying, and falling to be first to prove their worth. There are four Stickmen characters to choose from.
Technical Data: Character Story Overview & Abilities
Black: The quintessential hero with a streak of being awe-struck who will always do what needs to be done to save the day (even if it means losing his life).
Ability 1 Slide: A burst of speed forward, low to the ground maneuver: will sweep opponents legs right out from under him
Ability 2 Black Hole Jump: Black becomes a very compact ball when jumping: very agile and difficult to hit making it easier for Black to dodge
Speed: Medium
Jumping Height: Medium
Size/Hitbox Standing & Running: Medium
Size/Hitbox Jumping: Tiny
SuperVillain: Wearing the most stylish armor this side of Iron Man, SuperVillain is the cheeky tormentor of Stickville and creator of its worst nemesis (in the first season at least): Roboking. SuperVillain is the sometimes evil, sometimes reasonable anti-hero, and Black's best frenemy (these two love to dislove each other)
Ability 1 Rocket Boots: Allows SuperVillain to fly above the fray. Disadvantage: they are difficult to control. Weak point: He remains fully upright during flight making him an easier target. This helps to balance his flight capabilities
Ability 2 Laser: that can shoot in either flight mode or ground mode
Speed: Medium
Jumping Height: Medium When Not in Flight Mode
Size/Hitbox: Medium
Roboking: Being SuperVillain's creation, this King of Robots has a soft spot for his ole dad, that is, until he gives him a love punch and ole dad's helmet pops off revealing SuperVillain's true identity, the Stickman, Purple. Learning that his pop is not a robot like him does not do much for the happiness of this crazed Metal Maniac...and we'll just leave it at that.
Ability 1 Ground Pound: Taking a small boost forward, one of Roboking's arm reaches out and grabs the nearest racer and pounds them on the ground
Ability 2 Laser Rain: Roboking puts his 4 hands in the air and fires lasers that rain down across the battlefield taking out whoever is unlucky enough to be stuck under one without a laser umbrella (this is not an item in the game so that's everyone)
Ability 3 Swap with Minion Robot: Roboking swaps out with a faster smaller robot for himself to balance Roboking's slow movement and big size. Once the smaller robot is hit and destroyed, Roboking is transported ahead to its position gaining some much needed speed against his quicker opponents
Ability 4 Endurance: Roboking is the only character with 3 hit points instead of one. This is to balance his slow movement and size, and also fits with his character class of being made of metal
Speed of Roboking: Slow
Jumping Height of Roboking: Low
Speed of Minion: Medium
Jumping Height of Minion: Medium
Size/Hitbox Roboking: Large
Size/Hitbox Minion: Medium/Small
Bell: Hailing from my first 3D game, Bell is a cameo character from a nostalgic title I hope to make a reality one day. Cute as a button, but don't let that button fool you: Bell has a hot temper and is packing some serious gameplay advantages
Ability 1 Double Jump: in a game like this, that goes a long way
Ability 2 Shockwave: Bell shakes and rings out a lightning shockwave in front and behind her
Speed: medium-fast
Jumping Height: High
Size/Hitbox: small
Final Words
Thank you all very much for taking the time to hear my story. I work on a number of different projects and always have irons in the fire for new ones, but the one mentioned here, 'Stickmen Race', is the one that holds my heart in its hands. I have worked so long and tried so hard to make it a reality, and if this one fails, I am not sure what to do next.
It was supposed to come out almost 3 years ago - it was fully developed then - and now I'm thirteen and without your support, will be no closer to accomplishing it now than I was then.
The publisher has signed off on it, they know it is viable. They have all the specs and will begin work as soon as payment is made.
All donations no matter how small will go directly to helping this game achieve its launch onto the Steam store, and all help will be gratefully and earnestly appreciated. So please, if you can spare a pennyroo -to- some buckaroos, the sooner we get this project funded, the sooner you'll be running in a thrilling Stickmen Race bursting with flying SuperVillians, sliding Blacks, smashing Robokings, and adorable shockwaving Bells (hailing from my first 3D game, he's a real ding-a-ling).
To existing fans, I hope you've enjoyed the Stickmen series over the years and have had as much fun watching as I had making it! But that is just the beginning: with your help we can Rocket-Launch these beloved characters right into the 2D gaming scene and into your hands, and after that? Not even Pontifax (a distant planet in the lore of Stickmen) will be the limit.
Be there.
Or Be.
Stick-square.
Thank you sincerely everyone!
Organizer
J W
Organizer
Grand Ridge, FL