Stretch Goals and Rewards Updated
Update #2 · Sep 12, 2013 ·
Hello everyone,
Due to popular demand, we've made quite a few changes to the project!
First and foremost, we've moved the flyable B-17 to the very first stretch goal. No other aircraft was met with more excitement, and we realized that we ourselves had always wanted to fly the Fort more than any other.
We also added an update to the Normandy map to the same goal. The map, as it is currently, has its north edge through the Channel, and covers the area roughly between Cherbourg, Le Havre, and Argentan. This is acceptable for a project with flyable fighters, but a flyable B-17 clearly needs more room. So, the very first stretch goal will also stretch the Normandy map all the way up to almost touch London.
However, Southern England in that stretch goal will be less detailed than Normandy. It will have fewer historical airfields done to unique specifications, and will also have fewer unique buildings, textures, etc. In short, it will be terrain designed for take-offs and mid- to high-altitude cruise, not for tree-top dogfights or ground attack.
Unfortunately, we could not do much to decrease the cost of the next stretch goal. A flyable B-17 is a huge task, and so is building Southern England. It is, perhaps, even more work than the original $375K stretch goal. We considered adding intermediate stretch goals, such as having a B-17 with only one flyable position, or not extending the map, but eventually decided that it would just create an inferior product.
Let's really try to get to that $375 stretch goal, because a flyable B-17 done to DCS P-51 quality will really be something ground-breaking.
Secondly, we'vealso done quite a bit to backer rewards. Our artist almost went insane trying to create all the badges and arrange them to accompany new or updated rewards, and then we ran into a hard size limit on the article. We've had to remove quite a bit of other text to fit the rewards, and we can't fit any more images into the text. So, the artist is now extremely mad. Yes, I should have checked the size limit before doing all the work on the images.
Most importantly, we've added several extremely exciting new options.
We are giving you the option of receiving twice the initial plane set in order to share with friends.
We are also adding DCS World licenses to kickstarter rewards. You will receive the P-51D and the FW.190D with DCS WWII; but if you select the appropriate reward, you will also receive those licenses for DCS World. The P-51D license will be issued after the kickstarter project successfully funds. The Dora license will give the backers the option to beta test the aircraft once it enters closed beta some time this winter.
Finally, with some reservations, we are also offering alpha access to DCS WWII. This ALPHA version will not contain all features; some content will be half-finished, and some not included at all. The version however WILL contain a large number of bugs. Please think twice before choosing this reward tier. If you are easily frustrated by missing or broken features, or expect perfection at every turn, please wait until the project is officially released.
Anyway, now that we have tons and tons of rewards with overlapping and criss-crossing items, we find that some of them may almost be impossible to figure out. So we've created this simple attached matrix, which hopefully covers all the bases.
If you have already backed the project, you can change your reward tier any time until it ends on October 5th. If you see a more attractive option, please by all means modify your pledge!
Finally, if you've backed the project at a few intermediate levels, you may have noticed a discrepancy where the reward text in the sidebar stated one thing, but the text in the main body stated something else. We've fixed any rewards we can, and retired any rewards with erroneous texts.
There is no option to edit reward descriptions if it's already been selected. However, if you've backed the project at any of the erroneous levels, you will receive BOTH the rewards in the sidebar and in the main body. We feel it's fair in hindsight; however we are not keeping the dual rewards for the future because this really increases our expenses.
Since we cannot edit existing reward texts, here's what you will receive if you have pledged at a retired reward tier.
$50 - Everything at the $40 level, plus a custom-designed project backer T-shirt, plus a spiral-bound copy of a complete aircraft manual for the plane of your choice.
$75 - Everything at the $50 level, plus a spiral-bound copy of a complete aircraft manual for the plane of your choice, and a hard copy of the game’s air combat strategy and tactics manual.
$100 - Everything at the $50 level, plus a hard copy of the game’s air combat strategy and tactics manual, and spiral-bound copies of complete aircraft manuals for two flyable aircraft in the game.
Important Note: Apparently it's impossible to close out a reward. I can mark it as sold out, but if a backer changes his or her pledge from a sold out one to a different one, it opens up a slot in the sold out reward.
If you see a reward marked as Limited with a very low number of available items left, please do not select it. It's one of the older incorrect description ones.
