My strongest advice would be to download this one ASAP. If it goes the way of AM2R then it has a few days max before it's taken down. Get this while you still can.
This is in not so much as a question as a comment, but I'll say that it takes a lot of guts to stand before all of us and take all the insults/negative feedback and then to apologize and take ownership for your actions.
So you've regained a bit of respect from me for that. Especially as you've kept working on the game. You could easily have just taken the money and ran off and never contacted us again.
The game may not look exactly like it's KS incarnation anymore and the squad mechanic was removed (which I'm annoyed about, as that was the main appeal for me), but I'll give the game a try when the final versions out.
Question 2: I notice a change in art direction between the screenshots of Confederate Express from back in 2013 to now. What was the reason for the change?
The original art had a look more in line with many indie type developed games, and featured (in addition) squad based mechanics + RPG elements of (and I'm quoting from the Kickstarter page here):
Leadership: it is very important to have a crew member with a leadership skill. Not only it gives a hefty experience boost and suppresses the panic state for your team, it's also very useful for roaming the world map, since you can see what kind of special events are happening around. We will touch more on the world map in our future update.
Medic: every great team has a great support, so having this team member is crucial, especially since only medics can obtain a very important skill: resurrection. With a defibrillator in hand, it takes only few minutes to recharge and bring your fallen comrade to life.
Marksman: this skill is pretty straightforward: The higher the skill, the greater the character's aim. As a result you will have a better combat efficiency and leaner ammo preservation. But be careful: if the skill is too low, your crew member might not be able to handle some of the bigger weapons.
The new graphics look more in line with Super Nintendo (aka 16-bit) graphics. I personally prefer the original look. Looked quite great at the time.
Question 3: Is the game now more of a solo player character driven game with no squad mechanics, or is the game still in-line with it's original incarnation with the squad of troops with the RPG elements?
Legit question which dates back to a few months after your Kickstarter received funding:
I recall in the following year, it was said that the money used from the Confederate Express campaign was used to fund another game, under a different username on Kickstarter called Knuckle Club, which featured a very similar art style to that of CE. Knuckle Club was removed from Kickstarter once the link was discovered between the 2 projects.
What details can you provide to us, your backers of Confederate Express? And if this story is indeed true, why was the money used for this purpose rather than for the development of Confederate Express?
