Next round of funding for the Cretaceous Seas game (Patreon)

I have a big message to share on the next chapter of Cretaceous Seas, even though we aren't quite there yet - the next round of funding so we can keep making this game. :)

 Cutting right to the point, after the first two levels of Cretaceous Seas come out I need to look at the options for continued funding to keep the game development going. This is my least favorite part of the job, but the funding is what keeps the project alive. Just to be super clear, I'm not asking for an extra dollar until I get that release out but I do want to start the discussion around how we're going to approach it when the time comes. The original campaign funding only covers those first two levels, and that release date is coming up soon.

With additional funding we plan to add another 4-6 levels and more creatures on top of the first 2 levels, depending on what we get. The minimum target budget for that, with working another 6-8 months, is $25k (or roughly $3-4k monthly). That's the minimum; it'd be safer to assume we should spend another full year working on the game (so $50k in total, with the original 2 levels plus up to 6 more). In either case, that would cover me working on the animations and artwork full-time, plus keeping Chu on part-time and having the voice actress doing custom voiceovers for each new scene. You'll hear her in the demo. :) The ideal target would basically be double that, which would let me hire Chu on full-time and really secure the development. I feel REALLY lucky that he's involved and I want to make sure he can stick around. The best way to do that is to pay him well enough that he doesn't need to look for other work to supplement his income. All that said, the idea of asking for $100k to put together a small team and work on the game full-time for the next 12 months is small beans in terms of game development budgets, but it's a big ask for a niche fetish community. I want to make the funding target possible, while also making sure we're making it financially viable.    
  I started this project without much outside influence, but what I really want to do now is have an honest discussion about what you guys want, need, and hope to see from this project.  
The big options on the table are another round of Kickstarter funding or switching over to Patreon. I have doubts about the viability of using Patreon as a funding source in this case because to do it properly we need a steady budget for another 6-12 months. That makes me seriously look at Kickstarter again because that funding model allows me to set a budget from day one. Whatever funding we get, that determines where we can take the game. It takes away the guesswork, so that's where I'm leaning right now.

The release date for the first two levels of Cretaceous Seas is still uncertain. It was originally intended to come out this month and it just won't be ready. Currently, we're hoping for early October. We hit some snags early on, and the timing was always an optimistic target, so now we're racing to finish up as best we can.  Chu is squeezing in the coding on top of his regular job or else it'd be even slower, so I'm damn thankful he came along! We're pushing to get a demo out this month at least, and think that'll be viable so that people can see how things are feeling behind the controls.

Looking forward to feedback!

-RyanC