Troika And Kickstarter: What If?

tim-cain troika arcanum kickstarter game-development crowdfunding arcanum-2

Abstract

Problem: If Kickstarter had existed during Troika Games' active years (2001–2005), would they have used it, and what would they have made?

Approach: Tim Cain responds to a viewer question, drawing on his experience at Troika and conversations with Leonard Boyarsky and other designers at Obsidian.

Findings: Troika would absolutely have crowdfunded, and the project would have been Arcanum 2. Their small team size (14 people) made them ideal for Kickstarter budgets, they had far more stories to tell in that world, and Cain personally preferred the Arcanum development experience over Fallout's.

Key insight: Kickstarter arrived about 10 years too late for Troika — the studio that was perhaps best suited to the crowdfunding model due to its small, efficient, multi-hat team structure.

The Answer: Yes, Arcanum 2

Tim gives his answer upfront: if Kickstarter had existed, Troika would definitely have used it, and they would have made Arcanum 2. Not Bloodlines, not Temple of Elemental Evil — Arcanum.

Why Troika Was Perfect for Crowdfunding

Troika was a 14-person studio where everyone wore multiple hats — programmers did design, designers did art, artists did scripting, and people handled business tasks on top of making the game. This efficiency made them ideally suited for Kickstarter budgets, where you raise a fixed amount and can't go back for more (unlike a publisher relationship where you can negotiate additional milestones).

Tim notes they had learned lessons about staying on budget from Fallout and Arcanum. He concedes Bloodlines showed this wasn't always true, but points out they stayed within budget on Temple of Elemental Evil and even delivered more than what was asked for.

Untold Stories of Arcanum

The core reason for choosing Arcanum 2 was the sheer volume of untold stories. They had "barely scratched the surface" of a fantasy world undergoing an industrial revolution. Specific areas Tim wanted to explore:

  • Elven Clans beyond the ones encountered in the first game
  • Dwarven Clans and their deeper politics
  • Orcs in the wilderness — the first game covered urban orcs, but what about those outside cities?
  • Ogres and the half-ogre storyline
  • Racism and social issues as different genetic humanoid races collided with industrialization

Tim emphasizes that a large part of Arcanum's design was exploring what happens when fantasy-world racial dynamics meet modern industrialization — issues that mirror real-world problems. He expresses frustration that such stories would be harder to tell today due to cultural sensitivity, arguing that avoiding difficult topics doesn't make them go away.

The Kickstarter Communication Advantage

Tim highlights an underappreciated benefit of crowdfunding: better feedback loops. Kickstarter backers are literal stakeholders, making early betas and feedback more meaningful. He draws a parallel to his YouTube channel, where YouTube has suggested memberships to help prioritize comments from more invested viewers over drive-by commenters.

Key advantages he identifies:

  • Donor-only forums for focused feedback
  • Tiered access (higher donations = more influence)
  • Self-selection filter: people who pay care more about quality
  • Beta feedback from people with genuine stake in the outcome

The Personal Reason: Arcanum Was a Better Experience

Tim reveals a personal motivation. He found working on Arcanum calmer and more creatively freeing than Fallout. On Fallout, he bore the burden of production issues, deadlines, and arguments from above that the rest of the team never saw.

Interestingly, Leonard Boyarsky had the opposite preference — he liked working on Fallout better. Tim attributes this to the fact that Leonard was shielded from the production pressures on Fallout but had to face them on Arcanum. Their experiences were shaped not by the projects themselves but by their respective roles and burdens on each.

What Arcanum 2 Might Have Looked Like

Several options were on the table:

  • Journey to the Center of Arcanum — a concept Tim has discussed in other videos
  • An isometric game set on a different continent or telling a different story
  • A first-person game using the Source engine, which was available at the time (the person who had signed them at Sierra now worked at Valve)
  • They would have asked backers what they wanted

The Timing Problem

Kickstarter launched in 2009 and hit gaming prominence around 2012. Arcanum shipped in 2001, and Troika closed in 2005. As Tim puts it: "Kickstarter came 10 years too late for Troika."

Source: Tim Cain — "Troika And Kickstarter: What If?"

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