I don't know about needing a following, but I absolutely would not give money to a game developer when the first impression I get of them is a set of instructions for how to make their game fit on my monitor. That just does not inspire confidence that they can actually finish a good product.
Indie games are a crowded market and there are a lot of them on crowdfunding websites. Of course you need to stand out in some way if you want people's money. When crowdfunding in particular, you expect people to give you money in advance for a product that does not yet exist. You need to convince them that this is a good idea. Having some sort of portfolio, or a good prototype that will make people want to see more of it, can do that. A prototype that doesn't even have its technical fundamentals in place is not going to do that. You're also not going to get a "following" without something to show people that will interest them.
The reality is that earning money in indie game development is difficult and you cannot expect the first thing you ever publish to be immediately popular and financially successful. And if you have already failed to raise money on one crowdfunding platform, taking the same pitch to another crowdfunding platform is very unlikely to improve your situation.