Monthly Production Update #9
over 10 years ago – Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 09:29:53 AM

Let me open this update with a picture of a very happy (and relieved) man.

This is Uncle Mike standing amidst the over 14,000 models that he has cast, cleaned, sanded and bagged over the past nine months.  That's a lot of resin!  But the fantastic part is that we're done.  Yes, barring a few oddball elements and replacement parts, miniature production has wrapped.  Just feast your eyes on all these little heroes and horrors.

So many models!  And they're almost ready to make their way to you.  We're just waiting on two final elements: Rulebooks and Flipbooks.  On last report, the Flipbooks are now completed, and the Rulebooks were roughly 50% printed but not yet bound.  We don't have any final production copies on hand yet, but here's a look at the proof copies of the Flipbooks.  Note that we made some adjustments to the Threshold book cover to brighten up the logo and better match the Lurker book before approving the final print, so the actual books will be a better match for each other.

The Threshold book clocks in at 80 pages, and contains a list-building quick reference, Threshold operative, Special Agent and animal profiles, extra gear, basic & evil Spells, Psychic Powers, Black Marks, complete weapon list, skill reference, basic & advanced scenarios, quick references for injuries and psychology, and several compact log sheets.

The 84-page Lurker book is simpler but in many ways even more jam-packed, with Lurker profile indices (both by name and point value), complete Lurker profiles, Plot Points, Arcane Relics, basic, evil and witch spells and a weapon guide.  We're amazed at how much content it was possible to place into such a tiny form factor. 

Both books are printed largely in a 7.5 point font, which is small but was deemed easily legible by everyone we asked to look at the proofs, ages 3 through 64, 20/20 to bifocals!  These came out as quite attractive little volumes (in some ways I actually find myself preferring the layout and art settings to those in the rulebook!) and will make a cool and very useful addition to your Strange Aeons gaming experience. 

So, how do things proceed from here?  We expect to take delivery of the Rulebooks and Flipbooks (or at least enough of them to start packing orders) next week.  While we're waiting on them, we'll be getting the last few outstanding miniature sets bagged up and ensuring everything is lined up for shipping.  As soon as the books are in our hands, we'll start packing orders up immediately.  First up will be those packages heading to the UK and Europe, which we'll then load onto a pallet and send off via truck/ship to our UK-based shipping partner.  Wave 2 will be US orders, which will also be transferred over the border in bulk (a simple half-day truck trip in this case though - no seafaring required) and then dispersed via local carrier.  Last, we'll cart our Canadian orders and those destined for other parts of the world down to the local post office.  There's a possibility we'll also use sea freight for Australia/New Zealand and neighboring countries, with distribution from Australia - still some research to be done on that front.  In the event we do opt to go that route, those orders will be packed ahead of the US wave on account of the increased transit time.

Our objective is to have every order packed and shipped within the next month.  When you actually receive your package will be dependent on speed of shipping, customs clearance, transfers, and countless other factors.  Because this is our first time shipping via these channels, we don't want to make any unreasonable promises regarding arrival times.  We very much hope everyone will have their goods in hand by October, but please understand that we can't make any absolute promises.  We'll be sure to keep you updated every step of the way though.

The stars will soon be right!

 - Cult Librarian Scott

Last chance for address changes!
over 10 years ago – Wed, Jul 29, 2015 at 05:27:16 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Monthly Production Update #8
over 10 years ago – Fri, Jul 17, 2015 at 10:38:42 AM

Alright everyone, let me get this out of the way right up front: this is a monster update (June was a particularly momentous month) and it isn't all good news.  I'm going to present it as a cake though.  It has two delicious layers of frosted cake goodness, but there's also a somewhat unpleasant layer of some sort of fruit, custard, marzipan or other substance you're probably not going to like as much in the middle.  So let me cut a slice for everyone, and we can sit down for a chat.  Ok, settled comfortably with your cake?  Let's go!

We knocked down a ton of production milestones in the past month.  With so much to do, it can sometimes be hard to get a sense of progress.  You complete one task and just move to the next on a list that never really seems to shrink.  That list really did get considerably smaller in June though, and what's shrunk along with it is our storage space!  Along with the ever-growing number of filled bins of completed miniatures in the workshop, other parts of the lab are being overtaken by boxes of all sorts of goodies.  Behold!

Here we have 400 card decks (the smaller boxes in the foreground), plus all the boxes and envelopes we'll need to get your goods to you.  Each card deck is individually bagged, and also shrink-wrapped inside its protective plastic case.

The cards came out absolutely beautifully.  This was the riskiest part of the process for us, as we were dealing with a new provider, but our choice of an extremely well-reviewed printer paid off, and we now have two fantastic quality card decks to show for it!

Next to that we've stored two cases of collated and bagged template sets:

And then you'll find two monster boxes of t-shirts:

We were unfortunately forced to change the colour of the 'Cult Fight' shirt for final production, as the super-light green we'd intended to use was discontinued by the manufacturer.  Darker colours were experimented with, but the artwork really does 'pop' best on a light colour, so we opted for a natural linen tone that worked out really nicely.  If you ordered a Cult Fight shirt and really aren't happy with the colour change, let us know and we'll see about changing your order to a different item.

And easily June's biggest achievement: the book is complete!  Here are some shots of the first production proof, which we have approved for production with a few minor adjustments.

 

This was an interesting experience for us.  We've published five books before, and each one felt like a significant accomplishment when we held the first physical copy in our hands.  For some reason, this one felt different: bigger, slicker, more professional.  To be entirely honest, for a few minutes I felt like I must be looking at someone else's work.  I'm not exaggerating in any way when I state that this is by far the best thing we've ever produced.  Some of that is the 182 page length, some is the awesome array of artwork we've compiled, but mostly it's that this represents seven years of growth, lessons learned and skills developed, both in terms of game and graphic design.  We're mighty proud of this tome, and we think you're going to be thrilled with it.

So that's the first layer of our cake consumed.  Now we regrettably have to scrape away that nasty layer of goo in the middle before we can proceed further.  The book is ready for the printer.  Unfortunately, the printer isn't ready for the book, as, to our surprise, they have just shut down for a three-week break.  And it turns out that pretty much all the printers in Calgary do the very same thing, at the very same time, thanks to the annual event of the Calgary Stampede: 10 days of country music and public drunkenness that's great business for bars and divorce lawyers, but apparently not so great for printers.  So poor, in fact, that they just close their doors for a few weeks and take a vacation.

Now we know the first question is going to be "Why didn't you know about this sooner?".  We've been dealing with the same printer since 2008, and have always had extremely fast turnaround on all of our projects, so the prospect of them not being available never even crossed our minds.  Those projects were all in the spring or fall though, so we never came up against the 'Stampede Shutdown' before.  In retrospect, considering this was always our targeted window for printing the books, it would have been wiser to confirm the timing and scope of the job with the printer in advance, such that we could work around it.  Unfortunately, we elected to operate based on past experience instead, and it's failed us in this instance.

The big question: how does this affect our overall schedule?  Our printer is committed to putting our books at the top of their schedule as soon as they return to work on July 20th, and we expect to take delivery of 500 copies around August 1st.  They'll then move on to printing the flipbooks and some packaging materials, which we should have in the following week.  As our original plan had been to pack orders in the last two weeks of July, with shipping commencing in August, this places us about three weeks behind the planned schedule.  We're now looking at shipping beginning in the last week of August or first week of September.  It's not an enormous delay, but still later than we intended, and we do apologize for that.  We've done everything in our power to achieve our planned date, and will continue to do so, but this is unfortunately an element of production we don't have total control over.

Well, there's the ugly bit out of the way.  So what's in that other tasty layer of cake underneath?  As you now know, the book is done, complete, finished, ready to roll.  So why keep you waiting?  Right after this update is posted, I'll be heading over to BackerKit to distribute the final PDF edition of the Strange Aeons 2nd Edition rulebook, downloadable for your reading enjoyment!  A separate email notice will go out when the file becomes available to you.  Hopefully this early arrival makes up a bit for the delay in your physical goods.

Now, back to work!  There's still plenty to be done, and while the foul, flickering light in the depths of the portal is certainly showing, we have a ways to go yet.  Rest assured that we'll keep pressing forward as hard as we can until the ritual is complete and the fiend is summoned once and for all.  Fhtagn!

 - Cult Librarian Scott

Monthly Production Update #7
almost 11 years ago – Thu, Jun 04, 2015 at 06:03:54 PM

It's hard to believe it's been a month since the last update - feels as though I just typed it up yesterday!  We've been busy, busy, busy in those weeks though, and have some new things to share with you.

First news: all our models are now sculpted, and nearly all are now molded. Here's a look at the full set of three Ether Beings and Resonator, in their final transparent purple colour. Agent DeAngelo agreed to step into the frame for scale, and we thankfully managed to get the shot before the hungry Ethers ceased his existence.

For those who aren't as keen on the transparency, don't worry: the resin is functionally identical to our usual opaque material and takes paint normally.

One bit of bad news to get out of the way on the miniature front. There were some casting issues with the Exorcist model that forced us to send him back to the sculptor for modifications. As this is a model that we need to produce quite a few of (200 of you are receiving one), it may have an impact on our delivery time. Fingers crossed it won't, but we'll keep you informed.

All other aspects of the project remain right on schedule. The final images for the Solo and Twisted Fate Decks were sent off to the printer yesterday, and we expect to take delivery of about 150 pounds of cards later this month.  Here's a peek at the final designs:

Twisted Fate's rules are very simple and fit easily on a reference card, but the Solo Deck will include a folded rules sheet, which you'll also be able to download as a PDF. Our original plan had been to include the rules on cards, but feedback from our test groups was that the small font size spread over multiple cards was difficult to use, and easy to lose!

The Rulebook is nearing completion. All photos are now in place, and we just need to complete some of the non-rules content (most notably the index), do some final polish and it'll be off to the printer for a proof. We've made a few changes to the layout based on tester feedback, most notably a return to our old sepia-toned image format, as well as the addition of more 'game tips' throughout the text. This spread from the Playing as Threshold section, which shows off some Special Agent profiles, gives you a sense of how all the graphic elements will be handled. And you get to preview some cool new art from Mike Perry:

And that wraps up another update. Next month we should be able to show you casts of all the remaining models, physical samples of the card decks, and possibly even a look at the print proof of the rulebook. And if all goes well, a date for the PDF release! I'm still planning to get that out to you as soon as it's ready to roll.

Until next time!
   - Cult Librarian Scott

Monthly Production Update #6
almost 11 years ago – Thu, May 14, 2015 at 09:44:22 AM

After a brief coastal excursion which sadly included no Sasquatch or Deep One sightings, I'm back to provide your May update.  We have shiny new models to show you, so let's get right to them!

MINIATURES

First up, the God-spawn: sculpted by Justin McKenzie and presented here in it's unadulterated native resin.

This is a three part kit - the large wing and back leg are separate.  I foolishly failed to take a shot with a human-sized model for comparison, so for now I'll let you know that the model is 4.75" (12cm) long and 2.5" (6cm) high to the tip of the wing.  Here's Mike's painted edition for your viewing enjoyment.

We've also just received the final sculpt for the Kickstarter-exclusive High Priestess from Kyla Richards.  This model will be appearing in backer's Summoning Boxes, and we'll show you cast and painted versions in a future update.

 And finally, a painted Special Weapon Agent.

 We're waiting on only two more sculpts - the Exorcist and Daemonic Hound - to complete the miniature line.  Both are well underway and expected to be in our hands soon.  Miniature production thus remains right on schedule!

RULEBOOK

The first complete layout pass of the rulebook was completed late last month, and we've been reviewing and running it past some focus groups.  Feedback has been extremely positive, but we'll be making some design adjustments to a few elements based on the reactions we've received.  As some of these adjustments are fairly substantial, we'll be holding off showing a page preview until they're completed.

We've also commissioned additional artwork from Nick Gucker to spruce up our pages further.  As for length, our 180 page estimate looks to be holding true as we're currently at 166 with quick references, log sheets and the index still to be added.

Our target is to have a completed document ready for a print proof by the end of this month, and barring unforeseen complications should be on schedule to achieve that.

GAME AIDS & ACCESSORIES

The Template Sets are now in hand, and look fantastic.  After several evenings spent collating and bagging (almost meditative once you get rolling!), they're now the first element of the project that's completely ready to ship out to our backers.  So nice to have something ticked off the to-do list!

Card Decks will be off to the printer in about two weeks, as we're still making some final adjustments to the Solo Play rules.

T-shirt production is now underway, and we'll be taking delivery of a monster box of Cult of the Black Goat shirts shortly.  The thought of so many of you walking the streets in the livery of the Dark Mother later this year gives us a fuzzy feeling inside.

PLEDGE MANAGER

Orders in the Pledge Manager have now been locked down, so no changes can be made to your product selections.  You can, however, still adjust your address, and will be able to do so until roughly mid-July.

I'll also be setting up some options for our retailer backers next week, so if your shop has pledged to the campaign, you can expect to receive an invitation to complete your order info through BackerKit in the near future.

And that's all we have to share for now.  Mike has already disappeared back into his lair to cast more models, and I have design work to get to, so we'd best waste no time.  Until next month!

 - Cult Librarian Scott