Okay. Now that that's out of the way, let's get on to the daily unlocks!
A Certain Point of View
The creature before you shifts and quakes, its three eyes undulating at the ends of their long, slimy stalks. It speaks, and its words slip and spill between one point of view and another, its uncertainty driving it ever further into madness. Is it itself, or something else? It's impossible to know for sure.
Today's Unlocks: 3 Traumatized Condition Cards in the Core level, and Persona Point-of-View in the Otherworld level!
Today we unlocked 3 Traumatized Condition cards at the Core level, as well as Anita's Terror, Persona Point-of-View, at the Otherworld level. Sweet! (I think it's safe to say both the cards and the monster have their eye(s) on you!)
Now we're going to explore another story from Emily's story book. This time we're going to venture down into the asylum's basement. Now, one of this entry's options has been removed because it's a bit long, it would be hard to convey all of the action it contains in this format, and because it's LOADED with spoilers. As such, there's only two choices this time, but those two options should certainly prove to be interesting. =D So, without further ado, let's venture into the basement!
The Elevator Descends
The elevator groans and shivers around you as it descends slowly, tremulously, toward the asylum’s basement. The asylum’s main floor slides slowly from view, the building’s bones replacing the dusty tile and stained walls lingering overhead, and then at last the wooden and steel box settles with a sigh at the building’s lowest level. The cantankerous double doors slide open, and you step out into the basement.
You see a small, dirty lobby before you, followed by a long, dimly lit corridor. You give the room a cursory look, but you don’t see anything that immediately jumps out at you as being significant. Casting your gaze around, you advance down the hallway.
This place smells musty. A thick layer of dust is draped like a moldering blanket over every visible surface. Partway down the corridor you see two entrances: to the left are two decrepit double-doors, and to your right, just slightly farther down, is a single rickety entry. The one on the left has a plaque next to it which says “HASS STORAGE”. The one on the right says “JANITORIAL”. Further on, there’s another door that is blocked by a pile of broken fixtures, splintered boards, dilapidated furniture, and other detritus.
A.Do you want to explore the Janitorial Storage?
B. Doyou want to try to open the blocked door?
Let me know in the comments which path you would prefer we take!
Live Stream Today
What with all of the technical glitches and such this week, we have not been able to do a live stream this week. So what do you say we give it a try today? Join me at 3pm PST, and let's give it a go! I'm hopefully going to be on both Facebook and YouTube this time, should all things go according to plan.
Well that's it for this update! We will talk with you again very shortly, and I hope to see you on the live stream!
Having Fun with Social Stretch Goals
about 5 years ago
– Sat, Dec 07, 2019 at 08:24:34 PM
Who's up for some social stretch goals?
In recent days I was thinking, what could we do to have some more fun with this campaign? And then the answer hit me upside the head: we needed to make Masquerades out of mashed potatoes.
If you've ever backed a game like Exploding Kittens or Trial by Trolley (as I have), you have a pretty good idea of where we're going with this. The big difference is, of course, that these are all going to be (more or less) horror-themed! So what are we going to be doing? Let's take a look.
The Social Stretch Goals!
Honestly, I don't necessarily expect a whole ton of backers to come from your incredible mashed potato Masquerade sculptures or masterful horror haikus. ButI certainly want to see them! =D Having said that, this isn't just to get everyone having a good time. We have a few things that we want to give you guys, but we figured we might as well make you work for them just a little bit. Here's what you can unlock through these social stretch goals:
Five more dice in every core game. If we unlock this one, we will add five more dice (one for every Sentience) to every core game!
High quality player aids. These won't just be tiny cards, but generously sized aids that will outline core concepts, actions you can take, and more!
A TUTORIALCHAPTER! This is the one that has me REALLY excited! I started writing this tutorial as an unofficial side-project long before the campaign started, but one thing led to another and it got sidelined by stuff I was actually supposed to be doing. Having said that, this is something I have wanted to do for a very, very long time. You are going to learn how to play Dawn of Madness through this story-driven hybrid of a Chapter and an Encounter! We're going to cover everything from setup to actions, and by the end of it you'll not only know how to play DoM - you'll be completely immersed in the game world, and have a deeper understanding of the game's lore as well as its mechanics, starting at the very moment your mind shatters as you enter the Otherworld!
So let's dive a bit further into what's going to happen here. I've included a few of the standard social goals that we can smash through super quick and unlock this stuff. Then I've thrown in others that I just think sound awesome, such as writing a two-paragraph Dawn of Madness-themed horror story or the previously mentioned haikus. First of all, for every two of these goals completedwe will unlock another social stretch goal. I'll break instructions into two sections.
Standard Social Goals: These are basically just here so we can unlock these stretch goals super quickly. To complete these, just go to our profile or page or group on your social network of choice and Like us, Follow us, or Join us.
Fun Social Goals: Now here's where we get creative! Choose your target (or two or three), then post your pictures on your social platform of choice (namely, Twitter, Facebook, or Instagram.) When writing your post use the hashtag #dawnofmadness, tag us in the post (@diemensiongames on Instagram, @DiemensionGames on Twitter, and @deepmadnessgame on Facebook), and include a link to the campaign: http://bit.ly/DawnofMadness. The rest of the post's contents are up to you. Now, here's what we're looking for in every category:
8 Mashed Potato Masquerades - These lumpy beauties are the perfect candidate for mashed potato art! They don't have to be only mashed potatoes, but mashed potatoes do have to be involved. =D
12 Man Eating Plants - We need 15 pictures of a plant eating a person. It doesn't have to be a real person. It can be a fake one. Use your imagination!
8 Homemade Rages - Give us your best scorpion monsters! You can make your Rage out of whatever you'd like. There are no limits on this one.
8 Scary Spider Ladies - We need pictures of 8 people getting scared by a spider lady. (How are you going to make a spider lady? I can think of some interesting combos involving a doll and a rubber tarantula, for one...)
20 Horrific Haikus - Write your most terrifying haiku - and feel free to tie it into Dawn of Madness if you'd like. =)
20 2-Paragraph Stories - We want your best 2-paragraph horror story - once again, preferably Dawn of Madness themed.
15 Draw Your Best DoM Monster - The heart behind it is more important than the quality. =D
Once again, for every two goals beaten we will unlock a new social stretch goal, so let's get socializing!
Art Book Contest
Want a free copy of the art book? Then we've got a contest for you!
We have selected several images from Dawn of Madness that we want you to share on social media. They're formatted in two different sizes: 1920x1080 and square. Every post you do with one of these pieces of art will grant you one more entry in the contest. Once again, use the same info as above: When writing your post use the hashtag #dawnofmadness, tag us in the post (@diemensiongames on Instagram, @DiemensionGames on Twitter, and @deepmadnessgame on Facebook), and include a link to the campaign: http://bit.ly/DawnofMadness. We'll select four of you to win a copy of the art book!
Not on social media? No problem! We will also give one away to one person in the comments of this update who gives us the best reason why they need a copy of the book.
(Side note: I know some people were hoping for some wallpaper of the art from this campaign. That's not really what these are for, but they could very well do in a pinch... ;)
And for those of you who want a sample of what's in there:
Numina Creation
The Squirming Altar
That's all for this update. We'll have another one in a few hours, though, with more coolness! Stay tuned!
The Psychiatrist's Prescription, the Personas Take Shape, and a Deep Madness Crossover!
about 5 years ago
– Fri, Dec 06, 2019 at 09:44:34 PM
So we launched one big update a few hours ago (which, if you haven't read yet, you should check out here), but now we're back for Round Two! First up, let's see what your choices brought about in our psychiatry appointment!
As some of you guessed, this was from Emily the Nurse's story book. It's also not the first time you meet Dr. Thurston, but rather the second. (And there's a third time after this one, as well. Actually, depending what ending you get, there's also a fourth.) If you missed the first entry, be sure to read it before this one right here. And then let's get into the decision.
Voting started off pretty tight between the sister and the patients, but, in the end, you guys chose to talk with Dr. Thurston about the patients. Will you regret your choice? Umm... I guess we're about to find out. =D
The Psychiatrist's Prescription
“Doctor, the patients seem to be growing more and more restless,” you say. “They are becoming increasingly difficult to control.”
“And how does that make you feel?” Dr. Thurston asks.
“I – I feel concern for our patients,” you say. “I want the best for them.”
“How does it really make you feel?”
You pause for a moment. “Frustrated,” you say. “Annoyed. Angry.”
“What do you want to do to them?”
Squeezing your eyes closed, you take a deep breath. “I… want to butcher them with a knife. I want to watch their organs pool on the ground. I want to open their chests with a bone saw. I want to feel their hearts cool in my hands. I want to measure and weigh their brains before I squeeze them like jelly between my fingers.”
Opening your eyes, you look up at Dr. Thurston. The skin on both his arms has split open, revealing blue and white crab claws underneath. The pincers clack absentmindedly. “Good,” he says. “Very good. Sometimes what’s below the surface – below our reservations and our perceived fears - is the person that we truly are. And sometimes that person is, to put it simply, a monster. But what I have found is that often the only way we will ever be truly happy is to embrace that monster. To make it our own.”
“So you’re telling me to become a monster?” you say.
“I’m not telling you to do anything,” Dr. Thurston says. His jaw drops away, and two churning mandibles take their place. “All I’m suggesting is that you be true to yourself.” Then one of his claws snaps downward and snags one of his tinier, shell-less brethren. He raises it to his mandibles, his eyes pushing out from his head on long, thin stalks. “Would you like a crab?” he asks before shoving it into his orifice with a crunch.
--
So, guess which ending we just got story points toward? =D
In our next story we're going to venture down into the asylum's basement. Surely nothing can go wrong down there, right?
The Personas Take Form
You discarded the draft. It just wasn't coming together: a bunch of half-baked ideas that were never going to coalesce into a character or a story. But then the draft began to take on a life of its own. It started to grow, take shape, and become something altogether different from the initial intent. Now it's angry. You discarded it into the cold. It wants revenge.
Today we unlock 3 Traumatized Condition cards at the Core level, and Persona Draft at the Otherworld level!
Today we unlocked 3 new Traumatized Condition cards at the Core level, as well as Anita's first Terror, Persona Draft, at the Otherworld level. Only a half-formed idea, Persona Draft is out for blood regardless. And it's not going to stop until it gets what it wants. Woohoo!
Deep Madness Crossover
Today we have a very special treat for our returning Deep Madness backers. We always said it would be really tough to migrate Deep Madness monsters into Dawn, but maybe not quite as difficult to go the other way. Well, we went the other way.
We are now very pleased to announce our official crossover pack with Deep Madness! With this pack you will be able to use many of your new Dawn of Madness minis in Deep Madness, adding more variety and monstery goodness!
Actually, there's two packs: One for many of the core game monsters, and one for expansion monsters. In pack number one you'll get the Vivisections, Rages, Toxins, and Masquerades, as well as one other group you haven't met yet. In pack number two, you'll get the Watchers, Depressions, Executioners, and Numina. Some of them will be Horror level 2 monsters like Twisted, Immortal, etc., and some will be Epic Monsters. (Can you guess which expansion will be Epic Monsters?)
Deep Madness Crossover Packs!
"But wait!" I hear you saying. "Didn't you just release an add-on in the last update? Isn't two add-ons within 24 hours a bit excessive?"
That's the thing about this: it isn't an add-on.
If you backed at the Investigator pledge level or higher in either of our last two campaigns, you will get pack number one for free by backing at the Otherworld level. And furthermore, if you back at the Gameplay Mostly All-In (and previouslybacked DM at the Investigator level or higher), then you'll get both for free.
This is just our way of saying thanks for being a part of Diemension Games and for believing in our projects. We wouldn't exist without you guys, and we are eternally grateful. So, thank you. =)
That's it for today! I hope you have a great day, and we'll talk with you again soon! There's more really fun stuff on the horizon!
The Art Book Arrives! And You Spoke, We Listened!
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 11:21:31 PM
Hi guys! We're going to try two updates today, as we have a lot to cover and want to make sure you see it all.
First of all, we wanted to announce an add-on that has been one of our most requested add-ons of the campaign. That's right, the art book is finally here!
The Art of Dawn of Madness is Now Available!
The Art of Dawn of Madness will feature over 200 pages stuffed with over 500 pieces of art from the game, as well as a mix of both story content and developer diaries, answering the questions "What were you thinking when you did that?" It features art from the incredible artists Christopher Shy, Pedro Sena, and David Romero, who are some of the best in the business. It's available right now for $30. This is not included in the Gameplay Mostly All-In because it is not gameplay-related, but for those who really love the art for this game, be sure to check it out!
The Art of Dawn of Madness is available now as a $30 add-on!
Want to add this to your pledge? Then click on the "Manage your pledge" button:
Click the "Manage your pledge" button.
Next, click "Change your pledge":
Click on "Change your pledge".
Next, add the amount for the add-on you want to your total (in this case $30), and click "Continue":
Add the add-on's amount to your total and then click "Continue."
Next, we had something we wanted to cover with you, and also get your opinions.
Major Gameplay Revisions
We've been watching your comments and your concerns, and we've come to some decisions across several levels of the game. First, some have worried the game seems to have too many components, and that it takes up too much tablespace. We also noticed in playthroughs that no one had gone into the Conscious Realm yet. Part of this was because that would happen more in later rounds, but we started thinking maybe that wasn't enough.
So, to make the game board more immersive, we are going to merge the Conscious Realm sheet into the game board. For each Wanderer, we are going to pick the most meaningful locations from the former Conscious Realm and upgrade them into 16 unique World Shard cards (with more immersive art). So now you will be truly exploring the Central Wanderer's "conscious realm" directly on the game board. There will be no more abstract spaces. The encounters on the board will grow more intertwined with specific World Shards, making it feel much more like you're truly exploring that space rather than a random encounter. This should build a much stronger sense of presence.
Some of the features brought by this change include:
1. 12 more World Shard cards with more unique, awesome art for each Wanderer (48 in total for the core box.) Many of the most important scenes from the Wanderers' pasts will become visual.
2. This will add more variation between each chapter, since the whole game board will be a completely new one every chapter.
3. You will now be able to experience every encounter directly in the World Shards on the game board, building a strong connection between encounters and locations, which will make it less fiddly and much more immersive.
4. We will completely remove the seemingly boring and abstract Conscious Realm sheet, saving a huge chunk of table space. This will also make the movement and encounter systems more streamlined and meaningful.
5. We will separate the Inner Offerings and Memories from the World Shards, turning the Inner Offerings into more like a Wanderer's special abilities, which will add even more gameplay definition between the Wanderers. The Memories will now be accessible to a Wanderer as long as they have the resources at hand to take the action, rather than on their specific World Shards.
In addition to all of this, we have seen people's concerns about the game board itself and, to a lesser extent, the World Shards. So, we pledge to refine the game board further, making it more atmospheric and sending you deeper into the Otherworld. We will also make elements easier to see on it, as well as tweak the World Shards further, to try to maximize immersion in the setting. (I have some ideas for the game board drawn from your comments that I've already passed along to the rest of the team.)
Help Us Rename Terms
Next, we have seen a number of comments expressing concern that the names in the game are too strange. So, we are going to change them. Here are some of our current ideas on what will change:
Memory Shards = Memory Fragments (This is to keep them from being confused with World Shards.)
Domains = ? (Focus?)
Sentience = ? (Consciousness? Traits?)
Aberrations and Distortions = Terrors (We're going to combine them into one term for simplicity's sake.)
Existence = Health?
You'll notice we don't have answers yet on what all of these will be. (And even the ones we do have are not even close to set in stone.) That's because we want your help in determining what they should be called. All of them are up for debate. (Of them all, probably the only two that have any chance of staying unchanged are Sentience and Existence. All the rest are going to change.) As always, we are going to do what is best for the game. (With that in mind, we aren't going to switch to standard RPG stat terms. Strength and Dexterity just don't fit here.) But, as I said before, your idea may very well be the one that gets into the final game.
Speaking of which, here is where we currently are on the Domain symbols themselves based on your feedback:
Tentacle Fingers - Dominion
Eye - Awareness
Sphere - Otherworld
Skull - Synergy
Brain - Lucidity
Almost all of these were created by you guys, so thank you for being a part of shaping and creating this game! You guys are the best! (I think that all of these will also keep their descriptive names such as Eye and Sphere as a sub-name, for those who don't want to deal with the more complex word.) We're also still unsure about naming the Sentience colors (people are getting confused with the terms we already have! LOL!), but we're not actively opposed to it, either. I know Sharkey has had some ideas on this, and if any of the rest of you would like to weigh in feel free to do so.
So! All that being said, let's get to game designing, and we'll be back in a few hours with another update!
The Psychiatric Treatment, New Gameplay Video, and the Wall Becomes Flesh
about 5 years ago
– Thu, Dec 05, 2019 at 10:37:16 PM
Hey guys!
Today we've got ANOTHER playthrough video! This one's from Bairnt, and it, too, is fantastic. Bairnt's newest video is a good addition to Lance's last video, and you should check it out. Kickstarter still isn't showing embedded videos, so, until it suddenly shows up (it is embedded below just in case), here's a direct link: https://youtu.be/Kzz7AhDv_K0
Ironically, in this game that is so story-focused we have thus far not shown you much of the story. We may have had good reasons for not doing it up until now (people seemed to want to focus on gameplay and needed videos), but now I'm going to move from focusing mainly on videos (where I spend days making something mediocre at best while pros like Bairnt and Lance are already pumping out awesome stuff) and switch to showing you bits of the story from the game. So here's how it will work. These will be snippets from the story books, though not necessarily chosen in any particular order. At the end of each one will be a choice. You'll make that choice down in the comments, and then I'll show you what you've wrought. We did a much grander version of this in our last Deep Madness campaign (Choose Your Own Terror - which actually still has one more entry to go before it's finished), but this one will be showing you a few actual story segments written for the game. Now, I expect you all to have forgotten this by the time the game ships, so don't commit anything to memory. =D Okay, without further ado, let's have a psychiatric appointment with Dr. Thurston! And, in case you care about such things, SPOILERS!
An Appointment with Dr. Thurston
Dr. Thurston looks up from his notes as you enter his office, his glasses perched precariously on the end of his nose. “Ah, you’re back! How wonderful!” he says, grinning. “Please, please, take a seat.”
Slowly, uncertainly, you sit down on his long padded couch. You clear your throat. “Hello, Doctor. How are you this evening?”
“Why, I am doing splendidly, my dear,” he says. “In fact, I was just about to indulge in some dinner. Do you mind?”
Something clacks and skitters on the ground behind the couch. “Of course not, Doctor,” you reply. “Go ahead.”
There is more clacking and shuffling in the right-hand corner of the room. “Good, good,” Dr. Thurston says, tying on a bib with a grin. “Much obliged.”
There are more sounds to the left now. Frowning, you search for their source. “Doctor, is there something in here with us?”
“Tell me, my dear,” Dr. Thurston says. “Have you ever had crab on the half shell?”
The sounds are in front of you now. Looking down, you see a number of crabs scuttling across the floor, their protective back shells gone and their soft innards jiggling.
Dr. Thurston begins to hack and cough. Looking up, you see the doctor open his mouth. Something is moving around behind his teeth, crawling over his tongue. His mouth opens wider, wider, and a blue crab pushes its way out from between his lips. The doctor catches the crab in his hands as it drops toward the ground, then deposits it on the floor with its shelled brethren.
“I’ll get to that later,” he says. “Now, what would you like to talk about?”
A.Do you want to talk toDr. Thurston about your sister?
B.Do you wantto talk about your parents?
C.Orwould you prefer to speak to him about the patients?
Letme know in the comments below!
Walls Made of Flesh
The wall stirs, shifts, and then bulges outward as... something... tries to push its way free. Its fingers press through first, followed by its arm and face. It is like a portrait squirming to life, its flesh made of wallpaper. Opening its mouth, it takes its first breath and moans. You know that your words brought this thing to life. This is your fault. And now you don't know how you can possibly fix it.
Today we are unlocking 12 new Devour cards for Masquerade Impotent at the Core level, and a brand new final boss at the Otherworld level: Living Portrait! Hope you like it!
Okay, that's it for this update! We have some more really fun stuff coming up, though, and on the horizon is some very big gameplay news that we will once again need your help on. So be sure to keep checking back, let me know what choice you want for the story! Have a great day!
