February Progress Update
about 1 year ago – Mon, Feb 27, 2023 at 11:23:51 PM

Hey, guys! We've got a shorter update for you today, mainly focused on our current progress, so I apologize for the brevity. I'm hoping we'll have more substantial stuff to share soon. In the meantime, though, here's what's been going on.

Progress Update

We've had some incidents which have impacted our productivity a bit this month, including further illness among the team, the Chinese New Year, and our Beijing team moving to a new office space. (I've had some personal things going on, too, which I'll get into later.)

We've mainly been focusing on finishing Claude's stories and ending designs recently. We've now finished most of them, and the writer has returned to finishing Lynas's stories. Here are the specifics for each wanderer:

Wanderers:

1. Emily Hawkins - The Nurse

Emily is as completed this month as she was last month. LOL! The translators are currently working on her storybook.

2. Catherine Little - The Farmer

Translation work has begun on Catherine's wanderer stage stories.

1) Character designs (including skills, special items, malformations, and other cards and tokens): Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Completed.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Two endings have been finished.

4) The finale stage story writing: Being finalized.

5) Art: 95% Completed.

6) Components layout: 60% Completed.

3. Claude Reinhardt - The Detective

Editing Claude's storybook has taken longer than I expected. This slower pace was compounded by my wife and I having to help out a family member who had his bladder, kidneys, and part of his bowel removed this month, as well as another family member breaking up with her long-time boyfriend and moving in with us. Having said that, this process is about 50% done and should be finished by the next update.

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Final proofreading.

3) The finale stage gameplay: The endings are finished but require a little more testing.

4) The finale stage story writing: Writing for the endings has finished. However, they still require further editing and proofreading.

5) Art: 50% Completed.

6) Components layout: 10% Completed.

4. Lynas Gershwin - The Priest

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: 60%.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Pending. (We've been working on Claude's endings and will switch to these as soon as we're done.)

4) The finale stage story writing: Pending. (We still need a few more wanderer stage stories to begin this process, but we're getting closer.)

5) Art: 20% Completed.

6) Components layout: Pending.

As mentioned in the last update, we've also begun work on the second-wave wanderers. We'll have more on those as they continue taking shape.

Okay, that's it for this update. I'm sorry it feels a little anemic. Our artist hasn't sent over his next batch of art yet, but we should have more by next month. I feel like this is just the quiet, tedious slog before the storm when printed product production moves into full swing.

You're amazing, and we appreciate you and your patience as we finish this long-gestating project.

January Progress Update
over 1 year ago – Tue, Jan 24, 2023 at 02:22:48 PM

Hey friends! Here's the latest progress update for DoM. Unfortunately, the Covid afflicting the Beijing team hung on for quite a while. As such, it took the team quite a bit to recover from it completely. That and the holidays certainly hurt productivity over the last month. Having said that, this doesn't mean we didn't accomplish anything, so let's get into it. (We also have some new art for you at the end!)

Progress Update

General Rules and Components:

1. We have finished the balancing and design work needed for the remaining abominations that we mentioned in the last update.

2. The printing factory has sent us several versions of packaging plans for the core game, including plastic trays and wanderer storage boxes. This game has a ton of components, in case you haven't noticed. This leads to a not-insignificant challenge to store all the components in an orderly, logical way in a box that is not absolutely gargantuan. LOL! We'll let you guys know more as we finalize these bits.

3. The base game materials are currently being translated into Spanish, German, and French. We'll update you further on these translations as they progress.

Wanderers:

1. Emily Hawkins - The Nurse

As mentioned previously, Emily is completely finished. Her storybook is currently being translated into the supported languages.

1) Character designs (including skills, unique items, malformations, and other cards and tokens): Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Completed.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Completed.

4) The finale stage story writing: Completed.

5) Art: 100% Completed.

6) Components layout: 100% Completed.

2. Catherine Little - The Farmer

The editing for Catherine's wanderer stage has been finished. We have started the translation process for her wanderer stage encounters.

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Completed.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Two endings have been finished.

4) The finale stage story writing: Being finalized.

5) Art: 95% Completed.

6) Components layout: 60% Completed.

3. Claude Reinhardt - The Detective

The writing for Claude's wanderer stage is finished. I'll be editing and tweaking it for a while longer, but that process is underway.

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Final proofreading.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Two endings have been finished.

4) The finale stage story writing: Being finalized.

5) Art: 30% Completed.

6) Components layout: 10% Completed.

4. Lynas Gershwin - The Priest

Lynas is still the wanderer with the farthest to go, but we're getting there on him, too.

1) Character designs: In Process.

2) The wander stage story writing: 50%. (The writer was focusing on Claude's endings recently, so there has not been much progress in this aspect.)

3) The finale stage gameplay: Pending. (We are still working on Catherine and Claudes's endings.)

4) The finale stage story writing: Pending. (We need more wanderer stage stories to begin this process.)

5) Art: 20% Completed.

6) Components layout: Pending.

5. Other Wanderers

We have also started the "staging" work for the remaining four wanderers. Three are being written by other writers, and one will be written by me. Their pieces are falling into place, and work has begun on them all.

New Art

The new art pieces we have for you today are from Catherine's world shards. Some of these may still change a bit before the final game, but they'll give you an idea of where you'll be exploring in her story.

Okay, that's it for this update, guys. I hope this New Year has been treating you well thus far and that you have a great week ahead. We'll talk with you again soon!

Merry Christmas Dawn Family!
over 1 year ago – Sat, Dec 24, 2022 at 01:05:23 AM

Hey friend. We have a short update for you today just to check in. We don't have a lot of info for you currently (for reasons we'll discuss below), but we didn't want you to feel like we'd forgotten you. We'll just lay out where the current progress is on all four wanderers this time around.

The reason there isn't as much in this update is that the entire Beijing team got hit by Covid earlier this month. Because of this, they've been stuck in their homes, unable to do in-person testing and work on the game. They've still been working as they've recovered, but they - and development - definitely took a hit this month.

Having said that, let's get into where everything is currently.

General Rules and Components:

The general rules and components are completed, apart from several abominations that still need further testing and balancing.

Wanderers:

1. Emily Hawkins - The Nurse

1) Character designs (including skills, special items, malformations, and other cards and tokens): Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Completed.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Completed.

4) The finale stage story writing: Completed.

5) Art: 100% Completed.

6) Components layout: 100% Completed.

2. Catherine Little - The Farmer

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Final proofreading.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Being tested and finalized.

4) The finale stage story writing: Being finalized.

5) Art: 70% Completed.

6) Components layout: 10% Completed.

3. Claude Reinhardt - The Detective

1) Character designs: Completed.

2) The wander stage story writing: Final proofreading.

3) The finale stage gameplay: Being tested and finalized.

4) The finale stage story writing: In Process.

5) Art: 20% Completed.

6) Components layout: 10% Completed.

4. Lynas Gershwin - The Priest

1) Character designs: In Process.

2) The wander stage story writing: 50%. (Lynas's writer was focusing on Claude's endings recently, so there hasn't been much progress here in the last few weeks.)

3) The finale stage gameplay: Pending. (We are working on Catherine and Claudes's endings currently and will switch over to Lynas once they're finalized.)

4) The finale stage story writing: Pending. (We will need more wanderer stage stories to begin this process.)

5) Art: 20% Completed.

6) Components layout: Pending.

So like I said, we don't have a bunch to show you this month but be sure to check out the rulebook in our last update if you missed it or the gameplay videos in the one before that. Still, even with the Covid setback, progress is being made. 2023 will be the year we all finally get to play Dawn of Madness!

Happy Holidays, my friend, and have a very Merry Christmas. Thanks for continuing to stick with us for this game. We are very grateful to you and for you. Happy New Year, too, and we'll talk to you again in 2023!

The Rulebook Arrives!
over 1 year ago – Fri, Nov 25, 2022 at 03:37:56 AM

Hey guys! For those of you in the US, Happy Thanksgiving! And for those of you in the rest of the world, I hope you have a great start to the holiday season.

Today, we have another special treat for you: the rulebook for Dawn of Madness! There are still a few minor tweaks that will likely be made to it (and I will be going through it again in this final form to try to spot any small problems that may have crept in.) There are also a couple of pages missing where some components for the wanderers we're now finishing are still being finalized. But this should be very close to the rulebook you'll get in your copy.

We have provided two versions of the rulebook: one that's a single-page layout and one that's a double-page full spread. I recommend reading the single-page one but looking at the other to get an idea of how the rulebook will look in the final book.

Without further ado, here's the rulebook!

Dawn of Madness Rulebook Preview (Single Page)

Dawn of Madness Rulebook Preview (Double Page)

I hope you enjoy flipping through the rulebook and that it helps clear up any remaining doubts about how this game plays. (You can also check out our last update here if you want to see some of this played out in video form.)

We don't have much more to go over in this update today, apart from a quick story-progress update. Currently, Claude's wanderer stage stories are written, and we are working to organize, edit, and proofread them. Meanwhile, Lynas is about 50% written at this point.

I know this has been a short one today, but I hope that rulebook helps to make up for it. So, once again, have a great Thanksgiving to those in the US and a great holiday season to everyone everywhere. We'll talk to you again soon!

A Halloween Treat! (Gameplay Videos)
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 01, 2022 at 07:09:17 AM

Happy Halloween, my friend! I hope you had a great October. We'll hopefully cap it off for you in style, too, with a special treat! That's right. Today, we have gameplay videos for you!

This series consists of three videos. The first video is an overview that also goes through a good chunk of the game's setup and explains the components' functions. The second video is a gameplay video that shows three rounds of gameplay, complete with teaching and explanations of what's happening. And the third video shows a little peak at one of the finales.

The second video, in particular, is pretty long because I spend quite a bit of time going through what everything does. There are also quite a few (early game) spoilers in the second video, though I try to mark them all when they come up. (No, three game rounds do not take two hours in a typical game session. LOL!) I also heard there was some static either in this video or the next. My apologies for that. I'm not sure how it snuck through.

Finally, the third video focuses on a finale, but I do everything in my power not to spoil what's going on in it. So, while there are likely some mild spoilers in it, there are no full-on spoilers. (Because of that, there isn't a lot of actual finale gameplay, but that's a trade-off I had to make to keep things fresh for you when you get your game.)

One other point on these videos: while they cover many of the game's basic mechanics and gameplay, they don't show all of the intricacies, surprises, and depth that you'll find in it. (For instance, I almost showed you what it's like to be trapped in the game, but I took a different fork down one of the encounters and missed it.) Every wanderer's story plays differently, too, functioning according to its own rules - to say nothing of the finales. So don't worry: there's still plenty more to uncover in the full game when you get it.

So, without further ado, let's get into

The Gameplay Videos!

This first video covers how to set up the game, and some overview of the different mechanics and components.

This second video covers three rounds of gameplay, with explanations of how everything works and some of the strategies you can employ in Dawn of Madness. I've marked every spoiler with a tag, so it's easy to skip if you want to keep the story elements a surprise.

This third video covers the finales - or, more specifically, Emily's ending B. This focuses on some of the mechanics and how the finales work, and I have done everything I can to keep it spoiler-free. (Having said that, there still may be some mild ones.) Because of this, though, there isn't a lot of actual gameplay in this video.

I hope you enjoyed these videos and that they helped give you a better idea of what to expect from Dawn of Madness. Now let's look at where we are in the story progression.

Progress Update

Catherine

Catherine's wanderer stage has been finalized, and only needs a final edit before it's in the bag. We're making progress on the finale stages, too. (I had to focus on some other things recently, which is why they're not completely finished - such as the videos up above, which took quite a bit of time. For reference, this is actually the fourth take on the gameplay video. Lol!)

Claude

The initial writing on Claude's wanderer stage is finished. We're now tweaking it and finalizing it, then we'll move on to his finales.

Lynas

Lynas is about 50% done now and is progressing smoothly.

That's it for the progress update, but that's not all we have for you today: We also have some new art!