A Problem and a Solution
almost 1 year ago – Tue, Feb 06, 2024 at 06:44:55 PM

Hey, guys! So, I have some good news and some bad news for this update.

Here's the good news: the manufacturing process is finally finished. Hurray! 

Here's the bad news: as our partners were loading everything up into containers, they randomly pulled out a few products to check them and came across several blemished cards, perhaps from not having dried enough before they were laid atop each other, making them stick together. (This was likely caused by the constant rain falling while these cards were being printed, causing unusually high levels of humidity.) But this raised the question: how many cards had this problem that QC missed?

In the end, this led to the decision to take all the products back to the factory. The factory will open every box and check the cards. Then, they'll reprint all the affected cards. 

On the plus side, we are very glad to have caught this problem now, before these compromised components reached you guys and caused disappointment - or worse, a major reprint down the line. On the negative side, this will affect our timeline. 

We had boats scheduled for every region on the 10th. However, we will no longer be able to get the game on those ships. This is extremely unfortunate, but we have a plan that we're putting into place to try to catch the previous schedule, which I'll explain below.

Two other points: first, before we get into the new shipping plan, I want to show what this update WAS going to be before this new information came in. (Seriously, this thing was almost written before I learned about this newest development.) We had a bunch of pictures showing the manufacturing process finishing, and I want to go ahead and show those to you now.

Second, for those of you who backed Deep Madness, this problem did NOT affect that game as far as we know. However, due to that campaign's complexity, its schedule was already shaping up to be similar to this new one, anyway. (This one has far fewer possible combinations in wave one, so it's faster to ship.)

With that said, let's take a look at the manufacturing pictures.  

Manufacturing 

So, here is a last look at what we expected to be the final production update for DoM, moving from finishing the final components into packaging and loading products into the container. Let's take a look. 

And now, here's a cool little video showing the core box coming together.

Delivery Plans

Okay, let's discuss the new delivery plan mentioned earlier in the update. As I mentioned, we had ships heading out from every port on the 10th. But now, we will not be able to catch those ships, and must give up our spots on them. This means we will not be able to ship before Chinese New Year. 

However, not everything is as dark as it may appear, and we are putting together a plan.

PHASE ONE: First, the factory is going to go through all of the boxes and double-check the cards. They will get a count of all of the problem cards. Then, they will break for the Chinese New Year celebrations. When they come back, they will reprint the affected cards, which should finish before the end of February. (They will come back to work on the 19th.)

PHASE TWO: We are working with a shipping partner in China who provides a one-stop solution. Initially, we were going to divide the North American orders into two orders, one for the West Coast and one for the East Coast. The West Coast games were going to be prepackaged in China and then shipped out, while the East Coast orders would have been packaged in the States. Now, we are cancelling that plan. Instead, we are prepackaging all of the orders in China and shipping them out from there. We will then hire the fastest ships we can to expedite the shipping process.

THE UPSIDE: Because this is still the busiest season in the shipping industry, we were unable to secure the fastest boats to leave China on February 10th. However, by the time we are able to ship now, we are hoping we will be able to secure space on these faster vessels. Also, by shipping everything to the West Coast, we will cut a couple of weeks (perhaps longer) off of the voyage. Our shipping partner is confident they can package and ship everything within a couple of days for Wave One, even with the increased volume from the East Coast orders. This should hopefully prove to be faster than waiting for our previous partner to clear a space in their schedule to pack and ship these orders. 

For Europe, we will still have the orders packaged and shipped out of Green Logistics in Poland. However, our initial boat was going to have to go around Africa to avoid the conflict in the Middle East, adding on 15 days. We are now looking at faster options, including potentially shipping the games by train.

At the end of CNY, we will immediately book faster ships and/or trains for March. After our planning adjustments, we expect the products to still arrive at the US and EU warehouses and begin delivery within March, around a week later than our initial plan.

For the rest of the world, the plan was always to package everything in China and then ship it out from there, so that hasn't changed. It'll just be a bit later than we were hoping.

For all regions, we will let you know more as soon as we do. Our hope is that we will still be able to catch our previous schedule even with this delay, using the faster transit methods that should open up once CNY is behind us. 

TLDR: The factory is checking all of the cards for errors. They will finish this by the end of February. Then, we are working to secure fast shipping methods to still deliver the games in mid- to late-March, as we had originally planned.

Locking Addresses

We already locked some of the addresses before we learned about this problem, but we will leave the rest of the addresses unlocked for now. You can feel free to change your addresses for a while longer yet. We will lock them down as we move closer to getting the new boats, probably toward the end of February.  (If you need to see how to change your address, see our last update here.) If your address is already locked or you otherwise need assistance, then the best way is to email me at [email protected]. I cannot guarantee any other method will be seen, but I've been checking that inbox regularly.

This is not the update I thought I'd be writing. In fact, it's NOT the update I wrote before learning about this problem. But if there's an issue, we would prefer to catch it now rather than when you receive your games. You've waited long enough, and we want to make sure what you get is the best quality possible, rather than having to wait for reprints to arrive after you open your package. 

I'm very sorry for this additional delay, but we're hopeful we'll still be able to catch up to our previous schedule. Have a great week, and happy Lunar New Year/Spring Festival to our friends in Asia. We'll be back with more info as soon as it comes our way. 

IMPORTANT: Production is Wrapping Up! Address Lockdown Imminent!
about 1 year ago – Fri, Jan 19, 2024 at 10:23:01 PM

Hey, guys! I've got some exciting news today. We've received word from the factory that they will finish production on Dawn of Madness before the end of the month. Hurrah! That means we will be locking down addresses soon in preparation for shipping. 

Progress Update

The factory has been slammed with projects recently, many of which they have been working on simultaneously. However, the process for DoM is finally wrapping up, and they are getting ready to move this project on to the next step.  

Here are a few pictures from the factory as they start the final push:

They're going to send us more soon, which we'll hopefully have in the next update. We just didn't want to delay this update any longer for them.

The factory's current flow has resulted in an interesting side effect. If you also backed Deep Madness, you'll get that game simultaneously with this one. Over the last few months, it seemed to go back and forth on whether these projects would ship together or not. However, the factory has informed us they will finish both games by the end of the month as they have been printing the last few components for both together. This was not planned on our part, but it does make sense why they would do this. And we are, of course, thrilled to be getting both games out. 

We will discuss the shipping process more in our next update, though we can say we're already working to schedule boats for the regions that need them. What matters more now, though, is that we need to lock down addresses ASAP to start preparing shipments. As such, we will lock addresses on Monday, January 30th. 

How to Change Your Address

Moving soon or moved recently? There's still time to lock in your new address. You can access your survey through your Backerkit account here:

Once you're in Backerkit, click on the picture in the upper-righthand corner, then click Your Pledges & Surveys.

Then navigate to Your Surveys and find Dawn of Madness. (Yes, I'm aware these images are for Deep Madness. But it's the same principle.) 

Then, on the next screen, click to edit your address.

Next, put in your new address, then click Next.

And lastly, be sure to click Place Your Order, and you're done.

If you don't have a Backerkit account, you can also look up your survey here: 

And if you're still having problems, you can email me, and I'll help you. Speaking of which...

Emails

I have been working through emails again, but if you're concerned that I haven't gotten back to you yet (or you contacted us through a different avenue), email me at [email protected]. I'm working to get to everyone, but it doesn't hurt to make sure I see your request (especially if it's been a while since you sent it.) 

Next Steps

We will try to put out one last-call update before officially locking everything down. Then, following this (or perhaps in this update), we'll provide information about the shipping progress and, hopefully, boats. 

I'm sure some of you will now wonder if we'll beat the Chinese New Year celebrations. There is a chance that one or two of the boats will be delayed by the holiday. However, the majority should get out before that happens. Our current goal is to get everything out before the ports close down, and our factory thinks that's still attainable. 

Once we have shipping well underway, we'll tell you about the next steps for the second wave and our plans for the year. I don't want to say too much yet, but I think you'll find it to be better news than some may assume. (I will give you a tease: I'm currently doing the final edit on one of the wave-two wanderers' stories.)  

We're entering wave one's final stretch, guys! Thanks for your incredible patience, and we'll talk with you again soon.

Lynas's Rewrite is Complete! Final Layout in Progress!
about 1 year ago – Sun, Dec 17, 2023 at 01:00:16 AM

Hey guys! Happy holidays! I hope our Jewish friends had a great Hanukkah this year.

So, I've got some pretty big news for you today. Lynas's rewrite is complete! We're finishing up his storybook now and will submit it within the next week. With that, the last part of the core game will be finished and on the production line. Speaking of production:

Production Progress

We have submitted all the printed materials to the factory except for Lynas's storybook. They've been continuing work on all the myriad components in the meantime.

We are waiting for the manufacturing pictures from the factory, which we should receive soon. They've been extremely busy recently.

Emails

I've been working almost exclusively on Lynas recently, so I'm sure some of you are waiting to hear back from me via email. Now that his rewrite is finished, I'll be returning to everything I've been putting off - including emails. If you're waiting for my reply, first, be sure you emailed [email protected], as other sources may be missed or take much longer. Next, you can send me a new email to bump up to the top of my inbox, or hold on, and I'll get to you. Thanks for your patience. I appreciate it.

New Art

As we've finished Lynas's stuff, the last of his art has come flooding in. Here's a bit of it to tide you over. 

Okay, that's it for this update! We'll be in touch again soon with more info on how everything is going. Have a great rest of December and Merry Christmas!

Production Progress, Lynas's Story, Translation Update, and the Rulebook!
about 1 year ago – Mon, Nov 13, 2023 at 07:55:39 PM

Hi guys! I hope you had a fantastic Halloween. I realize it’s a bit late, but if you’re still looking for horror recommendations, I highly recommend you check out Mike Flanagan’s The Fall of the House of Usher. And if you enjoy reading (or even if you don’t), I also highly recommend I Found Puppets Living in my Apartment Walls by Ben Farthing. It’s freaking awesome. (Think Sesame Street meets cosmic horror.) Anyway, that’s enough of that. Let’s jump into the update.

Production Progress

We have submitted all the printed materials apart from Lynas’s storybook and cards to the factory, and the mass production process is rolling. Here are a few pictures of the inserts for the Wanderer boxes: 

We should receive more pictures from the factory soon, and we’ll post those for you once we get them.

While we wait for those, who’d like to see the rulebook?

The Rulebook

Here is the finalized rulebook in English. We’ll post it in other languages when we’re sure those are completed. We hope you like it!

Click here to view the rulebook!

Lynas Update

The only parts that haven’t been 100% completed are Lynas’s storybook and some coda card art. All his other components are finalized. Unfortunately, we still need another 1-2 months to finish the rewrite and formatting for Lynas’s story. We are making good progress on it, but the required reworks were quite extensive. As soon as it’s finished, we’ll submit it to the factory to get the last of his stuff printed. (For your reference, I was able to start on the team’s reworked file a week or so into October and am currently about 50% of the way through rewriting it.)

Here are a couple of Lynas’s story segments entirely out of context and some new art. I hope you like them.

Augustus’s Shadow

“I always understood that ignorance was something to stamp out,” a voice rasps behind you. “But it’s humbling to realize I missed how damaging it truly is. Ignorance is the most dangerous threat we face.”

Turning around, you gasp. The shadows are coming alive behind you, condensing into a human shape. You recognize their form.

“Father Augustus?” you say, stepping toward the shadows. “I didn’t see you there.”

The gloom doesn’t produce the abbot, though his voice spills out of it again. “Ignorance, my son,” he continues, his voice strangely gravelly. “Ignorance is our biggest mistake and one of our gravest sins.”

You pause. Then, tentatively, you take a step backward. Something is wrong. Augustus’s shadow form has too many arms. The long, thin, insectoid limbs unfold from the dark, pulling… something out with them. “F-Father?” you stammer. “What’s wrong?”

More of the Augustus monster comes into view. It has two heads: one with Father Gottfried’s face, though his sunken eyes are milky white and his teeth are too long. However, the second head, looming far above the first, is eyeless, too smooth, and barely looks human. “You must seek out the truth, Lynas,” the Augustus monster says from both mouths. “It exists inside you and this island. Both are one, and one is all. I can’t… help you much longer…”

“Oh, Father,” you groan. You feel hot tears welling in your eyes, threatening to spill down your cheeks. “It can’t be. It’s not possible…”

” You must… let the truth out…” the Augustus monster continues in its droning synchronicity. “Let it hatch…”

The Marred Man

The room before you is open, which may be why you can see the person within it, if only dimly. Lifting your candle higher, you squint at the shifting entity. It’s hard to make him out, almost as if he’s halfway between haze and human. However, the longer you focus on him, the more you see. His back faces you, his clothing hanging in tatters over his bony, ethereal body. Perhaps they are the remnants of fine robes. Maybe he was once a high-ranking member of the Society. Wait, what –

Blinking, you shake your head. For just a moment, it seemed he had two sets of arms.

The man turns toward you, and you can see his mangled face. Part of the skin looks like something ripped – or burned – it off. Glancing away from the ghoulish sight, you notice the writing, symbols, and scribblings carved into the walls around him. The marred man babbles quietly to himself as he swivels and etches more characters into the surface, using a piece of chalk – no, not chalk. Bone.

Something crunches beneath your foot. Glancing down, you see that more splinters of off-white litter the ground. It’s everywhere.

“Ages upon ages upon ages,” the marred man mutters. “Fire ignited, birthed, and bred. Will burn it all away…”

Looking away from his disfigured, cracking face, you turn toward his work on the walls. As you do, you feel yourself grow lightheaded, the words, symbols, and phrases seeming to come alive, swirling in a whirlpool of intention around you. You sway, dizzy, trying to collect your bearings.

“Consciousness is a sea,” the man continues. “We come from it, and to the sea, we shall return. It laps and curls and rages. Can we escape? Can flames preserve? And what of what lies beyond its shores? What waits curled hungrily in the abyssal dark? No light for it. No heat to stop its progress. It consumes all.”

You stagger, feeling as if a riptide is pulling you down, down, into a vortex that spins, sucking you into the depths…

Why does this feel like something you’ve forgotten? Why must you learn it again? And what will happen if you don’t?

“I… I have to go…” you say. “I can’t stay here. Not now…” Then, turning, you stumble away from the open prison cell and the marred man, your head clutched in your hands.

The sea rages… Its depths are unfathomable. And beyond it…

The Penitent Man

“I can still make this right!” he cries. “I will! You’ll see. I’ll be reunited with my daughter and wife yet!”

“Some sins there is no coming back from,” you say. “Sometimes even the Sacred Fire can’t make wood burn if the sea has saturated it too long.”

“Ah,” the man moans. “Aaah. Ah. Ah. AAAAGHH!” The man’s groans become yells, then screams. The wall between you bulges, splintering before fracturing as the man on the other side expands. You lunge to your feet, your eyes wide in shock. Then, flinging the confessional’s door open, you leap out just as the entire structure collapses.

Whirling around, you see the pile of broken wood shift and rise as something large and pulsing rises from its remains. The man’s body bulges outward, a soft glow radiating through his increasingly stretched skin.

“It’s not true,” he mumbles.

“I’ll make this right,” a second mouth says, projecting from his side.

“This isn’t my fault!” cries a third.

“Why has the Sacred Fire forsaken me?” asks a fourth.

More and more faces press out of the man’s bulk, all talking at once. You can’t keep them straight anymore. Their words are one great mass of anger, fear, confusion, and penitence. The man’s skin stretches thinner and thinner. How long will it be before he simply erupts?

Finally, the various mouths synchronize for one brief moment of clarity. “I gave you everything,” they say, the round mass heaving as if hyperventilating. “My wife. My daughter. My life.” As their arms try to rip through the malleable flesh, they roar, “Why… have you… FORSAKEN ME?”

Lastly regarding Lynas, here are pictures of some of his components. 

Translations

You guys have been very patient in waiting on firm translation news, so here’s an update on where each language currently stands.

French

We have two French translators working simultaneously on the translations.

For the stories, we have finalized Emily’s storybook and finished the initial versions of Claude and Catherine. Currently, the translator is completing Catherine’s final version, and then he’ll finish the last changes for Claude.

Our other translator is working on the rulebook, cards, and the storybooks’ gameplay texts. He is making good progress.

German 

We also have different translators for the stories and the rules in German, though we have more German translators than French.

One translator has finished all but a few tweaks in Emily’s storybook, and we have two more who have started on Claude and Catherine. 

For the rules, cards, and other stuff, we are working with the same translation team who worked with us on Deep Madness. They are currently mid-translation on these components.

Spanish

We have two Spanish translators working simultaneously. One translator has finished the rulebook and Emily’s storybook. He is now working on Claude. The other translator has finalized all but the last few tweaks in Catherine’s story.

We estimate we’ll need about three more months to finish the translation work. No translator has started on Lynas because his story is still being worked on. However, we will send his story to the translators as soon as possible. 

Emails

You have my apologies if you emailed me and I haven't replied to you yet. I've been working through emails recently, but there are still more to get through. If I haven't replied to you yet, I will. If you need something regarding your pledge, please email me at [email protected]. I can't guarantee I will see your message if you use a different method of reaching us - or at the least, it will take longer for you to get your answer.

Okay, that’s it for this update. We will either send out a new update once we have the latest pictures from the factory or more news for you, whichever comes first. I hope you have a great November, and we’ll talk with you again soon. 

What's in the Box?
over 1 year ago – Mon, Oct 02, 2023 at 09:02:01 PM

Hey, guys! Well, it wasn't quite before the end of September, but we now have this update ready for you. Let's start with a picture:

The team received the color sample for DoM a few days ago and then got to work on creating this video to walk you through the various components. We hope you like it!

The video's first few minutes are taken with a brief overview of everything, including glimpses at the storybooks. These are followed by a look at the general components at 06:09. Here's a rundown of what each component is:

• 06:09 - Rulebook 
• 06:23 - Abomination cards
• 06:45 - Terror cards
• 07:18 - Abomination family lineage envelopes
• 07:33 - Sentience pad
• 07:47 - Confrontation cards
• 08:23 - Domain cards
• 10:22 - Devour cards and support cards
• 10:44 - Condition cards (there are quite a few varieties of condition cards, which will all get their own decks. But they're all condition cards.)
• 13:02 - Abomination legacy cards
• 13:33 - General components box
• 13:56 - General tokens, mental capacity trackers, dice, sentience markers, and standees (which also go in the components box.)

Next, we move into specific components for each wanderer at 14:07. We start with Catherine, showing where all the components go in her wanderer box. 

• 14:20 - Catherine's tokens and trackers
• 15:03 - Catherine's standees
• 15:18 - Catherine's world shards
• 16:06 - Catherine's malformation and final boss cards
• 16:50 - Catherine's coda cards
• 18:04 - Catherine's encounter cards
• 18:19 - Catherine's butcher card and existence cards
• 18:31 - Catherine's locked domain, existence, and finale legacy cards 
• 19:02 - Catherine's forgotten envelope
• 19:20 - Catherine's Wanderer box

Following Catherine, we come to Claude's components. 

• 20:11 - Claude's tokens and trackers
• 20:34 - Claude's standees
• 20:50 - Claude's world shards
• 21:36 - Claude's malformation and final boss cards
• 22:14 - Claude's coda cards
• 23:19 - Claude's encounter cards
• 23:26 - Claude's Woman in the Coat cards
• 24:08 - Claude's existence cards
• 24:18 - Claude's locked domain, existence, and finale legacy cards
• 24:52 - Claude's forgotten envelope
• 25:05 - Claude's wanderer box

Next, we'll see Emily's components.

• 25:57 - Emily's tokens and trackers
• 26:17 - Emily's standees
• 26:27 - Emily's world shards
• 26:58 - Emily's malformation and final boss cards
• 27:16 - Emily's encounter cards
• 27:44 - Emily's coda cards
• 29:25 - Emily's finale encounter cards
• 29:32 - Emily's treatment cards
• 30:00 - Emily's existence cards
• 30:08 - Emily's locked domain, existence, and finale legacy cards
• 30:24 - Emily's forgotten envelope
• 30:38 - Emily's wanderer box

And that's it for the general components and the first three wanderers! 

I hope you guys like what you see here. We'll be back with more news soon, including updates on production and progress on Lynas and translations. Have a great October!