The Celestial Campaign and an Apology
over 1 year ago – Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 02:29:14 AM

Hey, guys. So, as some of you know, we decided to launch the campaign for Celestial today - something we have come to realize was a mistake.

Celestial was initially planned to launch after the first wave delivered for DoM, which a few months ago was estimated to be in August. However, due to some setbacks in Claude's and Lynas's story development, we had to rewrite Claude and completely overhaul, restructure, and rewrite Lynas. (As I'm sure you saw in our updates.) I want to stress that these were not delays caused by lack of funds. The most expensive part of the process was creating the miniatures, which happened last year. These were creative issues we had to fix to get you the best product possible. But, thus,  production didn't progress as planned, bringing us to September.

The fourth quarter of each year typically sees numerous major projects launching on Kickstarter, making it a very competitive period. We had already delayed Celestial two years from 2021 to 2023 and didn't want to miss another year. So, seeing our window slipping away, we panicked and made the hasty decision to launch Celestial in September - without the proper ramp-up, notice, or, most importantly,  consideration for the feelings of our backers. We sincerely apologize for this. (John, if you're reading this, I'm sorry. And the same goes for every other backer we unintentionally hurt by launching this campaign.)

All that to say, we have decided to cancel the Celestial campaign, and we won't relaunch it until after DoM's first wave is delivered.

As a refresher, here is the current status of DoM's production:

1. The miniatures have been sitting in the warehouse for over a year.

2. Accessories like metal tokens, dice, mats, and others are in production and will be completed within the next month.

3. The base game will be split into two parts, with the first part (excluding the contents in Lynas's box) already in pre-production and set to start full production after the Chinese holidays on October 10th. The second part (namely, Lynas's portion) is expected to enter production as soon as we finish and submit it.

We take our backers' trust very seriously, and hopefully, this proves that. Sometimes (often), we stumble, but hopefully, more often than not, we get back up again. We will not let you guys down: you will get your game.

We also just received our full-color sample of the game, so stay tuned for that update. But in the meantime, once again, we're sorry for damaging your trust in us and hope this can help to rebuild it.

Production Pics and Update
over 1 year ago – Tue, Sep 19, 2023 at 01:22:33 PM

Hey, my friend! Sorry it's been a while since our last update, but we had a big one coming, and we wanted to wait until we had as much together for it as possible. That time has now arrived, so let's dive in.

It's finally official: The mass production process has begun at the factory! WOOHOO! We will go into all the various components below, but I wanted to get that out right from the jump. Now, let's take a look at some of the components!

Non-Printed Components

Dice

As you'll see in the pictures below, all the dice are currently undergoing the first part of their production journey. In these pictures, you may notice that five sides have been carved, and one side is blank. That's because these are the dice for all five sentience colors, and each color has a different sixth side. So, once the phase-one dice production is finished, the factory will divide them into groups, use a laser carving technique for the final side, and then color them. 

We have also received our final production sample of the dice, which look like this: 

Plastic Standee Stands

The plastic standee stands are mat translucent. Here are two pictures of them, too: 

Sentience Markers

Now, look at the base game's plastic sentience markers. 

Metal Tokens

Here are the unfinished metal bases for the tokens. Next, the images will be printed on the tokens, and then they'll receive a resin coating on top to seal the image and give the tokens a nice feel in hand.

Neoprene Mat

And lastly, here's the neoprene mat!

Printed Materials

Now, let's move on to the printed materials.  You will notice that we don't have the breakdown for each wanderer's progress in this update. That's because we have submitted all of the files for the first three wanderers and all the files for the general components, such as the terrors and abominations. The only things missing currently are Lynas's storybook and some of his cards (mainly due to a few still needing art.)

The factory will begin production on the universal components and each wanderer's box of goodies. Then, once they get to Lynas's, we should hopefully have those files submitted to them to finish up the process. 

The White Sample

We have received the finalized white sample, which you can see below. These components are the final size and shape that will be in your box, just without any of the printing on them. Still, they can help show you the scale and give you an idea of what to expect.

Okay, that's all of the pictures from the white box sample.  We should receive the full-colored version within the next week or two, and we'll post another update as soon as we get it. 

The Schedule

We still plan to finish production in October. However, this will depend on how quickly we can finish Lynas's storybook. We'll let you know how everything is progressing as we go, so stay tuned. That said, production is now in full swing for this project, 12 hours per day, seven days per week, until it's done. We are getting there, and that light at the tunnel's end is getting bigger every day.

That's it for this mega update. However, as I said, stay tuned, as we will post another one as soon as we receive the color sample. So, if all goes according to plan, you may very well receive two updates this month. Have a great day, and we'll talk with you again soon!

August Progress Update
over 1 year ago – Sat, Aug 12, 2023 at 09:59:03 PM

Hi guys! It's been a crazy few weeks, but we're finally back with a new update. Let's jump in. 

Gen Con

Last week (and early this week), I was in Indianapolis for Gen Con. It was a hectic, insane time but also a ton of fun. Massive shoutout to our awesome backers, Bill (Ninjaoffduty) and Jim (Bobosavenger), for your help at the booth. Without you guys, it wouldn't have been possible. Thank you. =)

Also, thanks to all of you who stopped by and said hi! It was great to meet you or see you again in person. 

Couldn't make it to Gen Con? No worries. I will do a live stream likely next month covering new stuff we had there and just hanging out with you guys. (It will probably be September at the soonest so that I can focus on getting as much DoM stuff ready for the factory as possible.) Also, all of our new things for the con were focused on our next game, Celestial, so you didn't miss any DoM-specific content. 

Things were so crazy that I pretty much completely forgot to take pictures or videos of Gen Con or the booth (my bad. LOL.) But I did at least get a few (unfortunately glary and photo-bombed) pictures of our display case. Here they are!

Anyway, my apologies that these are the only pictures I got from Gen Con, and they weren't better quality. Hopefully, you still enjoyed these (admittedly crummy) images.

Manufacturing Progress

We received the first white box test sample from the factory, which is the last step in confirming the final components' quantity, quality, format, etc. We planned to include some pictures of the sample, but we discovered a few problems with it. So, expect to see those in the next update instead. 

Likewise, we learned that the metal token and neoprene game mat progress has been delayed slightly. We received news from the manufacturer that their production will start in the second half of August. So, perhaps we'll have samples for them in our next update, too. 

Speaking of our next update, it will be quite soon and relatively brief, focusing on the factory's samples.

Development Progress

Now let's jump into our current development progress. 

Claude

All of Claude's art is officially finished. Likewise, all of his component layouts have been finalized except his storybook. That is currently 50% laid out, and we made significant progress on it today. 

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Completed. 
• Art: 100% Completed. 
• Components layout: 90% Completed. (The only thing left is the storybook layout.)

Catherine

Catherine's art has also been finished, as have the layouts for all of her components apart from her storybook. Like Claude's, her storybook's layout work is approximately 50% finished. It awaits her final two endings from me, which I should have over to the team likely this next week. 

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Two more endings to be put into the storybook. 
• Art: 100% Completed. 
• Components layout: 90% Completed. (The only thing left is the storybook layout.)

Lynas

We are still editing Lynas's storybook, creating more of his art, and laying out his components. He will be the final piece of the whole core game. As mentioned previously, we will send all the other printed materials to the printer first and begin the manufacturing process on them as soon as possible, then send Lynas's components once they're finished. This will save us some time and keep everything moving. 

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. Needs further editing and proofreading. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Completed. Needs further editing and proofreading. 
• Art: 50% Completed. 
• Components layout: 30% Completed. 

We also continue to progress steadily on the translation work for all wanderers.

New Art

Let's finish off this update with some new art. This may be the last you see from Claude and Catherine until the core game is in your hands.

Okay, that's it for this update! As I mentioned above, our next update will come sooner rather than later and will feature a few samples from the factory. So stay tuned for that. Have a great August, my friends, and we'll talk with you again soon!

A Look at the Box Layout and More Progress!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Jul 05, 2023 at 12:07:20 PM

Hey guys! I hope you had a great June, and that those of you in the US had a very Happy 4th of July holiday, without losing any major limbs.

In this update, we have a look at the core box's final layout, as well as another progress update. Let's jump in.

The Core Box System's Layout

It's taken a long time to get here, but we now have a look at what you can expect from the core box system's layout. (We'll also look at the mockup for one of the individual wanderer boxes.) Unfortunately, this isn't a picture of the final box, but it will show you how we're approaching its design.

Wanderer Box Layout

First, we will look at the individual wanderer boxes, arguably the most pivotal part of the system. There will be four of these in the core box - one for each wanderer. A wanderer's (sleeved) cards and specialized components will fit in these boxes. Things that won't fit in these boxes include the wanderer's storybook and dashboard.

Here's a look at the mockup for Emily's box:

Next, let's take a look at what's inside this box. These aren't the prettiest pictures, but they should give you a rough idea of what to expect.

You'll find the wanderer's final boss and malformation cards on the box's top insert. (Their terrors' cards won't be stored here because those can appear in any story, even if they're not explicitly featured.)

Beneath those cards, you'll find the wanderer's world shard cards (the larger ones) and their existence and finale legacy cards (the smaller ones.)

Here's a look at the top insert with no cards in it.

You'll find all of the wanderer's mini cards in the bottom insert. These are coda cards, finale-specific cards, encounter cards, etc. Then, on the other side, you'll find a space for the wanderer's forgotten envelope and room for standees and tokens specific to this wanderer.

And here's the bottom insert with nothing in it.

Core Box Layout

Next, let's move on to the core box itself. 

On the top of the main box, you'll find six layers of punchboard, followed by the game board. Under that lie the four wanderer storage boxes.

Some particularly eagle-eyed backers may have noticed that the core box will be approximately 172 mm tall (or roughly 6.75 inches.) So, this will be a big box (definitely bigger than we anticipated), but not extravagantly so. It should still fit on your favorite gaming shelf.

You'll reach the Other Component box when you remove the punchboards, game board, and wanderer boxes. This is where all of the other game components will be stored. Let's take a look inside.

On the top will go the rulebook and storybooks. Directly next to them will sit additional regular-sized cards like the item and domain cards. Below that is space for mini cards, such as all of the condition cards.

Below that level, you'll find space for tokens and standees, wanderer dashboards, terror cards, abomination cards, and the sentience pad. (This is the pad we added a while back to keep track of your wanderer's current sentience levels.) There's also room for the abominations' forgotten envelopes in here. 

And that's it! Now you know how you're going to store this beast of a game when it's not on your table. This should make things much easier to set up, tear down, and keep organized. 

In logistics news, all of a wanderer's cards will ship in their specific boxes. So, you should be able to just pull open whichever box you want and game from the get-go. This has the added benefit that we can produce each box separately and then put them all together at the end. (More on that in the progress section below.)

We should have pictures of the metal tokens and the game mat in our next update, so stay tuned for that!

Progress Update

This month's big news is that Claude's storybook writing is 100% done. All of the rewrites are finished, as is all of the editing. We're now finalizing the layout work for his components that hadn't been completed yet and finishing his last few pieces of art. 

Claude Reinhardt - The Detective

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Completed. 
• Art: 99% Completed. (The only part left is the finale legacy card art.)
• Components layout: 90% Completed. (The only thing left is the storybook layout.)

As for Catherine, I have been making progress on her final two endings. Those should be done shortly, and then she'll be in the bag, too.

Catherine Little - The Farmer

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Two more endings to be finished. 
• Art: 99% Completed. (The only part left is the finale legacy card art.)
• Components layout: 90% Completed. (The only thing left is the storybook layout.)

The team has finished Lynas's finale gameplay, which is now in its final playtesting. Roger has also been working hard on the first edits and formatting for Lynas's storybook, the initial writing of which has been finished (both encounters and finales.) Lynas's art is now 25% completed, and his component layouts are at 20%. 

Lynas Gershwin - The Priest

• Character designs: Completed. 
• The wander stage story writing: Completed. Needs further editing and proofreading. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Completed. Needs further editing and proofreading. 
• Art: 25% Completed. 
• Components layout: 20% 

This brings us to production. While three of the wanderers will be done and ready to submit in August, Lynas will take a little longer. However, that won't hold up printing. Since we're now approaching the game on a wanderer box-by-box approach, we will produce the other three wanderer boxes first and then do Lynas last. In this way, we'll still be rolling even while we're finalizing some of Lynas's remaining stuff.

Finally, we have translations. The work on the translations is going smoothly. We have a fair-sized team all over the globe working on these. Several translations have been turned in already, and now those translators are on to the following books. I have seen some people ask if the translations will ship simultaneously with the English version, and the answer is no. (After all, the translators need the final books to be able to translate them.) However, I don't think the translated copies will be too far behind. 

Gen Con

Just in case the next update is a bit late, too (this will be a busy month),  I thought I'd go ahead and mention Gen Con. DG will be back at Gen Con this year. So, if you plan on being in Indianapolis in early August, stop by and say hi! I'd love to see you/meet you in person! We will be at booth #2471, which is once again back in the exhibitor nosebleed section. LOL! (On the plus side, we're right by the rear bathrooms, so you'll probably run into us eventually.)

Can't make it to Gen Con? No worries. I'll show all the Gen Con goodies online during or after the convention so you won't miss out. (It's been a long time since our last live stream, so maybe that time is drawing near again.)

Lynas's Art

Let's cap off this update with (appropriately) some immolated people! (And some who have suffered from other various maladies, too.)

Okay, that's it for this update! Have a great July, and we'll talk with you again soon!

Timeline Update, Manufacturing Updates, and Current Progress
over 1 year ago – Tue, May 30, 2023 at 08:00:12 PM

Hey guys! I hope you had a great May (and a wonderful Memorial Day for those of you in the US.) You guys have been waiting for a firm updated timeline, so we'll have that below. I've also listed everything we've accomplished this month - including some manufacturing updates. Let's jump in.

Timeline Update

I talked with Roger about the updated timeline this week, and he informed me that, judging by what we have left to do, he anticipates we will be able to begin the core box's printed component production this August. (As you'll see below, production is primed and ready to roll for the printed components and has already begun for the other SKUs.) Printing everything should take approximately two months, meaning we will ship in October. 

I know this project has gone significantly longer than anyone could have imagined. (I certainly never would have envisioned this situation in my wildest nightmares.) But we're nearly there now. 

 Manufacturing Update

Let's start the progress updates with some regarding manufacturing. Here we go!

1. We have confirmed the printed material samples with the printer. This means that the factory will begin producing the printed components as soon as they receive the finalized files with no additional delay. This step involved confirming the components' formats, color configurations, and adjustments. It has taken several revisions during the past months, but we are pleased to announce it is now completed.

2. The core box's storage solution has been finalized. This process took a while because we needed a close estimate of the final counts for the cards, tokens, etc. So, we made some adjustments based on the near-final quantities, ensuring our estimates are as accurate as possible. We'll have more on the final box in future updates.

3. The miniature boxes (which have been finished since last year) will soon move from the miniature factory to a new warehouse. Once the core games are finished, this location will ship out both boxes (and the wave-one add-ons) worldwide.

4. The manufacturing process has begun for other products, such as the metal tokens and the neoprene game mat.

As you can see, the final manufacturing process began in earnest this month. All of the prep work at the printer is now complete. And, as you'll notice below, we are now moving full-steam ahead toward finalizing the last bits of the printed materials. After these files are finished, we will jump straight into producing the core box manufacturing process.

Progress Update

We've accomplished some pretty significant things this month. First, the initial writing is completed for Lynas's wanderer encounters. 

Lynas Gershwin - The Priest

Lynas's storybook is now being edited and formatted by Roger; then, it will move over to me for final rewrites and proofreading. Furthermore, the gameplay for two of his endings has now been finalized. His writer is also currently 30% through writing his finales. There is still the most work to be done on Lynas, but we have made major progress with him this month.

• Character designs: Completed. 
• Wanderer stage story writing: Completed. Needs further editing and proofreading.  
• The finale stage gameplay: Two endings are completed.  
• The finale stage story writing: 30%  
• Art: 25% Completed. 
• Components layout: 20% 

Claude Reinhardt - The Detective

For Claude, I have completed the final proofreading of his wanderer encounters, meaning his wanderer encounters are 100% finished. (This was just a final look/touch-up after completing the rewrites last month.) I have also finished my rewrites on his ending A and anticipate the other endings to progress quickly. 

• Character designs: Completed. 
• Wanderer stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed.  
• The finale stage story writing: Being edited and proofread.  
• Art: 95% Completed.  
• Components layout: 90% Completed. 

Catherine Little - The Farmer

We didn't progress much on Catherine last month, but she will be a focus this coming month as I work to finish her final endings. 

• Character designs: Completed. 
• Wanderer stage story writing: Completed. 
• The finale stage gameplay: Completed. 
• The finale stage story writing: Being finalized. 
• Art: 99% Completed.  
• Components layout: 90% Completed.  

Side note: I have been working through a lot of emails this month, but it's possible I haven't gotten to yours yet. If I haven't, don't worry. I will. It takes me quite a while to handle a request since not a single one can be phoned in, and obviously, I can't devote all my time to this since then you'll never get your game. But I have been making steady progress and will continue to do so. (I'm focusing mostly on emails currently, but once I've gotten those more in hand, I will start engaging more in the comments again.)  

Okay, that's it for this update. I know there was a lot of crunch in this update and not a lot of soft, gooey, tasty bits, but hopefully, it has provided you with the light at the end of the tunnel that I've been seeing the last couple of months. It's been a very, VERY long ride, but it's almost over now. Talk to you guys again soon!