Claude's Stories, New Art, and Current Progress
almost 2 years ago – Mon, May 01, 2023 at 01:55:54 AM

Hey, my friend! I'm sorry this update is a few days later than our updates usually come out. I was trying to bust out the rest of the rewrites for Claude's wanderer encounters - which I did. You'll see several segments from those encounters below, along with some new art for him. 

Also, I want to mention up front: I know some of you have been waiting to hear back from me - some of you for quite a while. I wanted to apologize profusely for that and let you know that I will be going through emails and working on requests much more over these next 1-2 weeks. It's been a tough year so far, and the email has suffered because of it. But I will work hard to get caught up and take care of you. 

Progress Update

I will start with this, and then we'll dive into a couple of samples from Claude's stories and some new art from his cards. We largely focused on Claude and Lynas this month, but there was some Catherine progress, too. 

For Emily, we have started getting some of our translated versions back. We'll get those double-checked (and edited as needed), and then layout work can begin. 

For Catherine, the finale stage gameplay is now 100% completed. Her art is also 99% completed, with only a couple of cards remaining on which to finalize the art.

For Claude, I had to do some pretty extensive rewrites on his wanderer-stage encounters. Those are now 100% completed. Meanwhile, his art is now 95% completed. All that remains for it are his finale legacy cards and a few coda cards. His component layouts are also 70% completed. Here's a look at a few of those: 

For Lynas, his story writing is currently 80% completed. It would be a bit further along, but the team wanted to go back and do some rewrites with Lynas's writer now that the whole story has come into focus. The process is going smoothly. The testing has also commenced in force for Lynas's finale stages. 

Also, the writer for Cary, the actor, has written about 30% of his wanderer encounters. I hear it's going well. (This expansion will ship in wave two.)

Looking at the whole picture for a moment, wave one is currently conservatively between 80 and 90% finished. We were certainly delayed by the issues we faced earlier in the year (and late last year), but we are making good progress to catch up and finish this for you ASAP. Furthermore, 90% of all costs associated with this game have already been paid, a good chunk of which was wrapped into the miniatures that were finished some time back. 

It feels like we're finally getting some traction for the final sprint. So, while we still refuse to speed up to the point of getting sloppy, we're starting to see a light at the end of the tunnel - and a finish line up there with it.

Clippings from Claude

Now that Claude's wanderer encounters are finalized, we thought we'd show you some samples from his story as we did with Catherine and Emily. As with those previous samples, these will be completely out of context, with some only representing a small portion of an encounter or coming in partway through a story sequence. Furthermore, any gameplay content has been removed. However, there still will be some mild spoilers below - though I honestly doubt reading these would spoil too much for you.

That said, these should still give you a feeling of the vibe in Claude's story and, hopefully, will still be creepy enough. I hope you enjoy them!

The Man in the Clearing

The rain thins, offering you better visibility. Finally, you see the person is a man wearing a soggy overcoat and hat. He tips his head down as he kneels in the muddy clearing, allowing the water to cascade off his fedora’s brim like a miniature waterfall. He almost looks like he’s examining something on the ground.

Another thunderous lightning bolt scorches the sky. Briefly, you can see the man’s profile, his face distorted in grief. He’s weeping, his hot tears mingling with the cold rain. He holds something dark in his left hand. Is it… a pistol?

The man covers his face with his free hand, trembling as he sobs. Then, slowly, he regains his feet, his body softly swaying back and forth as if being pummeled by the deluge.

Suddenly, a low whisper cuts through the rain, embedding itself in your ear. “It’s not over…”

Startled, you jerk around, looking for the voice’s owner. You don’t see anyone, though the darkness and the downpour have closed behind you to smother your senses. Did the man say it? But if so, how did you hear it through the torrent?

“It’s not over…” the whisper says, sounding like someone hovering directly over your shoulder. This time you can’t help emitting a strangled cry as you whirl around to search for signs of another person. Luckily, the weather dampens its reach, so the man doesn’t notice. Only darkness stares back at you from the deep forest.

Turning back, you see the man reach up and pull off his hat, dropping it to the ground. Then he removes his coat, draping it over something lying at his feet. Finally, he straightens again.

“It’s not over…” the murmur comes again. The sound seems less human this time – more animalistic. Furthermore, it now sounds like it’s coming from inside your own head.

Looking up at the roaring sky, the man joins it in a primordial, elemental roar. The sound he emits is twisted with such sorrow, rage, and longing that it barely sounds human.

Miscarried Union

Panicking, you shrink back as the spreading infection causes the chamber to crumple inward. Women’s faces press out of the walls, their white, milky eyes crinkling as they cry out in anguish. They struggle to pull their bodies free of the walls, but they can’t – at least, until they coalesce in the ceiling’s center. Then, merging together, they droop downward like a congealing drop of liquefied fat, their mass finally appearing like a swelling woman with far too many limbs.

You mewl in horror as the women’s mass grows and stretches, with additional heads joining the extra arms and legs. They’re only hanging from the ceiling by a single foot now. What will happen when they drop?

The fused women swell further, their arms and legs reaching for the ground below. They’re almost touching, too, when the last toes clinging to the ceiling let go. The entire flailing mass falls – right onto the book and its pedestal. Then they split open, erupting like an overfilled water balloon full of the black ichor.

Desperately, you frantically wipe the stuff out of your eyes and mouth. Finally, you can see again – and look up to see half-living babies trying to crawl out of the women’s ruptured abdomen. The chamber fills with bawling children’s cries and the screams of laboring women. They don’t last long.

You can’t take anymore. Clamping your sticky, black hands over your face, you weep until your voice is raw and hoarse. Unable to stand any longer, you fall to your knees, your hands dropping to catch yourself –

You’re back in the empty room. Wires and conduits line the walls; metal beams cross the ceiling. And in the room’s center, you again see the heavy steel chair. It sits there, waiting for you, beckoning for you to sit. Standing, you flee as quickly as your shaking legs will take you.

The Hidden Connection

Stepping back from the corkboard, you examine the pictures as a whole. Something feels off here, though you’re not sure what. Why would such innocent images make you feel that way? What are you missing?

That’s when you see the latch on the edge of the corkboard. Frowning, you step closer. Then, digging your fingers under the board, you pull. The whole corkboard swings outward, exposing the cavity hidden behind it. Papers crowd each other on the hidden cabinet’s shelves. Reaching up, you grab a stack and pull them out.

You discover this first bunch of pictures are studies of an eye.  They begin simply at first but grow progressively more detailed until you near the bottom of the stack. You’re impressed with how much improvement the students display as you reach the lowest images. They’re almost lifelike –

You jolt as you reach the bottom. The final images show an eyeball divorced from eyelids – or even its body. The orb lies alone on the page, a frayed optic nerve trailing behind it. All that accompanies it is a red spot on the page which could have been a little pool of blood.

Setting those aside, you grab another pile. These turn out to be ears, which progress in quality like the eyes. Then, when you reach the bottom, you find the ears dissected, drawn on the page in pieces. The following stack is full of mouths. These images end with images of pulled teeth, clipped tongues, and lipless gums.

Your pulse quickening, you try another bundle. These images are internal organs: hearts, lungs, livers, intestines, and uteruses. How did the students get such good references? Did they study them in books?

Your fingers tremble slightly as you reach for the final group of papers. Pulling them down, you examine them – and gasp. These are of an entire female corpse, her skin and muscles pinned back to reveal her insides. Looking at these images, you feel your guts clench. You’re sure now these kids weren’t observing illustrations in a book. These are too real. Too specific. They had been studying an actual dissected woman’s body.

Another thought occurs to you as you look at these images. You have noticed a steady improvement in the artists’ skills this whole time. That couldn’t have happened all at once. Did that mean… Did that mean they had studied multiple corpses? How many had they seen to get to their ultimate levels of proficiency? Furthermore, how had their teachers procured those poor women?

You feel sick to your stomach. Quickly, you stuff the last images into the hidden compartment and slam its corkboard door closed again. Then, turning, you stagger out of the room. There’s one more thought you can’t shake, though it’s too horrible to even contemplate as a reality. The orphans had initially been drawing pictures of their mothers. So, had that process continued? Had all of those images been of their mothers?

Ingested Pregnancies

A strange, shrill squeal interrupts your reverie, returning your attention to the far tunnel. The shapes of human limbs push against – then through – the passage’s twisting walls. Finally, the tissue tears, and a towering, vaguely humanoid figure presses through the rip, accompanied by a gush of translucent fluid.

Slowly, the being straightens and swivels toward you. It looks roughly like a woman – assuming one could accept that women had six arms, six legs, and three heads, their body dramatically bent at a bowed, inhuman angle to allow them to walk on all their feet. Three loose, sagging bulges line their abdomen, pendulously dangling as they stretch the being’s skin.

The being strides forward clumsily, their heads lulling as they growl and mumble as if arguing amongst themselves. You take a timid step back, trying to conceal yourself near the tunnel’s edge. The aberration approaches one of the rounded chamber’s walls, then grasps one of the growths that stretches the tissue and pulls. A deformed, monstrous newborn slides out of the rip into the women-beast’s arms.

For a moment, the women-beast examines the child with a loving, motherly look. Then, raising the baby, their middle head’s jaw distends like a snake, and she swallows the baby whole.

You can’t move. All you can do is stare, your jaw dangling open, your eyes wide in disbelieving horror. The women-beast also pauses, their eyes closed as if feeling the new fetus in their belly. You watch one of the sacs on their abdomen swell as if filled with fresh life. Then one of the heads opens her eyelids – and spots you.

The nightmare-trio doesn’t immediately charge. Their belly is swelling quickly. It grows larger and larger until it finally can’t stretch any further. The skin rips along with the amniotic sac, and the terrifying child maturing inside it pops out, falling to the undulating floor.

The baby’s twisted, wide mouth emits a high-pitched squawk. The women-beast roars in terror and rage from all of their mouths. It doesn’t take long to see why: the horrific child is curling up on the floor, its many limbs pulling inward as it dies. It quickly decomposes, the chamber absorbing it back into the place from which it came.

The women-beast raises their hands, covering their faces as they each howl in misery. Finally, though, they lower their hands again and look directly at you once more. As they do that, bulges forming on the walls crack open, exposing the myriad eyeballs they contained. All of them swivel to stare at you. The women-beast’s faces assume the same gentle, tender look they had before they ate the fetus. Then, they skitter toward you.

Woman in the Coat - 3rd Phase

You stare at the rain streaming down the windshield, unable to move.

An eon later, you look into the rearview mirror. The shadows of running water travel across his face, streaking his features. Then a cigarette’s burning red point blazes, the light briefly illuminating the collar of his uniform and the badge on his chest.

You hear him exhale smoke, though you don’t smell it. Then you hear his slow, measured breath.

“You realize we’ll never escape this, don’t you?”

His deep, resonant voice seems to freeze time around you. You know it’s not a question. So does he. It’s a statement: An unavoidable, almost unbearable edict that reverberates in your heart and soul.

You return your gaze to the windshield.

Okay, that's it for this update! We'll talk with you again soon. Have a great May!

The Fusion of Story and Gameplay
almost 2 years ago – Sun, Mar 26, 2023 at 10:07:07 PM

Hey, guys! I hope you've had a great March. We'll get into the progress update shortly, but first, I noticed some comments that made me think maybe I hadn't done a great job of describing how the story is integrated with the gameplay. So we'll dive into that a bit, too. 

Before we do that, though, I know there have been questions about the timeline for DoM. We are seeing some very steady progress now (particularly since sickness and other life-altering things are out of the way.) However, we are obviously not going to make Q1 since it is almost over. At this point, I think it's reasonable to say that we will finish the core game in Q2, and that we will ship it - and you will receive it - in Q3. 

The Ties Between the Gameplay and Stories

After the last update, I saw a number of people wondering either: 

A) why the gameplay elements weren't completely finalized when what was mainly left was writing, or... 

B) how the issues befalling the gameplay team weren't just an excuse to cover for the writing.  

This made me believe I still hadn't done a good enough job of conveying how the two interacted. So, let me give you an example.

During Catherine's story, you are going to be chased - and likely hacked to pieces - by lumbering creatures called Butchers. The Butchers are brutal beings, but they also work very much on their own morality, and will only attack "infected" wanderers. They are very interesting additions to Catherine's game. But here's the thing: the Butchers didn't exist before I wrote the first one into her story. (This fact - plus the necessity of having multiples of them on the board at one time - is also why they don't have miniatures.) The other wanderers don't have butchers, but they do have their own unique mechanics, all of which directly tie into their stories.

Yes, some planning can be - and is - done before a story is written, particularly once the team has established a fairly solid outline. But we also want to leave room for surprise. In part, this is because we don't want any wanderer's story to play exactly the same, because we don't want you to get bored with the game. Plus, we want you to feel like you're actually experiencing a wanderer's story, not that we just slapped a verbose skin on identical mechanics. So, the gameplay grows up with the stories. They are inextricably linked, and one can't help but influence the other.

This is why we haven't provided component overviews for the wanderers besides Emily up until this point. It's not that we're lazy or hiding something: it's that some components don't exist until the story is written for them. The same is true for the art. Most of the art that is currently being worked on are direct results of what is written, and you will gain them as you progress in a wanderer's storybook. On the flip side, the endings can't be written until we have a very good idea of how one will play mechanically, and playtesting may lead to rewrites on an encounter. (And, to flip it again, it's difficult to determine precisely how an ending will play until we know all of the roads that lead to it in the encounters. This is achieved to some degree in the outline, but not completely.)

Hopefully this has helped to shed some light on why certain things seem to slow down other aspects of the game's development, or how if one team member suffers (whether through extended illness - as happened with the whole Beijing team - or life events, as happened to me), everything does. It's because they're all one and the same, as I think they should be. 

Having said that, the writer working on Claude and Lynas is very quick, and he has made some significant progress this month, as we'll show below. So, without further ado, let's get into the progress update.

Progress Update

This month, we have largely been focused on writing Lynas's stories, editing Claude's storybook, and the layout work for Catherine's components.

Catherine's art is 99% completed. The last thing we need to do is finish her finale legacy card art, and then her art's done.

Meanwhile, her component layouts are 90% completed. The last thing to do here is finish laying out and finalizing her storybook.

Claude's storybook is in final editing. All the writing on it has been completed. Work on his stories should be finished by the next update. 

Gameplay-wise, two of Claude's endings have been finalized. We're working on the other two currently.

Claude's art is 70% completed. His component layouts are currently 10% completed.

Lynas's encounter writing is currently 80% completed. His art is 20% completed.

Finally, the translators are at work on Emily's and Catherine's storybooks. We should start seeing more content back from them shortly, which should include whole first drafts.

Okay, that's it for this update. In the next one, we'll have some story snippets to show you from Claude, plus we'll let you know how everything is progressing (of course.) Have a fantastic April, a Happy Easter, and we'll talk to you again soon!

February Progress Update
almost 2 years 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
about 2 years 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!
about 2 years 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!