Virtual expansions - some technical hiccups
22 days ago
– Tue, Apr 23, 2024 at 04:20:05 AM
Hey everyone
As an addendum to the last update, despite my optimism about Roll20 functioning perfectly, we did get some technical issues with the release of the virtual expansions for Lovecraftesque. A small number of backers reported that one of the expansions had not arrived in their Roll20 account. This appears to have been the result of the Drivethru download code email either not arriving or failing to work once it arrived.
If you haven't already, please do activate those download codes and check that they worked ok. Do get in touch if you find you have the same problem.
One other thing to mention, while I'm here, is that there was a bit of confusion over getting expansions twice or having more than one copy. This is because of the way Roll20 presents items in the "my marketplace items" list. Essentially all of the Lovecraftesque virtual rewards have been set up as "packages" which contain the relevant Roll20 module and an art package which you can use for legacy play. Roll20 then shows you, in your item list, both the package and the module, which look identical until you click into them. So, don't worry if you see what appear to be multiple copies of each thing - nothing has gone wrong there, it's just Roll20 being Roll20.
Other than the above everything seems to have gone smoothly with the expansions, but as always please get in touch if you are having problems and we'll do what we can to help.
Yours
Josh (and Becky)
Roll20 expansions now released! Plus, an update on the print product.
27 days ago
– Thu, Apr 18, 2024 at 04:17:57 AM
Hey folks
We have just sent out download emails for the Roll20 expansions, for those who purchased them. In theory, you should be able to add these to your Roll20 account and then select them as a game addon, which will cause all the expansion decks and handouts to appear alongside the core game components. The release of the core playroom seemed to go very smoothly so I'm feeling more confident about this! But do let us know if anything seems not to work as expected.
We have also got the results of our box size poll. As you may have noticed, the results are overwhelmingly in favour of increasing the box size, which is what we'll now explore with out manufacturer.
We've also had a bunch of comments asking about making space for card sleeves. This is a tricky one - we're not sure how many people will want to sleeve their cards, and we suspect Lovecraftesque will have less need of them than a typical card-based game because it simply uses the cards less intensively. More importantly, we're not sure how much extra space this would require. We're having a look at it alongside the other box size issues.
Beyond that, we've had a good look at the prototype game components and everything is mostly in order. There's a small issue with the layout on the box lid (which we'll need to adjust anyway because of the box size issue), and the book covers aren't quite as solid as we'd like so we're looking into that too. These adjustments may add a bit of time to the delivery date - we'll let you know once that has become clearer.
We'll be back in touch in mid-May with an update on where we are with manufacturing.
Thanks as always for supporting Lovecraftesque!
Yours
Josh (and Becky)
Sample copy, unboxing video, and a question
28 days ago
– Tue, Apr 16, 2024 at 09:42:58 AM
Hey everyone!
The sample copy of Lovecraftesque arrived today. It's hard to express how exciting it is when a game you made shows up in physical form for the first time, and this was extra special because it's our first boxed game.
Pictures, and an unboxing video, are below. These are prototype versions, so not quite as good as the finished version will be - but close. I'm keeping them backer-only for now, as I don't really want pictures of a final-looking but not-actually-final version sharing publicly. It's looking gorgeous, and although there's a handful of minor things to fix, it mostly looks like we can proceed to the next stage quite quickly.
However! There is one more medium-sized snag. Currently the box is clearly too small. Here's the deal: everything fits inside the box. But the box comes with a lovely standing card library which makes it easy to put the cards away and get them out, including grabbing the scenario you want, without hunting around. When you stand up the core cards, and efficiently pack the other components, the box is 16mm short of closing snugly. If you add the expansions too, it's 30mm short. This is basically a product of us not having made a boxed game before and underestimating how much space we'd need - though I am slightly disappointed that our manufacturer didn't highlight it as an issue.
We have three options here I think:
-
Make the box bigger. This will make the game pretty hecking chonky: currently it's 230mmx230mm and just under 70mm thick, it would need to be 16mm thicker to comfortably fit the core set standing, 30mm thicker to fit everything with the expansions standing too. We don't *think* this will increase your postage costs, because it shouldn't change the weight much or take us over any size thresholds, but we can't entirely rule it out.
-
Ditch the standing card library. This might actually save a little money, but will mean it's a bit harder to find what you need, and just looks a little less cool.
-
Leave it as is and live with the fact that the box doesn't fully close. It's functional but a bit ugly, of course.
We want to know what you prefer. I've set up a
poll so you can easily give us your view, but please do also comment if you've got more detailed thoughts.
Once changes are made - and these shouldn't take too long - we'd expect to get a mass production-quality sample in the second half of June. All being well we can then get the factories going.
In addition, the Roll20 playroom assets for the expansions are now ready, and I'll be setting them up on DrivethruRPG and sending them out to you in the next 48 hours or so. I'll do another short update when that happens.
Yours
Josh (and Becky)
Surprise! Roll20 rewards are here.
about 1 month ago
– Wed, Apr 03, 2024 at 05:22:01 AM
Hey everyone
Roll20 have approved the first batch of virtual playroom rewards much faster than expected, and so the virtual version of the core game is now available! Backers who have completed their surveys should have received a complimentary copy email from DrivethruRPG, which includes access to the core Roll20 room.
Despite this, it looks as though the expansions will still take a couple of weeks to process, because Roll20 have a hard limit on how many items one publisher can submit for approval in a week. I will send a further update once those are out.
I'll be honest, I feel a little wary of this process, which combines the rather opaque Roll20 backend with the equally byzantine DrivethruRPG backend. I'd love it if backers who successfully access their Roll20 rewards could let me know by dropping a comment here. This would be very reassuring, assuming the process has in fact worked.
Do also let me know if anything seems wrong in the playroom. There will be the opportunity to update the playroom if there are any issues with it.
I hope you enjoy playing the game!
Yours
Josh (and Becky)
March update
about 2 months ago
– Fri, Mar 29, 2024 at 07:57:30 AM
Hey folks
We've made great progress in March:
- Longpack have been working on producing a sample copy of the game. They have now produced all the paper assets (box, cards etc) and we're just waiting for them to produce the plastic tray in which the other components will sit. We are expecting that to be complete in the next two weeks.
- In theory that means, taking into account shipping times, we should receive a physical prototype copy of the game around the middle of April. We'll share pictures when we get it. We're very excited to see what it looks like!
- The virtual playroom has been playtested and, thanks to feedback from backers Alex, Chimi, and Maren, I've made some good updates to improve the ease of use of the components, and the legibility of the rules documents, amongst other smaller changes. The updated version is now ready.
- Before we can share the virtual playroom with you, it needs to be approved by Roll20. We hadn't anticipated this being a substantial step but, having checked into it, it looks like this typically takes anywhere between a week and a month.
- In addition, we discovered today that there's a limit on how many items we can submit to Roll20 in a given week. Each of the products we're creating contains multiple Roll20 "items", so this is a significant blocker. We've been able to submit the core game (including the core scenarios), but we won't be able to complete submission of the expansion materials until around the middle of April (depending on precisely what Roll20's definition of a week is).
- All of which means we should be able to share the core game with you in April - but exactly when is down to the speed of the Roll20 bureaucracy. Expansions should follow a week or two after the core game. I'll send out an update when we release the first set of Roll20 content.
Thank you for your patience - we're eager to get the virtual playroom out to you!
Yours
Josh (and Becky)
