March update
10 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)
Lovecraftesque expansion PDFs just went out!
11 months ago
– Fri, Mar 08, 2024 at 06:50:20 AM
Hey everyone
Just a quick update to say that the Lovecraftesque expansion PDFs are now out. You can find them on the digital download page of your Backerkit survey.
By the way, thanks to Lovecraftesque backer DSM, we picked up that the print and play files had the card backs incorrectly arranged. That has now been corrected. If you already downloaded the digital files, you may wish to log in and get the updated version.
We'll be back with a further update in late March/early April.
Happy gaming
Josh
Lovecraftesque core PDFs just went out!
11 months ago
– Wed, Mar 06, 2024 at 06:04:19 AM
Hey everyone
Just a quick update to say that the Lovecraftesque 2e core game PDFs have gone out. That's everything in the core game, including the six core box scenarios. If you don't have it yet, it's probably because you haven't completed your survey and/or any oustanding payment; but if after checking that you still don't have it - give us a shout.
The Lovecraftesque 2e expansion pack PDFs are not yet up - I expect to have them imminently, and will send a further update once they're out. All other PDFs for add-ons etc have been released.
Please do let us know if you spot any typos or other problems with the Lovecraftesque 2e PDFs, as there's still plenty of time to correct errors in both these and the print files.
I hope you enjoy reading them!
Josh
Surveys are live!
11 months ago
– Wed, Feb 28, 2024 at 04:56:49 AM
Hey everyone
Surveys are live! Some of you will have got them yesterday, everyone else should receive a survey link today.
You need to complete the survey to get your digital rewards.
We're a long way off sending physical rewards at this point, so I'm not collecting shipping at this stage, but I do need backer addresses before I release any rewards (including digital rewards), in order to ensure that I'm paying the correct tax on your pledges. (Don't worry - your pledge for Lovecraftesque is tax-inclusive, you don't have to pay extra for that - it's just that Black Armada do still have to pay the tax.)
You'll get an email when the PDFs are up.
I expect to be able to share PDF copies of your rewards some time in the next week. That's a bit later than planned - we had some feedback on the print files and prioritised addressing those over finishing off the PDFs.
As for the remaining project progress, everything else is basically proceeding as planned:
- We finished the text, art and layout on Lovecraftesque and all its scenarios in January, and have submitted the files to Longpack, but - as expected - too late to start production before Chinese New Year.
- We've had some feedback on the files which we've been working on, and we're about done with that, so expect to send the final files to them imminently. With luck there won't be any need for further revisions.
- Our contact at Longpack Games is back from Chinese New Year but it may take another week or so before everyone is back and things start moving. Once that happens, Longpack will start work producing a prototype copy of the game. I'm not expecting to get that until late March/early April.
- This puts us on track for the manufacture of the game proper to happen around the middle of this year.
- Meanwhile I've been working on the virtual playroom. I'm pleased to say that the core box and its scenarios are already set up on Roll20; I'm waiting on some graphics assets for the expansion packs before I can set them up.
- I plan to test the Roll20 set up before releasing it to you. You can help with this! If you have time in March and would be interested in having a play around with the draft setup and providing feedback, drop your details here and I'll be in touch.
Best wishes
Josh
January update
about 1 year ago
– Mon, Jan 29, 2024 at 01:17:37 AM
Hello everyone
I'm excited to report that we have made excellent progress with Lovecraftesque and have sent our files to the manufacturer (Longpack Games) for checking. As part of this:
- All the rules and card text is complete
- All the art is complete
- All the layout on the print product is complete
- Editing and proofing is mostly complete but we're doing a final proofing pass in parallel with Longpack's checks
Once Longpack's checks and our final proofing pass is done, the next step is for Longpack to produce a prototype of the game. Because of Chinese New Year they won't get started on this until March, so we don't expect to have a prototype in hand until late March/early April. That's in line with the plan I shared with you in November.
During February Nathan will build the PDF version of the game - a process that shouldn't take long, once the final proofing pass is complete. I will therefore send you a backer survey through Backerkit some time in February. I need to do this because even for digital-only pledges, I need to know your correct address to ensure I pay the correct tax* on each pledge. I will send a fresh update when the survey goes out, and soon after that you'll get the PDF versions of the core game and (if you pledged for them) the scenario expansion packs.
I will also be working on the virtual playroom in February/March. I've made a start on this already. I can report that there is a learning curve to making stuff on Roll20. Essentially, I know what I want Roll20 to do and I know roughly how to do it, but there's lots of quirks in the system that make it a little less straightforward than you might think. Even so, it's going well at this early stage.
We are making good progress overall, and I'm excited to get the PDF of the game into your hands. The next update will be in February, when the surveys go out.
Cheers
Josh
* You won't be paying anything extra - the pledge prices were tax-inclusive, but I still have to actually pay the tax of course.
