Update #34: Charging Cards and Shipping Dice
about 4 years ago
– Wed, Aug 26, 2020 at 08:22:50 AM
Hi, friends.
I hope that things have been smoothing out a little for you during these rocky times, and that this update comes as a nice diversion from the unique challenges we've all been facing with this pandemic.
This update is short and sweet, but important. We are so close now!
The bag toppers are in and I think they turned out great! I left enough space at the top of each for a die cut hanger (sombrero cut or simple hole), but have decided not to cut them as I don't think we have any retail store backers and the process would just slow shipping down. If we get some orders down the road by retail stores, that's a different story. If any of you were planning on stocking the dice in a store, I'll be happy to make a circle cut or even buy a sombrero hole cutter if you contact me in time. Doing so could delay your shipment a bit, so please contact me asap if you would like your bag toppers cut for hanging in a store. Thanks.
I got an email the other day from Q Workshop with a photo. It doesn't do the dice justice, but I know it isn't easy taking pictures of a pile of dice (I'm lousy at it.) Still, I'm glad they sent it . . . and it was fun to see the different ones!
So, the time has finally come to start charging credit cards and to finalize shipping addresses. This here update is your 48 hour notice that we will start charging cards on 8/27 (please be sure your card info on Backerkit is up to date so nothing slows down getting your dice!)
Also, please double check your shipping addresses on Backerkit to make sure they reflect where you want your dice shipped. If you are in the middle of moving or are about to, it might be a good idea to have your dice shipped to a relative or make other arrangements to make sure you get your order at the correct address.
That's all for today, folks, I hope the rest of your week goes very well!
Cheers -- Bob
Update #33: Onward!
over 4 years ago
– Mon, Aug 17, 2020 at 07:27:37 PM
Hi, all!
We are getting very close now! I reached out to Q Workshop and got an update on the dice and put together some goodies for shipping them out. Here's the latest . . .
The dice have been manufactured and are in the queue to be painted. They tell me that process should be completed by Aug. 27th at the very latest. I asked for some pictures, but they said if they manage to get some for me, it wouldn't be until around the 27th when they do a final quality control on all of the dice before packing and shipping them out to me.
I don't have an ETA yet for the shipment from the factory to me, but should know by the end of the month. I'm not sure how long it will take the dice to reach me, or for me to package, address and ship out all of the orders, but I'd guess about 2 weeks or so after I receive them. It depends in part on how many vacation days my day job allows me to take off. Regardless, it won't be long now!
All of the packing materials have arrived, except the bag toppers to enclose the tops of the bags of dice, but they will arrive before the paint is dry on the dice. Speaking of which, here's a mockup I made . . .
I also made an insert for the Apocalypse Rising dice with the instructions on one side and a pic of my shadow reaper standing against a backdrop of one of my post-apocalyptic worlds in the Cosmoverse. It shouldn't take long at all to nail down how to use the Apocalypse Rising dice, so I figured I'd put something cooler to look at on the other side. Here's what it looks like . . .
I'm going to put it on the QT Games publishing site, too, for easy download later. In fact, I think I'll put up a new section before long for downloading goodies.
EBooks: All 3 of my books are up on Amazon now (Sea of Worms is up for pre-order and goes live this Thursday, and Arcane Synthesis in a couple weeks. So, for those of you who ordered The Shadow Reaper, Sea of Worms and/or Arcane Synthesis: A Blended-Genre Anthology, you will get to read those cool books very soon! I have to look into how to transfer those over to those of you who ordered them. Shouldn't be long for them either!
What's Next? Thanks for asking! We need to charge cards and finalize shipping addresses. If you haven't checked your Kickstarter credit card to be sure it's up to date, or your physical address on Kickstarter, please do so. We'll be charging cards and locking down addresses in the next week or two. I'll remind you right before we do so.
We still have about 20 missing backers, so we'll just have to deal with those orders when they eventually show up. Not sure how that will all be resolved yet. I haven't heard a peep from any of them, but I hope to before long. That's all for today. I hope you are getting excited as I am. It won't be long now!
Cheers! — Bob
Update #32: Pandemic, Backerkit, Dice Update and Things to Come
over 4 years ago
– Wed, Jul 29, 2020 at 06:25:22 PM
Hi, gang.
The first part of this is personal. For an update, jump down below.
It seems like a lifetime ago since I sat down in an actual restaurant, played a board game face to face with friends or even just had friends over to the house to chat. Don't ever let someone tell you normality is boring. I'd love a bit of normality about now! As you are all too aware, life has been turned upside down, but it won't stay this way forever. If you've been feeling down about the state of things, take heart - better times are coming! Sure, things are going to stay upside down for a bit longer, but one of the constants we can rely on is that things don't stay the same forever. I hope you've all managed to stay safe and sane during these rocky times.
I know that a number of you vanished off my radar near the tail end of the Kickstarter, despite your enthusiasm for the dice, so that made me a little nervous, especially those that paid and then never selected their dice. Things were just heating up with the coronavirus in some regions and there's still 20 of you or thereabouts that I've been wondering about, and hoping for the best. You are all special and I hope you've been doing okay and have just been silent due to being busy. Or if you were sick, that you are better now and that things are starting to smooth out for you!
It seems we've all lost some loved ones or friends this year. It's been a hard year, but we all have to do our best to stand together, be as positive as we can be and keep moving forward. My heart goes out to those who are still suffering. I was hit pretty hard too, but not as hard as some. Hang in there, and if you ever need an ear, I"ll do my best. to be there for you. Just PM me and I'll answer when I'm able to.
Custom Dice Update: Well, we seem to be mostly on schedule. I ordered all of the supplies for shipping and most of them arrived over the weekend. We're still waiting for Q Workshop to wrap up dice production. That should happen in mid-August or so. And then they'll ship them to me so I can begin filling orders. Instead of waiting around, I've been formatting novels shown on Backerkit, and worked some on Darkhold: Prelude to Apocalypse, a gloomy, but cool board game set in my Toonaria Universe.
If you don't want to know more about Darkhold, jump down to "Update Continued", below. I included it because I thought you might find it interesting.
In Darkhold, you wake up in a dark cell with nothing, and try to escape before the Dark One shows up. You'll need to help others escape or you'll never make it. The game is modular - built as you explore. beyond your cell. Rooms also rotate at times, which can make it easier or more difficult to escape certain sections. Darkhold is a blend of super high tech machinery and magic. Rooms have been themed, but can change on you. One room might be filled with water now, and then later shift away to be replaced by a different room, or be completely rebuilt using nanotechnology to appear as a section of burning city, swamp or complex of caves, each with their own challenges. You'll find gear along the way and will need to help other survivors to have any chance of escaping yourself. Even so, ultimately, you're going to be looking out for your own skin, I imagine.
You don't know why you're there, but bits of the story will be revealed during the game. Darkhold is part of a major Toonaria storyline that I'll hopefully find time to publish more about in the days ahead. I'll tell you more about that later. PM me if you want to know more about that dark game of survival. :)
Update Continued . . .
As for the novels, I finished the Kindle version of Sea of Worms and if you put it or The Shadow Reaper in your shopping cart, you should get the book(s) late August, if all goes well. I'm currently formatting Arcane Synthesis, but will take a break from it this week to create some bag toppers for the dice. It shouldn't take long and then I'll be back on Arcane Synthesis, so we can get that to you around the same time as the other books, if you ordered any (If you didn't, you missed out on some very cool stories, but can pick them up later on Amazon, hopefully before the price goes up. They are all set within my vast Cosmoverse.)
If you have never been to Backerkit (the deadline to finalize your dice is long, long past), please go asap. If you lost your email link to select your dice, please contact me asap. Thanks! That's it for today, friends. Just wanted to let you all know that I care about you and how you are doing, that I appreciate you, and also wanted to let you know what I've been up to.
Cheers! ---Bob
Update #31: Custom Dice Update and a Secret Project!
over 4 years ago
– Sat, Jul 04, 2020 at 06:12:08 AM
Hey, gang!
It's been awhile so I wanted to touch base. Q Workshop tells me we're looking at approximately mid-August for completing dice manufacturing. Then they'll ship the dice to me and once I get them, I'll pack up everything and then ship the packages out to you! If the dice reach me by the end of August, I should be able to ship everything out roughly 2 weeks or so after that, depending on whether I can acquire some packing help or not. And then around late September early October you should have your dice, assuming the pandemic doesn't interfere or there is some other problem with manufacturing. So far, so good!
I've been researching supplies (packing materials, tape, labels, inner bags, etc.) and will buy those shortly so I'll be ready to roll when the dice arrive. I have some other goodies I need to do, too, including formatting both Sea of Worms and Arcane Synthesis.
Backerkit: There are still 19 of you who have never been to BackerKit, so I had to guess what you wanted, buy some extras and hope for the best. We should be okay, but I want to make sure you get your dice, so if you haven't finalized your dice orders, please do so - we are way past the deadline to do that. There's also several of you who have never finalized your addresses or payment information. Please double check if you aren't sure you are up to date, so there are no delays in getting you your dice. Thanks!
What have I been doing lately? Lots, as usual! I've been bouncing between working on formatting Sea of Worms (making good progress), and also designing another exciting tabletop game tentatively titled:
As with most of the board games I've designed over the years, Darkhold is set within my Toonaria Campaign Setting. It incorporates the basic Epic Destines Engine (EDE) with additional bells and whistles applicable to the experience I'm trying to create. It's part of a long-running storyline in Toonaria that I've only hinted at previously in my blogs and other writings. Darkness is a major feature in Toonaria and the reason behind the facility is tied to both ancient and upcoming events within that universe. I have a pile of stories delving into the topic, but I've kept the game narrowly focused. It's about survival, hunger, darkness and desperation - basically trying to escape a dark and deadly prison.
You wake up in a cell with amnesia and your basic abilities, and that's it. Rumor has it the Dark One's coming for you and you need to keep moving, find the tools to survive and the way out. Ironically, as I was completing the prototype I ran across a very old movie called "The Cube" and was pleasantly surprised to see some overlaps. They are wildly different storylines and the environments are quite different as well, but still it was fun to watch. (I sometimes play a movie in the background as I work, for background noise, when not playing music.) It's looking very cool so far, and is something I can finish faster than Freeze Or Burn, which I was working on before running the Kickstarter. I'll get back to that big, cool game when the time is right.
I have a prototype made of Darkhold and should be able to do some early playtesting this weekend. It's still a long way from being ready to publish, of course, and includes a modular game board that doesn't lend itself well to Print And Play due to the amount of printing and cutting, so it's a bigger project. But yeah, it's looking very promising!
If enough folks show interest, I might continue my design and fiction blog and post my progress and design process. Let me know! If not, that's okay, too. I'll put in some sneak peeks in our QT Games newsletter down the road, if nothing else. More on Darkhold, fiction and dice later! In the days ahead I'll also be refining Triply and Zone Racer, of course, and other games waiting their turn.
To my US friends, happy Independence Day! Stay safe, all, wherever you live, and have a great weekend. Cheers!
Bob
Update #30: Lockdown May 27th & Zone Racer (Free!)
over 4 years ago
– Thu, May 28, 2020 at 06:03:30 AM
Hi, gang.
I see that most of you have finalized your dice orders-that's terrific! Thanks so much!
We're now down to 12 backers who started but didn't finish their order and 33 backers who have not yet answered their surveys and gone over to Backerkit. I know two of you have had email problems. If you never saw the email with a link to your pledge on Backerkit and have checked your Spam folder and confirmed your address listed on Kickstarter is up to date, please contact me asap.
The Lockdown date is tomorrow end of day (27th.) Actually, I extended it several hours beyond that, but we need to get the dice orders in to Q Workshop this week so they can begin production. I know life is still somewhat upside down with the pandemic. If you are struggling financially or health-wise, let's talk. No one needs to go through the pandemic alone! I care about you guys and not hearing from you makes me worry you are sick or are struggling in some other way. We are stronger when we stand together. Feel free to contact me and let's talk! Obviously I only have so much time to talk, but I do care, and if you don't hear from me right away, please be patient as I might be interacting with another backer (or my day job, etc.) If you are having trouble with Backerkit or have a question or concern, please reach out. Thanks!
Okay, on to Zone Racer! Here's a pic from a playtest I conducted the other day:
A couple quick things to note: The ships have since been revised a little from what you see above. I didn't print them on cardstock or laminate them because I knew I would be updating them tonight. And those dice are an old prototype of the Harbinger D12 (the official ones look different and are not so huge.) None of the art is final, of course. This is just an Alpha playtest, (I know I did more art than was needed, but I'm an artist and was having fun with it!) I'll be putting the game up on Backerkit within the next day or two (been working on it like mad - if you would like to see it up close and personal even sooner, just let me know.) I need to finish an adjustment to the ships and finish setting up the card files for you.
The non Print and Play version will have a much bigger board, final art and more goodies, but this Print and Play will continue to be refined (and as long as you keep your email address current with me, I can make sure you have the latest version.) I think you'll really enjoy Zone Racer! And I'm hoping to hear your feedback so I can improve it even more! Don't forget we've also got Triply for download (both use 3 Harbinger D12s.) Here's some pages from the rulebook:
That's all for today. Let's wrap this Backerkit campaign up and get the dice rolling into production! Thanks!
Cheers! -- Bob
Pre-Order Link ( https://overkill-dice.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders )
Backerkit Link ( https://overkill-dice.backerkit.com/ )
