After a much needed couple of weeks rest (and an additional waiting period for the funds to hit), the Clawhammer team is back at work and ready to rumble. We met this past week to establish our finalized project timeline, so here's the agenda for today's update:
Tell you our production roadmap
Share some new art
Give you a small sneak peek at the game text itself
The Roadmap
First things first: the text of the game, as of this past Friday, is fully and completely drafted. From here on out, Nic and I are only going to touch it if Dominique tells us that we need to. Having that draft done is a huge step, and is in fact the biggest thing that we absolutely need to push the game to print.
Our goal is (and always has been) to start printing the zine on October 1st. Our text deadline was August 31st, which we handily hit, and the copy edit deadline is Sep. 8th, which Dominique is on track for. Art and layout are a little trickier, since there's more to do!
With our stretch goals, Reese is now committed to 8 large pieces and between 10 and 15 smaller pieces (or floaters). Here's an example of a large piece:
The Watchtower, an organic, sunflower-esque structure with an eyeball at the top, surrounded by textureless monoliths on all sides
And here's an example of a floater:
That Which Sits At the Peak of the World, a swing set on a hill overlooking a vast and varied landscape
As you can see, the large pieces are a lot flashier and more involved, while the floaters are designed to go anywhere. We're aiming to have all of the artwork done by Sep. 17th. So far, Reese has completed 7 of the 8 major pieces and 11 floaters. I don't know how she does it, but I sure as hell ain't complaining.
And that just leaves layout, which can't start until the artwork and text are done. MC, the legend that he is, says that he can do it in two weeks flat, so our estimated roadmap has layout finishing on October 1st, which is when we would get our print samples and tests done. That means that we will, barring any insane production issues, have the base game shipping to you by the end of October. That will include the standard zine, the foil edition, and the trifolds. We also will have the stickers and bookmarks ready for that order as well.
If you're someone who is waiting on the book of legend, the postcard set, the tarot and playing card, and the map template, fear not. I have not forgotten you, most loyal and brave backer! We wanted to prioritize getting the base game done first, so that we could start fulfillment sooner rather than later. The Book of Legend draft is already underway (we have around 10,000 words written), and I have started snooping around for guest writers for it... so stay tuned on that in a future update.
The postcards, playing card, map template, etc. will be coming as soon as possible. Once MC is done with layout, we'll be starting production on the secondary products. I don't have a solid date for you, but it would absolutely shock me if they weren't in the mail by the end of November. And that's a conservative estimate--I will be trying to get them to you sooner if at all possible. Thank you for your patience and understanding! We're going as fast as we can, while still maintaining the level of quality you have come to expect from me and from my team.
A Quick Little Sneak Peek
I promised you a bit of a game design blog. Well, nobody asked, but I still answered. This is for backers only... so read on!
