Proofs Are Here!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Sep 23, 2021 at 12:13:34 AM

Proofs

Any backers who have been following recent projects have heard the deal with worldwide shipping and book production by now, but for those that haven't: cost of freight alone has tripled. There are delays at shipyards and facilities due to COVID-19. There is a shortage of both paper and cardboard. Basically, every single part of the process of making a book (or boardgame, etc.) has been disrupted and costs have skyrocketed as a result.

It's been a hard couple years for everyone involved in the project. Ultimately, we ended up having to move out of China for printing and we're back in South Korea. We're moving forward despite the costs involved (nobody sees them coming down for awhile, and when they do it'll be a negligible drop of around 9%, at least for freight, until 2022 is what I'm hearing). Anyway, I've approved the proofs, they look great! 

I'm going to hold off on surveys until books have arrived at the fulfilment center in South Korea so I know what the final weight will be once it's been packaged. I promised I wouldn't charge more for shipping than I listed on the KS page and I won't be, so no worries there! That said, I do want the costs to be accurate, so I know how much I'm losing and where.

It is currently Chuseok in Korea, their thanksgiving/mid-autumn harvest festival, so I don't expect we'll move on to printing for a couple days. When we do get a time table I'll share that all with you. Since the book is printing in Korea, international shipments will going out sooner than the US ones as the fulfilment center is also based in Korea. We're hoping freight delays won't be too long. 

I won't be selling any copies until I know all backers have their copy. I understand why some publishers do prioritize retail or cons but I absolutely loathe when it happens to me as a backer, so rest assured—the backers taking the risk will be the first to get their copies! With the massive cost increases you are also sure to be getting it even cheaper than we planned for when it hits retail.

We learned a lot from the past couple years and COVID-level disruptions hitting us. One thing's for sure, the impact of pushed, and entirely missed, deadlines, along with poor communication, are all the more devastating. I simply can't think about how much money was lost due to letting deadlines slip or I'll go nuts. I had planned on doing several projects a year when I lost my job to COVID and, needless to say, I've been unable to do so.

On a more positive note, I am gearing up for my next kickstarter. Once I'm sure everything is set for Galaxies in Peril and shipments start going out, I plan to launch my Inception-esque cyberpunk action thriller RPG, where you play therapists that specialize in delving into dreams & the unconscious to get rid of viruses that have wormed their way into the minds of consumers via advertising, media, and other nefarious means. The pre-launch page was just approved and I'm very excited for it as it's been a long time coming!

PDFs Away & Typo Hunting
over 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 07, 2021 at 10:41:41 PM

I've just updated the drivethruRPG files with the latest PDF. I did another editing pass, made sure all the page XXs and such have been changed, and even ended up needing to do some minor organizational tweaks. That said, I'm certain there are some typos waiting until the last second to be found. I'll be doing a few more passes before sending print-ready documents to the printer of course, but if you'd like to help me track them down, or happen to see any during your casual read-through, I'd be grateful if you used this google doc sheet to let me know: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YJ_jKttn6zPgt503RBRGWkYOYlMj0HrkdKCMPjQB72E/edit?usp=sharing

As always, if you have anything more substantial, like playtest feedback and the like, I'm happy to receive any such reports or feedback at samjokopublishing at gmail dot com.

If you haven't received the drivethruRPG coupon yet do let me know and I'll make sure it gets to you. This is a coupon separate from the first one I sent out awhile back because I messed that listing up. I just updated the core book. I'll be adding a high-resolution version shortly for people who want to see all that glorious artwork the way it should be seen.

I think despite the current difficulties with freight shipping out of China, we're likely to still print in Hong Kong and fulfil international orders there, but I will be getting quotes from a few other printers around the world just to see if it's worth avoiding China for the time being.

It's been rough going from the get-go on this one but I'm so very happy with the finished product. I hope you find it's worth the wait and that it hits your digital table soon, physical table shortly.

Until I know exactly what shipping will look like I'm still going to be holding off on sending out the backerkit surveys and collecting addresses and such. The state of shipping is in such flux right now that it wouldn't make sense to do it until I've locked in where my fulfilment centers will be at this point and there'll be the added bonus of having up-to-date addresses to send books to. 

I know it's a pain for anyone waiting on it to upgrade your pledge but it's coming soon, I promise you! Again, thanks very much for your patience on this one.

On the Home Stretch!
almost 3 years ago – Tue, Jul 06, 2021 at 12:29:31 AM

Hey all, just a quick update—artwork is continuing to pour in. We've only got 10 factions that need artwork left I believe and four of those already have initial sketches done. I've updated the backer heroes & villains, all of which have their artwork completed, and I've added example pages & explanations for each mission type (detectives, explorers, rebels). It's all coming together! I'm going to do another editing pass while the rest of the art comes in and then I'll send out the PDF to everyone at that level both here and on Backerkit once I've dropped in the last of the art.

After that I'll put up a document for anyone that catches any last minute typos and keep feedback open for anyone running games. Won't be long before we can go to print after that as the stickers & maps have long since been finalized!

Art!
almost 3 years ago – Thu, Jun 03, 2021 at 12:56:31 AM

Hey all,

Just wanted to say things are chugging along nicely. Jonathan has been knocking art out of the park and I've been slotting it in as he's been sending them over.

I've still got some examples I want to include to show how I use the different mission type sheets at the table and another editing pass or two to do once I do that. We're hoping for another four weeks or so for the remainder of the art to be completed! Here are some example, not-final spreads:

Chugging On
about 3 years ago – Tue, Apr 20, 2021 at 07:16:34 AM

Hey all,

Quick update this time around. I'm waiting on a last piece of interior artwork from Jonathan before I finalize the layout and lock in the page count. After that, it'll mostly be the faction artwork in the final chapter that'll need to be completed. 

I've got some other changes that are on my to-do list as well. In addition to adding the backer heroes and villains who pledged at that level, I also plan to add a few more pages so I can do a long form examples for each team type.

I also managed to bungle the art-free PDF distro by sending the coupon codes to the $1 tier, so I'm thinking of just keeping an art-free version of the game on DrivethruRPG (which is what that listing will turn into) to hopefully entice people into getting the "deluxe" version of the game. I've seen that work for other games but I'm still thinking on whether to go that route or not. We'll see! Either way, I'll be sending out new codes for the final version of the game. 

At this point, it's really just the art that needs doing. Unfortunately, the major delays previously in editing meant missing a good window with Jonathan for art. Right now we're aiming for a PDF, and then soon to print, release in July. I've got big plans to have some really amazing art, particularly for the factions in the book, that'll be sure to knock some socks off and provide inspiration for some fantastic gaming and I don't want to sacrifice any of it, even if it means we've got to wait a bit longer for it.

When I add the backer heroes and villains in I will also add those examples in. After that, I'll get another editing pass done and update the art-free version. At the same time, I'll likely send out new codes to the PDF with all the art that I'll have gotten up to that point, and that will be updated to become the final version of the game.

That's all for now. Next update I'll send out the new codes for an updated version of the game! As always, if you have any other feedback feel free to shoot me an email at samjokopublishing at gmail dot com.