Pathfinder Version Completed; Fulfillment In Process
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 03:29:33 AM
Production Update
Hi all! It's done: the 837-page Dark Obelisk 1: Berinncorte, Collector's Edition for Pathfinder has been finished, published, and fulfilled.
If you're entitled to this (which nearly all of you are), you should receive a notification from DriveThruRPG within the hour with your free digital copy. If you don't receive that in the next hour or so, comment/email/message me and I'll investigate ASAP.
Hardcopy Edition
DTRPG is swamped with winter-holiday orders, so it will be sometime in January before I'll receive a hardcopy proof and can approve, order copies for Adamantium signing, and provide POD discount codes for those entitled.
Remaining Products
5E / Fifth Edition Version
Up next is the 5E conversion, which is exciting because if you'll recall, the original printing never really finished this satisfyingly... the file was corrupted. No more issues there, though; I should have the 5E version published and fulfilled next week.
Crunch Supplement
This ~64 page softcover will contain Common NPCs, Common Monsters, and Custom Monsters, and will be completed next week.
CE Atlas and Players' Guide
These will also finish and fulfill next week.
Conclusion
Thank you for your patience as we've reached this point. Your support has made this possible!
Onward!
Production Update: Nearly There!
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 03:28:19 AM
Pathfinder Edition
Good news: I've completed the Pathfinder version of this book. A few touch-ups and proofreads and we should be in good shape to deliver. Early next week seems reasonable.
The only downside is that the book will weigh in at 840 pages, on the dot. But that's with the Key NPCs and Villains only. Unable to fit are the following:
- Common NPCs
- Common Monsters
- Forces of the Obelisk (i.e., custom monsters)
I'm torn; on the one hand, I want everything in a single book; that was a big piece of the whole point of this project, to harmonize the two big books into a single massive book.
I think what I'll have to do is to create a separate softcover that's just the above pieces.
Those entitled to the Adventure Book would automatically get a copy of the supplementary booklet for free, and anyone entitled to a POD discount on the main book would similarly get one for the booklet as well of course.
Adamantium backers would receive a print copy of the softcover, also hand-signed, for free.
If you can think of a better solution, I'm all ears... I've trimmed out as much space as I feel comfortable with, so there's zero chance of fitting everything in unfortunately.
Fifth Edition Conversion
This won't take long; should have this complete by end of next week most likely.
In terms of space, 5E statblocks generally consume less space than PFRPG ones, so there's a better chance of being able to fit the "extra" elements listed above in the 5E version. I'll let you know as soon as I have a sense, probably mid next week.
If it turns out the book tops 840, then I'll be inclined to take the above approach in terms of offering a supplementary booklet.
Onward!
Production Update: On Target for This Month!
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Dec 12, 2020 at 03:25:58 AM
Hi all! A little more focused of an update specifically on DO1CE as opposed to the general one as part of the State of the Realm update yesterday.
Production Update
Things are progressing very well. Layout kinks and learning curve have both been overcome now, so our layout team member is full-tilt on making this happen.
The one concern outstanding is whether we can make everything fit into 840 pages, the limit for DTRPG hardcovers. So far, so good, but we'll see!
Enhancements
I realize that many of you pledged even though you already own the original DO1. For those folks especially, but also for everyone's interest, here's a quick list of the ways in which the Collectors' Edition will be an improvement over the original:
- Improved readability: Lighter parchment texture image for the background
- Improved readability: Default font is now 10pt (vs. 9pt previously)
- Improved readability: Spacing added between each major block
- Improved usability: Nearly every single level 2/3 header has been reformatted to cross-page so it's easier to zone in on what you're looking for at game time
- Improved usability: Each area of interest is now aligned with its map so there's less flipping back and forth
- Improved readability: Text block styles (e.g., GM readaloud text) are now hanging indented as they were in DO2 and DE
- Improved accuracy: Tweaked and edited LOTS of typos and issues here and there
- Added content: Added NPC images for each and every key NPC / dramatis personae (these additional art commissions were part of Berinncorte Basecamp, which had many of the same NPCs)
Timing & Fulfillment
At this rate, we're on target to complete the Pathfinder version by the end of next week, hopefully sooner. The 5E edition will take a little longer, say another week or so beyond that.
Digital fulfillment will occur immediately following completion in each case.
Hardcovers
DTRPG is overloaded with winter holiday orders at the moment, so we're talking January until I will be able to get a hardcover proof copy from their printers (assuming the timeline above). Following that it'll be a quick turnaround for those entitled to this reward.
Onward!
State of the Realm: Q4 2020
over 3 years ago
– Mon, Dec 07, 2020 at 07:46:45 AM
Hiya! Hope you're enjoying the burgeoning winter (or whatever season it happens to be where you are).
Please find the Q4 2020 Infinium Game Studio State of the Realm update here.
As I established in the Q2 2020 Realm update earlier in the year, I have honest, updated targets for each and every product in the pipeline. That policy will continue.
We've long established that my ability to estimate is not ideal, but I do enjoy sharing with you my best guess and trying to be as transparent as possible about what's going on, when, and what I'm doing about it.
Accomplishments
2020 certainly has been an enormous year. Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm for 5E, for Pathfinder Second Edition, for OSR, and for DCC have all been completed and published. And I even expanded all editions of the Bestiary by an additional 60 monsters, bringing the total to 1,660 monsters, over 33,000 complete statblocks spread over more than 20,000 pages of published content.
As part of that, I established my first-ever formal agreement with another third-party publisher, and got approval to publish the Bestiary for DCC using the Dungeon Crawl Classics logo and official support.
The FlexAI Guidebook was completed and published. The FTEG Solo Adventuring Quickstart, and its accompanying Quickstart Bestiaries for PFRPG, 5E, and P2E, were published.
And more recently, just last week, the Content Conversion Guide was completed and published, along with its companion Excel Conversion Mapping Inventory tool.
All in all, four Silver bestsellers and two Copper bestsellers in the IGS library at this point on DriveThruRPG, including #1 Hottest Small Press, #1 Most Popular Under $5, and #6 Bestselling Overall honors (all for the Content Conversion Guide).
Updated Project Targets
In keeping with the new approach established earlier this year, the State of the Realm update features honest, best-guess assessments of where outstanding work will be completed and fulfilled. I want to remain as transparent as possible, even if that frustrates some people, because as a backer of over 500 indie RPG projects myself, I'd rather have a best-guess that changes, than a vague "I'm working on it" promise.
I want to stress, and thank you for, the overwhelming amount of optimistic, understanding, sympathetic, and generally positive feedback I've received. Most of you seem to be super thrilled; many of you are eager to hear more, and I do respect that some of you are frustrated.
I have always delivered, and I will continue to deliver, as rapidly, and as completely, as I am capable of. I thank you for your patience, now in this bizarre 2020 situation more than ever, and for the nearly 10,000 of you who have received at least one IGS product already, I'm always eager to hear your feedback!
Thank You!
Thank you as always for your patience, support, and constructive feedback. 2020 has been a heck of a year for us all, and yet, IGS has continued to produce a TON of products spanning thousands and thousands of pages and over a dozen books.
We're looking forward to much, much more yet in what has already been a record-breaking year of productivity for our teeny-tiny indie geekfest company. None of this would be remotely possible without you, your support, and your own passion.
So: Thank you!
Onward!
Production Timeline & New Kickstarter: Dark Harbor & FREE Gothic Horror Fiction Novel
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Oct 03, 2020 at 02:30:37 PM
Production Timeline
Here's a mini-State of the Realm update: Following the release of v1.1 of Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm which expanded the world's largest bestiary by 60 additional monsters, we continue to make HUGE progress on a number of items in the pipeline.
The remainder of 2020 should see ABRE: OSR/DCC, the Conversion Guide, Monsters of Aquilae, the ABRE Master Index, DO1: Collectors Edition, Mystery of Brushgather Farm, and the Solo Adventuring Toolkit published at minimum. AA3 and other projects that have been long waiting will follow shortly.
I've said it a number of places, but the hugeness of the impact bears underscoring: Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm consumed more than TWO YEARS more time than I had originally planned, due mostly to a lack of automation where I had anticipated being able to automate things (but my Day Job and COVID certainly didn't help).
With this enormous project now nearly off my plate, I get to focus fully on fulfilling the backlog of committed work, and let me tell you, I'm even more excited to do that than you are to receive it.
That segues us to...
It's Ravenloft meets Planescape, by way of Saw. If that doesn't spark some interest, then skip the rest of this message and have a great weekend.
Between the timing of the season, and the enormity of progress and the tens of thousands of pages of work that's been accomplished lately, I felt the time was right to formally initialize the next thing in line. Check it out here. I'm also switching to an official honest-to-goodness business Kickstarter account for Infinium Game Studio.
A few things of interest here:
1: No Impact to the Pipeline
There will be zero impact to the timeline of existing committed work. Dark Harbor will ONLY deliver AFTER all existing committed work is delivered. I am keenly, keenly aware that I owe a great deal of stuff to a great many people, all of whom have collectively made doing what I love most possible to begin with. I am working as hard as is physically possible to deliver hundreds of pages of content each month, a pace which I hope to keep up going forward.
2: Target of Halloween 2021
It's gothic horror, so launching in October and delivering on Halloween next year makes a helluva lot of thematic sense.
The main reason I'm launching now is that I want to have a lot of artwork in this. The stuff I have in the Kickstarter is representative, but it takes a huge amount of lead time: the dozen or so pieces I have already completed were the result of organizing things with artists over the past 2 years in the background. So I'd love to get a sense of what the collective interest level, and my budget, will allow.
Also, based on my throughput over the last year or so, I fully expect that I completing my entire backlog of work by October 2021 will be entirely feasible, so the timing makes sense from that standpoint as well.
3: Free Novel
Years ago, I finished a horror novel set in the present day situated in the mythology of the Dark Harbor campaign setting. Dark Harbor the novel is not quite the same thing asDark Harbor the RPG concept, not least of which because the former is present-day and the latter is swords and sorcery, but the basic structures are there, and if nothing else, it'll give you a feel for things if you're interested but on the fence.
4: Who Gets What
If you're a backer of Dark Obelisk 2, Gauntlets & Gaslight, or Western Realm Gazetteer, or are otherwise already entitled to "Dark Harbor", fear not: you will automatically receive all digital products from the campaign; no pledge or additional involvement necessary. There's more detail in the Kickstarter campaign description but you get the idea.
FREE Gothic Horror Fiction Novel
Grab your FREE PDF of the Dark Harbor fiction novel here. Despite having published over 50 RPG products spanning tens of thousands of pages, I'm actually somewhat embarrassed and shy about my actual fiction writing, which is why I've only finished 3 novels of which one is entirely unpublished because it's semi-autobiographical, so take it easy on me in the feedback department with this book. :)
Onward!
