Finished Decks--Update
over 8 years ago
– Fri, May 20, 2016 at 12:09:52 AM
Hi Backers,
Art is coming along well. We have finished the Wild West Era deck, the Mayan Era deck, and are about half-way through the Renaissance deck. I know many of you are antsy to see more in terms of graphic design/final layout, and we are slowly but surely getting closer to that.
My work on the decks themselves are coming along well. I have had to address the appropriateness of certain counter-intuitive mechanics (for example, the Renaissance deck has "loan" cards that take away points from you, but give you access to money that is essential to ramping your deck), whether to weigh optimal play more important than initial impressions on balance (some decks look much easier than others at first glance, but that perceived edge tapers off against a more experienced player), and flexibility vs. scriptedness (I want each deck to tell a unique story without pigeonholing players into too narrow of a set of strategic options). These are all very challenging factors to consider, but overall I am pleased with my progress. I think these decks are going to be pretty rad :)
As we continue our path towards the production stage, I will post our next update. Thank you all for your excitement and patience!
New Delivery Estimate
almost 9 years ago
– Sat, Apr 02, 2016 at 11:26:28 PM
Hi Backers,
I wanted to apologize for the gap in communication lately. My artist and I decided to sketch out all the remaining art for the decks so we could have one last "burst" of momentum here to color everything all at once, so I held off on an update until we began the art rush. We have 3.5 decks left to go, so we are almost there. After that we have the graphic design, card layout, sampling, and then finally production.
I understand it has been a long road for this project. Some things to keep in mind:
1. The game is going to look and feel fantastic. If any of you have backed Nova Cry, you will be able to see (very soon) the production quality you can come to expect from our company. I fully intend to put as much care and attention in Era as I have my other games.
2. The game is going to play great. Every few weeks I'm able to make tweaks to the decks for balance etc. and the longer I sit on the game the more refined each deck has become. If you are in the Chicago area and would like a chance to meet up to playtest Era, please send me a message!
3. I think this campaign offered great value for your pledge (four free 60-card decks, the free KS exclusive Invention deck, plus the base game for below what it will sell for retail). I hope this built-in discount alleviates a little bit of the frustration that comes from having to wait so long for delivery.
4. We have come a LONG ways and I thank you all for sticking through it. Even though you have seen the game only in small chunks, I can assure you it's going to be a solid product in the end.
As far as a new delivery estimate, I am leaving another 3 months for the art, 2 months for graphic design, plus 5 months for production and shipping, which puts us at March of 2017. There is a possibility of that happening sooner, especially if our budget gets a little roomier to allow us to complete the art and graphic design in tandem. Also, my manufacturer seems to have lead teams shorter than most production companies, so production could be as short as 3 months instead of 4.
Thank you again backers for your enthusiasm and patience...I hope to have new art to show soon.
Steve
Wham! Bam! Alakazam!
almost 9 years ago
– Sat, Feb 06, 2016 at 11:44:24 PM
The mobster deck! So glad we unlocked it.
Can't wait for you guys to play as Al Capone...he's a powerful card that gets into trouble (and out of it) quite frequently. :)
Tycoon Era art
about 9 years ago
– Mon, Jan 11, 2016 at 11:34:08 PM
Wanted: Healthy, able-bodied men ready to smelt and pound iron
to help build the next great machines of tomorrow. Pays $1.05 a day. Report immediately if interested. Absolutely
no unions!
More Rome (pt. 2)
about 9 years ago
– Wed, Dec 30, 2015 at 09:18:52 PM
Because everyone needs a little more Rome in their life. Enjoy!
Quick question as well: In Era, your time period can span a very short period of time or a very long period of time. The Rome deck spans a very large period of time in Roman history. Does anyone have any qualms with a Rome deck that contains both Julius Caesar and Hannibal, two figures in history that actually lived hundreds of years apart? Caesar of course never directly fights the Carthaginian general, and vice versa. But to a casual observer thumbing through the deck, it might look like the deck was a mixing pot of "Roman history highlights" or a mixture of two separate Roman time periods, and breaks historical accuracy. But nothing explicitly in the deck suggests the events and persons coincided in time.
Thematically and mechanically, it was a right fit for this deck, but I would be interested to know for future deck designs. Thanks.
