News From the Bog V5: More, and more and MORE!
over 5 years ago – Tue, Sep 04, 2018 at 10:44:36 PM

Good afternoon goblinkind  

It's been a while and felt like August would never end but here we stand on the first day of September with everyone coming down to the Marsh for another update.

While it seemed that everyone was on holidays, the bog has been frantic with work, not only on the marsh but also on the “coming-next” project…. Not the forum right now. 

After finishing the Undermire cover, Mary has moved onto working on the illustrations of the first set of Project X. 

In the cover fronts, Andres has finished the Miremarsh retail cover and is continuing with the rest of the final illustrations. Yes, I said the retail cover of Miremarsh. Here it is. 

We have decided to hear your call yet again and understood that the current Miremarsh cover, although not ideal for retail shelves, carried a great significance for the community formed around the campaign and the game itself. We have been living that dark and improvised cover for many months now and we all appreciate the value it carries for us all. So, the news is that we will stick to that “KS Exclusive Box Cover” for the 2000 copies we will produce to fulfil your orders pledges (unless we have to increase it a bit due to the pledge manager 😉) and then as conversations continue with publishers around the world, we will run the retail ones depicting the art above. 

But fear not, to ensure that you all have the chance at enjoying that art, we are proposing an office mouse-mat with the art of the retail cover on it. Again, the fantastic professionals at Deep Cut Studio will take good care of this item that will be available on the PM. It will look something like this: 

As you can imagine, rockgobs’ sculpts have been flowing nicely and steadily from our friends at Beholder Factory and the talented team that Matt Parkes manages (all bog goblins came from his hand). Here are some WIP of the minis as they are. 

After the great effort from Matt & Sam, the updated ruleset is now laid out and in the capable hands of Graham for editing and text organising as only he can do! The minute the final touches are on, we will post an Update only for that with a downloadable PDF (only some days from now) 

On the other-rules front, Matt & Sam are almost done in the Monsters, rock-gobs, new tiles and of course Undermire so we will show you this following the same process (pre-lay out, Graham editing, PDF) 

The manufacturers are already working on all fronts, from China (Ningbo Eastar Game Manufacturing Co. - game, minis, etc) to Lithuania (DepCut Studio - Mellekai’s Cauldron, office Mouse mat) though Poland (Q Workshop – dice bags) to UK (Hysterical Games resins) so we can offer you all the goodies in good time and show you asap the results of the first samples. 

I want to thank the lucky six for your kind reviews. It is important that the rest ask them about any details you may want to know or any doubts you may have. Please do so through the comments so everybody can benefit from the answers and always keep the manners you bunch of gobs! 

On the PM front, Anders is preparing a lot of interesting items and buying options for everyone to enjoy and mix and match. Still waiting for some quotes on dice bags of premium/good/medium quality, T-shirts with our beloved Fenlord and other cool stuff. As always, hit us with what would you like to see, and we will explore the options. Finally on this topic and to make it clear, there won’t be an all-in option during the PM. 

Anders and I are still working on the double layer board comes and goes and I must say that the bids are leaning towards making it happen for free to all of you for Miremarsh and of course the Undermire (provided the wrapping edges, etc are as we want). We know you appreciate the financial effort we will be making here for an element that MUST be on each box. So, being goblins as we are, we will place a “Tip Jar” on the pledge manager for those of you that want to help us to waive that extra cost. Let’s not make a fuzz of this, please. If you want to donate, AWESOME, if you don’t/can’t, equally great. 

For retailers, Anders is preparing a comprehensive shopping list with the relevant trade discount prices and taxes taken care of. Best option will be to contact us if you are a retailer to make sure we prepare your store order properly and you benefit from a good trade service. 

Finally, a reminder that we (Anka, Anders and myself) will be at Essen from Friday to Sunday - no stand unfortunately - and of course at Mellekai's Fringe Event with all the artillery. If you are going, come and see us and all the samples we will have with us there - and of course some sneak picks of our coming next.

Well, I think that is all for the moment, so I leave you with a tribute to Mary Safro who is leaving to Ireland very soon not without finishing her incredible work with us.

See you on the bog!

News From the Bog V4: Production Samples!
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 02:21:00 PM

Good afternoon every goblin!  

After my holidays, I came to the office on Sunday only to find on my desk the first two samples of the printed contents from the manufacturer alongside more minis out of the second mould (still working on the third and fourth that would complete the contents of the main box set). 

What it was meant to be a boring "catching-up emails Sunday", has become a "I gotta tell them Gobs about it all!". While Anka, Kev, Matt and Sam are still working on finalising and laying out the written content - rules, cards and tiles - I couldn't help myself and publish the next Update to review the materials received. Here it comes, enjoy it:

Box: Although Andres is working on a new art for the box (we are still in the process of deciding if we keep this as a KS exclusive or not), the specs and sturdiness of the box is spotless. The samples we have here are the linen finished box, but the thickness and quality of the cardboard stock is the desired one.The interior of the box is in spotless white stock (not grey board) for a more quality feel.

Punchboard: Perfect. The distribution of the elements is correct and the dielines are accurate (nothing offsets and the tokens benefit from a precise cut). Also very important, they punch out nicely and clean but retain good strength to ensure that the punchboard will arrive complete (so no loose tokens coming off the board due to transit movement). 

Rulebook: The printing is neat and the darker colours (sometimes a poor-printing problem) look clean and consistent in all pages with good contrast. Stapled correctly and no manufacturing defects. 

This is the 16 pages booklet, as you know, the final one will incorporate 4 more pages to cover new rules for landmarks, knick-knacks and more room for explanation. 

Tiles: Although we thought about keeping them matt varnish coated, the addition of linen finish gives them a great feel and strength that avoids warping, making them completely flat for a good game feel. 

Cards: No mystery in cards. We have what we expected and wanted for. No surprises here!

Dice: you have already seen the dice. I want to stress the great execution frommthe manufacturer making justice to the fantastic selection of colours Anka did, alongside her icons design!

Minis: I believe we have hit the perfect spot with the minis.Those of you receiving samples from the first test batch (sent a few days ago), please comment on it! 

The 95% PVC hardness chosen has allowed for an almost 100% accuracy and detail retention (although there is the natural expected loss of detail – hence the resin is what it is in terms of price and manufacturing possibilities for quality!) 

The Board: As you know, from the beginning of this game design, we were looking into the possibilities of a double layered board and so, that was the sample of the board we wanted to receive from the manufacturer (no mystery in a single-layered board). The challenges on this tri-folding board are: 

• Wrapping edges/framing - As most of you know, the bottom of a good quality board is covered with a black and strong paper (from 90 to 185 gsm!) that wraps over the illustrated side forming a lovely black frame. In the samples we have received, this is not the case, so I'm to enquire the manufacturer as why.

• Folding lines – all folding boards will have this issue: how the folding affects the look of the board once opened. I think this looks as expected. Whereas not completely unperceived, I don’t think this would be better if the board was single layered. 

• Offset Art – this was my main design fear. If the first layer of the board would offset the bottom layer, the effect would be cheap and rushed. I must say that in these two samples, the boards look absolutely in line and pleasant. 

• Cost – this is something I need to look very closely. We want a game that retails at £45 - £50. Even with the addition of certain components from the KS campaign, we don’t want to escalate this price band. More tiles, the marking boots, more pages on the rulebook, more cards, three more minis, etc may stretch the double-layered board a bit of a stretch.  

The good news are that the cutting tool has been created, the manufacturer can do it with the excellence we were after (barring the framing issue) and the board is there. Let’s see if increasing volumes with the distributors/publishers that are already interested on the game, can compensate this extra cost to allow us to include this otherwise fantastic-feeling board that keeps all tiles in place and a clean and neat gaming area. 

The result of the board is however too good to not keep pushing to make it happen!

I will update on this once we calculate all the manufacturing costs in the next few weeks. But please give us your opinion and ideas! 

Perhaps we could sell the board during the pledge manager? Add an upgrade to all backers’ boxes for an additional £5-10? Tell us what you think, please. 

The feel is really good, although we all know that the game has been played for years with a single layered board with no problem and great experience… Perhaps this is something we don't need? 

All in all, we seem to be nicely on track with production and preparation of the technical elements in place (dielines, moulds, etc). Design (sculpt, illustration and graphic design) continues and will be finished in the next two weeks with new sculpts taking the longest. Leaving only the final decision on the board and hoping for a quick turn around from the manufacturing, shipment and fulfilment. 

We are about to start the manufacturing of Mellekai’s Cauldron (AKA the dice tray) and can confirm now that the coins and plastic elements are also in good progress with the manufacturing and mould study accordingly. 

We will keep you inform of all this as we progress and we hope to start seeing expansion samples soon! 

As always, please send us your impressions and comments and don’t forget to share the love in all social media for a good late pledge (more people, more volume, better price on production, more chances for that GREAT board to be in!).

Thanks

Moving Right Along
over 5 years ago – Sat, Aug 18, 2018 at 07:26:54 PM

We want to let you guys peep behind the curtain to show you what, how, where and when (maybe not the when...or the where...) things came into being with Miremarsh and the world around it.

Swampy Swampness of Deathly Death

Or Miremarsh as we now all know it as, came in to being from those lovely chaps, Matt and Sam. This dark, horror game had a rather large twist of humour (as the name suggested), but after some serious thought and back and forth, the title seemed a little too slapstick for this bunch of marauding Bog Goblins and so Miremarsh became the official moniker.

Andres was fully in the flow of producing artwork to fit the feel and theme of the game and soon started to produce the dark marshland creatures and environments that would bring the game to life. His wonderful illustrations instantly fit the atmosphere of the rich, natural textures of the landscape in which these mischievous little rapscallions could go to work.

The Bog Goblins

These foul smelling "Heroes" needed to match both the look and feel of the game. With both the sculptor and Andres working hand in hand along with pointers from Graham in the studio, we came to what you see now! 

And with each passing Goblin, the designs just keep getting better and better!

The Undermire

When the time came to start working on the Undermire, Mary was given the task of creating a distinctive visual style that would fit in the same world as Miremarsh but would be instantly recognisable as a separate place. With her glowing crystals, colour choices and fairytale style she made the world below the surface shine for those above to see. We enjoyed how the magical soft glows hid the cruel treachery of the underground locations.

The illustrations inspired so many ideas for tiles, monsters and even game elements, such as the ghosts and design of the landmarks.

Moving Right Along

Game elements are now being sent to print as we finalise the various parts of the game. The final rules are currently in the process of being completed and we're looking good for our set completion date. 

Test components are now being shipped to various backers for feedback and we're excited to get the ball rolling toward the end goal.

Thanks all for your continued interest and input, we love it!

Room 17 Games

News From the Bog V3: Not much but is ours
over 5 years ago – Tue, Aug 14, 2018 at 06:06:56 AM

Good morning everyone;

First of all, a big apology for the delay on this update. Thursday and Friday were crazy days and just disappeared before we realised! 

The good news is that it has given Andres time to finish ALL the Rock Goblins and not just the next one (Killer). So, let me introduce you to Dazzler the crystal she-goblin shaman and Harvester! 

You saw a bit of Killer's face in the process of sculpting on the last Update (27), so let's see how the process went.

The first RockGob was Cutter, straight out of the original concept you can see in the "Recruit the Rock Goblins" quest. Andres completed Cutter and passed the illustration to Matt's team to produce the first sculpt. That generated the mood for the gang and the minis. 

With the illustration and the complete sculpt, we had enough info to generate the rest of the RockGob group. And we set Andres to complete the 9 remaining characters! The first thing he did was to sketch the other 9 goblins to have a feel for the group and their individual poses.

We then sent the sketches to Beholder Factory team to sculpt the poses and main descriptive elements. 

With the renders of those poses, Andres goes over again and finishes them adding all the details you can see in the final illustrations. Then, the sculptors at Beholder finish the sculpt knowing all the detail they need (sometimes small reference images and sketches of how the model looks like from behind are also supplied - you don't normally see those).

Matt's team work somehow different and they start only once the art is finished and begin by sculpting a full detailed T-pose for approval before completing the model.

 The results are great in both cases and after the sculpt is done, the breakdown for molding complete the process and off they go to the mold maker!

And that is an insight on the process from idea, to art to sculpt. In the office front, Anders is coming back from holidays next week and I will be getting a week off next. I'm sure there will be more updates from Anka, Mary and Anders on the art and operations side as news and pretty things come around. 

In the meantime, if I get more worth-the-gossip news on the new projects or production, I'll let you know! 

Thanks

News From the Bog V1: Show Me The Stuff
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 11:58:24 AM

Good morning goblins!  

While Anders is enjoying a well deserved holiday before returning to get hands on with the Pledge Manager, I'm in constant communication with the manufacturer to assess progress on all the tricky elements - i.e hard components of the product.  

Yesterday we received the first PVC batch of minis. Check these out and let us know what you think (ultimately this is YOUR game). We have 6 minis to send to six backers so you can give us your feedback

For an accurate comparison, alongside the PVC mini, we'll send you the resin counterpart. As most of you know, the process of mold making and casting always affects a small amount of detail from the actual sculpt (no matter if the sculpt is made in traditional putty or digitally). Resin and metal are the two mediums that hold the detail better, followed by HIPS ("hard sprued plastic") and then PVC in its different hardness. 

Well, we're very chuffed with our PVC (at 95% hardness) and we want you to check it out and let us know. Please email me at [email protected] with your Miremarsh name, real name and address to send you the samples. The first 6, gets to put their dirty goblin hands on them.

More samples will come after, so don't worry, we'll try to cater for as many of you as we can, just bear in mind that this is to help all of us to get the best possible product - not just a free toy! So please be committed if you throw your hand up. 

We've also received the dice! Five sets to be precise to allow us to check the mold execution and how the icons go with the PANTONE (colours) chosen. I must say, they look fantastic (I'm a dice person myself). The icons are larger than those in the mock up as we opt for straight corners to give more space. The feeling is very Miremarshy and the colours, we believe, are spot on (remember, Anka consciously selected these to be colour-blind friendly!)

In the art department, Anka is distributing the lot among Andres and Mary to finish all the illustrations needed. Andres told us he will have all the goblins finished by next week (see Bubbler next) which will speed up the sculpting no end.

Mary is working on the new tiles very closely with Matt & Sam who will come to visit on Monday 6th to finalise what goes into the final game to help the design team focus on the finished project.

And that is pretty much where we are in this fine August. And yes, I forgot, for those who backed our Museum Rush kickstarter, Anders left work for Kev and myself and we are preparing the first All-In shipment to backers via Games Quest which we aim to have ready by Monday! The office looks like a mix of art gallery and dispatch warehouse - seasoned with flip-flops and shorts... Summer time!

Thank you all gobs!

Ricard