We talked a bit about the Grey Market last update, and it's being launched now!
The intention behind this is to help continue funding the project after the tariff impacts, and still keep it lore oriented with some artwork and story. Also, anyone who backed got it all at a... REALLY good deal compared to what we need to price at now.
I've also seen that many people have not gotten an email about their kits, so I'm including the link below again. We know there's a lot of stuff that hasn't gotten through, so we're gonna still let people into the alpha program if they want to join.
You'll still be able to get the full experience afterwards!
We've been hard at work on this, but unfortunately, these products were finished recently, and were affected by the tariffs, meaning the material costs alone, without including the costs of paying illustrators, designers, and others necessary to this project, have put this project in the red.
That means we're releasing these kits early off the grey market to keep things moving along. These knives, cutting boards, peelers, and more are already in inventory.
The story and lessons aren't complete yet. The grey market kits will contain the functional items with minimal packaging, and without the narrative... though, hopefully, it'll still feel a bit like you got it from the world of VKS!
Let me know if you have any questions! Current Alpha Testers can probably tell you just how many pages of stuff I've dropped, and with waaaaaaay more to come, haha.
Hello everyone - Khai’xur here! (you can call me Khai) and today I am excited to bring you our most recent updates for VKS products and some new ideas from Tim.
I just recently joined the team here at Vite and I am super excited to be getting hands on with the VKS project! I will be working together with Tim to provide updates like these, as well as narrative and character designs, and using your feedback to help us improve.
So let's get to it!
Tools: The cutting board has new added grooves, for additional grip power!
| |
Tim will be providing an update for all the shipping as well as The Grey Market Initiative, so keep reading!
-----
Hey, Tim here!
What’s going with the actual knives, cutting board, and all that other stuff? Also, what the hell is the Grey Market Initiative?
Here’s the good news: The VKS, VKP, QRC, VKS Sharpening Stones, VKS Honing Rod, VKS Peeler, are all done and floating on the great Pacific Ocean somewhere! Not literally(I hope). But rather, they’ve been packed on a boat, and are slated to arrive in 3-4 weeks, depending on how the sea treats things, and the customs process.
Bad news: They’re affected by the tariffs. But, we knew that, and even though it’s still a hit, we’ve been able to absorb it with your help!
Secondary bad news: That did wipe out the remaining funds we had for things like artwork, animation, etc.
Somewhat good news: Despite all the additional costs, we only spent $2,000 more than what we raised on BackerKit, after all the fees. To be fair, we DID basically double the amount of wood being used in the cutting boards(see the previous updates), and add new, free bamboo drying stands, and also bottles of mineral oil, but also those were all done before the tariffs, so...
Overall, coulda been worse. But that does bring up a bit of a problem. While all the physical items will arrive, our ability to fund the scope of what we originally wanted to incorporate in the launch has been diminished significantly.
Well, sorta.
Here’s the thing...
I’m Putting Together A Team
You’ve already been introduced to Khai, who was brought on as our loremaster and head writer. Doesn’t mean I’ll be not writing anymore at all! Just means that I’ll have more freedom to do all the other things associated with this project, like putting together the lessons, testing recipes, managing the art and animation, strategy, broad storyline stuff, kitchenware design, etc, etc.
We also now have a Full Time 3D Animator as well as a 3D Asset Artist to move the project forwards.
All of this is currently funded through the other projects we have going on at Vite. But here’s the thing... We have a lot of product that’s just kind of... sitting there. And importantly, we don’t have the final packaging for them, because the final packaging will require finalization of some of the story elements, artwork, and other things.
Right now, they’re in... well, cardboard boxes.
What we’d like to do, then, is to open up pre-orders in a Grey Market Initiative that allows those who missed the initial BackerKit to buy in. They will not be able to be an Alpha Tester, nor enjoy the kinds of discounts that BackerKit people got. They will also not receive the apron, stickers, and diamond sharpening stone that BackerKit Backers received.
Alpha Testers will be deciding what the Grey Market Initiative members see as behind the scenes as well... and more importantly, this will allow us to increase the scope of our planned content.
There’s also an interesting sub-project for knife skills that only Alpha Testers and BackerKit Backers will have access to as well, to be revealed later!
Here's a taste of what's in active development:
Feed Hub VK-24601 3D environments and animations
Character artworks for Vivian, Kat, Mira, and new characters
Interactive Memstate sequences for knife training
QRC recipes and skill tree
Complete Chapter 1 narrative experience
Secret sub-project that’ll make knife and sharpening skills easy to do
Every grey market sale directly supports our team, and more development time, more polish, more of what makes VKS special.
Grey Market users are going to get one of two options for how they can get involved.
Option 1: Get it now! You get the knives in simple, unmarked boxes, ready to go. No bells, no whistles, just pure cutting power.
Option 2: Pre-order the Grey Market kit and you’ll get the full experience once all items are ready to go! This option will likely be cheaper once all the pricing is done, and gets you the most stuff, without repeating what is already planned for Alpha Testers and Backers.
These options are a work in progress and we will be able to provide more updates as soon as we get more information on customs times, shipping costs, tariff adjustments, etc.
Right now, we're trying to target Q4 for the full launch of VKS, but it also kind of depends on how fast everything is moving.
We've been working on things in the background, with new characters, story arcs, designs, and concepts being worked on.
The scope of this project has always been large, but one of the things we've come to learn while making it is simply that something like this can't exist and be created in a vacuum-- that is to say, we need YOUR help to see if the lessons being created actually work as intended, and the experience is what we want it to be!
If you're not a backer, then... well, a second chance at it will be coming very soon! You just won't have all the benefits that the backers had.
Meanwhile, if you're a backer... then please make your selection on if you want to:
1. Join the Alpha Test
If you join the Alpha Test, you'll be sent an NDA to sign before being admitted. Afterwards, you'll join the Vite Discord, where we'll be conducting the Alpha Test, and be part of an exclusive group who will help review lessons, storylines, and the overall experience. You will not be allowed to share any information without authorized clearance.
You'll receive all the items as soon as they come in, in their default packaging and configuration when they arrive, and give feedback on the items, as well as how the lessons are constructed and how things can be improved.
There will be responsibilities to adhere to, else be removed from the group.
2. Get all the items without joining the Alpha Test
You'll receive the items once they arrive, but in their default packaging, without the full experience. You'll have the option to get the manual later for free, however, and an extreme discount if you'd like the full experience later. You will NOT be able to join the Alpha Test.
3. Wait for the full experience(6+ months)
Elect to wait for the full experience. If you choose this option, you WILL be able to decide to get all the items later, if you so choose, without the full experience. You will NOT be able to join the Alpha Test.
So if you're a backer:
Check in the "Exclusive Content" for the VKS Alpha Test link!
Y’know when you have so much to write for an update that you put it off but then you keep doing things and it just compounds more and more and more and then you’re left wondering how the hell you’ll talk about all the things you’ve done in a coherent way?
Well.
I’m at least abandoning the coherent part of things. Strap in, ‘cuz it’s gonna be a long update with a lot of parts to it. I’ll do my very best to cover these in a shorter, more summarized way so it’s not... too long.
First, I’d like to thank everyone for your support and patience! So, where are we?
...Well, that’s hard to answer. Right now, I think the easiest thing to do is to split this into three general topics to cover:
1) The kitchenware themselves
2) The story and experience
3) Decide when you want to get your stuff
Let’s start with the items, as that’ll be more straightforwards to talk about. First of all, the items are in production! Since we’re using the same manufacturer that we normally do, the delays on another project we had did impact this one, and then moving into holiday season and then Lunar New Year means that things won’t be arriving in January.
At the moment, we estimate that March or April may be a more likely target. However, we haven’t spent all the time just sitting idle, either...
We’ve spent a lot of time testing, and have made some changes, and added new things for FREE to the kits as well!
Let’s talk about the upgrades first, some of which were revealed during the Backerkit phase, and others that we’ve talked a little bit about on Discord.
1) Free inclusion -- Peeler in all Tier 3 and up
2) Free upgrade -- Resin handle honing rod to all Tier 3 and up
3) Free item -- Diamond Sharpening Stone to all Tier 3 and up
But wait, that’s not all...
As I’ve been testing and using these, I’ve noticed some issues with the cutting board. Specifically, I have a granite countertop, and stone is COLD-- this means that when I place a cutting board on the counter to dry, even if I’ve already wiped it off to the best of my ability, it’ll start slowly warping. Doesn’t matter what kind of wood it is, or how well it’s been oiled, it seems, it’s just gonna warp because of the difference in air temperature + drying of the top surface, and the slower drying and cold of the bottom surface.
Cutting boards should always be dried on their side, but also... we all get lazy about it sometimes, so.
Now, while this may not happen to everyone, depending on how humid, dry, cold, etc their environment is, I did want to see what we could do about it.
#1: We increased the thickness of the cutting board by a bunch. It’s now at 1.5 inches thick, which is 50% thicker than the roughly 1 inch thickness of before! It’s also... way heavier, at 12.3lbs compared to 8.2lbs before, which means more expensive shipping, but we’ll eat that cost. There’s also the consideration that with it being heavier, we might also need to add finger grooves into the sides in order to make it easier to handle, at the expense of it being a little more annoying to clean.
What do y’all think? Add finger grooves, or not necessary?
#2: We’ll be shipping out these bamboo drying racks for the cutting board and knives as well for free for all Tier 3 and above!
Another issue I’ve personally always run into is... where and how do I dry cutting boards and knives once they’re wiped down?
There’s some big stands and other stuff out there, but realistically, especially because we’ve increased the weight and size of the cutting boards, it’d be highly impractical and expensive to get those. And as a starter kit, we wanted this to be more flexible, so that as you learn more, potentially get other knives and cutting boards and tools, you’ll have space to dry them as well, side by side. Sometimes for me, I’ll be drying a paring knife, gyuto, cai dao, 2 cutting boards, and some other tools as well, especially during holidays when there’s more cooking.
So, enter the bamboo peg drying rack! It’s pretty simple and effective. Knives can be set on there safely to finish drying, and you can slot the cutting board on its side to dry as well! Better maintenance, easy, and also flatpacks for easy shipping!
Fun fact: The first sample we got was sized for the old cutting board... and then we had to go sheepishly ask for a new size after we upgraded the size of the cutting board, since the old one no longer fit.
#3: New knife sheaths with every knife!
This one’s pretty self explanatory. As of the moment, they’re kinda carbon-fiber ish looking, but we might swap up the design a bit as we go. This applies to both the VKS and VKP!
#4: New free microfibers for all Tier 3 and above!
Some nice microfiber cloths to help dry your stuff with! We’re deciding on specifics for this at the moment, but it’ll likely be somewhat basic, so no edgeless waffle pattern weaves or anything for the starter kit. Not that you’d really need something like that either... I mostly use paper towels, but y’know, quality of life and all.
Whew. I know that was a lot to read, to start with. I think that covers all the updates on the items, at least.
Part 2: The Story And Experience
Alright, this one’s a bit of a doozy. The work on this has been... interesting, to say the least. There’s a TON of lore written, and the ending of Season 1 has been planned out, along with the general beats across the various chapters.
It is, however... rather large and expansive in nature. As of now, we have:
-12 “main” characters, most with art, all with backstory and things written. Some of the first ones you’ll meet are:
- Vivian Blake
- Mira Gerhardt
- Katalina “Kat/Katlass” Mercado
- Ryder Sinclair
- “The Vendor”
- Alix Valentine
And a bunch more!
-World building manual
-Slang and terminology reference guide
-Lessons
-Feedtek Hub website plans
-Feedtek real life set
And more to come. Simply put, the more we write, the more things we want to explore, and... well, we’re looking at this as a whole and trying to figure out how and where to cut things, and refine the scope of.
Part of the problem is that to build everything completely out via animation and artwork and renders would be wildly expensive, and that fundamentally, some amount of live action video needs to be used in order to show exactly how to do things.
How do we implement all of that into the world story, and not break immersion meanwhile?
There’s a lot of considerations in how to theme things and to otherwise tie together a complex world that aims to be both entertaining and educational, while using a mix of different kinds of media and mediums to tell the stories.
It’s certainly ambitious, but when have we been anything but those who push the limits of what can be?
I actually have so much written, so many pages, that I’m not even sure where to start talking about things, which actually brings me to the next part...
Part 3: Beta Testing and Getting Your Stuff
With what I want to be doing, there’s no way that we’re going to complete all the experience, story, and testing of all of that before the actual items are ready. My guess is that it’d be ready in Q3 2025, with all the things we’re wrangling... But it also seems a little silly to hold onto perfectly functional knives, cutting boards, etc.
So, here’s where you can make your choice.
1) Wait until the full experience is ready and launched
2) Get your items early, and just use ‘em
3) Get your items early, and join the VKS Alpha Test
The first choice is pretty self explanatory. Just hold on everything until the full release, with the full packaging and everything else associated.
The second choice too, is pretty much just get the stuff, use them as regular kitchenware.
The third choice is where it gets more interesting. It would be getting the stuff, and then signing an NDA to join the VKS Alpha Test, where you’d be able to see exactly what’s going on behind the scenes, how I’m building things, the storylines involved, and test out the videos, instructions, and other lessons and experiences being built, and provide feedback.
Anyone who enters the VKS Alpha Test program will also be given a permanent discount forever for all future drops and items, and the chance to join future test events as well.
When the full experience is ready, you’ll also be sent everything that was missed(the packaging, feedtek manual, etc), and receive a special pin and medal as well, and special options to get a full experience set at, quite honestly, a ridiculous discount that’s probably a little below cost(I dunno it exactly right now-- this does depend on exactly how it all comes together, after all).
We’ll be sending out another update with forms to make these choices, so stay tuned!
Whew. I think that’s about it for now. If anyone has any questions, feel free to ask them! You can also join our discord and the discussion with this link:
The original projection was to ship out in January, so can we get an end of the year update? Everything still on track? Production looks good? QR codes working the way you thought? You know, any update.
We're ending this project 830% funded and it's thanks to everyone for believing in this project with a pledge!!
We can't wait to get the ball rolling with production, updates, and more. Be on the lookout for the survey to confirm your shipping address and the option to add additional items to your pledge.
