Layout is well underway, and Jettila has completed spot art to fill in a couple of spaces in the pages. Here's some previews! There may be missing art and placeholder typefaces, but it gives you the jist:-)
A spread from The Cut & Die surgical clinic
Sample Spread from the Slickworld
Map Design
I think I've probably said "I'm still working on maps!" in at least a couple of these updates, and well- I'm STILL working on maps. I wanted to talk a little about how I think about maps as I make them. When possible I've been trying to reference real-world architecture while drawing. When sketching out a map for a surgical suite I read about hospital layouts and referred to my own hospital visits (nothing serious), and tried to incorporate architectural designs which allow patients to be smoothly guided through reception, surgical prep, surgery, and recovery without inadvertently wandering into staff areas.
For one of the last maps I'm including a small set of prison cells, but researching prison design is not quite as straightforward as hospitals, bars and clinics. Contemporary prison designs are not something that's widely publicized. Older blueprints from centuries past are readily accessible, but contemporary resources are (reasonably) elusive. Instead search for "fundamentals of prison architecture" and you'll find "Jail Design Guide Third Edition" from the National Institute of Corrections, and The National Sheriff's Association Handbook on Jail Architecture.
National Sheriff's Association Handbook on Jail Architecture.
While these resources don't share blueprints per se, they contain a wealth of other inspiration for dungeon design. Some guidelines I never would have considered otherwise: how to position a control room to look directly into every cell, the relationships between staff and prisoner accessible areas, and the flow between rooms designed for intake, holding, control, staff use and release.
Security orientation
How does this effect gameplay? I... don't know! I enjoy tightly streamlined dungeon playgrounds, but I also get a lot of pleasure out of seeing functional architectural elements that don't explicitly serve a dungeon, but DO serve the day to day existence of the NPC's. I don't know that utility closets, staff breakrooms, bathrooms and reception area couches objectively make a dungeon better- but if crew are sneaking around and want to make a quick hide-away I think it's great that there's a janitor's closet near the warehouse, or a staff locker room.
Residential security design
I haven't keyed in the minutia of each room, but leave it to the Warden to imagine that the locker room may have uniforms to use as disguises and a fridge with lunches to steal. No where is it written that a skyscraper's architectural pillars could stop bullets, but I've built a map around those pillars anyways- some rooms have them and some don't.
Does the module benefit from 4 layers of secrity in this little holding area that gets just a couple lines of text description? I don't know, but there it is!
Until next time crew!
It's been a very busy couple of weeks since our last update and we've very pleased to announce that much of our printing is now in progress!
Both Hygeia Automotive and Clean Sweep will be fully printed up and ready to package by next week with Unions & You and of course Cleaning Crew very close behind!
In the meantime we're hard at work bagging patches and setting up miniatures for shipping and are looking forwards to getting a digital release to all of you soon!
The production and shipping portion of our work on Flatline on the Blocks is complete, and on schedule. Violet from RV Games had ShipBob, the project's fulfillment partner, send the Flatline zines and kitted the Spinal Crux bundles shipped to TKG's warehouses this past weekend.
Now that the pledges are in TKG's hands, they will be the ones to send Flatline out to everyone via the megapledge manager. So keep an eye on that space!
REMINDER: You must complete the megapledge manager to receive your pledges, even digital ones!
We've also got a double feature from Scragend, our project's illustrator and the author of G-18: Atmo Tunnel XVIII and The Mote Keeper. He's got two free solo games you can check grab on itch:
We're are at the end of our update cycle. Now with the zines and bundles on their way to Tuesday Knight Games' warehouses, the ball is in their court!
However, the Spinal Crux Warriors are committed to sending an update on this project's progress on the second-to-last Monday of each month. We still do have to complete the plaintext documents, and another small special surprise. Other than that, it'll be a quick sign-of-life updates pointing folks towards Tuesday Knight Games' updates. And like this month, we'll be sure to share any other projects the Warriors are working on.
Hi backers, I just received word today from TKG that your copies of Prospero Protocols (and add-ons) have arrived safely at the US warehouse! The next step will be TKG shipping them out along with your other MM25 purchases. Because of this I'm going to shift away from the monthly update format, and only do updates if there's a new development.
Outstanding Tasks
All of the stretch goals have now been completed and uploaded, so if you check your digital downloads you should find them there. The last task is the cross-collab tri-fold with And Tomorrow Games, which I will notify you about when it's uploaded.
Prospero Protocols (German language translation) ✅
Stretch Goal - secret objective handouts ✅
Stretch Goal - digital map codes for companion app ✅
Cross-collab tri-fold with And Tomorrow Games
itch.io
Prospero Protocols is now available for digital purchase on itch.io, but I'm going withhold selling any physical copies until you, the backers, receive yours first. That said, if you were a digital pledge level backer, and you enjoyed Prospero Protocols - I'd appreciate it if you could leave a positive comment on the product page. Those comments really help other people discover the module and could genuinely help me make another sale!
The Future
In summary, thank you for taking a chance on me, for supporting my crowdfunding project, and for pledging on a module that wasn't even finished. Some of you are new backers, and I hope I've shown you that I can complete fulfilment on projects, on time, and keep you regularly updated on the progress. I hope you'll be convinced to support me in future crowdfunding projects... such as sequel I'm writing to my time-looping Mothership module, Decagone! Link:https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/waco-matrixo/decagone-2/pre-launch
Also, I want to say another thank you - this project had the most backers I've ever had, and every single communication I've had any backer has been nothing but polite and delightful, so thank you!
As of today, all materials for Grim Merchants backers have successfully touched down at their two warehouse destinations! No problems have been reported thus far, so I'm hopeful this means they are in good condition and ready to be unpacked and sent along when fulfillment gets underway!
As for fulfillment itself - as mentioned in the last update, Tuesday Knight Games and their partners are handling it all, so when there is progress to share, it will be likely coming from them and not us. Keep an eye on the Prospero's Dream project page and TKG's socials for updates!
If all goes well, I think this is going to be fully the last update we post here, so thank you once again all of you for following along and believing in Michael and myself! It truly has meant the world. If you want to keep following our endeavours...
As for me, I am nose to the grindstone on my next module, Fire Sale 2. It's a sequel to my first-ever Mothership adventure; a crazy heist full of deadly items and bloodshed! So far it's been a blast to write and design. I can't wait to put it in your hands. And hey, pre-orders are still open!
I was very excited for this project. I sure hope the radio silence is not indicative of a lack of progress on the project. Does anyone know what TK's plan of action for projects that miss the deadline?
Short one today. I had to figure some of the logistics stuff for physical fulfillment, and the finishing touches on the book interior had to take a backseat until I knew how to ship everything and actually get it into your hands! Who would have thought that sending out 100s of books is meaningfully more complicated than the amount of volume that I usually do?
Pipesong got preliminary approval from TKG as of this morning, which means that final approval will be quick when I send the version 1.0 over, and then the PDF will be distributed via the mega pledge manager. The text is finished, I've just got fix a couple of illustrations and then I'll send it over to TKG to get distributed to y'all.
I hate being behind, and the minute everything is printed and packed and out the door, I'm going to do a thorough analysis of my creative process to figure out how I can better keep to my production schedules.
Great news! I have received my copies of BREAKING NEWS, Where It Shouldn't and The Oracle patches and they are all looking gorgeous! The only things I haven't received yet are the stickers; they are being shipped from the US warehouse to me and the EU warehouse shortly; but I couldn't contain my excitement and had to share the news with you!
It is quite difficult to describe how it felt to hold the result of these past months of work in my hands for the first time: surreal, overwhelmingly positive and also a relief. I have been working with Haven, Mathieu, Roque and Golden Achiever for so long on this first book. I took the feedback from editors, playtesters, early readers and fans to heart in order to make BREAKING NEWS as good as I could make it; and I am glad to say, the book I worked so hard on is everything I wanted it to be. I know you will have fun with it.
Your copies will be with you soon depending on how the centralized MM25 logistics go; I look forward to hearing your thoughts and game stories when running Show No Pythia or bringing the content of BREAKING NEWS at your table.
I will update you once there is more news, or one final time once everything is said and done.
I got a little excited about the last update and forgot to mention that the cover has changed for both stand\DELIVER and Lost on Paradise. Just so you're not alarmed when you open up the file.
That said, everyone should have the files available right now. This file is not currently hyperlinked or formatted with an outline. My plan is to do just that, but I wanted to get you (and the printers) the base file first.
