Upcoming Art from Huckleberry: Magnum Opus
Howdy, pardner!
It's time for another update! I'm pleased to report the Huckleberry train is still rolling steadily down the tracks and the final stop is in sight. Here's what we've been up to:
Playing Cards
Files for both the cards and tuckbox have been finalized. Actually, the majority of the art was finalized a long time ago, but the EU and UK have product safety laws requiring certain markings and information to be visible on the packaging. There's also the extra complication that playing cards are often considered to be a gambling item, instead of a game accessory. The regulations are easy enough to comply with, but it is worth the extra bit of research to ensure we do things right and won't be turned away by customs.
After finalizing the files, they were sent to production! Manufacturing is being handled by the good folks over at Shuffled Ink. We have received physical proofs and we're very happy with the quality of both the material and the print. After seeing how the digital colors translate to ink on the cardstock, George has made some tweaks to the colors in our files. This isn't due to any fault or errors in the printing process, but rather that digital colors don't translate one-to-one when printed. That's the benefit of physical proofs - we can fine tune the results before printing the entire batch. A second set of physical proofs have already shipped and should arrive in the next day or two. I fully expect we'll be approving them as-is. After Shuffled Ink gets the greenlight, it's game on and the full print run begins!
Physical proofs of all 72 cards.
We couldn't resist and self-assembled one of the proofs for the tuckbox!
Dice, ARUS, and Trays
Manufacturing continues for each of the accessories. Production of the dice is going full speed now that Chinese New Year is over. The good folks at All Rolled Up told me they started cutting and sewing the dice bags yesterday, with the trays to follow after that giant task is finished. This morning, I received an email that our patches are entirely finished and shipping out today. Overall, everything is going perfectly to plan with no setbacks or delays to report.
Freight shipping of products might be a different concern, with the current economic conditions. Fortunately, this is a small project in the scheme of things and we won't be needing to rent cargo container space or anything like that. If necessary, we have the more flexible (albeit more expensive) option of air shipping, so we shouldn't encounter any trouble.
As an aside, I'm happy to say that costs for all accessories remained within my estimated budget. These rewards are the most expensive parts of the project, so things are looking especially good for the project in financial terms.
What About the Books??
The main attraction! I'm very happy to report that yesterday I sent over the final notes to Nathan for our corebook. The final print update is OFFICIALLY IN LAYOUT! What an amazing adventure this has been. I was looking through my old emails recently, remembering the early days of Huckleberry, and I realized my first contact with Nathan was almost exactly two years ago!
Since then, Nathan has put together four major updates for the core book and over a half dozen scenarios. Now, we're working on the fifth and final update. This update is probably our biggest yet - maybe half of it is the new chapter, about 7600 words long, written by Dylan Grinder and Kienna Shaw. The rest is quite sprawling, impacting several different sections of the book. 17 new Hostiles are being added, 10 new player Traits, a hyperlinked glossary/index, rules clarifications, and a slew of other odds and ends.
As for the bounty book, good things are happening there too! Playtesting is over and scenario editing is in full swing. All scenario art is complete and when the text is finalized, it'll go straight to Nathan for layout. Hopefully this will coincide with layout wrapping up on the core book. After that, both books go to print. We're in the final stretch and the end is in sight!
Shipping
I have confirmed shipping costs with my distributors and the majority of the shipping survey has been built. I've also done quite a bit of legwork here to ensure we offer fair and competitive shipping worldwide. When I have a firmer grasp on the estimated weight of the books, I'll be finalizing the back end and sending surveys to collect S&H, likely next month.
As always, if you have any questions feel free to email me or join the Discord. Thanks for riding with us!
