This is a short update to let you all know I will begin locking orders this weekend. It will give you 48 hours to update your order and finalize what you want.
There will then be a quick succession of charging cards and locking addresses over the following week.
Zines should arrive at my place in another week, and then I'll begin the process of packaging and shipping! I have all the materials ready to go (minus the zines at my house), including stickers, ephemera, mailers, and more.
I'll send an update once zines arrive and packing has begun. Talk soon! Travis
90% Survey Completion + A Timeline + A Little Treat
Hello all!
Thanks for the quick survey completion everyone. We are 90% of the way there!
In the meantime, I have a reasonable count of the zines plus the extras needed. Being said, I am going to go ahead and order the zines! According to the printer, they should get here in about two weeks, barring any unfortunate anything.
When we are a few days away from arrival, I will push the button to lock orders, which will then start charging, which will then lock addresses. Soon after, PDFs will get distributed. Zines will arrive, and I will spend a weekend packing and shipping!
It will be great. If all goes well, these will be out of my door by the end of the second week of September, which is good because I go on vacation out of the country for a week right after!
A Little Treat I know not everyone has junk journaled before, so to help the process I am including a small scrap of a thing or two for you! You don't have to use it at all, but I found some fun National Geographic at Half Price Books and thought it'd be a neat thing to include.
It always amazes me how much crowdfunding campaigns shift their last 48 hours. This one doubled in the last 36 hours, which is just wild to me. Every time I am amazed, so thank you.
A Timeline of Surveys, Production, etc.
Here is what is going on behind the scenes over the next few weeks:
This week: I will get all of the survey, post-campaign stuff put together (hopefully before Gen Con!).
Early next week: I will send out said surveys. These will include the additional shipping of international orders, the ability to add on an Artifacts Log and the PDF bundle.
Within the next two weeks: I will order all of these zines (along with the packaging materials, etc.).
By the end of August: All of this stuff will show up at my house.
Within the first week of September: I will get everything out the door.
Obviously something might get in the way, but after a dozen crowdfunding campaigns, I have only had one or two hiccups.
What communication you can expect of me moving forward:
Obviously you will get surveys here very soon.
The next time I will send an update is when the surveys are closing AND I have ordered materials.
I will send another update once all shipments are out. This will also include the delivery of all PDF-related materials.
And then I will send one more update when the next crowdfunding campaign happens, which might be soooooon!
Thanks to you all again. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Travis
Thanks again for being a part of this. I'm immensely grateful for people who support the. things I make. I hope it brings you joy, reflection, respite, and a sense of self somewhere in between the chaos of the world. It has been fun seeing people's responses in the first post about what other media in this space do you enjoy!
As we enter these last 48 hours, there are always some shifts, more people coming in and people needing to step away. Wherever you are on this journey, thanks for spending some time with us!
A Timeline
The crowdfunding campaign will wrap up Tuesday, the 28th.
I will then get all of the survey, post-campaign stuff put together (hopefully before Gen Con!), and then I will send out said surveys.
Then I will order all of these zines (along with the packaging materials, etc.)
2-3 weeks later, it will all show up at my house.
Usually I will get everything out the door with 1-2 weeks, meaning that everything should be out by the first week of September. Obviously something might get in the way, but I've been doing this a while now, so I'm only marginally worried.
Gen Con
In a bit of a surprise move, I will be at Gen Con this year, but it will be a short time, only on Friday and Saturday. I'm not at any booths. I'm not selling anything. But it will be nice to see some people who I haven't seen in person in several years.
Thanks all! I'll send one more update Tuesday afternoon once this is all wrapped up. TDH
Inspiration for Metal Scraps, a bit about gameplay, and a timeline
Happy Day 3 everyone!
I work with school districts here in the US in hopes to make their systems better. I say this because we are close to the beginning of the school year, and I have been meeting with districts all week. It was so lovely to see a small bump today after meetings all day long. So thanks to you!
As mentioned, most of my campaigns only last a week, meaning this will wrap up on Tuesday, the 28th. Unlike many other campaigns, I don't want to extend the process too much.
Here are some thoughts for today:
Inspiration behind Metal Scraps
I might be giving away too many industry secrets here, but the first thing I come up with in my games is the title. I find that titles drive the theme, the timbre of the game, and how things shape up. When I think of older games like Humans. or this world is not yours, the seed of an idea is always embedded in the title. This one is no different. Metal Scraps Covered in Moss (to me) elicits old world, conjures an idea of something lost or forgotten. It makes me consider what it might look like finding these spaces and what it might even mean.
When I think of media portrayals (and ultimately inspirations for this), I think of titles like Miyazaki's Castle in the Sky when they make it to Laputa, or running around Hyrule in Legend of Zelda's Breath of the Wild with the decayed Guardians buried. Unsurprisingly, I was so meaningfully altered by Becky Chambers' A Psalm for the Wild Built in a severe way. I had never read a book that had wrapped me up so completely and perfectly. I return to it every couple of years, along with the sequel A Prayer for the Crown-shy. Possibly opposite of all these titles, I find myself listening and reflecting a lot to Godspeed You! Black Emperor, a band I have loved for more than two decades now. While fraught and perilous, loud and not, there are moments of joy and hope in their music, and that's what I hope you find here.
A Bit About Gameplay
One of my favorite things is for games to blur the lines between real life and game. While not in a big way, Metal Scraps does this to an extent. In it, you are a Reclamator—someone who wanders around the Old Growth to find and record artifacts of the What Once Was. In Metal Scraps, this means you are junk journaling, taking random bits and bobs from the real world (yes, your real world), and recording them into your Artifacts Log. There are no prompts here like in a card-driven or table/dice-driven solo journaling game. Instead, there are some metrics for you to fill out (size, shape, color, location found, etc.).
You can see below there is space for you to adhere your artifact (with glue, tape, whatever). Note that there is space to put in a couple of artifacts if you'd like! But also there is a space to describe the artifact. There is a map of the Old Growth along with names and brief descriptions of each location in the Old Growth, but it only tells you so much, dropping ideas and hints. That's where your imagination comes in.
I have an example in the Artifacts Log, where you showcase your artifact, that's a bit of a throwback to another game of mine. I'm excited for you to see it.
Some journaling from my dear friend, Michael.
A Timeline
The crowdfunding campaign will wrap up next Tuesday, the 28th.
I will then get all of the survey, post-campaign stuff put together (hopefully before Gen Con!), and then I will send out said surveys.
Then I will order all of these zines (along with the packaging materials, etc.)
2-3 weeks later, it will all show up at my house.
Usually I will get everything out the door with 1-2 weeks, meaning that everything should be out by the first week of September. Obviously something might get in the way, but I've been doing this a while now, so I'm only marginally worried.
Thanks all! I'll send a progress update Saturday to talk more about things. TDH
Good evening all, and thank you for trusting in me, the things I make, and this idea.
If you have backed a crowdfunding campaign from me before, welcome back! It is so good to have you. And if this is your first Press Pot Games crowdfunding campaign, welcome! Thanks for choosing this project to support!
Here is what you can expect over the next 7 days:
I will send an update every other day with thoughts, questions, timelines, and a little about gameplay.
What you see is what you get. There are no stretch goals, no unspoken hidden funding goals, and no twists or tricks in this campaign.
The game is complete. Files have been proofed and edited. Once the campaign ends and funds from Backerkit head my way, I will order the zines and begin shipping.
My typical turnaround time on campaign fulfillment is usually less than two months. I expect no difference here.
I posed this question in the Discussion/Community section, but "What is your favorite cozy, low magic, wandering, post-post-apocalytpic, and/or solarpunk type of media? Be it books, movies, games, etc.?" I would love to hear.
Next Time: I will share a bit about the impetus for Metal Scraps, along with a preview of the gameplay, files, and more.
Thanks again everyone, for the kind words, for sharing this project, and believing in small indie designers.
This is a short update to let you all know I will begin locking orders this weekend. It will give you 48 hours to update your order and finalize what you want.
There will then be a quick succession of charging cards and locking addresses over the following week.
Zines should arrive at my place in another week, and then I'll begin the process of packaging and shipping! I have all the materials ready to go (minus the zines at my house), including stickers, ephemera, mailers, and more.
I'll send an update once zines arrive and packing has begun. Talk soon! Travis
Thanks for the quick survey completion everyone. We are 90% of the way there!
In the meantime, I have a reasonable count of the zines plus the extras needed. Being said, I am going to go ahead and order the zines! According to the printer, they should get here in about two weeks, barring any unfortunate anything.
When we are a few days away from arrival, I will push the button to lock orders, which will then start charging, which will then lock addresses. Soon after, PDFs will get distributed. Zines will arrive, and I will spend a weekend packing and shipping!
It will be great. If all goes well, these will be out of my door by the end of the second week of September, which is good because I go on vacation out of the country for a week right after!
A Little Treat I know not everyone has junk journaled before, so to help the process I am including a small scrap of a thing or two for you! You don't have to use it at all, but I found some fun National Geographic at Half Price Books and thought it'd be a neat thing to include.
It always amazes me how much crowdfunding campaigns shift their last 48 hours. This one doubled in the last 36 hours, which is just wild to me. Every time I am amazed, so thank you.
A Timeline of Surveys, Production, etc.
Here is what is going on behind the scenes over the next few weeks:
This week: I will get all of the survey, post-campaign stuff put together (hopefully before Gen Con!).
Early next week: I will send out said surveys. These will include the additional shipping of international orders, the ability to add on an Artifacts Log and the PDF bundle.
Within the next two weeks: I will order all of these zines (along with the packaging materials, etc.).
By the end of August: All of this stuff will show up at my house.
Within the first week of September: I will get everything out the door.
Obviously something might get in the way, but after a dozen crowdfunding campaigns, I have only had one or two hiccups.
What communication you can expect of me moving forward:
Obviously you will get surveys here very soon.
The next time I will send an update is when the surveys are closing AND I have ordered materials.
I will send another update once all shipments are out. This will also include the delivery of all PDF-related materials.
And then I will send one more update when the next crowdfunding campaign happens, which might be soooooon!
Thanks to you all again. Feel free to reach out with any questions you might have. Travis
