UKGE and Pre-orders
almost 7 years ago – Thu, Jun 01, 2017 at 01:09:37 AM

I'm just putting together the final touches for our stand at the UK Games Expo and can't wait to get setup tomorrow! I really hope I will get to meet a whole bunch of you and will be doing demos all weekend long as well as a few shows and some other special things!

If you are attending, don't be afraid to introduce yourself and say hello - You'll find me and a small team of volunteers at C3 all weekend.

Pre-orders

Pre-orders are now available and for anyone who missed the campaign you can pre-order here.

Pledge Manager

The Pledge Manager is closing next week on the 9th June so please make sure you complete the survey. There are still 300 people yet to fill it in so now is the time!

If you have any problems please message me and I'll help you the best I can.

Survivor thank you video

As promised, I have released the thank you video for the survivor tier, just a few hours before the deadline!

 This is a great opportunity to watch me butcher as many names as possible in under an hour.

Manufacturing

We have now signed the paperwork with Whatz, the deposit is in the process of transferring and they have started work on prototyping the anti knock sheets and quick setup trays. I expect it to be 3 or 4 weeks before I get them but at least progress has begun!

The Invasion

You may also be interested to know that I have started work on our next game which I have given the codename "The Invasion" (it will get a proper name later). Most of the work that is being done on this right now in concept art, lore and planning. Once The City of Kings is off to the printers I will start making full prototypes and hopefully will be able to invite you to get involved with testing.

I hope you all have a fantastic week and I'll let you know how the UKGE goes!

The money has arrived!
almost 7 years ago – Fri, May 19, 2017 at 11:55:12 PM

Hey everyone!

 The Pledge Manager has been open for a week and over 2,500 people have already responded making my life a lot easier, thank you!

To the 13% of you who have not yet responded, please check your emails for the BackerKit email and fill in the survey. Without your answers, I won’t be able to ship you the game.

I can now confirm the Pledge Manager will shut on Friday 9th June.

The late pledge option will close next week and after that the cost of the game will increase as we enter the pre-order phase.

The Kickstarter prices are only available to non-backers until 14:00 BST May 25th.

 If you have already backed the project but not filled in the survey, you will maintain the Kickstarter prices until 9th June when the Pledge Manager closes.

The money has arrived!

Some good news this week as the money finally arrived from Kickstarter, for those wondering after payment failures and Kickstarter fees I received £256,987.35.

 

Manufacturing

With the money in my account I have now started filling in the contracts with Whatz Games and will be paying the deposits very soon.

This will allow us to start prototyping the anti-knock sheets and quick setup trays.

You’ll be pleased to know I have completed creating the files for these and they are ready to send them as soon as the paperwork is complete.

UK Games Expo

The UK Games Expo is just 2 weeks away and I’m looking forward to meeting everyone who comes. I will be there at stand C3 with 2 demo tables and a display table which I can’t wait to share with you. I’m straight down the main pathway from the entrance! 

 

World building book

I’ve spent about 30 hours on the world building book this last week and it’s now 75% complete, I’m really happy with how it’s looking and it has so much artwork in it. The hardest job has been deciding which of the 1,000’s of images I want to include!

Rulebook updates

As some of you know, it was my birthday on Wednesday and I treated myself to a 12-hour session of rulebook editing. I’ve now updated the rulebook with all of the feedback received during the campaign and have sent it to a few people for proof reading. Once I get it back I’ll share it out with you all.

Next week

Next week I'm going to be doing more work on the world building book, updating a few of the art files and preparing the demo team for the UKGE. My new video equipment has also arrived so I need to spend some time organising the room so I can start recording videos again.

Hopefully by the end of the next week the money will be with Whatz and we'll be well on our way to getting some prototypes!

I hope you have a great weekend and I’ll update you all again soon!

Pledge Manager, Late Pledges and PayPal now live!
almost 7 years ago – Wed, May 10, 2017 at 10:27:38 PM

Hey everyone,

I am pleased to announce our Pledge Manager is now live along with our late pledge system and PayPal options.

The surveys are in the process of being sent out, so if you have not received an email in the next 3 hours please let me know and I will do my best to help you.

BackerKit

If you have not used Kickstarter, a Pledge Manager or BackerKit before then here is how it works.

1) You will receive an email with a link from BackerKit asking you to respond.

2) Once you have clicked the link, you will be asked to confirm which version of the game you wanted, any addons you wanted and to enter your shipping address. You can use this as an opportunity to upgrade to another version of the game should you wish and you may pay using PayPal.

3) That’s it! Once you’ve completed the form we will know where to ship your game and you will be able to log back in and update your shipping information at a later date should you need.

Limited Edition Giclée Prints

I can confirm the Art Prints will be limited edition and each will come with a certificate of Authenticity. I have chosen to produce Giclée prints which means they will be extremely high quality:

“The Fine Art Trade Guild has set a minimum standard for the production of giclée prints. To qualify for the title of a giclée print, UV stable pigment based archival inks and archival quality coated paper will have been used.”  

Late pledges

For anyone who missed the campaign, you will be able to get your copy of the game here.

The prices will remain the same as the Kickstarter prices until 14:00 BST May 25th, then they will increase.

PayPal

BackerKit (our Pledge Manager and late pledges system) offers PayPal support, so existing backers can use the Pledge Manager and new supporters can use the late pledge system to pay with PayPal.  

A small package

 
A small box arrived from the US this week containing a few extra-large characters for the UK Games Expo next month, I can’t wait to play with these!

World Builders and Game Designers  

You will be pleased to know I found our last World Builder and we’re well on our way with all of the backer content, everyone is working very hard to hit the deadlines for these and I see no risk of delays at this point.  

The world building (art) book

I spent some time today working on the world building book and have made some great progress, it is amazing just how much art we have to share!

Shipping/Manufacturing

There’s no real updates on these yet, I’m waiting for the funds from Kickstarter to arrive before I can pay deposits and progress anything.

Next week

Hopefully the funds will come through from Kickstarter in the next few days and I will be able to pay the manufacturing deposit to get started with prototyping. I'm also preparing banners for the UK Games Expo and will be supporting people with the Pledge Manager.

Have a great day!

- Frank

1 week later... + Pledge Manager and Late Pledges info
almost 7 years ago – Fri, May 05, 2017 at 12:46:48 AM

Hey everyone,  

How’s your week been?

It’s crazy to think it’s already been a week since the Kickstarter ended!

Pledge Manager and late pledges

I have spent a lot of this week preparing the Pledge Manager, importing backers and getting ready to send out the surveys. I still need to wait until Kickstarter has finished collecting the funds which will take another week but we’ll be good to go as soon as that completes.

I will be offering late pledge options for anyone who missed the campaign and for those wishing to pay using PayPal. There will be a 2 week window where anyone who has not yet backed the campaign will be able to get the game at the Kickstarter prices, after 2 weeks the price will go up moving closer towards the MSRP.

If you want to be sure you don’t miss this, feel free to message me on Kickstarter or Board Game Geek with your email address and I’ll notify you when the late pledges go live.

Prints

I have started receiving samples for our art prints and hope to be able to make a decision on this next week. I’m currently considering extremely high quality Giclée prints as I really want these to be special. They will be printed in a very limited form and may even be numbered with a certificate of authenticity if enough people want them.

 

I will confirm the details when the pledge manager goes live next week so keep your eyes open!

Prototyping

This week I finished creating the first files for the anti-knock sheets and will be getting prototypes made in the next week. There will be a few rounds to get them perfect but progress is being made. I’ve also started drawing up the specifications for the quick setup trays and hope to get prototypes of these made soon.

World Builder and Game Designer tiers

I have started talking with all but 1 of the world builder and game designer backers, if you’re my missing world builder please respond to my message so we can get started! We don’t have much time.

It’s been great to start hearing people’s ideas and I can’t wait to share them with you.

Manufacturing

I spent a lot of time this week working with Whatz to get final quotes and timelines in place, it’ll still take a little longer but you’ll be pleased to know we’re making great progress.

Videos and live streaming

I have now moved all of my video equipment into my spare room and have started setting up a permanent recording studio. I’m waiting for a few extra cables, bulbs and bits of equipment to turn up but hopefully this will be good to go in a few weeks. Once it’s all setup I’ll start releasing regular videos again and organise some more live streams.

Next week

The biggest goals for next week are getting the pledge manager and late pledges system in place so we can start finalising numbers and let you choose all your addons.

I’m also going to be working on sketching out all of the world builders ideas and starting to add the extra creature stat bars we unlocked during the campaign into the game.

UK Games Expo

In 4 weeks time I will be at the UK Games Expo with several copies of The City of Kings, make sure you come and say hello! I’ve ordered a few ‘fun’ things which I’m hoping will arrive soon so I can share them with you!

Well that’s it for now, in the next update I’ll let you know the dates for the pledge manager, late pledges and tell you everything I’ve been up to!

- Frank

Let's get this game made!
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 28, 2017 at 11:45:56 PM

Thank you.

Your feedback  

Before I go into details about what happens next, I would be grateful if you could spare a few minutes to answer a couple of questions about the campaign so I can continue to make changes and improve things in the future.  

Answer the questions

Payment problems

A few people have been having payment problems, this is very common and I recommend you contact your banks and ask them to authorize the payments. If you need any help or support please feel free to get in touch.

Future updates

Moving forward I will be sending updates out as new information becomes available, I will keep you in the loop at all times and ask you for feedback when it is appropriate. With that said, I will try not to send out updates too frequently, so if you want to know things as they happen I recommend you follow me on one of the following:  

Twitter | Facebook | Board Game Geek | YouTube  

I will be very active on all 4 of these platforms and will be doing more live playthroughs on YouTube in the months to come.

Pledge Manager  

What is a Pledge Manager?  

For those who don’t know, a Pledge Manager is a website which allows you to enter your shipping details, select your rewards and upgrade to other editions of the game. I will send an update out when the Pledge Manager is ready with instructions on what to do.  

When will it be?  

I anticipate the Pledge Manager going live in about 2 weeks.

PayPal  

The Pledge Manager will include an option to pay using PayPal, so if you were hoping to purchase the game through PayPal this will be the best way.

The Scorched

The last few hours of the campaign were crazy, the money was rising so quickly that I think we were just 15 minutes away from unlocking The Scorched. I’ve already had a few people contact me asking if they can late pledge and I believe this will bring us up to the £285,000 total.  

As such, I have decided to unlock the final stretch goal and will be including it in all versions of the game.

 Cooperative Adventure  

For the past few weeks many of you were contributing to the Cooperative Adventure where we had to move 4 characters across a set of tiles. You did a fantastic job with over 100 people contributing towards the final challenge. It was incredible.  

As a reward, one final card will be added to the game.

 What’s next?  

I have a lot to do and the work starts now, I had an extra hour in bed this morning so I’m ready to get these games made.  

The next steps will be to setup the Pledge Manager and to give you all access.  

Whilst this is happening I will be getting prototypes of the anti-knock sheets and quick setup trays made and starting on the finishing touches of the game and stretch goals.

For those of you who backed at the World Builder and Game Designer tiers, I will be in touch soon to get started on these.  

Let me know if you have any questions and I’ll update you all again soon.  

Once again, thank you.