Manufacturing Update #8
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Apr 16, 2022 at 10:36:52 PM
Sorry for the delay!
Hey everyone! Sorry for the delayed update! Didn't have too much new things to report in the last couple of weeks due to things being slowed down internally plus being a little over focused on the Aldarra Kickstarter!
It's a simply update in any case, the files are now all updated and we are just waiting for the factory to send us the PPC (Pre production copy). With luck, that will be in my hands next week and I can take more pics of the new map tiles to show you all!
Please look for another update from me next Friday (hopefully with PPCs in hand!)
Aldarra Kickstarter
Aside from that, the Aldarra Kickstarter is still going on and successfully funded and less than two weeks left. Please, if you haven't yet, check out that Kickstarter! We are super proud of Aldarra and would love for your support to help it grow even more beyond its funded! =)
Benny and the AM team
Manufacturing Update #7
almost 3 years ago
– Wed, Apr 06, 2022 at 05:57:26 PM
Hey everyone!
As promised, here is a new update. I will be going into the main delays for the project which, unfortunately aren't the book, but the map tiles. I understand many of you did not order the map tiles (while many of you did) and, even though the book is pretty much ready to go, we can't push the button to print the project until everything is finished - which includes the map tiles as I will outline below. The good news is there really isn't much to do. It's all about communication and formatting at this point and then we just have to wait for the PPCs to come in, check them and GO GO GO.
Airship Campaigns Status - Ready to go to get the new Pre Production Copy - just waiting on the map tile issues (explained below)
Airship Map Tiles Delay
Well, these are almost finished. It's safe to say that these were not planned properly. We added them to the campaign rather hastily and it unfortunately bit us in the butt a little bit in terms of time scale and cost. The original product the manufacturer sold me on was not what I was expected so when we got our PPCs back for them earlier this year, I was very underwhelmed. The stickers weren't good enough, the map tiles weren't thick enough and the boxes weren't good enough quality - they needed a rework all-round. As such, the factory had sent me a bunch of white samples (basically what the product will be without any of the art on it) so I could verify the quality of the materials before we get the 2nd round of PPCs in our hands.
As such, I have been keeping everyone updated on the progress and we are nearly there. Another thing causing a delay in the map tiles being finished would be the method in which the factor asked us to prepare the files. Originally they wanted each map tile to be in its own file, but later have asked us to supply them in one large format. Normally, this would be *relatively* quick, but we had to change graphic artists for the map tiles in the last 7 weeks so it changed the process / time needed to actually make the changes. They are now almost done, and the factory should be making the new PPCs next week - I will be sharing pictures as soon as we get them!
So, those are the reasons for the delay. The increase in product quality has also meant our margins are much, MUCH smaller on the map tiles than we originally anticipated so we decided to reduce the quantity we order as a company to keep in stock to be more manageable. This meant we needed a new quote from the factory and we got that signed last week so that's all good too!
Since last year, shipping fees have gone up 10x so we have been working with our freight partner to get the most accurate numbers for shipping fees from the factory to distribution (which is in the US for this project). This isn't so much a delay - just informing you all about the world of freight atm. Tis quite a mess worldwide atm!
The final delay is that the situation in China has made it very hard to get immediate responses from the factory as we did before. They have been through multiple city-wide lock downs this year. Causes delays in communication which adds up sadly.
Summarize Delays Since February
- Needed a new quote from the factory
- Needed to personally test different quality materials for the map tiles in person (sent from factory and reviewed by myself in person)
- Needed to change the format of each map tile's delivery to the manufacturer
- Changed the graphic artist doing the files so changing the file format took longer than it normally would
- Covid has caused communication delays from China
It's safe to say we have learned A LOT on this project. All of those lessons we are applying to finishing this project and moving onto our next 2 projects (Aldarra the board game and planning for the next book we plan on doing).
We greatly appreciate the patience here and I am immensely sorry for the delays. I will, as always keep you all informed of the process and keep everything as transparent as possible.
STL Bases Released
And finally, a small update for the STLs! As promised, here are the final 2 packs for the bases STLs! That's all 30 STLs for the bases now released! Enjoy =)
Now a bit of a plug for our next project - Aldarra.
As most of you are aware, we launched Aldarra back in February, but had to cancel due to an immense amount of feedback from the community. We have shrunk down all of the miniatures to a more manageable size to not only increase the usability, but mainly to reduce the cost. As such, we have reduced the cost of the base game by $100. Which is a huge accomplishment for us and we really hope it will make the game so much more accessible to everyone. We also have an updated Early Bird bonus that will be a set of free premium metal coins!
We would love to have your support on this new venture of ours. We have never been quite as excited about a campaign as we have about this one and succeeding would open some massive doors for us as a company in the future. We are really looking forward to this Kickstarter! Any and all support is most immensely appreciated!
We have free STLs you can download as well
Thanks everyone! Hope you all have a pleasant week. I will be updating you all on updates from the factor as soon as I can and have something to report!
Benny and the AM team
Manufacturing Update #6
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Mar 26, 2022 at 11:54:42 PM
Good Weekend, All!
Hey everyone. Just another quick update. All of the files have been updated and sent to the manufacturer and we are just waiting on them to check all the files to send us a new PPC (Pre Production Copy). Hopefully that will come next week and if all is good, we hit the GO button! Super excited to finally be here. Time really moves fast, but we can seeee the light!
Thanks again for your patience! Also, we should have the 2 new packs of bases up in the next few days to a week as well (I will send links for those when I put out the next manufacturing update).
Also, the first two PDF adventures are currently being formatted and we should have those out in a month or so as well!
Benny and the AM team
