August already!

The original intention was to keep the news page updated semi-regularly with exciting information about what we here at the studio were doing this year. Now it’s August. Better late than never and all that, but it is amazing how quickly time passes. There is good news, nonetheless. The newest game title has been 100% written and has gone to editing. About 70% of the artwork is complete, including several commissioned pieces. The rest of the artwork should be complete in the next couple of weeks, and then once editing and any rewrites are finished, the book will be sent off to the printer hopefully in early September.

While we wait for the proof to get back from our printer, we will begin work once more on completing the next expansion for Chronofields that was supposed to release last year. If everything goes well, then we might be able to secure a March or April release next year. Once that completes, then we will see where the studio wants to focus its attention on, but I am believing it will be for the long-awaited final expansion for True Agenda. However, that will be looked at closer once we get through the next few months.

In between all of this, we will be putting together several ads to start to drum up interest in our upcoming releases. Some will coincide with the new game release while others will be used on various social media and internet sites. More on this to come.

The Plan Revealed!

Finally, after much deliberation and consideration for pending projects and making up for lost time, the staff at the studio have finally made a determination for where the road will lead us in 2023. We have decided to go ahead with the launch of a new tabletop role playing game as was originally slated for this year. The missed projects for last year, which included expansions for True Agenda and Chronofields, have been put back on hold. If time allows, then one of those projects will begin again later this year, most likely being the Chronofields expansion as work had already begun on it in early 2022 before things went south.

So far, work is progressing nicely on the new game title, with page design and writing already completed for about 20% of the game, with the rest in between initial draft and final development stages. We have also begun reaching agreements with some freelance artists for this game and are excited to be able to add more custom artwork from a variety of talent! This takes some pressure off the small in-house staff, allowing us to focus on the writing and development of the game, including some new elements never before used in any previous titles. Final playtesting will also be done in the coming months, although with us using the already successful framework of our previous games, any tweaks should prove minimal.

Game reveal details will not happen until much closer to release, which isn’t scheduled until towards the end of this year. We might be able to release teasers, and potential artist information, a little sooner. As always, keep checking back here for more information.

Looking Ahead... 2023 I See You!

Hello again. Hopefully everyone has been enjoying the holiday season, whether with a traditional Christmas or something more meaningful to you. Regardless of how everyone celebrates, there is no arguing the new year is right around the corner! For us here at the studios, we are looking forward to getting back into the swing of things. There has been a lot of creative discussions over the past several weeks, and we are eager to sit down and get working! We were able to shake some of the dust off our creative skills and fire up the digital art apps. We are hoping for a better start to this new year than what we endured last year, and with that hopeful outcome in mind, we plan to release more news in the coming weeks of our purposed schedule and upcoming collaborations with some new artistic talent. As always, keep checking back here for the newest information and reveals.

First Draft Concept Sketches Arrive!

Exciting news here in the studio as the first drafts of alien concept art arrived just before the weekend! The initial design is looking good with only a few minor changes being requested at this time. The artist, Mike, nearly hit on everything we wanted in the design after just one initial communication. Needless to say, everyone here is very pleased and are eager to see the next pass. For now, the first draft is remaining under wraps, but it might be shown to everyone at a later date.

The rest of the game design work progresses steadily, and we are looking to be almost six weeks ahead of schedule. This is happening even though a couple of sections have gone through a major rewrite before ever getting to the editor. Now that we have been doing this for a few years, things are getting easier as we figure out what works best along with some streamlining. Given that we are still expecting slow downs with the printing process, the extra time on the writing and design end will be invaluable. Keep checking back in here to find out how things are progressing, especially once we get into the second half of the year!

Concept Artist Commissioned!

After some deliberation here at the studios, we decided to go ahead and get some concept art commissioned for our upcoming game still slated to release this fall. For those of you who have been following our work, you know the majority of our artwork comes from Adobe resources and are then modified by the artist to better fit the design elements needed. Unfortunately, this can mean that things do not look exactly like we might otherwise want. However, since the studio is still small, we cannot afford to commission every piece, and we do not feel that Kickstarter or other routes are right for our team. So it is with great anticipation and excitement that we are able to afford some commission work, because everyone here feels this upcoming game title deserves a bit more.

So who is it, you might ask, and where will their work be found? The artist’s name is Mike Faille, and you can find his great work over here. His work for the game will showcase one of the alien species that can be found as a major antagonist to the players. Go check out his work if you get the chance. He also does custom art for individuals who might want their favorite character, or even an adventuring party, immortalized. He also does quite a bit of other work as well on his Patreon site found here. We are excited to have him involved in our project and look forward to sharing more news with everyone in the coming weeks.

Chronofields Release Day!

It is finally here! We had a fantastic reception to the release of our quick start rules just two days ago, and now the full game has been released both here and over at Drive Thru RPG. As a thank you for all of the interest in the gaming community, we are selling the PDF version for a limited time sale price over at Drive Thru, so if you are thinking about picking up the full version of the game, you might as well grab it on sale! The full cover art reveal is to the right, and all of us here are very pleased at the quality of the print proof we received. This game has been a long time coming since its infancy back over 20 years ago to what it is today. We hope everyone enjoys playing and exploring the game universe as much as we had putting it together.

While we take a short break for the upcoming holidays and the end of the year, 2020 is already shaping up to be extremely busy for us. Keep checking back here, or follow us on Facebook, to keep up-to-date with all of the news and upcoming game product release schedules. Thank you again for all of your support and to everyone who might have just recently found us, we are just getting started!

The Waiting Game...

Tonight was a very good night for everyone here at the studio. The final editing had been completed late last week, and the final artwork was approved today for our upcoming expansion for True Agenda scheduled to release in June. All of the files were converted and sent to the printer, so now we wait. Hopefully next week we will get confirmation that everything looks good and we can get our proof back by mid-May.

In addition to this, all of the paperwork was completed and files submitted to the U.S. Copyright Office. We generally like to try to get everything off to them before the product comes out, because it usually takes 2-3 months before we receive our certificate of registration. It’s not a big deal to have it before release, but if it works out that way, then it’s always nice.

Did I mention something about waiting? Hardly. This doesn’t mean there is currently nothing to do. There are two projects on the design side of things to assist some local businesses with their branding and advertising. We also have another two game-related releases still coming this year. In addition, there is an in-house design idea gaining momentum. So while it is great to mark another project complete, we are far from being able to grow complacent. Not that I feel anyone really wants to, but it is nice to think about on occasion.

Love is in The Air!

Valentine’s Day is here, and we have just released a new mini-expansion for the True Agenda RPG. The timing for this expansion is not a coincidence as we here at the studios wanted to take advantage of this time of year. The True Agenda Parody Pack is centered around the player characters (and others) finding love, and has a hefty amount of parody thrown in too! It is a lighthearted addition to a normally serious game of thwarting alien threats. The expansion is completely compatible with all of the existing rules of the game, meaning it is a genuine addition despite the humor and slightly over the top subject material. Better yet, it is pay what you want, so even if you would like to pick up a copy without putting down any cash whatsoever you can do so! The cover is pictured to the right, and you can check out the pack here.

One down... three to go

We here at the studios hit the ground running in the new year. The final piece of artwork for the upcoming game expansion for True Agenda has just been completed. The writing was finished yesterday and has moved on to the editing process. We are months ahead of schedule considering the release date is not until midyear! However, while it is exciting, we have three other projects slated for release this year, including a brand new tabletop roleplaying game, so there will be little chance for rest. One of these projects is due for release next month! However, even with such an aggressive schedule, there is excitement in the air here. With the business anniversary coming up in March, an ambitious timetable suits us perfectly as we look to kick off our third year! We appreciate everyone who has been following along on our journey and look forward to sharing more news in the coming months.

Holiday Cheer

The year is quickly coming to an end. Hopefully, everyone enjoyed a good holiday. Here at the studios, we are busy putting the final touches on another productive year. Earlier, a new image was released on social media and places like Deviant Art, and it has been included here on the right. This was not a specific commission piece, and was instead just a random idea that had been floating around for a few months. The exposure of the piece, titled Descent, was extremely positive on places like Facebook, where the business received more than five times the views than a typical post or announcement! These kind of pieces are also fun to do as a nice break or diversion from a scheduled project. Expect to see more of them in 2019.

Another good piece of news is that the new expansion for True Agenda is at its halfway mark for completeness. With any luck, it will be done well before its early summer release. While this is the last expansion currently planned for this game, a new tabletop RPG installment is also slated for a 2019 release. Most of the studio’s available resources will be focused on getting that done before the holiday season next year.

2018 definitely proved to be a decent year in terms of work and opportunities. Here is hoping the next one fares just as well. As always, stay tuned.