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Update #63 Oct 10 2014

700 Backer Countdown, Production Update, & More Spooky Previews

Happy Update Friday everyone!

Today is a big update so strap yourself in.

700 Backer Countdown

We still have 700 Backers who have not finalized their pledges and paid shipping. Please go to the Soda Pop Store and tell us what you want. We need this countdown to hit zero fast.

Manufacturing is already going. We want to get you your models. My mom (yes, she was a backer) was able to do it, you can too!

It's super easy, here is the link.

Please note that you must log into your Soda Pop account to see the Forgotten King backer section.

If you are having difficulties with your login please email store@sodapopminiatures.com subject: King Sprout ate my login.

If your points magically disappeared due to your order timing out, computer crashing, etc, before you send an e-mail to customer service check your point total the following day. We fix dropped points issues every day automatically and often it is resolved before we even get to your e-mail.

Production

Based on our current production times we will be required to ship in two waves. Wave one is the Forgotten King core box, and then an additional wave that is all of the Loot and Blacksmith items.

Why, you ask?

Well, as we stated in the risks and challenges section, “Should any promotional items or rewards risk causing a delay in delivery for any reason, we will start to ship product in waves to get you your copy of the game and all finished rewards as soon as possible.”

Lets give you the skinny so you know everything that is going on.

First a quick recap of the process:
•1. Models are sculpted.
•2. 3D Prototypes are printed and sent to China
•3. Molds are made.
•4. Models are manufactured.
•5. Models are assembled.
•6. Assembled models are shipped to the printer.
•7. Print files are sent to China.
•8. Printer creates packaging and all printed materials, like cards.
•9. Product gets packaged in its Kickstarter or retail packaging.
•10. Everything gets palletized to ship to our warehouses.
•11. Product makes a sea voyage to warehouses.
•12. Product goes through customs.
•13. Warehouses sort and ship to all you lovely backers.

This is simplified, but it gives you a decent overview of the process.

Number 1 is completely done and has been for some time.

Number 2. While we had all of the sculpts done very soon after the kickstarter pledge period it took us longer to get everything printed than we had planned. There are only a handful of companies who can do the job to our specifications. This mainly affected the Loot and Blacksmith items, but also affected the core box with the pets and Royal Warden. This causes the timeline to slip, and any delay in early steps ripples through to all later steps.

Numbers 3 - 6. Molds are done for all of the core box contents. It is also finished for the Mistmourn Coast, Stilt Town Zombies, and a good chunk of other models. When John was in China he needed to get a few adjustments made to some of the Loot and Blacksmith items, (like the Kobolds) and the molds for them are still in progress. As soon as they are done I will be sure to let you know.

As you saw from our pictures in Update 60, manufacturing on the plastics for the models with completed molds are moving along. As they are finished they are shipped to the printer (Number 5). However, we were informed this week that a couple of the Loot/Blacksmith items are taking longer than anticipated to finish.

Number 7. As I’ve mentioned in past updates, finalizing print is taking longer than I had anticipated, and right now we’re working on borrowed time. It is fair to say that I underestimated the time needed to bring every previous model not only into a new edition, but into a completely new game mode (Arcade) as well.

In fact, in many ways, Arcade turned into a completely new game, going from a planned 8-16 page supplement to a 36-40 page rulebook all on its own.

Our graphic designer and I are working some seriously late nights and weekends to get everything done. Our responsibility is not just to hit a deadline, but to not compromise any quality of the product we give to you. We want this edition of Super Dungeon Explore to be brilliant.

Here is the punch list of our print status so you know how it is going:
•Classic Mode Rulebook - Laid out, in final editing.
•Arcade Mode Rulebook - In layout
•Explorer’s Handbook - Laid out in final editing.
•Classic Cards - Laid out in final editing.
•Arcade Cards - In layout
•Packaging - In layout.
•Dungeon Tiles - Core Box and Dungeons of Crystalia are done. Von Drakk is just starting layout. Misc.
•Print (Quickstart Rules, Tile Effect Cards, etc) - In layout.

I will give you an update status on this print every week.

Let me explain…No, there is too much. Let me sum up.


As stated, it we are anticipating doing a split shipment so that you get your game and models in as timely as a manner as possible, while also giving you the quality product you deserve.

We are pushing as hard as we can to hit December for the core game. If that changes we will tell you. That said, please do not count on it for a Christmas or holiday present. Sadly we are not Santa Claus, and even with a December delivery we can in no way guarantee it will be to you for Christmas. We would hate for you to have a bummer holiday, planning otherwise.

For the second wave, our aim is to have everything finished and on the water prior to the Chinese New Year.

Projects like this are always fluid due to all of the pieces and parts. I will continue bringing you weekly updates that show you preview cards, rules, and manufacturing updates. We will provide you with absolute dates as we are actually able to give them.

Our goal, as it always has been, is to keep you informed during the entire process and give you an awesome Super Dungeon Explore!

Explorer's Handbook Layout

The Explorer's Handbook is your essential primer for the world of Crystalia.





Seems like we should let you read the spookiest location of them all, the cursed Glauerdoom Moor.



Death Spectre

In the office we've decided Death Spectre is not only a deadly mini-boss but also the name of the biggest death metal band in Crystalia....because....awesome!



Death Spectre comes with the Von Drakk Manor level box. You will get his cards as part of the upgrade deck with your Always Super pledge.

First thing of note is his terrible number of movement points at 1. Fortunately, he has the Spectre Support action which allows him to Teleport 10 squares at the cost of 1 action point. This is enhanced by his Ghost ability which allows him to ignore walls and structures for purposes of line of sight and movement.

Death Spectre uses his ARM for defense and has a very respectable 2 red. This is all the better thanks to his Immune: Status Effects ability. (Exclamation point icon). Five hearts and 4 skull points come in at the mini-boss standard.

You'll note that there is no Melee icon next to Death Spectre's STR that is because all of his attacks are magical, using his formidable 2 stars and 1 green WILL. He can make three basic Magic Attacks with a range of 2 or he can use some of his excellent unique actions.

Lifesap is brutal. At a single action point this wave attack hits everything around him and he heals wounds for every wound it inflicts. Be careful though, it is a dangerous so will hurt friend and foe alike.

Soul Scythe is the kill switch. Instead of inflicting a single wound it instead inflicts one wound for every star Death Spectre wins the offense roll by. Ouch!


Arcade Card!

For Arcade the Death Spectre has a single set of stats. As a mini-boss he never gangs up with other monsters.

His 10 movement points take his Classic teleport ability into account, giving him the same mobility. Ghost remains allowing him to take the shortest path possible to get to the Hero he's targeting—a straight line.

He has a static armor of 2 stars which is nice and solid, requiring a stout hit from a Hero. His Range is 3 squares giving him just a touch more reach than he has in classic.

At STR 3 he hits Heroes with a firm, "whack." Soul Scythe is built into his attack and has the same ability. So if the Hero bombs their defense roll they can take as many as 3 wounds from a single hit.

Lifesap remains as his unique action, whenever a Unique command is issued. However, it increases its range and loses Dangerous. This is because in Arcade there is no control over how the monsters are stacking up and a dangerous wave can unintentionally wipe out a big chunk of the dungeon.

There we go! Another Friday of adventure.

Once again we would like to remind you to please, please, please finalize your pledge if you have not done so.

We hope you all have an excellent weekend.

Sparkleburst!

Was anyone really not expecting them to hit delays? Hm, if they're hoping for it to be on the water before CNY I guess that means we can hope to have it all in hand by March at best.

Has anyone not finalized their pledge yet and will allow me to get in on this? PM me!

 Lt. Coldfire wrote:
Has anyone not finalized their pledge yet ...?

According to the update on the 10th, there were 700 people who hadn't. Maybe if you write to SPM and ask them if they could add one more 'one of everything' order they will oblige you. Otherwise all the stuff will be available later.

 Smacks wrote:

 Lt. Coldfire wrote:
Has anyone not finalized their pledge yet ...?

According to the update on the 10th, there were 700 people who hadn't. Maybe if you write to SPM and ask them if they could add one more 'one of everything' order they will oblige you. Otherwise all the stuff will be available later.

Yeah I messaged them as well.

For anyone wondering, they are not taking any late backers.

This hasn't been updated in a while but they now have a provisional date for completion of production then add 6 to 8 weeks again it's shipped to SPM and then reshipped to backers looks like April delivery then.

Production

.... We approved the Ghost House and Dungeons of Crystalia dungeon tiles, as well as a whole group of the boxes for the Blacksmith items. We also approved things such as the plastic trays that will be in the boxes holding your models—

We are going to have FINISHED core boxes on the 20th! They will be sending us samples to check when they are done. We will take gobs of pictures.

We also appear to be on track for ALL production to be complete and ready to ship to the fulfillment warehouses on/around February 10th. This is, of course, a day to day thing as they work through each product, but (fingers-crossed) things are looking good. So exciting!

Thursday, February 19
Chinese New Year 2015

Something will go wrong. As usual.

The schedule seems to have slipped by about a week from the last estimate. Still hopeful stuff is out of port before CNY starts - if that happens, SPM might be able to start shipping (barely) before the end of March.

I'd expect it afterwards. If it's already slipped a week from Jan 3-10, then Feb 10th-19th is too close, and as we know in KS-land, anything that can go wrong will go wrong.

And who is that girl?

She's just some cutie I found while browsing the Internet a long time ago.

Tineye her for the name.

What is Super Dungeon Explore? Never heard of it before.

...?

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92190/super-dungeon-explore

Super Dungeon Explore (SDE) is a dungeon crawler inspired by old Japanese console RPGs. The 52 included miniatures are done in a cute / chibi / super-deformed style, which means the head is roughly the same size as the rest of the body.

One to five players take the role of classic fantasy heroes like the human paladin, a dwarf fighter, or an elf ranger. One player is the "Dark Consul" who controls the monsters of the dungeon. Every hero/monster has a character card that details the stats for movement, attack, armor, willpower, dexterity, action points and hearts (= life points). Additional information may include special abilities / actions / attacks and potions.

The game is played on modular dungeon boards. During a round of play, the game passes back and forth between single heroes and the monsters, but the exact order may change from round to round. The characters use the stats from their character card, special dice (with hearts, potions and stars) are only used for combat and checks. If the heroes wound the opponent, they may draw loot cards to improve their stats. There is also the possibility to open treasure chests to find even more powerful things. The monsters have no possibility to "level up" apart from a single late game upgrade but the Dark Consul has an unlimited number of them.

To win the game, the Dark Consul must defeat all heroes in his dungeon. The heroes must spawn the dungeon boss by killing monsters or destroying all spawning points (= entry points for new monsters). The heroes must then kill the dungeon boss to be victorious.

I think the latest version doesn't require someone to be the "Dark Consul", maybe?

 Alpharius wrote:
...?

https://boardgamegeek.com/boardgame/92190/super-dungeon-explore

Super Dungeon Explore (SDE) is a dungeon crawler inspired by old Japanese console RPGs. The 52 included miniatures are done in a cute / chibi / super-deformed style, which means the head is roughly the same size as the rest of the body.

One to five players take the role of classic fantasy heroes like the human paladin, a dwarf fighter, or an elf ranger. One player is the "Dark Consul" who controls the monsters of the dungeon. Every hero/monster has a character card that details the stats for movement, attack, armor, willpower, dexterity, action points and hearts (= life points). Additional information may include special abilities / actions / attacks and potions.

The game is played on modular dungeon boards. During a round of play, the game passes back and forth between single heroes and the monsters, but the exact order may change from round to round. The characters use the stats from their character card, special dice (with hearts, potions and stars) are only used for combat and checks. If the heroes wound the opponent, they may draw loot cards to improve their stats. There is also the possibility to open treasure chests to find even more powerful things. The monsters have no possibility to "level up" apart from a single late game upgrade but the Dark Consul has an unlimited number of them.

To win the game, the Dark Consul must defeat all heroes in his dungeon. The heroes must spawn the dungeon boss by killing monsters or destroying all spawning points (= entry points for new monsters). The heroes must then kill the dungeon boss to be victorious.

I think the latest version doesn't require someone to be the "Dark Consul", maybe?

So....it's like a simplified PnP RPG?

SDE is a vastly simplified PnP RPG, that you play as a 1-shot. It's akin to Descent or Mice & Mystics or the DnD miniatures games. Except, that the minis are chunky, Chibi-style Super Deformed style.

1E was a supremely-balanced tactical combat game between GM and players. Much of the replay came from taking different combinations of Heroes against different monster tactics.

Partway through, a pure PvP "Arena" variant was created, in which each player took a Hero with some monsters.

2E will add a Euro-ish co-op mode akin to Zombicide, wherein all of the players work to defeat the dungeon monsters, along with a vast increase in the types of monsters the players may encounter. Further, all of the models will be pre-assembled to speed playing.

Personally, I prefer SDE over a traditional PnP RPG, as you can just sit down and play it. It's a really good game.

 JohnHwangDD wrote:
SDE is a vastly simplified PnP RPG, that you play as a 1-shot. It's akin to Descent or Mice & Mystics or the DnD miniatures games. Except, that the minis are chunky, Chibi-style Super Deformed style.

1E was a supremely-balanced tactical combat game between GM and players. Much of the replay came from taking different combinations of Heroes against different monster tactics.

Partway through, a pure PvP "Arena" variant was created, in which each player took a Hero with some monsters.

2E will add a Euro-ish co-op mode akin to Zombicide, wherein all of the players work to defeat the dungeon monsters, along with a vast increase in the types of monsters the players may encounter. Further, all of the models will be pre-assembled to speed playing.

Personally, I prefer SDE over a traditional PnP RPG, as you can just sit down and play it. It's a really good game.

I think I'll buy some then. Sometimes my Pathfinder group doesn't have a lot of time.

The chibi-aesthetics and theme of the game is taken from 16-bit Japanese-style arcade and RPG games, with a bit of a modern twist.

It reminds me of the artwork for Maple Story, lol.

Maple Story is a Korean take on anime/chibi-style so yes, SDE would remind you of it. I miss that game. It used to be all my little elementary students would ever talk about.

Shipping in 2 waves - Always Super first the rest after CNY

The sample copy has gone straight to PAX so no pictures yet.



full update - https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1257458293/super-dungeon-explore-forgotten-king/posts/1115174?ref=backer_project_update

Shipping Update

Official Update of Officialness: We are, 100%, going to be shipping in two Waves.

Fortunately, the first wave is the entire Always Super pledge, so you will be receiving the lion's share of the product straight off. The second wave is almost done but is just going to miss beating Chinese New Year. Boo!

On our end everything has been approved so, like you, we are in "waiting with bated breath" mode. Well us designersare anyway. Our logistics ninjas who oversee production and shipping are now working in frenzy mode making sure a worldwide backer distribution goes off as smoothly as possible. They accept donations of coffee and spirits.

Pretty Colors!

When we received our first production samples of the models we whisked them off to our wonderful painting studio, Minx. They have been diligently applying a beautiful coat of paint on them ever since. Now we're getting our first work-in-progress shots of the paint jobs. Take a look!

Also posted on facebook - nice simple addition of a few white lines to add character (painted by Miniature Mistress)

Speaking of students and Maple Story, totally off topic, but one of my students was mentioning something about an Attack on Titan x Maple Story crossover.

Odd.

On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?

At least we'll have the base game and all the accompanying goodies for a bit to keep us company.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
Speaking of students and Maple Story, totally off topic, but one of my students was mentioning something about an Attack on Titan x Maple Story crossover.

Odd.

On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?

At least we'll have the base game and all the accompanying goodies for a bit to keep us company.

Wave 1 is the Always Super pledge.

Stands to reason that wave 2 is everything else, therefore add-ons.

 highlord tamburlaine wrote:
On topic, in trying to comprehend what is the second wave, that's basically all the add ons that aren't in the base pledge, right? All the warbands, extra tiles, bosses, creeps, all that stuff, right?

Some of the warbands - Always Super includes the Mistmourn Warband, for example. Stilt Town Zombies would be Wave 2.

It's not clear if Always Super extras (e.g. extra v1 cards, extra coloring books) will be shipped in Wave 1 or Wave 2. Having Wave 1 consist entirely of AS boxes will be simpler than AS and AS-related content.

Those are some fething nice minis.

Joyboozer wrote:
Those are some fething nice minis.

Yes - whoever is painting them is doing a stunning job. It's going to be impossible to live up to!

Update is up!

Production

We have booked the first container of Base Game to US, leaving port Feb 7th.

Woo-hoo!

Unboxing






I don't know why SPM didn't do an unboxing video - that's far more exciting to watch.

Just glad it's a proper box this time

Let's just hope that the EU container ships before CNY as well. DEKE said in the comments that our stuff is worked on at the same time, but you never know, right.


I just want my frooog kniiights.

Very glad with the design of that plastic tray. It's a small thing but it's definitely something I appreciate.