Project Update #35: Project Update—Equipment Rules
We hope you have all had an excellent week. Things have been busy at Soda Pop so lets get straight to it!
Anything with a ** and in italics. Has been updated from last week's list.
Forgotten King Core Box
Forgotten King: Tooling
Trent: Tooling
**Bashful Boris: Sculpt printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling.
Questing Knight, Thundervale Huntress, Princess Emerald, Fae Alchemist: Tooling
Pets: Sculpts done. In queue at 3D Printer
Old-Growth Hollow Monsters: Tooling
Bramble Knight Monsters: Tooling
Treasure Chests & Boo Booty: Tooling
Classic Rules: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Arcade Rules: Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Model Cards: Finished
**Equipment Cards: In layout.
**Explore & Arcade Cards: Finishing internal playtesting.
Dungeon Tiles: Side "A" complete. Side "B" art in progress.
Upgrade Decks
Dragonback Peaks: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Caverns of Roxor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Von Drakk Manor: Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Mistmourn Coast Warband
Mistmourn Shaman: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Layout complete for public beta.
Tribal Stone Monsters: Sculpt - Tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Salt Crystal Monsters: Sculpt - Molds complete | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Salt: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Emerald Valley Warband
**Silver Chevalier: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Glimmerwing: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Truffle Pig: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Okoshroom: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kinoshroom: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Fungal Growth: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Claws of the Wyrm Warband
**Dragon Blade: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Claw Shrine Monsters: Sculpt - started and in progress | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Stilt Town Zombie Warband
Zombie Survivor Marie-Claude: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Gruesome George: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Shamble Priest: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Pudge: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Prowler: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Swampie: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Grabby House: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Mr. Bitey: Concept art done | Sculpt - In queue | Rules - In internal playtesting
Bag O'
Bag O' Squirrels: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Slime: Sculpt - Done | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Bag O' Bones: Sculpt - In tooling | Rules - Entering final draft, then heading to initial layout for public beta.
Single Models
**Brave-Mode Candy: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Never-Lost Cola: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Tabbybrook Mage: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Twilight Knight: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Deeproot Wolf Rider: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Wandering Minstrel: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Royal Warden: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Goro: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Giri: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
**Shadow-Mode Candy: Sculpt - printed and approved. Getting photos then sending to China to await tooling. | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Kunoichi Candy: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Ninja Cola: Sculpt - In queue to start | Rules - Finishing internal playtesting, then heading to external playtest.
Everything Else
Potion Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer Heart
Tokens: Sculpt - Done, in queue at 3D Printer
Crystalia Adventures Coloring Book: Line art in progress. Metal Princess Coin: Design in progress.
Boo Booty Box: Design in progress.
Dungeons of Crystalia: Art in progress.
Unique Equipment Art: Art in progress.
Equipment
Loot and Treasure are a big part of Super Dungeon Explore. As Heroes explore a dungeon and bash monsters they are sure to pick up piles and piles of equipment. We always knew that one of the things we wanted to do for Forgotten King was give our equipment images that helped immerse the players in the world of Crystalia. Once the stretch goal was unlocked, you opened up over 120 pieces of equipment art to cover both Forgotten King and past expansions.
Our artist has been hard at work building all of this great art and we're starting to see the first line art from his talented pen. Let's take a look!
Well, we've got a taste of the cool new equipment in progress, so how does it work?
The most basic equipment is Loot and is gained every time a Hero kills a minion or denizen that does not have theInsignificantability, up to a maximum of 3 cards per turn. (Vets take notice you also draw no loot from theBacklash ability.)
So you've drawn your loot now how do you equip it? First lets look at our trusty Hero card.
You'll note on the frame of the Fae Alchemist card there are four circular gems: Citrine (left), Ruby (top), Emerald (right), and Sapphire (bottom).
These are your equipment slots. You can loosely think of the them as: Citrine - Weapon, Ruby - Accessory, Emerald - Armor, and Sapphire - Accessory. We don't strictly hold to that formula but try to keep the equipment so it makes some sort of sense if it was all equipped on a single Hero.
Now lets look at the equipment cards:
You will see that all loot is tied to a specific gem and its card is oriented according to the side of the Hero card the equipment slot is on. Since these are loot cards they have a blue background and a silver frame.
Treasure cards are gained by defeating mini-bosses and opening treasure chests. Treasure cards are generally more powerful than loot cards so a Hero may only ever have one treasure equipped at a time. They also have a red background and gold frame. Otherwise they are aligned to a gem and laid out in the same way as loot.
Note that we are still finalizing treasure so the abilities are actually pulled from Loot.
Let's gear up! By this time you've probably figured out how this all works. Each card is designed to easily tuck the large gem underneath the Hero's card to represent that it has been equipped.
Here we have a fully equipped Fae Alchemist. Each piece of equipment is tucked under the Hero card in the appropriate slot, so that the equipments' bonuses can easily be seen. Bonuses from the equipment are treated exactly as though they were printed on the model's card. So in this case the Fae Alchemist now has
STR 3 blue,
ARM 3 blue, 1 red, and WILL of 1 blue, 3 red. Plus she's immune to the status effect Weak. Watch out monsters!
Tooling and the things.
We had a lot of people ask what tooling is, so lets close with a little explanation of process.
For Super Dungeon Explore we make models in two ways: traditional sculpts and 3D sculpts.
Many of you a probably familiar with traditional sculpts where an artist uses one of a variety of mediums to physically sculpt a model.
3D or computer generated sculpts on the other hand are digitally done by an artist on the computer. Once the they have finished the sculpt we are given the file to print. While 3D printers are becoming very popular and much cheaper, ones that can capture the tiny detail of a 28-32mm model are still very expensive. Because of this we outsource our 3D printing to a 3rd party who has the expertise and the awesome machines that take the digital file and print it into an actual physical product.
From there the newly printed model is mailed to us for approval (and to take some pictures to share with you next week). After we've seen the model in hand we check it to make sure it meets our quality requirements. If it isn't we then go back to the sculptor to make an necessary changes and then start the process all over again. Once the print is approved it then is sent off to China.
In China, it enters the manufacturing process. This starts with pre-production where their engineers figure out how to make the mold for the model. This often requires a model to be cut in strategic places and have keyed pegs and holes created for easy assembly.
Once this pre-production is done tooling begins. Tooling is where they actually create the molds that will be used to cast the final production models. As tooling progresses test runs are made for quality control and the mold is refined until it is suitable for production. Since molds are very expensive this is a time consuming process to make sure the molds are laid out properly and built in such a manner as to minimize flashing.
It's also important to note that this process is not done on an individual basis, but instead is done based on SKU. For instance: the Silver Chevalier is printed and ready to be sent to China. However, since she is part of the Emerald Valley Warband tooling will not begin on her until all of the Emerald Valley models are ready for tooling. This is because they must all be part of the same mold to keep production efficient, and to ensure that the mold is laid out appropriately. This means that one delayed model can slow up the process for the entire SKU. Sad face. :(
After tooling we have a whole new batch of manufacturing to do, but this update is already huge so we'll address that in another update.
In the meantime have a great weekend and may you always rolls stars!
#Sparkleburst!
Automatically Appended Next Post: well soda pop continue to impress with their updates now they've gone solo
(whether this represents CMON being a road block in the past, or just soda pop learning from previous mistakes it's hard to say, but whatever it's a positive step)