Tigris Gate

Before the war, Xia was a system of immense wealth and stature. The Gates were christened thus:
Excelsior, Deltus and Tigris.



The creation of the Gates ushered in an age of prosperity. But great wealth brings power. And as you know, dear friend, power corrupts.

In the fifty-first year of the war the Tigris was damaged. The battle that raged between the Gates was most heavily centered around her. Ships warping in and out of real-space in the blink of an eye; Entire squadrons launching volleys then vanishing back into the void.

The starship graveyard surrounding Tigris still lingers today. Far too dangerous for corporations to exploit, only daring adventurers seek this gate. Many attempts have been made to repair the Tigris, but the old ways have been lost.

With her Tether broken, only those bold, or foolish enough to venture into her swirling embrace know where the Tigris leads...

The Future

Here's a summary of what's in the video:

3D printing

I'm very excited about the 3D printing revolution, and I want Xia to be a part of it! As I've said on the main page, I am going to release card templates and how-to's to help you create your own starships!

Sharing your creations

I'm going to be using the Creative Commons license, with the hope that any cool ships you make you'd share with everyone! I'm going to try and make faroffgames.com a place where you can upload and share your creations, as well as view what other people have made, download, and print them out on a 3D printer!

Easy and accessible

I want to try and make it easy and accessible for anyone who wants to make a starship. I realize most of us don't have the skills required to make great 3D models, so I'd like to try to host artist information on the website. Contact information, pricing for tier 1, tier 2, and tier 3 ships. Maybe artists could post a "demo" ship for you to download and print to see their skill level.

My hope is that you'd be able to contact an artist you liked, and work with them to make your starship dreams come true!

Basically I want there to be as many starships for Xia as you can think up! And not only making them, but sharing them with everyone else!

Taking it further

Now that's great for starships, but to really make this game "mod-able" we're going to need more. So I am going to be releasing templates for just about everything in Xia: Sector tiles, Mission cards, Outfits, and Titles will all be available as templates!

I am looking forward to all the crazy things you're going to create!

High quality modding

I am, however, not satisfied with you printing your creations out on card-stock. So I'm announcing that if you are pledged at the Sellsword level, you will also receive what I'm calling a "Dev Kit" or development kit. The goal of this kit is to allow you to create great looking modifications to Xia, that work and look like the production game.

The Dev Kit will include:

3 Sector tiles - backside printed with the same artwork as the production tiles - front side printed with an empty star-scape and plain hex grid. These are for you to modify and add your own ideas to the front side. Your creations will have the same weight and feel as the rest of the game. The backside is the same as production, so when they are in the tile deck you can't tell the home-made one from the rest!

If you're not into making your own things, you can always just use these blanks as empty space in Xia, making your game that much bigger!



3 empty flight stands - for your 3D printed starships.
1 set of blank outfits - modify the outfit template, print out your own versions and paste them onto this set of outfits!



Go pro

Now you're free to print your creations off from home, use scissors and glue to paste your creations onto these blanks. But the best way I think is to use a vinyl printer/cutter. (I'm looking for a good place online, I've just used my local car-pinstriper). You'll make your creation on your computer, send it in, they will professionally print and cut the template, then send you a sticker, ready to peel and paste onto your blank tiles or outfits!

Cards

I also want your custom cards to look great! My hope is that you'd be able to browse faroffgames.com, find some cool missions, or new ship cards, or something even cooler, and download them. Once you've got them you can upload them to a custom-card website like printerstudio.com hit "Buy now!" then wait. In a couple weeks you'll get a fresh pack of cards that look and feel great!

My hope

I want you guys to take Xia as far as you'd like it! It's going to be up to you what you make, and share with each other. I am really excited about the endless possibilities!

I hope you can catch the vision, stir your creative juices, and create something amazing!

Cheers, -Cody

3D Printing

I'm very excited about the 3D printing revolution, and I want Xia to be a part of it! As I've said on the main page, I am going to release card templates and how-to's to help you create your own starships!

 RiTides wrote:
If you're able to ask about that in the comments, it'd be much appreciated a little hard to tell the details of what will be 3D printable from what he's posted so far.

csimian wrote:

 RiTides wrote:
Can someone explain what he means by this:

3D Printing

I'm very excited about the 3D printing revolution, and I want Xia to be a part of it! As I've said on the main page, I am going to release card templates and how-to's to help you create your own starships!

Is there a level where he offers the ship files as .STL format or the like for folks to print out using their own home 3D printers, or a service, etc?

Can someone clarify what he means, as when he starts talking about card templates that doesn't sound like "3D printing" anymore, so I believe he's referring to two separate things... is he releasing the ship files, or not?

When he mentions the card templates I think he is talking about the ship cards that has the outline of the ships that you can put your 'outfits' on and the handheld special ability cards. He did mention somewhere that he will be releasing files (not sure which kind, don't know much about 3D print files) for three new offiicial ships including their cards.

I have announced that I will be releasing at least 3 ships to be downloaded and printed as .STL files. (This will be after I have gotten the manufacturing of the game up and running, possibly around when the game is shipping to backers).
The templates for cards are the other necessary item for creating your own starships. Each ship in the game has a miniature, a ship card (the large one with the cargo hold) and a special ability card.
The two cards would be printed using a normal printer, while the miniature would use the 3D file and 3D printer!
I am not currently planning on releasing all of the ships for home printing at this time. But that could very well change!

Kemplar II



For millennia, the seat of power in Xia has been Kemplar II. Within the vast aging cityscapes, the noble houses, embassies, and politicians dwell, holding the realm together. Or that is what they would have you think. Those opposed to governance say that Kemplar II is a more a den of thieves than even Loath.

Diplomacy, backstabbing, military coups d'état, wise and foolish leaders are all part of Kemplar II's eclectic past. It was here the war started, and here the peace was made.

A once beautiful world, its marble streets and ancient halls are shrouded in ruin and decay after decades of strife and mismanagement. Faded lords now bicker and scrabble over the scraps of former glory.

The peace has lasted for 413 years. Fragile, and fleeting most likely, like the beautiful oases that flourish, then fade in Kemplar II's arid Sea of Sand...

Azure



Amid the war-torn system of Xia, there is one shining gem: Azure.

Named for her deep blue hues, she is a bastion of tranquility and excess. Of all the planets, Azure has known more than her fair share of peace. Azure is first and foremost a tourist world. Shuttling in the rich and famous to cavort and fritter away the precious credits that keep Azure's economy thriving.

Strict visa policies keep out the "riff-raff" of the galaxy. Azure holds the motto "out of sight, out of mind" in all of its dealings, preferring to keep up appearances rather than tackle difficult sociopolitical issues.

The dense foliage of Azure's island jungles and oceans are home to dangerous and exotic wildlife. Many come from across the galaxy to hunt the pungent Humkars. Humkars are hunted for their tusks, horns, claws, hide, fur, scalps, tails, fins, eggs, and delicious meat. In the old days, hunting the Humkar was a coming of age tradition referred to as the "Great Hunt".

Mega-resorts dot Azure's sandy beaches, while starliners slowly circle, dip, and meander through her beautiful oceans before launching skyward once more. Those lucky enough to visit Azure will not soon forget her charms.

Final stretch goals

Alright, I'd like to take a minute and talk about my choice here.

I know that there are many hopes for tons of new sectors, ships, mission types, crew, events, etc. but I'm afraid I'm not going there with stretch goals. I'm terribly sorry if this breaks your heart!

By clearing the 200k mark, I've added everything to Xia that I wanted. I am 100% happy with the game, and I feel really good about shipping it out to you.

Difficult decisions

I'm completely aware that this is not how Kickstarters are usually run. It's generally a mad rush to add more and more content. I can feel the immense pull to keep adding and adding, but I have set this limit long before the campaign started.

There are many cautionary tales of Kickstarters that went sour because of excess goals, and I refuse to let Xia be one of those. I have a responsibility to my wife and kids not to go under financially; and I have a responsibility to you, my backers, to put forth a great product, within a reasonable timeframe. My friends, testers, and wife are all in agreement, rushing to add more now is not a good idea. It is enough.

I realize this isn't the best "move" if I'm trying to make an amazing Kickstarter campaign. But again, my goal is not to have the best Kickstarter campaign. My goal is to make the best starship adventure I can.

My conclusion

I've spent 7 years adding, and pruning ideas for Xia. It's been a long process of dreaming up great ideas, trying to implement them, then removing everything that didn't work or wasn't actually fun. I'm very proud of where Xia is right now, and I think to keep adding, for adding's sake, would dilute the concentration that currently permeates the game. Some times less is more.

To that end I've set the remaining stretch goals with a focus on improving the quality of components you will receive. I understand if you are disappointed, but I hope you can see why I've made this choice.

@Andrew, @Donn: Apparently Panda is just starting to offer Ivorycore as an option. I was asking them about going from Greycore(current) to Bluecore(like Magic) and they told me about this. I know that Jamey from the Euphoria KS went with this for their project.

Honestly if people would rather have Bluecore we can do that instead.

Oh, and the core is the cardstock the cards are printed on. The different cores have different properties that help with durability, and "shuffle-ability" etc. The idea being that a better core card will feel better to shuffle, and hold up longer to wear.
Faroffgames-logo_2.small
Creator Far Off Games about 9 hours ago

Hey backers!

I really can't believe my eyes! As of writing we are at 278,000 and rising fast! Welcome to all of you swelling the ranks! Welcome to Team Xia! We are so glad to have you here!!

As I look towards past the Kickstarter here's a few things I'd like to talk about.

Art

Many people have commented on every aspect of Xia's art. I'm aware that some parts are more pleasing than others. Again, my goal is to bring you the best starship adventure I can, if that means changing some of the art, then so be it!

I'm trying to figure out the best use of my time/money on art, so I've created a little poll that will try to help with that.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s/7H7C8NF

I'd be every so thankful if you'd take the time to fill it out! Thanks!

After Kickstarter

Once the campaign has ended I have some ideas about how we can continue our discussions, hopefully in an even better environment that's more structured.

I have completed my schooling(!), and I will be taking some time off of work. I will use this much needed time to focus on getting Xia off the ground. In addition to working on the manufacturing side of things, I will also be getting a website together with a forum.

The website is http://www.faroffgames.com/. I know there isn't much there right now, and what is there is ugly. My primary focus has been Kickstarter. But once the Kickstarter ends I will begin working on creating a place for team Xia to hang out, share ideas, and keep up-to-date on any Xia related news!

Unlocked Ships

I know many of you are excited to name the newly unlocked ships! The Sinterra has already been revealed, but here's a sneak peek at a draft of 4 more of the ships (two tier 1, two tier 2.)



Again, these are still a rough draft. Once I have the final drafts / artwork we will name them!

Gameplay Video










Alright, here's part one of me playing a 3 player game. I've never done a "gameplay" video, so I apologize if it's not up to what you're used to! I'm still uploading the other parts of the video, so you can check back later to see if it's up! I'll post it all on the front page.

Thanks again for your incredible support! You guys and gals are amazing!!

Cheers, -Cody