We've scoured our spacetime portals for available stocks of goodies to make your UVG experience more comfortable.
Latest Updates from Our Project:
In For An 'Ennie, In For An 'Ound
over 6 years ago
– Sat, Jul 13, 2019 at 02:32:36 AM
Ok, first the interesting news. The free introduction to the UVG has been nominated for an ENnie in the category of best free rpg game product! That's super cool. If you'd vote for the UVG, we'd appreciate it most gloriously. Vote for other cool products too, from Necrotic Gnome's Winter's Daughter to Hot Springs' Silent Titans, and a host of fun small presses, there's tons to discover.
More Cool News: Q Workshop Told Us The Dice Are Ready
Which is super fun. We can't wait to see them for real. Though, we'd be lying if we said there was no tremulousness ... tremulosity ... trema ... erm. Worry. Yep.
That Last Annoying Bit
Luka's got one last bit of layout work left on the book: the caravan sheet and the map. It's literally the last thing to do, and it's bringing up some unpleasant memories from his last job or something. So, yeah ... he's pacing around it like a cat around a hot tin of tuna. On the plus side, the typos have been hunted, and ... yeah. SO CLOSE. O_O
Gosh-darned, coloring all the art is slow!
It's moving along, more and more is done ... but it's taking its time. Still ... here's some fresh art from the last week. Yeah, that's right ... we're bribing you for your patience with more art.
Get ready.
Consolation with spectrum satraps
Put your ray gun to our head in the overarching land.
The mesa stands alone.
Keep your electric eyes on us, folks.
This one actually nearly became a detailed location, but it'll have to be its own adventure some day.
Oh, hey! A proper bribe!
Phew. Ok, a lesson to wrap up.
Quite simply, Luka sorely underestimated how hard it would be to combine layout, editing, and creative work.
All future finished books will be laid out by full-time graphic designers, with Luka only involved to assist with ideas. That should leave about two or three times as much time to draw and write. Yes, adding an additional-but-different task swallows up that much energy.
Who'd have thought.
Thank you again, good kickstarter folks, for your support and patience. This is truly one of those times when ... well, with the end in sight, extra reserves of energy are welcome.
Dispatch From the Bunker on the Rainbow Mountain
over 6 years ago
– Thu, Jul 04, 2019 at 02:24:08 AM
News. And they are solid polychrome.
We're putting color in that book now ...
As ever, thank you for your patience. Luka's rather flustered that the layout and design took him much longer than he'd hoped, but now—thanks to the aid of the kind typohunters—the entirety of the final edited and laid out .pdf has been picked clean, like the bones of the ur-roc by the beetle mice of Migo-4.
In other most excellent news, all the coloring tools have been 'repaired' (or replaced) and now we're assembling the final book.
un-trimmed version of Cave of the Iron Worm, p. 95.
Current Book Status
Coloring 25% done. Should be finished by next week.
Index. To be assembled.
Two more carousing tables. Yes, yes. Soon.
Re-drawn caravan sheet. Next week.
Cut up big long map to fit in book. Next week.
End papers. Next week.
Cage Run art ... it's totally not pronounced cajun when trying to say it fast. Totally not.
Other Things
Accordion map: after the book. Two weeks.
Referee screen: selecting tables. Two weeks.
Referee screen art: waiting.
Postcards: we'll have a vote on which art the backers want to see and what other locations to add. Late July.
Oooh, kitty!
That's All, Right?
Yeah. It's a bit unfortunate the final layout is this late. It's ... well, it's likely the printer's will be on holiday for a bit and the delivery of the physical books might be a few weeks late and then shipping and ... O_O
Anyway ... just blame Luka for that. He's being slow at layout and coloring! The best way to blame him is to send encouragement and well-wishes to the coloring bunker where he's toiling with digital brush in hand. Interesting music is also welcome.
Finally, to distract you, there's a fantastic actual play of the Ultraviolet Grasslands referee'd with aplomb by Eric Vulgaris. It uses Black Hack rules and is all-round excellent.
Ok! Peace and metal and a happy summer everyone!
\m/
WTF Studio and Exalted Funeral Press
Meditation is the Practice of Final Layout
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 03:19:19 AM
This is going to be a very short update, because we are ...
Om.
The move went well, the edited .pdf file is with the worthy Typohunters, jostling to catch typos in the manuscript, and I've begun coloring the art and putting it into it's final locations. From Poncho and Pointyhelmet on a purple plain, traveling incognito, to the later pieces.
There are a few tiny bits of writing and design also still left—Luka's been postponing the final form of the caravan sheet pending some last-minute feedback, which has held up one page's worth of rules. Two carousing tables are still waiting, too (hey, if you've got suggestions, he'll check 'em out in the comments).
This is what those tables look like, nothing scary:
A rural carousing table from the Three Sticks villages.
We don't want to toot horns too loudly ... but this time, this time ... it really looks like we're one week out from the finished .pdf. From there, it heads off to the printers for final checks, kind treatment of the covers, and finally ... the big red button that starts things printing.
Some places are just going to have to get extra spot art ... oh dear.
So ... maybe it's not time to pop a champaggen [sic] cork just yet, but it's damn close. And if your neck of the shrubberies is feeling the heat right now, popping a neon-purple can of I.P.A. might be just the thing right now.
Woot!
—Exalted Wizardry Keyboard Knome Mk2
Mighty crab vome walker platform spot art! Bonus and in color! Yay!
P.S. - a grand thank you to everyone for their patience, a special thank you to the typo hunters for their eyes!
Got A Little Twist of Art
almost 7 years ago
– Wed, Jun 19, 2019 at 03:01:40 AM
So ... that stretch goal with full color?
Yes, the colors are on their way.
This update super short because over the weekend Luka's moving to cut down his and his wife's commutes by over two hours, which is great. But it's going to involve new towns, neighborhoods, communities, spaces, and habits. Every move is emotionally, financially, and socially jarring, and this one is no different. He's not looking forward to the move, but the alternative is worse.
Unlike a rainbow in the dark, we're actually moving forward fast. The MoonRats are editing away, catching Luka's messy typos left and right, and he's started coloring and adapting the art for the print run. The editing pass should be complete by mid next week, and then the art starts going in.
At that time, the final manuscript will also get scoured by a cadre of elite typohunters. If you want to join (and get a super-advance copy of the UVG) let Luka know directly via some kind of social media or the contact form on wizardthieffighter.com.
Porcelain Prince in full color. Page by page, coloring things up.
Some Less Great News
Due to printing and pricing limitations, we're going to make the big long map a bit shorter (and wider) than initially hoped. It's going to be around 7.5 x 39 inches, instead of 7 x 48 inches because of printing constraints. So ... more like 3'3" (aka 99cm) than 4' (120cm). Sniff. Oh well, something to think of for next time!
Still It's Alright
The odds are looking good on actually completing all designs and layouts sooner than planned, and we've also started talking with some new designers to help us on future projects (Red Sky Dead City, looking at you), shortening turnaround times and making the art work better (yay!).
Thank you for your patience and support, everyone!
-Seacat Wizard Out.
I Saw The [Layout] End
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 02:23:28 AM
Pallbearer of Good News
Well, that's that.
A bit later than expected, but initial layout is finished and we've managed to put the Ultraviolet Grasslands together at a total of 196 pages. Still have to get the page numbers perfectly adjusted for the print run, but that's a detail to tackle after our kind editors at the MoonRat Conspiracy complete their work.
Table of Discontent
Turns out we managed to fit the entirety of the UVG into the first 130 pages or so, leaving 20 pages for SEACAT and the mechanics of running caravan games, and then 40 more pages of setting gameable content: culture, languages, NPCs, equipment (so much equipment), the big map, character sheets, and even brief descriptions of some spells.
Even managed to add some extra generators for weird locations, weather, and so on.
Ok, ok, confession: we're not 100% done on the content. Luka still wants to write up:
two more carousing tables
the spell descriptions
But in the interest of getting the whole hog of the book done, they're getting pasted in later. It's just one spread left.
The other things that are left involve separate design and art work:
splitting up the big map into 6 usable sections, so it fits in the book.
re-designing the caravan sheet
streamlining the caravan mechanics to fit on the sheet
coloring the art and fitting it in.
But, but, but. The biggest chunk is still now totally finally at last ... ready.
Thank you for your patience!
Your kindness and support has truly been overwhelming.
Oooh, the end of the glossary!
Ok, what's next?
Editors finish their pass by the end of next week. Add an index.
Luka colors the art and writes those last few bits.
Design work done.
We assemble everything together. Double check page numbers.
Make a prayer and read the future in some liver.
Ship it off to get printed in a couple of weeks.
Luka takes a few days holiday and ignores the world.
We assemble the referee screen and pass it around to make sure we haven't missed any crucial tables.
