Proofs and Printing
over 3 years ago
– Sat, Jan 09, 2021 at 07:49:21 PM
Very quick update!
Tl;dr: We won't be locking down BackerKit orders and charging cards until around March. Shipping will be a bit later than anticipated.
Over the last month or so, we've been ping-ponging our files back and forth to the printers, getting them as perfect as possible, and now we're simply waiting on the physical proofs, which unfortunately won't be here until mid-February. This proof process took much longer than our last Kickstarter (thanks in part to covid and in part to working with a company in a different country), so we're running a little behind our anticipated schedule.
This means we won't be locking down BackerKit orders and charging cards until around March, and shipping might not happen for 6-8 weeks after that. We're making sure we have our final proofs on hand before we lock down those orders, so nobody is charged before any unexpected delays.
All told, this is a very small delay, and we haven't encountered anything catastrophic while finalizing everything for print. The only lingering delays might come from:
A) If we need to do lots of physical proof passes (we'll do as many as necessary to get the product right.)
B) If freight shipping from our manufacturer takes a really, really long time. We simply don't have an exact estimate on this yet, but we'll know once we place our print order.
We'll be keeping you up to date every step of the way!
Big Update!
over 3 years ago
– Tue, Dec 22, 2020 at 12:15:13 PM
Sorry for the big delay between updates. We’ve been hard at work finishing up all the print files, which have now been sent off to the printers. We’ll be showing off everything we’ve done, but first, some housekeeping reminders:
- We’ll be locking in all orders on BackerKit when we give the thumbs up to start printing. We’re on schedule, so that will be likely happening mid to late January. You’ll be able to update your order any time before then.
- You can download all your digital rewards via dark-matter.backerkit.com
- Grax's Club has two parts finished, and One Hundred to Oni is in progress.
Now that we’ve got files out to the printers, we’ll need to do some refinement with their feedback and get some proofs -- early physical copies of how things will print. With any luck, this won’t be a lengthy process, but we’re focused on making the product as perfect as we can, so we’ll do as many proofs as we need. After that, it’s printing, shipping to the states, and shipping to you!
Updates to Dark Matter
We’re releasing a 1.41 version of the Dark Matter hardcover which addresses some small errors and shows off two updated pieces of art. This is a small update from the 1.4 version, so if you don’t feel like downloading it, you should be fine.
The full changelog can be found here.
Starter Kit
The Starter Kit is finished and we’ve sent out the 1.0 version! The big additions this time are the tokens and maps.
We ended up fitting only 40 one-inch and 2 two-inch tokens, but I’m very happy with the spread we included here. Tons of new illustrations were made specifically for this token set. We’ve even got tokens for the six prebuild characters included in the Starter Kit. Additionally, while the physical Starter Kit tokens will be borderless, we've also made cool bordered versions that will look extra cool on VTTs.
These maps are by the up-and-coming Galaxy Compass, a map maker who has worked with us from the very start of the Kickstarter. The front side is a full map of the Caliber, a ship that makes its appearance in the third act of Conspiracy in the Stars! and acts as a great starter ship for players. The back side is a dense generic city map, perfect for skirmishes from Conspiracy, as well as any other miscellaneous urban adventures you might undertake.
If you like Galaxy Compass, go visit their Patreon and chuck in a buck!
We’ve also improved the covers for the Basic Rules and Conspiracy of the Stars, as well as the Starter Kit box itself. If presentation is important to you, you should like what we’ve done:
Alien Worlds Bundle
We have to shout out another amazing map maker, who delivered two stellar maps for the alien worlds bundle: Mark Drummond J. Mark creates some truly superb art, and we were thrilled to work with him on this project. In addition to top-down maps, Mark does some truly impressive landscape illustrations showing his maps off from the ground level, and has done this very thing on his Patreon for the maps he's created for Dark Matter. You owe it to yourself to check this out and give him some support!
Our tokens for the Alien Worlds Bundle wrap up many more of the Dark Matter favorites you know and love, including the Body Snatcher, Vortirrackt, and the Mechademons. There’s some incredible art in here, which I think you’re going to love!
Space Battle Bundle
I'm thrilled about how the maps and tokens for the Space Battle bundle have turned out. Better still, they're all done by the same person, the incredibly talented Scribbles in Space. As far as I'm concerned, they're the best in the business at hand crafted, impressively detailed starship maps, and the set we have here are no big exception. The tokens have the same style, which will look good digitally and on the tabletop. If you’re a fan of this style, go support Scribbles in Space!
Reference Cards
These ended up being a bit longer than expected: with every spell in Dark Matter, all the hazards, reference cards for the ship combat roles, and a set of familiar cards lifted from the Monster Cards, this is a truly spectacular set. We’ve also added a few small details you might enjoy: bolded save DCs and damage rolls, so you don’t have to skim to spot the important details. Here’s a look at some of those cards:
Monster Cards
This deck is a masterclass: fifty monsters, each with fantastic art. We decided to make more art than we planned and focus on non-Mega monsters, so we have a really cohesive set of cool things to fight. I reworked the graphic design three times from scratch to get it right, but I think we have an excellent solution for the complexity of D&D monsters. As with the Reference Cards, we added some nice touches to the information, bolding attacks, saving throws, and damage, so you can see the information you need first. Here are some examples:
Grax’s Club 2
The second section of Grax’s Club is live! This adventure The Curse of the Astromo is written by the amazing Donathin Frye, and walks a fine line between hilarious and terrifying. As your Grax’s Guys crew boards a derelict spaceship, you discover it has been attacked by space vampires, alien creatures with a terrible sense of humor and an endless thirst for brain juice!
Of course, for many of us (myself included), we’re playing online for the moment, so I’ve added some convenient features for the PDF: hyperlinked tables of contents for each adventure and full bookmarking chief among them. Lastly, if you haven’t seen it, here’s the cover for Grax’s Club, showing off the titular Grax and some of his Guys:
Preorder Store Open, BackerKit Next Week, Character Sheets
over 3 years ago
– Thu, Sep 17, 2020 at 12:32:26 PM
The preorder store is live for anyone who missed the campaign, but the BackerKit surveys will be going out on the 22nd instead of today. On the bright side, we’ve got the Dark Matter character sheets form-fillable and ready to go!
Preorder Store
If you were late to the party, you can still get anything and everything from this Kickstarter on our BackerKit preorder store. Here’s a link to that!
If you’re a backer, you can use the preorder store or wait until the surveys go out in a week’s time, at which point you’ll have access to the same spread of add-ons. I recommend the latter, so you don't pay any extra in shipping.
BackerKit Delay
Sadly, we ran into a snag with getting all the international shipping information into BackerKit. We eventually figured out the glitch, but have to wait on the mandatory “smoke test” and approval processes before BackerKit will let us send out surveys and deliver digital rewards.
We’ll have everything sorted by this time next week (the 22nd). An unfortunate delay, and hopefully the only one we’ll see.
Character Sheets
Here’s the new, form-fillable Dark Matter character sheet!
I initially had this lower on the work queue, but bumped it to the top so we can start building it into Roll20. It’ll also be in the appendices of your Dark Matter core books!
