Anthromancer: A Game. An Oracle. An Album. A Myth.

Obligatory Update
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 07, 2021 at 08:01:19 AM

Sup yall, Dan here. Had 7 or so requests for an update so I figured I'd get off my ass and get to typing. I'm really trying to only come to poke your emails when I've got something worth sharing for real, defaulting to radio silence in the meantime, but I get it, I have your money and you don't have a game yet. 

The current hold up has been the asset submission/revision process. This whole thing makes me cringe on a spiritual level, because I was under the impression we were almost done here, but the last few weeks have been a Benny Hill experience of middleman communication and delegation between me, Alex, our rep at Panda, our designer Wella, our illustrator Dana, and our typesetter Ethan.

We are closing in on finishing this iterative process and I'm currently waiting to hear back from Panda about the last batch of assets. The issues before involved margin problems with the LaTeX-built .pdf of the codex, plus export issues throughout the whole project (apparently my version of Adobe illustrator switched all the blacks in the entire project with something that wasn't true black, and all of our illustrations had been exported in RGB instead of CMYK. Resolving this was a far more tedious process than expected, but now it's done and future editions shouldn't need so much TLC to get going).

This part of the process drives me up a frickin wall. I am not good at tedium, preferring to delegate that stuff (and thank GOD for Wella, they have saved me a whole lot of panic attacks and general stress through this ordeal). With luck this will all be wrapped up soon and I can hurry up and live out my dreams of Willy Wonka legend status. 

I've got other stuff to market to you as tacky as that seems. For instance, in the meantime of waiting for these asset issues to resolve, I published a 45 minute educational video to teach my friends how cryptocurrency works. Associated with that, we've also got a patreon page I'm actively marketing, because I've been working on a bunch of new music, gametypes, and other cool stuff associated with the wider Anthromancer brand. Assuming you're not sitting there stewing in your resentments about how behind schedule this project is, I'd be stoked to see a few more fans of the project in next videos credits. Take a gander, y'all. 

Once we're done with the asset revision, Panda will be making us a single prototype for our approval before we authorize the beginning of the manufacturing process. That's probably, what, 3 weeks out at the absolute earliest? With luck, next time you hear from me it'll be with photos of that prototype in our hands. I'm most excited to hold the dice with proper symbols/numerals. We'll see if our margins on the deck are too close for printing or not!!

For what it's worth, and not that it's really an excuse or...whatever...my life has been chaotic as HELL the last few months, but the project is slogging along, inevitably getting closer and closer to publication. Fingers crossed it'll be everything I've dreamed and I can start building my non-heirarchical NFT-game parlor-YuGiOh-international tournament Anthromancer empire. Gunning for that MtG throne lol

At Long Last, Anthromancer is Moving Forward!
almost 5 years ago – Sat, May 08, 2021 at 03:53:59 PM

Hey everyone. Dan here.

First and foremost, thank you so much for all of your patience. One thing after another, lemme tell ya. This whole process has been (and continues to be) a profound learning experience. I've been kind of, sort of, trying to model my PR strategy on 'radio silence unless I have something worth mentioning', and at times I've felt a little guilty for keeping folks in the dark.

But today I come bearing good news! We've secured an updated quote, and are moving forward to the first round of asset submissions to the manufacturers.

Now would be a good time to double check your information in the Backerkit!

So what took so damn long?

Well, initially it was just development. The project was mostly 'finished', at least in terms of the bare bones mechanical supports, but after the conclusion of the kickstarter last year we had to button up a few key aspects, including Dana's illustrations, and the typesetting of the codex/rulebook itself (which ended up being about 80 pages longer than we'd planned). That soaked up several months of time, cuz, y'know, you can't rush art or whatever. Honestly though I'm really glad we took our time on it because I feel so damn proud of this codex I can hardly stand it. This thing is MEATY.

After that, though, we had to wait for an updated quote from the manufacturer. In addition to the much larger book (80+ pages per unit is a lot of extra cost), we also worked with our brilliant friend Wella to put together a 30-page quick-start insert with all the relevant information and big, easy-to-understand illustrations so folks who are new to Mercenarium can have a blast their first game. So that's another 30 full-color pages each box is gonna ship with.

Naturally we solicited this quote right around Chinese New Year, and then the Suez Canal thing happened and...well, getting the quote back took a little while longer than expected. I just sat around making music and twiddling my thumbs, wishing I had something worth telling y'all.

And then finally a few weeks ago the quote came in and...

...It was higher than we planned! By thousands of dollars! Because of course it was! We added 100 pages of book to every single damn copy!

So the last few weeks have been an interesting, kind of stressful game of 'call your rich friends and see if anyone wants to own a portion of your soul'.

I am very, very blessed to be around such competent, wonderful people, because in the last week we managed to find the money we'll need to order this initial run, plus fulfillment, without having to 'pass the hat' as it were. And that was my biggest fear - the thought of doing a backer update saying "hey y'all we're fools and we need more of your money" is extraordinarily offensive to my spirit. You've given me your faith already, and your patience, and your money, and I want to deliver on that faith.

So what I'm saying is I'm glad we got the money and I'm so, so SO thrilled to announce that we're moving forward at last.

Now, to be clear, this is the beginning of a long process, which will most likely take between 3 and 6 months. I'm hopeful that I've assembled the assets properly enough (fingers crossed they don't have an issue with my card formatting, I want those dots REAL close to the card edges) and I've learned enough design stuff over the last year that if there are any serious issues I ought to be able to dust them up immediately and resubmit. Once we get past the asset review, they'll put together a prototype for us to give final approval on, and if everything's good there it'll be time to fire up the machine and spit out about 1500 copies or so. 

We are very seriously considering handling a big chunk of the fulfillment - at least, domestic - ourselves, just to help us cut back on how much money we'll need to spend to make this happen. But we've spent the last year outfitting our other company, Dancakes, to be able to sell product online and we've gotten a pretty good flow, plus we have a few valid storage solutions for any copies we don't immediately deliver.

All in all, I'm just...grateful. Grateful to be at this point, finally making some material progress. I've been working on this thing for so long it makes my head spin. I just wanna see what happens when it exists. Thanks for coming along for the ride.

HAPPY FOOL'S DAY! But for real, Anthromancer is finished.
about 5 years ago – Tue, Apr 06, 2021 at 10:35:50 AM

April Fool's day was always kind of a throwaway holiday in my brain. It's the prank day, right? Put a bucket above a doorframe, throw down a whoopie cushion, that kind of stuff. I never knew any history behind it, or any myths associated with it - it's always just been a traditional day to screw with people.

This year, though, I finished the development of Anthromancer on April 1st, 2021. Kinda makes me wanna celebrate. Kinda makes me wanna claim the holiday. There's something sacred about foolishness, and I think humans have always known that. We love our tricksters; half the time they're getting one over on us, half the time they're setting themselves on fire by mistake, and they always leave a profound impact on the world around them.

In so many ways being a fool is being human. That's what it's about. That's why The Fool ended up being such a critical, central symbol of the Anthromancer system. And April Fool's Day is a very human kind of holiday, isn't it?

No, this isn't a joke, I actually finished Anthromancer. Dana got those illustrations buttoned up, Wella got me the files for the quick start guide, Ethan gave me the final round of codex edits and I've ever assembled all the .pdfs needed to get to PandaGM so we can start the manufacturing process. We're currently waiting to hear back from them (between Chinese New Year and the more recent Suez canal thing, I imagine it might take a moment to get this process started), but it's all systems go on our end. Tonight I'll be seeing some of the Dancakes team and having a little celebration to mark the occasion.

So wherever you are, whatever you're up to, I want to wish you a happy Fool's Day. May this day mark a moment of return to yourself, an absolution of your mistakes and an open invitation to make more of them, that we might all gain wisdom, together. It's a wild time to be alive.

OH HEY! Since I've finished the development I've had way more energy to contribute to the Anthromancer Discord. Wanna hop in there for real-time project updates and friendly conversation about some tangentially related cool topics and passions? We'd absolutely love to have you - just be sure to introduce yourself and feel free to lurk or engage or share your own works or...anything! Here's the link for anyone interested: https://discord.gg/YgSgr3v

Assets Attained - Final Steps Before Submission
about 5 years ago – Wed, Mar 10, 2021 at 05:14:05 AM

Hey all. Thanks for being patient thus far - just writing a little update here so you're clued into the recent developments. 

So Dana has completed the myth illustrations, and I absolutely love them. They are going to look so beautiful in this codex. They really drive it all home.

Best part is that these were the final art assets needed before final compilation and submission to the manufacturers. We're in the process of securing a final quote on manufacturing and then...uh...we just kinda press the button and wait.

So we've still got a few weeks in case people want to modify or add to their orders, or else if you wanna tell friends about the project so they can get their pre-orders in. I'll be sure to communicate whenever we reach another major step in the process, and as we get closer and closer to fulfillment you may see the updates increase in frequency.

I'm really glad to be at this step in the process. It feels like it's been a lifetime. I mean, in some ways it has; I've basically worked on this project for the majority of my 20s and I'm 31 now. This project is as much a retrospective of my own growth as an artist as it is any consumer product. I'm a bit wired and tired right now but...happy. Lots of good energy the last few weeks.

Unrelated to the product development but tangentially related to the broader Anthromancer project as a whole, I've been posting podcasts, vlogs, rants, etc etc etc about things like cryptocurrency and the apocalypse via the Anthromancer youtube, the Modern Magician spotify, and a patreon page that I've been pretty hesitant to mention here on kickstarter since we have been waiting for project developments, but if you feel like plugging into my output more immediately all those links will take you there. I won't be formally begging you for money until the board game is in your hands, I promise.

Thanks for being patient with me, thanks for supporting, and I hope to have this in your hands soon. Within the year. Be Moved!

--Dan

Asset Preview and Timeline Update
over 5 years ago – Wed, Jan 06, 2021 at 07:25:19 AM

Hey folks. Spent a little time this afternoon collecting some exported assets from the master files. We're hunting down an updated quote and timeline from the manufacturer right now, and we're anticipating that Anthromancer will be in your hands...later than expected, but before the end of 2021.

(Boy this whole running a kickstarter thing sure is a learning experience)

Based on current estimates (using previous quote/timeline as a reference) Anthromancer will be completed, manufactured, shipped and received by late fall or early winter 2021. The closer we get the more accurate my estimate will be, but, y'know, I guess it is what it is. I've been told by some of my superbacker friends that people have come to expect these kinds of delays, especially from first time creators, and so I just wanna thank you now for your patience and support as we finally give birth to this baby.

In the meantime, because I know we all love pictures, I thought I'd attach some of the most up-to-date bits of project so you can getting a better image of what opening this box is gonna feel like! Check it out:

There's a few more images I'd intended to share but the KS uploader isn't agreeing with me. At any rate, it's coming together BEAUTIFULLY right now, and I'm going to be extremely pleased to put this in your hands and let you savor it. Best thing I ever worked on, hands down. Took me long enough, jeez.

Anyway, thanks for reading, apologies for the manufacturing delays, thanks in advance for understanding, and thanks for helping make this thing come together in a way that allowed it to become as cool as it possibly could!! This project means everything to me. So thank you.

Dan