State of the Game
over 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 17, 2021 at 05:05:15 PM

Hey everyone! 

We keep meaning to do these updates weekly, but we also keep forgetting because life is weird. Our Manager Darrel has set up automagic weekly reminders that should help going forward. 

We're still plugging away with testing, and have recently launched a sort of "combat arena" on our Twitch channel that will help us turn the wrench on our late game combat encounters. 

Oh! Right! And we've opened testing up to everyone! Whether or not you backed the Kickstarter, we need your help to make sure we haven't missed any strange interactions between powers and mechanics! If you're interested in joining this final Open testing push, head over to our Discord channel for access to the packet! We'd love your help!

Our final bit of news for this week is that we've hired a web designer. James tried his best with The Midnight World's website, but he isn't a web designer and it shows. Luckily, the site will have a much needed facelift! 

As always, thanks for everything! Drop by the Discord and play the game with us!

Detailed Progress Report (Have our parents sign this and send it back on Monday)
over 3 years ago – Sun, Dec 06, 2020 at 10:02:43 PM

Hey all! James here. Jim and I are taking a short break from our writing retreat, and we thought it would be fun to share with you exactly where we're at on finishing this project and getting it out the gate. 

When will the game be like, done done? 

A couple of folks have asked when we think the book will be shipped. Of course, in the Berenstein version of the Multiverse, we didn't have to suffer through the tumultuous year and everything was released on schedule back in September. However, in this painful iteration of reality, the Gemandeye team has suffered a series of devastating setbacks even on top of COVID. We've all taken on increased responsibilities at our day jobs to cope with the pandemic, we've had a series of unhappy relationship dissolutions, and we've grieved the deaths of several close family members and friends. You guys have been mega supportive through every step on that path, and man...we are just blown away at the love you have all shown.

Even with all of that, we have been very hard at work all year long, and we're confident in saying that we the product will be signed, sealed, and delivered no later than the Summer of 2021. 

But don't wait for the book to hit shelves! Play now!

That said, we really don't want our backers to have to wait any longer to play the game. It hasn't gotten the final coat of polish for sure, but The Midnight World is totally playable in its current form, and I'd even argue that it's pretty damn fun. If you're interested in getting your hands on the current packet (and subsequently helping us with playtesting, which we D E S P E R A T E L Y need), drop by our Discord server. We're active on the daily there, and we even have a cool schedule where you can put in your availability so that an ST can scoop you up for a future test!

All of that aside, here's an exact breakdown of where we are on the book right now!

B-B-B-Breeeeaaaakkkdown

Mechanics: 100% Complete

We will, of course, need to edit and update certain bits of the game's mechanics as we get more feedback from playtesters. As it stands, though, all Systems, Powers, Combat, Conditions, and Equipment have been written and are usable in the upcoming Playtest 2 Document. 

Writing: 80% Complete

We need to go back and add fluff descriptions to a handful of Skills and Powers, and we have a couple of planned chapters that still need to be written involving the story and Lore of the Midnight World. Even with those things missing, we are currently sitting at around 70,000 written words. Our original intent was for the book to be 85,000 words, but we're likely going to end up exceeding that target. (Sorry Loopy)

Art: 90% Complete

We still have a handful of outstanding pieces, including two commissioned pieces that were part of the Kickstarter drive. Lucas has been working diligently, but we've asked him to put those projects on the backburner for now as he has a LOT of end of year work for his day job, and we won't really need them until early 2021. We don't want to burn the poor guy's creative juices out.

Editing: 10% Complete

We almost lost our editor earlier this year, when her day job significantly increased her work load during the pandemic. We debated bringing on another editor, but our hearts were REALLY set on working with Loopy. After discussing it with a few of our Backers, we decided to wait it out, and LOOPY IS BACK WITH US! She'll begin reviewing the completed chapters soon!

Layout: 10% Complete

We had a similar setback regarding our original Layout Artist. Unfortunately, we were unable to get her back, and started the sad process of finding another artist about a month ago. We are really dedicated to making sure that the layout of the book is super awesome, so we've been taking our time. We are in the final stages of choosing between a few artists, though, and will easily have hired someone by the time the edited book is complete. 

Playtesting: 60% Complete

This is the single item most likely to cause further delay to our timeline. It has been really difficult to set up the kinds of focused playtesting we need, especially as regards late game concepts. We have all these groovy ideas and powers, but without seeing them in action across a multitude of different situations, we can't be sure how they'll function in play. If you want to get in on helping us out, there are a couple of ways to do it. If you're a Chimera level or higher Backer, you should have already received an email with a link to the current Testing document. If you did Back at that level or higher, and haven't seen that email, please send us a message here or email James at [email protected] so that we can get that to you ASAP. If you didn't back at that level, or even if you didn't back at all, you're welcome to join our Discord server! We have a sign up sheet there that will allow us to see your availability and scoop you into a test!

Mental Health: TBD

We are continuing to work our behinds off, as we desperately want to get this game out so that we can move on to our next project. Still, please bear in mind that this. year. sucks. And there's still plenty of it left to go. 

As healthcare professionals, Jim and I will always be very honest with you about our progress. We will also be totally transparent with you about our current mental health. We ask that you remain supportive and understanding as we navigate a 2020 that can best be compared to that one level from Battletoads with the hoverbikes. 

Yeah. 

You know the one. 

You guys are unmitigated badasses, and we want to hug every one of you. 

But we won't. Because plague. 

Thanks so much guys! We'll update again soon! 

Writers Retreat! (Or, at least, they SHOULD!)
over 3 years ago – Fri, Dec 04, 2020 at 01:16:53 PM

Jim and James have spent the last 10 days in strict quarantine. 

Why? 

Because this weekend they get to see each other in person for only the second time since February. They've rented a Cabin in the Woods, where it is all but certain that nothing terrible will happen.

They're going to spend all weekend writing for The Midnight World and crunching out a few of the in-game powers that didn't balance well on first pass. At some point, they're likely ro Livestream a bit of the creative process, so keep your eyes on the Twitch channel!

There's also a rumor that they'll have a fun little marketing video to show you guys sometime in the next couple of weeks. 

It definitely won't be them getting shredded by some terrible extra planar beast in the woods of North Georgia.

*This claim is disputed by extra planar entities   from various dimensions.

Playtesting, Playtesting, Playtesting!
over 3 years ago – Sat, Nov 28, 2020 at 12:09:33 AM

Hey everyone! 

I just received a request for an Update here on Kickstarter, and only then realized that we haven't done one for a while!! Mea Culpa! 

We've been primarily active over on our Facebook page, and I totally forgot that not everyone follows us there!  We also have a growing and very active Discord community, where we've been coordinating most of our playtests. Feel free to drop by for real time discussion with us and with other players, and to sign up for an upcoming playtest! 

We're still conducting weekly live playtests on Mondays at 7pm EST over on our Twitch stream! The last two weeks running, we've hosted Gavin (one of our more passionate Backers) as he runs his own game without us! It has been a heck of a thing to watch our baby in the capable hands of another storyteller. We still need quite a bit of playtesting help as we try to balance late-game antagonists and PC powers. If you have any interest in that, you can hit us up over on Discord!

We're still on track to finish the book up some time in early 2021, so hopefully right around the time that you're able to play RPGs face to face with your friends again, we'll have this book on your table!

I'll add a reminder to go back to updating the Kickstarter at least bi-weekly for those folks who aren't interested in following us on our other sites!

-James

On our way, but looking for more to join the team!
over 3 years ago – Wed, Oct 21, 2020 at 07:35:21 PM

Greetings fellow wanders of the dark clock. I'm Darrel, the most recent addition to The Midnight World team and project manager around here. I know this may not be the update you wanted to see here, but I assure you it's still an important one!

The Midnight World is restructuring our team. We currently need to fill two crucial roles to make the best product possible and make it available to you, our supporters. We are currently seeking a Layout Artist and Web Designer.

We need an experienced Layout Artist to create the perfect blend of text, images, and space for The Midnight World core book. This job is essential to ensure that The Midnight World is the work of art we all want it to be. Interested parties can email resumes and recruitment questions to me! At [email protected]

We are also seeking an experienced Web Designer for The Midnight World and its core website https://www.themidnightworld.com. We want our website to grow with us and have the capacity to handle our future products and games. Again, interested parties can email resumes and recruitment questions to our project manager at [email protected].

As always we are hard at work to thoroughly test and complete The Midnight World for you, our supporters. Please tune in almost every Monday at 7pm EST to our twitch stream at https://www.twitch.tv/gemandeyerpg to see our play test games and occasional Q&A sections with James the creator and sometimes special guest Jim, the other creator.