Twice As Sweet!
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 03:19:26 AM

Hello Legends! Maggie here, with the first of your bi-weekly updates! We are going to cover our new update schedule, demo content, and the production timeline in this update.

Update Schedule

First, we would like to say thank you to all the backers that were in the comments asking important questions, giving us feedback on what you'd like to see from us, and telling us how we can improve. We had some ideas on our end, but your feedback is huge and we thank you for it!

After receiving several comments we have decided to officially move to a bi-weekly update schedule. We hope that this will allow us to share production updates as quickly as possible and keep backers more informed. We know that there may be a few dull updates every now and then during the review and editing process, but we will try to keep them lively! 

Our next update will be Wednesday, August 7th to allow our team time to get back in office after Gen Con.

Demo Content

In the comments over the past two weeks, we were asked what the demo of Legends of Sleepy Hollow looks like currently. We had Trevor, our Media Producer, take a few photos of the set up to show you what it looks like now, but we do want to stress that by Gen Con we will have production copies of the miniatures, dice and wooden components. 

Below is an image of the Chapter 1 map showing how the board will fit together in the final version. 

We have also decided that in our post Gen Con update we will include information about an upcoming live stream of the Chapter 1 demo scenario! We will be able to answer questions about game play, and show off some of the minis in action. 

Production Update

In our last update we announced a significant delay to this project. After speaking with our partners at Panda Manufacturing further, we believe that the games will arrive at our warehouse in February, not January. This estimated arrival time is factoring in a 19 week production timeline and 6 weeks for shipping, which is on the high end, but at this point we would rather over estimate. 

Below is a month by month breakdown of what needs to be happen in order for us to meet that deadline. 

July and August:

We're currently beginning the process of reviewing and editing files with the designers and our in-house editors. Review for this game will be a lengthy process because of the amount of copy in the rules and storybook. We also have to be vigilant in the details of how scenarios interact with each other given the legacy nature of this game. We're estimating that the review & revision process and finalizing factory files will take us up to the end of August. This is factoring in Gen Con and our staff being at the convention. 

September:

Once the files hit the factory, they estimate roughly 2 weeks for prepress processing. Printing the Print Production Copy or PPC, a one off, handmade sample from the factory, will take roughly 2 weeks.

October:

It will take about a week for us to receive the PPC and review & approve the sample. Once everything is approved, we begin production! YAY! This process can take up to 10 weeks. 

The good news is, we've already begun some of this step with the minis, wooden components, and dice. We're hoping to save some time here, but in the interest of making accurate estimates, we're going to use the factory's guideline of 10 weeks here.

November:

Mass Production continues.

December:

We get the Mass Production Copy of the game. Like the PPC, this should take about a week to pick from the line, ship, and be approved by us. 

Again, we're trying to help with timelines by doing some MPC approval with items like minis, dice, and wooden components earlier. Once the MPC is approved, the factory will move into final assembly of the product. This can take up to 3 weeks due to the complexity of this game.

January 2020:

We continue the assembly of the product.

The product ships out.

February:

The product arrives in our warehouse and we begin shipping it out to you!

As always we hope to speed up this process where we can, but we don't want to cut any corners either. We will continue to keep you updated as we move things along with the factory. We discussed improving our communication processes, and we've really improved on this front and it means we can be much more transparent and open as we work through the process. 

This is the most complex game we've made to date, so we're using the high end of the estimate windows from our factory. We know it will take more steps than most. With our new update schedule, we will be able to keep you fully informed throughout the process. 

Be sure to be on the lookout for factory production samples of the minis, dice, and wooden components if you're at Gen Con! Don't worry if you can't make it, we'll be sure to include lots of pictures in our August 7th update so you can see exactly what your game will be coming with.

See ya next month!

-Maggie 

Taking Aim
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jul 03, 2019 at 02:49:14 AM

Greetings Legends!

Maggie here with July's update about revised production timelines, upcoming conventions, and new sculpt images! I apologize for the late hour; we are in the process of getting ready for Dice Tower Con!

Revised Production Timelines

In March, we were hopeful that Legends of Sleepy Hollow would be in our ware-house by mid-July and that was unfortunately not able to happen. After taking a very series look at what our schedule is currently and speaking with our partners at Panda Manufacturing our new estimate is January 2020. 

This timeline is taking into account reviews, revisions, delays at the factory due to GenCon and Essen game releases taking priority over Legends of Sleepy Hollow, every factor we could think of and ,although it is much further out than anticipated, we believe it is the most realistic option. 

We recognize that this can be disheartening news, and we are incredibly remorseful. That is why we want to be as straightforward and accurate with timelines moving forward. We will update you more next month on the production process, but in the meantime I am happy to answer any questions about the new timeline in the comment section below.

Upcoming Conventions

As I mentioned above, Chris Kirkman and I are in the midst of preparing for Dice Tower Con! It kicks off tomorrow in Orlando, FL and there will be demos of Legends of Sleepy Hollow available. These will be demos of Chapter 1, so there maybe a few spoilers! Click here to see the Dice Tower Schedule for more details!

We are also neck deep in GenCon preparations; hard to believe there's only 28 short days until it is upon us! At GenCon we will have scheduled demos of Legends of Sleepy Hollow available in our demo room #140, however they are already sold out! If you are attending GenCon though, you will still have a chance to demo the game and check out the minis in our booth #1241. 

If you are interested in attending GenCon, we are still look for awesome demoers to join us at the show! Email [email protected] for more details! 

Emily 

Last month we mentioned that Emily was getting a reinforced plastic  bow and arrow, and here she ready to take aim! We will have more minis for you to peak at next time with updated coloration, so check back next month!

See ya next time!

-Maggie

May Flies
almost 5 years ago – Wed, Jun 05, 2019 at 03:00:36 AM

Greetings Legends,

It’s hard to believe it, but it’s already update time! May just seemed to fly by, but maybe that’s because we’ve been keeping busy. 

First off, we’ve solved most of the problems mentioned in the last update. Panda’s plastics team have reinforced Emily’s bow and hand, and are sending us a sample this week. We’ll post pics once she arrives. Once that’s approved the miniatures will be in full production, along with the dice, and wooden bits. After some feedback from last month’s miniature pics we’re also going to tweak the cream color a bit to create a hybrid between the cream and the grey to show off more of the miniature detail. The puzzle of punchboard arrangement has also been solved, so those outlines will be used by the factory to create the metal molds so we will be set for full printing. 

There aren’t a lot of visuals right now since we’re in mid-production mode, but we have done a little tweaking of the player boards for the punchboard sheets. Just so you can have a little eye candy,  check out Jeremiah’s below.

One of the difficulties of this project has been in figuring out how to bring you all not only the best experience in gaming, but also the best we can do for quality of production. The logistics are extremely complicated. We’ve gone back and forth with Panda many times to adjust the quote to get things to a place where we can bring you all the best quality at a price that fits within the parameters of the Kickstarter campaign. To that end, we’ve had to make a difficult decision. One of the most costly and time-consuming parts of the production is the box design. We sent a sample of the box design to Panda before the project went live on Kickstarter and talked about the feasibility and cost of it. Since then, though, the actual logistics of the hinged box have gotten more complicated - and a lot more costly. Every box would need to be assembled by hand, which also costs us in production time. The hinge might also become more fragile over time. So, in an effort to put money toward quality of what’s inside the box, we have decided to return to a more traditional two-piece box, without the hinge. The exterior art and design will remain the same, and the alternate art sleeve will still be included. 

We’re sorry that we have to make this change, but we believe it’s the right decision. If you really had your heart set on that box design and would like to have your pledge refunded, please contact us via Kickstarter and we can refund your pledge. 

For everyone who chooses to stick around, we really appreciate the understanding, support, and patience. This process has been a long one, but we’re finally on the back side of all the puzzle pieces and are excited to move forward toward full production at the end of this month. We’ll be in touch soon with pics of Emily, and we’ll be sure to update you all as we start to see samples of punchboard and such. Until then, happy gaming!

All the best,

Chris, Ben, & Matt

The Great Unwashed
almost 5 years ago – Wed, May 08, 2019 at 02:22:18 AM

Greetings Legends,

It’s the first Tuesday of May, so time for an update! My apologies for the late hour; it’s the end of the semester at UNC and today was full of grading, exams, and lots and lots of student questions. 

Speaking of questions, we received the final production proofs for the minis last week and we’ve now got a few answers about what’s in store. First off, we asked for two sets in different plastic colors, as well as both of those colors set in an ink wash. As you can see from the pictures below, the miniatures are looking great, but the inconsistent pooling of the ink wash is troubling since it makes some of the minis seem a bit sloppy and “dirty”, and obscures the details on a few others. 

Aside from the aesthetic inconsistencies, there is one other problematic issue with the wash: The plastics team tested the damage ring bases on several of the miniatures with the wash, and the pooling increased the diameter of some of the minis so the the damage rings are uncomfortably tight. So, because of this and the aesthetics issues that would take awhile to work through, we are going to move forward with the cream-colored minis without a wash. Because of the cost of the ink this will also allow us to move forward with our current quote without having to cut costs elsewhere in the production. We hope you all understand - it was a grand experiment, but we believe this is the right decision to make for the production. 

One other reason to test the production molds is to check for brittle spots, or “break points”. By happenstance, we found one on Emily when her poor wrist snapped in transit. The plastics team will be reinforcing that joint this week, and we will move forward with full production on plastics right afterward.

That’s the big news for now. We’re still tracking toward punchboard prepress by the end of May, and with the miniature process finally heading into full plastics production things can really start moving. We’ll check back in with information from the plastics team as we receive it in the next week or two!

All the best,

Chris, Ben, & Matt

Quickly, This Way
about 5 years ago – Wed, Apr 03, 2019 at 02:36:05 AM

Greetings Legends,

It's update day, and sorry it's coming at you all late in the day. I wanted to hold out and see if any recent news had come our way from Panda Manufacturing. And, indeed, it did. 

About mid-way through March we received the wood samples. Something wasn't quite right. The factory had missed the attached shape cuts and grabbed some stock stars off the shelf. You can see those starbursts as we received them in the top pic below. I received a picture of the adjusted wooden bits which are looking good (and you can see in the bottom pic below). We should receive the actual wood via courier tomorrow, and I'll be sure to update everyone if things look good. 

Just FYI, these are Fear and Action tokens, respectively.

As for other physical production, we're still waiting on a couple of things from Panda in order to move forward. 

First, they are still working on sending along the final miniature proofs, and they are testing an ink wash on them. There's no guarantee that it'll work, nor that the method will fit into our final production costs budget, but since we had success with the process on Fate of the Elder Gods, we figured why not check out a test.

Second, we're still waiting on final analysis of the components and packing instructions we shared in the last update. We need quite a few answers before we can proceed - especially with questions about the maximum size they can print, cut, and sort punchboard. It is insane how much cardboard is in this box.

That's it for this update, but we'll be checking in with you more often than monthly as we receive more proofs, especially when we know about the minis. Thanks, as always, for the enthusiasm and support!

All the best,

Chris, Ben, & Matt