July Update: Deluxe Editions, shipping, SU&SD
almost 4 years ago – Thu, Jul 09, 2020 at 02:46:32 AM

Hey everyone, I hope you're all doing well in these challenging times. I've got a few things to update you on!

Deluxe Editions

I've got everything I need to start packing and shipping your Deluxe Editions now. The rest of the presentation boxes arrived yesterday. In the end the shipment of Mitsubishi pencil shipment was declared lost and I'm now going through the fun process of having to claim back for the loss. Rather than order again and face another interminable wait, I've gone with an alternative pencil. The Tombox Mono 100 is another premium pencil choice—they're actually a little more expensive than my original choice but the large quantity I'm ordering mostly offsets the price difference. As you can see they're black & gold so they'll match the Deluxe Edition boxes nicely too.

I'm packing the boxes now. I've done about 20% of them so far, they're very time consuming! But I'll get there in the end—I'm hoping to ship in around 10-14 days if I can maintain this pace (I've been doing 30 each night after my toddler is in bed!). I unlocked addresses when it became clear that the Deluxe Editions were gonna be delayed, so you'll get a lock notification again when I'm getting ready to ship. Please update your address if you've moved - these boxed editions are limited and I'd hate to see one lost.

Shipping

Shipping during a pandemic sucks. 

Usually it takes between 7-10 days for orders to arrive in the US from the UK—often much quicker than that. I shipped the single zine orders 22 days ago, and I'm still seeing people post pictures of their zines arriving daily (mainly in the US). The zine + art print orders were shipped 14 days ago.

I'm really sorry if you've not received your copy yet. I'm hopeful that most of them should make their way to you eventually, though with so many items being shipped (~1500 so far) some will inevitably fail to reach their destination. Usually I'd advise to wait 20 days from shipping to contact me and arrange a second copy to be sent, but I'm going to extend that due to the current global shipping situation to 35 days. I'll post another update in a couple of weeks with a form to complete if you've still not received your copy.

I think that for my next project I'll work with a domestic partner in the US to fulfil the orders...

Bonus Content

Those of you who have received your physical copies will have noticed a little bonus Artefact tool I bundled in. I'll be adding that tool to the game's itch.io page as a download shortly, along with a second bonus game I'm including with the Deluxe Editions as a token of my appreciation for your patience.

There's more bonus content planned (digital only), which I'll get going with once I'm done with shipping...

Reviews & Reception

Apologies if this stings because you've still not received your copy! We'll get there in the end...

I'm really happy to see that the reception to Artefact has been wholly positive so far! I've loved reading all of your great comments on Twitter, Instagram and here on Kickstarter. I really went all out to make the book a beautiful thing to hold, so I'm glad to see so many people love the way it looks & feels.

We even got a shout-out on the Shut Up & Sit Down podcast! It's very surreal (and great!) for me to hear the folks on one of my long-time favourite podcast discuss & say nice things about a game I designed 😊

I've also enjoyed watching people stream Artefact, and listening to the different choices they've made for their items. While Artefact was definitely designed as a solo, contemplative experience, it also works well as a collaborative thing. Suggestions from the stream chat can be really helpful for breaking through writer's block! Here's a particularly great example from Chris at Loot The Room if you're looking to see how the game is played (or just enjoy a good story!).

Thanks!

So yeah, there we go. Not much longer to go now until you've all got your rewards safely in-hand. Thanks for all your support, patience and kind words over the course of this campaign - it's made it a real joy to run (even when it's sometimes a slog!).

All the best,

Jack

Those darn pencils...
almost 4 years ago – Fri, Jun 12, 2020 at 01:40:39 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

Packing & shipping is underway!
almost 4 years ago – Wed, May 27, 2020 at 02:15:56 AM

Printed copies have arrived!

All the zines arrived at my house this morning. I'll be starting to pack them today, and will continue over the next week or so. I'm doing this alongside a bunch of other competing priorities (some of whom are very vocal and prone to tantrums!) so I'll be going steady, aiming to pack 2-300 a day.

The full delivery of deluxe edition boxes and the prints & notebooks are still en route, so I'm getting through the bulk of simple, single-zine orders at the moment. I plan to pack everything then ship all at once, but if the packed zines take up too much space I might send a batch out early. This could mean that people who ordered a single zine get their rewards ahead of those who ordered deluxe editions - and I apologise in advance for the disparity if that happens. Rest assured the difference, if any, shouldn't be more than a couple of weeks.

That is, of course, also dependent on the international postal situation. I imagine things will take a little longer than usual to get across the world, but hopefully not drastically. You'll get a dispatch notification from Backerkit when I send your rewards - I'd ask that you wait at least 30 days if you're an international (i.e. not UK) backer before contacting me to see where your copy is!

All the best, folks!

Jack

A Musical May Update!
almost 4 years ago – Thu, May 21, 2020 at 05:32:53 AM

Hey everyone,

How are we all doing? I am struggling to remember what life was like before lockdown here in the UK, as days blur into one long stretch of toddler wrangling, sunshine, sourdough, and battling desperately to work at my day job (from home, fortunately).

However! Amidst all that Groundhog Day nonsense, real progress is being made on ARTEFACT! 

Printing

The game is printed! Stacks of fancy paper have become stacks of ARTEFACT game books, which is incredibly exciting. Those books are now on their way to the finisher for binding, which will take around two weeks. Hopefully I'll have pictures of finished copies to share with you soon.

We've had a few C19-related delays in the printing process, plus a lot of back & forth about final designs. We also had to find a different finisher for the binding because our first choice shut down their premises during lockdown. So long as everything goes to plan, though, I'll still be starting the gargantuan task of shipping out almost 2000 copies at the end of this month (May). I'm not quite sure how long it'll take me to get through all of those (I originally hoped to have a lot of help from friends which is no longer possible during lockdown 😬), but hopefully you should all be getting your copies sometime in June - or July at the latest. I'll keep you updated if we're beset by any further challenges!

Music & Audio Rules!

The brand new soundtrack is now complete! Christopher has worked really hard on this thing, and it's a beauty. In this new version each track is its own distinct composition, taking you on ambient journeys through different soundscapes as you play. I think it's amazing how much space he's managed to create in even the shortest of tracks to do interesting things. I've added the soundtrack files to the itch.io page so you should be able to download them now. It's also available on Christopher's Bandcamp page, which I've embedded here:

The audiobook rules are also finished, and sound great! Christopher has scored them to make them even more special. It's definitely something I'd like to repeat for future projects - let me know how you get on with them, especially if you're learning the game for the first time! They're also available to download on itch.io now.

All the best, everyone,

Jack

Proofed & Locked
about 4 years ago – Mon, Apr 20, 2020 at 05:26:05 PM

We're getting close to delivery now!

After a lot of back & forth and tweaking of the design, we're finally ready to go ahead with printing the zine. I'm going with the incredible 'Racing Green' colour that's front & centre of this image. It looks so cool in person, especially with the metallic gold - pictures really don't do it justice.

There are still a few final changes I'm going to make to the cover based on different versions I've tried - the biggest change from this image is that the downlighting 'sunbeam' part will be gold and the title will be black. There will also be a little more shadowing & detail. But hopefully you can get an idea of what the inks & paper will look like when you copies arrive.

Locked & Loaded

You'll shortly get an email letting you know that your BackerKit order is being locked. This just means you can't make changes to your order, such as adding or removing items. You'll still be able to change your address until I lock address, which won't be for a little while yet as the printing & binding needs to happen before I start shipping. All of my various suppliers are still open for business at the moment, but many are operating at a reduced capacity so the June delivery might slip. I'll keep you informed as & when I know more!

Final digital rewards should be going out about a week after the orders lock, after cards are charged.

If you're one of the 100 or so people who still haven't completed your survey - now is your last chance if you want to get a copy during this first wave. I'm making sure to print extra copies but it's likely that your rewards will be delayed if you don't complete the survey ASAP.

Audiobook Rules Preview

I've got the audio recording through from Andres Williams, a professional voice artist! It's so, so sick to hear a gravelly-voiced man reading the rules of my game 😂. I thought I'd include a little clip here - the full version will be released in a little while when it's been scored & mixed by Christopher, along with the rest of the soundtrack.

So yeah, that's it for the moment. Things are being ordered, work is progressing, all is generally well. I even got a (very short!) shout-out in a Shut Up & Sit Down video - surely the greatest acclaim of all!

I hope you're all doing okay during this weird, challenging time.

J