Rulebook Rough Draft
almost 9 years ago – Fri, Aug 14, 2015 at 02:29:25 AM

Hello fellow Capes and Villains! As I mentioned last time, it's great to be back. Thank you all once again for bearing with this roller coaster ride. But I will do everything in my ability to make it worth your while.

Currently, we have the rulebook in text form on our google docs. I am still in the process of re-writing the Modes of Play. Until I would like to have you review what we have and comment freely on the google doc so we can make it error free. 

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1lvxyMCVIGKw3gi6cIXCVEp_whlIpnFtTwar_C2NvLkk/edit?usp=sharing

After Modes of Play, I would also like to create a Glossary for terms that may not be obvious off the bat. This I'll need your help with too since it's very difficult for me not to just assume that certain things are worldly understood.

After everything looks good, we'll plop it in our layout with graphical examples for your to review once again. Our goal is to have this done by the end of this month so we can send it over to the printer. Thank you so much for your help in advance. I truly want to build the ShingoVerse with you all.

- Henry

Capes and Villains Update
almost 9 years ago – Mon, Aug 10, 2015 at 11:07:27 AM

Hi fellow Capes and Villains! We are now beginning August and we are only 5 illustrations away from completing the following:

• Core 14 Character Decks
• 2 PM Character Decks
• 4 Double Agent Cards
• With Great Power Expansion
• Agents of Gauntlet Expansion
• Dangerous Room Expansion
• Nemesis Expansion
• Sidekicks and Henchmen Expansion
• Promo Cards

The 5 illustrations we are waiting on are:

• Skunkmobile
• Honey Wagon
• Octavian Slayer
• Bad Humor Truck
• (Redo of a card that had the top of the head cut off)

As an additional update, I am taking the helm of finishing the rulebook for you all to review. I think a realistic date of post would be by this Wednesday. It's nearly complete but I noticed that Ayumi had left a lot of things out that new players wouldn't quite understand. This is the first time for us writing a rulebook so I'm truly counting on your help to tear it apart in order for us to make it even stronger.

At the rate of the overall art/layout production, I'm shooting for sending things to print by the end of this month and no later. The last couple of weeks I had confirmed with our manufacture that we'll be able to have a quicker manufacture time since the end of the year is the slow part of the season for them. And that's great news since we might just barely make it before the end of November for fulfillment. 

I want to also take a lot more of the communication responsibilities from Ayumi since it feels like the project vs the campaign is pulling her apart. Plus this gives me more of a chance to talk with you all again! And after so much time in the hospital, this is the part I enjoy. (I'll let Ayumi work on the logistics of getting the project out the door...heh).

As well, here are some examples of the new artists that were helping us finish Capes and Villains (a few of you have asked):

Hello from Dallas!
almost 9 years ago – Mon, Aug 03, 2015 at 11:00:37 AM

Hello everyone! Although I haven't been here physically, I've definitely been here in spirit and heart. One of the things that have made this project special to me, has been all of you and the passion and support you have for the ShingoVerse.

For those of you who didn't know, soon after this campaign was over I got sick. I thought it was a the common virus, something that a week or two would take care of, but by letting it drag out I ended up getting fluid in the lungs and a very light case of pneumonia. Still a simple medical procedure and some medication, things should have cleared in about 5 days. But things went downhill from there. I had to see the doctor several times because no matter what they gave me, I just couldn't get well. It wasn't until during an MRI did they find out I had a small tumor. My family, understanding this was a pretty serious thing had me go back in Hong Kong to visit a family referred surgeon. Long story short, they popped something they shouldn't have and spread cancer cells all around. Because of this, I was on a lot of "Treatments" to kill the cells before they spread too much. I was already weakened and my body was taxed from fighting so many things. It took some time but with the support from family, friends, and the need for me to get back to Capes and Villains, I was able to fight it and win. With this, I sincerely thank you all for your patience with myself and this campaign. 

A thank you definitely goes out to Artistic Justice Games with their help and loaning us Noelia. Though based on what I've caught up on, I believe different routes should have been made in organization of the project during my absence, I sincerely appreciate Noelia's hard work. She said she was a bit over her head but I believe without her, things would have just stopped moving.

A huge mention of thanks goes to Ayumi for starting to bring back the campaign and getting things back on track with deliverables. This was and is no easy task. I believe that with her current schedules and determination to hit them, we'll be seeing things fulfilled in no time.

When is Fulfillment?

Now that I've caught up on everything, I wanted to lead this update to personally let you know where everything stands. As you've started to see in the last update, Ayumi has begun updating the website with character art. There's still a lot more that she has yet to do, but all of her focus has been to get the core game out the door. Ayumi had a meeting with me last month and told me that she didn't want to just send out the core game, she wanted to at the very least have all 5 expansion sets ready as well. As it stands, she is about 15 cards shy of doing so and I am extremely amazed at her fortitude.

Currently we have a new artist redoing the artwork for Wonder Spy (in a future update we can show you some art pieces we didn't approve and the evolution of the character art.) As well, Ayumi is working on finalizing the rulebook which has a deadline set for the end of this month. Once we have it proofread internally, I'll post it up for anyone who would like to read it over and help us point out anything that doesn't sound clear or may be too confusing. That would help us out a lot.

Now that I'm back, I'll be working a lot behind the scenes while making occasional appearances. I still want Ayumi to take the reigns of this project and see it through to completion. I'm currently getting new quotes for the Metal Dice and Card Sleeves so that we can have one printer do it all so we can save on production costs. If possible, I'd like as much as we can to get done during Wave 1. But of course, we also don't want to sacrifice quality or efficiency. Either way, Wave 1 will be in your hands by Q4 since I believe we should start printing sometime in August (tooling takes a couple weeks, printing 3 weeks, and almost a month for shipping by sea.) One thing we also intend to do is to have our shipment be split directly from the manufacture so that it will go directly to AUS, EU, CAN, and the US before distribution. 

Backer Created Cards

We're still working on them currently, though much slower because our main focus has been the main game. Once we've cleared that hurdle, you can be for sure that we will get back to the bulk of character creations and making sure you're all taken cared of.

The Pledge Manager?

The last time I checked, it was still open. Ayumi didn't want to officially close it out until she uploaded all of our current artwork. Of course, backer art wouldn't be uploaded to the mix as some backers want to give a surprise and we'd have to get approvals of everyone before we can do so. I think it's safe to say that since we're not going to make it to GenCon this year, we'll probably still have our PM open throughout August. After that, we'll close it and lockdown all backer accounts.

The Future of the ShingoVerse?

After fulfillment of both Waves, I'd like to continue working on bringing you the Minis Game we created. We have some very unique gameplay that will cover many of the characters you see in this card game (even the cameo ones you'll see in the expansion sets). More importantly, for anyone who created a character or item, I want to finally reveal to you how your creation is actually a part of the growing Capes and Villains universe. Plus, while I was in Hong Kong, I met a few really talented sculptors who will take some of the minis we plan on doing to the next level. In short, there's a lot more to come and I intend to be here to share them with you. Thanks again for helping to create the ShingoVerse!

- Henry Lam

Quick Update: Progress Report
almost 9 years ago – Wed, Jun 24, 2015 at 07:54:21 AM

Hello everyone, just a quick update on a few things in the ShingoVerse.

First off, if you haven't been following the comment threads here, I've been missing for about 3 weeks due to the previous floods in Dallas. My family's home was half-way destroyed due to an electrical fire from the roof caving in. We lost a lot during the damage, but fortunately only materialistic things. My family and I are safe and well, though trying to work with insurance has been a bit frustrating to say the least.

Anyhow, I'm back in the swing of things and am extremely excited to bring you some good news.

I'm starting to send Capes and Villains to the printer. This is for the core game and possibly some if not all of the expansion sets! We have quite a few new artists helping us with these cards so the goal is to have everything turned in by mid-July at the latest. Currently I'm working on box art graphics as well as the instruction manual. 

The direction I'm heading is to try to get all assets turned in for print (the card game items) and have a proof to me by the end of July. I understand that with GenCon, a lot of manufactures are booked solid and may delay things for us, but after GenCon, they'll be freed up for us to act aggressively in tooling the custom dice and sleeves. At the bare minimum I was to get the core game to you ASAP and am looking at a realistic October Fulfillment. At the very least, Capes and Villains will be here before the December Holidays, which is a good thing. Once these files are sent out to print, I'll be concentrating on the Dossier Art Book (and Hot Dossier Book).

Backer Created cards are still being worked on though things have slowed down since I'm trying to focus on getting the core game/expansion cards complete first. Don't worry if I haven't contacted some of you yet because I will very soon. There are also a few backer creations that are with our artists now, but haven't been turned in by our artists yet so hang in there!

Next bit of news.... Henry is flying back! He's actually recovered very well and is coming back to Dallas. He'll still be behind the scenes but he's already talking about wanting to stay connected with the campaign production and more importantly with all of you again, even if it's on and off. That's some very refreshing news.

I'm also trying to upload new content on our website. If you haven't been there for a while, check out www.shingogames.com and you can see some new artwork in the Card Examples tab. I haven't updated everything yet, but I will as soon as I can catch a breath from printer deliverables. As I mentioned we have several new artists who you haven't seen yet (and who are not responsible for the main deck items). I'm looking forward to introduce them to you... they're doing a fantastic job at bringing some of our characters to life.

As for the Pledge Manager, it's actually still open! I hadn't closed it yet because our website had not been completely updated, making it still difficult for backers to decide if they want posters, dice bags, T-Shirts, or place mats without seeing more artwork. So until I can upload all those images to our website, it will stay open. I'll let you know what the official closing date for it to be after they're all up!

Hope you all have an excellent week!

Pledge Manager Closing Date
almost 9 years ago – Thu, Jun 04, 2015 at 12:54:52 AM

Hello! This is a very brief update soon to be followed up by a good one revealing the updated website. About a week ago, I've had several backers write in just hearing about the Pledge Manager. As well, we have some revised backer artwork that has just started coming in that some of you will want to look at before finalizing your pledges. Along those lines are some of the in-game art from our regular heroes, villains, sidekicks, henchmen and more.

So with this said, I'm going to extend the pledge manager until the end of this month, giving about 1 more week before closing. So at around 11:00pm, May 31st, CST (June 1st International Time), we'll close it out. Until then you can still edit your pledges and addresses.

I spoke with our manufacture last week and they told me that right now, there's a very small window in which we can get the core games in by GenCon. Since we're not attending per se (Noelia will most likely bring a proof copy to GenCon to demo Capes and Villains outside of the main campaign times), it's not an issue. But, we would like our goal to have the core games no later than August in your hands (and hopefully some if not all the Expansion Packs). This is very doable if we work double time now. So after the revised website launch, my focus will be exactly that :)

Stay tuned for our next update where we unleash a ton of artwork your way!

- Ayumi