Scions, Schedules, and Shipping!
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Jun 09, 2017 at 12:50:48 AM

Hello, heroes!

Thanks for bearing with me on Tuesday. I definitely appreciate your patience - I’m doing much better now, and have more to tell you as a result of waiting just a couple days! Things are moving fast around here.

Here’s a roadmap for this update:

• Scions
• Ultimate Collector’s Case White Box
• Scheduling
• Plans

Let's get down to business!

More Scions

The last major update featured three of OblivAeon’s Scion servants, so here’s another three of them! And all of these have the same amount of HP! (That doesn’t mean anything - it just happened to work out that way. Look, I thought it was a funny coincidence.)

So, to start, a highly-unstable figure who first appeared on a card in the Sentinels of the Multiverse core game: Borr the Unstable!

He's building up to an explosion of terrifying proportions!

Next, we see someone a bit more familiar. You’ve probably fought this minor villain before, but now he’s back with more power and in a bigger role! Say hello to Empyreon.

Empyreon is barely holding himself together. And the energy that he houses has to go somewhere!

Last but not least, it’s the leader of the Cult of OblivAeon. In a distant galaxy, OblivAeon was worshiped by a group of mentally unhinged aliens. As a group, they sacrificed themselves to imbue the most worth of their number with great power in hopes that their Chosen would serve OblivAeon. OblivAeon was well pleased by their sacrifice, leading to the Scion, Nixious the Chosen.

Nixious wants desperately to prove to OblivAeon that the Chosen of the Flock is OblivAeon's most valuable ally.

With this set of Scions, that’s six down - four to go!

Ultimate Collector’s Case White Box

So! We have the final version of the white box! We’re thrilled, both to have this in hand, and also to finally be done with all the back and forth of this process.

Looks good! OK, OK. To be honest, it looks pretty much the same as all the others. But! There are some distinct differences that will really up the quality and sturdiness of this, the final iteration. All of the edges have been thoroughly reinforced, and the “hinges” of the top and bottom flaps are extremely tear resistant now.

Let’s look at the two most visible alterations.

There’s that front flap we were just talking about. The previous iteration was long enough that it was always pushing against the table when closed, adding extra stress to that top hinge. But that’s solved now!

Just SLIGHTLY shorter! That little bit of height reduction means less stress when sitting on a shelf, and also less stress when the box is being carried. A notable improvement from just a slight change. (That last sentence could be the mission statement of most playtesting.)

The other change was that flat, wide, top drawer.

It sits just a hair deeper in its slot now. In the previous version, it would push against the front flap ever so slightly, and that constant pressure added to the wear of the hinges. Even as reinforced as they are now, they’re still the weak point of the box - there’s always a weak point! A lot of the alterations we’ve been working on are all about protecting that weak point and reducing the stress on the top and bottom hinges. Success!

Time for some additional stress testing!

Here’s a pile of shrink-wrapped sets of cards. These are probably familiar to you, as this is the way cards come in every Sentinels card game product. The important thing here is that they’re wrapped in “bricks” of 100 cards. So! I could grab a giant pile of these bricks and fill the box up to the brim!

Besides the three drawers you see there, I also filled the other standard card-sized drawer, and also filled up the wider bin with tokens and oversized cards. Far too many of each. I even threw a hefty stack of rulebooks and cardstock in the top drawer. All of this resulted in a box that weighs well over 30 pounds!

Info to be gained from this: the Ultimate Collector’s Case can hold well over 6500 cards! Wow! That should help people understand the true volume of this thing. Hopefully that will put some concerns to rest.

Also, while the box was in this massive overloaded state, I dropped it. On purpose! I lifted it several inches over the tabletop and released it so it landed perfectly flat with a resounding THUNK! No damage! The box did not split at any seams! I didn’t take any pictures of this process - I was poised to do so, but it was entirely unremarkable. Nothing to see. If you want to know what the box looked like after the drop test, merely refer to the first image of the box above - that photo was actually taken afterwards when I realized I hadn’t taken a general photo of the box yet. That’s post drop. No damage.

Now, this doesn’t mean this box is indestructible. Let’s be realistic here. If I was carrying this box in my arms and dropped it on our concrete floor and it landed on a corner… it would DEFINITELY take significant damage. Given the weight of the contents, this box could not survive such a fall. So don’t do that. But! Rest assured, the Ultimate Collector’s Case can stand up to normal use and wear-and-tear without difficulty. Hooray!

Scheduling

OblivAeon has been delayed and delayed. Here we are, six months after the initial projected delivery date, and you still don’t have it. Heck, we still don’t have it! I am putting finishing touches on elements of the game, but much of the OblivAeon content is already at the printer. Not all of it! But it will be soon. At this point, we’re on track to begin our process of shipping games out to you in August. We won’t be done with that process before Gen Con, so we won’t be selling OblivAeon at Gen Con. But it will be going out right around then. That said, there is a new scheduling issue that we learned of in the last week, in the midst of all of our travels.

Let’s talk about volume. No, not how loud you are. How much space all this stuff takes up. ESPECIALLY the Ultimate Collector’s Case. All of this stuff is really truly huge. With as much space as all of this content takes up, and how large the print runs of each of these things have to be to fulfill all of the orders (well over 10,000!), it won’t all fit in a cargo container. It won’t fit in two cargo containers! Want to guess how many? Go for it. I’ll wait.

…

It’s going to take ten, 40 foot long, “high-cube” style cargo containers (high cube just means “these containers are taller and wider” - don’t ask me why it’s called that). TEN. That’s ridiculous. We have 3 loading docks and a pretty dang huge warehouse, but there’s no way we’ll be able to unload all of that, have it sit in the warehouse until all of the containers have been unloaded, and then start the ship out process. That’s just too much stuff.

Plans

So, what does this mean for us, and more importantly, what does this mean for you?

As I said, we’ll be starting our shipping process right around Gen Con in mid-August. However, due to the waves of massive containers hitting our warehouse, we’re going to have to go to a shipping system we haven’t used in years: rolling shipouts. Rather than each of them only having a lot of one or two different products, each container will have a cross-section of products necessary to make up your orders, and as we unload the containers, we will pack those orders up and ship them out. This means that weeks will pass between the first person receiving their OblivAeon order and the last person receiving theirs. Is this an ideal solution? Nope. However, it is necessary. And we’re going to be All Hands On Deck with making those shipments go out as fast as humanly possible. I’ve sent an e-mail to Tachyon about it, but I haven’t heard back yet.

So, now you know what we know, and what we intend to do about it. I’ll be posting updates here at least as regularly as I have been leading up to and all the way through this process. You’ll know what we’re doing as we do it. Barring natural catastrophes and/or attacks by criminal masterminds, I anticipate no surprises. I know it’s not all the news that you wanted to hear, but it’s where we are. Overall, I’m committed to three things: 1) getting these games done in a way that I can be proud of, 2) getting them in your hands ASAP, and 3) making sure you all know what we’re doing in every stage of the process.

Concerning other, very different plans, I’ve seen some chatter about us playing a game of OblivAeon that you all could watch. We want to do just that! We’re setting up a live-stream rig here in the office for playing games of Sentinel Comics: the Roleplaying Game starting sometime this summer. As soon as we have a copy of OblivAeon in hand, we’re going to play it using that setup! We’re also going to play other games of Sentinels of the Multiverse on it, but that’s another story for another day. Rest assured: we have many plans!

In conclusion!

Time for me to get back to work! Lots to do. Always. So many things we’re excited to make for all of you, but they all take time!

Bear with us. The Multiverse needs you. Finishing a thing correctly takes time, and we’re willing to take that time. It will be worth it in the end.

Exhaustion!
almost 7 years ago – Tue, Jun 06, 2017 at 08:23:49 PM

Hey, folks! It's good to talk to you again.

I just landed back in St. Louis a few hours ago. Yesterday was a LONG day of travel starting with a train from Birmingham to London, the Underground to the Heathrow Airport, missed flights, delayed flights, splitting the party, even MORE delayed flights, and lost luggage full of irreplaceable items. Really, the 30 hours that started at 5 AM yesterday morning have covered some of the worst travel incidents I've ever personally experienced.

All this to say: I am going to do today's update on Thursday. I am sorry for pushing it back, but I'm no good to you right now. Lots of stuff to cover in this update, and writing it half-alive doesn't sound like a good plan. Also, we're scheduled to receive the (hopefully!) final version of the Ultimate Collector's Case in the mail today, and I want to be able to show that off as well.

So, look forward to Thursday's updates. More Scion panels. The final (?!) version of the Ultimate Collector's Case white-sample. Scheduling info. And more!

Thanks for bearing with me, folks.

(As a side note, if you're a backer of Spirit Island and/or Lazer Ryderz, we played a ton of both of those at the UK Games Expo this last weekend, and WOW. They both turned out super well! Very excited to have them shipping this month. Such great games.)

OK, I'm off to rest and recover so I can get back to making great games!

Scions and more!
almost 7 years ago – Wed, May 17, 2017 at 12:39:32 AM

Greetings, fellow humans!

I was asked in the comments to talk about Scions, so here I am to do that very thing! But also! I have a new white sample of the Ultimate Collector’s Case! (Spoilers: it’s the penultimate white sample. That’s good news. More on that in the white sample section.) But first, some housekeeping.

We get a lot of questions in comments and messages about how to change your address. Good news! It’s really easy! All you do is go to the BackerKit and update your address! There will be a point in the future in which we lock down address changes, but that point is not here yet, and we will give you all a heads-up when that time is impending.

So, to walk you through it, first, go to the BackerKit and log in using whatever method you logged in before when filling out your survey for the OblivAeon stuff. Then, click on “Shipping Info”, and update to your heart’s content! (This is also the place you can add on other stuff, and the BackerKit link can also be used to preorder stuff, as well! It’s a one-stop shop! That’s why we use it.) I hope that answers all of your address changing questions! Now, onto the Scions.

Scions!

I don’t want to just show off ALL ten Scions all at once, so you’re just getting three today, but they’re all pretty cool!

So, to start, the commander of OblivAeon’s army of  Aeon Men! The Aeon Men are beings created from the energy of OblivAeon, and we've seen them since the very first edition of Sentinels of the Multiverse. Now, to lead them into battle, the Scion known as Aeon Master!

Next, we meet someone a bit more familiar. After The Visionary - with a lot of help from The Argent Adept - expelled the darkness within herself, that dark version of Vanessa Long did not just cease to be! Instead, it was snatched from the Void by OblivAeon and offered a role as a Scion. Mayhem? Sounds like the perfect gig for Dark Mind.

After the Celestial Tribunal was defeated by its own logic at the hands of the heroes of Earth, it traveled to the far-reaches of space, seeking to serve itself judgement. That’s where OblivAeon found it. The Celestial Tribunal was reshaped as a weapon - morphing back and forth from Judge to Executioner - and unleashed on Earth once again, as Sanction.

There are more! And they even all share a deck, cleverly called the Scion Deck. But you’ll just have to wait to see more in a future update.

Ultimate Collector’s Case White Box!

Behold! A giant white box! This time around, due to an improvement in construction techniques, all the corners and edges held up really well in shipping. Let’s open it up and take a look.

Looking good! Those flaps hold together well, and they fold all the way back without any strain on the hinge portion, which is key in making sure these stay strong and durable for a long time!

Those of you with Legacy-like keen eyesight might notice through the thumb holes in the drawers that they all have things in them! We’ve filled this box up with all SotM things ever, including cards to account for all the OblivAeon content! Let’s look in the drawers.

The top drawer slides out really smoothly. Look at all of that room for rulebooks, notes, writing utensils, eating utensils, and any other cool stuff you might want to store!

Here is the big drawer! The first two bins are pictured holding all the tokens currently released for SotM, including the extra token pack. There are a few more tokens in OblivAeon, but there is definitely *plenty* of room in those bins! The other two are holding all the oversized cards currently in print. The Foil Villain Collection and OblivAeon will add more, but there will be plenty of room even if you want to store all those cards in these bins.

And here we have every single card in SotM in four trays! This even includes mock-ups of all the decks releasing with OblivAeon. There is plenty of extra room for sleeves if you want to go that route, and if not, the foam blocks will keep your cards snug and secure! Also, the punchboard divider cards are awesome and way more durable than cardstock dividers.

How much does this box weigh with the entire Multiverse inside? We put it on a warehouse scale to find out!

28 pounds, it turns out. Wow! So much Sentinels!

So, why is this the penultimate white sample? Seems good to go, right? Well, we want to shorten the front flap by a couple millimeters, just to make sure it doesn’t stub itself on tables when set down rigorously (as that’s a thing that can happen when setting down a 28 pound box!), and we also want TWO thumb holes on the top drawer, just to make the drawer opening experience even nicer. Also, that top drawer is going to be made just a hair shorter so it sits slightly deeper in its home. All these changes have already been communicated to the factory and they’re making the white sample now, so we should have it very soon. As soon as that’s approved, the printing begins! Hooray!

Other Kickstarters!

Many of you are already aware of the Sentinels of Earth-Prime Kickstarter. For those unaware, definitely go check it out. I did a big update there yesterday about my design thoughts and that SoE-P will be very different content from SotM, while still being a cooperative comic-book card game that is fully compatible. The Sentinels of Earth-Prime Kickstarter is about to hit its final 30 hours, so get in on it while you can!

In non-super-heroic gaming, I have to point you towards A.E.G.I.S. This may be the slickest game I played all last year. It’s a game of tactical combat involving awesome robots that can COMBINE MID-FIGHT! WHAT? YES.

 

Both Adam and I have gotten to play A.E.G.I.S. with its creators, and we both loved it. We’re thrilled to see it back on Kickstarter, and it’s already funded! You really owe it to yourself to go check it out. Seriously amazing stuff. And their super-sweet Kickstarter video was made by the same Trevor who makes our Kickstarter videos and produces The Letters Page! That's why that video looks so dang cool.

Personally, I cannot wait to get my copy of A.E.G.I.S. So I can combine all the robots. All of them.

In conclusion...

Next week, many of us here at Greater Than Games are flying to England for the UK Games Expo, so if you’re going to be there, come say hi! I’ll have some OblivAeon content with me, and also some Sentinel Comics Roleplaying Game stuff, as well!

I look forward to sharing more details the first Tuesday in June!

The end is incredibly nigh!
about 7 years ago – Tue, May 02, 2017 at 11:52:08 PM

It’s May!

The weather here in St. Louis is fully vernal, and we’re all excited to be working on so many thrilling projects here at GTG!

I just posted the latest episode of The Letters Page, the Sentinel Comics podcast Adam and I do. Today’s episode is all about Absolute Zero, and there’s a bunch of cool stuff in it about the Golden Age of Sentinel Comics and the origins of things in the game, both thematically and mechanically.

Our Creative Director Jenn has been working with the printer on the latest version of the Ultimate Collector’s Case, and they’re sending us what should be the final iteration this week! Hopefully, it will be here by next Tuesday so I can do an update about it then, but with the way shipping from China happens, I’d expect that update on May 16th, instead. While you wait, here's a video from the factory, in response to questions about games stacked on top of the case. We're feeling pretty confident about the strength of that structure!

I’ve been working a bunch with our Graphic Designer SaRae on the cool stuff going in the Ultimate Collector’s Case, such as tokens, dividers, and the booklet with complexity/difficulty charts. Check out what she’s come up with!

This stuff is all looking so dang neat!

Over the last ten days or so, we've played the latest version of the OblivAeon scenario… a bunch of times. Like, a lot. The games have run just over two hours each, but the iteration that I’m working up next removes a bunch of minor overhead things that I had a breakthrough on this weekend. I’m happy with a two hour run time on the biggest fight in the Multiverse, but I also know that just because we’re able to knock it out in two hours, that doesn’t mean everyone else will. That said! At this point, the OblivAeon scenario and all of the related stuff will be at the 95%+ point with this latest version, and it’s time for me to build all the files and send them off! It’s good to have the end of the very end in hand.

Speaking of the end, many things are entirely DONE! Five of those many things are environments. So, let’s visit some exotic locales!

Champion Studios

Movie magic and mayhem combined! But when villains invade a movie studio, conflicts are sure to arise!

Conflicts are actually the major mechanic in the Champion Studios environment, and there are various ways the deck both accelerates them and also gives the players ways to deal with them. But watch out for the Antagonists!

Fort Adamant

Explore the top secret underground levels of the Fort Adamant military installation. But beware! Some of the test subjects have gotten loose, and they’re terrifyingly powerful. Researchers are at odds with each other, and the automated security systems are trying to shut the whole thing down. To top it all off, roaming patrol bots will shoot at anything that moves.

The three notable keywords in this deck are Subject (escaped test subjects who are all at least somewhat familiar and have it out for the heroes), Researcher (people responsible for what’s going on here - they might be on your side… or not!), and Security (the base’s internal defenses). You’ll have to pay attention to the goings on of the base, even as you’re dealing with whatever villain you’re fighting here!

Maerynian Refuge

The Maerynian people have established their new home of Plavu’Col in the center of the Atlantic Ocean. The heroes are certainly more welcome than any villains, but all outsiders are viewed with a level of suspicion.

The Maerynians, Buildings, and Weather Effects all color the combat that happens in the Maerynian Refuge. But while this environment is kinder to the heroes than most, it still has teeth in the shape of a twisted figure who goes by the name Leviathan...

Mordengrad

Ivan Ramonat rebuilt his hometown into an independant nation of its own with a combination of his brilliance, perseverance, and ruthlessness. Now, the citizens of Mordengrad are fiercely loyal to their leader and work to further his goals.

The two things Baron Blade cares about are his Devices and his Minions. Mordengrad supplies him with plenty of both. The other thing that Baron Blade’s game mechanics care about is cards in his trash. But have no fear! Mordengrad will help him fill up that trash even faster! Mordengrad is a great place for Baron Blade. How bad can it be for the heroes?

Nexus of the Void

The island that exists both in this world and the void is a place of constant change. Things exist on this island that predate humanity, and others that will last for no more than a few brief minutes. It is a place of great danger, but also great power.

In the Nexus of the Void, you will find both Biomes and Spirits. Biomes are the land, and they shift and change with great frequency. However, if the Void wills it, there can be cross-over between the Biomes - it is possible that more than one Biome could be in play at a time! The Spirits are ancient beings of power and unknowable motivation. For the most part, they are best left alone. You’ll have to wait to see those, as there are some very cool story secrets going on there. Additionally, there is a remnant of something connected to a certain Virtuoso that speaks to greater dissonance between the Void and reality.

In Conclusion!

So many cool things!

As I mentioned, I’ll be doing an update either next Tuesday or the Tuesday after that. I’ll show off the final version of the Ultimate Collector’s Case and anything else I have at that point! We’re all putting in the time and the effort to get this done in a way that we can all be proud of in the long run. Thank you for being part of this process - we can’t wait to get everything in your hands!

-Christopher

Bench some Stunts! And Earth-Prime?!
about 7 years ago – Tue, Apr 18, 2017 at 11:06:02 PM

Hey, folks!

I’m back! Did you miss me? I missed all of you.

Just a quick update today about a few things. First off, I’m going to show off a couple cards from the Benchmark and Stuntman hero decks. Then, I’m going to talk about a different Kickstarter, as I was asked to do so in the comments here yesterday. Let’s get to it!

Benchmark

Benchmark’s suit is built into his body - he’s got subcutaneous cybernetics that let him talk to his suit at an innate level. As a result, his deck is made up of Hardware and Software cards.

His Hardware upgrades his basic abilities and gives him a stable platform to build from. His Software gives him new options and powers, and expands his utility.

Benchmark also has an internal struggle told across his cards. He’s been built to be a hero by RevoCorp, but he’s learning that his employers might not actually want him to be the hero they claim...

Stuntman

Reliving his glory days as an on-screen action star, Ansel G. Moreau as the hero Stuntman is always eager to steal the scene.

He’s got plenty of fun things to do on his own turn. However, he shines the brightest when doing things during other people’s turns! And he has lots of ways of making that happen.

Stuntman is flippant, arrogant, and very French. He’s proud of a lot of things in his life, and he wants you to know just how much better at things he is than just about everyone else.

Sentinels of Earth-Prime!

Yesterday, Green Ronin launched a Kickstarter for a game that might look a bit familiar to all of you:

Sentinels of Earth-Prime is a cooperative, comic book card game in which 3 to 5 heroes work together against a dangerous villain in an ever-changing environment! However, unlike Sentinels of the Multiverse, these heroes, villains, and environments are from the world of Mutants & Masterminds, the superhero game and setting from Green Ronin!

We have teamed up with them to make this game, but fear not! It will not in any way delay OblivAeon - that absolutely comes first for us. Sentinels of Earth-Prime is being made and published by Green Ronin. I am designing the decks and cards (once OblivAeon is fully to the printer, obviously), but not doing the storytelling, and Adam is not doing the art - all of that is coming from the talented folks over there.

So, if you’re looking for more super-heroic action, check out Sentinels of Earth-Prime!

Look forward to the first Tuesday of May, in which I’ll have an update about a lot of things, such as five environments, the collector’s case, and more!