Unstained Pieces and an Update on the Box Size
about 5 years ago
– Tue, Feb 12, 2019 at 01:18:13 AM
Hi everyone,
The past couple weeks have been pretty quiet here. Before Chinese New Year we were able to lock down about 80% of the game's assets. What remains is quite small, but it requires waiting until we have our partners in China back from the holiday. Folks will start getting back to work next week and we'll hopefully be in producing within a few weeks.
However, one exciting piece of mail did get sent out right before the festivities started: the unstained pieces.
Here are the pieces as you will will get them. As I mentioned earlier, Drew and I will put together some kind of staining/washing tutorial for folks that want to age their pieces. But, rest assured, you certainly don't need to go to that trouble. They turned out really well and feel great!
The other item that is in progress right now is the box insert. Our pre-production copy of the game was an awfully tight fit. Though I did get the box to fit a set of sleeved cards, I'm not sure it was worth the trouble. So, I sat down with Joe Wiggins at Panda and hashed out a new design for the box's organizing tray. Originally we were going to use a cardboard insert with a separate plastic tray just for the coalition blocks. Joe offered a few interesting options and I decided to go back to the drawing board.
After much fussing and measuring, we arrived at a fully plastic tray with a small pull out tray (for the blocks) and a lid that will cover everything and keep the pieces in place when the box is stored vertically or horizontally. This meant that we had to make the box itself about a centimeter thicker. So, a slightly modified box design was drawn up as well.
I should stress that the plastic insert design may still go through some modifications. You can see there's still some negative space up at the top. That's there mostly so we have some wiggle room to work in as we nail down the specifics of the final design. The tray is the first order of business next week, so I should have more information on it shortly. And, as soon as the game is in production, I'll provide a comprehensive update about our next milestones.
Finally, on the more immediate horizon, Drew and I are thinking about streaming some two-player games of Pax Pamir this week and maybe next week. The two player game of the first edition of Pamir had a bit of a reputation for opacity that didn't always translate into an interesting game. But, I'm really happy with how the two player game plays here. It's certainly a different kind of experience, but it's difficult and, I think, well worth folks time to explore if you've got a good partner for it. So, keep an eye on your inboxes and maybe you can join us for the game later this week.
The Pre-Production Copy Arrives!
about 5 years ago
– Sun, Jan 27, 2019 at 01:38:45 AM
Hi everyone!
Normally I try to wait till Monday to post campaign updates, but this is looking like a pretty busy week on my end, and so we've bumped things up just a couple days.
Last week I got a pre-production copy of Pax Pamir from Panda in the mail, and Drew came up from Chicago to review everything with me (and play a few rounds). My goodness, it looks lovely!
Now, while the stain on the pieces looks amazing, I'm afraid it's not something that will come default with the game. These pieces will be unstained, but, if you'd like to stain your pieces, Drew and I will put together a little tutorial (it's super easy).
Regardless, they are stunning. Incredibly heavy (think Hive) with a lovely, chalky feel (unlike Hive). And, because of their density, they are even a little cool to the touch. The wooden pieces also turned out great. You can see the custom screen printed VP markers in this next picture.
The box also turned out great. It's sturdy and the internal illustrations really tie everything together. (One note here: we won't be using the calligraphy on the side of the box for the game's title, just because it doesn't scale too well.) As folks who read the designer diary on the cover know, I made some changes to the box since the last update. These didn't get to our factory in time for the PPC's production. So, here's a picture of the inside of the box and a render of the new, updated box.
As you might imagine we've been playing this copy a bunch and making sure everything is working perfectly. We noticed a few little things in the PPC that warrant some corrections. For instance, the stained ruler tokens are too dark and don't really gel with the rest of the presentation so we're taking the stain off and adjusting the design to make them easier to differentiate from across the table. We also caught a few tiny printing errors.
One biggish concern we are sorting through is making sure the plastic tray for the resin blocks can fit in the box! As you might guess, this box is packed. This next photo shows a very full and heavy box bottom. Once you put in the rulebooks, mounted board, and player boards, it's perfectly flush with the lid. There's still some empty space in the box for the tray, and for card sleeves etc. But it's a tight fit (and quite heavy too!).
So, in short, we've still got a few things to iron out, but we're on schedule at the moment. I'll be getting the updated files over to the factory soon and we'll run it through their pre-press proofing process again. Production is set to begin shortly after everyone returns from Chinese New Year.
LASTLY,
This probably deserves a separate update (and it'll get one in a couple weeks), but I wanted to also let everyone know that the TTS mod has been updated to include near-final files. If these pictures have you itching to play Pamir, you can do it right now.
If you're looking for players, you can find them pretty easily by joining the official Discord server here.
Alright, that's it for now!
Files Submitted, Box Revealed
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Jan 08, 2019 at 12:54:42 AM
Hi everyone,
Over the weekend the final group of files made it through the last factory check. Sorta. Using these files, the factory will construct a pre-production copy (PPC) that is as close to the final thing as they can get without actually putting the game into mass production. Using this copy we'll be able to asses weight, double-check to make sure our components and color choices are working, and to make sure there are no weird irregularities in the print-flies that we've missed.
Our manufacturer is handling most every element of the game's production, including things like the metal coins and the resin pieces. I should be getting more samples of those things soon which I'll be sure to share with everyone. A second manufacturer is handling the cloth maps which, I'm happy to report, are in production now.
Anyway, let's get to the box. I don't think I've ever fussed over a cover as much as I have here. Drew and I went through a few dozen different designs before coming up with one that we both felt enthusiastic about. It took months to hunt down a qualified calligrapher for the job and to communicate exactly what we wanted out to get out of the design. It was a lot of work but definitely worth the wait.
I'll likely be posting an image of the cover to BGG in the coming days along with, perhaps, some writing about the story of its creation. I'll be sure to link everyone here if I end up writing something.
The other thing I wanted to mention is the box size. Assuming the PPC comes back without issues, it looks like we're going to be able to use a box that is 230x295x50mm. So, a little bigger than a piece of letter size paper and two inches deep. Though its quite a bit bigger than the little box of the first edition, Drew and I did our best to keep the form factor modest. Though, fair warning, this game will likely be pretty heavy--especially for those of you that opted for the metal coins!
Near Final Rules and File Submission
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Jan 01, 2019 at 01:35:01 AM
Hi everyone,
Just a short update today. Over the holiday Drew and I (and our youngest brother, Blake) had time to push through a couple final alterations to the design of Pamir. We nailed down the deck construction question, adjusted a few of the special powers, and knocked out several matches just for the heck of it. After a brief stay with my family, I headed to the hills of southern Indiana to see my in-laws and finish the remaining files for the game.
As of now, virtually every asset has made it through our manufacturer's pre-flight exam. I've got a few little adjustments I need to make, but things remain very much on course. Over the next day or two, I'll be finalizing the layout and design of the box, making the final adjustments to the mounted map, and attending to any final edits on the rules.
Speaking of rules, the latest (pretty much final) set of rules can be found here. I've had a couple good suggestions come in since posting these out on BGG, but have been generally cheered by their reception.
Finally, I should have some physical samples soon that I'll be eager to share with you all. Expect and update about that (and a picture of the final box!) soon.
Some words about Solo and the Simple Pleasures of Punchboard
over 5 years ago
– Tue, Dec 18, 2018 at 01:38:46 AM
Hi everyone,
Drew and I are just about to head back home for the holidays, and it seemed like the nice time to give everyone an update about the project and where our next milestones are.
Over the past few weeks, Drew and I have taken Ricky Royal's solo mode into intensive development. He handed us a wonderful automated player back in October, but, as the game went through the final stages of balancing, it was clear that there were some easy updates we could make to the bot to make him fit more snugly into the game design. In addition, I can hardly help myself from pruning the rules and streamlining certain systems.
Here's how the bot works. The automated player (called Wakhan) represents some radical ideology (either theological or philosophical) that has taken hold across the different coalitions. Wakhan is essentially loyal to every coalition and players will find that the bot allows them to hone their skills at both external and internal power struggles. Like a regular player, Wakhan maintains a court, has tribes and spies and whatnot, and will take a turn. To determine what actions use, Wakhan uses an AI deck.
The AI deck is pretty simple. The backs of the cards work with the fronts of the cards to give Wakhan a decision making priority for the turn. Basically all of the things that a human player can do Wakhan can also do. But, because you can't really make a solo opponent smart, Wakhan has a few tricks up her sleeve. For one, she as a new action: radicalize. This is a combination of the purchase/play action, and it means that she can easily mobilize.
While I don't think we would consider ourselves solo players, both Drew and myself had a lot of fun playing with Wakhan. And, the fact that you can use her either as a solo opponent or as a player in a "three" player game hopefully means that you all can get Pamir to the table easily. (Of course, you can also still play the very mean two player game without Wakhan's help!).
So, in sum, the solo game is pretty much done. In terms of the wider game, Drew and I are currently nailing down our very last development question and should be able to finalize the design within the week. On the graphics side, we have been submitting test files to our factory and assembling the final print files. We are on schedule to have all of the final assets submitted to the factory by the end of the year, which puts us just a few weeks ahead of schedule.
This is, by far, the most nerve wracking part of the process, but, while it can be stressful, there's also a feeling of great relief as you lock each art asset into its dieline. As you can see, we don't have many pieces remaining now!
Alright, that's it for now. For those playing the TTS mod, I'll be sending over the new AI cards to our mod's creator within a day or so. The solo rules can also be found at the end of the rulebook along with a short essay I wrote on the history of the design.
(Astute rules readers will also note that, after much back-and-forth I dropped the discard action and have folded it into the cleanup phase. There is probably a full essay I could write on the long road to this decision, but I'll have to save that for another day.)
