Hey guys! It has been a hectic two weeks! Game development apace, for both Aeon Trespass and Kingdoms Forlorn – I’ve made great strides on no less than 4 battles, two for TSoH and two for KF, Spiel Essen preparations… and of course the PM. The PM! It is finally done, you should start receiving your invitations today (now?!)! Enjoy the selection – including some of the bundles for a limited time (see below) – make your choices, sit back and relax: it’s not long now until the Argo will ship for the last time, making way for the scions of Herakles!
But, let me tell you how we got there! Let me set the mood, describe the scene, unfold the tale…
A tale of Pledge Managers
It is a Friday afternoon, no different than any other save for the fact we’re making a final round of tests on the new Pledge Manager – and it is coming up lacking. It is frustrating, we’ve done all there was to do on our end – but a PM has a lot of moving parts and a lot of things done by contractors, outside of our control. We check with them and the timeline is upheld. So far, so good. An error log is issued late that night and we’re set to work over the weekend to iron out those kinks. We receive information that the problems reported are easily fixable, Monday is set for the final checkup.
The final checkup does not go well. Well, not going well is an understatement. The errors reported have not been fixed. Launching with these errors could pose a security risk for our backers. A new deadline is proposed, 1-2 months away, a far cry from ‘Monday’. The ITU crew is presented with a choice.
Choose:
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Continue on your course, an independent PM will save some money and grant you more control. It is not ready though, may pose some security risks to backer information and there may yet be other issues, not currently perceived. Backers: Diplomacy -1. Gain 6 Money Mortal resources. Gain +2 [Argo Fate]. See 0666.
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Make a hard decision and choose the reliable option, regardless of the higher monetary cost and limited control over functionalities. Your PM will be less flexible, but backers’ information will be secure. Backers: Diplomacy +1. Lose 6 Money Mortal resources. Gain +1 [Progress]. See 0777.
That’s the gist of it. Spoilers, I’ve chosen 0777. I’m not willing to experiment on you with unproven systems, even if it means we need to pay a little more for PM functionality. That’s why we’ve gone with Gamefound, for the third time in a row. It’s got its kinks, but it’s a system you already know and trust, and we know it works without fault.
On the downside, we can’t implement our complex system for splitting shipping payments on multi-wave bundles, but, by popular demand, we will be implementing Stretch Pay, which just last week was enabled for late pledges too!
Grace Period is Different!
Returning backers know that when our PMs open, we always offer a grace period of some weeks to upgrade your pledge – or a make a pledge in the case of $1 backers or Late Pledgers – after which the prices of our games rise slightly to closer reflect the final MSRPs. This is not happening this time round.
It’s not happening, because this time during the campaign we offered discounts on limited-time bundles. These bundles will not be offered during the extended PM period… but, again by popular demand, a handful of them will be made available during the Grace Period!
The Grace Period will last three weeks, until September 20th. The Argonaut, the Herakleides and the Trismegistus bundles will be on offer until then, unless there’s somehow an overwhelming amount of new pledges, at which point we’ll notify you we’re reaching critical capacity.
Pledge Manager Details, Wave Closing/Opening Schedule
As is now tradition, the PM for Wave 1 will stay open as long as possible, until we’re finished with production. If any item print runs are locked-in before that, making quantities limited, we’ll notify you of it. The PM will reopen after we fulfill Wave 1 and remain open as long as possible, until we’re finished with production of Wave 2.
Note that at the end of each year we’re reviewing increases in game content and scope (we always add things!), production costs and the industry outlook for next year, and adjust our prices accordingly, across the board.
If you have any questions pertaining to the PM or your order, please kindly send your inquiries to support[at]itustudio.com (KS messages are not set up for customer support).
Important Note: Gamefound has changed a few systems, including doing away with credits. This means that, if you’ve pledge more funds than the price of your pledge, the surplus will show as an overcharge in the bottom of your order summary. It works exactly like credits did – when you add something, those funds will automatically go towards covering that – it’s just showing up differently.
Whew! This probably should be it for this Update, but there’s one more thing!
A tale of three Maps: Sneak Peak at Cycles 4&5
I wanted to share with you the final look of the new maps for Gardens of Infinite Growth and the Truthsayer! Note that both are different than the maps from the Core Games in subtle and not so subtle ways. The Cycle IV Map tiles are deceptively familiar, but note the tile’s back – it carries additional information needed for advanced Voyage mechanics.
As for the Truthsayer map, it’s pretty obvious what’s different: it’s double-sided. This increases the Voyage area twofold, to 160+ tiles, which is great for added replayability, but serves a vital gameplay function. In Cycle V, the Argo can use the Nereidan Mode to travel underwater for a limited amount of time, a useful ability, especially when you’re being hunted an unstoppable warship, the Nemesis. The double-sided functionality extends to the quest structure itself – you will have to brave the deeps at some point.
Spiel Essen October 2023 Reminder!
And finally, a friendly reminder. This year we’ll have a booth at Spiel Essen, in Hall 3, and we wholeheartedly invite you to join us, as well as spread the word about our presence! We’ll have an extremely limited stock of the ATO Core Game, promos and some other fun stuff, there will also be an opportunity to chat with our Team.
This is our first time coming in full force to a trade show and I’m treating it as a test run for all future showings! Your attendance and engagement will influence our trade show/convention plans for the next few years, so if you want to see an ITU booth at UK Game Expo, Gencon, PAX etc., it’s your chance to express it. No pressure 
Aaaaand…. that’s a wrap! I’m going to bed! We’re back at 9 AM tomorrow CEST!
Huh
j’ai même pas regardé si c’est HTVA ou pas! j’ai fermé la page… 
