Surveys Live!
2 days ago
– Mon, Jan 13, 2025 at 09:45:25 AM
Another very short update - the smoke test was successful, all the data looks good, and surveys have now gone out to everyone except retail backers.
You should receive your survey link from Backerkit in the next few hours. If you don't see it, please check your spam/junk folder.
I'll be back in a couple of weeks with a more more exciting update on the project timeline, with graphics and everything.
- Chant
Pledge Manager Imminent
7 days ago
– Wed, Jan 08, 2025 at 10:10:00 AM
Hello backers, and happy new year!
A very short update this time. I couldn't quite get the pledge manager setup finished before the new year, I'm sad to say. However, it's now ready. I've just sent out a smoke test, meaning 5% of backers will receive their surveys tonight.
Once that 5% have had a couple of days to respond and I've checked the data's all coming through correctly, I'll open the surveys for all backers.
Retail backers are the exception: I'm still finalising a couple of things for retail surveys, and they're likely to go out next week.
Expect a longer update later this month with more information about production and development.
- Chant
At the Turning of the Year (nearly)
about 1 month ago
– Fri, Dec 13, 2024 at 10:03:41 AM
Welcome back, Royals.
This is the first of our post-campaign updates. I’ll send them out roughly every month to keep you informed on what’s happening with Royal Blood’s editing, art, and production. If we have a particularly exciting month you might hear from me more often, but no promises.
I’ve just got two things to announce this month. Read on!
Pledge Manager
The team and I should finish testing the Backerkit pledge manager next week. Then there’s going to be this big religious festival thing that shuts down the entire UK for about a week, so expect to see the pledge manager open up right at the end of December.
We always encourage people to get into pledge manager and complete their backer surveys as soon as possible because then it’s done and you don’t have to think about it later. For Royal Blood it’s especially important because it’s how you’ll choose whether you want your book and/or cards in English or Italian, and we sort of need to know that before we order print runs. Pledge manager will be open for months – right up until we’re ready to ship out books next summer – but the sooner you fill in your information, the better we can estimate what we need to make.
Obviously, even if you give us your information at the last possible minute, we’ll still get your order to you in the right language. We’re not monsters. It’s just… helpful, you know?
Incidentally, we don’t collect payment for shipping until we’re ready to ship your order, because the world of global logistics changes irritatingly fast and we want this to be accurate. That will be next summer and we’ll make sure to give you a couple of weeks of warning.
Soundtrack? Soundtrack.
We’ve commissioned the soundtrack! We’re working with Adam Records, who some of you might know from Mana Project’s previous soundtracks. We said all this in the campaign (I think) but the soundtrack’s going to consist of:
- 7 tracks, each 10 minutes long
- Each one inspired by and suitable for a particular type of scene in Royal Blood – planning the heist, confronting the Arcane, and so on
- Each track will loop nicely, so you can play it for the duration of a scene and not run out of music at a critical moment.
We’ve heard a sample and we love it. It’s the sleazy, glittering city we see in our dreams. The tracks aren’t ready yet, but you can get a good feel for where we’re going from the notes we sent the composer:
- "DRUMS????"
- "Opera, but if it went HARD"
- "What's that thing you used to have before pianos?" [A harpsichord. We meant a harpsichord.]
- "It needs to sound like taking ecstasy feels."
(This would have been funnier if I could have sent a screenshot, but I can't find the original document. Sorry.)
Great news if you like the sound of this: it’s included in your pledge, as long as you pledged at the Ethereal (the Royal Blood PDFs) level or higher. Great news if you don’t like it: it’s free.
That’s all for this month. Next month Silvia and Grant, the most talented rat in Italy and… mammal of some kind… in England get deep into the art and writing, and hopefully I start being able to send you examples of their work.
May 2024 end gently and 2025 open with kindness.
Chant
Update 07: It's All Yours Now
2 months ago
– Thu, Nov 14, 2024 at 08:01:24 AM
Whether you came for the game, the cards, or the outstanding art, we’re happy you found us. You’re amazing and we can’t wait to roll up our sleeves and bring Royal Blood to life for you.
We’ll go quiet for a while now (well… we’ll stop emailing for a week or two. Our celebrations will be very loud), but we’ll be back in a couple of weeks with explanations about next steps, some more details on the timeline, and maybe some previews.
Until then – thank you, once again, for making magic with us.
Chant, Grant, Rowan Rook & Decard, and Mana Project
Update 06: Feel the Blood Start Pumping
2 months ago
– Tue, Nov 12, 2024 at 04:02:19 AM
As I start writing this, there are only 54 hours left on the Royal Blood campaign.
Look at everything we’ve done so far – bookmarks, tokens, glamorous silvering, extra heist rules! Give us another 48 hours and we can take on the world, or at the very least dethrone a couple more of the Arcane. I’ve got my eye on The Emperor, personally.
Watch Them Fall (Stretch Goals, That Is)
We unlocked our latest stretch goal overnight: additional court cards. Our new additions will be based on the Princesses of the Thoth (and many other decks, it must be said) Tarot. If you happen to know the Thoth Tarot, you can make some informed guesses about the type of characters they’ll offer, and where they’ll fit into the exhilarating, high stakes style of Royal Blood. If you don’t, you’ve got some fun surprises coming in future updates…
As well as the impact on gameplay, including these extra court cards enables you to bring different ideas and interpretations to your cartomancy if you’re using the deck that way.
By the time you read this, we’ll probably have taken down the next goal too, so Grant will be writing extra material on how to incorporate the meaning and symbolism of tarot cards into the game. The basic plan is to add (optional) extra depth to the card draws that determine success or failure and give you ways to build on the results, introducing consequences and opportunities derived from the cards’ meanings.
Then it’s soundtrack time…
The Minor Arcana Are Glorious
And fully illustrated. We’ve only showed off the Major Arcana and the Court Cards so far, but lest you fear the Minor Arcana can’t compete, behold:
Silvia’s going to put just as much love into illustrating these as the other elements of the deck. Every turn of a card in your Royal Blood game – or readings you do with the deck – is going to put something new and exciting on the table.
That’s all. Stay with us for a few more hours, friends, and see just how far we can take this thing.
Chant
