Old Hellfire Club Update: Week 23 and Half-ish!
over 4 years ago
– Fri, Oct 18, 2019 at 12:02:06 AM
What-Ho Hellfire-ites!
First off, something REALLY IMPORTANT…
ALL EXISTING ORDERS WILL BE LOCKED AND CHARGED IN TEN DAYS – 27 OCT 2019. PLEASE CAN ALL BACKERS CONFIRM THEIR DELIVERY ADDRESSES ON BACKERKIT – HERE https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
And with the formal business out of the way - May I be the first to welcome you to your right-rollicking semi-regular update on how things are going in the wonderful world of The Old Hellfire Club!
I am almost cataclysmically excited to announce that I have finished editing the last of the 100 newly updated boast cards for the Standard Edition! Frankly – they look stunning! With an enhanced colour scheme to make the suits easier to tell apart, a new layout to may play as easy for left-handed people as for right, and new artwork for more than 10% of the cards (including a stunning picture of HMS Warrior out at high seas which I had somehow never found before) I’m certain that you could just read The Old Hellfire Club and still have a truly spectacular time!
So, what’s next? With the Standard Edition Boasts out of the way I’ll be turning to the NEW EXCLUSIVE EDITION CARDS! There’s almost no way to underplay this – these cards are PHENOMENAL! I’ve spared no effort to find you the most extreme, alarming, hilarious, embarrassment-laden and hidden-away aspects of REAL Victorian life. From Ornate Sewers to Man-on-Man action, Lady-on-Lady loving, the Embalmed Heart of Louis XIV and the Golden Age of Poisoning – these FORTY additional cards will project your Old Hellfire adventures into the stratosphere. If you haven’t yet upgraded your order then there is still time!
You can find your order details here and add any of our astonishing extras HERE - https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
As always – the unabashed anarchy of our Choose Our Own Hellfire Adventures continues on twitter in accordance with popular demand! You can join in with the latest installment just as our hero has escaped from his mistakenly over-cloned butler in the company of Jessica Fully-Rounded-Character - here!
VOTE NOW - https://twitter.com/oldhellfire/status/1184906974850363394?s=21
Finally – a MASSIVE AND CONTINUED THANK YOU to the 128 of you phenomenal Chaps, Chapesses, Betwixt Chaps and Chapesses, and All Those Who Define on Spectra Otherwise that have completed your Backerkit surveys! It makes my life SO MUCH easier and really helps me to get your game to you on time! If you haven’t yet - please just follow the link below! It only takes a couple of minutes!
BACKER SURVEYS HERE - https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
All my best to you all!
Jamie
Old Hellfire Club Update: IMPORTANT
over 4 years ago
– Thu, Oct 17, 2019 at 02:33:02 PM
KICKSTARTER ORDERS AND BACKERKIT EXTRAS WILL BE LOCKED ON 27 OCTOBER
————————————————————
PLEASE CONFIRM YOUR DELIVERY ADDRESS AT THE LINK BELOW AND CHECK ANY ADDITIONAL ORDERS BEFORE THEN
————————————————————
BACKER PAGE CAN BE FOUND HERE - https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
Old Hellfire Club Update: Week 20
over 4 years ago
– Tue, Sep 24, 2019 at 04:15:11 PM
What-Ho Hellfire-ites!
First of all I really need to apologize for the totally inexcusable length of time it has been since our last update. I’ve been so touched by those of you who have reached out to check that I’m okay (you guys really are THE BEST!), but I really do owe you all an explanation of all of the things that have happened...
1) I’ve been hospitalized twice more since we last updated – which is exactly what I and my family didn’t need in the months immediately after my second daughter arrived and when I really needed access to a computer capable of running my graphic design programmes. The doctors still don’t have any idea what’s going on, but I’m currently fine and working like fury to get The Old Hellfire Club to you.
2) The international trade situation has become EXTREMELY challenging for British game studios. Uncertainties around Brexit have meant that the pound has dropped quite considerably in value since our Kickstarter which has in turn squeezed our budget. In the meantime the US’s new tariffs on Chinese imports have made delivering to about 50% of our backers MUCH more expensive.
I want to be totally clear on one point – no matter what happens you WILL get your copy of The Old Hellfire Club without any hit to quality and at no extra cost to you. If there are any extra costs – we will take the hit.
Sadly – in order to be able to afford to do this we have had to scale back out ambitions in terms of a print run which in turn means we have had to turn away from working with our first choice partner (Panda GM). You can feel totally reassured that our new partner (Gameland) will be able to deliver on the quality you expect and deserve – Shut Up and Sit Down praises their going beyond the call of duty on their production of Too Many Bones as being “one of the most ridiculous productions ever” - and by that they mean AMAZING! Check out the review for your larked in the first few minutes of the link below! This has meant a lot of work formatting components, negotiating terms and so on. Thankfully this is now all in place.
https://www.shutupandsitdown.com/videos/review-too-many-bones/
But saying that doesn’t make me feel any less gutted about leaving Panda GM behind. Emma, who was my contact there, had been working with me on The Old Hellfire Club since shortly after I had the final design for the game and she’s frankly amazing. I would 100% recommend that anyone out there thinking of producing a game get in touch with her and I will be back in touch with her about our next game (is that a hint – I think it is!) – please feel free to get in touch if you want contact details!
3) We have had HUGE problems with our card design programme. I won’t bore you with the details, but a simple change in under the counter settings in a firefox upgrade caused a cascade of problems for us that meant that we needed to rebuild the code NINE TIMES! It has now been fixed and the final cards look AMAZING – if you’re following us on Twitter, Instagram (@Old Hellfire) or Facebook you can see samples of the final cards right now!
4) Finally – Hellfire Progeny No. 2 is a TERRIBLE SLEEPER! Seriously – waking up NINE TIMES A NIGHT is not unheard of! Hopefully she’ll settle into a pattern soon, but it’s been tough – especially for Mrs. Hellfire who has taken the brunt of it. I can barely say how in awe I am of the care she provides to our children – I only hope I’m doing half as good a job as she is, but it has been tough for both of us.
Right - so what does all of this mean?
As I said about – there is NO impact for you in terms of the cost or quality of the game you’re going to receive – you have my total assurance on that. I refuse point blank to let there be as you made your pledges in good faith and I will honour them.
At this point, however, I do need to recognize that everything mentioned above has had an impact on the production schedule. I’m working like crazy to try to put The Old Hellfire Club in your hands in time for Christmas as originally promised, but it’s now really, really tight. If that deadline is missed then you can expect your games no later than January (acts of God not withstanding – but even then I’ll try!).
So, with that all said – let’s have a quick look at what’s exciting and shiny in the world of The Old Hellfire Club!
First, as has already been mentioned – the new, final card designs are starting to appear! Quite frankly, I’m stunned that they look as good as they do – they’re so much better than I ever had any reason to hope for and I hold us to TERRIFYING high standards as it is!
Second, the utterly beautiful artwork for the FORTY cards of the bonus deck of EXCLUSIVE EDITION has not only been found, but almost all of the text for the cards has been drafted. They plumb the very heights and depths of Victorian London from The Love That Dare Not Speak Its Name to Egyptian Mummies to Cholera to The Embalmed Heart of Louis XIV and I have literally one joke left to write! If anyone can think of something funny and suitably Victorian to say about Cooks then there may be some bonus content in it for the backer with the best submission! And if you want to upgrade your pledge to include these magnificent new cards you just need to wander along to the Backerkit page here…
https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
Thirdly, the Choose Our Own Hellfire Adventures have been relaunched on twitter in response to popular demand. You can have your say in the latest installment of the darkly anarchic escapade here!
VOTE NOW - https://twitter.com/oldhellfire/status/1176530238496546816?s=21
Finally – a MASSIVE AND CONTINUED THANK YOU to the 128 of you phenomenal Chaps, Chapesses, Betwixt Chaps and Chapesses, and All Those Who Define on Spectra Otherwise that have completed your Backerkit surveys! It makes my life SO MUCH easier and really helps me to get your game to you on time! If you haven’t yet - please just follow the link below! It only takes a couple of minutes!
https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
And with that I’m going to get my nose back to the grindstone - All my best to you all!
Jamie
Old Hellfire Club Update: Improved PNP
almost 5 years ago
– Thu, Jul 18, 2019 at 12:47:52 PM
Hi Everyone,
I come to you a bit sheepishly today and with an apology.
When I sent out the PNP files last week I included some adverting in the margin - which is the same as I had done on the Demo PNP.
To cut to the chase - you’ve paid for a product and you deserve better service than that - and I’m grateful to the Backer who opened my eyes to that fact earlier today.
I’ve corrected the PDF and a new version is now available to download with no advertising - the way it should be. You should by now all have links to the debranded version in your inboxes.
I hope you can forgive this mistake - it genuinely was oversight on my part rather than disregard for your generous support.
All my best,
Jamie
Old Hellfire Club Update: Week 10 Bang On
almost 5 years ago
– Wed, Jul 17, 2019 at 02:15:32 AM
What-Ho Hellfire-ites!
I’d like to start, if I may, on a little bit of a personal note because the number of you who reached out to me publicly and privately to congratulate me on the birth of my second daughter was truly overwhelming – thank you all so very, very much!
I’m delighted to be able to confirm that both the little adventurer herself and her magnificent mother are doing fantastically with great head control and some early signs of eye-tracking already appearing (the baby is showing promise too)!
Fortunately for The Old Hellfire Club, Daddy is also doing pretty damn marvellously as well – and somehow I’ve managed to make some pretty excellent headway in spite of (or perhaps because of!) the interruptions to our sleep patterns!
Not only can I reveal that I only have the final rules clarifications left to make to the Print and Play reward edition (with thanks to a particular one of you who sent me a very valued messaged with some ideas a few months back!) and that I expect to be uploading it onto Backerkit either later tonight or tomorrow!
That’s right – this is the very first time that anyone outside of the playtest groups will get to see 30 of the new cards – including the massive ’68 Pounder Gun’! Look out for the download link in your inbox and enjoy!
But, Dear Reader, do remember that the Print and Play Edition includes only 85% of the full game! It’s a phenomenal experience, that can’t be denied, but for a paltry £4 / $5 (plus shipping) you could upgrade to the Bargain Edition which includes ALL the cards in full linen print quality! All you have to do is head here - https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/hosted_preorders
On top of this I’ve also been doing some soul-searching – I don’t want The Old Hellfire Club to be the only great experience I bring you! I have so many ideas both for new games and new ways to enjoy The Old Hellfire Club that I can’t let this be the end! Obviously – I’m focusing on delivering this game to you now (and trying to get some sleep – that too!), but I just wanted to let you know that more is coming and I’ve had a couple of conversations with other creators about the next ideas! I’m so excited about the next steps, but that will all come in good time!
But, to this end, I’ve been working through the lessons I learned over the course of this Kickstarter while they’re all fresh in my mind. Kickstarter isn’t an easy place to build a business and it’s especially tough for people with caring responsibilities! To that end I’ve prepared a ten-page document of hints and tips for anyone in this kind of role who wants to try their hand at a crowdfunding campaign and posted it on the Funding the Dream Facebook page – I hope some of you get some use out of it!
https://www.facebook.com/groups/FundingTheDream/permalink/2864205210261412?sfns=mo
Finally – a MASSIVE AND CONTINUED THANK YOU to the 125 of you phenomenal Chaps, Chapesses, Betwixt Chaps and Chapesses, and All Those Who Define on Spectra Otherwise that have completed your Backerkit surveys! It makes my life SO MUCH easier and really helps me to get your game to you on time! If you haven’t yet - please just follow the link below! It only takes a couple of minutes!
https://oldhellfire.backerkit.com/
And with that I’m going to retire in the vain hope of a peaceful night for all in Hellfire HQ!
All my best to you all!
Jamie
