Outpost 18: A Micro Strategy Game

A short update!
about 4 years ago – Tue, Mar 17, 2020 at 12:16:49 AM

Hey everybody,

Just wanted to share a very brief update -- while the COVID-19 pandemic sweeps through western society, China has gotten back up and running. I have been in communication with our factory reguarly over the past week, and I am anticipating a full in-production update as they scale their operations back up. I haven't been given a timeline or ETA yet, but I will provide it as soon as possible.

They have a particularly difficult job of managing their teams and projects carefully to keep everyone safe and healthy -- I've been told that this means they are shuffling around production with various clients. It seems like Outpost 18 won't be impacted much because of the size, so we shouldn't have much to worry about.

When received, we will deal with the next part of the story. It's hard to tell how postal infrastructure will be affected by the outbreak in the next month or so, but I think it's a pretty safe bet that we will be getting back to normal. As always, I'll do my best to keep you in the loop.

I hope everyone is staying safe, happy, and healthy. Take care!

Adam

Going in to March, Factory Status, and a card preview.
about 4 years ago – Thu, Feb 27, 2020 at 12:32:39 AM

Hey everybody. This journey has been a lot longer than anticipated. When Outpost 18 broke the couple hundred backers I was anticipating, an overseas print run was the best business decision -- it enabled me to invest a lot more resources in art, production, and create a buffer of funds for shipping and fulfillment. I still am sure that it was the right decision for the project.

However, I did not anticipate the impact the corona virus would have on production. For those unaware, the virus has shut down China's industrial infrastructure, and it is impacting the global economy. We are all a small chunk of those impacted, now. The factory printing Outpost 18 has been frozen to try to stifle the virus outbreak, as mandated by the government -- essentially they have halted all industry.  First the team at Gameland USA was told the production would resume Feb 15, and now they are told March 1, but we are essentially waiting for the green-light to get the factory up and running.

Obviously, as my first tabletop project, this has been frustrating. But, at the end of the day, these are real human lives at risk (with international implications), and I hope you all join me in supporting their decision to err on safety. I've been reassured that when the factory reopens, Outpost 18 will resume and run through print quickly since it is such a relatively simple order.

On the topic of those resources in art..

I realize it's been a long, long wait, so I will periodically lift the curtain in these updates and show off some of the wonderful improvements. A few updates back, I showed you the impact the vectorized artwork had.

From very early on in development, I had mixed reactions to one particular piece of art. The long story short: it stuck out like a sore thumb, because I shifted the graphical style of the ships throughout development. 

Here, I am happy to show you the new and vastly improved Station Core (Credit to the wonderful Kris Aubin):

Compared to the old:

Additionally, the Station cores have two distinct colours for each player, and the back of each Station Core has a quick-reference sheet for new players to reduce dependency on the rulebook when you are just getting started.

That's the tip of the iceberg. Each card has been updated with polish, proper graphic design, and clearer icons that will pop off the table and make it easier to learn and play. I wanted to keep these changes under wraps to surprise everyone with the quality they will be getting in the mail, but I think it might be time to let the cat out of the bag (so to speak, sorry Silo).

Thanks again, everyone.

A February update
about 4 years ago – Sat, Feb 08, 2020 at 04:09:27 PM

Hey everybody,

Short update on what has been going on. Essentially we lost 6 weeks -- Chinese New Year closed the factory from early January to early Feb, and because of the corona virus outbreak, the factory took additional time off for public health and safety. The game should return to production by the 15th.

I'll post another update when I can confirm production is back underway, so I can give proper estimates and ensure everyone has their delivery address in order.

Other than that, we've been working on creating the leather cases for the premium tier, and everything is looking good! I've also put some time and energy in to a post-kickstarter storefront, but I think I will end up using something simple like amazon.ca/amazon.com well after everything has been fulfilled and delivered.

Fulfillment strategy -- premium backers, we are going to send out the leather copies first, and those should arrive within a week of shipping to North America, and around 2 weeks to anywhere else. For everyone else, shipping should take about 5 days to Canada, 5-10 days to USA, and 10-30 days to the rest of the world. I don't anticipate any shipping issues aside from a lost package or two, and we have enough inventory on order to make sure that we are clear.

Lastly, in the downtime during production, I've been working on developing new games and ideas. If you are interested in potentially trying some beta PNP / early testing for similar projects, I'd recommend you sign up for the mailing list over at playoutpost18.com. I am designing exclusively small card games (52 cards or less) primarily as 2-player, head-to-head games (some support more players). As I found out with this kickstarter, I think there is a need in this space, and I really enjoy developing these kinds of games.

Anyway, I'll be back in a week or two with another update when I hear back.

Thanks for everything, everyone! We are almost there...

Overdue update: new production and delivery timeline, and what I've been up to.
over 4 years ago – Mon, Dec 09, 2019 at 10:09:12 PM

Hey everyone. I am sorry this update is so long overdue. I want to keep to my regular update schedule moving forward, as I think keeping everyone in the loop is really important.

To get to the point quickly, December fulfillment won't be doable -- the game is entering production now, and the manufacturer has suggested it will be 30 days or so of production time, plus a week to ship to me. So if we stay on track, I am hopeful I can get the games out in January.

That said, the reason why the production is behind schedule is entirely on me. I have started a new job and have had a few very demanding projects keeping me busy, so the final steps for getting the game to production slowed as a result. When I started this crowdfunding campaign, I was not in my current position. This has also impacted my ability for fulfillment, since to keep costs down for everyone, I am going to manually fulfill 1500+ games with friends and family. On top of that, the overwhelming success of the campaign has added a bit of anxiety, so I've taken a few steps away to calm down and get back to the fun of the project again.

I want to be transparent and take responsibility for the delay -- the manufacturer has been wonderful, my graphic designer has been amazing, and the community around Outpost 18 has been incredible. I don't want to tarnish that -- I truly believe the game will be worth the wait.

What was the hold up?

A few things. First of all, this game is my baby, and I have had some very severe "final submission" anxiety. There are big design decisions that were held up while I was juggling other things. Anyway, that is done with!

Secondly, the process for vectorizing the images was much more difficult than anticipated. It was very labour intensive. It was worth it, I think. Here's an image to demonstrate why I decided to pursue it.

The original files were all bitmap images, and test prints ended up blurry and distorted. For a long time, I figured it was 'good enough' and just pushed it aside. But, as you can see, the fully vectorized image retains the sharpness and chunky pixel-ness feel that is so important for a retro-styled game like Outpost 18.

Each of the 16 ship images required hours and hours of work by hand, because software to convert bitmap to vector was producing really poor results.

And that is what will be delivered to you in your final game -- beautiful, sharp, pixel-perfect images in all their glory.

And, hey -- those images were used to create the ship sticker packs, available as an add-on through the pledge manager. I think they turned out great. Here's a shot of them on my leather laptop sleeve, on a stack of wood, for some reason.

Want to play Outpost 18 this holiday season?

I know this game was destined to be under the tree for a lot of people -- and I am sorry for the delay. The print & play files could make for a placeholder... Or, while it might not replace the physical game, you could check out playoutpost18.com -- a fan-made digital version of Outpost 18 that plays just like the physical game. 

In fact, playoutpost18.com has a built-in tutorial to teach you the basics quickly, as well as a suite of matchmaking tools and even a competitive ladder. Speaking of which...

Outpost 18 Online Season 1

Starting now, playoutpost18.com is entering small two-week rotations or 'seasons' of competitive play. After two weeks, whoever holds the highest rank on the playoutpost18.com server will win a prize. To begin, the first prize will be a bonus copy of the game, a signed prototype card (like, cardboard-and-pen, original-original, one of a kind prototype!) and a personal message added to your delivered game. Plus, you'll be immortalized online for as long as the internet is a thing.

This contest is open to everyone, even people who haven't backed, so spread the word. If people like it, I'll keep running it, even after all the games are delivered.

Back to the basics

I'm really looking forward to getting this game out in to the world. The Kickstarter experience has made the game so much better than it would have been if I published it in a vacuum, and I hope everyone continues to support and understand the hiccups along the way. This is my first published game ever, but I don't intend on it being my last.

I have locked orders for Outpost 18 on backerkit. This means you have 48 hours to change your order, add stuff, remove stuff, that kind of thing. You will be able to update your shipping address over the next few months there, too, in case you move. You can also send me a message via Kickstarter, if you prefer.

I'll keep you all in the loop with what is going on in this galaxy.

Adam

Backerkit surveys on the way.
over 4 years ago – Thu, Oct 03, 2019 at 07:44:11 PM

Hey everybody,

Thank you for your patience! Backerkit surveys are headed out. I've sent out the "smoke test" which just means a small chunk of surveys have been sent out to make sure I didn't screw something up big-time. If you get a survey, you can fill out your shipping information, add items to your order, and more. 

If you haven't got a survey, don't worry -- once the smoke test clears, I will send out the remainder, per Backerkit's advice.

As an extra add-on, I teamed up with a local print company here to make a collection of vinyl stickers from the ships of Outpost 18. It's a nice little way to 16bitify whatever you like, and it gives me a little bit more wiggle room in support for managing the budget of this project. 

Production-wise, we've hit a small delay. The ship graphics needed to be redone as vector images so we could create higher resolution / production-ready DPI files.  My designer let me know that as-is, images would have turned out dark and blurry, so we are having them re-mapped out manually to create proper vector files. They should be done within the week, then production can get rolling. Still looking good for December fulfillment.

I'm working on a few other surprises, so I'll post another update in a week or so.