Hold, please...
about 1 year ago – Thu, Mar 02, 2023 at 08:18:32 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

End of Year Check-in: Release Dates & BackerKit!
over 1 year ago – Sun, Jan 01, 2023 at 01:54:17 AM

Hello backers!

This year has seen a ton of progress on The Door Locks Behind You and I'm very proud and relieved to say that we are very close to release! Again we'd all like to thank you for your patience as we continue to ensure this is the best possible product we can make.

BackerKit Pre-Order Store

I'm currently finishing setting up the BackerKit preorder store. This will allow anyone (non-backers included) to order additional items as well as submit their address and pay for shipping. When this goes live, everyone will receive an invite to the store at the email address associated with your Kickstarter account.

The distribution of the digital rewards will happen through BackerKit. I apologize for having everyone fill out a second survey after the Kickstarter survey, but this is the survey that I'll be printing shipping labels from. After you've entered your address you will have until orders are locked in to change it.

Release Date

I've finished my revisions to Will's first round of editing and in January I will pass it off to them for a second round of edits. After those are approved, Cenza will finish layout and we'll be going to print!

On January 31st we will lock orders and charge cards. Once the funds clear we will begin shipping!

We are very excited to get this game out to you all in 2023 and cannot wait to hear about your adventures in the New Year!

Nov Updates: Layout, Printing, and Release Dates
over 1 year ago – Tue, Nov 08, 2022 at 02:35:00 AM

Hello backers! I have more information regarding our release date and delivery deadlines.

Digital Release

The Door Locks Behind You will be released digitally on itch.io. However backers will also have access to the digital files via BackerKit. If you don't already have an itch.io account and the idea of creating another account is repulsive to you, first of all I understand, and second of all you do not have to create an itch.io account to receive your rewards.

However if you would like future access to any and all revisions of the game that may occur, or to access the game on multiple devices, you can redeem  your itch.io voucher and add the game to your library there.

The digital release of the game is scheduled for before November 24th. Expect a more detailed timeline in the next update.

Physical Release

Backers with physical rewards will have their zines mailed out to them before any retailer can begin sales on the physical product. That said, we are pushing the physical release until early 2023. There are several reasons for this.

• I am packing and shipping this myself and I want to make sure I have the time to do it slowly and thoroughly.
• The USPS has a holiday surcharge from October 1st 2022 through January 22nd 2023, after which they are increasing their standard prices for 2023 (as they do every year). Currently for all mail categories it is cheaper to ship after January 22nd than it is to ship right now.

Printing Update

Since the original pitch I made to our risograph printer, Clatter Press, the size of this print order has ballooned by nearly an order of magnitude. In order to ensure that the game is completed within the proper timeframe, I've contracted a separate studio to handle the risograph printing of the zine.

Clatter Press is currently printing the character sheets, item cards, postcard rewards, and a set of previously unannounced maps. These maps depict the sample dungeon and sample region both without keying for the players and with keying for the GM, and will be included in the deluxe tier.

The zine will now be printed with Risolve Studio in Lancaster, PA. Risolve has printed other TTRPGs in the past and we are beyond excited to be working with them!

Layout and Art Process

In the meantime we've been working away at getting the zine laid out and finishing up any spot art throughout. Here's Ben with a little behind the scenes peak at what that process looks like:

Hey folks! Here's a breakdown of what the process behind one of the pieces looks like.

As Cenza lays out the type and design of the book, she occasionally sends me drawing requests. For this one she sent me the dimensions and this rough thumbnail sketch of what she was thinking of.

I took this sketch and made a sketch in pencil. Since this piece was heavily value-based I also roughed in some basic marks to indicate the darks, lights, and midtones.

I sent it to Cenza and she confirmed that it was along the lines of what she needed, so I went back in and tightened it up. I wanted all of the adventurers depicted in the book to clearly be different people, so I changed the sketch a bit. I gave him human ears (instead of the elongated elven ears the other adventurers have), a beard, arm hair, and braids. I then inked the piece and added the final version of the values. After I was finished, I added some details to the edges of the illustration to frame it.

That's all for this update! Thank you for your patience, I can't wait to hear your stories from the game at your tables!

- deldon

October Update: Backer Surveys Inbound! New Deadlines!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Oct 12, 2022 at 02:57:08 PM

Hello backers! October brings some very exciting news.

Editing Begins

We'd like to welcome Will Jobst! They'll be editing The Door Locks Behind You and I'm beyond excited to add their expertise to the team:

Will Jobst (they/them) is an award-winning tabletop game designer and editor, with games like TORQ, this discord has ghosts in it, Black Mass, and A Guide to Casting Phantoms in the Revolution. Will’s games are available here and is online at @will_jobst.

Will begins today which means that the game is inching ever closer to release!

Art & Layout Progress

Cenza has been making great progress on the layout, here's a preview of the Principles spread (text subject to change after editing)

Likewise, Ben has been finishing up the art for the game and recently drew this very cute item card for bottled fairies!

Shipping Dates, Next Steps

I've reached out to our printer, Clatter Press, and once I get further information from them I'll have a better timeline for print delivery. For now we need to collect emails from all of the backers by sending out an email survey via Kickstarter.

Please respond to the Kickstarter survey as soon as you can! If we do not receive your email from the survey we will not be able to send digital rewards, nor will we be able to send an invite link to Backer Kit (the pledge manager) in order to collect shipping charges. Once the Backer Kit goes live we will also be able to sell a limited number of extra print copies to backers that wish to order extra copies or upgrade from a digital pledge to a physical pledge.

Digital rewards will be delivered when the game is sent to print in late October or early November. Digital copies of the game will be available as an itch.io code, so that all backers of the game will always be able to access the most up-to-date version of the game in the future.

Right now we are working to mail zines out in the last week of November, before the holiday rush begins. Depending on when we get the printed zines in hand, this may or may not be feasible! Given the state of the USPS we would much rather push delivery to January 2023 than be caught up in the deluge of holiday mail! We cannot afford to replace lost copies due to postal error, as these are offset printed and we may not have enough or any extra copies to resend.

Backer Surveys Tomorrow!

Be on the lookout for an email tomorrow from Kickstarter asking for you to complete a survey for The Door Locks Behind You. It's very important that you submit your email address, otherwise we have no way of delivering your rewards!

We're very excited to be able to deliver this game to you. We'll talk again when there's more to share!

Summer Update: Manuscript moves to editing, Layout begins
almost 2 years ago – Sat, Aug 13, 2022 at 06:51:25 PM

Hello backers! Thank you for your patience as The Door Locks Behind inches ever closer to release!

Manuscript Complete

A major milestone in the development timeline has been reached; playtesting of the game's rules and procedures is complete and the manuscript is moving into the first phase of editing. This first round will focus on making sure that the flow of the text makes sense as a whole and that each sentence reads as intended.

Still left on the development side: Sample Region, Sample Dungeon, Sample Campaign World, and filling out the d100 names table. I have a wealth of regions and dungeons leftover from playtesting to choose from, it's just a matter of choosing one of each and polishing them up. The names will just take a bit of time and a lot of coffee.

Layout Begins

Cenza has begun the layout of the final zine. I'll let her take over:

Howdy everyone! here's a little sneak peek at what the process looks like for laying out this book. Ill be taking the next couple months working closely with Ben and Deldon to work on layout, inside illustrations, and editing to make this zine have the look and feel we're striving for. Stay tuned for more updates- we're almost there! - Cenza

 (Note: the text here is unedited and liable to change)

Summer Design Challenge

The past couple of months I've been participating in The Gygax '75 Challenge by Ray Otus as part of the playtesting of the region and dungeon generation procedures. These challenges were organized on the NSR Discord server and hosted on The Cauldron Discourse forum. The format is a little different than the procedures in TDLBY, so it was fun to try and mold what I've made into a different structure designed for OD&D. You can follow the links here and scroll down to find my comments.

Week 1

Week 2

Week 3

Week 4

Week 5

Release Schedule

A plaintext version of The Door Locks Behind You is still on track for an early September release. The file should be accessible for screen readers. The entirety of the game's text will be contained and, minus the art and final layout, the document will be feature complete. The rest of the zine will take another few months to finish layout and spot art, as well as format for full digital release and printing. Once we know more about how long this process will take, we'll give an update on our physical release timeline.

Thank you all so much for your patience, the extra time in the oven has absolutely helped TDLBY grow into a much stronger, more polished product. I'm excited by what we have finished so far, and can't wait to see the final product!

- deldon