Dave is alive and making stuff.
3 months ago
– Fri, Jun 28, 2024 at 09:06:22 AM
Hey everyone,
Dave here.
I've been somewhat quiet the last few weeks since the campaign ended. All of our updates have come from Bob (big tall guy you'll meet at cons) and Bree (customer service bad ass lady).
So, I decided to take a little "mental" vacation in June.
I turned 43 this year and had Father's Day. We also did other interesting stuff at the store in Norman and had two or three (I can't remember) conventions we attended.
During this quiet time, I taught (or retaught, really) myself how to make terrain, paint minis, etc. Part of the problem of turning your hobby into a job—as in, I write RPGs professionally—is not having a real hobby. So I turned to minis and made that my hobby.
Well, terrain building mostly, something I hadn't done in 20+ years.
I chose this hobby for a couple of reasons.
- I have a retail game shop, and we needed some terrain badly.
- I just finished a Kickstarter with minis agnostic rules, which needs minis and terrain badly.
To be honest, I'd always thought that Steel Psalm and Mek Borg would use proxies from other game systems like K47, Battletech, etc. But then I discovered Bill Making Stuff on YouTube. Bill is a fellow that takes rubbish and turns it into cool terrain and miniatures. And it looks super cool and MorkBorgy. So I thought why not bring this to this campaign? It fits perfectly.
I also got obsessed with Mordheim and Gaslands Refueled, both two very apocalyptic fun skirmish games. Mordheim is in typical miniatures scale: 32mm. But Gaslands was in 27mm (1:64). A lot of you've been asking what scale Steel Psalm will be in. I figured... why not 1:64/1:72? This makes it easy to take die-cast models, like Hot Wheels and Matchbox cars, and transform them into cool mechs. To test this, I took one of my Hot Wheels cars, a 1:64 person, and a mech from Konflikt 47 and put them against some existing terrain to see how it looks:
I think it looks cool. With 1:64 and 1:72 (which are close enough, it's hard to tell, in my opinion), this puts that K47 Mek at approximately 16-18 feet in height. I feel that's a pretty fun height and pretty easy to kitbash and pull from other kits, toys, Hot Wheels cars, etc. It also makes it pretty easy to use preexisting terrain, like those Woodland Scenics trees I made that are standing in the background.
Now I know in previous entries I mentioned that the game would be 1:265, or Battletech scale. And you still can. In fact, I'll include some conversion rules in the main book.
Anyways, this is a long-winded way of me telling you that although I've been quiet, I've been working and thinking and building stuff. You can probably expect to see a little more over the next few weeks, including the first major draft of the MekBorg/Steel Psalm books, as well as some "kit bash" guides on how I think the different factions should look.
Of course, you're free to do whatever you want.
In the meantime, go watch Bill Making Stuff. It's frickin' good. Plus, he's got a skirmish game, too, which you can download.
Anyways, Bob's got a post coming soon about the Pledge Manager opening. So look forward to that.
Later!
- Dave
Smoke Test 62% done! Surveys out on Friday!
3 months ago
– Tue, Jun 25, 2024 at 05:09:35 AM
Hey all!
We are all back and recovered from our busy convention schedule this past week. Short update today to talk about the progress of the smoke test.
Bob has been keeping an eye on the smoke test, and everything is smooth sailing so far. We have answered 62% of the smoke tests. As long as there are no issues, and we get close to 80% of the smoke test completed, we will send out the surveys to everyone on Friday!
That's all for now. Talk to you all on Friday!
-Dave and Team DMDave
Smoke Test Today! Surveys Coming Soon!
3 months ago
– Sun, Jun 23, 2024 at 05:43:29 AM
Hey all!
We've been approved by Backerkit to proceed with our smoke test for the survey! Bob will push this out today before heading to the last day of Origins. Here's some information about the smoke test and general information about the surveys that is important for everyone to read.
Smoke Test
A smoke test will be sent to about 5% of backers today. It is used to see if there are any issues with surveys that we or the Backerkit team might not have caught. If you do not receive a survey, do not fret! The remaining surveys will go out by the end of the week. We typically want at least 80% of the smoke test to be completed and resolve any issues we might find before we push the survey to everyone. If there any delays for issues, or to wait for the smoke test to be completed, we will let you know!
Surveys
Backerkit is a survey platform we use for our post campaign management. We use it to gather physical addresses for those who ordered books or the ammo box. We also use it to distribute digital content, like PDFs. Anything you are receiving from the campaign will already be in your cart, with the amount you paid on Kickstarter already applied. You may add on any additional products you'd like, or even change your pledge tier! Quick reminder: Everyone who pledged on this Kickstarter (excluding the $1 tier) will receive a free copy of the MekBorg Alchemy VTT pack. Additionally, those who pledged within the first 72 hours of the campaign will receive a free MekBorg pin. Both of these items should already be in your carts, if applicable. Surveys will stay open for a few months, and we will notify you when cards will be charged for any add-ons + shipping + taxes. We still need everyone to fill out the survey as quickly as possible to ensure we gather accurate product counts and shipping data to prepare for manufacturing and fulfillment. Even if you complete your survey, you can change your order (like adding more products or changing your address) until we lock down orders and addresses. We will communicate and give plenty of time before both of those happen. If you have questions about your surveys, you can contact Backerkit support using the "Contact Us" option at the bottom of your survey screen or email us at [email protected].
Quick note for backers who sign into Kickstarter with their Apple IDs: Backerkit cannot communicate with Kickstarter and gather Apple ID email information. If you have signed in with an Apple ID, we need to have your correct email entered for the surveys to be sent to you. You can either follow this helpful support guide by Backerkit or email us at [email protected] to assist.
Shipping
This is a reminder that we will fulfill this campaign from our store in Norman, Oklahoma, US. This means we are handling everything from quality control to packaging and dropping off at the carrier. We want to see this project through from start to finish and are prepared to handle the fulfillment aspect of this project. We have a ton of experience fulfilling domestic US orders from our store, and USPS makes it easier for indie publishers like us to get books and games to backers in the domestic US.
On international shipping, Bob worked diligently, talked to several vendors, and landed on the best solution we could find. Most international backers will be covered with DDP (duties and taxes paid), meaning the only charges that may occur would depend on your country's import tariffs, regulations, and a few other variables that are different between most countries. We were able to beat our original shipping cost estimate for most countries, but some costs may be higher than we estimated (depending on where you live).
The shipping environment has significantly changed in 2024. We are doing our best to make the best possible shipping solution for everyone, and we greatly appreciate your patience as we did our research. If you have any questions on shipping, let us know directly at [email protected] (skip Backerkit support for these types of questions).
Pre-Orders
The Pre-Order page for MekBorg and Steel Psalm is now live! Those of you who missed the campaign can now go here to pre-order, or use the "Pre-Order Now!" button on the campaign page. We are excited that so many people reached out after the campaign wanted to do late pledges. Now is your time to get in on the action. Pre-orders will remain open until the project is closer to being fulfilled.
That's all for now! Thank you so much for your support. If you are at Sooner Con or Origins Game Fair, make sure to stop by and say hi!
-Dave and Team DMDave
Backerkit (pledge manager/survey) has been submitted for approval!
3 months ago
– Tue, Jun 18, 2024 at 04:35:46 PM
Hey all!
Here's a super quick update today. We are packing and getting ready for the Origins Game Fair in Columbus, Ohio, and Sooner Con in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma. We will be there starting tomorrow through Monday, but you can still reach us here or at [email protected]. We'll be at booth #213 at Origins and in the exhibit hall for Sooner Con. Stop by and say hi if you're attending! We also have some more Borg family projects at the end of this update. You can skip that section if you do not wish to see the project.
Backerkit submitted for approval!
Bob worked hard the last few weeks to find the best rates possible for international shipping. We've landed on a decision that beat our estimates in most countries! Those rates have been entered in, the pre-order page has been built, everything is ready for Backerkit staff to review. Once we are approved (they give an estimate of 24-48 hours), we will send a smoke test out to 5% of backers. We expect the smoke test to last a few days to make sure we do not have any major issues with the surveys. Then, we push it out to EVERYONE! Bob will have a more detailed update about shipping, add-ons, and the surveys in general in the next few days. For now....we wait for approval!
Discord and rules teaser
We have not forgotten about the Discord or rules teasers! We will have some more details soon as we get the Discord cleaned up and the rules balanced out and formatted.
More in the Borg family!
A good friend at The Mad Network is currently running Fold-Å-Freak. A random monster generator compatible with ALL THE BORGS! We've been excited for this project for a while, and who doesn't love random generators? You can check out the project here.
That is all for now, thank you all for your patience and the support!
-Dave and Team DMDave
Pledge Manager/Pre-Orders opens soon!
4 months ago
– Fri, Jun 07, 2024 at 05:49:14 AM
Hey all!
Here's a quick update today.
Pledge Manager/Pre-Orders
Bob is close to done with the pledge manager and pre-order page. We are waiting on one more quote that should be ready by Tuesday. Bob will make a rate decision from there and finish up the setup. As mentioned, shipping internationally has significantly increased in 2024 and does not just affect our industry. Bob is trying to find the most cost-effective rates for shipping from the US both domestic and international. Once shipping rates are locked in and the pledge manager is built, we have to wait for approval from Backerkit (usually takes less than 48 hours). Once approved, we will send a smoke test out to roughly 5% of backers to see if there are any issues with the surveys. Once the smoke test is done and any final changes are made, surveys will go out to everyone, and we will open the pre-order page! The pledge manager is where you'll set up your shipping address, get add-ons, and make any tier changes you want. Remember that our shipping is set up by order weight, so if you add any extra books or ammo boxes, your shipping cost will likely increase. We expect the pledge manager to be ready for approval either by the end of next week or, at the latest, early the following week. Then we will get that smoke test sent out as soon as we are approved.
Discord
We do have a DMDave Discord. Our admin team is working to clean up some channels and work on new member onboarding. We will have a discord invite sent in the next update!
That is all for now, thank you all for your patience and the support!
-Dave and Team DMDave
