Full-color system-neutral fantasy RPG maps for any setting. Inspired by the #1 bestselling Villainous Compendium for Pathfinder and 5E.
Very quick notice that BackerKit surveys have gone out! Thank you for your patience!
So. I'm a total jerk. I've been transparent that this project is behind schedule owing exclusively to the fact that I'm behind in finishing the pipeline of other work I've committed to. That part isn't new.
What is new is that I was taking stock of everything and mapping things out for my State of the Realm Q2 2020 update (coming soon!), and I realized that I have done you all a great disservice, in that I have not even sent out the BackerKit survey for this project yet!
That's inexcusable, and not at all how I like to do business or treat those who have placed a great deal of trust in me. I can blame COVID-19, I can blame my day job, I can blame the fact that finishing the Bestiary books has now taken more than a FULL YEAR longer than I had planned... but none of those things excuses the mistreatment in not even fulfilling, for example, Villainous Compendium for those of you who have pledged to receive it.
I'm sorry.
First and foremost, I'm making the BackerKit survey my top priority. This should be sent out next week and I'll post another update when I do.
Secondly, I will be fulfilling all published products (e.g., Villainous Compendium) ASAP once you complete your surveys and provide your email addresses.
Thirdly, I will be including additional FREE digital rewards for everyone owing to the massive and inexcusable delays in getting the BackerKit survey and published rewards to you.
There's no other way to say it: I'm sorry. That's cold comfort and falls well short of what you're owed, I know. But it's what I can do right now to try and start making things right.
I will say that I have been running a Roll20 weekly game for the past few months in quarantine, and it's been going awesome. I'm learning a lot in terms of how I can make the digital map files even better and easier to use with VTT apps. So there's that, at least!
Thank you once again for your support!
Onward!
All right, I've completed the BackerKit survey, and it's in review by BK. Once they approve it, I'll send it out to you all.
By way of apology for such a HUGE delay in sending out the BackerKit surveys, you will find that your pledge will already include FREE items: specifically, Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm, Volume 1, for Pathfinder, Pathfinder Second Edition, and 5E/Fifth Edition... a $120 value. You don't need to do anything to receive these other than to provide your email address.
I realize that some of you may already have this book; my apologies if this freebie doesn't really do anything for you. If this is the case for you, please message me and I will see what else I might be able to arrange for you.
Thank you for your patience!
Onward!
Hi folks! Hope you're all staying safe and sane.
Just a quick note that we're basically where we were: I'm behind schedule completing the backlog of promised work. The good news is that the maps for Villainous Locales are all essentially complete in sketch form; they merely need to be adapted into a nice-looking format in my mapping tool and then laid out. Should be less than 1 month of actual work to complete things and publish the book once I wrap up the backlog. I'm also playing around with cardstock prototypes for hardcopy map tiles; my dream is to produce these such that they're dry-erasable for GM and player notes, but I'm still struggling to find the right materials and price point. All that is background, however, to my main focus of just continuing to churn out as much product as I possibly can, as quickly as I can, so that I can continue to deliver what is owed.
Our projection for 2020 published some months ago remains the best assessment of where things stand. I did lose about 4-6 weeks of productive time to the COVID-19 pandemic, but despite the quarantine I've been hard at work, and recently published Volume 5 of Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm in 5E and P2E edition formats. I expect to maintain this level of insanely-productive throughput.
So as usual, I'm very much behind my estimates. But I remain 100% committed to the work and cannot wait to get it into everyone's hands.
I appreciate your patience, and support, and kind words for those of you who have received other products already.
For those with the means and interest, please do check out DriveThruRPG's current COVID-19 Charity Bundles. They're a wonderful way of grabbing dozens and dozens of indie RPG products for insanely-reduced costs, and neither DTRPG nor any author receives any money from it--it's 100% all toward the charities involved. (And for those interested, IGS's own Dark Obelisk 1: Berinncorte for Pathfinder is featured as part of the World Food Programme bundle.)
Onward!
Hi all! During these bizarre times, I hope that you and your families are staying sane and healthy, and that your lives and livelihood are as unaffected as possible.
I wanted to provide transparency as to how things have been going for Infinium Game Studio in the context of the global pandemic.
The short version is that I've lost about 3-4 weeks of productive time, nearly entirely, from what I had been working on as my main focus. However, I'm back online and being roughly as productive now as I had been prior to the quarantine situation starting.
For the past 3-4 weeks, I've been watching three young kids and taking care of my mother and mother-in-law so our older family members don't have to leave the house but are provisioned. My wife has been finishing up her critical patient load so starting this week she can watch the kids at least half the time so I can be productive again.
Unemployment, reduced hours, and other factors have affected many of our family members and friends. We're hardly alone in this, and truth to tell, we are extremely fortunate that one of us has a job that can be done 100% remotely, so we're better off than many who have been struck hard by the situation.
However, it's still an impact. I continue to scrounge up every single minute and hour to throw at IGS work, and thanks to my new situation with my wife helping with the kids, I'm able to recover 3-4 hours per day, which is fantastic.
But I've lost time. I'll try to estimate what the impact to the timeline will be, but for the immediate situation, I've started Volume 4 of Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm for 5E and P2E editions. Should be finished that by the end of the month at the latest. I should be able to sustain that pace of two 500-page books per month for the foreseeable future.
I've made available two "Quarantine Edition" bundles on DriveThruRPG, specifically for and to benefit those affected by the coronavirus crisis: one is a bundling of our four published mega-adventures, and the other is a Pathfinder-only assemblage of crunch. Those have sold fairly well and all proceeds will be used to help friends and family affected by the crisis continue to manage life.
Also, my favorite RPG book reviewer, Endzeitgeist, has pored over many of our recent works and has found quite a lot to love. As ever, his attention to detail unearthed some imperfections, and it's always useful to receive constructive critique.
I greatly appreciate everyone who has sent me favorable and understanding messages over the past few weeks. I realize that particularly for those without kids and under quarantine, this situation would benefit greatly from delivery of more of the products that you are owed.
Despite the C19 delays over the past month, the outlook for 2020 I published earlier in the year remains solid, and remains the best outline of where things stand and where I expect them to be.
Please realize that despite the unprecedented craziness and anxious frustration of the situation, I continue to spend every available moment toward the goal of completing and delivering what I have committed to. It's probably not an exaggeration to say that I have managed to remain sane largely because of the focus this work has given me, and I hope that for those who have received IGS products already,
One final note: given that many of my friends have much more free time these days, I've spun up a Dark Obelisk 1 game on Roll20. I'm learning a great deal about the tool, and about what sorts of assets help a VTT experience. As most of you know, we've always published standalone high-res map files with every adventure product, with an eye toward supporting VTT and remote play, but I realize already there are ways I can improve the experience in that regard. More info as the situation develops, but it certainly is nice to play the adventures I've spent so much time creating!
Onward!