Chapter 7 in Layout!
over 1 year ago – Wed, Sep 07, 2022 at 10:01:09 AM

This will be a quick update. After revising the layouts for chapters 4 and 6, they're about 95% done. I'm working on expanding the content of one section to fill a blank page but otherwise they're all set. It has been surprisingly difficult in places to adjust the content to fit, but the end product is incredibly satisfying.

We're now on to the layout of Chapter 7! This is the chapter for the Guide, so there's lots of advice and play examples to go along with the Guide Moves that help keep the story running. I'm anticipating there being a fair bit of trimming and expanding going on to make things look nice, but I'm excited because so much of the game runs on how the Guide nudges the narrative along when things get tense or there's a perfect opportunity.

Stay safe, stay cool (we're in the middle of a heat wave here), and remember the ocean is full of more stories than we'll ever be able to tell.

- Richard and the DiM Team

A long overdue update
over 1 year ago – Mon, Aug 08, 2022 at 08:05:48 PM

First things first

Obviously, the first thing I need to do here is apologize for the tardiness of this update. At this point in the project, I (Richard) am driving the progress, handling the iterations necessary for layout, etc. Everyone else on the team has been great and I've been holding things up entirely on my end. My intention has always been to have regular updates, and while the last few months have made that challenging, they didn't make it impossible, so I should have kept you all apprised.

The short version of what's happened the last few months is that my family has continued to have no luck finding a caregiver for some medical needs, which I've been stepping up to help with, and there have been two major projects at work that, while thankfully both completed now, were keeping my plate full with supporting my team and had me literally dreaming in JavaScript (which, if you've never had recurring dreams where you're writing code before, I don't recommend).  I've been, simply put, burned out.

On the upside, both those major projects are now completed, and we're continuing to search for caregiving help through as many avenues as we can find. I'm feeling rejuvenated after taking some time off to recuperate, and I'm ready to continue work on the project.

Where does the project currently stand?

The latest news is that I've completed a series of edits for the Moves chapter to make them fit the layout better. The good news is that for most of the Moves, it will mean a bit more explanation because we're shooting for a two-page spread for each of the Basic Moves and Special Moves. Our editor, Rhi, is taking a look over them and then they'll be slotted in to ensure everything fits nicely.

In the meantime, we've got edits for Chapter 6 as well that should be ready for a layout iteration as well. The pages themselves are lovely.

I'm getting our recurring project meetings and check-ins back in place, and setting aside dedicated time to work on any updates I'll need to do as they come in.

And finally

I again want to thank everyone for your belief in the project and your patience. If you had asked me in February of 2020 what I thought this project would look like, I certainly never would have imagined it going the way it has, but I'm extremely proud of the work the whole team has put in and the game that I'll be able to send to all of you as soon as it's ready.

Richard Kreutz-Landry and the DiM Team

Quick check-in
about 2 years ago – Fri, Apr 22, 2022 at 06:15:00 PM

Hi everyone, the last month or so has been very tough for the team. We've had starting a new job, a sudden death of a family member, and taking on daily caregiving responsibilities for a family member spread among the folks currently working on getting the book finished.

We'll have a more comprehensive update for you at the beginning of May, but the short version is we've made progress on Chapter 6 and will be doing some rewrites to better match the text to the space available.

In the meantime, I do want to take a moment to share a snapshot from Chapter 6 that I think really highlights how gorgeous the book is turning out to be. You can see Taylor Livingston's sketch of a strange three-eyed creature in the foreground, and at the page's edge you can see a bit of Devon George's fantastical bubble cityscape peeking through.

Thanks for your patience and well wishes. We're continuing to make progress and marching ever forward toward getting you all this game. We couldn't be doing this without all of you.

-Richard and the DiM team

February Update
about 2 years ago – Wed, Mar 09, 2022 at 03:21:45 PM

What did we accomplish in February?

In short, we got hit with some unexpected delays due to a family emergency on the team. Layout has been paused for a few weeks, but we have a date set later this month to reconvene and continue work on Chapter 6.

What's next for March?

We're giving the team some time to deal with said emergency and will be reconvening later this month to get the layout process moving again. I'm using this time to handle some of the administrative side of things (hooray taxes!) so when we start back up I won't have anything else on my plate and can be as responsive as possible to our layout designer.

After doing a bit more research, it turns out BackerKit doesn't seem to have a messaging feature outside of payment and orders, so I'm still working out precisely how to get notifications about these updates out to the folks who backed the  project after the Kickstarter campaign wrapped. Luckily, if you're reading this you aren't affected by that bit of news.

A few final words

This month, it's a simple message: protect trans kids. The lives of the trans people we know could be so much easier if gender-affirming care were readily available and they didn't have to fight to be accepted.

Stay safe, and see you next month,

- Richard and the DiM team

January Update
about 2 years ago – Sun, Feb 06, 2022 at 01:48:55 AM

What did we accomplish in January?

Layout is moving along smoothly! We've got Chapter 3 done and Chapter 4 is undergoing final review/edits. For now we're focusing on getting the main book finished as quickly as possible.

What's next for February?

We're skipping Chapter 5 for now (the Playbook chapter) since it has the most complex layout and moving on to Chapter 6. The plan is to get through chapters 6 - 9 and the appendices/index/etc and then circle back to Chapter 5. Once the main book is complete, we'll work on a redesign of the Playbook handouts and other supplemental material.

Our new tentative target for finishing the book layout is April.  The plan is to get the digital version of the book out to everyone as quickly as possible while we work on getting the catalog records and publishing data generated that will need to be included in the print run.

A few final words

We're rolling along and I'm feeling really good about the progress we're making on the project. Our weekly layout/editing/accessibility meetings are a joy. I was also recently informed that these updates aren't being automatically sent to everyone who backed using BackerKit after the campaign, so we may be switching to using emails from BackerKit that point to these update posts so everyone who backed the project can see them.

In unrelated news, my wife has created a portrait of our fuzzy supervisor.

Hope everyone has a great February! See you in March with more progress.

- Richard and the DiM Team