New Year's Resolutions
3 months ago
– Sun, Jan 14, 2024 at 03:55:11 PM
Resolutions
Happy new year, everyone! Just a quick note to let you know where we're at.
The bottom line: we've signed off the designs for Eagle Leader and Fulcrum Leader before Chirstmas, but the last few weeks have been the holiday shutdown. We're waiting for work to resume from our third-party partners, so that we can get the digital proofing files back to review and sign off.
Long Distance
In other news, Fulcrum Leader co-designers Doug and Ben finally met up in person, somewhere sunny and urban and tropical. Most of the time, naturally, was spent at the local award-winning craft brewery imbibing cool, refreshing beverages.
Doug and Ben on the esplanade. A combined 17,000 miles of long-haul travel went into making this rendezvous.
Now that's what we call a "wunderbar".
Beers, beers, beers...
Well, okay, maybe they did get in some important discussion about some game ideas which they have been kicking around. But mostly it was having the rare opportunity to catch up in person, and chill out over some beers.
Our Request to You
We do have a request. Eagle Leader and Fulcrum Leader may be fast-paced and action-packed - but the logistics of publishing and delivery is very much a waiting game.
As mentioned in previous updates, much of the factory production and transport schedule from this point onward is out of our hands. This is not on a fixed or predictable schedule, and mostly out of DVG's control.
Sometimes things will happen faster, and sometimes things will be delayed. There is no need to keep requesting for updates, whether it's pinging through Kickstarter, dropping comments, messaging designers or DVG directly. We will send updates when it makes sense to do so, so please do not be anxious if you do not hear anything.
Once again, thank you for your understanding. We are striving to make these games as good as possible.
Until the next time
Doug, Phil and Ben
Great Tidings!
5 months ago
– Thu, Dec 07, 2023 at 04:57:22 PM
Just in time for the holiday season, we come bearing great tidings of comfort and joy!
The quality reviews on both Eagle Leader and Fulcrum Leader have been completed, and the final tweaks and adjustments have gone in, and the files are currently being sorted and prepared to be sent off the factory.
The Final Countdown
Here you can see the final covers for both titles:
This is really one game in two boxes.
These are what the rulebooks look like on a single screen:
Eagle Leader, with 27,119 words.
And Fulcrum Leader, 32,301 words.
And a few essential reference sheets to help players along:
Fulcrum Leader Player Help Sheet
Fulcrum Leader Pilot and Zampolit Skills Sheet
Fulcrum Leader Traits Help Sheet
Next Steps: Prototypes and Production Line
The next steps from here will be getting the factory's pre-production digital files back and checking them. If all goes well, this will be our next update. Once these are signed off, the factory will create the prototypes of each game and its expansions for the game designers to inspect.
Once we have inspected the physical product and signed off, the mass production of the games will commence on the factory line. The BackerKit will also be closed at this point, so that production numbers can be finalized and accounts paid. Our goal is to get the games off the production line and onto the cargo boats before the Lunar New Year on February 10th, 2024.
Tally-Ho!
From Dynamo to the Blitz
In other news, we wanted to give a shout-out to our aircraft artist Ben Rawlings, who now joins the ranks of game designer with his own print-and-play (PnP) solitaire wargame, Violent Skies. It is set in WWII and puts you into the cockpit of Luftwaffe and RAF aircraft, including the Spitfire MkI/II, Hurricane Mk1, Bf109E3/4, and Bf-110C.
"Good cooking takes time. If you have been waiting, it is to serve you better, and to please you." - Restaurant Antoine (New Orleans)
This step marks the completion of over two years of reseach and design to create an ambitious, sweeping project that ended up far more complex, more nuanced and more gratifying than we'd ever expected. Thank goodness for the teamwork and the camaraderie.
There's still some effort remaining to get the games to completion, but from this point it is mostly out of our hands and sitting with the factory and transport logistics. We will keep you apprised of progress as it goes. Once again, thank you all for your patience and support.
Phil, Doug and Ben, Co-Designers
Final Pieces of the Puzzle
6 months ago
– Wed, Nov 01, 2023 at 06:29:11 AM
Hello backers!
We are starting to move game components from the "in progress" status into "factory ready", as we press on with reviewing and signing off the work.
One of the items which we have been focussing on are the core boxes designs for both games, front and rear. The front designs have been around since project inception, and it was quite straightforward to make the prototypes of both boxes with some old-fashioned cut-and-paste, using a spare Thunderbolt-ApacheLeader cover.
Handmade core box prototypes
One of the key items which we knew would be done toward the end-stage is the all-important box rear, which can comprise twenty or more separate elements on a single page. (Each card, counter, and text block on the page is an "element", and designing it is like putting a puzzle together, except you don't have the final picture.)
It starts with an idea on a page, loosely based on previous Leader games.
Inception of the rear design
We put together some quick prototypes to get a rough idea of what works and what doesn't. For example, we wanted to showcase some of the new card types appearing in both games, but at the same time, the amount of available space was a factor.
First iteration
The above design for Fulcrum Leader follows the color scheme on the box front - but with the new Zampolit and GCI cards, it comes off as having too much clutter, and threatens to visually overwhelm the reader ("more is less".)
Soviet cockpit interior blues
The above was another variant based on the blue-green colors used in Soviet aircraft cockpit interiors. We also cut some cards and counters, to give the layout a bit more breathing room ("less is more"). Experimenting with different layouts allowed us to compare which adjustments were most effective.
Rear text layout
The design for Eagle Leader went through the same process. A few more adjustments later - cutting even more stuff and tweaking the text layout, as above - we arrived at a near-final version that we're ready to sign off on. Not forgetting the "blurbs", which help to set the '80s tone and vibe, from Mr Clancy's best-loved stories.
A master of storytelling
Seeing the front and rear covers together for the first time in a test printing was a real treat.
"Blue team"
"Red team"
We're all on the same team, really.
And that's how the pieces of the puzzle came together. Phew!
It's been a journey to get this far, and we are very close to getting this done and into your hands as soon as possible. The delays were not without reason, and the product is better for it. We appreciate your patience.
Ben, Phil and Doug, Co-Designers
And now, the end is near...
7 months ago
– Sun, Oct 08, 2023 at 08:02:58 AM
Hello backers!
A more detailed update from the design team. We've been pushing really hard to get the game designs and artwork signed off, and we had planned to have the digital files sent off to the factory at this point.
However, we are finding things to correct as we've gone through the proofs, thus the proofreading phase will continue for another week or so, until we're sure that we've caught and fixed as much as we can, and we're happy to sign off.
To illustrate, from one of the Expansions...
"Things are sometimes not what they appear..."
Somewhere along the way, the missile art was switched around between these two - the PLAAF's PL-5 was a copy of a copy of a Sidewinder, and the PL-8 was basically a licensed clone of the Israel-made Python-3. It is easy to miss when you're staring down sixty pages of counter sheets.
(And if you didn't spot the other very obvious error with the counters - air-to-air munitions should have two yellow stripes, not one - we missed it the first dozen times we looked at it, too.)
"One of these cards is not like the other..."
Or this ship-based Ground Control Intercept (GCI) card. Somewhere in the big blender of card creation, the MR-800 Flag "Top Pair" ended up on the CVHG Kiev, when it should have been the MR-600 Voshkod "Top Sail". Details, even if they aren't always obvious, are important for us.
The all-new artwork and updated design behind every visual component in both games is a delight, and it is quite striking to see everything come together. A few more previews as we near the finishing line - tactical display, counters, squadron asset and experimental aircraft cards...
"I'd swear this was Pantone 325... if the Soviets had Pantone."
"Yellow usually means it's not that serious... right?"
"So that's where the yellow counters come into play."
"The desert tells a different story each time one ventures into it."
"We made a promise in the Kickstarter to put this in the game, so here it is."
In hard numbers from both games:
1,512 cards
2,302 counters
62 campaign sheets (at least)
68,650 words (rulebooks + help sheets)
And that's not the final count. So if we need just a little more time to get everything squared away, we hope you'll understand.
We'll leave you with this N A T O W A V E music video, starring the General Dynamics F-16 Fighting Falcon over Mike Oldfield's groovy theme from The Exorcist in synthwave. (Watch till the end for a special message...)
Phil, Ben and Doug, Co-Designers
Update
7 months ago
– Thu, Sep 28, 2023 at 04:33:09 AM
