Teaching + Full Playthrough of Feudum by Heavy Cardboard
over 6 years ago – Sat, Jan 20, 2018 at 01:13:43 AM

Hey folks, help me spread the word!  Edward, from Heavy Cardboard will teach you how to play Feudum this Monday.  Afterwards, he will be joined by Matt, "Sweater" Mike, "Banker" Dave, and Brian for a full-game playthrough. 

It all begins Monday, January 22

• 1800 MST (Mountain Standard Time)
• 0100 UTC (Coordinated Universal Time) 
• 0200 CET (Central European Time)

I will pop in to chat during the live stream session to answer any questions! If you're excited...share this link: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YcKUNfLKy1Q

 

Freight Schedule and Port Arrival
over 6 years ago – Thu, Jan 18, 2018 at 12:33:14 AM

Hello everyone!

In the spirit of full transparency, I am eager to share the following freight details. I hope you know that no one is more eager to get Feudum into your hands than me! The good news is that everything left Panda on time per Panda's previously posted production schedule... by Jan. 12. 

However, the not-so-good news is that we didn't get on the first and fastest ship so the Port arrival is later than expected.  David Lipman explained that they always try to book the first/fastest, but sometimes the cargo is full and that that is not always within their control. Consequently, we are on the longer end of the estimate range. 

Although I tried, QM Logistics/OTX they said there was not a way to improve the USA Port ETA at a reasonable cost. Per Seth at QM Logistics, 5 weeks on the water is "on the slower side of average," but it's something beyond our control.

Below, I have shared the port ETA time for all lanes. Please note that in some cases it will take as much as 1-2 weeks to get through customs and finally arrive at the fulfillment centers who then ship out to backers. So, please allow for a few extra weeks beyond the Port ETA to be on the safe side (and a little longer for Canada).

As always, thanks for your patience and understanding. And, thanks for hanging in there with me through this adventure.

Mark

QUARTERMASTER LOGISTICS/OTX FREIGHT SCHEDULE

UNITED KINGDOM LANE
1X40’HQ has been booked aboard-
S/S/ CMA CGM BENJAMIN FRANKLIN, V269FLW
ETD YANTIAN:  Jan 24th
ETA TO PORT IN SOUTHAMPTON: Feb 18TH 

AUSTRALIA LANE
Booking has been made-
S/S OOCL DUBAI, V 100S
ETD SHENZHENl  Jan 22nd
ETA TO PORT IN SYDNEY:  Feb 3rd

USA LANE
NYK
V/V: MOL BEYOND / 010E
SI CUT OFF: JAN-18
CY CLS: JAN-20
ETD YANTIAN: JAN-22
ETA TO PORT IN JACKSONVILLE, FL: Feb-26

CANADA LANE
Canadian fulfillment is generally 2-3 weeks behind US. i.e. 3-4 (business days) transit to New York, and then Snakes & Lattes moves it across the Canadian border (5-7 days). And then they queue it and ship it, depending on what other projects they have queued.

CHINA 
PANDA is arranging the shipment to VFI / CN directly
ETA TO FULFILLMENT CENTER: Jan 23

A Closer Look at the Mass Production Copy (MPC)!!!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Nov 27, 2017 at 12:49:36 AM

Hello folks, 

Earlier, I showed you a Pre-Production Copy (PPC) of Feudum, which was merely a close approximation of everything ("laser cut" and not "die cut").  But now, I'd like to reveal some detailed images of the Mass Production Copy (MPC) which I meant to show you prior to Essen, but I didn't get to it in time!  

As discussed before, the radius of the region tiles will be tighter, but everything else is perfect!  This series of images shows your campaign stretch goals as well as a two add ons that were part of some reward levels (metal coins and deluxe wooden pieces) and finally, the Meeple Realty insert which was a separate add on.  Enjoy!

Essen + Localization Partners + App!!!
over 6 years ago – Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 12:16:15 AM

Now that I have a break from University obligations, I actually have the time to update you on a great many things! First, I was absolutely thrilled with Essen. At first, I was bummed out that I didn’t get to sell any games; however, the opportunity to network with fans, reviewers, publishers and potential partners made up for all of that… by a lot!

Essen opened up so many doors for me, and I am grateful to Corax Games, the Spieleschmiede and Panda for introducing me to so many cool companies and localization partners. As you know, Odd Bird is committed to printing trilingual edition games in German, French and English. But, after Essen, localization partners are helping me translate and/or localize into the Chinese, Italian, Spanish, Russian, Portuguese, Dutch and Polish markets. These additional trilingual editions will be available through various publishers in the future and I will share more information as things develop.

Another cool development is the very real possibility that Feudum will become an App. Several senior app developers (who have had their eyes on Feudum) approached me at Essen and they want to move forward with defining the scope of the project. We talked about multi-player A.I., time-based turns for human players, optimizing UI for the best user experience, and of course the need to stay true to the rich artwork of Justin Schultz.

Meanwhile, I have had so many vloggers, bloggers, podcasters and the like reach out to me....so Feudum will eventually be getting all the exposure (reviews, playthroughs, and how-to-play videos) that it deserves!

Obviously, none of this would be a reality without you, my early adopters! I really do owe it to my backers for making all of this a reality. Thank you.

Mark

Panda Production Update + Improvements
over 6 years ago – Wed, Nov 22, 2017 at 12:14:26 AM

Hey everyone, 

Thanks very much for your patience through all of this! This is Panda's updated production schedule:

• Mass Production will finish on December 15th 
• Assembly will finish on January 12th (our factory is closed most of Christmas week)
• Shipping will take 4 - 5 weeks (it may be shorted for destinations in Asia and Australia or longer for destinations in Europe) 
• Backer Fulfillment in end of January/February 
• Retail in February or March 

As mentioned before, in addition to the general production delay, there were seemingly innocuous things (but important to me) that were not 100% right. The good news is that we worked out all of the kinks! And everything is as perfect as it can be!  A few of the necessary modifications included: 

• The correct 4 mm thickness of the deluxe wooden pieces
• The correct color and graphic application on the rosary beads
• The correct radius on the edges of the region/landscape tiles 
• The modified tray to properly fit the adjusted Meeple Realty insert
• Ensuring the resin Behemoth was uniformly stable 
• And, last, but not least, an improved starting player marker.  This particular wooden piece vexed me the most.  Panda's machinery left an unsightly hole in the top of the starting player marker and (although they tried and tried) there was no mechanism for them to cut the parapets without leaving the hole, not to mention too many splinters in the grooves. (see below) So, I altered the piece to look like a chess rook with a single ridge without the notches. I like the sleek look, and to me, it is much cleaner