Dummy #2 from China
almost 8 years ago
– Wed, Jul 13, 2016 at 10:40:52 PM
We received our second dummy from China. This version fixed several issues.
- The box lid edges go all the way down the sides of the box. (The previous one was like a shoebox lid - that caught me by surprise.)
- The coins are larger
- The print files are according to specs that they sent us in specific templates.
- The bottle is now the correct color, like a pharma pill bottle.
An impressive display!
And then I cut out the box images and wrapped them around the box with scotch tape. Looking good...
Here's the latest version of the blister... one of the things I had to come up with was the order that all the components should be stacked in.
This blister still has problems. The new bigger coins (at the top of the stack) break the plane of the blister, so we'll have to sink them down farther into the plastic. Also, the cubes barely fit inside the pill bottle. It's such a tight squeeze that we switched to a bigger pill bottle, which means they'll have to create a new pill bottle slot for a bigger bottle.
When the box is first opened, however, you will see the rulebook on top of everything else...
It's a good thing they sent proofs of the cards, too, because there was a subtle problem with some of the cards that made some cards look washed out or faded.
The printer investigated and found some kind of information in the yellow layers that was causing the issue.
There won't be a third dummy, we feel we've solved all the issues now, so finally (again, apologies for the delays, I was surprised at how many revisions were required with the components) the printing can commence.
Thanks again for supporting us on this journey!
We are now working to complete the print and play. (The low ink version requires a re-design.)
Brandon
The Box Dummy Arrived from China
almost 8 years ago
– Tue, Jun 14, 2016 at 06:01:11 PM
DHL dropped off the "dummy" for the Defenders of Soma box and components yesterday, mailed from Shanghai!
I've been waiting for this moment! To get here, first we sent image files to the printer. Then there were a bunch of back and forth emails to make sure everyone understood each other, about dimensions, quantities, file formats, etc. There were also some corrections.
They wanted us to change the way we were using black ink. Some of our cut lines were too close to text or artwork, and we had to reconfigure. There were some issues with the coins and blister. Once we got those issues sorted out, they were ready to send us the dummy.
Nothing is printed with ink yet, this is just to confirm that the components are correct, and the dimensions of everything are correct.
On top of everything is the coin punch out. The dummy version of the coin punch out is actually slightly incorrect - but the dummy was already en route before we changed the diameter of the coins to .8 inches, so the final coins will be slightly larger than this. Why so much empty space around the coins? Well, it keeps everything snug, otherwise it would rattle around inside the box. Actually, one misunderstanding that slowed things down was the printer initially thought we wanted them to punch out the coins in advance. This is more expensive, and unnecessary, but once we got a clear understanding on that, we had to enlarge the height of the box an extra 3mm so there would be room for the cardboard piece on top.
We also had to create an elevated section of blister (the black plastic part on the edge) to keep everything snug, because the game box has square dimensions, but the folded game board is rectangular.
Here you can see
- The coin punch out
- The box top
- The game board
- The box bottom and blister with components
- the 2 rules reference cards
- the rulebook
The actual box top will have longer sides, matching the box bottom.
The black plastic tray is called a blister. Inside the blister are the components:
- the coins (after I punched them out)
- the pill jar with wooden cubes
- the study covers
- the normal size cards
- the half size cards
This is the pill jar with the wooden cubes. We wanted an orange pill jar, like the ones we get in pharmacies here... I need to clarify with the printer if they were able to find affordable orange ones. It's possible that this dummy doesn't include the final version of the pill jar - or, there might be one more misunderstanding we have to sort out! If it turns out to be way more expensive for the orange jars, then we'll just have to stick with the clear ones.
Now, don't get too excited everyone... even after they print the game, it still takes a long time to get them shipped here by ocean liner, sorted out at customs, shipped to the TopatoCo warehouse, and then sent to you. You will have them THIS YEAR though, that I promise!
- Brandon
Curative Design: Applying Visual Design to Medical Learning
almost 8 years ago
– Wed, May 25, 2016 at 11:28:28 PM
We've launched a new project in collaboration with the incredible visual designer Eleanor Lutz of tabletop whale. It's called CURATIVE DESIGN. We believe that good design, when applied to learning, is extremely powerful.
Some of our topics include:
- Embryonic Heart Development and Circulation
- Topography of Medical Statistics
- Glycolysis
- Brachial Plexus Injuries
- Bacteria Identification
... and many more!
Come check out our Patreon page and see what all the fuss is about!
Update: Files Sent to Printing Press
about 8 years ago
– Mon, May 02, 2016 at 09:58:23 PM
Hello Defenders of Soma backers! I wanted to let you all know that the files have been sent to the printing press (in China). They'll need to ok the files, then create the plastic tray that goes inside the game box, source wooden cubes and pill jars, make die-cuts for the coins, run off some proofs and mail them to me, then find a slot in their printing schedule for printing the game. THEN we begin the long process of waiting for the shipment to leave the docks in China, travel by boat, sit on the docks in the US, go through customs, and then finally get delivered to the TopatoCo warehouse in Massachusetts, where fulfillment will start.
In the meantime we still need to print posters (we print those in the US) and create the Print n Play files.
You may have noticed we haven't asked people for their shipping addresses yet. We'll wait a few more months before collecting that data, so that it is as up-to-date as possible.
So, why are we so delayed? There are two reasons, I think.
The first reason was that I kept making a lot of tweaks. I may have gone a little overboard, but I'm a perfectionist, and I would feel terrible if we noticed mistakes after we released the game and couldn't change it. Included in these tweaks were a lot of changes to the rules and the rulebook design and layout. A lot of first-time Kickstarter designers write their rulebooks, show them to a few friends, and then print them, which is why they are usually so horrible - not enough people have playtested the rulebook. Our first draft of the rulebook was also pretty bad - a lot of things confused people. But we got great feedback from Kickstarter backers and started to address their critiques. Every change we did to the rulebook required changing images and layout - we had to change a lot more than just text. And we decided to add a complete gameplay walkthrough, which required a lot of images and attention to detail. Our new vision for the rulebook took more than 4 months to complete - it was almost like a whole new Bacterionomicon.
The second reason was our inefficient workflow. Raul lives in Colorado, and I live in Connecticut, and we both have other work obligations that compete for our time. If we lived in the same town, and worked in the same office, we would accomplish all the little fine-tuning tasks wayyyy more quickly. Also, because Raul was doing all his layouts in Photoshop, the files became massive and so he would just send me flattened versions, which I couldn't directly edit. Raul would send me a flattened version and wait for me to review it. I would send my comments but by then he would be busy with something else. He would eventually fix the issue then send me a new flattened version to ok. The whole back and forth might have taken a week, for one tiny edit. There are clearly better ways to structure our workflow, but we didn't address this early on because we just didn't anticipate that it would waste so much time. Now we know how important this is, so for future projects we'll use something like dropbox so I can edit text directly, and we'll try to communicate more about our work schedules so less time is spent waiting for each other.
But now, that's all behind us. Exiting layout stage, entering manufacturing stage! So excited.
Thanks for your patience!
Brandon
Final List of Components
about 8 years ago
– Mon, Mar 14, 2016 at 10:50:00 PM
Hi everyone! Files have not been sent to the printer quite yet, but we now have our complete list of all the components:
Game Board (folds into 6 sections to fit in box)
Beautiful game board is beautiful.
48 page rulebook
Why is the rulebook so long? Volunteers on Kickstarter looked through our initial version and made lots of suggestions, expressed confusion about certain concepts, and even suggested new additions to the game, so in the spirit of collaboration we ran with those suggestions... and we decided to lay out the game concepts with plenty of space so it was easy to read. The rulebook not only walks you through the game concepts simply and clearly, with lots of pictures, but even contains an example of an entire game so you can see how it works. This gameplay walkthrough is 16 pages of the book. The "How to Play" section is really only 9 pages of the book. The rulebook also has an FAQ, a glossary, and a pronunciation guide.
THE CARDS
Apothecary Deck (35 cards, including the "Altruist," a backer designed card).
from Amox/Clav to Vancomycin
Provoker Deck (26)
from Anthrax to Y. pestis
Opportunist Deck (10)
from Acinetobacter to Strep Pneumoniae
Mutant Deck (11)
from ARE to VRSA
Also...
Rule reminder cards for each player
7 resistance cards (we added 2 more)
17 wooden resistance cubes (inside a pharmacy-style pill bottle)
17 enchantment cards (new!!!)
15 coins
6 study covers
8 villager cards
(villagers used to be meeples - but Kickstarter backers demanded artwork and a catch-up mechanic for when villagers get wounded. Done!)
I'll send another update when the files have been sent to the printer. Thanks again for your patience!
- Brandon
