Production Update: Monsters of Aquilae, Hardcovers of ABRE
about 3 years ago – Fri, Mar 12, 2021 at 06:46:00 AM

Monsters of Aquilae

The massive 840-page Pathfinder edition was completed last month; if you're entitled to this and have not yet received a free copy from DriveThruRPG, please email me at infiniumGameStudios[at]gmail.com and I will investigate.

I've submitted the files for hardcover review and should be able to order the proof imminently once they're approved.

5E edition is nearing completion, probably next week.  I'm hoping to complete the P2E, DCC, and OSR editions by end of March.  Hardcovers to follow ASAP thereafter per the same process above.

ABRE Hardcovers

As I've mentioned in prior updates, I placed the massive order for the proofs across all editions just before the new year.  Although I know DTRPG is claiming regular print delays of up to 45 days, it's well beyond that now; I've contacted support to see what's going on.  But until I receive the proofs, DTRPG will not let me begin fulfillment unfortuantely.

I know many of you are eagerly awaiting these; I am, too for sure!

As a reminder, if you're entitled to one or more hardcover books, I will reach out to each and every one of you individually to A: confirm your mailing address; B: confirm your rules edition preference; and C: confirm if you'd instead like a partial refund if you'd prefer to just keep the PDF version and not have a hardcover.

Onward!

Production Update: MOA Completed!
about 3 years ago – Wed, Feb 24, 2021 at 08:28:38 PM

Production Update

Monsters of Aquilae is now completed.  Fulfillment has been triggered; everyone entitled to a copy should receive a notification tonight from DriveThruRPG.  If you don't see one, please check your spam and bulk folders, and then message / comment / email me and I'll investigate to resolve ASAP.

How it Turned Out

I'm super proud of this thing.  At 840 pages, it's a behemoth.  It is literally impossible for me to cram more content into this volume, and I hope you enjoy what I've produced.

What's Awesome

• Some super creative and interesting effects and abilities.
  
• Over 200 monsters, each with 4 complete pages of content.
  

What's Not Perfect

Despite being awesome and despite my level of happiness with the results, I will volunteer that this book is not perfect.  Specifically:

• Count: I physically could not fit the envisioned 225 monsters in the book.  DTRPG's printer has an absolute limit to page count, and this book hits that limit hard.
  
• Illustrations: There are dozens in the book, and I'm really psyched at what is included.  That said, I recognize that many may be expecting an illustration for each and every creature, as many fantasy bestiary books provide.  The main issue here was time.  I simply could not wrangle illustrations from the artists I work with for each and every monster.
  

Next Steps

Other Rules Editions

This is the Pathfinder version.  Up next is converting the content to the other supported rules systems.  This will be done in parallel, and should go fairly quickly; the crunch itself is already done, so it's really just formatting and layout.  Figure by the end of March at the latest for 5E, P2E, DCC, and OSR editions.

Hardcopy Edition

I have a few pieces of additional art that I'm hoping to receive in the next week or two.  If I get them, I'll add them; if not, I'll submit the content files and order a proof, etc. so as to get the hardcopy edition published.  If you're entitled to a hardcover of Monsters of Aquilae, sit tight; I will be reaching out to each of you individually to confirm your address and rules system preference once I've finished this piece of things.

Thank You

Monsters of Aquilae is a book that has spent a very long time in the pipeline.  You will each be the judge of whether the long wait was worth it, but I could not be happier with the results, and I hope that you enjoy them with your gaming group.

Onward!

ABRE Digital Resource Companion Published
over 3 years ago – Sun, Jan 10, 2021 at 05:19:06 PM

Hi all!  Just a quick update and a SURPRISE :)

ABRE: Digital Resource Companion

I've gotten a lot of requests for an Excel "data dump" of vital stats for the Bestiary.  And given the pretty shocking success of the Excel products I've published recently (the FlexAI DRC and the Content Conversion Guide Mapping Inventory), it's clear that folks want Excel tools to make the most of their time in game sessions.

So, I did a quick scan-through and dump into Excel of every single one of the 6,640 statblocks involved in the Bestiary to create the "Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm Digital Resource Companion".

And, as a special thank-you to all of you who have supported this crazy endeavor from a very early point, here is a discount for this resource, bringing the price down more than 60%.

So far, the Digital Resource Companion is just for Pathfinder, but I'll be dumping the same kind of thing for the other supported rules systems (5E, P2E, OSR, and DCC) soon.  (You'll get a FREE copy of the P2E version, naturally!)

MOA Production Update

Work on Monsters of Aquilae continues.  I remain on-target to complete and publish by the end of February, fingers crossed.  Thanks as always for your patience and support.

Onward!

Monsters of Aquilae in Full Focus!
over 3 years ago – Tue, Jan 05, 2021 at 07:02:28 AM

Happy new year!  Hope you've all been enjoying your winter holiday(s).

Production Update

Just a quick note that Monsters of Aquilae, also known as "Aquilae Bestiary Part 3" from years ago, is now my full focus.  Layout has begun and work is fully underway.

Rules Systems Note

Layout will proceed simultaneously on all five rules systems editions of the book: Pathfinder, 5E, Pathfinder Second Edition, OSR, and Dungeon Crawl Classics.

Anyone entitled to more than a single rules system edition of the book will receive it in PDF format for ALL FIVE rules systems editions once published.

Timing

My rough target for completion is the end of February.  I'll post another update by the end of this week advising as to how realistic that target remains based on my progress, but it seems doable given my track record on Bestiary books over the past two years.

Hardcopy versions will be submitted for review and proofing following completion and fulfillment of the PDF editions; I'd estimate in March would be when we can start pulling the trigger on those of you who are entitled to a hardcover.

Once we get to that point, I will be reaching out individually to each of you who is entitled to a hardcover, and will ask you to confirm your shipping address, your choice of rules system edition, and will offer you a choice for a partial refund of your pledge if you are instead perfectly happy with only the PDF versions of the book.

Thank You

As always, and as I've said before, I truly appreciate your patience in getting to this point... but the pipeline before it has cleared and we are full speed ahead on this massive undertaking!

Onward!

State of the Realm: Q4 2020
over 3 years ago – Mon, Dec 07, 2020 at 07:48:53 AM

Hiya!  Hope you're enjoying the burgeoning winter (or whatever season it happens to be where you are).

Please find the Q4 2020 Infinium Game Studio State of the Realm update here.

As I established in the Q2 2020 Realm update earlier in the year, I have honest, updated targets for each and every product in the pipeline.  That policy will continue.

We've long established that my ability to estimate is not ideal, but I do enjoy sharing with you my best guess and trying to be as transparent as possible about what's going on, when, and what I'm doing about it.

Accomplishments

2020 certainly has been an enormous year.  Aquilae: Bestiary of the Realm for 5E, for Pathfinder Second Edition, for OSR, and for DCC have all been completed and published.  And I even expanded all editions of the Bestiary by an additional 60 monsters, bringing the total to 1,660 monsters, over 33,000 complete statblocks spread over more than 20,000 pages of published content.

As part of that, I established my first-ever formal agreement with another third-party publisher, and got approval to publish the Bestiary for DCC using the Dungeon Crawl Classics logo and official support.

The FlexAI Guidebook was completed and published.  The FTEG Solo Adventuring Quickstart, and its accompanying Quickstart Bestiaries for PFRPG, 5E, and P2E, were published.

And more recently, just last week, the Content Conversion Guide was completed and published, along with its companion Excel Conversion Mapping Inventory tool.

All in all, four Silver bestsellers and two Copper bestsellers in the IGS library at this point on DriveThruRPG, including #1 Hottest Small Press, #1 Most Popular Under $5, and #6 Bestselling Overall honors (all for the Content Conversion Guide).

Updated Project Targets

In keeping with the new approach established earlier this year, the State of the Realm update features honest, best-guess assessments of where outstanding work will be completed and fulfilled.  I want to remain as transparent as possible, even if that frustrates some people, because as a backer of over 500 indie RPG projects myself, I'd rather have a best-guess that changes, than a vague "I'm working on it" promise.

I want to stress, and thank you for, the overwhelming amount of optimistic, understanding, sympathetic, and generally positive feedback I've received.  Most of you seem to be super thrilled; many of you are eager to hear more, and I do respect that some of you are frustrated.

I have always delivered, and I will continue to deliver, as rapidly, and as completely, as I am capable of.  I thank you for your patience, now in this bizarre 2020 situation more than ever, and for the nearly 10,000 of you who have received at least one IGS product already, I'm always eager to hear your feedback!

Thank You!

Thank you as always for your patience, support, and constructive feedback.  2020 has been a heck of a year for us all, and yet, IGS has continued to produce a TON of products spanning thousands and thousands of pages and over a dozen books.

We're looking forward to much, much more yet in what has already been a record-breaking year of productivity for our teeny-tiny indie geekfest company.  None of this would be remotely possible without you, your support, and your own passion.

So: Thank you!

Onward!