Dear Insane Children, 

If you watched the last livestream then you’ll know I was meant to show a FINAL version of the King of Planets outfit and failed miserably. Omri sent a horde of paid assassins to the studio and I was severely punished. Aside from all that we had a good time and I’m pleased were were able to have all our EU-zone Patrons and fans involved in a live discussion. Lots of fun!

The outfit presented this week (in its final form) is something Alice might wear going into battle against the Jabberwock. We’ve talked a bit about this battle and how it might be presented as a false goal which Alice strives towards, realizing too late she’s gone down the wrong path. When she extracts herself from this misguided attack… she’ll have to face inward to go forward. 

Though this outfit is “wrong” (in that it’s part of Alice’s misguided mission) it’s still beautiful. I love the idea of stars spinning in Alice’s hair, of portals into actual space embedded in the design. I can imagine Alice trailing stars and meteors as she moves around in this suit. What do you think? QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS in the comments below! 

NEW GOAL

We’re now at 2,225 Patrons (as I write this) and I suspect we might hit 2,500 before end of month. I’ll send out another MailChimp (spam) and do some other marketing this week to help us reach that goal. So… let’s start planning our NEXT GOAL! I’m thinking about something simple and fun… another set of Embroidered Patches.

The last set of patches was really well received… and I think we’ll copy/pasting that setup. Unlock Patch Set #2 at 3000(Is this the right Goal Number?) Patrons and for all Patrons at $5 and above? Thing is… 

This is a sample of shipping costs… We included shipping last time around and that by itself is a minimum of $5 (going to the US) and $6.40 (going to Canada) and lots more going to other places… upwards of $10+ to some distant locations. That’s not even including the cost of the design, manufacturing, and packaging of the patches. So…

Would everyone be OK if we set the limit at $10 and above?

I’m trying to keep the Patron rewards + shipping as close to our cost as possible (as was done with the first patch set and the Chaos Coin). Thoughts on this? Trying to be as transparent as possible on this stuff and avoid surprises and upset. QUESTIONS and FEEDBACK below! 

BTW, the GOAL of the Goal is to maintain our Patron numbers and avoid a massive overnight crash in numbers once we’ve gone past end of August. Keeping our total number of Patrons high sends a clear signal to potential investors and publishers that there’s a rabid fanbase willing to put their $ where their desires are. This is critical.

So, if you’re reading this and thinking, “I’ll jump ship once I’ve got my Chaos Coin” please consider sticking around at $1 going forward. The $ is helpful but the total Patron count also has a very positive impact on our efforts. Thanks! 

WIKI / DISCORD CONTRIBUTORS

We’ve just launched our Discord Server and linked it to Patreon. If you’re a Patron and already have a Discord Account, then you should have automatically been added to our server when it launched earlier today*. If you don’t know what Discord is – don’t worry – I sorta didn’t either until a few minutes ago! It’s a lighter/faster version of Skype or TeamSpeak. Basically a chat and messaging service we can use to share ideas, coordinate our efforts, and manage the Asylum. 

We’re also going to leverage it to help organize our thoughts in the Asylum Wiki. The wiki is where we want to outline our vision for Alice: Asylum. If you’ve not yet heard – we’re doing something we might call Crowd Designing (ala crowdfunding, etc) of the new game. You’ve already seen this in action if you’ve been part of our Patreon community or watched our live streams. One of our Inmates will put forth an interesting idea and we’ll say, “yeah, that sounds great” – and it becomes a part of the thing we’re building. 

First thing I want to stress about this: We have NO IDEA what we’re doing. I’ve made a lot of games and worked with a lot of teams all around the world over the past 25 years… but I’ve never engaged directly with the fan base to design and write a game. That’s OK because I like to think I have no idea what I’m doing even around those things people think I’m an expert at. The moment you say you know something you stop learning… 

I digress. Point is, we’re going to learn and create something new together. A community, a game, a way of designing a game, a way of producing a game. All that stuff. I’m glad it’s like this because otherwise I’d be bored! 😉

If you are interested in directly contributing to the setup and management of the Discord Server or in helping to collect and organize the ideas creating over on the Wiki then please check out this SurveyMonkey Page.

Think of it as a sort of application / filter Martin and I can use to sort through all those interesting in contributing and making some informed decisions about the shape of the initial group. 

WHAT’S NEXT

Over the coming weeks we’ll start to drill down into specific chapters, story beats, and other narrative elements which will help to define Alice’s journey in Asylum. Behind the scenes I’ve already started work on this with RJ and will share our progress with you in upcoming Patreon Posts, YouTube Livestreams, Wiki entries, and Discord Discussions. Whew! Lots going on!!!

Please, take your time going through this post. There’s lots to absorb and think about. I’d love to hear your feedback in the comments below. Help me shape our next steps in a way that YOU like. What do you love about what’s outlined above? What’s missing? What can we do better? 

Looking forward to your thoughts…

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American (and Lulu)

*If you weren’t automatically added to the Discord server then PM us or leave a message in the comments below. We’ll work to get you sorted out as quickly as possible. You patience while we learn this new tech is appreciated! 

Dear Insane Children, 

I won’t lie. I like a good typhoon. Certainly not while out sailing or riding my scooter. But viewed safely from indoors with Lulu and Yan by my side (actually, Yan’s at work right now; thank god for Lulu)… they can be a bit of fun. 

Shanghai is now in the middle of the 4th typhoon of the season – Rumbia. Kinda sounds like a drunk uncle of one of those floor cleaning robots. And it looks a bit like this…

Only problem is that Martin, being way over on the other side of Shanghai, doesn’t want to risk drowning so he’s staying home and won’t be on tonight’s YouTube livestream. I don’t blame him. Blub, blub.

Assuming I don’t blow away in the typhoon, I’ll still be there with Lulu, and we’ll have Martin in the chat. Let’s see how that goes. This is a special EU-friendly time (7PM HKT, 12PM BST). 

Zzzzzzz…

But why are we talking about the weather when we have an AMAZING new dress from Omri to comment on!?!?! Seriously…

This might be my favorite new dress of them all. First off, it’s all BLACK. Perfect! There are two distinct modes. Wow! It’s got “shiny everything” – which, let’s face it, everything needs. Great! And it’s literally The Death Dress… which I don’t think can get more METAL. So, yeah, this is my favorite.

It also has me thinking… maybe all the dresses need two modes? I wrote to Omri about this… saying that we could imagine a ‘normal’ mode Denial Dress similar to what’s already been presented; and then a ‘chaos’ mode of that same dress where everything is on fire, smoking, and burnt. Not sure where we might take this idea… but something to ponder. 

And then there’s… 

Which is Omri’s take on The Jabberwock Dress – the outfit she’s wearing prior to going into battle with the Jabberwock. We showed this during the livestream last week but I’d not yet had a chance to post it here on Patreon. Naughty, American! 

We heard many of you loved the presentation of the Bargaining Suit and wanted some elements of that maintained somewhere in the game, so this is an attempt at honoring that request. What do you think? 

Do the Thing

Again, livestream tonight. 7PM HKT. Hit that link and set a reminder. 

While you’re over there, please hit Subscribe. I’m just inches away from 20k subscribers on YouTube 😐 

And you know I’m on Instagram as well? We share a bit of cosplay, lots of Lulu pics, and other fun stuff over there. Please follow! 

See you all tonight! 🙂 

From Shanghai with Rumbia,

-American (and Lulu)

Dear Insane Children, 

Are we heading towards 3000 Patrons at the end of August? Insane! 

Myself, Martin, Lulu, and the rest of the Asylum team cannot say THANK YOU enough for all the support, trust, and love you’re sending our way!

I did a public post earlier today where I shared a snippet of the latest image from Alex along with some FAQ stuff related to the Chaos Coin. Please CHECK IT OUT if you have Chaos Coin questions!

I also posted about tomorrow’s LIVE STREAM which will take place at 7PM Hong Kong Time on Friday, 17th of August. That’s an EU-friendly start time, so if you’re on that side of the world please join us! We don’t do these often – let’s show the other side of the world how it’s done! 😉 

If you are not on that side of the world, fret not. Livestreams are captured on YouTube and watchable at any time in the future (until the world ends).

We’re often asked about the music playing at the start of the livestreams – a track from our good friend Kian How called “Haunted Garden.” He produced this track for our Out of the Woods campaign over on Kickstarter. And he’s just uploaded it to SoundCloud for you all. Enjoy!

We’ll talk more about music, art, the Chaos Coin, and Asylum design on the stream tomorrow. Hope to see you there! 

As always, post your QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS below for Martin to read!

From Shanghai with a Love-Filled Bloody Heart, 

-American

Dear Insane Children,

A quick public post containing info about The Chaos Coin and the livestream for this week. First, a Giant Welcome to all our new inmates! As I write this, we’re at 2152 (and still growing). Wow! 

If you are not yet an Inmate and want a Chaos Coin, then join now! There’s no limit to how many we’re delivering via this offer but the offer does end on August 31st.

Still a bit of confusion and a number of questions coming in regarding the Chaos Coin Goal and how to acquire a Coin before time runs out. I’ve tried multiple times to explain this as clearly as possible and I’ll try again…

Chaos Coin How-To – In 3-Easy Steps

1) Pledge NOW at $35 (or more).

2) Wait to be charged on or around September 5th.

3) Done. Finished. You’ve passed go. You’ve acquired the Chaos Coin! 

After That…

If you wish to change, reduce, or cancel your pledge after completing the steps above, please wait until September 17th, 2018. This will help us sort and organize your pledges more easily – it will NOT result in additional charges to you. After September 17th, 2018 you can change, reduce, or cancel your pledge and you will still receive the Chaos Coin. 

You must be processed at $35 (or more) for this month (August 2018) in order to receive a Chaos Coin via this offer. 

You have until August 31st to lock in your pledge. 

Livestream and Pledge / Reward Walkthrough

If you are still in doubt then please join us for this weeks livestream – which can also be watched at any time after the stream – via THIS LINK. 

It’s at 7PM Hong Kong Time on August 17th. Here’s an International Meeting Planner timetable to make things clear…

Oi! This is an EU Stream! 

Again, if you miss the stream live then you can still watch it on YouTube via THIS LINK at a later time/date. 

During this stream Martin and I will talk through the commonly asked questions regarding the Chaos Coin Reward. If you’re on during the live stream then you can ask questions at that time as well.

A couple of recent questions: 

1. I pledged after you hit 2000 patrons.  Do I still get the coin?

Yes. There’s no limit to the number of coins/patrons.
Just pledge before end of August, 2018.

2. I just need to pledge for 1 month, right?

Yes. $35 or more for 1 month, THIS MONTH, August 2018.
Previous and later months do not qualify. 

3. Do I get coin + necklace + print at $75?

Yes. If it’s your first month at $75 then you would get all three.
If you’re already at $75 then you’ll still get an art print + Chaos Coin.
If this is your first month at $35 then two more months = art print as well.

4. It costs more because of VAT where I am.   (Not really a question, but some people are mentioning it)

It sucks. We know. Same thing here in China.
Write an angry letter to your politicians.
American and Martin can’t do anything about this.
Elect Lulu as Queen of the World… maybe she’ll fix it.

5. What’s the character count for my name/message on the coin?

For the virtual, in-game coin you can submit a name and message (per our approval). We’ll send out a Survey Monkey for this at a later date.
Name = 64 Characters
Message = 256 Characters

We’ll go into full detail about all this (and more) during the upcoming livestream.

If you have related QUESTIONS or SUGGESTIONS please add them to the comments below and use the “QUESTION: ” or “SUGGESTION: ” tag so Martin can easily see them. Try to avoid asking questions or making suggestions which have been covered before – a lot of your questions and suggestions have been covered in previous posts / livestreams. Lots of info on the Chaos Coin can be found via the Goal Link. 

We look forward to seeing you all on tomorrow’s stream. Yay!

Congratulations to Everyone who helped us reach this amazing goal! Wow!

PS: I’ll put the amazing new Card Guard art (used in the main image, above) from Alex in a Patron-Only post later today. 

From Shanghai with another Typhoon on the Way, 

-American (and Lulu)

Dear Insane Children,
WOOOOOAAHHHH! AMAZING!

Congrats on unlocking the Chaos Coin Goal!

A few things to keep in mind as we head towards the end of the month with 2000+ Patrons…

1) We’ll send out as many coins as needed and there’s no cap at 2000. If you pledge above 2000 then you will still get a Chaos Coin set. BUT the offer window closes when we process the pledges for August.

2) To be eligible for a Chaos Coin set you need to be at $35 or above when payments are processed for this month (August) which is going to happen on or around September 5th.

3) If you are at the $75 tier then, yes, you get your art print and the Chaos Coin.

4) If you are at the $35 tier then remember that 3 months at that tier will also earn you a selection of an art print from Mysterious.

5) The Chaos Coin sets are finished and waiting for delivery once we’ve collected everyone’s shipping details. That will happen next month after the pledge for this month is processed.

6) You don’t need to pay anything extra for shipping and we will ship worldwide with tracking. Tracking info can be requested once we’ve processed all the shipments + 1 week. That should be around mid to late September.

7) To make our job of sorting pledges and rewards easier, please consider NOT adjusting your pledge until mid-September. This makes Martin’s life easier. Thank you!

8) Keep an eye on your Spam Folder for the email from Survey Monkey which we’ll use to collect shipping and other details in September. Also keep an eye on and read the updates from us here on Patreon. We’ll do our best to keep everyone informed as we go through the process of getting Chaos Coins out to everybody!

You all are amazing! Any guesses on how many Patrons we’ll reach before end of month?

From Bangkok with Love,
-American

Dear Insane Children, 

Actually, we’ve been here more than one night but tonight is THE NIGHT. Yan and I are heading to see Nine Inch Nails at MoonStar Studio. It’s been over 20 years since I last saw Trent in person – back when we were doing sound/music for Quake. Lots has happened in the years since and it’ll be fun to catch up! 

Over the weekend Yan and I ran around all the markets and malls in Bangkok collecting ideas for jewelry, art, and clothes – there’s an absolute explosion of creativity in Thailand and they have some of the best workshops for creating stainless and silver earrings and necklaces. We’re working to decide whether our next jewelry item (The Alchemy Necklace) might be made here or in China. Lots of great inspiration! 

Meanwhile our artists continue cranking out amazing new concepts. The main image (above) was sent by Joey. She’s working through enemy and weapon (toy) ideas at the moment. I’ve just sent her a new list of ideas to play with – nut cracker, ball in cup, toy soldiers, etc. Are there any ideas YOU have for toys as weapons? Enemies from the old games you’d like to see brought to life in some interesting (pre-history) way? 

As usual, comments QUESTIONS and SUGGESTIONS are welcome! There will be a live stream this week on Friday – but likely later in the day so that our friends in EU can get in on the fun. More details on that coming SOON!

This is her revision to the “Fist Gun” we saw in the previous livestream. The variation still offers amble opportunity for hatching puns… but reduces their obscene hilarity. Cluck it out. Has she hatched a winner? Lay your feedback in the comments below!

Those of you who follow me over on Instagram will know that the first two images were already shared there – turns out the Android Patreon App is poop when it comes to posting multiple images. So I was being sneaky and sharing images via Instagram 😛 

But this variation on the Dice is exclusive to YOU my Patrons. Yay! She’s added a bit more detail with regards to how these work and what spawns out of them. I like the idea of a Giant Rabbit… this again takes me towards the idea of White Rabbit playing a very central role in this particular adventure. She’s taking him along this time – which explains why we see her wake up with him in her arms at the start of AMA – and he’s helping her find her way, fight enemies, and unravel the mystery of this particular adventure. 

In other important news we do have an update from EA! My contact sent along a message: 

• I believe the tube arrived in Guildford for me so thank you in advance. I’m currently on vacation but wanted you to know.
• I am having several discussions on email with key stakeholders in EA. I’m hoping we can have a chat to discuss a few more details in the next few weeks. If possible, I would suggest we speak post Gamescom so sometime towards the back end of week commencing 28th August if that’s possible?

So… our guy is on vacation but we’ll have a chat around end of August. Sound good to me. Progress is progress. 

For those of you new to this… the negotiation process – even when all parties want to do a deal – can take AGES. For example, it took over a year (16 months if I recall correctly) for us to get the deal in place for Alice: Madness Returns. Mind you, that deal included trans-national bond financing, international banking/loans, bond agents, accredited game production audit companies, heaps of lawyers… the final deal papers stacked up to 150cm high! I don’t think we’re looking at that sort of process or timing… but just warning you 😉

One thing to keep in mind… the more time we have the more preproduction we can do – the more art we can produce, story we can write, etc. From my perspective, more time (within reason), is more time to create and perfect our vision. Not a bad thing. So… let’s hurry up and wait! Still lots of art to create, story to write, and GOALS to UNLOCK!

Goals! We are SO CLOSE to 2000 Patrons. As I write this we only need another ~120 Patrons to unlock the Chaos Coin Goal. Wooo! At the current rate we’ll definitely hit that number before end of month. As soon as I am finished with this post I’m going to push another round of marketing and mailing list notification (ahem, spam). 

A lot of you writing to ask how you make sure you don’t miss out on this Goal… What I might suggest is, at this point, if you are interested in the Chaos Coin, go ahead and set your pledge at $35 (or higher) and wait. If we somehow manage to get to End of Month (August 31st) without hitting 2000 Patrons then you will still have a few days to adjust your pledge back to your “comfort level.” But chances are we WILL hit that goal and when we do, you’ll be ready! Let the pledge process for end of this month (usually happens 5 days into the next month) and the Chaos Coin will be yours!

Now would also be a great time for YOU ALL to spread the word via your social media channels. Tweet about it, post it to Instagram, talk about it on Facebook. Feel free to share the images we’ve previously posted – you can find those on the Chaos Coin page over on Mysterious. 

Yan and Bangkok send their love. We’ll be back with another update in the next few days. Again expect the next livestream on Friday late afternoon (Hong Kong Time) which will make it accessible for those of you in the EU-ish time zones. 

From Bangkok with ???????,

-American