Dear Insane Children,
It’s been a strange couple of weeks. In exile from my home in China. Floating around the Andaman Sea. Waking each morning to read news of what might be a global pandemic… only to come back to a place somewhere between resignation that it’s the End of the World vs. the comfort of intentional ignorance in which I think everything’s going to be fine.
There’s another option: Maybe it’s the end of the world AND everything’s going to be fine!
As an example, consider two recent headlines from the epicenter of the outbreak in China:
“Hubei reports steadily decreasing new cases of COVID-19” – Yay!
“Hubei takes delivery of mobile incinerators” (the conspiracy theory subtext being that these are for the disposal of bodies) – Not Yay!
Between headlines like these and the general “fog of war” surrounding the situation, it’s hard to know what the future has in store for us. Then again, maybe that knowledge has always been an illusion?
Back home, Yan and Lucky report that they are doing well. Yan’s resumed work on her makeup line project and the factory says they’re prepping to resume work again soon. Font Lord says “everything’s fine” but then he rarely goes outside anyway… so what would he know?! Lulu says, “arrrrg” which means she misses her daddy and wishes winter would go away.
Several people who plan to attend Pirate Jam 2020 in 12 days have voiced concerns. One attendee has, under pressure from her family, decided to drop out. This has put me in the uncomfortable position of needing to make an executive decision as to whether or not we continue with the event as scheduled. So I spent several days consulting with sponsors, crew, and experts… before decided that, yes, we should go ahead. Pirate Jam is meant to be an adventure. Albeit one in which we’ve made solid plans and properly equipped ourselves for the journey.
Thailand is eerily quiet since all the Chinese tourists went home. The beaches are empty, there are almost no longtails and speedboats zipping around, and all the usual tourist spots are deserted. A silver lining I suppose.
So, despite the chaos and uncertainty, we carry on. Which also happens to be what our art team are doing…
Norm continues to explore various ideas for Card Guards. I feel this latest revision is closer to the final version I can imagine we’d see in-game. These manage to capture necessary elements of the AMA and AMR Card Guards.
Omri also delivered some new ideas. The main image above “How Fine You Look When Dressed In Rage” will eventually be an Art Print. He says of this:
i’m going to go a bit anime with it. i’m wondering where it will “land” style-wise.
I asked my followers on Instagram if they think it’s OK to make a revision of the red dress or keep it as it “will be” in the actual game. they said mostly that it’s cool.
this will be more avant garde than the regular “alice” cannon style.
Sounds good to me! Look forward to seeing the final version.
Omri also sent over an idea for the presentation of the Chaos Coin collectibles in-game. Of this he says:
thought to make the chaos coin in parts, still looking like a coin but “alive” i think looking at a floating coin is looks like Mario and not Wonder. having the parts swirl and move should make it look magical enough to detach it from the concept of a regular coin.
What do you think of this idea for the in-game representation of the Chaos Coin?
Notes
Our logistics partners in China say that they are starting to resume shipments. That means if you ordered something from Mysterious or are owed a Chaos Coin (from your Patreon Pledge) that those things will start moving again soon. There are significant delays in the shipping systems – so expect to wait until April for all this to go back to normal.
Font Lord is busy working with Backerkit on web functionality to enable super-easy Pledging for the Enamal Pin Goal. And he’ll post an update with more news and dates soon.
That’s it for now! More updates coming soon!
From Thailand with Love,
-American