Dear Insane Children, 

We have LOTS of updates across all of our projects. That means we’re going to have TONS to talk about during the Live Stream this week. Before you read any further, head over to Twitch and Subscribe to my Channel. You can do that here:

 https://www.twitch.tv/americanmcgee 

We’ll kick things off at the usual time – 10AM on Thursday (Hong Kong – people living in a communist-socialist country protesting for more capitalist democracy – Time) which is 7PM PDT (Seattle – people living in a  capitalist democracy protesting for more communist-socialism – Time). Anyway, just put down the Molotov cocktails and spray paint for a few hours while we discuss video games and plush toys!

Speaking of plush toys…

How are you going to explain this to your friends? 

And. This? (Btw, I think we just came up with a name for this guy over on Twitter… “Wearwolf Pig” Ha!). 

Again, the whole point of Plushie Dreadfuls is to have your friends say, “What the hell is wrong with your toy?” and then you know to get some new friends who don’t question your weird-ass toys. 

Then there’s the stuff going on over in… 

The Chess Realm

Where Omri and the team continue to explore the themes and colors we’ll find in that part of Wonderland. 

Of these color explorations Omri says: 

Attaching 3 images. and everything else i got. red black and white, to show you guys the use of color in this realm. we can replicate areas again and again. remember that with the Escher geometry we can turn around a pole and see another room? this can also be used for it.

Black white red, doesn’t mean grayscale or flat, it means just that the materials will be in those colors. so tall buildings, sky etc. stuff is defined for this realm, the general look is on lock.

And then… over in the world of… 

Wizard of Oz

We continue to explore various ideas for the remaking of Dorothy. Omri sent along this variation on Dorothy and asked for feedback from the Insane Children. 

I suggested that in today’s world of hyper-political-correctness that we’d likely find ourselves burned to the ground by a bunch of people on Twitter for daring to create a black character without ourselves being black. At least that’s the way I read the current mood… am I wrong? 

Being so far away from the social-political maelstrom that seems to be consuming the US, I have no idea of how Twitter outrage translates into real-world negative consequences. So let me know in the comments below… 

And then…

Alice 3D Model 

We’re seeing further updates from Roman on the Alice 3D model. He’s got the beginnings of her dress taking shape. And he’s sent me some phone-potato-footage of a video where this dress is textured, blowing in the wind, and looking pretty awesome. Hoping we will have an actual video file of that to review during this week’s live stream. 

Lastly… 

I can hint mysteriously at the fact that even though many of the people we deal with on the business development side of things are on vacation these days, I am still getting “heartbeat” messages from a number of places – verifying that talks will resume and progress will be made once everyone gets back to work in September. So that’s good stuff. 

As I said, LOTS of stuff to talk about during the live stream this week. Some of it may even get me canceled. Yay! So, share your feedback and thoughts in the comments below. I’ll beat Font Lord with a stick to ensure he prints out that stuff for reading during the stream. And we’ll see you over on Twitch soon! 

From Shanghai with Wearwolf Pigs, 

-American

Dear Insane Children

Yes, it’s time for The Lucky 5 again.  

You know what this is by now, we use a random number generator to pick 5 people from our Patreon (and also YouTube comments to keep us above board and legal) to win some stuff each month. 

As you can no doubt see from the pic at the top of this post, and the one below this paragraph, this month’s prize is the Heart of Darkness tapestry and jewelry set. WOW! 

If you like the look of these set and your name isn’t called out below though, fret not, it’s still available at Mysterious for the rest of August. Yay!
Right HERE. 

So, the winners this month are…

* Laban Boldero
* KrazyELF     
* Tim Stengler
* Jamilah Hassan
* Boef Molina

Congrats to you 5 and look forwards to getting your Heart of Darkness set soon   🙂

While I’m here, I’ll also give you a quick reminder that this week is live-stream week over on Twitch. So why not join us over there for more fun and games and chat and PRIZES!
https://www.twitch.tv/americanmcgee
There’s a countdown timer if you scroll down on the chat page so you can see exactly when we’ll be live.
But it’s basically 10am Hong Kong time on Thursday the 13th.
Hope to see you there.

And of course, what Lucky 5 post would be complete without a Lulu?

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children,

Font Lord here with an exciting bit of news for you all.
You may have seen on our ‘monthly art print schedule calendar’ that the next print was undecided and there was a big ole question mark next to it.

Well, as you have no doubt figured out from the big pic at the top of this post, the next print we’re doing is what has affectionately become known as Escher Alice.

So, this print is for all those charged in September at the $75 level and above and it will also become a choice for those who get to choose their print at the 3x$35 level too. 

But we’re also going to throw in a little extra for those at the $75 level and above (charged in September) you will get this print AND we’re going to also throw a random print into your poster tube too. WOW !!
I know, right? A two-for-one offer you would be literally insane to miss out on!

The extra print could be anything from this list and indeed we might even choose to pop a print in from our Out of the Woods collection too. Such is the nature of randomness.

And now, a word from American…

Some of you have noticed that we removed a large selection of art prints and other products from the Mysterious Shop a few weeks ago. This was in response to biz dev conversations around “Alice.” Those conversations are ongoing – and new conversations were recently spawned along similar lines – but our offering what appears to be “official” merch was causing some confusion so… 

A couple of changes: We’re adjusting the way we present art. No more “Alice: Asylum” logos on these art prints. And no more linking things we create (Kittens, etc) to any yet-to-be-released games. 

I’ve said before, there’s a fine line between original work, public domain, inspired by, fan art, and the legalities that revolve around these topics. We want to make sure we’re staying on the right side of that line.

That means art prints will return to the Mysterious Shop – but without logos. The same goes for future art prints offered here on Patreon – no logos. And that means we have a pile of logo-having art that we need to clear off the shelves. 

Hence the 2-for-1 art print situation. 

Before any of you get Hair-on-Fire let me say: I’ve said before but it’s worth repeating… if ever we hit an actual iceberg and it seems the “Alice” ship is sinking, you’ll be the first to know. This is not one of those situations. 

This is a situation in which nearly a year was spent chasing down a path towards potential funding and publishing… only to have that chase end abruptly. But we’re back on the path we were on … the one I actually prefer to be on … and should expect to see progress now that’s the case – and now that we have someone taking the lead on securing funding. 

I really wish I could explain all of this in direct terms. It’s not that complicated. But it sounds like it when I have to dance around the actors and events like this. Sigh.

Anyway, it’s all good. Free art prints. Stuff coming back to Mysterious. And progress still being made with no icebergs in sight. 

Now back to Font Lord… 

Well, that’s about it from me too actually.
So, I’ll say bye now from a particularly hot and sweaty Shanghai   🙂

– Cheers

Dear Insane Children, 

Two quick sketch replies to your previous comments on Dorothy ideas. 

First up (main image, top) is from Omri. Of this he says… 

I took Jen’s design and merged in half way with mine. Less serious and a bit more fantastic. i thought to drop her age to 15, giving her some more volume in the dress but not too much. having too much volume is for me too Anime. and i want to stay away from that. i want it “wearable” and still modern.

YES to puffy hair, but keeping it southern, unlike Aloy which her hair is more “viking”

The staff can be for witchcraft and melee, overall i tried to give her more stylized proportions, but i’m keeping the legs for now, i just really like them. Less heels, more platforms. like something she can stand in Easily so it will make it seem legit for fighting.

I think that the direction we ought to go towards is more a Fantastical “unfortunate series of events” the series. but not overboard her with elements from everyone else, we need to know who SHE is. Not who she’s trying to be, if it’s copying scarecrow or any other character. we need to base HER as a person, not as an element of gameplay. she has a lot of personality, we ought to use it. Pipboy optional.

Jen turned in a quick sketch based on my narrative prompt (Dorothy washed up on shore missing some limbs)…

And Jen adds a few notes along with this sketch: 

I think the older Dorothy is probably better. The final book of Oz before Baum died has Dorothy trying to prevent a war and instead being imprisoned on an underwater island made of glass.  Princess Ozma was the ruler of Oz during that time, but maybe Dorothy was supposed to take over at 18-21 and instead she left the island abandoning her responsibility? And on her way back a war happened outside the island, and her family happens to be victim of an attack, and she ends up washed ashore on Oz with confused memories about the timeline. Her abandonment of Oz meant it was invaded by outsiders and turned into a sick theme park for rich people ? 

To all of this, I replied… 

These are great – I really like the Beached Dorothy concept. Feels like the start of an epic adventure to me. Stranded on a mysterious island. Wounded. But kept alive by some strange force. So, off to explore and discover… and gradually learn, overcome, and transform into a hero. 

Omri’s sketch seemed to be the crowd favorite in the last round of comments. I couldn’t really see it…and still struggling a bit with this latest version. But it’s closer to something I could imagine being our hero. 

We’ll post these and see what sort of feedback is generated.  We might want to pause on this stuff for a few days, think about it, then come back to it. 

Meanwhile, Omri has produced a Final version of the Chess Dress… 

And he says of this… 

HEY! this is the finished version. American i have merged in the symbol, in a more abstract way but it’s there. fopr me this represents the chaos and the harmony this realm is. Keeping it chess but keeping it not looking stupid.

Also meanwhile, Yan is working on design notes to the Plushie Dreadfuls. For example, she’s asked the workshop to make the “Angry Rabbit” more clearly angry by switching his highlight color to BLACK and emphasizing his stitching… 

Grrrrr. Isn’t he cute when he’s angry? 

Expect to see the workshop turn around another physical prototype in the next week or so. Can’t wait! 

Asylum Business Development & Narrative

Just a reminder that we have brought on board a Financial Advisor to take over the job of securing funding for Asylum development. This frees me up to spend more time on creative tasks – which is my preferred way to spend my time! Hence the extra cycles you see going into Oz. 

But Marc’s work can’t start in earnest until the parties on the other side of the negotiating table return from summer vacation. That means BD is on hold until mid-September. Our creative work and efforts towards the Design Bible will continue as usual… though we did “lose” Alex this week due to him moving house. 

It’s worth noting that I have opened up yet another avenue where we can pursue funding for Alice… in a round-about-way. Nudge, nudge, wink, wink. Can’t say more… 

 As they say, when one door closes, two more open… or something like that. 

I did mention previously that we’d taken two steps forward, one step back (or one step forward, two back) – AND I REALLY WISH I COULD SAY MORE – but now that the dust has settled it’s resulted in more progress than we’d been making previously. So… 

And as a result of that… and how it would emphasize certain aspects of storytelling… I’ve had to revisit some of the foundation elements of our narrative. 

What I’ve come up with is something that better frames the story for telling in linear media (book, film, TV) while at the same time leaving intact all the work we’ve done so far towards the game design. 

I’ll share that soon. Along with the progress we make on this new avenue. 

And, oddly, this narrative reframing came about because of the thinking I was doing around “Oz.” 

Feeling good about the progress we’re making these days. 

As usual, please give the team feedback in the Comments below!

From Shanghai with Love, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Just a quick share of the images that were sketched overnight – still playing around with themes and ideas for a Dorothy main character for an Oz adventure. 

Keep in mind that right now we’re in 100% brainstorm mode. Just throwing things out there and seeing… not what sticks but what inspires. No idea where this will lead. But it’s an excellent peek into the creative process.

Main image above is from Jen. 

And here’s Omri’s take… 

And here’s our conversation on these designs…. 

Of her sketch Jen says: 

Dorothy with the key to the Emerald City. 

The idea being maybe she inherited the park as some kind of story where she’s unaware she’s a park actor. 

She’s the new wizard of Oz, post some kind of annihilation event, that she is also unaware that is actually outside the park. She has done this many times, unaware of the last time. Forced to live in a loop until something finally gives and the park starts to break down without outside supplies and assistance. Sort of like an Alchemic groundhog day? Or perhaps the “Real” Dorothy was driven underground, and emerges into the park, and has to deal with defunct park actors and titans? 

Omri then says: 

i like the eye idea, but think of it- like a green infection? we need a solid “original” look which is very simple and very recognizable without falling into known designs too much. not building or changing anything yet, it needs to be solid.

According to the books her “color” was sky-blue and patterns and i think we ought to stick to that OR go in a totally different direction but. if she’s expected to perform then i’d, as a costumer, prefer her like described in the books and more sexualized. i’d buy this. BTW i thought about it and i don’t mind having her shoes actually part of her foot. maybe turning this into heels but the lower part of her body be metallic so it’s visible that the shoes are integrated with her legs. Jen i think this is the defect you need. like she’s look human, the cloning etc process works but the legs didn’t. we can even give her one “normal” looking leg and the other looks like a robot’s.

And then American (that’s me) said: 

A couple of bits of feedback to the updates on this thread: 

1. @Jennifer Daww ‘s Magic Witch Dorothy… Love this. She’s just … pretty damn fantastic. I think if we announced that this was the girl in the story (what story?!) people would be generally positive. Lots to like… the bows, ponytails, crazy hair, different colored eyes (David Bowie!), outfit, and the Key… A cosplayer’s delight! 

2. @Omri ‘s private school (for wizards and witches) Dorothy is also pretty great. And plenty for cosplayers to latch onto… stockings, hair, staff, and dress. 

Since we don’t know what our story is just yet… I’m going to throw out a nonsense method of judging these side-by-side similar to my “would you get a tattoo of that” filter. So… 

If you saw either of these during a Con (ComicCon, etc) from a distance… which would you instantly recognize? Which conveys a personality that would beam across a crowded room? 

Beyond that… I *really* like some of the elements wrapped into Jen’s design… “Lion hair, Tin Man arm, Scrawcrow dress…” 

One thing to think about for both of these characters: The starting state of their adventure. She can’t start out the adventure in full attire and fully powered-up. Imagine she’s shipwrecked on the island… what would she look like at that point? Strip her of all the decorations. Like Alice in her Asylum robe. Something to think about. Because it then leads to the adventure required to attain all of these things… (example hint: she loses her real in the storm/wreck that brings her to the island). 

Let us know in the comments below what you think of these days. Omri and Jen (and I) are reading your comments. We don’t always have time to reply to those comments here on Patreon but the ideas and suggestions ARE taken into account as we explore different ideas. And your ideas are GREAT! Keep them coming 🙂 

Expect more updates on Oz and Alice stuff in the coming days. And on the plushies! Yay. 

From Shanghai in a Typhoon, 

-American 

Dear Insane Children, 

Who knew we needed another Alice dress? Not I! But Omri thought that, based on the design work we’re doing for The Chess Realm, a new dress themed after that realm might make sense. So here we have (main image, above) a WIP concept for a Chess Dress. Interesting! 

I’ve written some backstory for this realm so that our artists have something to work with. Here’s a sample of that writing… 

The Chess Realm is a place within Depression but we don’t need to “theme” it entirely after the concept of “depression” as an emotional state. It’s got its own mood and character away from what you might typically think of when you think “depression.” Please keep that in mind.

As I have said before, The Chess Realm is a place where the inhabitants have learned to live in harmony with the notion of Chaos. This (harmony with Chaos) is one of the central requirements to resolution of Alice’s journey in this story. But when she’s first introduced to the notion she will resist it. 

The Queen of Hearts (Card Realm) and The Red Queen (Chess Realm) are engaged in a hot war against each other. The Queen of Hearts stands hard on the side of ORDER. But the Red Queen is NOT a pure proxy or representative of CHAOS… she’s occupying the middle ground between Order and Chaos. She represents a BALANCE between Chaos and Order. Though from the perspective of the Queen of Hearts, any allowance of Chaos is tantamount to the Slippery Slope towards complete Chaos. 

A fitting motto for The Queen of Hearts would be “You’re with us or against us.” Highly conservative. A fan of the 1% Doctrine (“if there’s even a 1% chance of Chaos taking over, we must root out and destroy all Chaos”).

A motto for The Red Queen might be “Live and let live.” Think “Libertarian” as opposed to completely liberal. A believer in the natural balance of things – in a open marketplace of ideas. 

Now… The Queen of Hearts knows that their “blade” of Wonderland (the version of reality in which they live) exists within the unchanging mind of Child Alice. If Alice’s mind were to merge with Adult Alice (to undergo transformation) then their reality would be destroyed. As such, The Queen of Hearts wants to keep Alice locked in stasis. Hence the Snow Globe, and keeping Alice busy in The Circus Realm (Denial). 

The Red Queen recognizes Alice’s role in the natural transformation of things. And is willing to accept Change as an unavoidable fact of existence. She knows Alice must change and that the result will be the destruction on this version of Wonderland. 

The Chaos is actively working to change Alice – to kick her out of the Snow Globe reality so that she can be reconnected with her adult self. 

Since the Chess Realm is divided into two sides (colors) we can explore the idea that Alice will encounter resistance (they’re trying to kill her) from one side. But she’ll get support and things of value (information) from the other side. There can be an internal war raging between the two sides of the chessboard over their stance on Alice and the situation of their world. This backdrop of internal politics and power struggle should provide some interesting narrative for The Chess Realm. 

Expect to see more concept artwork for the characters and locations in this realm as Dario and Omri continue their explorations of these themes. 

We’re also seeing some rough sketches done to define our “Dorothy” as a main character in a narrative based on Oz. Omri says of the “Lara Croft” version he’s rendered (first image, above)… 

I see her as a strong and deep character, not a victim like Alice. not only i think we ought to differentiate her from Alice i also think she really is an explorer, a strong female character. i’d even go as far to say a “hunter” she also becomes a “Princess of OZ” so she’s a leader in a sense. I also think she needs to reflect the “all american girl” i’m sketching out an idea on top of a conceptart of Lara Croft. i thought 70’s will work but honestly the clothes were too sexy and looked stupid. so this is the look i felt is initially correct. don’t love her but it’s an idea.

Meanwhile, Jen shared a quick doodle of her ideas (second image, above) and said…

I think we should take some notes from Elizabeth from Bioshock mixed with “pretty farm lady” @Omri @American McGee and maybe give her a prosthetic leg of some kind. Like she was the last iteration but suffered a problem from too much gene editing and it gave her a withered limb that they didn’t fix before everything fell apart?  

We have a number of threads going back and forth where there’s discussion around characters, setting, themes, and more. Of all this, I told the team… 

I see this stuff and am still digesting. This early in the exploration I try not to give too much feedback/direction for fear of messing up the brainstorming. That being said, we’re exploring the “tech” side of this concept… a theme park gone wrong. At some point you two might want to also explore the “magic” side of this… as in, if an Oz theme park existed… there’d be a huge number of kids (and people in general) going there for the Harry Potter-esque elements (wizards, witches, spells, magic) and dressing for that part. 

So… maybe also try a Dorothy character cast as The Wizard of Oz (or at least a Witch)? 

Again, expect to see more sketches and concepts flowing forth as we work to define the foundation elements of this story. 

And we’re also breeding rabbits! Lots of rabbits. 

These are the long-eared “heart stiched” rabbits. Very cute. 

And these are the long-eared “what the eff are you looking at do you want me to punch your nose in?!” rabbits. They’re a tiny bit angry. 

We did not ask the factory to produce “pink” versions of these, so I have no idea what they are doing that. But, hey, as we’ve said before, their mistakes are our Crowd Design content… so I guess I should be disappointed that these turned out so close to the original concept drawings!

Let us know in the comments below YOUR feedback on all this stuff. So much stuff!

I know the world is a crazy place right now but every day I wake up to find our team producing fun new content is a good one. Once again, I have to say THANK YOU to all of our Insane Children for providing the support required to make all this creativity a reality. Without you, the world would be a lot less creative, crazy, and fun. 

From Shanghai Waiting for Hagupit (that’s a typhoon), 

-American