Silver Stars
over 7 years ago – Wed, Jan 25, 2017 at 06:08:06 PM

Bright Shiny News!

In my last update I teased your imagination regarding the paint on the prototype d4.

I can now officially reveal that Q-Workshop agreed to reprise production of silver painted dice for this project :) they only had very little paint left and couldn't guarantee they could find another provider, but it turns out the new paint will be even better.

The main reason I asked in the first place was that I wanted to offer all of you the chance to get both the Southern Sky and the Northern Sky Constellation Dice in the original Night Black color, that many of you still find the most appropriate (although having just received the prototypes I must say the new Morning Sky looks very pleasing to the eye, very playful). 

You will be able to get a couple of "silver" painted dice as an add-on, or in exchange to any couple of glowing Constellation Dice d6 that is already in your reward. You could also be adding the difference if your reward only includes a couple of regular Constellation Dice.

The reason for the higher cost resides in the limited quantities that will be made, and in the fact that the paint has to be applied by hand, just like for the glowing dice. Please note the effect looks best in daylight settings, since the paint is not as bright as the standard white, so also consider that if you are an active gamer.

Ok, I hear you...

Yes, you will also be able to get full sets of Night Black dice with the new silver paint, but only in addition to your current reward. Please note that given their cost I will only be ordering about as many hand painted sets as you do, or a total of around 100 per type if you order less than that, so don't miss this chance if you are interested in glow-in-the-dark or silver painted sets... they will not be reprinted unless the demand gets very high.

BackerKit time!

As you should know by now, you will very soon receive a survey through BackerKit, a pledge manager that will allow you to specify your shipping address, to see what is included in your reward exactly, to express color preferences or request upgrades to glow-in-the-dark, and add-on more dice (including the new silver painted sets) through a little online store that also allows pre-orders from new backers. 

You will not need to create a BackerKit account, just click on the link you will receive on your Kickstarter e-mail (or the one you use on Facebook, if you login to Kickstarter through that) to access to your personal survey. If you have another email address that you'd prefer to use, please message me. It is important to submit your responses as quickly as you can since I need this information to process your rewards, and most of all to order enough dice to fulfill your requests. 

Anyway though BackerKit offers a better experience than a standard Kickstarter survey, if you are against using it just send me a message and we'll work that out.

If you need to change your survey responses, add or remove add-ons, or update your shipping information, you can click on the link in your survey email again or request your survey link under "Lost your survey?" on the project's BackerKit page (it will only start working after the surveys are sent): http://bit.ly/constellationdice-backerkit

How does it look like?

The pre-order store is already working, and you can reach it through the blue button beside the campaign image, or at this url: http://bit.ly/constellationdice-preorder

Check it out if you wish to switch to a new "empty envelope" reward level: if for any reason you would like to build your reward from scratch, you will be able to use whatever you pledged (and add more eventually) as you would do on the pre-order store, at the same cost.

You will only be asked for your credit card details if you end up getting more that what your current funds allow, but if you order less I will not be able to issue refunds.

Please note that the pre-order store uses the same add-on prices listed on the campaign page, but the shipping rates will be a couple euro more expensive (to allow for heavier envelopes).
In general it will be more convenient to keep your current reward and work on top of that, but if you appreciate the freedom of building your own set the cost difference will be well worth it. Just remember that once you switch your reward, you will not be able to go back.

Let me know what you think in the comments! 

We are getting closer :)

Prototypes!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Jan 17, 2017 at 08:29:24 PM

I have received from Q-Workshop some pictures of their prototypes:

This is more or less how the Astronomer's Polyhedral set will look...

The paint on the Lunar Phases d4 reveals a little surprise... can you guess what it is?

The Backerkit is almost ready... this being a complex campaign with many backers, rewards, and add-ons, it really took a long time to set it up. It will be available for about two weeks (starting a few days from now) and will let you specify color options and add-ons. 

After that I will be able to determine the final manufacturing quantities, and send the order. 

Production should take three months starting early February, and one more month for packaging and shipping the rewards. Can't wait! Thank you all for making this happen.

Alea iacta est...
over 7 years ago – Sun, Jan 08, 2017 at 11:10:56 PM

...THE DIE IS CAST!

A couple days ago Kickstarter sent the funds, while work is going on behind the scenes. 

Above you can see the very first prototypes of the Desired Constellation Dice, displayed with some original Northern Sky dice for comparison. The factory is still working on adjusting the width of the graphics, but overall the result is quite good.

I have been reviewing all of your pledges - almost one by one - to setup the Backerkit,
which should be ready in about one more week (it has to be approved, and I still have to add pictures... Q-workshop is still working on the prototypes, so I may have to use renderings). 

In the next few days I will be able to apply for my business license... how cool is it ?

...now, back to work!

The journey goes on
over 7 years ago – Sun, Dec 25, 2016 at 10:13:06 PM

Up north, winter has come. It's time for thoughts, family and holidays, and I wish you to enjoy it in full! While we relax, our ships are sailing toward the next destination.

• The Backerkit plan has been activated and in the last few days I have started importing and itemizing your rewards, to allow for the customization of preferences and further add-ons.
• It will be even possible to preorder, for those who missed the campaign or had problems with their credit cards (presently accounting to about €1000 of errored pledges).
• The work on samples is going on and I have seen some preview pictures.

I am grateful for the success of this campaign, and I would like to thank everyone once again:

• My beautiful Melissa, my family and friends for their support and encouragement.
• The members and administrators of the Dice Maniacs Club who believed in this project from the start and contributed to its promotion.
• The talented Måns Danneman who photographed my dice for his upcoming book and provided some outstanding pictures of the 1st edition Constellation Dice.
• All of YOU who backed this project, spread the word, offered valuable feedback! 

I will be able to publish more news next week... in the new year! 

Blue Supermoon!
over 7 years ago – Tue, Dec 20, 2016 at 09:33:31 PM

Thanks to your interest in this project, the Sky Blue option for the polyhedrals has been unlocked! You will be able to indicate your favorite color (all Night Black, all Sky Blue, or Mixed) later. I have contacted the factory to inquire about the cost of a full deluxe glow-in-the-dark version :) 

It is an incredible accomplishment and I would like to thank you all for joining me and helping me with your support, your feedback, your patience while I worked things out.

The graph of the funding below indicates that the ads brought in some new backers, so around the page you can see the result of another long evening of graphic design:

 I spent the weekend double checking all of your pledges, and I can share some stats: 

• The most popular rewards are variations of the full set, which is also included in the extended rewards, for the backers who joined at the start of the campaign.
• 25% of the backers extended their reward to get the new dice (the four polyhedrals and the Northern Sky dice in the new Morning Sky color) in one go and at discounted price. If you are interested you have only less than two days for that, so please check the rewards chart.
• 12% of backers chose to include add-ons, so it is still a manageable number, but I may still run a pledge manager after the campaign, now that we were able to fund the Stretch Goals. Let's see if there is enough interest.
• 100% of funds were reinvested in manufacturing new dice, offering color options, advertising, so it would help if you keep spreading the word. If you didn't yet, visit the Constellation Dice Facebook page and like it so that your friends see it too :)

I guess now some of you would like to get a second set in the new color, so you will find two new items in the add-on list:

€23) 1 Polyhedral set of 7 dice including one Constellation Dice as d6
€29) 1 Polyhedral set of 8 dice including two (GLOWING) Constellation Dice as d6 

Keep exploring!