Corvus Belli's INFINITY Roleplaying Game

PREVIEW: Combined Army & Production Update
over 7 years ago – Wed, Mar 22, 2017 at 10:38:56 PM

Hi folks there's an update from the Line Developer Justin below, you'll find a new folder PREVIEW CHAPTERS in the Core Book downloads in your Backerkit which includes some chapters for you to check out that are in the layout process. See below for more information. 

NOTE FROM THE LINE DEVELOPER 

I write this from the groggy-but-satisfied tail end of a 12 hour work day. Finally being in a position where we can confidently drive forward, knowing that we're going to have the core rulebook in our hands soon is exhausting but also exhilarating.

Measuring progress at this point becomes incremental: We're about a day behind on one phase of the work being done, but we're a day ahead on another. As Chris mentioned last week we now have a team of three fantastic layout designers working around the clock. (Quite literally because they're in different time zones around the globe.) The corrections process has pushed through the first two sections of the book and is now working through PART II: ACTION SCENES. The second member of the team is working on the initial layout of PART IV: GEAR. And the third member is working on PART V: GAME MASTERING (and, specifically, revamping the Adversaries chapter). Meanwhile, our internal proofreading team is following behind performing our penultimate check of the material.

On that note, let's talk about our Wednesday bundle of preview materials: From the core book we're releasing the draft version of the Combined Civilisation chapter. (This chapter was also previously referred to as the "Combined Army" and the "Evolved Intelligence" chapter.)

We're also sending out the draft version of AWOL - the Human Edge-focused scenario from Adventures in the Human Sphere. Although things have been moving a little slower with AHS as we've been focusing the bulk of our attention on the core rulebook the past few weeks, things are in fact slowly progressing with that book as well. This scenario also contains our first fully-realised and finalised network map for use with the Infowar system. (Although the final map is going to look a lot better than the draft version included here!) - You'll find these in the PREVIEW CHAPTERS folder mentioned above. 

That's it for today we expect to have more previews this week before the final assembly of the core book so watch out!

Chris, Modiphius

PREVIEW: Gear Chapter!
over 7 years ago – Sat, Mar 18, 2017 at 10:22:05 PM

Hi folks as promised on Wednesday today we're previewing the Gear chapter fully approved by CB - remember we added in a lot of new equipment from their updates, added more thematic content based on the help of our new content team and it had to go back through approvals several times. So there are three Word docs for you to check out in the Core book folder (inside their own Gear Chapter folder) in your Backerkit Pledge Manager

As you'll see, these chapters have received a major overhaul to improve their utility, respond to playtest and backer feedback, and the rich patina of details which will cement the finalised mechanics into the world of Infinity. Because of these changes, as I noted last week, we think there's going to be a great deal of value from getting all of your eyes on it to spot any problems our over-familiar internal eyes may be missing out on. I should note that the Costs in this document are not final. Those are being revised in editing as part of a final, comprehensive audit.

For those of you familiar with the original Gear previews we released last year, you'll also notice that there's stuff "missing". As we mentioned back when those previews were released, they were holistic documents that sought to capture a large and broad section of all the wondrous and amazing stuff that the Human Sphere has to offer. While it would be great to include it all in the core book, the reality is that the core book can't be 800 pages. Based on playtest feedback, we've identified the stuff that needs to be there for an effective campaign and the stuff that needs to be there to set up a mechanical foundation for the supplements. (For example, that's why the core book has rules for Augmentations but the advanced mechanics for MetaChemistry will have to simmer a little longer.) I think you'll still find that our updated format has allowed us to cram a lot into every inch of space we can eke out of the core book.

PLEASE try to review the docs if you have time and give us feedback on monday / tuesday morning latest next week by email to [email protected] 

The Gear chapter will be in layout from Tuesday to be completed by the end of next week. The full Adversaries chapter is expected back from layout this weekend to go to approval by CB, and the GM chapter will go in to layout on Tuesday, leaving just 6 small sections to be completed (3 of which are in approvals and 2 just need small updates). We have three full time layout designers on the final two week stage giving us in reality 6 layout weeks to complete the core book which is why we're confident we'll get the final pdf to you as promised. I've spoken to Gutier and he's aware of our plan and doing everything he can to speed along the approvals from his side. 

The goal is to have all the final chapters laid out this coming week and stitched together by next week end to send out for final proof reading with our team and you. The last week will be corrections, final approvals, completing the 'see page XX' references, index, cover design and all the other final details to get the book right ready for print. On the final day of March we'll be submitting the files to the printer. We'll then have about a week to check the print proofs giving us a final chance to make corrections before the print presses start rolling. 

Hope you enjoy the gear chapter look forward to your comments. 

Chris, Modiphius

Production Update & Pledge Manager Note
over 7 years ago – Thu, Mar 16, 2017 at 12:29:22 AM

Hi there tonight we have a preview of two new pieces of art commissioned by Corvus Belli themselves for the RPG - check out below. As we're close to shipping Wave 1 now we have an important note....

HOW LONG DO I HAVE TO FINALISE MY PLEDGE?

We had a meeting with our warehouse this week and our goal is to lock down all outstanding pledges by the end of March, this will give us the month of April, whilst the core book is printing, to check orders (we still have a lot of people who haven't paid their shipping yet for example), assemble all the data in the right format, check it and so on, before we ship in May. If your address has changed or will change in April, and you HAVE NOT advised us yet please send us a mail before the end of March.

LINE MANAGER UPDATE

We have four layout artists working on Infinity as of Friday for the final push so the watch word for this week is Layout, Layout, Layout. Although there are still several other pieces that need to fall into place over the next several days, the primary driver for our progress at this point is just how quickly the layout team can turn around the new material AND the proofreading corrections without sacrificing the high levels of quality you've come to expect from them. And although we've had a few delays over the past weekend (which is why we're still waiting to get the full Adversaries PDF to you), we're still on track for having the full book delivered as a single PDF by the end of the month. [continued after image]

The Kidnapping of Elena Appel...

[continued] The other prong of this puzzle, of course, remains Approvals from Corvus Belli. Gutier has spent the past week pouring over our revised Gear chapters, and they're excited by the amount of detail we've added. He's also sent me a file with their recent additions to the known weapons of the Human Sphere, so we'll be working to incorporate those. Corvus Belli needs to sign off on the new remotes I talked about last week, and then I'm hoping to send the last of the Gear into editing within the next couple of days.

We're actually going to be sending out the Gear chapters in approved draft copise at the same time the last of them goes into editing. We've done a lot of review and a lot of internal playtesting, but I'd really value getting one last round of really solid feedback from all of you before it's locked down for eternity.

Elsewhere, the finalised Gear is beginning to flow into all the nooks and crannies where it's needed: I'm hoping to have approval to share some scenarios from Adventures in the Human Sphere with you in the very near future. Updating the gear packages in the Lifepath system also means that Part 1: Characters will be entering layout revision later this week. (And Part 2: Playing Infinity should follow shortly thereafter, since it's basically just waiting for Part 1's final page count to be confirmed to make sure everything lines up.) [end]

Riding the Varunian waves...

That's it for today, we'll send out the next previews for you as soon as they're ready in addition to the weekly Wednesday updates. 

Chris, Modiphius

PREVIEW: Adversaries & New Art
over 7 years ago – Wed, Mar 08, 2017 at 10:28:35 PM

Hi everyone today we can unveil the first 36 pages of the Adversaries chapter (yeah it's big!) - you can find it in your Backerkit Core Book downloads. As usual please provide feedback and error reports in the comments in this Update or email to [email protected]. This includes rules on how to put Adversaries together as well as a big selection of opponents. We should have the second part shortly and will send it as soon as it's approved. 

In the meantime some new art and an update from Justin the Line Developer below this new art from the Adventures in the Human Sphere book

NOTES FROM THE LINE DEVELOPER

As I discussed in last week's update, our focus has been on the Adversaries & Gear chapters for the core book. These represent nearly one-third of the core rulebook, and wrangling them has been -- as everyone following this Kickstarter knows by now -- a Herculean task.

Let's start with Adversaries: A few days ago we sent a PDF of the first chunk of the chapter to Corvus Belli for PDF approval so that we can share the final look-and-feel with you. CB Approved the first part of it today for you to preview in your Backerkit account. Gary Harrod has been powering his way through a very tricky layout designed to pack as many Adversaries into our page count as possible. You'll also find some of the Bostria Art Master characters in there!

Next, Gear. Last week I talked about the process of incorporating all of the feedback we've received on this material. Since the last time you've seen these chapters, we've also brought in additional Infinity experts to review the material; added new mechanics to provide a more robust gaming experience; injected large amounts of setting flavour (including weapon and armour variants); and also completely reorganised the chapters to enhance their utility at the gaming table (primarily by making it easier to browse the gear you want during character creation AND quickly find the gear references you need during play). Some of these chapters are now in editing and the other core chapters are with Corvus Belli for preliminary approval (at which point they, too, will move into editing). I have a couple of writers working to plug some minor, last-minute holes (the most significant of which are stats for additional remotes using the new mechanics for remotes), but these are small, isolated inserts that we'll be able to plug into the text during editing.

Elsewhere in the core book we're entering the rapid downhill race I talked about last week as we begin mopping up the smaller setting chapters that are still outstanding. Work in the past week includes:

- Revising the Combined Army chapter to include additional cultural and physiological details provided by Gutier.

- Reworking the Human Edge chapter to include a more complete overview of the stellar cartography.

- Incorporating a more robust timeline of the History of Dawn into the Ariadna faction chapter (echoing the treatment of the main timeline found in the Chronology of the Human Sphere at the beginning of the book).

The final assembly of the Core Book is also proceeding. The correlation of playtest/KS feedback for the four chapters of the Introduction are complete and the entire section is now back in layout for its final assembly. (Which will, as noted last week, be followed with an additional round of intense in-house proofreading before it's released to KS backers for a last round of public comment and corrections.)

The corrections process for Part 1: Characters and Part 2: Playing Infinity is also well under way; I've still got a few more spreadsheets of collated feedback to process and then we'll need to re-sync the Gear-related elements of those chapters (particularly the Lifepath) before those are also sent back into layout.

Adventures in the Human Sphere: As I mentioned last week, the AHS scenarios have largely been on hold while we nailed down the final version of the Gear chapter. Now that the Gear chapter is nearing its final form, those scenarios are beginning to flow again. I spent yesterday afternoon, for example, revisiting the system network map in one adventure to make sure that it correctly incorporated the new and revised forms of IC. Since that was the last major hurdle with that scenario, I'm hoping that you'll actually have a draft preview of it in hand by next week.

That's it for today please get to work on giving us feedback on Adversaries!

Chris, Modiphius

Production Update & Art
over 7 years ago – Wed, Mar 01, 2017 at 09:53:59 PM

Hi there, the final batch of Bostria Art Master characters for the core book are now available to preview in the Backerkit digital downloads - check the Core Book folder. The file is called: Core Part 5.2C - Bostria Art Master Characters v4.1 - Mount Cristol Story.doc - if you're an Art Master backer for the core book please check that you're covered!

Matr on Dawn Art Preview:

NOTES FROM THE LINE DEVELOPER

Hey folks! We're all excited over her to see the finish line on the core rulebook finally coming into sight (to confirm we're aiming for the final core book pdf for the end of March). As we've talked about in the last couple of updates, our current goal has been to push through the two big chapters: Adversaries & Gear. They're big, complicated behemoths with a lot of interconnected, moving parts that need to be wrestled into shape. But once we can wrap those up, everything else is going to be a very rapid race downhill.

Which is why the big landmark we hit during the past week is so important: The Adversaries chapter (including all of the Bostria Art Master characters for the core book) is complete, approved by Corvus Belli, edited, and is now in layout. Backers will be receiving a draft preview of the last of the BAM characters this week (linked above!), and you can expect to see a preview of the chapter layout next week.

The other big chapter -- Gear -- has obviously been the other big project we've been tackling over the past week. Our initial intention was to have it text complete and in editing by the end of February. We're going to miss that deadline by a few days. What happened? Well, in part, you did. We've received a ton of feedback from the backers here on Kickstarter and through our playtest teams over the last 6+ months and integrating all of that material has simply proven to be more complicated and more time-consuming than we'd planned for. (We also ran into some headaches trying to coordinate Gear revisions with the Adversaries chapters. You can thank Colleen Riley, who's been editing the Adversaries chapter, for a heroic effort in conquering that challenge.) By next week, though, backers should be receiving a doc preview of the fully-revised Gear chapters and it will then be in layout for the final push. 

We also passed another major milestone this past week which is less visible from the outside world: We've begun the first steps towards Final Assembly of the core book. In order for Final Assembly to happen, the proofreading feedback we've been receiving from backers needs to be correlated and applied to each of the individual chapters we've been previewing over the last year. Those chapters will then be assembled together into each of the six major parts of the book (the Introduction and Parts 1-5). Each part will then go through an additional cycle of intense proofreading and correction before being released for a final phase of public comment.

What's happening right now is that we've begun correlating and applying all the proofreading feedback for the first three sections of the book. Those sections will be cycling back through layout (in order to apply those changes), assembled into their large chunks, and then passed to our internal proofreaders for a thorough scouring. Once they're done (and that round of corrections applied), backers will get the big files for review.

Adventures in the Human Sphere: Last week we talked about the development of the AHS scenarios and also Quantronic Heat. Over the past few days I've had those files put on hold so that we can make sure that they are in harmony with the final version of the Gear chapter. (It's easier to fix those problems while the documents are still in draft than it is after they've already gone through layout.) Once the Gear chapters clear the docket and are moved into editing later this week, you'll also start receiving previews of a bunch of adventure scenarios.

Wave 2: As a matter of intriguing synchonicity, most of the work on the Wave 2 supplements over the past week have ALSO been focused on Adversaries and Gear. We've been looking at how the story threads from the core book Bostria Art Master character fiction can be potentially carried forward into the fiction pieces in the supplements. Our gear gurus have also begun compiling all the extra gear that will be found in those books: The Wave 2 supplements will collectively contain almost as much Gear as the core rulebook. (Fortunately, with the core mechanics for the myriad types of gear in the Human Sphere hammered out, we should have an easier time focusing on just creating all the cool stuff for your campaigns.)

Wave 1 PDFs / Quickstart Rules: Over the past two weeks, that multi-phase proofreading process that I talked about for the core book has been getting applied to the other Wave 1 PDFs (Original Corvus Belli RPG Characters, Tabletop Conversion Rules, and RPG Miniature Character Profiles) and the Quickstart Rules.

Speaking of the Original Corvus Belli RPG Characters: We've been having some internal discussions about finding a title more interesting than "Original Corvus Belli RPG Characters" for the PDF exclusive. Now that you've had a chance to read their exploits, what do you think would make for a good, action-packed title? Please post your ideas in the comments. 

--JA

Nav Suite Art Preview: 

That's it for today, 

Chris, Modiphius