The Doom That Came To Kickstarter

You may remember the Kickstarter for "The Doom That Came To Atlantic City", a lighthearted Lovecraftian take on Monopoly. Sadly, it's imploded in rather spectacular fashion.

"The Doom That Came To Atlantic City, a board game that raised nearly four times its funding goal on Kickstarter last year, has been canceled as the founder admits that the whole thing was "beyond his abilities."

It's the worst possible outcome for a Kickstarter: People love the idea, supporters throw truckloads of money at it and then a year down the road, it all falls apart amidst accusations of wrongdoing. That's exactly what happened to The Doom That Came To Atlantic City, a Kickstarter project that went live last May with a goal of $35,000 that ultimately raised over $122,000, but that has now plunged into oblivion."

You can read the full story at the link, but it's pretty clear that the blame for this disaster rests on Erik Chevalier. He outright lied to the project's supporters that they were kicking in to fund production of the game when, in fact, he was using the money for...well, no one is exactly sure. He's admitted using the cash to pay for his relocation to Portland, but beyond that the details of where the funds went are a mystery. One place they didn't go is to the game's creators. They licensed production of "Doom" to Chevalier's company and haven't seen one thin dime from the fund drive.

The boardgame wasn't something I was interested in, but I have to admit to having a major jones for the game pieces sculpted by Paul Komoda. He's an incredibly gifted artist and his interpretations are some of the best I've ever seen. Sadly, the master sculpts are in Chevalier's hands and he's apparently ignoring attempts to return them.

Which brings me around to answering a question I've been getting a lot lately.

What's up with the "At the Mountains of Madness" prop Kickstarter?

Put simply, it's on hold until I can be absolutely sure it will go off without a hitch.

If you were part of the Miskatonic University or Arkham Sanitarium Kickstarters you know that I take even small projects seriously. In those efforts there wasn't a lot of money on the line, but the fact remains that there was money involved. People expect something in return for their cash, and rightfully so.

As a prop collector I've learned that the failure rate for short run projects is unbelievably high. Time and again I would front money for an item only to hear a litany of excuses about why I didn't have the goods or a refund. An illness. A death in the family. A divorce. A family crisis. After a while it became obvious that the propmaking community either had the worst luck of any demographic in existence, or was infested by scam artists. In the end it didn't really matter what the reason was. I was out money and didn't have anything to show for it.

When I did my previous Kickstarter projects I vowed I would do everything in my power to not be one of those guys. I took care to budget the print runs accurately and account for the additional cost of shipping. I made sure to include everything I needed to get the packages out the door, from mailers and shipping labels to plastic baggies. When I totaled everything up I added an additional ten percent to cover any unforeseen problems.  I tried to plan for everything.

And, after all that, I still took a bath on both projects.

My printer died in the middle of running off mailing labels.  Ka-ching!  My mailers were undersized and had to be replaced.  Ka-ching!  My estimate of overseas shipping costs was wildly off target.  A very, very big Ka-ching.  By the time all those little glitches were totaled up what were supposed to be break-even projects turned into money pits. 

I haven't mentioned any of this before because it frankly didn't matter.  I had an obligation to provide what I'd promised, and those complications were my problems, not the donors.  Given the relatively small size of the projects I could absorb the financial hit without too much pain. 

The "At the Mountains of Madness" effort is a bit different.  Even with most of the design work already done it's going to require a significant investment for printing and manufacturing, not to mention the absurdly high shipping costs for a larger package of stuff.  If there's a glitch anywhere in there it's likely to cost significantly more to fix than the previous projects.

That financial risk is dwarfed by a much bigger potential problem- my sketchy back.  Things are looking good on that front.  Under the guidance of my cruel taskmasters I've lost 45 of the 100 pounds I have to drop (Yay for me!  Squats rule!), but that extra weight is still putting too much stress on an already dodgy musculature.  I just can't chance taking anything major on until the odds off my back going out are minimized.  Believe me, there are few things more likely to distract you from fulfilling a Kickstarter than invisible goblins plunging red hot daggers into your lower back. 

Antarctic Exploration Map

Another bit of ephemera for the Mountains of Madness project. This time it's a map of historical exploration routes from the New World Atlas of 1922. The high resolution PDF version is available over here.

"At the Mountains of Madness" Project Update

 Work on the "At the Mountains of Madness" project continues.

Last week I mentioned a few problems I'd encountered.  Thanks to your suggestions two out of the three issues are close to being resolved.  I've found two boxes that appear to be ideal for the deluxe sets and should be getting samples by next week.  The difficulty with finding unbranded photographs is still a bit iffy, but I think I'm close to finishing that up as well.  As of yet I still haven't found a professional printer that can handle printing the sketches on textured art paper.

Over the last week most of my time has been spent doing research.  I've steadily amassed quite a collection of books on the history of Antarctic and polar expeditions.  One of the most useful has been Polar Exploration: The Heroic Exploits of the World's Greatest Polar Explorers from the Royal Geographic Society. It's a coffee table book offering a broad overview of the subject written by scholar Beau Riffenburgh.  What sets it apart from other popular history books are the included documents.  It's absolutely chock full of removable sketches, notebooks, diaries, letters, and other ephemera drawn from the experiences of polar explorers stretching back to the mid 18th century. 

If you're considering running Chaosium's classic "Beyond the Mountains of Madness" adventure I would highly recommend this book.  For gamemasters and players alike it's a great introduction to the history of polar exploration that conveniently runs right up to 1929, the year before the original Miskatonic Antarctic expedition.  It's not an in-depth read, but the heavily illustrated text and included documents are an ideal way to get into the spirit of the expedition.  Players will get a real feel for the kind of challenges they'll be facing on the ice, including the horrific consequences when something goes wrong.  The real history of exploring the ends of the earth is filled with enough disease, starvation, death, and cannibalism to give anyone pause.

Anyone looking to embrace a prop-heavy version of BTMOM will find the included ephemera a fountain of inspiration.  A good example of the book's reproduction documents is this letter from Ernest Shackleton to J. Scott Keltie, Secretary of the Royal Geographic Society.  Shackleton mentions his expedition has gained the backing of the War Office to such an extent that he can requisition Army personnel.  He also expects the Admiralty to approve an equal level of access.

From a propmaking perspective the letter includes two interesting details.  The first is the letterhead itself.  It's an ideal historical reference for anyone, like me, looking to reproduce an authentic looking piece of Antarctic expedition ephemera.

The second is one of those great little details that a century of time has obliterated from the modern consciousness- the importance of the telegraph. The letterhead not only includes the expedition's dedicated address for telegrams, but what codebooks messages should use.  And what do you know, both of those books are available for free.  Google books has a copy of the ABC Telegraphic Code, Fifth Edition, while the Internet Archive stores Bentley's Complete Phrase Code.

For gamers this is a great opportunity to add some real interactivity and immersiveness into an adventure.  By the classic era of the Mythos the telephone was well on its way to replacing the telegraph as a means of communication, but telegrams were still used for a large proportion of long distance message traffic.  Having players decrypt a message using a code book is the kind of entertaining mini-game that reinforces the principles of investigation and provides an intellectually engaging experience.

At the Mountains of Madness Project Update

Things are moving along with the ATMOM prop project, but most of what I'm working on is mind-numbingly boring.

The biggest issue I'm having problems with is, of all things, paper stock.  I originally commissioned the talented Danny Cruz to do the Dyer sketches from the exploration of the Elder Thing city (1,2,3,4) back in 2009.  I want to include the sketches in the prop set, but finding a printer that can do the run on textured art paper at a reasonable cost is turning into a nightmare.  Unfortunately, I'm close to exhausting my options and may be forced to run them off manually with a laser printer.  That would be a less than optimal solution.

A similar problem comes up with the expedition photographs.  Every single developing house I've contacted, and I've gone through dozens by now, uses branded photo paper.  I know I'm being picayune, but I absolutely hate having modern logos plastered all over the back of photographs that are supposed to be from the 1930's. 

I'm also working on finding good crates for the deluxe sets.  I need something made from unfinished wood with interior measurements around 9" by 13" by 5".  So far all the models I've sampled in that size class haven't been quite right, being either too flimsy or too heavy.  Ideally I want something constructed like a lightweight shipping crate that doesn't look too modern or overly finished.  That rules out a lot of the commercially available gift boxes and media cases. 

I may be acting a bit too anal retentive about this stuff, but I'd much rather take my time and make the final project truly memorable than rush to get it finished.  The deluxe sets in particular are something I really want to get right.

As always, your thoughts and suggestions are appreciated.

The Mountains of Madness Project Update

All of the artwork for the Mountains of Madness Project is essentially done.

Both the period map of Antarctica and the Dornier Wal blueprint will by roughly 18" by 24" and printed on 100 lb. acid free uncoated paper. That was the best stock I could find for reproducing the look and feel of the real thing.

 

The flyer for the expedition's departure ceremony will by 9" by 12" and printed on 100 lb. paper with a matte finish. That's a bit heavier than a period handbill, but it should make mounting it easier for anyone that pursues that option.

 

The Hobart, Tasmania postcard will be, well, a postcard. Standard postcard size printed on 13 point uncoated cardstock.

 

With the core items finished things are almost ready to go. If there's anything else you'd like to see included now is the time to chime in.

Wings Over Antarctica

Here's the the art for the flyer publicizing the Miskatonic expedition's departure ceremony. The original was done by the talented Jason McKittrick. He deserves the credit for everything good about it, while any problems are the result of my tweaks.

The Mountains of Madness Project Update

I was able to get a lot of work on the Mountains of Madness project done over the weekend. I wrapped up the research into period radio sets and finalized the details of the gear carried by the Miskatonic expedition planes, so the blueprints are finished. You can click through on the JPG below for a higher resolution graphic, or download an 11 X 14 PDF over here.



In the end I combined some details of the radio sets carried by the first Byrd Antarctic expedition of 1928-1930 with the ones used by Charles Lindbergh and his wife during their Pacific survey flight in 1932. Although the Lindbergh flight occurred later in the timeline it's equipment (the Pan-American 10C) was first available in 1929. The 50 watt telegraphic transmitter on board the Miskatonic Wals would have given them a communications range of over 2000 km, while the emergency transceiver would have been limited to around 650 km.

Another addition to the blueprint is the "fuel-warming and quick-starting devices worked out by Pabodie". This material was based on the modifications made to aircraft used by both arctic and antarctic expeditions throughout the twenties. It includes a rubberized canvas shroud for insulating the engine pod during warmup, electrical heating elements for the engine oil, and a backup system of kerosene heaters and an ether injector.

In addition to finishing up the blueprint I tackled a few other aspects of the project. That included work on the design for the publicity cards announcing the expedition's departure ceremony and some early work on the Kickstarter video. I should have something to show for that effort in a few days.

Update: For some reason the PDF was set to private, despite my default setting of making everything public. You should be able to download it without a problem now.

The Mountains of Madness Project Update

Here's the current version of the blueprint for the modified Dornier Wal aircraft used by the Miskatonic antarctic expedition. You can click through on the picture below for a slightly larger version, or head over here to download an 11" by 14.7" PDF. The odd size is caused by scaling down the 18" by 24" original to keep the file size reasonable.



In the upper left you'll find the rundown of the plane's electrical system. That information is based on the stock Wal's 24 volt configuration, modified by the addition of two heavy duty batteries and a backup two-stroke gasoline generator. In flight the craft can function perfectly well with the current from the airstream generator on the top deck. The secondary generator is used primarily to power the engine warming gear when the plane is on the ground.

The engine specs in the middle left are based on the ones used by Wolfgang von Gronau on his around the world flight. This is the one place where I engage in a bit of handwaving. Although the engines are close to stock I've assumed that the Miskatonic expedition used aviation gas with an octane rating of 93 or above. Fuel of that quality would be commonplace by WW II, powering the high compression engines of cutting edge fighters, but it was available within the timeframe of the story.

There are a few modifications to the stock airframe that aren't noticeable on casual examination. I've shortened the body and assumed that some of the steel frame has been replaced by machined aluminum, cutting the weight of the plane. Extending the lifting surface of the main wing helped generate more lift and significantly dropped the overall wing loading.

The blueprint is 98% complete and just needs a few more technical details, including the radio set. I've been able to find all kinds of information about period aviation transmitters and receivers used by military planes, but tracking down civilian models has been a little more difficult. Once I have that the blueprint should be finalized.

As always, your feedback is appreciated.

The Mountains of Madness Project Update

Things are moving along with the Mountains of Madness project. Here's a work in progress shot of the blueprint for the expedition's Dornier Wal aircraft.



A lot of the work that went into getting it to this point is totally invisible. I've been trying to make logical tweaks to the baseline design to bring it more in line with the level of performance in "At the Mountains of Madness". That means taking into account the increased power from an uprated engine, the weight savings gained by swapping structural steel for aluminum, and the increased lift generated by an enhanced wing profile. Much of the inspiration for those changes has come from the improved military Wals produced under license for the U.S.S.R and the two modified reconnaissance planes used by the German Antarctic Expedition of 1938-1939.

Update: Elmo Iscariot sent over a snapshot of the plane in Ian N. J. Culbard's graphic novel adaptation of "At the Mountains of Madness". It's a pretty faithful depiction, and I absolutely love the page layout.

The Mountains of Madness Project Update

Things are moving along with the Mountains of Madness project. First up, the start of the technical drawing for the expedition's modified Wals. This is just a quick export I did from the Illustrator file, so the line weight is a bit dodgy. The finished version will be a three-point view of the plane properly rendered with white lining on a blue background.

The primary reference for this is Dr. M. Michiel van der Mey's excellent book "Dornier Wal: A Light Coming Over the Sea". I'll try and do a proper review of the book in the near future, but it's the definitive resource for everything about the Do-J. It includes an exhaustive amount of detail on the plane's history and variants, including a a full registry of the aircraft produced. There's enough information there to eventually figure out the serial numbers for the Miskatonic planes.



Here's the start of something I'm really excited about. Jason McKittrick is doing the artwork for a conjectural poster for the expedition's departure from Boston harbor. The rough titles in the thumbnails below will be replaced with the specifics for the departure ceremony on September 2nd, 1930.

The Mountains of Madness Project

"In spite of all the prevailing horrors, we were left with enough sheer scientific zeal and adventurousness to wonder about the unknown realm beyond those mysterious mountains. As our guarded messages stated, we rested at midnight after our day of terror and bafflement - but not without a tentative plan for one or more range-crossing altitude flights in a lightened plane with aerial camera and geologist’s outfit, beginning the following morning. It was decided that Danforth and I try it first, and we awaked at 7 A.M. intending an early flight; however, heavy winds - mentioned in our brief, bulletin to the outside world - delayed our start till nearly nine o’clock."

- H.P. Lovecraft, "At the Mountains of Madness"

On January 26, 1931 Prof. William Dyer and graduate student Paul Danforth set out on the aerial journey that would culminate with the discovery of an ancient city high atop the Antarctic plateau.

What was found in that city is at the heart of Lovecraft's "At the Mountains of Madness", and one of the primary motivations for the creation of Propnomicon. For years I've been working on the my personal collection of items based on the story, a process documented in the "From the Mountains of Madness" posts. Now I'd like to build on that process.

In a few weeks I'm going to start another Kickstarter drive to fund the "At the Mountains of Madness" prop set. In many respects it will be similar to the earlier Arkham Sanitarium and Miskatonic University efforts, but kicked up a notch. As before, the emphasis will be on items that can't be easily reproduced at home. It doesn't make sense to do a run of prop documents that can be just as easily released as PDFs and printed at your convenience.

At this point I'm aiming to have a basic package that includes the period map of Antarctica I first posted back in 2009, a schematic of the modified Dornier Do-J Wals used by the expedition, an art deco travel-style poster for the departure ceremony in Boston, an expedition equipment sticker, and a postcard for the stop in Hobart, Tasmania. The target for that is around $12-$15 plus shipping.

The next tier will include new versions of the expedition patch, the small fieldbooks, and a cloisonne lapel pin. Since so many of you already have the old versions I wanted to avoid forcing you to buy the new ones just to get the other stuff. The target for that is roughly $20-$25 plus shipping.

I have a few ideas for items to include in a deluxe tier beyond that, but I want to firm up the details of the basic packages first.

One question that may have occurred to you is why I'm announcing the project before I actually launch it. You can credit that to my well documented paranoia. It's inevitable in any human endeavor that there will be delays and things will go wrong. To the greatest extent possible I try to avoid those issues by having all the design work done before I ask anyone for money. If everything is ready to go into production the instant the project gets funded there are far fewer chances for something to go wrong.

As always, your thoughts are appreciated. Particularly if you have any suggestions for cool stuff I haven't thought of. The only restriction on additional items is that they should be able to fit inside a 25" long, 3" diameter mailing tube.