November Update
almost 7 years ago
– Thu, Nov 23, 2017 at 07:23:52 PM
We’re continuing with the casting and 3D printing production steadily. I had to replace a part on my 3D printer but it’s back up and running and chugging along steadily having produced over 700 C-wands. I’m expecting the first print run from Voodoo manufacturing early next week and if everything looks good, they’ll be starting full production and should be complete mid-December. We are coming close to completing the redesign for the metal miniatures. We received some warnings from shapeways that a part may not completely fill and we’re working out how to keep the desired overall shape without making it much thicker. Below is an example warning.
Usually when shapeways checks a model, they issue warnings and issues. A warning is cautioning that a feature may not come out as ideal and gives us a chance to reduce the risk. An issue means the feature will not work.
I’ve completed a scale prototype of the heating device and I’m waiting on feedback from the Wingo Games manufacturer. Ideally, I’m looking to complete the full scale device and send it to Wingo come mid-December and they can begin with the production of the first full game set for quality checks.
Lastly, we’re coming close to ordering the night vision goggles. I’ve completed all the form requirements and just waiting on them to approve opening a new customer account between me and Spin Master. Once that’s completed, I’ll be able to file an order for all the night vision goggles to send to Wingo games to package with the game for delivery.
Also, a backer recently notified me the website was down and it is now back online. I apologize if that caused any inconvenience.
October Update
about 7 years ago
– Sat, Oct 21, 2017 at 12:54:52 AM
Since our last update, I've received all the LEDs I need to produce all the PCBs needed for the lights for the characters as well as the lights to view the reference sheets.. Next step is to ship them to PCBway who will be producing the production run of PCBs. There was a bit of delay receiving them as it was the Mid Autumn festival in China.
I've also completed visiting Voodoo Manufacturing who will be 3D printing all the enclosures for the PCBs. They have a great setup with over 100 3D printers running all the time with a team of technicians maintaining and overseeing production so I'm very confident they'll be able to 3D print the enclosures with great success. We both use the same Replicator 2 3D printers so I'm familiar with the machine. Even better, Voodoo's machines have been upgraded with their own parts and better maintained than my own. I'm up to over 500 C-wands printed and should be wrapping up by mid-November.
We've had to redesign the metal miniatures a little bit due to the way the metal will be cast and its thicker viscosity. The redesign mostly consists of making parts of the miniature slightly thicker. This will only affect the collector's edition which includes the metal miniatures along with the injection molded plastic miniatures. The artist is currently working on redesigning a second version of the miniatures for casting.
Unfortunately, I have some bad news that will result in another delay. Right now I'm dealing with a manufacturing issue where the manufacturer does not have the equipment to treat the thermal paper to get the desired effect with their current tooling and it is not a service the vendor provides so I am designing a custom tool to be added in the manufacturer's production process that will heat the paper as necessary. Alone this should not have been too bad but my day time job is going through a busy season to the end of this year. I posted around the time the campaign finished that I was taking on a full time job so that I could support myself while fulfilling the game as I had raised just enough to complete one full production run. I did not want to use the funds raised for anything other than delivery and payment to the artists and the full time job offered to give an additional buffer of money for anything to pop up for the game. Unfortunately, it came at the cost of significantly reducing the amount of time working on the game. So while I am not able to deliver the game by the end of 2017, I remain confident that I will still be able to deliver. The new timeline I have for delivery is now May 2018.
If you have any questions or comments at all, you can reach me here or at [email protected]
September Update
about 7 years ago
– Tue, Sep 19, 2017 at 07:01:15 AM
We're continuing with production in September.
Currently I'm progressing with mass production. After approval of the character base circuits, I've ordered a full production quantity of LEDs to send to the manufacturer as that has the longest lead time for delivery since they're a custom set of candle flickering LEDs out of all the circuit board parts. I should be receiving them anytime this week.
We've gotten a quote and approval of parts from Voodoo manufacturing to print the housings for all the electronics. The parts come in very affordable compared to injection molding. One of the more expensive parts and complex is the C-wand. It's designed such that it can be printed all at once and can pivot, something that couldn't be done with injection molding. So I'm printing the full thousand necessary myself to save a bit of money and also so I can perform quality check on each on myself. We've got a little over 100 printed and should have the rest by the end of the month.
I've also finally received the seller's permit but it looks like I had to also submit a Statement of Information before moving forward.
Lastly, one of my friends has very kindly volunteered his time to help program a maze generator specifically for the game. It's capable of generating new mazes around a variety of tile placements. This will be available on the website, creativecovegames.com when the game begins shipping. Here's a quick overview of the initial design and what mazes are possible.
Here's some examples mazes that can be created from the standard set of 9 tiles:
August Update Part 2
about 7 years ago
– Fri, Aug 25, 2017 at 01:58:35 PM
We've received the first production run of the final circuit board from the circuit manufacturer. They've done their own quality control on the first run but I've also checked it myself to be sure and everything fits correctly and turns on and off as expected and it's met my expectations. So we're moving onto the next step with 3D printing out all the character bases that house the circuit boards as well as hold the miniatures.
Along with that, we're coordinating when to begin construction of the full production set of the circuit boards. Our manufacturer has requested to receive all the parts simultaneously within 1-2 weeks of beginning full production so as to minimize storing them.
As of this point, I am suspicious of not receiving the seller's permit yet so next steps are getting in touch with the California board of equalization who handles seller's permits among other tax and business items and finding out if it's still on it's way or I need to request another copy be sent.
August Update Part 1
over 7 years ago
– Mon, Aug 07, 2017 at 12:07:27 AM
Short update today but that means I'll have two updates this month. The reason is that most things are in the process of being delivered right now so I'm waiting on receiving parts before I can give an update on the quality of the first few game pieces being made.
The PCB manufacturer has received our sample parts and design files and everything has been approved of on their end. All that means is that everything is manufacturable without any issues on their end. I still need to review if everything works as expected. I'm expecting to receive the parts anytime within the next 7 to 10 days. They've completed manufacturing the first production set of circuit boards and are in the process of assembling all the components onto the board.
Everything has been filed for the business license and seller's permit in the state of California and my accountant tells me that everything is in order and I should be expecting both licenses in the mail any day now. Once I get it, I should be able to start the process of purchasing the night vision goggles.
