Valor - Best in Class

General Update
over 6 years ago – Sat, Oct 26, 2019 at 09:45:19 AM

Hello everyone! We've been steadily working on Best in Class and have some general status updates as to where we are and where we're going.

Character Builder

The character builder is coming together nicely, it has the base stat calculations and math complete which is the most complex part of the project, the rest is uploading the skills and abilities and how they all come together, as well as the name randomizing function.

We're also going through the many excellent submissions for technique and character names and putting them together. We'll try to get as much of it as we can, some of the more elaborate submissions may have to be broken down a bit but we will respect the intent of the submission as much as we're able (shoutout to the submission of Super-duper-awesome-mega-ultra-smash-3000, we're trying to figure out how to keep this one in). 

Core Rulebook Release

We've sent out all digital copies of the core rulebook to whoever backed to that tier, if you haven't received your copy yet please email us at [email protected] and we'll investigate the issue. 

Best in Class Progress

We're in the final stages of layout drafting for the Best in Class module, as well as beginning addition of the Kickstarter exclusive content for top-tier backers. The biggest obstacle continues to be artwork, we've added several artists to the team and will continue recruitment efforts throughout our final convention of the year (which will be Kumoricon in Portland Oregon on the 15th-17th of November). At the pace we're going, our hope is we can add a few more artists and pick up the pace so we can have all art and layouts complete by the end of the year and have it off to the printer for delivery. With the layout progression where it is, we're looking into releasing an early beta digital edition without artwork early so players can get their hands on the book as soon as possible. 

BackerKit Surveys, Schedule Update and Artist Call
over 6 years ago – Tue, Aug 06, 2019 at 08:34:07 PM

We're preparing to send out the "Smoke Test" through BackerKit, which will send a select few backers from every tier a survey. If that goes well, we'll be releasing the full survey within the next 24 hours, which will give everyone an opportunity to lock in their pledges and submit suggestions for names and descriptions for the character builder!

You'll note as BackerKit goes live we are unfortunately going to have to move our schedule out. We set a very aggressive schedule when we went live, at the time work was moving quickly and the project was coming together well so we made a number of assumptions based on that. Due to some issues that, in retrospect we should have anticipated a bit more of an impact (the largest Anime convention on the West Coast and the Fourth of July? I'm sure it won't be THAT big a deal) and other, more unexpected personal issues have slowed the pace of art. With this in mind, we're setting the survey deadline to September 30th, which should be ample time for people to get their submissions and will give us time to work on a recovery plan.

Beyond that, we're going to do a few things to mitigate the impact as much as possible. First, we'll be releasing beta editions when they're ready. The plan right now is to release a text and layout-only version of the book as soon as we have it in a state we're happy with, so backers can get access to that right away. Additionally, once BackerKit is fully live we'll be releasing digital copies of the core rulebook immediately - we see no reason to hold this up for backers who are eager to get their hands on the game. As artwork comes in and is placed, we'll update the adventure, and with the early release our hope is it will also give us a chance to get ahead of any possible errata that might be required as a broader group tests and plays through the adventure and notices things we weren't able to find in our own playtesting. 

Finally, we are looking to expand our artist base to get us across the finish line as fast as possible. To that end, we're opening up applications - we know there are a number of talented artists among Valor fans and this is open to anybody who is interested. We do, however, have certain things we'll be looking for. Below are the general terms we work under for all artists, if you are interested please read them carefully to ensure that they work for you.

• Artists looking to work for us will need to be able to meet a certain proficiency level. The style we use for Valor can be found on the main campaign page. Artists should be able to produce work of equitable quality.
• Any artists will need to submit a portfolio for our review to be considered. Anime style and colored images are a plus, but not required if your portfolio showcases enough versatility. The more images in our preferred style, the better! We especially like to see dynamic or action-focused shots, which are good submissions.
• Artists will be working under contract and specifications provided by Valorous Games, we try to allow artistic license whenever possible with designs but we will have requirements that will need to be met. We will also ask artists to stick to deadlines, and artists who aren't able to consistently hit deadlines or at least communicate issues as they occur will not be asked for additional pieces. All rights of any work produced will be held by Valorous Games, we will allow the posting of artwork on social media for promotional and portfolio purposes but the designs cannot be used commercially without our written consent.
• All artists are paid at an hourly rate of $15-$20 an hour depending on experience and proficiency. While we'd love to offer more, that's the extent of our budget allowance. Please don't sell yourself short if you normally charge more - while we'd love to work with many artists we don't want to ask anyone to lower their normal rates on our behalf. Depending on the speed at which you complete work, we're also willing to negotiate a flat per-picture rate based on the above scale.

If you are interested in providing art for Best in Class and the above terms work for you, go ahead and submit your portfolio! Send an email to [email protected] with a brief introductory cover letter (tell us who you are and give us a bit of details on your art background), and a link to your portfolio and we'll take a look!

While we hate delaying a release at all, we're still overwhelmed by how supportive everyone has been of this project. We're working as hard as we can to get this out as soon as possible, and hope to have more news to report soon.

Progress Update
almost 7 years ago – Tue, Jun 04, 2019 at 06:58:23 PM

Hey all, just wanted to give a quick update on the status of the project!

We are working on getting the layouts and art completed and placed in the book, which will be the primary focus for June so we can get this out to the printers. We're trying to hit an aggressive schedule so we can get this out as soon as possible, so wish us luck! The layouts are coming together well, our hope is to post some samples in the next few weeks. 

We are also working on compiling a listing of adjectives and key words for the random name generation function of the Character Builder. Once we have a good listing, we will post that as we release the survey. All backers will have an option, through their survey, to submit suggestions, which we'll incorporate as best we are able. And speaking of surveys, our goal is to get those out within the next week or so. While we won't need the address immediately, we want to start working with our top-tier backers to get their content inserted into the book (so as not to disrupt the current workflow, all bonus content will be added to the back of the book with clear markers as to where to access it in the main campaign).  We'll be working through BackerKit for our fulfillment, so once we have that ready to go people who were interested but didn't have a chance to back will have an opportunity to access some of the rewards as well! We'll have more news as development continues, right now we're mostly focused on getting everything complete. 

We Made It!
almost 7 years ago – Sun, May 19, 2019 at 02:08:03 PM

Fully funded, and then some. Stretch goal met, and an ultimate funding of $5,548 from a goal of $2,000. We cannot begin to thank you all enough for your support, we are blown away by your generosity, and we can't wait to bring Best in Class to everyone who was kind enough to believe in Valor and in Best in Class. We're already firing on all cylinders getting this ready, and we'll update you as we progress and work to get this out.

Over the next few days, expect to see some surveys coming out. We will begin developing the rewards for High Tier Backers so we can get them into the final book, as well as opening up suggestions for some key words for the character builder's name randomization function. From there, we're just going to sprint to the finish line, getting the book polished off, printed, and in your hands as fast as we can. You all helped make this possible, now the rest of the work is on us to give you a book you can be proud to have backed. We'll have more to come soon, so stay tuned! 

24 Hours Left!
almost 7 years ago – Fri, May 17, 2019 at 08:05:19 PM

Here we are everyone, the final push! You've got 24 hours to get your pledges in and secure your Kickstarter exclusive pricing and rewards for both Best in Class and the free Character Builder stretch goal! You've blown all our expectations out of the water, we are incredibly grateful for all the support everyone has shown us and this project. Let's finish off with a bang!