The open call for writers has ended. It's fair to say I've been blown away, not only by how many people are excited for our game, but how many people are excited for our game.
All up, we received 169 responses. That's real nice, but it's also way more than I was expecting! It'll take a while to properly read them all. Taking spreadsheet-making time and analysis paralysis into account, I'm gonna set this time next month as the date I should officially be sending replies. Expect something between now and then! Even if you don't make it I'll at least let you know so I'm not leaving you hanging.
I need to get started, so that's all for now. See you soon!
July status update! Also, check this out:
over 6 years ago
– Tue, Jul 09, 2019 at 12:29:07 AM
Hey! So Gabi Mismash (@GabiMismash) made a fancy map of Marsha Stretch, site of the Terabyte Boys sample scenario in the preview doc. Is it to scale? Absolutely not. Is it great? Absolutely yes.
The book is going to have a few spreads with unique layouts and designs like this—the preview also has a big blue one on p. 8-9. The spreads were inspired by Mothership, a sci-fi horror RPG with an excellent aesthetic; this one in particular was inspired by GitS.
Current Status
Besides that, we're doing pretty good! The KS money came in last week, and in the end only 17 of 1,098 pledges (AU$623.56) were dropped. The extra funding we got past the last stretch goal can cover that, so we're good! (If you were dropped because of card trouble or something and you still want to preorder it, we'll look into setting up a BackerKit thing closer to release.)
Work has started in earnest! I've started sending art commissions, and I'll have more pictures and WIPs to show you soon. neonshudder is working on the soundtrack. Freyja's writing the advanced mechanics that were missing from the preview, starting with Occupations. I'm trying to pace myself, so this month I'm mostly getting this content machine started and handling pitches. We're still taking them until the 14th, so don't be shy if you've got ideas!
I'll throw up a post shortly after the writer call closes to talk about that, so I'll see you soon!
Open Call For Writers
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 28, 2019 at 12:27:51 AM
Hello! I'd like to get everything started as soon as possible, and I'm ready to recruit some writers, so we're doing it now.
Open Call
One of Hard Wired Island's pillars of cyberpunk is many perspectives: it should examine how social and technological issues affect many communities, especially marginalized ones. The best way to have many perspectives in the book is to have them on the team, so we're looking for freelance writers to work with!
This is an open call for pitches. The writing assignments will be short sections (approx. 1-3 pages, or 600-2000 words each) of setting pieces—locations, characters, culture, technology, story hooks, random tables, and so on—and we'd love to hear your ideas! We're aiming to recruit a wide range of writers and styles, so we're especially interested in pitches from new writers and underrepresented groups in RPGs.
Writers will be paid 15¢ USD per word via PayPal once the final draft is approved. We'll help with mechanics and editing, and you'll receive a credit in the book and a copy of the hardcover.
If you haven't grabbed our free preview of Hard Wired Island yet, you can get it here and here.
What We're Looking For
Locations, characters, tech, and other cool cyberpunk setting pieces in Grand Cross.
Creative ideas that spark the imagination—if it could inspire a GM, we'd like to hear it!
We'd like a mix of published and new authors, so no experience is necessary.
What We're Not Looking For
Anything about playing the bad guys (there are enough "cyberpunk" games about being tools of violence for corporate forces).
Big lists of guns and similar violence-focused topics.
Misery tourism. (No graphic physical/sexual violence, overt bigotry the players just have to deal with, etc.)
Ideas not connected to Grand Cross. Places outside of Grand Cross (e.g. other habitats, Earth locations) should focus on their connection to Grand Cross, not how to set scenarios in them.
Overtly transhuman stuff. The line can be blurry (one of our inspirations is Ghost in the Shell which has ghost-dubbing, for example), but as long as it it's not super high-tech it's fine. No talking uplifted animals, PCs jumping from body to body, artificial superintelligence, etc.
Self-deprecation. Don't start your pitch with "you probably won't like this, but...", tell us why it's awesome!
If you have specific ideas, pitch them to us! If not, tell us about the subjects you'd be interested in writing about. (A few ideas/subjects is fine, try to keep them short!)
If possible, include writing samples. It's fine if it's not published work - blog posts, campaign notes, or anything else you've written that you're comfortable sharing is fine. (We're not asking for spec work, so please don't send a draft of the thing you want to write.)
We'll be evaluating submissions as a group. If we like it, we'll get back to you with further details.
If you have any questions, send them to hardwiredisland AT gmail.com.
Post-campaign plans, sponsored by Burger Kong
almost 7 years ago
– Mon, Jun 17, 2019 at 01:46:40 AM
Burger Kong: Let's Get Ape Chips™
The campaign is over, Hard Wired Island is funded, and we've been sponsored by Burger Kong, the #1 gorilla-themed fast food franchise in Earth orbit. So far, so good. Let's talk about our future plans.
First: If you encountered an error and your pledge hasn't gone through, you can fix it this week. Please do if you can, those errors add up.
Kickstarter will take a couple weeks to process pledges. After that, we'll be sending out BackerKit surveys. You'll be able to upgrade your pledge if you like, and we'll ask print backers for shipping details, but we're not charging anything through BackerKit yet. We're locking in shipping closer to release, just in case the UK replaces post offices with racism factories or something, so you'll be charged when that's sorted.
Meanwhile, we're getting to work! During production, I'll post updates to keep you in the loop. I'll try to avoid spamming you, but at minimum you should get at least one every couple months, probably more when I have cool things to show you. You can also see how we're doing by hopping into our Discord, or following me or Freyja on Twitter.
We'll also update the preview doc a few times, to give you a better sense of how the game is going and hopefully get some playtesting too. When it's updated, I'll let you know!
Finally, we're pleased to announce a new Burger Kong Deal: when you get your book, show it at any participating Burger Kong outlet to receive 50% off a Simian Slushee®!
Look for Burger Kong at THESE Lagrange points. Can you find your closest one?
Anyway, that's all for now. I'll see you soon!
Funded!
almost 7 years ago
– Fri, Jun 14, 2019 at 05:46:47 PM
1098 backers, 234% funded.
Folks, that is great. We even hit the final stretch goal, so we'll recruit a few more writers! (There's a little extra, which we're just setting aside for overhead.)
I cannot thank you enough for the support you've given us. It's been amazing to see people getting excited about our game, running sessions, giving feedback, and starting to write their own stories in the Grand Cross setting. We can't wait to make Hard Wired Island, and we'll do our best to make it the best it can be.
Pretty soon, I'll be back with our plans for BackerKit, production, updates, and all that good stuff. For now, it's 2AM here in Australia and I'm going to give this "sleep" thing a try. I'll see you soon!
