Dear Insane Children, 

Alex sent along an exploration of a Boss Fight based on The Queen + Judgment. I thought you all might like a peek into the creative process back-and-forth and so share our exchange here…

Of this he writes: 

A while ago I was asked to look into exploring game mechanics and attack patterns for the Final boss battle in Asylum by Omri.

This was an idea I’ve had floating in my head for a while, and wanted to put pen to paper as a warm up. It’s rough, but I hope it communicates the idea.

The puppeteered queen and broken throne room from Omri’s work can still be applied to this concept.

The boss is based on the theme of “Judgement”, using a macabre Scale for symbolism and order. I’ve written some design and encounter notes on the artwork.

As the boss is battled, the weights of the scale would be thrown off balance and detatched, and the force of them falling would rip the boss in half as pictured.

Descending the fight from order, into chaos.

Phase 1 and 2 are pictured, with phase 3 being the big reveal as the character devolves in the tentacle mess monster from AMA. 

To which I replied: 

The images look great. A bit confused by something though… is this meant to be the Queen (in Anger) boss fight? Or you say “Final boss battle in Asylum” … ?? The Final Boss? 

If this is meant to be a battle against the Queen (or the Judge in Judgement) in the area representing Anger, then I could see how we might make that work. 

If this is meant to be the final boss for the entire game… I am not in a headspace to think about what that might look like. But if I were pressed to consider this concept as going into that slot … I’d say this (at this point) does not feel at all appropriate. Why? Well… the overall theme of the game is not “Judgement” therefore I don’t think it would make sense for the final boss to carry that theme. I also don’t think the Queen is representative of Alice’s struggle in our story.

The final showdown – the boss, location, mechanic – has yet to emerge from the story we’re working on… but if you pressed me (again) to take a stab at it today… I might suggest that we start with the theme of “adult Alice going back into her mind to find and rescue child Alice” – a journey to save the inner child. 

And that during this journey we explore the concept of mental prisons – how we construct them and how we destroy them. I think where we’re going with Hatter in this next chapter will illuminate more of this… There’s an idea that his tinkering with the nature of reality (of the elements and properties of Wonderland) causes a dissonance that rips apart the seams of Wonderland. 

That explosion does something to reveal the nature of Wonderland’s reality – and gives Alice a glimpse into the truth of her situation (trapped in a mental prison). 

Alice is in a prison of her own mind. She’s essentially kept herself trapped in this place. So our final boss encounter needs to represent that concept. 

That’s where we’ve toyed with the idea of “Shadow Alice” – the figure representing “adult Alice” – the one who returns hoping to free young Alice from the mental prison… only to find that she’s stuck, unable to free herself, etc. 

Anyway… we’re not there yet. 

I’d like to suggest that we use this Judgment Boss for just that… a boss encounter to wrap up the sequence of events which starts with Alice entering the Courthouse. It could be that we make our way through the entire section (including the deadly croquet game) only to come face to face with this thing. 

Thoughts on that? 

Alright, Insane Children! 

Let us know what YOU think! Is this Final Boss (for the entire game) material? Or might it be better placed as the (mini? doesn’t look “mini”) boss for the end of the Judgement Area in the Queen’s Domain? 

Personally I like the idea of placing this encounter after the Courthouse/Croquet section.

Let us know what YOU think in the comments below!

We’ll discuss your feedback during the YouTube Livestream this week (link to that coming later!). 

From Shanghai with Tentacles,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

One of the themes I discussed while at the recent Patreon Assembly in Los Angeles was the idea of Missteps as Content. And how this is a radical notion in a world of glitzy product launches, review embargos, and Rotten Tomato’s faked freshness. 

My premise is one you’ve heard before: Embrace your failures. Also known as “if you aren’t failing regularly, you aren’t trying hard enough.” 

A lot of creators I spoke with shared a feeling I know very well… that we shouldn’t go public with a thing until it’s 110% final. We don’t want the world to see our ideas before they’re fully formed – because we fear ridicule and rejection. But that fear excludes our audience from the creation process. 

Sharing is scary. Sharing our mistakes? Yikes!

What Are Patrons?

When I think of “patrons” of ye olde times, I imagine them peering over the shoulder of the musicians, painters, sculptors, and sailors they financed. They witnessed as plans were made, ideas sketched, and marble chiseled. They heard and saw the mistakes – and that made their appreciation of the final product that much richer.

Part of the benefit of being a Patron is a behind-the-scenes view of a work in progress and a chance for creative involvement – something the general public will never see.

Well… maybe the general public never should see…

This is a Cheshire Cat “cake” I was reminded of when Jen sent over the Cheshire Face Enamel Pin concept image (main image, above). This is actually the second-worst thing I’ve ever seen done with the Cheshire’s face. 

(If you want to see the first-worst thing (you don’t) then there’s a pr0n tattoo (NSFW) someone did (why?!) which you can see HERE. I’m telling you NOT to click on that link. If you do, it’s your own fault if you can never see Cheshire the same again.)

Ahem… 

Where Were We? 

So I am not a fan of the first-round version of the Cheshire Cat Head enamel pin. But that’s OK. It gives us a starting place for heading towards the final destination. And in this revival of the Patron-Artist-Relationship, it gives us The Creation Process as Content.

Here’s the note I wrote to Jen with my thoughts on her original version (top image) vs. the sinister version I shared with her as an example (image above).

Where I prefer this (sinister) version: 

1) removes the pupils so that you don’t get the “eyes rolled up into the head” look 

2) flattens the proportions and moves the center of the face down – looks more sinister, less goofy

3) reduces the amount of teeth shown – again, less goofy, more sinister 

4) brings the ears down a bit so he looks more angry, ready to pounce

5) slants the eyes down – same effect as #4

Maybe I should just state this style direction from the start… 

Let’s make this set of pins to be like the Specter Ring from the Bond films. Dark, sinister, belonging to a secret group of mysterious Insane Children. When viewed by people outside the group (cult) raises questions about relationship to magic, the occult, and S&M sex dungeons. Keep them simple… black, silver, and a touch of (single) color when/if needed. The cat? Black, silver, and a single color (yellow looks nice above) for the eyes. 

Our Final Destination(?)

Now it’s your turn. Jen’s turned in a new variation… 

Let us know in the comments below what YOU think! Join the process! Give us your feedback! 

From Shanghai with I Told You So,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

It’s 3AM in Los Angeles but I’m awake because my brain still thinks I’m in Shanghai where it’s 7PM… so I’m up waiting for the sun to rise so I can head to LAX and catch a flight back to Shanghai. 

Patreon Assembly was a lot of fun. I met tons of other Patreon Creators and people from Patreon plus our friends from Backerkit. I even bumped into artist Chet Zar – of whom I’ve been a fan for quite a while. 

Meanwhile, our artists continue to do what they do best… 

Jen’s working on design ideas for a set of Enamel Pins. This is another Crowd Design effort in which we can all participate. So let us know in the comments below what you think of these concept images thus far. 

Our plan is to produce 4 “regular” pins plus 1 Patreon Exclusive pin which you can only acquire here on Patreon. The regular pins will also be made available at some point over on Mysterious. Kinda similar to what we did a while back with the Embroidered Patches. 

Are there characters or designs you’d really like to see included in this set? 

And what do you think about one of the (above) Rutledge/Insane Child pins as the “special” pin? 

Let us know in the comments below!

Let There Be Light

Jen and Omri came up with this idea for an LED lantern which would use the stained glass images Jen did for the the Queen’s Realm. We can produce these as actual lanterns and ship them around the world. But I am curious to know if this is something of interest to you… Yay? Nay? 

Coming Home…

Awwww! Can’t wait to see Lucky again!

From Los Angeles with Awwww,

-American