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

Dear Insane Children, 

Get ready for a Halloween Special Live Stream over on YouTube! Woo!

Hit THIS LINK to join us at 6PM PST on October 30th (9AM HKT on the 31st). 

During this stream, we’ll review all the latest art and story progress on the Realm of the Queen of Hearts.

And there will be PRIZES! Wooo.

Crowd Design #20

We also discussed Anger and the Queen of Hearts during the Crowd Design Session earlier this week. Crowd Design Sessions are hosted on our super-amazing Discord Server – an exclusive perk to Insane Children here on Patreon. 

If you missed it live you can always catch the recorded version on YouTube. 

Hit THIS LINK to check out Crowd Design Session #20.

See you all tomorrow! 

From Shanghai with Grrrr,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

As we continue our exploration of the Queen’s Domain we linger a moment within the walls of Judgment. Omri sends along an updated variation on The Courthouse, which reflects our comments from last week. This new version is more ordered, clean, and purposeful – yet also manages to capture the labyrinthine nonsense we often see in overly-ordered systems. 

As I mentioned previously, I see Judgment as arising from Order and the Queen’s Realm as the Seat of Order. 

It’s been said that we (mankind) are here to bring order to chaos. It’s what most of us spend our days doing – building things, completing projects, cleaning, improving, learning, and enacting. Even our most chaotic of activities – where we bet on uncertain outcomes – require as their foundation, rules of engagement which rest atop a functioning and ordered society. 

But too much order is as deadly as too much chaos. 

Perhaps it’s better to say, “We’re here to bring a little order to chaos and/or a little chaos to order.” Does anyone have a better way to capture that notion? 

Subject: Alice L.

As far as Alice’s adventures are concerned, she must walk that line between order and chaos if she hopes to achieve her goal. It’s a solid analogy for the struggle we all face – especially as we transition from the chaotic, rule-free world of adolescence to the ordered, rule-based reality of adulthood.

We speak often of the “confrontation with chaos” as a catalyst for learning and behavior modification. Burn your hand on the stove and you’re not likely to make that mistake again any time soon. 

But what might it look like to have a “confrontation with order?” A hand dipped in a vat of liquid oxygen will also “burn” and a lesson will surely be taught. A child locked in a perfectly featureless, soundless room may go mad faster than one locked within the chaotic walls of an insane asylum. 

Which hell would you prefer? 

Alice’s confrontation with order starts with a passage through “judgment” because chaos and order are relative concepts. Judgment is the candle in the darkness which illuminates our relative position – our perspective. The distance between passivity and rage is defined by our judgment of experiences relative to our knowledge and perspective. 

This is why I believe the Queen’s Realm – home to judgment and anger – might also contain an exploration of Alice’s sense of “ought.” What ought to be? What’s right and wrong? Ethical? Good? 

The Queen is aware of her role in this experiment. By holding hostage Alice’s last tether to the safety of childhood, The Queen forces Alice to choose between the ethical and the expedient. Between what she ought and ought not. 

She forces Alice to transition from one who is judged to she who judges. 

Knave-l Gazing

All sounds like a lot of navel-gazing to me! Let’s kill something! 

Fear not! There will be lots of killing. And among those we’ll design to absorb your rage… The Knave of Hearts! 

Omri’s designing him to be as annoying and kill-worthy as possible. Of this character he says: 

i think this works, i know that most of the our characters are ugly and monsterous outside and it reflects on their insides but this Knave…

i think it works because technically he can seem to be an ally to Alice but then turn on her.

also this is a character i’d love to cosplay.

Thoughts?

should we go Older and Ugly? in the line of the Hatter?

What do YOU think? And speaking of what you think… 

Crowd Design Session!

Tomorrow at 6PM PST we’ll host another Crowd Design Session over on our Discord Server. Join in as we continue to discuss The Queen’s Realm, Anger, and Judgment. We’ll kick things off by talking about PATREON though – so if you have any comments or feedback on Patreon as a platform from the perspective of a Patron, join the chat and share your thoughts!

I’m heading to Los Angeles on Friday for 2 days – where I’ll attend the Patreon Assembly event(s). There I’ll have a chance to share our feedback directly with Patreon big-wigs. So… let us know in the comments below or during tomorrow’s Crowd Design Session. 

Need info on Discord? Hit THIS LINK to learn more. 

Talk to you tomorrow! 

From Shanghai with Love,

-American

Dear Insane Children, 

If you’ve ever spent hours trying to open a bank account or dealing with the Department of Motor Vehicles then you’ll know the meaning of “Kafkaesque.” Omri sent along an image this morning which explores one possibility for the interior of the Courthouse we’ll visit in the Queen of Heart’s Realm. And it inspired me to respond with an alternate suggestion for how we represent this space – and why… 

But First! 

I am back in Shanghai from Thailand and we’ll have a “normal” week next week – Crowd Design Session, Live Stream, etc. Then on November 1st, I am flying to Los Angeles for a couple of days in order to attend Patreon Assembly! 

Seems our Asylum of Insane Children is doing so well on Patreon that I’ve been invited to speak as a Creator Panelist during this exclusive event. Wow. 

A big THANK YOU, to all the Insane Children for everything you’ve done to grow our Patreon and make all this possible. Truly insane! 

If you have any requests or feedback you’d like me to pass along to the team at Patreon, let me know in the comments below. Font Lord and I do have our own list of ideas which we think would improve the experience for us as creators and for you as Patrons. 

Back to Surreality

So Omri’s idea for the interior of the Courthouse… This is the building we’re talking about: 

And what Omri wrote about his idea for the interior: 

i’m thinking about making the interior much much crazier than necessary but i don’t know what we will do there. i thought of making it into more of a building than an island area, a place that celebrates her guilt and looks pretty burned.

thoughts on any of this? is this the direction or should i rethink it into more the Island areas? i think weird is good in this case. thoughts on any of this?

personally i don’t love this concept i’ll have to redo another version. something a bit clearer.

To which I replied: 

We’re talking about the Courthouse… the seat of judgment. Judgment – as in judging a person or event – requires comparison to the expected or correct or “normal” standard. We expect standards to be reliable, fixed and achieved by trusted processes. Scientific. Verifiable. 

All of this suggests a place of order (law and order!). That’s the opposite of chaos – and evokes imagery quite different from the swirly confusion of chaos you’ve presented in the concept artwork. While I do not think the interior of the courthouse needs to be “expected” I also think it’s possible to create confusion from order. 

Think of millions of filing cabinets, endless processes, leading in circles, claiming to serve an ordered goal… but so labyrinth as to be… 

Kafkaesque! 

The idea is to create a sense of hopelessness and dread from the space as a function of order. 

We have plenty of places to explore chaos. The Queen’s domain… Anger… these are places of judgment, anger, righteous retribution, ORDER!

Attached are a couple of inspiration images. 

Those are my thoughts on the topic… 

But let us know in the comments below what YOU think! 

What do you expect to find inside the Courthouse? What shape does the seat of Alice’s judgment take in the surreal landscape of Wonderland? And how might the Queen’s ANGER warp what we see? 

Halloween Reminder

Font Lord asks me to send along a reminder of this month’s art promotion… 

 Everyone at $75 for the month of October will receive two pre-selected art prints. Those are “Hallowed Alice” and “Cheshire Grin” (shown below). 

There are a couple of Rules and Restrictions. Those are as follows: 

• Pledge $75 for October 2019 (pledge now; processed on or around November 5th). 
• If this is your first month at $75 you’ll also receive a Chaos Necklace (you can choose small or large size – survey sent later). 
• This offer is NOT available at the 3/$35 level.
• But if you’re doing 3/$35 it’s important to note you can jump in and out of that tier. You DO NOT have to have 3 consecutive months. 
• You can select these prints later with 3/$35 but you’ll select the prints individually, not as a set. If you want the set you’ll have to do that via this offer.

Font Lord Notes

One more note from Martin: Chaos Necklace fulfillment was delayed a bit due to the Chinese National Holiday and American (not signing stuff fast enough) so please allow a little extra time for delivery! Yay, Chaos! 

That’s it for now… Hope everyone is doing great. 

You are all very much loved and appreciated! 

From Shanghai with Ka-Ka-esque,

-American