Sainome Colosseum R English Edition

Post-Campaign Update No. 4
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 22, 2018 at 03:18:44 PM

Salutations Sainomers!

We're back with another post-campaign update! Today's post is a short one (especially compared to last week's novella of an update), and we're using it mostly to show off another bit of stretch goal art!

The last stretch goal we unlocked while the campaign was live was the addition of another promo character. What made this stretch goal so unique was that, instead of being illustrated in Mizuki's art style, this one would be designed by Noito. For those who haven't been keeping track, Mizuki is the artist responsible for all of the game's Hero designs, while Noito illustrated all of the Sainome Cards (the super chibi art). Thus, having this stretch goal character designed by Noito really allowed us to put together a Hero that felt very different aesthetically from all the others, and we couldn't be more pleased with how she's turned out!

So without any further ado, here is Noito's stretch goal character: the Unsuspecting Flower Girl/Magical Girl Who Saves the Planet! Do keep in mind that this is just her concept sketch, not the art that will be used on the actual card; that art will be dynamic and feature her in two different poses, of course!

And that will conclude today's update! As always, hit us up with questions if you've got any, and while you're at it, feel free to jump onto our Discord if you haven't already, as we answer a ton of Sainome-related questions there as well! More than 30 backers have joined the channel already, and we've been getting great feedback from them about the type of community we've established thus far. The Discord channel is an excellent outlet to just kind of chill and nerd out for a bit; we talk about Sainome, as well as games in general (board games and video games), anime, music, and really just about anything anyone wants to talk about (we even talk about pro wrestling, because we're nerds). Of course, if you're not the talking type, feel free just to lurk; that's cool too! After all, you're bound to get a good laugh, at least a couple times, even if you're just watching the shenanigans from afar! To join, just click here: LionWing Discord.

Until next time, Sainomers!

Cheers,

Bradly & the LionWing Team

BackerKit Add-ons Clarification
over 5 years ago – Thu, Aug 16, 2018 at 03:33:09 PM

Heyo all!

Bradly here, and I wanted to post an update that addressed the BackerKit stuff. This is our first time using BackerKit, so there's been a bit of a learning curve for us. Please forgive us for the lack of clarification. I'm hoping to use this update today to clear some things up—things that I thought I had cleared up but in fact had not.

So, for starters, this first bit of clarification only applies to you if you purchased add-ons (those who didn't, you don't need to concern yourself with this update). Some of you completed the surveys correctly despite our incorrect directions, so you all needn't worry about this update either.

That said, we were not aware that, if you manually added to your pledge during the campaign, you get a BackerKit credit for however much you over-pledged. You will then need to use this credit to purchase the add-on in the BackerKit. We've adjusted the shipping on the promo character and the promo character + his Play Sheet so that you don't have to put out any further money if you over-pledged the exact amount for these items during the campaign. We have also removed the survey question at the beginning of the BackerKit as what was written there was both inaccurate and confusing.

So, whatever may have been said prior to this update about this matter is now obsolete. Use this update as the final word on this issue. We will be going through and manually fixing these issues for backers so that you all don't have to be burdened with it. If we have any questions or doubts about this issue as we go through and manually correct everything, we'll reach out to you individually through a direct message here on Kickstarter.

Again, we're super sorry for all the confusion; we were making this out to be waaaaay harder than it needed to be. But we should be good to go now!

Secondly: There was some issue with the shipping cost of purchasing additional copies of the game. That has since been corrected, and the accurate shipping totals are now showing up properly in the BackerKit.

Thanks again for hanging in there with us as we work through this learning curve. If you have any questions, don't hesitate to reach out!

Best,

Bradly & the LionWing Team

Post-Campaign Update No. 3: Surveys, Stretch Goal Characters, Swag, and Pre-orders
over 5 years ago – Wed, Aug 15, 2018 at 07:10:29 PM

Greetings, Sainome Enthusiasts!

Bradly here, and we're back with another post-campaign update! Today's a big day for us, as we have several bits of news to announce! So buckle up, and let's get this show on the road. (This update's a lengthy one, but we encourage everyone to read it through to the end as we've only got good news to report on!)

For starters, backer surveys will [hopefully] be going out today! We've just received our approval from BackerKit themselves to send out the surveys (they have to review each project that is set to use their services), but we first have to send out what they call a "Smoke Test." A Smoke Test is a limited launch of surveys to a few randomly selected folks—at least one person from each reward level—to ensure that there are no snags in the system. So long as nothing breaks in that process, the BackerKit and pre-orders (more on those later) officially go live and the rest of the surveys then go out via email. We've already submitted our Smoke Test (16 people should currently have a link to the BackerKit waiting in their inbox), and because we're not anticipating any hangups, we've got our fingers crossed that we get the green light to send out the rest of the surveys this afternoon/evening. So keep an eye out! (We'll also be announcing on social media when we're sending out the surveys.)

As you might be able to deduce, we ultimately chose to utilize BackerKit as our pledge management software because it not only interfaces well with our fulfillment company's process for shipping logistics, but it also gives backers a clean and straight-forward program to work in when confirming their pledge orders.

That brings us to our next news item: While we weren't initially going to offer Sainome swag through BackerKit, as we didn't think there'd be a demand for it, we received a number of requests from folks asking indeed for Sainome-branded merchandise. Because of these requests—and because BackerKit offers post-campaign add-ons for such things seamlessly—we ultimately opted to run with the swag idea. As a result, we're offering some fun bits of merch that people can add to their pledge order when completing their survey, should they wish to! Of course, if you just want that for which you have already pledged, that's totally cool too! You can think of these extras as completely optional items that are meant only for those who want just a little more Sainome in their life!

To that end, over the last several weeks, we've been putting these items together, and today we're finally showing them off! You can check them all out at the bottom of this post as well as in the BackerKit itself. Do note that while you can order these add-ons individually, we've also bundled them together at a reduced price! Who doesn't love getting more for less! (whispers: the answer is no one...)

Alright, next on the list: Characters! So, both illustrators, Mizuki and Noito, have been hard at work designing the stretch-goal and backer-created characters! Today we're showing off one of the stretch-goal characters that we have the concept art for: the Introverted Scholar/Mistress of Vengeance! We love how she's turned out and hope you all feel the same way! We should have the final artwork for her next week, but in the meantime, take a look at the sketches below that show off both of her Forms! We should also mention that we have all the re-skins of the backer-customized characters as well. We'll be emphasizing those in our Character Spotlight series that we'll be continuing over the course of the next couple months. So look forward to that!

Next: As previously stated, pre-orders for the game will go live just as soon as the pledge surveys go out—which, again, we hope is today! "But how/where will I pre-order the game?" We've gotten that question already, and fortunately, the answer is simple: There will be a handy-dandy pre-order button right at the top of our campaign page that merely needs to be clicked on. Doing this will take you to the BackerKit pre-order screen, and from there, you'll just follow the prompts. It's as easy as that!

So if you have family and friends who missed out on the Kickstarter initially, feel free to encourage them to pre-order the game! While pre-orders don't get access to the high-ticket customization pledge levels (the $200, $400, and $1000 tiers), they do get access to the Tournament Elite, Arms Master, and Gladiator tiers, as well as all additional stretch-goal and backer-related characters! Folks who pick up the game at retailers (who didn't back the Kickstarter or pre-order it) will not get access to these characters and items, with the exception of the "Bride in Black" playmat. So don't miss out on adding a ton of replayability to Sainome by not pre-ordering the game!

Next: As mentioned in one of the earlier updates, we'll be streaming some matches of Sainome all throughout the lead-up to its release. We'll be posting about some of the streams here in the updates section; however, some streams will invariably be impromptu and consequently not announced far in advance. To make sure you don't miss any of these, be sure to follow us on Twitter and Facebook, which obviously are updated in real-time, and better yet, join our Discord! Our Discord is a ton of fun and at times hilariously raucous (see: our PR guy Mitch's self-reported arachnophobia and his typed-out play-by-play when he noticed, as he was answering questions about Sainome in the chat, a giant spider just feet away from his computer). Hence, not being a part of the Discord means you miss out on all sorts of fun silliness. Heck, we even reveal news there in advance sometimes!

Lastly: Thus far, everything post-campaign related is going as planned, which is always great news no matter where a company is in the production process after a successful Kickstarter. We're still on target to send all of our files to the printers by mid-September, so we're excited about that and hope you all are too!

Well, that will do it for today's update! Thanks for taking the time to read it over and for your continued support!

Until next time Sainomers!

Bradly & the LionWing Team

Post-Campaign Update No. 2
over 5 years ago – Fri, Aug 10, 2018 at 02:11:07 PM

Hey all!

Bradly here, and we're back for our second post-campaign update! Today we're letting folks know that the backer-customized characters are done! The characters' names, skills, skill names, and re-colorations have all been completed, and now they're in the hands of our graphics guy Tyler, who's currently combining them all with the card UI! We'll be running Character Spotlights on these Heroes, as well as the stretch goal and backer-created characters, so be on the lookout for those in the coming weeks and months! We're showing off one of the re-colorations below for folks to see exactly what we're doing with these customizable fighters, so take a look!

Lastly: We were contacted a few weeks ago by a gaming outlet, the Nerd Q, about their backing of Sainome as well as their interest in providing coverage on it. This coverage eventually morphed into an interview that we recorded for their podcast, "Take 2." It's a 35-minute, super casual conversation on the formation of LionWing, the challenges of localization and more specifically localization in the analog games market, how we go about finding games to bring over to the West, and some background information on my time in the gaming industry. This is the first bit of media we've done for Sainome, however, it won't be the last! So keep an ear to the ground for more coverage like it in the coming months leading up to the game's launch! You can check out the interview here (do note that there's some swearing in the podcast, so be mindful of that when and where you choose to listen): https://thenerdq.com/take-2-episode-3-sainome-colosseum-r-english-edition/

And that will do it for today! We'll be back next week with another update!

Until next time Sainomers!

Bradly & the LionWing Team

Post-Campaign Update No. 1
over 5 years ago – Mon, Aug 06, 2018 at 10:45:18 PM

Heyo Sainomers!

We're back with our first real post-campaign update! Since the end of Sainome's campaign five days ago, we've been hard at work squaring away everything for printing as well as preparing the BackerKit (which goes live next Wednesday, August 15). This process has consisted of gathering and looking over all the files one last time as well as reaching out to and working with backers who pledged to the Colosseum Champion and Legendary Hero tiers to begin the process of customizing/designing their Hero.

Working with backers has been a really fantastic experience thus far; getting to meet and collaborate with them to ensure that the Hero they're customizing or creating is the exact one they want has been a ton of fun. We really think you're going to love these promo characters! In fact, we already have the data for three out of four of these backer characters and have sent that data off to Mizuki, the game's character designer, and our own graphic artist.

Speaking of Mizuki: he is currently working on the $16,000 stretch goal character he's in charge of designing. We sent him all of the details last week for what this character should look and play like, and he's already given us some concept art on her. We really think you all are going to love her. Noito, the artist who illustrated all of the Sainome Card art, is also already at work on the $18,000 stretch goal Hero he's in charge of. Because he'll be doing the Hero in his signature chibi style, this character will be extremely unique and truly unlike the rest. We're excited to show off that Hero in the coming weeks. In fact, all of the art will be completed within the next five weeks as the files go to the printers five weeks from this coming Wednesday!

Well, that will do it for today. If you haven't already, be sure to drop by our Discord; it's been great chatting with backers there, and we've been revealing various tidbits of information about Sainome and other LionWing Publishing stuff in the channel, so don't miss out by not joining up!

Until next time, Sainomers!

Bradly & the LionWing Team