189 days - Thats how long its been since I've had a blog post. I don't want to even try and calculate how many days its been since I've had a blog post about something interesting...

So can i just wipe the slate clean? can i just start over here? Please?

...No? Well i'm going to anyway...

Starting from next week i'm going to be rediscovering the games that i've been working on over the last year and reflect on the process from conception to prototyping.

Interestingly i think i've spent more time on secondary aspects of whole normal game design process; 3d modelling / 3d printing / puzzle making / prop making. so yeah, theres been some really interesting developments and i can't wait to actually discuss them in the detail that they deserve.

~ Big Man Murph

yes, You read correctly...

i've had quite a number of people post kickstarter funding period ask about purchasing the game. i've been handling that on a one to one basis and using paypal for each individual purchase.

...it wasn't ideal but it worked! it wasn't friendly for the customer - sheer determination to get a copy of the game was required...

because of that and many many more reasons - I've finally took the time to update my website and include a very basic webstore for dodgy dealers.

How will it work?

Customers will select a version of dodgy Dealers and select the appropriate shipping charge for that item. at the moment thats just limited to one copy of the collectors edition or two of the base games.

whats left to do?

it still needs some tweaking - atm i've just got the 2 versions of the game online. i'll add the individual add on packs and the very limited number of playmats that i've got left at a later date.

What does the future hold for the store?

well, it works for dodgy dealers but after another kickstarter or two. i'm planning on upgrading the process even further. at the moment i can't justify the price compared to possible outcome. but who knows when that might change!

~ big man murph

Until next time,

big man murph.

It's now all over in terms of what i can immediately do myself for dodgy dealers. the games are currently being dispatched by gamesquest as i type this. it's been a crazy ride - as thrilled as i am that i handled every aspect of this project from start to finish, the perfectionist inside of me is ultimately disappoint that i didn't do better.

What do i mean?

I mean the overall quality of everything. design choices. manufacturing choices. labor choices. if i were given the option, i would certainly change a number of things.

Firstly - the game was made locally. much at the expense of quality. a foreign manufacturing company with a specialty in card and board games would have been a far cheaper option and would have been able to produce and package the game to a higher quality and to a faster schedule. it would've been a bigger risk because i wouldn't have been able to over see the quality control myself. in the very end the local business that i was trying to support closed down shortly after making this game. despite my efforts and intentions they were doomed because of how bad the industry is in this company and how cheap international production costs are...

Some very important things that I've learnt...

- time is not equal to money. doing things yourself can be more troublesome than a bill.

- prints are NEVER perfect.

- cuts are never perfect.

- unexpected costs WILL arise.

- plan around these eventualities.

- finally, kickstarter backers are kind, caring and supportive.

I'm still not out of the woods yet, i'm waiting to see how many deliveries fail or end up lost or damaged... hopefully none. but plan for these eventualities!!!

I know this blog post sounds like i'm being hard on myself, I know i'm my own worst enemy. I know the feat is massive and the quality is still very high. (especially for a game with an admittedly low funding goal of a thousand euro)

Next time and there will be a next time, that goal and quality level will be higher.

Big Man Murph.

Just a quick update!

Dodgy Dealers is already fully funded after only 3 hours!

Wow!

You can check out the project here.

Big Man Murph.