First Draft Guide Finished!
4 months ago – Sat, Jan 13, 2024 at 03:59:55 PM

Just a quick update today, letting you know that as of just minutes ago, the first draft of the Skymaster's Guide is now complete! 

What a journey we've taken to get all the way around the world of Andrakonis. We look forward to sharing with you the strange and wonderous ports of call in our world. 

Next steps: I'll be red-penning my way through the guide book all next week to insure that I haven't left anything out. Then Laura and Kim will be pushing through the editorial and layout process. We will be releasing an early PDF copy of the guide to you shortly thereafter! Then, happy day, the books go to press and we can at last begin the fulfillment and shipping!

Which is not to say that the work is over. Joe and I will then dive into the online and dedicated app to insure it is all in place when the books arrive.

I'm feeling so giddy that I think I'll give you a new map from the guide ... just for fun!

We are seeing the edge of the storm. The dawn of Skyraider's is on the horizon!

-- Tracy Hickman

We Can Show You the World
4 months ago – Sat, Dec 23, 2023 at 10:41:41 AM

We are coming up on the Christmas holidays this weekend here in the United States. It's a busy time and I've still ALL of my presents to wrap and get under the tree before the 25th ... yet we wanted to take the time to give you a little present before being overwhelmed by the festivities.

By that, we mean the maps of the world of Andrakonis.

The Isles of the Sulurian Sea

You are by now familiar with the Erinyes Coast on the eastern shores of Abarax. This is the region from which your characters originate. It is designed as a campaign setting and you could, of course, adventure here exclusively ... but Skyraiders are meant to discover flight onn aeroships and use them to become masters of the sky.

Aeroships are meant to explore, raid, fight and chase the horizon. This means that there must needs be somewhere beyond the shores of Abarax to which you can fly.

Once you sail beyond the shores of Abarax, the Sulurian Isles and their network of aeroship trade routes is the next horizon that you encounter. 

Looking for home? You will find the isle of Abarax near the bottom of the upper left quadrant of the map. Ancient ports of call, pirate havens, trade guilds, monster islands and forgotten ruins all await your arrival.

But wait, there is more...

Vision of Andrakonis

We give you the world of Skyraiders ... to its farthest reaches.

One of our stretch goals of the campaign was to provide you with the history and map of the entire world. This is a Mercader projection (which means that the north and south poles are exaggerated). The Sulurian Isles is located just to the left of center on this map. The world is roughly the size of our own earth so we are providing you a great deal of territory in which to set your own adventures, discoveries and conflicts.

We recommend that you click on these maps and select 'open in browser' to get a better look at the details.

All of these regions are outlined in the Skymaster's Guide which we hope to have in your hands very soon. 

Accord on Discord

We have a channel on our Discord server to discuss these maps ... as well as all other things Skyraider. We hope you join us there. This link should be good for the next week.

We will be closing feedback on the Skyraiders Handbook the first of the year so that we can get the book to press. Please provide your feedback before that time.

Welcome to the new world, Skyraiders!

-- Tracy & Laura Hickman 

Feedback, Corrections, Types ... and Why Discord is a Good Thing
5 months ago – Wed, Dec 13, 2023 at 10:37:08 AM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

The Updated Skyraider's Handbook
5 months ago – Sat, Nov 25, 2023 at 09:58:43 AM

It is Thanksgiving weekend here in the United States. Here at the Hickman Household that means celebrating four birthdays at the same time (two of our children's, Laura's and my own) plus the national feasting holiday, the Black Friday Christmas shopping, and the latest holiday movie - all of which involves constant party gatherings of our family of sixteen. For those of you who count candles on birthday cakes, mine will number 68 this weekend. (Insert joke about excessive heat here.)

It isn't exactly a birthday present, but we have completed the rework on the 'Skyraider's Handbook' and are making it available to you today.

How to download the New Handbook:

Login using the email address you used to back the kickstarter here: https://skyraiders.backerkit.com/ then click on "Get Your Digital Downloads" button. The latest version is 4.7a.

This file is 37.5 mb in size.

And in other progress...

There are two critical and major sections of the Skymaster's Guide that I have been focusing on:

• The Sulurian Sea: If you are going to be a skyraider then you had better have something to raid and skies to raid in! This large section details the islands, inhabitants and dangers of the region surrounding the coast of Abarax. This is the adventure setting which your players will discover as they set sail for the horizon. Most of this section is completed as of this writing.
• The Atlas of Andrakonis: One of our stretch goals in the campaign was to include the history of the world of Abarax as well as the map to the rest of the world as well. Thanks to Laura's work on the history and the maps that have existed for the world since the beginning of the project, much of this section is finished as well. 

Once these sections are completed, I will be revisiting the Aeroships section and giving the completed text a final review. You should see the PDF of the second book about that time. I am anticipating another two weeks for this process and, at last, the books and all the other print materials can go to press.

And then ... what's next?

At that point as everything is being printed, our team will be turning our attention to the online incarnation of Skyraiders and the integration of the app. 

So we are thankful here ... thankful to all of you for supporting us through this huge project. We're excited to get this world into your hands and to hear what you discover in the skies over the Sulurian Sea. 

-- Tracy Hickman

A.I., A.I. ... Oh, oh!
6 months ago – Thu, Oct 26, 2023 at 06:44:46 PM

Well, this is an interesting journey.

We have read all of your posts regarding A.I. art being used. Yes, every one of them. There were posts I found deeply insightful, thoughtful, informed and lucid in making their arguments. Indeed, you have persuaded me to consider my position and have changed and clarified my own perspective.

• We are not going to solve the thorny problem of the financial, moral or ethical impact of A.I. art here. However, what has become clear to me after considering several posts is that the opaque nature of A.I. -- it's complete non-transparency -- regarding the sources it pulls from is very much at the heart of the ethics in A.I. art. Is the art compiled from public-domain sources only (legitimate)? Does it compile from works that are under copyright protection by artists or others (plagiarism)? Does it mix both (still plagiarism)? Until this question can properly be answered and addressed, A.I. art has no place in a commercial product. Therefore, our team will be removing all A.I. generated art from all Skyraiders products. Additional art will be purchased.
• As my wise wife says, 'Outrage is not discourse.' I believe that a little cognitive dissonance in one's life is a good thing. Persuasive, reasoned argument will always get a grateful response from me even if we disagree. Passion is a good thing and, as you can see, my viewpoint can be challenged and even changed by discourse .
• Given this change in our product content, this next part may be unnecessary but I believe should be addressed definitively. Will we be processing refunds? No. Kickstarter is a crowd-funding site which specifically states as part of your participation that 'it is not a store.'  You back a project by donating your funds and assuming the risks that are listed specifically for the project. In exchange, the project offers to reward your participation with specific items should the project succeed and the reward be brought to fulfillment. Your funds are then put to immediate use: to purchase art, content, designs, materials, layout, production, transportation and fulfillment to bring your rewards to your door. Funds have already been paid to living, breathing artists all over the globe. Items such as dice and dice mats are already in production. Considerable work has been done on the app for the project. And the remaining funds are required to both fulfill final production and delivery to each backer's door. We would not have embarked on this journey without your support. You have given it and we are doing our best to honor that trust. 

So, now I'm going back to finishing the Skymaster's Guide texts and getting that second book to you in PDF ... and looking forward to your thoughtful critique of the PDF.  

-- Tracy