Thanks for Your Help
6 months ago – Wed, Oct 25, 2023 at 01:36:17 PM

Thank You, Thank You!

“And we edit to let the fire show through the smoke.”- Plotnik

We so appreciate your editorial comments and art notes. We want you to know that we read each one and went through the manuscript addressing and correcting each of your editorial notes.

As you may or may not know, when you create a massive project like this one with a very small team, it can be tough to hunt down every last typo and mis-formatted chart. We appreciate the extra eyeballs.

The manuscript for the Skyraider’s Handbook is very close to being print-ready and soon will be off to the printer. At that time there will be a final copy of the PDF as well. The 'Skymaster's Guide' should follow quickly on its heels.

Our wish and hope is that you will come to love and know Skyraiders as we do.

With gratitude for your efforts, 

Laura

A.I., A.I. ... Oh!

I remember a time when writing books on a word processor  was considered suspect and not 'real writing.' We had to write secretly on computers, print out our entire manuscript and  physically mail the massive brick of paper to our editor in New York. We even had to use courier fonts so that the pages 'looked like' they were typed on a typewriter or it freaked them out.  (Google 'typewriter' if the term is unfamiliar. If it helps, think of it as a printer with a keyboard attached.)

I also remember when art created in Photoshop or other digital realms was suspect. If it wasn't paint on canvas or ink on paper, it wasn't 'real art.'

Now, of course, all books are written on computers and transmitted directly to editors via the internet.  Our cover artist Matt Stawicki operates almost exclusively in the digital realm. Even Larry Elmore's cover for us, while originally created in a physical paint medium was digitized by Larry and transmitted to us for our use.  I've never seen the actual, physical painting. Larry owns that.

Enter A.I. (artificial intelligence) as the new battleground in creative tools.  Like all new tools, people are struggling with how to best use them.  It is far from perfect.

So what does this mean specifically for Skyraiders?

• We contracted living, breathing artists from all over the world to create the art for Skyraiders.  We paid them for their work. They are thanked and their names are listed as credits on the copyright page of each of the books featuring their art.
• As the book was being laid out for production, we used our contracted art everywhere possible. In those few places where our extent art could not be used, an artist created A.I. art to enhance the look of the text. That said, the vast majority of the art was purchased from an originating artist.
• A.I. was not in the public discourse at the time of the launching of this project. Policies recently announced by Kickstarter and BackerKit regarding A.I. content in projects do not apply to Skyraiders and have no impact on our production and services in delivering Skyraiders to you.
• Every word of the text is either written by Laura and Tracy OR comes from the Standard Reference Document (SRD) provided by Wizards of the Coast as part of their Open Gaming License (OGL).

Laura jokingly pointed out that if we had used A.I. for the text, it would have been finished long ago. Joe Bourrie, our game programing wizard, immediately ask an A.I. to 'write me a Dungeons and Dragons campaign about airships.' The result was 'Title: Skyward Bound: The Airship Ascendancy.' My favorite part was the digitally-invoked 'prophesy.' "When the sky is darkened with ships, Aeralis will fall unless the Guardians arise." 

Huh?

Joe immediately declared the project done. 

Hilarious!

Final Thoughts

We're working hard each day here at Skyraiders to bring in this project, get the last of it into production, and get the world shipped to you. We are achieving this in spite of a number of serious health challenges that have beset nearly every member of our dauntless little band ... and we are grateful to you, our backers. You not only have made this project possible, your feedback has directly made Skyraiders better. Thank you for all your help!

Tracy

Compact Player's Handbook
7 months ago – Sun, Sep 24, 2023 at 08:35:00 AM

A new and much smaller version of the Player's Handbook is now available for download. There are no substantive changes to the text in this version but it should be more accessible to a wider group of our backers to read and comment on.

How to download the 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 4.3c.

This file is 30.7mb in size.

A Note Regarding Updating Addresses

I know that many of you have expressed concerns regarding updating your current shipping address. We will be unlocking addresses prior to shipment for a time in order to allow you do do just that. We'll let you know when that happens. You will be able to update your address at that time.

Why are we grateful:

We are grateful because every error in the book, every misplaced table, typo, missing word or artifact from previous versions that you point our is an opportunity for us to correct it and make it right before the book goes to print. I'll be doing my best to address each of you individually regarding your constructive comments. I just wanted you to know why I am thankful to you. You are making our project better.

-- Tracy Hickman

Updated Handbook Version 4.3 Now Available
7 months ago – Sat, Sep 23, 2023 at 09:19:41 AM

What a wonderful day we had yesterday! Your direct feedback is helping us make Skyraiders what we hope it would be.

As my father has often said, sometimes you can't see the forest for the trees. I guess his way he was saying that when you work on something so hard and for so long, that you become blind to really big issues. It takes someone on the outside to point out what should be obvious.

The first obvious thing was that the entire class section was a mess. Tables in the wrong place or missing entirely. Text completely misplaced and, in some cases, out of sequence. 

So we have labored through the night and produced this new version 4.3 for download. (Yes, it is slightly bigger than the last pdf ... we're working on that size thing.) It is available for download.

How to download the 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 4.3.

Please be aware that this file is just over 1.2gb in size.

Thank you all again for your feedback. It is very much appreciated.

-- Tracy Hickman

Skyraiders Handbook Released!
7 months ago – Fri, Sep 22, 2023 at 10:16:15 AM

Laura Hickman, Kim & Joe Bourrie and I are delighted to announce the completion of the 'Skyraiders Handbook' ... the player's manual for our project. We are excited to share this world with you as soon as possible. That is why we have decided to immediately distribute the full PDF file of the completed handbook to all our backers whose pledge level includes the digital version.

How to download the 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.

Please be aware that this file is just over 1gb in size.

And even more good news...

The acrylic Dragon's Sylph dice, Metal Premium Dice, dice bag, Living Tome Scrolls, and Tins have all begun manufacturing. We needed to get these items underway now so that everything will be ready when the print versions of the books and materials arrive.

To the winds, buccaneers! To the storm! 

It's time at last for Skyraider's to FLY!

-- Tracy Hickman

Layout, Light & Insight
8 months ago – Sat, Aug 26, 2023 at 12:02:44 PM

There is an old joke in my family about the light at the end of the tunnel ... wondering whether it is just another oncoming train! Life can feel like that sometimes, especially when you are in the middle of an enormous project which seemed so simple when you started only to realize that to accomplish everything you want to do requires a very long tunnel.

The amazing news for us is that most of that truly is behind us now. I finished the adventure for the book yesterday - which turned out to be 40 layout pages long and minus the Insights for the adventure which will be added this next week. Have I mentioned Insights?

Insights

Insights are a method for players in a Skyraiders game to make DC checks directly through the app and gain secret, personal knowledge about the adventure. They may be able to discover it on their own through tapping into their character's own experience or they may be assigned by the Skymaster to specific player's during the game. The player then rolls against a DC declaration and tells the app whether they pass or fail. It's a simple system allowing the players to gain 'insight' during the game and give it to the player group in a more diegetic manner. I'm excited to see it in play -- but I had to nearly have the design complete before we could start implementing the software side. 

Sample Layout Pages

The layouts, by the way,. are turning out to be spectacular. I thought I would like to share some of the preliminary pages with you today.

Each of these is presented her in page spreads, meaning that they are the two facing pages as they would appear when you opened the book.

Seeing Daylight

As hopefully you can see, the Player's book is nearly ready for press and we are finishing up the final text on the Skymaster's Guide layout. We know you want a fulfillment date. We cannot commit to a date until all all the materials are ready for press. As soon as we know a solid date, we will pass it on to you. Until then, let's get this text in place and off to the printer so it can get in your hands.

Laura insists that she and I need to complete the text for the books by the beginning of September... and I never like to disappoint Laura.

-- Tracy Hickman