Release date?

Public discussion of the extensive development of new levels in the Ruins of Undermountain.

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Halaster Blackcloak
Lord of Undermountain
Lord of Undermountain
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Release date?

Post by Halaster Blackcloak »

Dare I risk the wrath of the Gods of Chaos and Lord Murphy himself by invoking the words "release date"? :roll:

Well, the gods of interference have kicked my ass so many times I'm immune to the pain, so what the hell?

We're shooting for releasing this product at the end of the year, Dec. 31st, 2010, give or take a few weeks in either direction.

We're doing well. The sub-level should be wrapped up before Sept. is over, and Level 8 is partially done so I will have that wrapped up by the end of November at the latest. We have a full time professional artist doing the art, so that's the one thing that worried us most, taken care of.

The monstrous compendium sheets are being written pretty much as I create monsters room by room. Same for magic items and spells. All that gets updated on nights I cannot create rooms (writer's block).

We also have an adventure booklet similar to the original, but that should take a few weeks tops, and I have stuff ready for that, depending which way we go (we have several ideas for it).

So yeah, we're pretty much on schedule and it's looking good!

So, short of a Great Depression setting in, another civil war, or a giant comet hitting the earth (none of which would surprise me much at this point, honestly), we should be delivering by years's end. Pray for us, send good intentions, donate cash if you like, take Lord Murphy and his Chaos Gods on a wild goose chase for us...whatever it takes to pitch in, we're happy to hear! :D

Just a heads-up on some details. I'm being lazy so I'm just gonna cut and paste the posts Jared posted over at DF, with a few notations added...


Just a long overdue update here! :D

Just talked to Halaster, and we have some good news. Despite having several artists flake out early on, and two artists having to sorta drop out due to emergency life situations (Tarrax is still part of the development team, once things stabilize), we apparently hired a very talented professional artist to do the art. [NOTE: Not apparently, we actually signed the contract, so it's for sure - HB] From what I understand, Halaster is commissioning 25 half-page sized pieces of art for the Campaign Guide booklet to Ruins of Undermountain III, as well as art for each new monster in Monstrous Compendium format (not sure how many that is, but it's several dozen last time I counted). Halaster is dropping about $1,000 to get the art done, because he's demanding nothing short of perfection. And he's hoping that Tarrax is going to be able to finish the monster art, because he's done a few ass-kicking pieces so far!

We have Level 7 totally wrapped up. The sub-level is damn near done, and the map for it is 99% completed in its final form (just awaiting last minute tweaks as Halaster writes the last few rooms). Level 8 is being written simultaneously with the sub-level (and with my assistance! :) ), and has gotten a good head start. The map for Level 8 is totally done, outside of any minor last minute tweaks needed to adjust to what Halaster writes.

The dungeon dressing cards are all done. The monstrous compendium sheets are pretty much all done except for the art. The full-color cover art is done for both the Campaign Guide and the Adventure Booklet. [NOTE: We need to re-do the cover for the adventure booklet - HB] We have a surprise TSR luminary doing a full-page piece of art for the Campaign Guide (this is going to be special and meaningful!). And if Halaster pulls off the other surprise he mentioned to the design team, it will be absolutely mind-boggling! Can't say more for fear of death! LMAO! [NOTE: If they let me down, I'm gonna kill them, then hang myself! :wink: - HB]

I am personally typing up the last few of several dozen (each) new magic items and spells that Halaster designed. If this keeps up, it's gonna have to be a 2-volume set! :lol: [NOTE: We share that task, actually!- HB]

There are some interesting things going on with the writing. Apparently Halaster is a huge fan of continuity, and he's tied in a lot of things mentioned in the original Ruins of Undermountain. For example, the original box set mentions the Six Lost Wizards (see the Rumors section on pg. 15 of the Campaign Guide to Undermountain) who went into Undermountain looking for Halaster (the wizard, not the writer, lol!). Well, the story of what happened to them is being detailed and it is part of the adventure. We are also going to apparently find out about two of Halaster's other apprentices that have never been detailed, but who were mentioned in the original. One of them is one of the Seven who died following Halaster into Undermountain. Well, perhaps "died" isn't the proper word. :twisted: Anyway, that's being detailed. We're also going to see the last, secret, unrevealed apprentice of the original Seven who are still alive. He or she (or it!) is pretty cool, trust me!

So a lot of stuff that was hinted at or rumored in the original will be fleshed out in this release.

Doirche may also be including a surprise "bonus", which is Top Secret for now. But I think it's pretty cool! [NOTE: Most likely, this will have to be a future release. We need to finish this by Dec. 31st, 2010 - HB]

Barring any unforseen disasters (civil war, another Great Depression, a planet-killing asteroid...none of which would surprise us at this point!) [NOTE: I stole that line from you, hope you don't mind! :wink: - HB], it's looking very good for a release by Xmas of this year. We're over the hump and beyond the majority of work being done. Yes, I think at this point Halaster is in church every night lighting novena candles and praying for no more interruptions! :lol: [NOTE: I would sell my soul to Orcus at this point, if need be! - HB]

Anyway, just wanted to give a shout out to everyone here to let you know things are still moving forward despite some outrageously difficult setbacks. Oh, and Halaster just posted something at the BIP site about releasing a preview of the art once we get the first set of finalized pieces back from the artist. Stay tuned! :bigthumbsup:

Also, I just finished updating some work on the project and have some numbers to report. So far, there are:

24 new magic items (including a new relic)
36 new monsters
36 new spells
12 new NPCs

The room count is as follows:

Level 7 - 42 core rooms, 26 areas of interest = 68 newly developed areas/rooms
Level 8 - 42 core rooms, 26 areas of interest = 68 newly developed areas/rooms
Sub-Level (can't reveal the name, but it branches off Level 8 ) - 14 core rooms, 12 areas of interest = 26 newly developed areas/rooms

That's 162 fully developed rooms or areas. Also, keep in mind that the actual number is much higher because there are many rooms that are actually "room complexes". For example, on Level 7, we have Rooms# 1A-1G, 29A-29C, 38A-38G, etc. So that adds about 20 rooms to that level. Counting that way, it also adds almost 50 rooms to Level 8 (for example, Rooms # 5A-5E, 28A-28F, etc). And it adds 16 rooms to the sub-level. Keep in mind, few if any of these are "filler" rooms. They have actual distinct functions. So that brings it closer to 248 developed rooms. And then there are the...ummm...I think there are 15 "plug & play" rooms that come with the dungeon dressing cards and that can be placed anywhere in the dungeon when the DM needs a quick (but highly detailed!) room. So that comes to about 263 developed rooms.

To give you an idea how much reading is involved for us poor proof-readers, Level 7 alone comes in at over 35,000 words! Level 8 is going to bring that total up to at least 80,000 words, and when you add in the sub-level, there's another 20,000 or so. That's at least 100,000 words, or the equivalent of a 400 pg. novel! :shock:

And that's just the word counts for the actual room descriptions! When the rest of the text...the intro, ways in and out chapter, general notes, etc is added in...who knows? It's gonna be a huge release, that's all I know! LOL! :lol:

And of course, there are the 36 Monstrous Compendium sheets, the Adventures Booklet (there's another 32 pages). It looks like the main campaign guide booklet alone will probably hit about 250 pages. So that's over 300 pages of material.

I know we've gotten lots of criticism for taking forever to do this, but really there are only 4 full-time developers [NOTE: Only 3 of us, plus the artist - HB]. Between those 4, there have been several major illnesses, job losses, deaths in the family, emergencies of every kind, etc. We've had artists who have mangled their hands and ended their careers. We've had several developers drop out due to impending loss of homes because of the economy. And I know Halaster has been working 3 jobs and burnt himself out damn near to death this summer, literally. He had to take an enforced sabbatical just to survive, and I mean that in a totally literal manner. :shock: [NOTE: No shit, I almost didn't make it! I literally lost the entire summer healing myself. - HB]

Taking that all into account, I think we're doing pretty good! :lol:

We also have to take into account the enormous learning curve. For example, Doirche had to learn and master (from scratch) Adobe Illustrator, which is a very complex program. And everything needs to be proofed 5 freaking times because Halaster is an insane perfectionist (and I'm not sure whether I mean that in a good or a bad way! LOL! ) [NOTE: I am not! Now go insert that "." you put in place of a "," on page 210, damn you! - HB]

"No misspellings Jared! I found one on page 37! Gotta do better than that! Now go re-proof all 42 rooms again!" Good god almighty! :roll: [NOTE: I think that's a bit of an exaggeration. Just a bit. :twisted: - HB]

And the map to the sub-level? I shit you not, he changed that damned thing and re-drew it (from scratch) 7 freaking times! Not once, not twice, but SEVEN TIMES. Why? Because the first 6 designs "weren't good enough". And then when the 7th version of the sub-level was finished, he changed his mind and added a couple million miles of tunnels and rooms and caverns to it and it became for all purposes an 8th version! :shock: [NOTE: Ok, so maybe I am a perfectionist. Sue me! :wink: - HB]

Seriously, you guys have no idea what it's like. Sometimes I want to strangle him!

But you know, once it's done, it's gonna be a source of pride like little else in life is. Nothing like this has ever been done before. I honestly believe that Forgotten Realms fans will be hyperventilating, and Undermountain fans will probably cream their pants. Twice. 8O

Anyway, thanks to all those who've been patient and who've lent their moral support. It really makes the difference. Especially when I get that email that says "Re-proof those 42 rooms. I saw a few grammatical errors." :roll: [NOTE: If at first you don't succeed... :wink: - HB]
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