Metal Heroes and the Fate of Rock: A Rock/Comedy Gamebook
Created by Swen Harder
Bring the world's loudest gamebook on air! [ENGLISH HARDCOVER EDITION]
Latest Updates from Our Project:
...and justice for all! - After Show Update #14
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Mar 15, 2022 at 03:19:52 PM
Hello Metal Heroes supporters!
Things have been coming along well In the past few weeks! My shelves keep filling up with stuff! The DVD box inlays came from the printer, as did the foldable Metal Journals. The soundtrack CDs and the dice for the bonus game "Raise your Horns!" were produced.
Unfortunately I had to drop the original manufacturer as they were unable to provide me with blank sided dice (which they had actually been able to supply in the past.) But thanks to the great support of my Italian game book friends at Raven, that problem is solved now!
In addition, the new box layout for the poker cards and the four dice is finished and will now also be printed. By the way, if you want to check the rules for "Raise your Horns!", please feel free to download the PDF and send me your feedback in the next two weeks.
Also, I finally finished the Metal Heroes PRE layout! I will send it to the Roadie backers in the next few days. Thus, the project is entering the last major phase before printing. And I very much hope that there will be no further major delays.
Unfortunately, that cannot be ruled out... While we didn’t plan to print the book in Ukraine, there are a number of printers there that usually handle many projects from the EU. The horrific situation there will likely have a massive impact on the availability of printers in Poland, where it is supposed to be printed.
But that's a rather trivial matter compared to the terrible humanitarian tragedy currently happening in Eastern Europe. It‘s a reminder that there are for more important things than some Kickstarter project.
Peace! Swen and FuFu
Rock ‘n Roll is a Vicious Game – After Show Update #13
about 2 years ago
– Tue, Feb 01, 2022 at 03:13:52 AM
Good evening Hard Backers and Premiere Supporters alike!
Welcome to the – technically – January update! I know, many of you are waiting for the grand announcement that our book is done and ready to ship. Well, things are developing slower than expected. I had to deal with some health issues this month and had a lot to do with my day job.
So, I wasn’t able to push the layout far enough to send out the pre-PDF to the ROADIE backers. And for me this is key to guarantee a good product quality. Additionally, while doing the layout, I became aware of some minor issues with the translation (some overlooked gaps need to be filled and some additional info boxes are missing). I guess in a gamebook with nearly 1,400 sections such things are bound to happen. Be that as it may, these issues will be tackled by Carol in the next few weeks. Poor Carol, she actually thought she was done with it!
One of FuFu's new illustrations (uncolored).
As you can see, we are still behind schedule, and I am truly sorry. There is nobody else to blame for this than me. To be honest, while I am very determined to really push the project forward in the next month (trust me, my wife would love to get back all the apartment space currently occupied by dozens of card boxes), it’s not quite possible right now to give you, dear backers, a reliable shipping date right now.
To end this update on a high note: Fufu’s done with all the new illustrations and is now working on the Hall of Fame portraits! I’m really keen to see this special part of the book will look like in the end.
Finally, I would like to thank all backers who gave me feedback about the rules and thus helped make them more player-friendly and weed out a few mistakes.
Thanks for listening,
Swen
Breaking the Rules – After Show Update #12
over 2 years ago
– Thu, Nov 25, 2021 at 04:59:33 PM
Hey-ho folks!
The days are getting shorter—at least in the northern hemisphere—and the time I spend on the PC completing Metal Heroes is getting longer, because we got news from our translator: Carol actually did it!
A few days ago she handed in her last missing pages. She translated 808 German gamebook pages into English, including all the linguistic nonsense that I fabricated! I can't thank her enough! This was by far the most difficult and ungrateful part of fulfilling this Kickstarter!
Please check the rules
In the meantime, the very first part of the book I finished are the rules, which I would like to share with y’all via this download:
Why the rules? Why download? Fair questions. Well, I would love to receive feedback from you guys, about whether it is understandable and theoretically playable for you. Because at this point it would be quite easy to change some glossary terms and adapt corresponding text passages in the book, later on that would be quite a fiddle.
While at it, I designed a little icon which will always appear on the page number if this page has actually benefited from you, the backers. In other words, if some kind of bonus content, such as new sections, songs, or illustrations was included. (You can find the icon on the very last page of the rules.)
The next step is the pre-print PDF for the nine ROADIE backers. I hope that I can finish at least part of it in December and send it out to you. More on that in the next update!
Rock on!
Swen
Where Have All The Good Times Gone – After Show Update #11
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Sep 20, 2021 at 03:36:09 AM
Dear Metal Heroes Backers!
This is a very important update, yet also one which is rather difficult to write. Although the production process for the Hardcover Edition is steadily advancing, there have been a few delays in some crucial areas. One specifically concerns the translation.
Translation is crucial
Carol, our translator, has been dealing with a serious health issue, which caused her to go on a forced hiatus for several weeks earlier this year and while she has been hard at work since her return, she hasn’t been able to completely make up for the lost time. The translation is now pretty close to being done. But after that, we can’t just throw it to the printer...
PreparingPre-PDFs for Play Testing
We strive to deliver you our product in its best possible form, so rushing it isn’t a good idea at this point. It has to be carefully layouted, thoroughly proof-read and play-tested to make sure everything works as it should in the translated version. Nine preview pdfs will go out to the backers who pledged as ROADIE, and thus will help us weeding out potential errors. All this will take up at least a month.
Then, after implementing the corrections into the manuscript and finalizing it for print, it will take another four to six weeks until we actually receive the printed books, and then of course begins the arduous work of posting and distribution.
New schedule
Long story short, it’s become clear to us that we will not be able to deliver the books by November as planned. We really wanted to stick to our schedule this time, but now it looks like a delivery date of March 2022 is far more realistic. We know this sucks, because many of you were probably planning to make the book an x-mas present to yourself or a loved one. But that’s just how it is, and we hope you understand.
What's already accomplished
On the plus side, there’s a lot we have already accomplished. The bonus sections have been written. New art has been drawn. Only a few dasy ago we received the last portrait photos which we needed for the Metal Heroes Hall of Fame illustration. The softcover layout has been fully overhauled and changed for the Hardcover format. The band Garagedays just finished the production of their exclusive song for the soundtrack CD which was unlocked during the campaign for every book.
We understand if some of you are annoyed by this delay. All we can do is to kindly ask you, our amazing backers, to bear with us a little longer. However, as a small gift to show our appreciation for your patience and make up for the longer wait, we thought we’d throw in another cool upgrade feature to the book: Every book, be it regular or special edition, will get a fancy dust cover! It will protect the book and further raise the overall production value.
Ok, that’s it. Again, we sincerely hope you can forgive us, but we’re nevertheless looking forward to read your hate mail. Rock on!
Swen + FuFu
Got Me Under Pressure – After Show Update #10
over 2 years ago
– Mon, Aug 16, 2021 at 12:38:36 PM
Hi Metal Heroes Supporters!
Here’s a new update on the Metal Heroes and the Fate of Rock Kickstarter!
What’s going on right now?
Well, Carol has been working like hell in the last couple of months and has translated over 80% of the 808 German pages. There's still a lot to do and as I know from the previous Rider of the Black Sun Kickstarter, the most difficult part is bringing it all together towards the end, eliminating all mistakes and polish the text to make this gamebook shine. But I’m confident, Carol will do it as good as last time.
Meanwhile I started the pre-layout with the already translated text, which means not just changing the text blocks from German to English, but also transferring the format from soft to hard cover. For this, all elements have to be resized and placed anew. Nevertheless, this job is done up to chapter 10 now (5 chapters plus the rules still to go).
Bonus stuff in the making
I also already designed some of the bonus content and produced some of the stuff… Like the stamp, the bookmark, or the pick for returning backers. Not a big deal, but each item counts, right?
Fufu’s new illustrations and Hall of Fame Portraits
Since all stretchgoals about illustrations were met during the campaign, FuFu has a lot to do also. New single illustrations, full pages, vignettes and last but not least the Hall of Fame pages with several backers' portraits.
We sent a message to all 14 portrait candidates, but a few of them haven’t replied yet. So, if you’ve pledged as DIE HARD FAN, ART DIRECTOR, or ORIGINAL ROCKER and become a Metal Heroes Hall of Fame Inductee, please check your mails in the coming days for FuFu’s portrait request and answer as soon as possible.
What’s next?
In the upcoming weeks, the translation of the original text should get finished and fully included in the pre-layout. Even the new sections will be implemented with all other extra content from the Kickstarter stretchgoals, like the bonus panels and vignettes. When finished, this pre-print version will be sent to the 9 backers pledged as a ROADIE, helping to make this Gamebook even better!
Other things on the to-do list: Master and press the soundtrack CD... layout and produce the contentbox... revise the cover art for the different hard back dimensions... and even more stuff.
What about the Pledge Manager?
I know, I said the Pledge Manager for all original backers would be activated soon. But I came to the conclusion to push back the access to it again for several reasons. Mainly, we’re still in negotiations with another publisher about producing some of the bonus content, which would change the costs and amount available for some items (like the poker cards, the bonus game and dice). I'm really sorry for the delay, but in the end, this may beneficial for everyone.
That’s all for today,
Swen and FuFu
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