State of the Break #6 - Creature Creation Guide
about 2 years ago – Thu, Feb 24, 2022 at 05:00:03 PM

Gareth and I cannot thank you enough for your support on Tidebreak. This has been a wonderful project to work on and we are so excited with the enthusiasm we’ve seen for our campaign. I’ve seen a lot of Wardens already working on ideas on how to get their players to Gliese 667Cc and can’t wait to read the After Action Reports from those sessions.

With this new Research Grant, we’ll be introducing a digital only supplement: the Creature Creation Guide.

This is available to Backers at the Diver tier and up.

Like the additional Biome and Creatures, this will be a digital pamphlet (much like Ypsilon-14 and Hideo’s World) optimized for print-and-play use. It will  provide notes on how we designed the creatures of Gliese 667Cc’s, further details on using the Tag System, and how you can create your own aquatic friends. With this, Wardens (and solo players) will be able to make each play through of Tidebreak unique to every table.

Now that we’ve successfully achieved funding for this grant, we can also take a sneak peak at the next tier! If our funding manages to reach 75K (I can’t believe I’m even typing that out!) we’ll have a similar follow-up pamphlet with rules for Biome Creation.

After we fulfill the main goal of publishing Tidebreak, this supplemental resource will be available to backers after physical fulfillment has begun and a complementary download delivered through Itch.io. They will also be available to the public shortly after backers fulfillment has been completed.

In Other News

We’re in Nintendo Life! Definitely not something that I would have expected to check off my list this year but here we are. Check out the Gareth’s interview going into some more behind the scenes on how we got started with Tidebreak here.

As usual, keep an eye on the next update for more and thank you again. In the meantime, here’s another question...

What is your favorite, real or fictional, space or sea-faring vessel?

State of the Break #5 - New Biome Rules and New Creatures
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 12, 2022 at 11:33:36 PM

We’re diving right past all of our stretch goals! With this new Research Grant Funding, we’ll be introducing a digital only supplement with New Biome Rules and New Creatures.

This is available to Backers at the Diver tier and up.

These Supplements will be a digital pamphlets optimized for print-and-play use. Similar to the classic first party pamphlets like Ypsilon-14 and Hideo’s World, each will introduce a Biome completely new to the In Other Waters universe. It will allow Crews to explore and study ecologies undocumented in Tidebreak or the logs of Dr. Ellery Vas.

With a new Biome of course comes new critters; statted for Mothership 1e and using Tidebreak’s Tag system for ecological interaction. 

After we fulfill the main goal of publishing Tidebreak, this supplemental resource will be available to backers after physical fulfillment has begun and a complementary download delivered through Itch.io. They will also be available to the public shortly after backers fulfillment has been completed.

That means we can reveal our next Research Grant! At 50K we'll unlock another digital pamphlet with Creature Creation Rules with notes on fitting your own critters into Gliese 667Cc's ecology. More on that in the next update.

"Better Than A Shiny Charizard"

We're also excited to share that Lock•On gave us the privilege of turning our Dappled Glider into a trading card! Look at that little guy! [versus] is a playable collectable card game, continued from Lock•On 002, that features art and characters from across the indie game sphere. Each card links to the game's website or store so players can discover new games through [versus] and support the original game and creator!

Lock•On is a a premium gaming journal "delivering thought-provoking stories, insightful features and carefully curated art from industry talent". Their crowdfunding campaign for Issue 003 is live now! Check it out here!

Now a question for our backers...

What sort of alien biome or environment would you like to explore?

State of the Break #4 - Contributor Pay Bump
about 2 years ago – Sat, Feb 05, 2022 at 02:46:21 AM

A less exciting but very important Stretch Goal comes in a Contributor Pay Bump. Gareth and I are both full-time games professionals. With that comes expenses and of course personal obligations outside of immediate overhead that comes with running a campaign and project. This stretch goal affords us the ability to focus on Tidebreak as one of our primary concerns without having to look elsewhere for income.

Like any other trade, games professionals want to continue working on the games that we all love and do so sustainably. While we are the principals for this project, this also affords us the opportunity to better compensate all other current (and future) contributors and collaborators for the project.

This is also insurance for you, the backer, to guarantee that this campaign is successful and produces a quality product. You are trusting us with funds (or a Research Grant you might say...) to create Tidebreak and we want to do everything in our power to ensure that effort is not wasted. We can’t thank you enough for your help! 

As mentioned in our previous update we have an exciting Research Grant following this one: New Biome Rules and New Creatures! More on that in the next State of the Break.

In the meantime, another question for our esteemed backers...

What book or game are you bringing with you on the trip to Gliese 667Cc?

State of the Break #3 - Digital Asset Pack Unlocked!
over 2 years ago – Thu, Feb 03, 2022 at 04:06:14 AM

We dive further into the depths! With another Stretch Goal attained we have more resources available to backers. This time we’re bringing the assets seen in the Oceanographer’s Kit to the virtual table!

Research Grant 2 unlocks a Digital Asset Pack featuring the topographical map, optimized for digital play with your favorite VTT. With more players than ever gathering around virtual tables, this is another style of play we wanted to support.

This is available to Backers at the Diver tier and up.

With this we're also giving away a sneak peak at our next two Research Grants. The first affords us the ability to do a small pay increase for all current (and future) team and contributors. This might seem like a minor Stretch Goal but it's important in ensuring our team is able to focus on fulfilling this project full time. We'll have more details on that in our next update.

Following that, we have a digital supplement that unlocks New Biome Rules and even more New Creatures. With more of Gliese 667Cc to explore you'll have more opportunities for deep (figuratively and literally) and expansive play at the table. Hope, with all of your amazing support, that we're able to get there!

One more question for you...

If you could explore an alien world in real life, which planet would you choose?

State of the Break #2 - Solo-Play Rules Funded!
over 2 years ago – Wed, Feb 02, 2022 at 03:30:28 PM

We’ve already reached our first Stretch Goal. A supplementary digital pamphlet with rules for solo-play!

This is available to Backers at the Diver tier and up.

Gareth and I are excited for all of the Stretch Goals but this one is especially important. As we’re adapting a single-player videogame, we wanted be able to recreate that experience and to bring that same feel to the table.

Additionally, solo play has become popular in the tabletop scene to try out new systems as well as giving players an opportunity to run through a game that might not otherwise see play. Between scheduling conflicts (the bane of most long-form campaigns) and the pandemic, we wanted to enable dives and exploration in the waters of Gliese 667Cc, even if the rest of your crew can’t make it!

The solo-play supplement will aim to cater to players new to Mothership with a rules-lite journaling approach (Think Apothecaria) but will also include a more involved set of solo rules that make use of Mothership's unique rule-set.

Solo-Play rules will also introduce optional roguelike mechanics to the core book. Those familiar with In Other Waters may recognize the drone retrieval system. Well that’s back! With this you’ll have options to return to your Base for repairs, upgrades, and studies, but at a cost…

We’re very excited for that and can’t wait to get it to you. In the meantime, here’s another question for our backers...

What’s your favorite sea creature?