We’ve been quite here regarding the current state of Flagbearer and our short-term and long-term goals for a while. To rectify this, I think it’s appropriate to catch everyone up on what we have been doing and what we are planning to showcase in the near future.
Art
Something that is not immediately apparent if you were to look at the card page, is that Adam and I are 95% complete with all the work we need to do for the Naturae, Omniborg, and Plague Rats factions. This means that we have illustrations in the works for the vast majority of remaining illustrations within these factions and the remaining work for us is almost exclusively communicating with artists.
The clear exception here is the Technomancers. There are currently 3 artists working on art for the Technomancer faction. The next step we need to take is commissioning another 6-10 artists to start working on art for them. I have already started scouting out potential artists, so we should begin sending out inquiries shortly.
Story
An area which we have given a lot of attention to recently has been the lore surrounding Flagbearer. Currently the only outlet for lore is through illustrations. Although we feel this is an excellent medium for conveying information, there is still a lot more we intend to do in the story department.
One thing that has been a goal since the start of development is placing flavor text on a majority of the cards. Given the limitations of using nanDECK to make quick card renders, we are currently unable to place flavor text on test-cards. However, we do have room for card descriptions on our website, which would be the host for them until we have the finished cards. We hope to start working on flavor text soon with us releasing the text in the new art batches alongside fresh illustrations.
The most ambitious undertaking we are currently making for the lore is working on several stories which plan to incorporate both characters and events from the existing illustrations. We currently have 2 complete story breakdowns and thousands of words of supplementary lore. This is valuable to do now, as we’ve already been able to incorporate this worldbuilding into our illustrations in a way that will hopefully be apparent as this process progresses. Once we have solid outlines for all the stories that we want to tell, we will release segments of each story in thematically appropriate forms (think first-hand journals, investigative news stories, or lab notes).
Website
We are happy with the functionality of our current website but is lacking both aesthetically and in back-end usability. We’ve begun working with a web designer to create a new website that addresses these issues. In addition, we plan on commissioning art in order to create a more compelling visual experience.
Frames
Something we’ve appreciated during development is the understanding people have shown towards the work-in-progress state of the frames. We are excited to announce that work has begun by Evan towards finalizing the current frames, creating flagbearer frames, making various necessary icons, and eventually creating the finished cards. This is going to take a substantial amount of time, but finally having some forward momentum in this area is a major step for us.
New-Player Experience
An ongoing concern for me is improving the new-player experience for Flagbearer. Through running tournaments we’ve been able to identify and solve many problems, but there is still a lot of work to be done. Notably, the Quick Play Guide needs to be re-structured in order to make individual actions more clearly identifiable (i.e., blocking inside of combat). There are also several outdated images within the Quick Play Guide that could do with a replacement. Furthermore, we need to make finding the appropriate learning materials a much simpler process.
Names
Probably the most straight-forward area which we need to improve is the names for several cards. We’ve been gradually improving the names for cards which we find subpar (typically releasing several name-changes in any given art batch). This will continue until we feel like every name is up to the same high standard.
Release
In order for the game to be released we will need to complete all of the previous goals and work out a production and distribution process. We can’t go into the specifics of our current plan, as it is reliant on the quality of test prints that we can’t conduct until we receive the final frames. We will be sure to post updates as this process continues.
Final Thoughts
I hope this gives you a better idea of the current status of development. I am going to try to do updates such as this more often. If you have any thoughts, ideas, or concerns please feel free to reach out. I’ve been very grateful for all of the feedback we have received so far, and I hope to continue to incorporate it into our future development.
Ryan