DIGI: INTO THE FUTURE

Happy Monday, all. So, Ep 2 of Digi Level 2 is out in the world now. The first week since Ep 1 dropped has been a rollercoaster. 99% of it has been highs. I don’t know if that means it’s been less rollercoaster than railway viaduct, but you get the gist.

Ep 3 will be delayed while we get it finished. There will be something going up on Sunday – I *might* do a Let’s Play as an experiment, but we’ll see.

Aside from anything, I want to give the first two (three, if you include the prequel) a bit longer to find an audience. They’re doing well, but it’s clear lots of people don’t yet know this exists. 

So, please, if you lurk on any forums whose members might enjoy Digi Level 2, or you have social media, do tell people that the show exists. We can no longer just rely on social media these days to get the word out.

Another part of the slight delay is that I’m not happy with the intro to Ep 3. Because our intros were seemingly cursed this series, we don’t have a version with a good enough picture, or where all three cameras were recording (suffice to say, if and when we do Level 3 we’ll make sure this doesn’t happen again).

We could cobble an intro together – in fact, we already have – but because this is the show which is apparently NEVER out of production, we’re instead filming a new one later this week. We obviously don’t have the full set anymore, but we do have a lot of the set elements, and a green screen, so I’ve come up with an idea for Ep 3’s intro segment that’s too fun not to do.

I also like the idea of keeping the audience on its toes, by mixing things up as the series progresses. Heck, I’m even animating a new one-off title sequence for this episode, which nobody has asked for or expects, because I’m insane, and can’t just take the easy route.

I hope you’re okay with us putting BYAMPOD and main channel Digi on hold while we get this done. We had hoped to balance all three, but Level 2 is proving more all-consuming than we’d anticipated. We will make it up to you.

The good news is… once she’s finished with the Level 2 assembly edits, Sanja plans to start work on editing assorted Digi Live shows. Not sure how we’ll be releasing them yet, but you should have a chance to see them this year.

OTHER THINGS!

So, we've started thinking about what we're doing for the rest of the year. Now is a good time to tentatively put a few markers down, while we can capitalise on the Digi Level 2 buzz.

I’ve currently got a poll up on Twitter (sorry: Elon Musk's “Ecchs"), asking what you’d like us to do as our next big project. Now, this is purely because I’m curious – we’re unlikely to start anything until a good while after the Digi Level 2 rewards are fulfilled, and we've done a whole bunch of new videos on the main channel – but I like to start thinking about things in advance.

The options in the poll (with a little more detail for you lot) are:

A Digitiser book/annual.

Digitiser Level 3.

Digitiser The Movie.

I should also have added Mr Biffo’s Found Footage 2.

If you haven’t voted, it’d be good to hear what you’d lean towards as our next crowd-funded project.

The book/annual would obviously be retro game-ish, but mostly nonsense. We’ve not done a book, so I’m slightly daunted by this, but I can see the appeal.

Digitiser Level 3 is probably the idea I’m most excited about right this minute, but that might just be because I’m in the midst of Level 2. I just desperately want to make that space station set, and build on what we’ve learned making this series. It would be an evolution; I wouldn't do the same thing again. Different format. Different sorts of guests as well, as I think we've been enough times to the well of UK retro gaming YouTube. 

I have NO idea what Digitiser The Movie would be at this stage, but having done the zombie short recently, I got the directing bug back. A Beanus horror movie? Maybe. Dunno. That might be too obvious. It'd probably have to have a retro gaming element of some sort. See below for why.

Found Footage 2 would probably be less Actual Reality Game, and more a whole series of sketches. It would likely still have the Xenoxxx narrative running through it. Or maybe it wouldn’t, and it might be called something else. I have a couple of ideas for framing devices.

I could also, sort of, potentially, add something that's more in line with the main channel - we really, really want to do a road trip outside of the UK - but realistically it's clear that we stand to raise the most money if any big project is leaning into Digi's gaming origins. I suspect we'd have to fund something like that ourselves. 

Anyhow. Your thoughts on the above would be helpful. 

FINALLY...

Something else I remembered we floated last year was the possibility of a 2025 Digitiser Live. Now... I'm really, genuinely, not sure whether we'll ever do another. They're so much work, and such a gamble for us. After the last one doing okay, but not selling out, I'm wary. Plus, how do we top a whole weekend?

IF we did one, it'd probably be in the same place as before. We've still yet to find a venue that works as well for us as Harrow Arts Centre, for a whole number of reasons, and I know many of you enjoyed us keeping it there as it has become our spiritual home.

However, while we are being very, very cautious about a future live show, I think I mentioned the possibility of putting tickets on sale at least a year in advance, to give everyone enough time to pay for accommodation and travel etc. 

I'd be interested to hear how keen you all are, because we can only really entertain it as a prospect if there's a lot of interest.

That's it for now! Should have some more updates later in the week, plus a bunch of exclusive Digi Level 2 behind-the-scenes footage, news on the next Biffo's Brain Zoom, and more.

For now, enjoy the animation from episode 3, above.

Paul