Dear Insane Children,
Did you miss this week's Crowd Design Session on Discord? Fear not! You can listen to the full session over on YouTube. Hit THIS LINK to tune in. We covered a lot of interesting topics in this session - ranging from weapons and power-ups to helper characters and abilities.
Live Stream
2019-05-15 01:54:08 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
THANK YOU! Such great comments on the last round of design and prototype posts for the Cheshire Kitten Plush. I really appreciate all the effort you've put forth in providing constructive feedback. And I am really pleased with our progress thus far. It's almost as if... we're getting better at this stuff with each new round!
Above you'll see the revised design sheet from Omri with many changes based on your comments.
I...
2019-05-14 03:20:09 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Omri and I are working on the Map of Alice: Asylum starting with the first moments of the game and first stage we'll explore. We start with Shock and then move into Denial. Omri and the art team will spend the next week+ defining visually the areas we see from the start of the game up until we enter Denial.
Spoiler Warning - Story and Game Details Ahead - Spoiler Warning
Scroll to "Spoilers Over" if you don'...
2019-05-13 01:37:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
<Insert Insane Happy Screaming>
<Insert Crazy Giggling>
Look at that cute little tail! <Insert Aaaaaaaa!>
<Insert Mental Excitement><...
2019-05-11 09:29:07 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
One of the frustrating things about the process of securing rights, funding, and publishing for a new Alice game is that many of the conversations are held under NDA (Non Disclosure Agreement). That means I am legally obligated to keep quiet about the parties to and contents of these conversations.
That is especially frustrating when I am aware of excellent news but unable to share it with you.
This morning is one of those frustrating times....
2019-05-09 22:34:20 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Let's celebrate our insanity!
We've got an Exclusive Special Reward for May. To celebrate 3000+ Inmates in the Asylum we're producing individually numbered Rutledge Asylum Patient Tags and mailing them to Patrons around the world!
Are you Certified Insane? Now you'll have the tag to prove it!
Every new and existing Patron at $15 (and above) for the month of May 2019 will receive a Rutledge Asylum Patient Tag - mailed a...
2019-05-08 04:03:21 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Live Stream Info is down below! Don't miss it!
All aboard! We're taking a ride through Wonderland aboard the Looking Glass Railway.
Pictured above is Omri's updated render of Joey's original Wonderland Map for Asylum. Along with this image Omri sends a series of questions which will help us define important details regarding the layout and navigation of Wonderland in Asylum.
Let's go through these points and provide some...
2019-05-08 02:12:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Our Crowd Design process on the new Cheshire Kitten Plush Toy moves forward! Omri's sent over a Spec Sheet (version 4) with updates based on YOUR comments and feedback. Lots of great ideas contained in this update - many thanks to YOU!
This version is now with the factory (same group who made the White Rabbit Plush) and will be turne...
2019-05-06 00:08:18 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
I hope everyone had a wonderful May Day Holiday - or at least a wonderful time in life while everyone in China was enjoying their May Day Holiday. We spent many of our days gardening, researching baby strollers, and catching up on all the latest developments in car seats. Now I understand why dogs get jealous of babies! Lulu's never had such cool toys!
We also spent a bit of time in the workshop playing around with ideas for original pieces of art...
2019-05-05 06:58:17 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Here in China we're heading into the annual Labor Day Holiday (AKA May Day AKA International Workers Day), a holiday celebrating the working class and laborers around the world. It's linked to the 8-hour work day, socialist/communist politics, and events like Haymarket Affair in Chicago.
In China this year, the holiday has been "extended" to four days - though i...
2019-04-29 02:10:45 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Have you ever encountered chaos? I mean Capital "C" Chaos. The kind that obliterates the nature of reality and strips meaning from the bones of your life? An encounter which eventually leads to an understanding of the religious "Hell" as a frame of existence waiting for us, inside us, right here on earth?
I know it's become fashionable in some circles to wear victim-hood like a literal hood so people see our scars as who we are. But when you've ex...
2019-04-24 05:04:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Just a quick note to remind you that we have another Crowd Design Session on the schedule for tomorrow at the usual time. That's 9AM Hong Kong Time on Tuesday. 6PM PST on Monday 22/4/19.
Join us as we continue to discuss Ideas and Suggestions for Alice: Asylum under the topic of "Game Play." The discuss we had last week covered a lot of suggest...
2019-04-22 08:00:00 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Happy Easter to you all! Here in China we don't really celebrate Easter. But I remember China + Jesus being one of those things that got me in trouble as a kid in Sunday School. I distinctly recall asking the teacher, "But what about all those kids in China? Won't they go to hell if Jesus doesn't speak Chinese?"
Teacher's response: (frown)
Anyway, now I am in China and I'm pretty sure Jesus never came to visit here. There just aren't that many Mex...
2019-04-22 04:08:04 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Ever wonder what goes on behind the scenes where we discuss art, design, and other elements of Alice: Asylum as ideas emerge from the miasma? Well, it's not very glamorous but it looks something like this:
Omri emails me a rough sketch for a Train Station / Library area (above) and says...
This is just the general feel/concept of the train stations. as we said Train and Library, The pictures can be portals like Joey did, Tight... 2019-04-19 01:42:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
LOTS of STUFF in this post! Ghost House Images, Live Stream Info, and Cheshire Cat "Things"... Please SCROLL to the BOTTOM to see it all!
When I was a child (and insane) we went every year to the State Fair of Texas. And among all the rides my favorite was the "haunted house" - a rickety ride through a series of darkly lit pneumatic jump scares. There were witches and g...
2019-04-17 01:37:29 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
As many of you are aware we're still searching for the right design concept(s) to contain all of our dresses and their powers. I would like to lock dresses to domains because this makes the most sense from a narrative structure and delivery perspective. Many of you would like to access any dress you've collected at any time in the game and use it on demand. As we continue working through this topic...
A quick idea from Omri on the topic of dresses. Take...
2019-04-16 06:57:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Get ready for another Crowd Design Session! We'll do this on our Discord Channel at 6PM PST on Monday, April 15th (that's 9AM on the 16th for those of you here in China with me).
During this session we're going to have a look at the crowd Suggestions for Game Play in Alice: Asylum. Hit 2019-04-15 07:06:54 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Many have lost sense of the meaning of sacrifice. It was once a given that we sacrificed constantly and automatically as a function of our family, culture, and religion - and that life was, in essence, an ongoing series sacrifices towards something greater than ourselves.
As a child, I remember reading the fable of The Ant and the Grasshopper, a story in which an...
2019-04-12 06:29:34 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
The opposite of love is not hate but indifference. Hate implies a strong emotional attachment between the subjects and in many cases is a component of love or at least a sort of caring. Hate cannot be related to something or someone for whom you don't care.
Indifference is the rejection of the value of an individual or object. It is the death of care and concern. And when directed at someone who we once cared for results in resentment, disrespect, pain, and d...
2019-04-10 03:44:05 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
AHOY, ye scurvy scoundrels! We be sailing, coding, swimming, and exploring! Pirate Jam 2019 is in full swing and heading into Day 7 as we make our way around Phang Nga Bay on course for Krabi Boat Lagoon. This year's event has been absolutely fantastic! We've had beautiful weather, great sailing, and are hosting a really awesome group of development pirates from around the world.
2019-04-04 04:30:33 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Thanks to YOUR support we were recently able to add a new artist to our team. Norm Felchle was one of the key artists on the original Alice game and his work defined the look of most of the major characters in the Alice franchise.
These days he's working on exploring The Hatter as he would appear in the time of Asy...
2019-03-26 01:02:13 +0000 UTC View Post
Dead Insane Children,
One of our inmates wrote and asked, "When are you releasing Off With Her Head as an art print?!" And I realized... Hey! We've not released that image as an art print! A shame too, because it's one of my favorite poster images from Omri.
So, thanks to her gentle reminder we've decided to make "Off With Her Head" what you'll get for March if you're at the $75 Tier. Or if you're doing the 3/$35 Tier you can select this as your next art print...
2019-03-22 03:46:01 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Heeee's Baaaack! Joey sends along a render of The Jabberwock with changes made to reflect the narrative in Alice: Asylum. The idea is that we show him in a more "natural" state - prior to being mechanized.
The 6 Million Dollar Jabberwock!
I suggested to Joey that we might want to see a stage prior to this in which he's badly damaged and in need of repair. One idea floating around in my head is that the Jabberwock...
2019-03-20 01:38:44 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
LOTS of people sharing comments on my Instagram, on our various Facebook pages, in the Community Section here on Patreon, and in all the most random places one can imagine saying essentially the same thing:
"My rabbit tracking hasn't updated since March 5th. What's going on?!?!?!"
Captain American here to provide the answer: Rabbits on the High Seas!
That's right! Your rabbit takes a ride on a cargo ship on its way to ...
2019-03-19 03:19:58 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
During our recent Crowd Design discussions over on Discord we've stumbled on a sticky question with regards to dresses. So we've decided to put the question to a poll and see which option wins based on votes. Here's the deal...
How do we want the collection of and use of dresses to work in Alice: Asylum?
Option 1: Alice: Madness Returns Style....
2019-03-19 02:33:53 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Greetings from behind The Great Firewall! While the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) and the National People’s Congress (NPC) continue in Beijing we're still suffering Internet Sadness Disorder. All the VPN companies are embattled and expats around China are variously sad, furious, and feeling a general sense of disconnectedness. There are 2019-03-18 03:47:38 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
Yesterday morning we had another in our series of Crowd Design meetings via Discord. The overarching topic was Alice's collection of dresses but this quickly morphed into a discussion regarding the methods/designs surrounding the collection, organization, access to, and powers contained within those dresses.
For instance, do we allow dresses to be collected and accessed at-will throughout the game - or do we present dresses in a l...
2019-03-13 08:31:50 +0000 UTC View Post
Hi everyone.
Martin here again with a few bits and pieces to tell you about while American is up to his eyeballs in salty sea-dog pirate shenanigans.
1) DISCORD !!
Yes, tomorrow (March 12th) we're back doing the Discord live-chat/design meeting.
This will take place at 9am HK time, so please check to see what time this is in your particular location due to recent daylight savings changes, and then come and join us for the fun.
2019-03-11 09:12:33 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Get ready for a LIVE STREAM over on YouTube! I've set the time for 10AM on Thursday, March 7th (Hong Kong Time). That's 6PM PST on March 6th for those of you in the US (West Coast).
You know the drill... hit THIS LINK to set a reminder over on YouTube. Hit ...
2019-03-06 03:02:59 +0000 UTC View Post
Dear Insane Children,
I'm back in Shanghai and working hard to get caught up. It's cold. And raining. And it doesn't help that just as I arrived back in China our primary VPN provider got hit with a massive take down. Things are slowly improving but it's been tough getting work done when half the Internet is blocked. Boo.
As a result of Internet instability I'm going to h...
2019-03-04 09:59:13 +0000 UTC View Post