Dear Insane Children,
Let's get the Bad News out of the way first:
There will be NO Live Stream this week. Sorry! I have guests coming to my home studio on the same day we normally stream. And several other things going on in the days surrounding... so it's best if we just move it to the following week - Thursday, September 2nd (HK Time); Sept 1st (USA Time).
But that's OK... because it will give us more time to collect and read your feedba...
2021-08-24 02:04:42 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
This is it. At last... the Alice: Asylum Narrative Outline is available for you to download, read, and join in helping Crowd Design. Instructions for how to consume and provide feedback are contained within the document. Please read carefully and follow those instructions. It will make the process of Crowd Design smoother for all.
The PDF itself is linked at the bottom of this post.
The narrative contained within is still very much a W...
2021-08-20 14:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Remember in Alice: Madness Returns when Alice goes to confront March Hare and Dormouse in Hatter's domain and they pop up driving a giant mech robot? You can watch a clip from the game over on YouTube.
Well... they're back. And so is the mech robot!
It all takes plac...
2021-08-17 15:00:07 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Three images from Joey depicting a section of Alice: Asylum where Alice explores the burning/flooding remains of London. This is Child Alice revisiting the places, characters, and memories that served as the challenges that shaped Shadow Alice.
From the Art Brief for these images:
Alice steps from the station into a broken and confused cityscape. The stre...
2021-08-14 23:52:52 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
You know how much I love tentacle monsters. And you know that The Chaos in Alice: Asylum will be a blob of tentacles that takes over Wonderland creatures and turns them into well...
So I'm thrilled with the Art Brief that just went into Monday (from Alex)...
Joey and Omri, in regards to the enemy design for the Burnin...
2021-08-12 15:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
We're making great progress on a number of fronts. Art tasks for all the design stuff we've completed so far are cranking along. Above is an image from Adam depicting Alice retrieving The Brain from Bill The Lizard. Alex has finished a solid pass on the Narrative and I'm now working with him to make final edits before we can share it with you all. And our Biz Dev efforts are generating a lot of positive movement. Yay!
2021-08-09 14:00:08 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
We hosted a Live Stream over on my Twitch Channel yesterday. Did you miss it? Oh no!
But fret not... because we made a recording and posted it up on my YouTube Channel.
https://youtu.be/D5KaNK0TmU4?t=338
Click on that link and enjoy the comedy stylings of Font Lord and Stick Boy!
From Shanghai wit...
2021-08-06 03:11:44 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
We're hosting a Live Stream over on my Twitch Channel at 7PM PST.
https://www.twitch.tv/americanmcgee
Lots to discuss and some interesting news to share!
Plus, we'll do a sneak peek at the Scruffy Bumps animated theme song!
And we'll check out all the latest art from Alice: Asylum... like the image above from Omri. Of which he says: ...
2021-08-05 00:35:57 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
I am currently reading through the Narrative Outline for Alice: Asylum - just turned over to me by Alex after his last editing pass. It's a great read so far and I am really happy with how it's turning out.
One line I just read - not even sure if it's mine or Alex's (we're pretty in tune!) - is...
"Everything here is simulated to keep you stimulated."
And woo boy what a simulation!
2021-08-03 00:40:01 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Remember the Dollmaker's scary puppet hands from Madness Returns?
THEY'RE BACK.
Well, sorta. Check out the spectral hands in this latest illustration from Adam. They are inspired by Bumby's Puppetmaster Hands. And, wow, are they awesome!
Joey also used them in this image...
Of his image, Adam says...
2021-07-29 01:52:43 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Font Lord here fulfilling the promise we made in the previous art print poll that we would try to give you plenty of notice about the 'next print' each month before it happens.
As you see above, the next print is THE CAGING for July Patrons charged in August.
So if you want this superb print, simply make sure you're set at the $75 tier or above BEFORE August hits.
And yes, all you 3x$35 people, this print wi...
2021-07-27 15:56:00 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Woo! It's been crazy here in Shanghai. Typhoon In-Fa ripped along the eastern coast of China and made landfall just a few kilometers away from my backyard in Fengxian, Shanghai. Literally just down the coast from where I live. BUT... despite what the title of that video says (WTF?) China was in no way destroyed. And, as far as I am aware, there were no deaths from the weather but a lot of people were temporarily evacuated - especially along the eastern coasta...
2021-07-27 01:40:35 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
For those of you who missed it, there's a Scruffy Bumps Theme Song posted over on my YouTube Channel. And it's awesome.
Scruffy Bumps is a murderous revenge cat possessed by an evil Egyptian death goddess who kills those who abuse animals. Rawr.
Everyone I explain this idea to says, "Wow, yeah!" Because everyone wants to get revenge on people who treat ...
2021-07-23 00:52:55 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
The Alice: Asylum art team continues to crank through images for the Design Bible. And today we have art from Adam depicting a game play sequence Alice will encounter under a dreamlike representation of The Home for Wayward Children - inspired by the Dollhouse sequence in Madness Returns.
The art brief for this area reads:
Art Task ...
2021-07-20 00:35:01 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Font Lord here with the results of the poll to what the next 6 art prints should be.
Around half of you sent in your votes and based on some of the comments on that post, it was very difficult to choose just 6 :)
You'll also notice that in this post I'm going to use 2 methods to describe when/who will get the prints, and we need to ask you about this at the end.
So, as you see above, the header image for this post is ...
2021-07-16 06:26:00 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
I was anxiously awaiting the color render of this Bill The Lizard as Boss Fight image from Norm. And Omri delivered this morning. And I just had to rush over and post it ASAP.
IT IS AWESOME.
For the record, here's the briefing from Monday that drove the creation of this image. It provides a bit of background on what you're looking at here and where it will fit into the game.
Art Task Briefing & Background Information:
2021-07-14 01:42:14 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Font Lord here, asking for your input on what the next 6 art prints should be to finish off 2021.
Below, you will find a whole host of images and I would like you to choose your favorite 6 in the poll.
Only Choose 6!
We will then take the most popular ones and make them the next 6 prints. Simple :)
As usual, we reserve the right to make changes on what you choose if something awesome or amazing h...
2021-07-13 16:00:00 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
We're recently working on a new Plushie Dreadfuls design based on the notion of "OCD" - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and "OCPD" - Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. This effort is being made due to frequent and vocal requests by fans to create such a product. It's also an interesting project for me - American - because I too suffer from various symptoms related to OCD.
My concern about "stepping on cracks" continues to this day. When usin...
2021-07-13 01:15:15 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
We are having a live stream today at 7PM PDT (10AM Hong Kong Time).
Join us on my Twitch Channel:
twitch.tv/americanmcgee
If you miss it live, you can watch the recording over on YouTube:
youtube.com/americanmcgeeofficial
We have LOTS to dis...
2021-07-09 00:43:55 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Everyone, say "Hello!" to "OCD Bunny" - inspired by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder. This design continues in the tradition of our Plushie Dreadfuls based on themes related to mental health. Many of you asked for an OCD Bunny as a follow-up to Anxiety Rabbit... so here's where we start the...
2021-07-07 15:55:00 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Font Lord here!
I hope you're all doing well?
With it now being half way through the year, we have been thinking about what could be the next big 'thing' we manufacture for all our lovely Patrons.
Of course you may all be familiar with what we have done previously such as the recent Memento Mori Coin (which is still available to purchase a...
2021-07-07 05:56:51 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
An interesting series of ideas were floated by Omri over on our Monday production board. I thought I would share those with you here...
Omri says:
OK i know we already closed this task but i did wanted to add 2 images that can be presented like speedpaints- i think this can be represented or not- do whatever you want. Showing the General structure and a Singular memory Entrance.
1. ...
2021-07-06 01:06:04 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Wheels on your train squeaking, creaking, and making noise?
Why not try "Bumby Brand" Wheel Grease?
Guaranteed to work on even the most stubborn squeaks.
Throw a bit of Bumby under your train today.
And enjoy the sweet silence of squeak-free wheels.
Choo- Choo!
Excellent ...
2021-07-01 03:03:37 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
One of the side projects we're working on that I'm really excited about is "Scruffy Bumps" the revenge-murder-cat. He fits into a category I've started calling "Educational Horror" and is designed to teach people (children) to be nice to animals... OR ELSE!
You can watch us talk about Scruffy Bumps during the last Live Stream via 2021-06-27 03:53:57 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
A quick reminder that there will be a Live Stream in a few hours...
And the best place to join is over on my Twitch Channel:
twitch.tv/americanmcgee
If you miss the stream live or don't have Twitch, you can also check it out live or view the post-stream recording...
2021-06-23 23:27:06 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
All aboard! Or... all under-board? What do you call a train that rides... on you? Justice?
That reminds me of one of those old "In Soviet Russia, trains ride you!" jokes.
Anyway, we'll ponder all this and more during the Live Stream later this week!
Live Stream Woo WOo!
The usual time and place. 7 PM on ...
2021-06-22 01:01:58 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Over the course of pre-production on Alice: Asylum we've frequently made reference to Shadow Alice, the arch-nemesis of Child Alice and the force of darkness threatening to destroy Wonderland. And we've also seen a variety of interpretations of this aspect of Alice's character. A few of those are shared below...
This burnt-face interpretation came from Joey (im...
2021-06-21 16:00:01 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
What is your favorite piece of dark or moody classical music?
As I am writing the end of the Alice: Asylum narrative, I am listening to a mix of Chopin and Beethoven - Nocturne No. 20 and Moonlight Sonata specifically. And I'm thinking about how music from these artists - and others of the era - might influence the soundtrack, theme, and mood of Alice: Asylum.
Let me know in the comments what pieces spring to mind when you think of the Alice serie...
2021-06-16 03:37:40 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
Normally we'd have a Live Stream tomorrow at the usual time - we try to host them every other week. But I'd like to request that we skip this one. Why? Well, Yan is taking Lucky and Grandma on a short trip to nearby Suzhou. Martin is apartment hunting. And I am deep in Umbraland, sorting out the ending of the story for Alice: Asylum. If we skip the Live Stream tomorrow it means I can have a day on my own (alone!) to focus on writing. And Martin can continue h...
2021-06-16 03:12:26 +0000 UTC
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Dear Insane Children,
A new image from Omri showing the Umbraland version of Hatter's Domain!
The Alice: Asylum pre-production team continues to explore ideas related to what we're calling "Umbraland" - the result of Shadow Alice taking over Wonderland. Child Alice arrives in this place after years "under glass" - kept in stasis inside Snow Globe Wonderland. The final chapter of the game will pit these two characters against one another to decide the fate of Wonderland...
2021-06-13 01:33:22 +0000 UTC
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