americanmcgee
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Letting Go While Holding On
🕑 Added 2020-03-31 02:02:29 +0000 UTCDear Insane Children,
Strange Days indeed. I hope you're all staying safe and warm somewhere. Share your situation in the comments below. We need to hear from each other and support each other - now more than ever!
Here in Shanghai, we're OK. Our 14-day home isolation period ended on Saturday night. On Sunday, we drove into the city center. The drive from Qingpu to the heart of Shanghai usually takes about an hour - though it's only 18km in distance. This weekend? It took us about 20 minutes from door-to-door. That's crazy! I've not seen traffic (or lack of it) like that in 10+ years. The streets are empty. And the restaurant where we went for lunch... only had guests at 4 tables (out of about 50).
Things are certainly not back to "normal" here in Shanghai.
What's it like where you are?
I Am Become Death
Omri started work on a new illustration (main image above) and I wrote some notes:
I like it as a start. That Mercury symbol... is related to War and Anger.
The arms remind me of Vishnu. “Now I am become Death, the destroyer of worlds.”
For the musical notes I recommend you listen to (and borrow score from):
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=a53s4jyCqqU
(Richard Wagner - Götterdämmerung - Siegfried's Funeral March)
Götterdämmerung (German: [ˈɡœtɐˌdɛməʁʊŋ]; Twilight of the Gods),[1] WWV 86D, is the last in Richard Wagner's cycle of four music dramas titled Der Ring des Nibelungen (The Ring of the Nibelung, or The Ring for short).
The title is a translation into German of the Old Norse phrase Ragnarök, which in Norse mythology refers to a prophesied war among various beings and gods that ultimately results in the burning, immersion in water, and renewal of the world.
War is Chaos. War leads to Death. Death is Dissolution. Dissolution leads to Rebirth.
Run with that!
Let us know in the comments below your thoughts on Omri's illustration and my feedback.
GHOSTS V AND VI
Many of you are, like me, fans of Nine Inch Nails and their various spin-offs and influences. One of our supporters (thanks, Tom Resnick) brought to my attention that NIN just released TWO FREE ALBUMS of amazing instrumental music.
Perfect mood music for our efforts on Alice: Asylum!
And... the march of the pigs...
In The Mood
Now that you're in the mood for Asylum work...
I sent this email to the Asylum team yesterday:
It’s taken me two weeks since my return from Thailand to catch up on all things Mysterious, shipping, and biz/legal/finance here in Shanghai. But I finally have a clear calendar and relatively open task list so... we can get back to work on Asylum. Yay!
As you all know, the deal with (Insert Hollywood TV/film group) fell through. But at the same time that deal was going away, we got a note from EA Australia about another media company (REDACTED Productions) who are interested in Alice as a TV/film project. That interest also means EA (a different team from the one we’ve been working with) is taking a fresh look at Alice and the progress we’ve made so far.
There are also some nibbles from the guys at Epic. And here’s news to explain why...
https://www.epicgames.com/store/en-US/news/epic-games-publishing-announcement
For both the EA and Epic conversations, we would really benefit from the Game Design Bible being in a more complete state. In the time since we started fleshing out Asylum, we’ve put together tons of great art, design ideas, and story snippets... but it’s time to bring it all together into a document we can share with potential financiers and publishers.
That effort has started inside this Google Doc:
https://docs.google.com/document/d/1D-5-F1QzCbh9EgDeRJmvLqrJMdgqezMcIL2YZEf-aww/edit?usp=sharing
See the attached PDF for an example from Alex of what the final Design Bible will look like in terms of final format, layout, and content.
The Google Doc currently contains a copy/paste of all the content collected over on the Alice: Asylum Wiki. Going forward, we’ll put our story, art, design efforts into the Google Doc – that means that work on the wiki (including Crowd Design) will pause for the duration of this phase. We need to refine and condense all of our ideas. That content can then be filtered into the Design Bible itself.
Already you can see that this provides a much more presentable format for our efforts.
To manage this process, we’re going to take schedule and task guidance from Alex. He’s working on setting up a project management structure using Monday (monday.com) and invites to that system will be sent to you all soon.
Omri will continue working with the artists to provide direction and to produce key concept images.
Artists keep making art! 😊
While all of this is going on, we still need to feed the Patreon machine. That’s where we get the bulk of the funding for our team’s overhead. Art Prints are a big part of this – so we’ll want to make sure that there are plenty of Key Concepts which can be converted into Art Prints – the “Tea Port” illustration from Dario or Omri’s “Judgement” are good examples of this. A section will be added in Monday for this as well.
So... expect to see an invite to Monday soon. And then you’ll see tasks related to all of this appearing in Monday.
These are strange days. But we are – so far – fortune to have the support of our Patrons and a clear mission in front of us to keep our minds and hands occupied.
Let me know if you have any questions, concerns, or suggestions.
Now... I am going to get to work on some story stuff!
---
That should give you (and the team) a clear idea of what we're doing in the coming months.
I've attached the Alice3_Book_Draft PDF to this post. And you can click on the link above for the Google Doc where we're putting all this effort.
THANK YOU
I know I say it often but I really can't say it enough. Especially in this crazy time.
Your support makes it possible for a team of EIGHT People (Norm, Alex, Omri, Jen, Martin, Joey, Dario, American) to focus their creative energies on the Alice: Asylum project.
You're keeping the lights on at a time when so many people and businesses are forced to close up shop. We're lucky to have a production model suited to this situation. But luckier still to have the support and trust of our Insane Children!
I am truly humbled. And I sincerely hope that our efforts and output match your hopes and expectations.
Let me know in the comments below your thoughts on what I've outlined here. Are there areas where you'd like to see improvements? Things that are unclear?
Tell me! I'm listening :)
OH, Live Streams!
Yes, I know many of you are hoping for a Live Stream again soon. I will work on the tech issues related to that today. And will aim to host one on my Thursday (Wednesday in the US) at the usual time (around 6PM PST) ... if everything is running smoothly. Expect an update on that as soon as I make sure all systems are A-OK.
From Shanghai with Humble Appreciation,
-American
Comments
Sarah McKeegan
Love the illustrations so cool!!
PLEASE do not go Epic exclusive!
Hey hey. Here in NYS. Things are scary. I've been laid off now for 19 days. We haven't been able to get through to the department of labor for our unemployment benefits yet so we've been unpaid now two weeks. Fortunate we have some savings to fall back on, but I'm worried if I can't get it set up soon!! Agh. Anywho - being quarantined is ok. We are still able to leave for essentials (Walmart, Weggies) but restaurants are closed, only open for delivery or take out. Been lovely playing video games and living summer vacation hours again. I haven't been unemployed and free like this since I was 15! Hope all is getting better in Shanghai. I can't imagine how scary it is in the Eastern hemisphere right now. Much love.
Keeping a schedule is very important in these trying times. Every night before bed I write down a list of things I need to do the next day work wise, or just generally scheduling in things (exercise goals etc). It helps a lot. Temptation bundling is a very useful tool. Hang in there :)
I have faith in you McGee, you created this world for us, but as of Corona I still to work here in Virginia, USA and I don't get out much or pay attention to the media so im not as knowing of whats going around
Codie K Conklin
NIN 🤟🏻🖤
Love the new art. I do agree the hands are a bit large. The phalanges are getting a bit overwhelming for me but if they were to be smaller, I wouldn't mind so much. This art totally sets the mood for the current time. This would be a wonderful print. On another note, the pigs feel very reminiscent of the landstriders from The Dark Crystal, which is not a bad thing. :)
Doing fine really. Getting fatter by the moment and I miss the Faces of the students when explaining some theorems, online lecturing is not even close to the real deal, IMO, but other than that, pretty much as usual. Nice to hear that Shangái is comming back to normal, Hope we get there too as soon as possible.
It's this time of Global pandemic - thanks for providing some normalcy. I hope you take moments during the day to look around your home at your family & breathe a sigh of relief that they're safe and that you're home again. Looking forward to more updates. Thanks American <3
Thanks for all the updates as always I'm glad you are no longer on official lock down and cam get back to some form of normality where you are. Seems it will be an eternity over here but I'm not big on going out so that aspect of it I'm good with. Can't wait to see the complete end result of the Bible.
Honestly I feel like I'm on the verge of a mental break down. Which I don't need. I'm disheartened because I have to change my tier pledge to $5 at the moment . Which is really sad because Omri's piece is stunning as always. That's definitley in my top 5 favorites. I'm glad all is will with the family. xo
Yes, thank you to everyone for your support :)
Wendy Jaa
Wowza, there's a lot to unpack here! I'm so glad that work has continues on the most anticipated game in all of Wonderland! I'm glad that everyone is safe at home, too. I'm sad that the deal fell through, but when one door closes, another is bound to open! Whatever happens in the end, we'll make the best of it. I'm excited to see the Design Bible come to life!
Abetternamenow
Im a giant introvert so im loving life. So much to do at home. Btw American, im currently writing an Alice in wonderland opera.
I agree with everything Ollie Bear said and hope all the American Team & all the Insane Children get through this desperate time, to come out and see light ( and wonderous things) at the end of the tunnel
Abelwyn Connelly
I'm stationed on an aircraft carrier. The amount of prevention is insane. There are medical screening tents pier side to prevent possible cases form coming on board, anyone who is sick with anything is sent home. There's designated times throughout the day to drop all work and sanitize all surfaces and equipment, chow hours and such have been changed to provide ample social distancing, the carrier next to us is going underway early to quarantine its personnel for 2 weeks and then rolling straight into its deployment. This pandemic has not only put stress on medical personnel, buisness owners, teachers and the economy as a whole. It's begun to affect mission readiness across all branches. Stay home and stay healthy, it eases the stress on those who can't go home to their families. Doctors, nurses, emergency responders and military service members.
FifthDream
There is so much incredible art that's come out of Alice over the years, and this is the absolute fucking greatest one ever and i need it on my wall. I'm in love.
My goodness, that painting from Omri is amazing!! Thangs have been okay for us as well. My family has fled to my grandma’s farm, and we haven’t been in town in about a month. We are all safe and well.
Definitely a cool poster here but Alice's hands probably need to be slimmed down a bit for the final version...I spent a few seconds wondering who had their hands on her face! Epic nibbling has me ill at ease since I'm sure exclusivity on PC to their platform is part of the deal and that will turn some measure of online response against the project (fairly or unfairly I leave for others to discuss) so that is an interesting avenue to see opening. I'm really looking forward to getting back into the live streams and catch up on everything that's happened behind the scenes over the past few months (!) now. Happy to be finally getting back to some level of (ab)normality in the Ayslum.
Thank you for all of the teams hard work. I hope to be able to play this awesome game one day :)
I live in a little town called Weed here in northern California. Things have been very stressful since, I work in a nursing home. These people need to survive and it saddens me to hear about the rest of the worlds chaos. Glad to hear you guys are safe and doing good!
