September 2023

Hello Killer Bunnies fans!

I'm back this month with another big update on my project! In focusing my efforts on Tier 1, I found myself beginning with the Starter section but was so excited to get working on the Boosters section that I've actually made huge progress there as well!

NEW EQUIPMENT

First up on my list of updates: the new printer! As I was designing with the old printer, I ran into some problems with color. I was restricted to having only one type of color on any given layer. I could pause the printer and switch out the color whenever I wanted, but it was too time-intensive to have too many color changes. Without going too much into the weeds, what this new printer allows me to do is print TWO colors on any given layer without manual color changes! The printer also has a bigger print size, and these two elements make it essential for realizing my vision of a particular (enormous) marker that comes in a later booster.

I've worked hard to get this new printer all fine-tuned (it takes a while...) and ready for printing this giant marker. I've been printing smaller test versions of it to get things calibrated (but I'll actually be printing the final version today...), so I'll give you a sneak peek with this (blurred) little sample: 

Another important thing that the dual-color printer lets me do is put text on my prints. With the single-color, text has to be embossed on the design and then painted (which I'm not very good at so my results are always a little muddled), but dual-color lets me automatically print the text in a different color than the background, which is essential for the planets especially, which all have text on them. It's been a little more difficult than I thought it would be to get this printing clean, but I've finally figured out the process, so I'll be getting to the planets soon.

In terms of other equipment, with 3D printing you can't do any color mixing like you can with normal paper ink. This means that whatever color you put into the printer is the color that comes out. We have settled on a supplier who will consistently offer the (many) colors that we'll need over time and just got our first giant order of all these fancy colors to start printing with! You guys, these pieces are going to look SOOOO good!

THE MARKERS

The next thing I wanted to update y'all on is the status of the marker designs. The biggest thing I've had to refine about them is the peg system. Let me explain.

I have decided to include the Random Locations in my models. This means each marker needs to have the capability of being placed on any Random Location, especially for easily predictable scenarios such as for existing cards like Martian Misanthrope. One solution would be to design Random Location to have a flat top, just like the board, so that the marker would be able to rest on top. However, I quickly realized there was a simple upgrade that offered an efficient convenience: by adding a peg on top of the flat surface—and by cutting out a hole for the peg from underneath each of the markers—I've found that it makes it very easy to slap that marker right on top of the Random Location AND automatically aligns the piece exactly on the center of the hex, streamlining the gameplay experience.

At this point, I have gone through probably a dozen different versions of these pegs. I've found that if the peg isn't tall enough then it doesn't make it any easier to place the marker, and if the hole isn't wide enough then the markers grip onto the peg and get stuck to the piece below (requiring two-handed separation, which isn't convenient). I have finally settled on a reliable peg design and have begun fully incorporating it into each marker. Here's what the sample looks like (with a carrot marker upside-down next to it to show the peg cutout):

With the peg system in place, the next hurdle to design is the markers' stackability. As you play Journey to Jupiter, you'll find every once-in-a-while that markers will need to be placed on the very same hex. This poses a challenge with 3 dimensional pieces. I have meticulously designed each piece (from Carrots, to The Minilith, and even the Pineapples) to incorporate the existing peg hole underneath each marker to make it so any piece can stack on any other piece. At first I thought it would be impossible for anything to stack on the Pineapples because of their leafy top, but after some feedback from one of you, I got thinking of the possibilities and realized it was not only possible but I even found a solution that worked really well. Here's an example of stacking with some extras of the test Transport Pod markers, even though in the game you will hardly ever actually stack these particular pieces on top of one another:

STATUS SYSTEM

I want to have a sort of status system to be able to update you on how each piece is coming along. Let's try something here, see if it works.

• Design status

  • ROUGH DRAFT: the model is still in its first design.

  • REFINED: the model is past its first design but still has at least some tweaks left.

  • FINISHED: the model design is done.

    • note: if there is no design status, all the work (including printing work) has been completed for this marker.

• Print status

  • PRINTED: the model's most recent design has been printed at least once.

  • POLISHED: the printing settings for the individual model have been tuned at least some.

  • FINAL PRINT: the model's FINISHED design has been printed in full color with all its settings tuned. 

    • note: if there is no print status, the model's most recent design has not yet been printed.

Following the above system, here are specific statuses on all the markers in Tier 1:

And the status for the planets:

To end, I'll leave you with a picture of an Earth marker test, which I thought looked pretty cool. The text of the design isn't there, some of the printing settings still need refinement, and the colors will be a little different in the final design, but this at least gives you an idea of what the new printer can do. :)

And that's it for this update! Thanks for following.

~Hale-Bent