WE'RE AT PRESS!!! And better yet, we just approved digital proofs from our printer, which went really quickly. The next step is physical proofs, which will arrive at Atlas Games by the end of the month, they say. 

Now that ArMD is to press, my co-producer Ben Hartfield and I have time to do other things for the first time in months ...

We've gone ahead and charged pre-orders/late backers, since we're almost ready to distribute final PDFs. If you're one of our original backers and you haven't filled in your survey yet, now is a great time to do it!

We're so grateful for your support and patience on this massive project, and we can't wait to share the finished results with everyone. Thank you!

-Michelle Nephew
 ArMD Co-Producer
 Atlas Games Co-Owner

Do you like the look of these Project Status tally marks as much as I do?

That's right, Ars Magica is GOING TO PRESS right now! ALL LAYOUT FILES ARE APPROVED and we're PDFizing right now.  I feel like I've run a marathon in the last week, and I could really use some catch-up sleep, but I'm super proud of all the amazing work we've done to wrap this part of the project up. The book is just gorgeous!

Now our printing partner's turn is starting. In the next month or so they'll send us digital proofs. After those are approved, they'll make prototypes and mail those physical samples to us, which I'll take photos to share with you. I'm as excited to see them as you are!

After the physical proofs are approved, then we'll put together the final digital version to distribute to backers. We need to wait until that point just in case our printer finds something that might change the text. But we expect you'll have the final digital version well before our container of printed books arrives at port.

To celebrate, I'm including a preview of David Chart's Editor's Note in the backer-only section below. Enjoy!

-Michelle Nephew
 Ars Magica Definitive Co-Producer
 Atlas Games Co-Owner

We have dice samples! And oh my gosh are they gorgeous.


This is the acrylic set sample from our manufacturing partner overseas, with pearlized colors that match the chapter themes in the new Definitive Edition core book, plus black and brown (which will be lighter than pictured). The samples were made at the "standard" 16mm, with the white resin 3D print showing our larger mass production 20mm size.  

These dice have so much decoration on them, that our printer agrees the larger size is the way to go. That will let us see more of the swirling pearlized color, and make the Order of Hermes sigil much more distinct. 

We're working on the very last content in the book's appendices now. So I also have a special advance release for backers only, of the PRINTABLE Definitive Edition character sheet! Backers can see below for the download links.

Enjoy!

-Michelle Nephew
 Ars Magica Definitive Co-Producer
 Atlas Games Co-Owner

Today we have another special preview for backers only! Scroll down to see co-creator Jonathan Tweet's preface, where he contemplates the many things he loves about Ars Magica …

The dice are at press! All the dice proofs are approved, and our printer is working on mass production now.

In the core Ars Magica Definitive book, we now have indexes! SO MANY indexes, in fact … 8 pages of the Standard Index, another 4 pages of Spells Index plus a new Bestiary Index, and a Table of Artists tacks on another page. That's a whole lot of indexing work, so our thanks to staffer Ross Waataja for his fine job of collating all that info.

Meanwhile my co-producer Ben Hartfield is up to Chapter 10, in his thankless job of inserting page number references. I'm following behind him, on Chapter 4 for my final layout check (which goes much faster than polishing).

What's left after that is exporting the foil & embossing or UV files for all the covers, finishing the retail cover sheet for the ArMD set & separate Storyguide Screen pack so we can sell both in stores, adding page numbers to the Reference Guide and Storyguide Screen, and PDFizing everything for press. It's a short list!

Ars Magica's Open License also has this this new fan-created content:

Enjoy!

-Michelle Nephew
 Ars Magica Definitive Co-Producer
 Atlas Games Co-Owner

There's lots of crunchy good news on Ars Magica Definitive today, and some eye candy for "dessert" at the end!

Ars Magica Definitive Final Polishing
We're getting so close to press time! This is how close …

The interior polishing pass is done, and it's now having page references and an index added, then my final layout check (which is a lot faster than proofreading). That means layout is very, very nearly finished!

There are a few other smaller pre-press things to do, like exporting the foil & embossing files for the covers, finishing the retail cover sheet so we can sell it in stores, and PDFizing for press (we're working on reducing those file sizes). But we're on the very last things now.

That's right, "Ars Magica Founders" John Nephew and Woody Eblom have even finished their read-through, and signed off on it!

I've cleared my schedule for this week to focus on Ars Magica Definitive, working alongside my co-producer Ben Hartfield who's been "All Ars Magica, All the Time" for months. So I hope to have "to press" news for you very soon!

Cloth Mythic Europe Map Prototype
The prototype of the finished Mythic Europe map has arrived! I'm so incredibly proud of this map. It's really everything I'd hoped it would be.



Seeing it in person, there's just one thing we're considering changing. Should we remove the vines from one or both sides to allow for print shifting? The cloth is "stretchy" unlike paper, so we've been warned that it could end up very slightly off-center. Taking out the left and/or right vines might make that less noticeable if it happens. Let us know in the comments if fewer vines would be okay with you, or if you prefer the full Ars Magica Definitive trade dress.

FREE Ars Magica Dice
The recycled Ars Magica dice we're manufacturing locally will be joined by a second acrylic set made overseas, when your Ars Magica Definitive box arrives at your door.  That's right, you'll be getting 12 dice instead of 6, with the recycled dice as a freebie!

The reason for this is, of course, that the recycled dice are having some issues. From the polypropylene plastic feeling too light, to problems with sizing and de-molding due to the intricate design, to muddy colors, to a rough finish and sprue marks remaining on the corners, to a lack facilities in the US for tumbling and painting. Even if we did have John manually paint the 10 faces in 6,000 dice (which he'd rather not), the other problems have piled up in our most recent prototype.

We've committed to the local print run, though, so we'll still send the recycled dice your way, but they'll be unpainted. We've also reached out to our long-time manufacturing partner in China to produce a variant set from pearlescent acrylic. They'll be the quality dice you'd expect in standard game dice, but they won't be recycled plastic. So our plan is to send both sets to backers. It will cost us more, but we hope this makes everyone happy, and we really appreciate the chance that your pledge has given us to experiment with recycled dice, even if it hasn't turned out as we'd hoped. Thank you for your support!

Storyguide Screen Art Reveal
This update also contains a really big art reveal, with a lot of history behind it ... it's Thomas Denmark's Storyguide Screen triptych. This very looong scene will be broken up into three separate pieces, one on each panel of the screen, with the "foil & leather" border from Definitive Edition's cover around each section. But seeing it in its seamless original format is a special treat (just for backers, below).

Enjoy!

-Michelle Nephew
 Ars Magica Definitive Co-Producer
 Atlas Games Co-Owner