Dropbox Issues
over 3 years ago – Sat, Apr 24, 2021 at 09:29:25 AM

Well, after 5+ years of successfully using, and being a fan of, Dropbox I've finally run into a snag with their service. This was one of my largest releases to date so far, and between the massive amount of uploads I did yesterday and the downloads, my account was flagged for high traffic and share links were blocked - DOH!

I'm working with their support team to resolved, but they told me there's a good chance it can take up to 24 hrs which is a huge bummer, but I'm crossing my fingers that it's much less than that. This affects all my downloads (addons and Beast and Baddies rewards) so I'm super sorry for the service interruption, but I'm working hard on my end to get things resolved, so stay tuned!

Sorry for the inconvenience. The sliver lining is that when I was finalizing the models yesterday, I added 3 more freebies to the pot - vampire thralls and the dire boar!

Model + BackerKit Update
over 3 years ago – Wed, Apr 21, 2021 at 11:27:09 PM

HEYO folks, hope you're all doing well! I've been doing my best to recover from being sick the last few days but have some news/updates to share:

 Model Updates 

I had to do work to nail down a backer for the final pick (I learned through this campaign that Kickstarter doesn't always send messages to backers when you send them,  particularly if the backer is primarily using the mobile app) so that caused some delays, but it's sorted. The final model that was chosen was the WRAITH - which is ironic, considering that is the absolute first model we made when we started on this campaign many months ago, so I' super glad it was included!

I also heard your feedback related to the awkwardness of the young dragon pose/breath and we fixed it up so it looks way more badass now. We also got the final model finished from a design standpoint - the undead croc - and you can see renders of these three below.

Model / BackerKit Timelines

As I noted in the campaign and the post-funding update, Kickstarter takes 2 weeks to collect funds, resolve card disputes, etc. In that time I've been hard at work prepping stuff for delivery. 

There are over 100 models in this campaign, and I'm providing each one in 4 versions (unbased, based, resin based, and "drop-in base" ready). To expedite this I've been leveraging my software engineering skills to create some macros and python scripts to assist. It took a while to get these nailed down, but now I'm churning through finalization of the models. 

I can now click one button in Blender to merge the base, decimate, fix small overhangs with my own algorithm,  create the resin base and "drop in" versions, merge overlapping vertices, do a manifold check, and more! LOTS of steps go into making a really good printable 3D model, and I've always been proud of the work we put in to make them some of the best in the market for printability!

KS notified me that the funds will be coming through tomorrow. I have BackerKit completely setup and ready to go and I'm just working on getting as many models finished and uploaded to the dropbox as I can before I send everything out. I'm estimating ~65-70% of models will be finished for you to download immediately and I'll wrap the remainder up pretty quick.

I am planning on sending out the BackerKit survey sometime in the next ~24-48 hrs, so keep an eye on your inbox. I'll be sharing another KS update when I do, along with a few video overviews for those who have never used BackerKit or participated in one of my Kickstarters before. The time is almost nigh!

Stay tuned for BackerKit/model delivery, and thank you all again so much for your support!

Model Update
over 3 years ago – Thu, Apr 15, 2021 at 12:02:46 AM

Hey folks! The team has been hard at work and we have some new renders to show you! We went classic for the young dragon (red) and you can see him in his fire-breathing glory below! Also another stretch goal added to the campaign was the Banshee. Next up is the finished (and F*$!ng EPIC) Roc. Lastly, the evil wizard busts on the scene to plague your players.

There's ONE stretch goal pick remaining to be unveiled - I didn't hear from the backer and did a new backer pick this morning, so stay tuned for that.

Also I've had lots of folks ask me about the not-unlocked stretch goals. Some of the ones that weren't unlocked weren't modeled yet, and some others were. The finished ones will surely make an appearance in the future, possibly in one of my upcoming charitable "Community (Treasure)Chest Projects", but for now I'm focused on getting the final unlocked models finished.

FEATURED ADDON: "A Den of Alien Evil"

There was a lot of add-ons listed in the campaign, and one line of text doesn't doe them justice so I'm going to share some photos and info of a few that might be of the most interest to you folks. A while ago I started a charitable project series called "Community (Treasure)Chest", with a model of pledge-what-you-can, and 40% went to charity. The models from those projects are now sold as retail sets, but the first  one still might be my favorite to date - "A Den of Alien Evil" focused on a certain type of psychic, face-tentacled beasties (we call them Mind Horrors). The set has multiple support-free minis and some super creepy pieces of scatter terrain, and is available as a $10 add-on to your pledge (it can be added in BackerKit when pledge manager goes out in a week or so). You can see the full details of what's included in the original project HERE, and check out this epic painted shot from my friends at Cephalopod Studios:

Model Updates
over 3 years ago – Mon, Apr 12, 2021 at 11:47:30 AM

Hi folks! We're hard at work over here workin on more models to show you. We should have a render of the young dragon to show in the next few days, and we're working on the Evil Wizard and the Undead Croc too!

Two of the 4 picks that happened after the KS ended have been sorted, and the Roc and the Giant Rat have been added to the mix! You can see our concept art of the roc below (which will get tweaked to be supportless, of course). There's still 2 more picks coming your way too. Below you can see the finished renders of the Rust Monster, Giant Rat, and the finished pair of Slaad! 

Stay tuned for more updates.

Kickstarter Successful! Now what?
over 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 09, 2021 at 04:33:56 AM

Thank you all so much for an awesome, successful campaign! We unlocked tons of stretch goals and this campaign evolved into a huge set of STLs that I'm proud to share with you all!

I wanted to take a minute to outline next steps for those of you who have never participated in one of my Kickstarters before, and answer a few common questions!

When can I see the work-in-progress mins and unpicked sets?

I can no longer update the content (images/text/etc) on the main campaign page since the Kickstarter is ended, so you won't see updates any more on there. As we finish more renders to share, and the final pending sets are picked, etc I'll be doing some updates to share those with you all.

When can I get the files?

Kickstarter takes 2 weeks to collect payment from backers and hand it over to me. This is to account for failed card transactions and the like (which does happen). In that 2 week period I will be working to finalize/test/finish as many of the files as I can, and organize them in the final folder structure. Once Kickstarter releases the funding to me, I will make the files that are ready available to all backers. I'm estimating that at that time 60-75% of the included files will be finished and ready to print.

Please note that just because I can make a render of a model does not mean it's finished -there's lots of work to make a final version of minis (support validation, testing, watertighting/manifold checking, etc), so there's a LOT of work to do to finalize all the models still, which is why I noted up to 90 days on the KS campaign page (though I expect it to take much less of course). 

I always created a google doc that outlines all the files included, and their state of completion and when they were last updated. I use Dropbox to deliver files and BackerKit as a pledge manager.

I pledged for add-ons, where do I choose which ones I want?

There will be a pledge manager (BackerKit) that you will use to choose your add-ons, which you will have access to shortly after the funding period. I'll be doing another update when the pledge manager is ready, including videos showing you how to choose add-ons, get the files, etc.

What's next for EC3D?

At the moment we'er working on more issues of The Ignis Quadrant comic series and a short anthology comic in the Ignis Quadrant (which will both feature many characters, locations, ships and more from items in this project).

Also in the works is a sprawling Steampunk STL project,  a Kickstarter of real-life tabletop props, a few Community (Treasure)Chest projects (the ongoing charity series I created, with small themed STL sets) which will probably feature a scifi and a cyberpunk themed concept, and even a Board Game. 2021 is gonna be a busy year!

If you don't already, please follow EC3D on facebook and on Instagram to stay up to date!