It is an incredible honor just to be on this list! My jaw dropped to the floor to discover that the game you made possible, Dungeons & DoomKnights, was awarded the #1 position. Not only that, but we made the Top 10 New NES Games list too! Please check out the full article.
What an amazing adventure this has been....
Thank you for being a part of it!
ALL BACKER PHYSICAL ORDERS HAVE SHIPPED
We did it! We really did it!
As you read this, backers have already begun receiving their physical copies of Dungeons & DoomKnights. Hopefully yours arrives soon! When you get yours, I would love to see your unboxing! Please post photos and tag my Artix Twitter or other social media accounts.
If you have any issues, please check the handy "Help! What do I do?" section of the previous Kickstarter post.
Thank you & congratulations everyone!
This is not over yet. But this was by far the biggest and most important milestone in our project together. Next up.... Credits & Soundtrack!
Battle on!
Adam (Artix) & the 8-Bit Dungeons & DoomKnights Team
Dungeons & DoomKnights is SHIPPING NOW!
almost 3 years ago
– Sat, Feb 12, 2022 at 10:38:10 PM
Dungeons & DoomKnights is SHIPPING NOW!
Greetings 8-Bit Undead Slayers,
The great ship-ageddon has officially begun! We are shipping your physical Dungeons & DoomKnights carts and extras. You should have already received an email confirmation for your order from our online shop, HeroMart. Was there an issue with your shipping address?
Your package will include all of the (in Undead Slayer terms) corporeal objects in your pledge. Depending on your pledge, this may include physical carts, T-shirts, collector's map, poster calendar, signed certificate, and... yes, oh yes, every physical order will include a surprise, real-life issue of Pretendo Empower magazine. Thank you for believing in this game project.
One of the stretch goals was to sign your instruction manuals. A number of backers vocalized wanting to keep their books "pristine". So, we did one better! We included 8-Bit Undead Slayer certificates. I personally signed each of them.
While all of the carts were made and boxed at my home, we moved everything to HeroMart.com (located inside our lab) for shipping.
One of these may be yours
We finished packaging & labeled all of the orders. But a few backers missed our previous "check your address" posts and social media reminders. If your address is wrong (you can check it in BackerKit) then please contact player support right away so we can fix it before the postal service picks it up.
"Wait! Don't Hang up. This is an important call about your extended Cart Warranty..."
If you have any issues after receiving your order, please contact our player support and explain in detail so we can help. Because we have a very limited number of total carts, we are going to have a 4 month window (based on the date it was shipped) to handle any issues.
Help Guide for new NES Players!
Dungeons & DoomKnights was designed to run on REAL 1985 NES hardware. It has a save feature too! Every cart, including yours, was tested here, on my childhood NES.
I often make the joke that if there is any problem that you should just blow on the cartridge. But after testing 1,200 carts I can tell you with 100% certainty that blowing on the cart does not actually do anything other than possibly get a little spit on it. These old game systems use pin connectors. When you put a cart in, it tends to have a sweet spot where the pins connect just right. Simply taking it out and putting it back in again solves MOST problems.
Cart Problems F.A.Q.
Here are solutions to the most common cart problems...
Gray screen or blinking power button
These old machines were finicky even when they were new. Try taking out the cart, and putting it back in. Then turn the power on.
Hey! I am still getting a Gray Screen or Blinking Power Button!?
Are you outside of the USA? It is possible you need to switch the region. Good news... our carts are multi-region. All you need to do to change the region iis stick in the cart, turn it on, and hit the reset button 4 times. There are also instructions to do this on the back of the cart.
It is not working with my 3rd Party created NES Hardware
OK. Let's make sure your device is compatible. Dungeons & DoomKnights will run on any real NES hardware. Our game uses Mapper 30. But some new systems like the Hyperkin Retron 5 use emulation which does not support Mapper 30. I posted a list of known compatible hardware on the official Dungeons & DoomKnights website. Check to see if your hardware is compatible, and if not, check the vendor's site to see if there is a patch/firmware upgrade to make it compatible. https://dungeonsanddoomknights.com/FAQ
Broken / Damaged cart?
Please write to us through player support so we can fix the issue for you ASAP. We appreciate you and will always do our best to go above and beyond for you.
I love this game and cannot stop playing! Help!
Search the magazine and manual for clues to hidden things inside the game.
Dungeons & DoomKnights Soundtrack & Heavy Metal Remix
Next week will be the premiere of the Dungeons & DoomKnight soundtrack! It is actually two albums. The original 8-bit chiptune soundtrack and an insane heavy metal remake of every song. Composed and performed by Jongaar and Broomtool, the amount of time and effort put into this album could have warranted its own Kickstarter. Backers of the collector's edition will be receiving both albums through BackerKit next week. The exclusive in-game rewards that came with your order will officially go rare. When the remaining few hundred copies of Dungeons & DoomKnights physical carts go on sale at HeroMart, they will be more expensive and not include the Kickstarter rewards. We may make new rewards for that release-- and if we do, rest assured that you will automatically get those in-game rewards too! A win-win.
THANK YOU!!!
Thank you for making Dungeons & DoomKnights a reality! You believed in this when it was just an idea... soon, you will be holding an actual NES cart in your hands. I cannot wait to see it. Please send me your photos and videos of unboxing, playing, or displaying your copy of Dungeons & DoomKnights. Thank you for making this dream a reality.
Battle on!
Artix & the 8-bit Dungeons & DoomKnights Team
P.S. Oh, and if you need to update your shipping info... Contact player support quick! XD
P.S.It is finally happening!!! And it is crazy that the cart you are receiving was tested on my childhood NES. Every single cart was. We made and assembled all of them here at my home.
D&DK Ranked #5 Adventure Game on the Top 250 Homebrews
almost 3 years ago
– Tue, Jan 25, 2022 at 06:30:50 PM
We are prepping to ship!!!!!!!!!
D&DK Ranked #5 Adventure Game on the Top 250 Homebrews
Also, as a surprise, our 2020 Byteoff game jam submission "ChronoKnight", made #23 on Shooter/Run n' Gun. A lot of friends in the NESMaker community made the list. Including the world's youngest NES developer... Seiji. He got an honorable mention for his game Kubo 3.
On the topic of Kubo 3.... Seiji and his father Dale Coop ran a booth at a convention in France this weekend. If you are unable to make it to France in your time machine, no worries-- you can still check out Kubo 3 on Itch.io.
I am blown away at home much effort has been put into the heavy meta remix of Dungeons & DoomKnights. As everything is wrapping up for the final release, I really want to shine a spotlight on Jongaar and Broomtool for the herculean effort and overwhelming passion they put into the MASSIVE second bonus album.
The original scope of this music project was to make an album of the all the 8-bit songs they created for Dungeons and DoomKnights for backers who got the Collector's edition. But then they went above and beyond recreating each song with their guitars and music making tools. They have been working on the album at night for months. The most important thing is that the collector's edition backers enjoy it. I think the album itself deserves a battle concert in AdventureQuest 3D and AdventureQuest Worlds.
Your name in the credits
When we officially ship we will "lock down" the final list of names from Kickstarter and Backerkit for the credits page. A few people messaged me asking how to change their name. The easiest way, would be to just wait until the page goes live after we ship... and then send me a message here on BackerKit and I can update it by hand for you.
Magazines arrived!
It is 12:30am here... and I should be getting some rest to start my Monday fresh. But I neeeeeeeeed to tell you this one last story.
I created the 20 page magazine and submitted it to a professional print shop. Not sure what State they are located in, but they are a big company. With speed being of the essence... I paid $95 for an overnight proof of the final version. But two days later, it had not arrived yet. I called. No matter how frantic or panicked, is so important to always be super polite and positive thinking. There were two problems. My rep was out with covid, and other people were handling her requests. Second, their side saddle stitching machine broke. I received the proof two days later and they generously gave me a store credit for the overnight fee. But I made a terrible mistake. The magazine itself was fine.. but I had put the wrong cover on it. A week earlier... Dage had improved my cover by hand drawing a bunch of glows for Sepulchure's eyes, added armor trim and cape on me, and a ton of other subtle but really amazing improvements. During a last minute fix, I must have accidentally reverted it. So I called the printers, submitted a new .PDF and asked if they could apply the credit to overnight the fixed version so I could proof it. The order (2,000 copies) was too big to just risk it. They said yes. A few days later it had still not arrived X_X. A few friendly calls later I had pieced together what happened. Because my rep was still out and I was bouncing around people, there were unfortunate miscommunications. It was quickly solved with some friendly persistance. The magazine arrived the next day. However, at this point I was nearly two weeks behind schedule, and in a panic. I knew once I approved they still needed 11 days to print. And we should have already be shipping at this point. On the flip side, the quality of the magazine was soooooo goood! A visitor who came to the house picked one up and said "Adam, everything about this project reeks with quality." (Best line of the year so far.) I called and approved to start printing! The next day I receive an email from our rep. She said that they were out of the 100# gloss paper and waiting for a delivery truck. The truck was supposed to be there this week. But then she added, "Which was exactly what they said last week". *gulps* At this point I am having all the same thoughts you are probably having. The rep added that we could do a velveteen cover instead and start printing immediately. I looked down at the copy in my hands and... well, I had fallen in love with the look, feel, and quality of this so much that there was NO WAY I was going to accept sending you anything even slightly inferior. Maybe I was taking the whole "not gonna compromise" on this project thing a little bit too far. But it felt write and I wrote back and asked if we were to "roll the dice" and hope the truck showed, if they could move our order to the front of the queue and expedite it. She gladly agreed. Two days passed and then, on Thursday I got an email! "The truck arrived!" My first thought was, wow! Second thought was, OK... so it will be here in 11 days. But it did not take 11 days. true to her word, it was expedited and it already arrived on Saturday morning! My jaw dropped. And the quality looked even better than the proofs. My hype meter is at max. So, barring any last minute weird problems, we officially have everything we need to start shipping. Jongaar, Broomtool, and Glisel are coming over on Thursday to help me finish assembling a few things and to move everything from my house back to our studio (the HeroMart room) so we can start shipping your physical stuff to you.
Production schedule
We are prepping to ship!!!
#BestProductionScheduleUpdateEver
Battle on!
Artix & your friendly 8-Bit team.
P.S. It is still possible to get a last minute order in before we ship.
We assembled 400+ of the gold collector's carts on Friday. They were tricky! My trusty mechanical screwdrivers were not strong enough for these carts. So we bought two special screwdrivers.
I numbered all of the circuit boards on the collector's edition. However, I do not recommend opening yours up. *points back up to the previous text about the screws*. It is possible taking the screws out could damage the cart. Just sleep well knowing that if you backed this project, your cart is under 999.
Building Together
We needed reinforcements! So everyone got together to make and box the carts this weekend! Warlic (and his family), Jongaar, Broomtool, Stryche, Glisel, my three children, wife, myself and.... my childhood NES.
Every cart tested on my childhood NES!
I do not know why this fills my heart with so much joy. But every single cart.... gray or gold... was tested on my childhood NES. I hooked it up to a screen, which quickly became swarmed by boxes.
This is the packing foam that we put at the bottom of your boxes. I have an adorable video of my 3 year old expertly putting these foam inserts into your boxes. He was so excited that he found a way to contribute building this for you.
I am soooooo bad at keeping secrets
Went to coffee to proofread this... uh.. random... magazine.... that needed proofed.
Gray Carts 100% complete
We completed building all of the gray carts and boxes on Thursday.
I was making 100 carts a night at my desk. Often with the help of my oldest son. I {"borrowed" one of my kids lunch box containers to hold my the screws. Need to remember to remove the screws before giving it back... or their lunch will have a little extra crunch.
Live Streaming while making carts
One night I live streamed while making them. It was fun! But my productivity dropped to waaaay less than 30%. (It was really fun though!)
The D&DK box building process!
Curious? Here are the exact steps to create a finished NES Box.
Get an unused plastic NES Shell
Open up a the NES Shell
Put the Circuit Board into the spot for it.
Close and screw the back of the cart together.
Make jokes about how you are "screwing up the game"... since you are. Literally.
Assemble a sleeve (they come flat)
Put the cart into the sleeve.
Assemble a box (they come flat too)
Put the foam at the bottom of the box.
Grab an instruction manual and one of the Carts in a sleeve
Place them together and flip them upside down.... because if you put them in the way that everyone things they should go, the sleeve and manual will get wedged int here and 80% of people will never see them. And put them in the box :)
Seal the box
Duel to the death with the other people trying to find a spot on the table to place their newly created box.
Feel good about yourself! (until you realize there are 1,999 more to go.)
Repeat
(Note: Our actual flow is far more streamlined. We have created a good flow.... well, we did until those gold carts gave us that unexpected challenge.)
Estimated Shipping Schedule
Oh boy.... we are close! We have just 200 more collectors editions to build until we have all of the boxes ready to fulfill the backer orders. However we need 13 more days to receive the not-so-secret bonus thing that is going in EVERYONE'S package.
This means you have 13 days or less to update your shipping information if needed.
This has been an amazing journey. The moment we have worked so hard for is nearly upon us. I am so grateful to you for making Dungeons & DoomKnights a reality. This feels pretty high class for an indie game project. OH! Jongaar and Broomtool brought their final versions of the Heavy Metal Remix of the Soundtrack. O_O IT IS SOOOO METAL!!!!!!! Collector's Edition Backers will be notified when it becomes available for them.
