v0.8.0 Update: More Monsters! More Poses!
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jul 10, 2021 at 12:13:14 PM

What up guys! Jared and I have been boggling our minds adding new parts and new pose presets for your customization pleasure. Head over to https://titancraftminis.com to find:

• New monsters: air elemental, earth elemental, water elemental, female balor, and additional demonic variations for the balor
• Pose & proportions updates for: storm giant, hill giant, ooze, aboleth, minotaur, T-rex

Just a few more monsters left - we're starting to close in!

Thanks to your feedback, the monsters now come without bases by default but can be added on the Base tab.

Here are some test prints from the last few weeks: 

That's all for now! Back to creating poses @_@

Best,

Andrew & Jared

Version 0.7.0 - Sizing, Bases & More
almost 3 years ago – Sat, Jun 26, 2021 at 07:57:29 PM

Hello everyone! 

It's been an especially eventful month for us.  Andrew and his wife Heather welcomed a new baby boy into their family earlier this month.  Besides the occasional sleepless nights, all are healthy and well.  Congratulations to the Stockton family!!

Naturally, Andrew has had to take some time off to help with the new baby. But guess what... we have another update ready for you! :) Version 0.7.0 is here and includes:

Sizing Controls

You can now better control the overall size of your monster using the "Sizing" tab. In the sizing tab you'll be able to use sliders to control the size of your character and base. 

There are still a couple tweaks we need to make to this feature, but it's a huge step forwards for us.

Bases

The Base tab has arrived! We currently only have 1 base option, but plan on adding more in the future. A few things to note about bases:

• Any base can be 1in, 2in, 3in or 4in using the sizing tab
• Base thickness can also be adjusted using the sizing tab
• Bases are optional! You do not need to have a base with your monster
• Since our pricing is directly related to volume, large bases can cost a decent amount. Especially if they are thick.  If you have any spare bases layin' around, you can save yourself some money by ordering your monster without a base. Something to keep in mind for our physical backers. :)

Question for you all! When creating a new monster, would you like the monster to load default with or without a base? Let us know in the comments.

Display and Clipping

In the lower right corner of the editor, we have added some additional settings. Transparent BG, Ground and Base Circle just change how the view is displayed. 

Clip Bottom is a function that automatically clips any part of your monster that is below the ground level.  

An example use case for this feature is if you want to create something like a kraken that looks like it's coming out of the water.

More Monsters and Bits!

Since our last Kickstarter update, we have added 6 additional monsters to Early Access:

• Giant
• Minotaur
• Ooze
• Kraken (sea monster version)
• Kraken (octopus version)
• Troll

Exciting times are ahead as we get closer and closer to our summer release!! Thanks again for your support. 🧡

Until next time,

Jared & Andrew

Version 0.6 -- Bone Improvements, Share Your Monster, & Dragon
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 21, 2021 at 04:28:38 AM

Hi everyone! We recently updated Early Access to version 0.6, and we wanted to briefly go over some of the improvements and features that are now available.

Full Part Transformations

Under the advance pose menu, you now have the option to move, rotate and scale entire parts of a monster. Please note this does not include the whole monster yet.

Improved Bone Appearance/Management

There were a few bug fixes and quality of life improvements made to advance pose mode. Here are just a couple:

• Selecting different parts of a monster skeleton is now easier.

• Arrow Keys can now be used to help navigate more complex skeletons like hands, feet or wings. 

See the GIF below for an example. The up and down arrow keys are used to cycle through bones on a finger. When the first bone is selected on a finger, the left and right arrow keys can be used to switch between the other fingers.

Share Your Monster

Have a cool monster you want to show off to all your friends? The Share feature has now been added into Early Access! Here's how to share your monster.

1. Save your monster!

2.  Open the character menu in the lower right and click "Share"

3. Position your thumbnail and click Ok

4. Share your monster using the shareable link or to your social media page!

Dragon

And last but not least, the dragon is now available for you to play around with in Early Access!

We're excited to see your creations. Make sure to share your best with us and your friends! :)

- Andrew & Jared

Reminder: Early Access, Merchant Agreements, Reward Codes
almost 3 years ago – Fri, May 07, 2021 at 02:37:59 PM

Happy Friday Everyone! Just wanted to make sure you all are aware of some items we have recently taken care of.

Early Access Unlocked for All Backers

On Monday this week (May 3) we added Early Access to all pledge levels. All you need to do in order to try out the beta is create an account at titancraftminis.com and activate your reward code under "My Coupons". Only All-In and Merchant backers can download STL files during the beta.

Merchant License Agreements

Last Friday (April 30) we sent the Merchant License Agreement to all our Merchant License backers. If you backed at the Merchant License pledge level, please fill out and return the agreement to us.

Reward Codes

On Tuesday this week (May 4) we resent unredeemed reward codes to backers who haven't activated theirs yet. Until you activate your reward code, you will not be able to participate in Early Access.

As a general reminder, some of our backers have reported our emails getting flagged as spam, so make sure to check your spam folder too!

Have a great weekend!

Andrew and Jared

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT FOR PHYSICAL BACKERS! PLEASE READ!
almost 3 years ago – Fri, Apr 30, 2021 at 07:42:56 PM

Attention physical backers!

tldr; We have partnered with a new 3D printing fulfillment company that specializes in printing tabletop miniatures. Because of this, physical rewards will now be higher quality and cost less.

Yes, you read that right! :confetti:

Why the change?

You may recall this diagram from the Kickstarter:

The old pricing model priced miniatures into three categories, based on three factors: volume, total dimensions, and surface area. What we found in practice is that this doesn't create a very good experience, because the price could change drastically in unexpected ways during model creation. For example, re-posing a monster's arm could suddenly increase the model price by $20 because the total dimensions grew enough to change the monster from a 'Basic' to a 'Standard'. This is unintuitive and leads to wasted time trying to get just the right pose to minimize cost. Bleh.

The solution: Pricing by Volume

Pricing by Volume is like frozen yogurt, except it's monster miniatures. :) Imagine a trip to your favorite FROYO shop where you pay by the weight:

TitanCraft will operate in a similar fashion, where the price of your monster is directly related to the overall volume -- i.e. how big you decide to make your monster and how many extra parts you add.

Why is this good for us?

• We can keep our prices low instead of having to round up to a fixed price per size category
• Model pricing makes sense ("I added another part, so the price went up")

Why is this good for you?

• We can keep our prices low instead of having to round up to a fixed price per size category
• Model pricing makes sense ("I added another part, so the price went up")

Here's an illustration of how the price changes in our new pricing model compared with the old one:

What happens to my 'x Physical Miniatures' Kickstarter rewards?

Since the former size categories (Basic, Standard, Deluxe) are no longer applicable, we'll take the former miniature cost for the size category matching your pledge level and give you that much in store credit:

You can use your store credit when checking out to reduce the cost of monster miniatures in your cart. Some notes:

• These store credit amounts guarantee at least the same value as the 'x Physical Miniatures' coupons you would have gotten.
• In most cases, this gives you even better value because you can use any remaining store credit toward more monsters. (Or towards shipping, which was not included in the original pledge levels.)
• If you purchased the Evolution Bundle or the Party back, you are no longer confined to to the monster sizes originally listed in the rewards. E.g. if you can order 15 smaller monsters with the same amount that you would have spent on the original 5 Deluxe monsters, that's A-ok.

Paint Job Add-Ons

If you purchased a professional paint job add-on, your add-on will work as follows:

One more benefit:

We are now able to print in resin instead of Nylon PA-12. That means a smoother surface and better detail than we were previously able to produce! :moreconfetti:

Summary

Honestly we are pretty happy about this - we feel like it's a win-win. It will be nice to leave behind the ambiguous size categories.

This may be a lot to take in - if you have any questions at all about this change, please let us know.

Andrew & Jared