Pacific Rim: Extinction – Wave 2 Pre-order

BackerKit now Available! Game Designer Jack Caesar on heading Underwater!
over 6 years ago – Mon, Jun 18, 2018 at 11:53:53 PM

The BackerKit Survey is now available to all supporters! In BackerKit you'll be able to pick out any add-ons you wish to add to your rewards, check your order, and sort the shipping costs. Also, if you missed out on backing the project this also gives you the chance to late pledge your support and get your own copy of Pacific Rim: Extinction. The BackerKit will remain open until Friday 3rd August 2018, so make sure you log on and complete your details as soon as possible.

 

The all-in bundle is also available on BackerKit. You can do this by switching to the £0 pledge level and then selecting the 'Late Pledge All-in Bundle'. This will get you everything within the ‘Miracle Mile’ pledge tier! 

I took a moment to sit down with Jack Caesar, one of the designers of Pacific Rim: Extinction, to talk about an exciting new scenario type that all will be coming to all backers within the Core Set that takes the battles underwater.

Q) What new content are you adding with the “Underwater Battle”?

Jack Caesar) “The Underwater Battle is a separate side to the playmat, which brings new terrain and objectives that would not be possible in the city. This brings new challenges for both the Jaeger and the Kaiju, changing the game considerably.”

Q) What does this mean for gameplay?

Jack Caesar) “There are no buildings found underwater, instead these are replaced by seafloor formations such as stalagmites making the terrain more difficult to traverse. This also means dramatic changes to the Kaiju’s tactics, as they will no longer focus on destroying buildings to gain points. New objectives have been introduced to give them a new way to play. Another big difference that we have introduced is due to the change in conditions Jaegers are unable to run whilst they are battling underwater. This means they are more open to attack from the quicker moving Kaiju who are fighting on their home turf as it were.”

Q) Does this mean new scenarios?

Jack Caesar) “We have created a new scenario in the rulebook called “Seal the Breach” which allows players to re-enact the end of the original Pacific Rim film. They play the Jaegers carrying a nuke in attempt to seal the breach, while the Kaiju try to stop them. We feel players will greatly enjoy being able to act out this iconic scene for themselves.” 

Q) What are you currently most excited about letting people experience once the game is released?

Jack Caesar)“During playtesting I have found manoeuvring both the Jaegers and Kaiju miniatures fascinating. In the games that we have played, it is interesting to see how players must set up puzzles to try and outflank the opposition, whilst making sure that they are not left in a weaker position. The underwater battle has magnified this greatly as it is more about moving across the map, around terrain, and around enemies than when playing in the city.”

Don’t forget that the BackerKit is open until Friday 3rd August 2018. Make sure you log on to confirm your pledge, add-ons, and shipping before we seal the breach.

BackerKit is coming next week! Plus, a fresh look at the Hex Gauge for Pacific Rim: Extinction
over 6 years ago – Fri, May 25, 2018 at 11:53:46 AM

Hello to everyone,

Preparations are complete on our BackerKit survey, and we will be launching this next week. During the 'smoke test' phase, the survey will go out to a small sub-section of backers in order to make sure everything is working as intended.

Shortly after that, the surveys will be sent out in bulk to the remaining backers.

In BackerKit you'll be able to pick out any add-ons you wish to add to your rewards, check your order, and sort the shipping costs.

A note on shipping: calculating shipping for the three waves has been carried out with a series of weight and dimension estimates. For the US in particular, we discovered that shipping in three waves would not significantly increase to cost compared to shipping all goods at the same time, due to the number of packages required. This means we are providing all backer rewards in three waves, rather than offering a late shipment in summer 2019, which would likely not be cheaper.

Shipping has been calculated directly from weight in BackerKit, which means you will not be paying any extra administrative fees, or hidden costs for your shipping. There are also no flat rate shipping costs associated with any rewards, as all cost is calculated based on weight and destination.

In game news...

Development of Pacific Rim: Extinction is continuing at a strong pace, and even as models, printed components, and packaging are being prepared for manufacture, the design team is hard at work on balancing, mechanical tweaks, and expansion content. 

We will be continuing to support the game after launch, so this is just the beginning of a game journey, and we hope to continue adding to Pacific Rim: Extinction as much as possible in the future!

One of the most significant updates to the game since the end of the Kickstarter campaign has now been implemented, and it relates to the Hex Gauge.

Take a look at the new and improved Hex Gauge:

 
Throughout the campaign we heard lots of insightful conversation about the Hex Gauge, and the 'Invisible Hex' system we're using for Pacific Rim: Extinction.

We feel that the discrete movement style that the Hex Gauge enables really represents the steady, powerful movements of both the Kaiju and the Jaegers. However, through playing the game we found that sometimes having more precise control would make decisions more tactical, and make encounters with the enemy more fun and unpredictable.

The new Hex Gauge allows both a 'full turn' of 60° as well as a 'half turn' of 30°. Now, Jaegers and Kaiju can slip between rows of buildings, angle themselves better for an attack, and run to objectives or objects more easily.

 
We've been testing this out in-game for the last few weeks, and we think it's a fantastic addition to the Invisible Hex system, and makes for even more exciting manoeuvres and battles between the Jaegers and Kaiju.

This new Hex Gauge will be replacing the old design, which of course means it will be in every core set of Pacific Rim: Extinction, as well as in the Battle Gear set which is an optional add-on in BackerKit.

Keep an eye out for more news of the BackerKit survey next week, and for more game news right here, coming soon!

First look at painted Coyote Tango model from Pacific Rim: Extinction, plus check out Black Rose Wars by our friends Ludus Magnus!
over 6 years ago – Thu, May 10, 2018 at 11:06:50 PM

Hello all,

Today we've got some cool new model renders to share with you all, this time featuring Coyote Tango, heroic Japanese Mark-I Jaeger.

But first, 

We would love to introduce you to a currently ongoing Kickstarter project by some friends of ours at Ludus Magnus. They were a great help to us during the Pacific Rim campaign, and are now running a Kickstarter for Black Rose Wars, which has smashed it's original target and unlocked loads of stretch goals already!

Black Rose Wars is a tactical fighting game, in which powerful mages clash, aiming to become the next Grand Master of the Black Rose Lodge.

Check it out here: http://kck.st/2KjWlt4

From their page:
Developed over the last three years, it features solid mechanics, tried and tested in numerous trade shows and in many different groups of playtesters. In Black Rose Wars, there are lots of different ways you can win. It's up to you to find the method that best suits your strategy, successfully completing missions, defeating enemy mages or destroying the rooms of the lodge. But beware... because the lodge may get the better of you.

 
If you back the Kickstarter, you'll also gain access to the Kickstarter exclusive Crono expansion, which contains a massive Crono miniature!

We love the look of this game, and we think some of our own Pacific Rim: Extinction backers will to! Black Rose Wars will be live on Kickstarter for the next 10 days, so head over to their page to check it out, while you can!

---

And now, back to Pacific Rim:

The development of Pacific Rim: Extinction is continuing and we are all very happy with how things are going. The BackerKit surveys are being prepared and will begin to go out by the end of May.

Meanwhile, more and more elements of the game are coming together. Recently, we have made significant developments with the Hex Gauge, including some changes that make it easier to use and more precise. We're going to be talking more in-depth about that and potentially some other rules developments in the next update.

For now, we want to show all of you an awesome looking fully painted Coyote Tango model!

Piloted by PPDC legend Stacker Pentecost, Coyote Tango was a Mark-1 Japanese Jaeger to used during the Kaiju War. Armed with twin long-range ballistic mortar cannons, and a forearm-mounted retractable V-PI EnergyCaster, Coyote Tango stood as a heroic symbol during the early years of the war.

 
Coyote Tango makes an awesome addition to any Jaeger team. If you backed at the Miracle Mile level, this Jaeger is part of your rewards, but if not, Coyote Tango will also be available as an individual Expansion Add-on during the BackerKit survery, and is part of the 3 for 2 Reinforcements Bundle along with Scunner and Raiju, which will also be available as an add-on in BackerKit.

We will continue to update you with the latest models, artwork, and rules discussions as they come up.

We can't wait to show you more of Pacific Rim: Extinction, as we continue at full steam towards release!

See you soon!

BackerKit confirmed for pledge manager, plus new terrain tile art!
over 6 years ago – Tue, Apr 24, 2018 at 01:44:46 AM

Hello all,

Today we're very happy to announce our partnership with BackerKit, who we'll be working with to bring you the Pacific Rim: Extinction pledge manager. 

We've been in discussions with multiple potential services over the past weeks, but we believe BackerKit will help us bring you the best service for pledge management, late pledging, and everything else needed!

We're now preparing everything for the BackerKit service, and we expect that it will go live during May. We'll share more news as and when it becomes available, so keep an eye out for more.

In other news...

It's really exciting to see Pacific Rim: Extinction moving forwards since the close of the Kickstarter campaign, and we have more painted model renders, artwork and all sorts coming in. Today, take a look at some of the larger terrain tiles that will be part of the Pacific Rim: Extinction core set.

 
Here you can see some water terrain features! These spots will slow down Kaiju and Jaegers as they traverse the area, as they stride through the water sending waves crashing all around.

Another large terrain piece, this represents a populated residential area, such as a suburb. The Jaegers have to be extremely careful in these areas, so they don't accidentally crush anyone, however the Kaiju have no such worries! Residential areas like this slow down Jaegers but have no impact on Kaiju.

 
It's not all bad news for the Jaegers though! These terrain pieces represent a PPDC Forward Operating Base, and a Jump Hawk landing pad. In certain scenarios, these will aid the Jaeger team by resupplying ammo. They might also be targets for the Kaiju to destroy.

That's all for today, we'll be updating with more art and assets as they come in, and with more news regarding the pledge manager over the next couple of weeks.

Thanks!

A new look for Raiju, plus late pledges available from May.
almost 7 years ago – Fri, Apr 13, 2018 at 05:33:42 PM

Hello all,

Though the Pacific Rim: Extinction Kickstarter campaign came to a close last week, we've been very busy preparing the next stages, and moving full steam ahead into the production phase! We'll continue to update backers with the latest news, images, and info about the game in the coming weeks and months.

For today, we've got some cool new images of Raiju, the Category IV Kaiju. This beast can be seen below as a digitally painted render, with an altered model. Now, the expanding tripartite jaw is wide open, revealing the Kaiju's inner head. This, along with a splash of colour, has Raiju really looking the part. Check out the pics below:

As always, there may be further tweaks to the model and pose as we move forward with the production. Raiju is included in the Miracle Mile pledge, and will also be available as an optional buy during the pledge manager stage.

Speaking of the pledge manager:

We are close to finalising our plans for the pledge manager stage, and are in discussions with two service providers. We want to make sure we offer backers the easiest and best pledge manager service, to give you all a smooth experience.

Some have been asking if late pledges will be available, and we can confirm that yes, they will! The pledge manager will be opening in May, and will be open for a long period of time leading up to the shipping and release of Pacific Rim: Extinction. During this time, all pledge levels and optional buys excluding the Miracle Mile level will be available for purchase.

We'll have more news coming to you as soon as we make our final plans, as well as more content updates and assets. See you soon!