Kayli Mousepad Owners...Get Your Free Stuff!

Hi Folks,

As I mentioned in the previous post, those of you who have purchased either or both Kayli Boob Mousepads at the IITS Store site or at any of the shows we attended (such as Comic-Con or APE) are eligible to receive some freebies from the IITS Store as an apology for the manufacturing flaw.

To get your free stuff, you'll need to submit a "proof of purchase"...which is pretty easy. First snap a photo of the pad and include a note in the picture that has your name and address and the two items (not including the mouse pads) you wish to have sent to you. Here's an example:


Please select two different items...the following examples are all valid:

1 Comic, 1 Kayli Big Sword Print
1 Assmeats Magnet, 1 Kayli Business Suit Front Print
1 Comic, 1 Assmeats Print

Next, email the picture to iits.store(at)gmail.com...then wait a bit and the stuff will magically appear in your mailbox! I'll keep all of this on record and when the fixed mouse pads are manufactured, they will be sent to you at the same address. If you don't want the freebies but want to submit your proof of purchase with me to keep on record for when the fixed pads are ready, just provide your address with the picture of the mouse pad. Finally, if you're too busy right now to deal with this nonsense, you can always wait for the announcement on this blog of when the new pads are available and claim your replacement then. Sound good? Cool.

Sorry for the ghetto way of doing things but it's easier to just respond to requests rather than track down everyone on record who has bought a mouse pad and sending out an email to each person. Hope that's okay with everyone!

P.S. Those of you who don't mind the flaws, the discounted and updated product is available at the store page and now includes details of why the item is discounted and some additional pictures of the problem.

P.P.S. If I don't find your name in the records, I may ask you a few questions about your purchase to verify your identity as a customer. Don't worry, if you're legit...you'll be fine. =)

- Joseph

Manufacturing Flaw in Kayli Boob Mousepads

Hey Folks,

Got some unfortunate news to share...which those of you who purchased the Kayli Boob Mousepad may already be aware of. Apparently, over time, the gel area (the boobs) of the mousepad begin to curl a bit from the base of the mousepad. At first, I thought this was a fluke because my own mousepads did not exhibit this problem. I know now that it probably has something to do with exposure to oxygen because most of my stock is stored in boxes which are, in turn, stored in a closet. After taking a look at similar commercial mousepads and even the Kayli Boob Mousepad prototypes the manufacturer sent me, I think the problem can be chalked up to the lack of the inclusion of a stiff back plate between the gel and the rubber bottom of the mousepad.

Most aggravating of all is the fact that the two prototypes that were sent to me, which are the ones I look at on a regular basis because the others are stored, do not exhibit this problem and have the back plate included. Check out the following images:

Top to Bottom: Prototype, Retail Version, Retail Version
w/ AAA Battery for Gap Scale, Record of Agarest War Pad.

As it turns out, if you actually place your wrist on Kayli's boobs, the pad lowers to a normal shape and appears to be perfectly functional as a gel filled, wrist support mousepad and may not even bother some people. However, the design flaw is unacceptable to us and we sincerely apologize for it. I feel very terrible about this and while the manufacturer is entirely at fault for screwing me over with badly manufactured pads, I'm entirely responsible for the stock I've sold to our customers.

All said, here's my three step process for addressing this problem:

Step 1: Those who already purchased the mousepad are eligible to receive any two items from the IITS Store (not including the mousepads) free of charge. I know, some of you own everything we have...but please feel free to give these items to a friend. Also, keep reading!

Step 2: The remaining mousepads will be sold at a $20 discount (for a total of $25 after shipping) at the IITS Store to help pay for Step 3.

Step 3: I will begin the process of finding a competent and reliable manufacturer for flaw-free Kayli Mousepads.

Additionally, everyone who purchased a mousepad before today will be eligible for a free replacement mousepad which will be mailed to you when they are complete.

Islands in the Sky is a independent, self funded operation but we understand that our faithful fans and customers are the lifeblood for our project and despite the difficulties this process will create for us, your support is all important to us and nothing is worth losing that over.

For instructions on how to get your free stuff, please look for a forthcoming post. For those of you who don't mind the flaw and want to get a discounted pad, please wait for the IITS Store to to display the new price before purchasing.

Finally, just so you know, the process of having to get the pad made was very involved and took quite a long time...therefore I cannot guarantee a date for when the new pads will be made. Rest assured, I'm on the task. Thanks for your understanding, guys and gals. We'll do our best to get this fixed as soon as we can.

- Joseph

Project IITS Game Update

Hey IITS Readers,

Just a quick update to let everyone know we're still alive. A lot of folks are wondering how the game will play and so the current plan is to create a visual proof of concept and I'm still in the process of putting that together. Beyond just entertaining a small but faithful group like yourselves, the visual proof of concept will help to secure funding to kick the project into full gear.

Due to the self funded nature of Project IITS, things like animation and modeling and such are all done on a contract basis...rather than having a full time team. As contractors come and go (getting busy with other contracts or finding full time work), the team changes from time to time and there is a process of relearning things and sometimes finding new directions to go in. Currently, Project IITS is in that process...but don't worry, we're still in business.

RE: The IITS Comic, I don't have any real updates for you...sorry. As it stands, Genevieve is still focused on working full time in the game industry and I'm focused on the Project IITS game. As always, if there is some new development, it will be posted here. For you small group of faithful fans out there...thank you for still dropping by from time to time!

- Joseph

About Project IITS - Part 1: Gordo's Island

Hello IITS Readers,

A reader named FifthFanZac commented on my last post and speculated a bit about the design of the game and while responding, I decided I should just write a whole post about some aspects of the Project IITS game design...so here it is:

As a game element, Gordo's Island acts as a hub area for adventures. It's a place for the player to engage in some secondary forms of gameplay (as opposed to the primary gameplay of combat and exploration). In the original design, the hub was supposed to be chosen by the player from any of the procedurally generated islands that they might come across. I decided that was a bit ambitious so, instead...the hub areas are prefabricated. However, that doesn't mean that they're completely static...Gordo's Island can be upgraded in several different ways and what you see in the concepts and the 3D island crafted so far probably represents and island that is halfway upgraded. Each of the different upgrades provide a different gameplay bonus, whether it be storage, or crafting, cooking, etc.

All that's pretty standard for an action RPG type game, what I wanted to do to set Project IITS apart from similar game paradigms is that unlike your usual hub world, where there are linear paths that lead to other game areas, in Project IITS...the adventure comes to you. That probably makes no sense...so let me take a moment to explain that the world of IITS is in a constant state of change...the islands swirl around in an invisible ocean of wind...making everyone in the world a nomad. Imagine this: Kayli comes back from a long hard day of hunting popees and after cooking a few up for dinner, takes a nice long bath in the hot springs (what's an IITS product without a little naked Kayli?), she heads up to the treehouse and goes to sleep...in other words, the player exits out of the game. The next time the player logs into the game, Kayli wakes up and the game has simulated the passage of time and distance traveled and when Kayli steps out onto the front porch of the island abode, she might find herself in a completed different environment. Calm, blue skies are replaced with reddish tinged clouds and lightning storms. Popees are replaced by ravenous birds of prey looking for a juicy bit of Kayli to snack on and...at the docks, a beat up old airship is tethered...its lazily swinging lantern beckoning the player to approach...

All of that should be gameplay of course...the hunting of popees is part of the primary combat and exploration gameplay, cooking up the popees uses the cooking crafting system, taking a bath ABSOLUTELY should be interactive (I'm shameless, I know)...even the airship that suddenly appears is interactive. Using a dynamic questing system, the game generated the appearance of the airship and its owner. It may be a traveling salesman offering rare precursor artifacts for sale, it may be a craftsman offering upgrades to weapons or armor or glider parts...it may be a dude in distress (Kayli rescues the MEN) with a dynamically generated quest for Kayli to undertake.

In the original game, the project known as IITS Ultimate, the idea was to allow players to create their own character in an instanced, procedurally generated MMO style experience. Being a bit more realistic, I pared the project down to a be single-player adventure featuring Kayli as the main character but all the tech and experience we get from the first game will be built upon till everyone can participate in the world of IITS as a character/persona of their own creation. Game development is about iteration and while the idea of IITS Ultimate excites me, a smaller, tighter experience and testing out gameplay and ideas with Project IITS will, well...ultimately benefit IITS Ultimate.

I hope this gives those interested an idea of what to expect for Project IITS. I wish I had some gameplay to show but the game is always in a state of flux and I've got to make some big decisions about the direction of the project before I can state or show anything more solid.

- Joseph

Hey IITS Readers,

Just a quick update today in the form of a video of the Gordo's Island model that Alex Mathis created for Project IITS. The video itself was also captured by Alex...I just threw it up on YouTube.



A few notes about the island...the area with water is an open air, steam bath grotto that can be entered from the outside as well as an interior entrance. The tent like structures in the branches of the trees are the sleeping areas...you can sometimes catch a glimpse of a bubble window from some of the camera passes. For those of you who read the book, that would be where Kayli is found sleeping at the start of the story.

As far as the world goes, you would likely see many other islands nearby and in the distance as well as a lot of creatures flying through the air but this is specifically showcasing Gordo's Island. Anyway, hope y'all like it. =)

Update: I messed with the size it displays on the blog site, if you want to see it in higher quality, just watch it on YouTube.

- Joseph

Gordo's Island in 3D!

Hey IITS Readers and Various Peoples,

I've been juggling various projects and trying to keep them afloat so I apologize for the lack of updates but I got a neat little treat for you today. My friend and ex-coworker, Alex Mathis, just recently sent me some screenshots of the model of Gordo's Island I contracted him to do for Project IITS. He said it's not done yet (artists, feh!) but it certainly is nice enough to show here. Enjoy!

P.S. The original concept is here.

- Joseph

Fantastic Comics Grand Opening in Berkeley, CA!

Hey folks,

I've come out of another long silence to just do a quick public service announcement for comic lovers in Northern California. My good friend Jeff Carter and his brother Uel Carter are having the grand opening for their new comic book store, Fantastic Comics, in Berkeley, CA on Sunday, May 1st. I've just come back from a small private party that they threw for their friends, neighbors, and business partners and I'm happy to report that the store is looking great!

Fantastic Comics is opening at the exact location of the old Comic Relief store and it was because of Jeff and Uel (who was a long time employee of Comic Relief), that Genevieve and I were able to do a fun signing to promote Islands in the Sky at both the store on Free Comics Day 2009 and at the Comic Relief booth at Comic-Con 2009. They are also the reason why we were able to get our little book on the shelves of Comic Relief!

Fantastic Comics is located at:

2026 Shattuck Ave.
Berkeley, CA 94704

If you live in the area, drop by sometime and say, "Hi!" If you've been looking for a great comic store that you can trust and rely on, why not start a pull list with Fantastic Comics? Remember, customers are the ones who help dictate what the store carries...so make your voice heard!

- Joseph

That's Uel on the left and Jeff on the right...Congratulations, guys!