Bloody Business

Something's bloody wrong here!

Something was bothering me, but I couldn’t find out what it was. We had received the first print proofs of Perdition’s Mouth: Abyssal Rift Revised Edition from the manufacturer, LongPack Games. The table was covered with big paper sheets and original maps of PM:AR. At first glance the print proofs of maps had looked fine. But just to be sure, I checked every square and compared those to the original maps. It was the map ”Small Nest” where the truth finally hit me: the blood on the floor was grey!

We hunted the missing blood colour for hours. Eventually we found out that one specific effect in a layer in Photoshop files acted differently in CS5 vs. CS5.5. The error could be fixed only with version CS5.5, and only one of our team members had that. Fortunately he had time to help. Making the maps requires several technical steps and it took us two days to fix everything. Still, it was a relief to find and fix the error before actual production.

Nostalgic Moments

We had busy May: development week in Vienna and then 3 conventions in 3 different countries. From Vienna we headed straight north, to Brno. There was a small gaming weekend in a local board game bar. One of our team members, David, lives in Brno, and it was great to meet him again. We had two extra hours before the event, and we used those in the Technical Museum. I could have stayed there the whole day after I found the computer with Bubble Bobble! Oh, what a nostalgic moment!

It was kind of nostalgic to hear the Finnish language, too. A Finnish couple stayed at the same camping place near Brno. They had a boy, a few years younger than ours, but also named Väinö. While the two Väinös were playing, we parents had time to compare traveling experiences and - because Finland is such a small country – to find common friends. The lady was Finnish sculptor Heli Ryhänen, she knew the artists of my home village and had taught my cousin.

Murphy Strikes Again

Many people thought our problems with car and caravan ended when there were none mentioned in latests blog entries. The three flat tyres we had in Italy just didn’t seem like news. Mr. Murphy obviously agreed and created new tricks when we entered Poland, on our way to Pyrkon.

Polish roads are narrow, curvy and bumpy. A bit more bumpy than other countries. So somewhere in the middle of a Polish country road, we heard a loud crash. We stopped and found our 6 meter long awning lying on the road side. It required some geometrical appraisal and strong muscles to get that thing in the caravan. We found out that the distance from the end of our bed to the kitchen window is exactly same as our awning.

My dearest friend, Google, was again helpful. I couldn’t believe my eyes when my search gave me a 24/7 caravan repair shop just 40 km away in the direction we were going. Well, they didn’t speak any English there. And Google navigation directed us to the wrong place. But after three phone calls (mixing English and German), one false address and navigation based on a Facebook page, we eventually found the repair shop on a suburban backyard. There was an Ukrainian worker, no common language. He understood the problem after seeing the muddy and scratched awning on the kitchen table and the empty holders outside the caravan. It was soon fixed and costed less than 30 euros.

So Family Multamäki beat Mr. Murphy again, fast and furious. Murphy made his revenge the next morning and ripped one mudguard off the caravan with the help of bushes at the campsite. But who needs mudguards, anyway.

Rest rooms and rooms without rest

It was small, but totally in a wrong place...

The thunderstorm was a welcome surprise. We’d been suffering 30 degree temperatures for days, sweating in the car for hours, driving from Italy to Slovenia. Now it was raining and lightning was brightening the sky every now and then. We had found a nice campsite in a nature reserve near the Postojna cave. I run through the pouring rain to a toilet building. I locked the door, sat down and... saw a snake on the floor. It was staring at me, licking the air with its tongue. Thunder roared close by. ”My life is a horror movie...”

Tricky Toilets

Toilet at a gas station in France.
If you press the wrong button,
you might end up to space...

During this tour I have seen a great variation of toilets. Even the ones in motorway rest places have usually been nice and clean. In Finland the public toilets often look like a health hazard. Earlier this year, in France, I talked with a service patrol that takes care of the motorway rest places, ”aires”. They had noticed our Finnish registration number and wanted to congratulate us. This was during the Olympic games and Finland had just won a medal in skiing. One of them was dreaming of driving to Finland with a caravan. What odd dreams people have!

Campsites usually have toilets and showers. But there is a big variation of what that means in practice. Some toilets don’t have paper, at all. Or it is in big rolls outside the toilet. It’s something you learn to check. After the incident in Slovenia, I started to also check the floor and corners for intruders. Fortunately, I have only found butterflies so far.

Our campsite in Modena had toilets without seats. You know, the type where you squat down and hope that you don’t pee on your pants. Only the handicapped toilet had a proper seat. So I decided to be one for a week. Don’t get me wrong. As a Lappish girl and after spending a lot of time on fishing or hunting trips in the wilderness, I’m used to ”bush-pee” while hundreds of mosquitos admire my butt. But in the civilized world I would like to have some comfort.

Restaurant toilet in St. Gaudens, France.

Five Star Shower

Five stars: Camping Bozanov.

Many campsites charge for warm water, especially during the winter time. So you need coins or tokens to have a shower. Usually you then get 4 minutes of water, which might – or might not – be warm. I have started to really appreciate the ability to adjust the water temperature.

I hate showers with movement detectors, because the movement detectors hate me. After desperately waving my hands in front of a detector I might get water for 3 seconds. In the Alps, the shower lights worked with a movement detector. So I ended up having a shower in the dark, no matter what kind of acrobatic movements I tried to do in that one square meter cubicle.

The most beautiful toilet and shower I have found in a campsite is in the Czech Republic, near the Polish border, at Camping Bozanov. When I went to take a picture of the shower room for this blog, there was a lady drying her hair. It must look weird when someone is taking a picture out of a shower. So I felt a bit embarrassed, and quickly explained what I was doing and why. ”I totally agree, this is 5 star class!” she replied and helped to keep a door open so I could take my pictures. She was British, worked in a campsite, but had taken a year off and was now traveling with her husband. What an interesting way to spend a year...

Notice in a toilet, Camping Vienna.

PS.

I survived the Slovenian toilet without snake bites. I didn't even scream! (Because I was too scared even to breath...) When I told the receptionist about the snake, he didn't seem surprised. If you have a campsite in a nature reserve, you have to accept visiting animals also.

PPS. So many events and so little time to write. I try to catch up now that we have a summer break in conventions and both Darwinning! and PM:RE in production.

Sleepless in Italy

Our first stop in Italy, Dro and Camping Paolino. 

Ding-dong. I was lying in my bed and listened the church bells. Central and Southern Europe is filled with churches and their bells make a loud noice. Every hour, the most annoying ones every 15 minutes. Ding-a-ling-clang-dong. Three times. So it was three o’clock. AM. I can’t even count how many times I have woken up in the middle of night because of church bells. No matter were we in Germany, France, Spain or Switzerland. But this time I hadn’t woken up. I was in Italy and at 3 am just about to go to sleep.

Boardgames for Dogs and Robots

We came to Italy for Modena PLAY. This was the tenth time PLAY was arranged. The event has grown a lot, but has managed to maintain a relaxed atmosphere. What was surprising to me, was the opening hours. In Italy, most of the activity begins after 6pm, so the fair is open until 8 pm. On Saturday the fair was open 11 hours!

From the very first day it was clear that Italian gamers like cosplay. We soon got used to gladiators, faeries, robots and stormtroopers that kept passing the booth. Unlike in any other convention, the doors were open also to four legged friends. You had to be careful when moving in the crowd not to stumble on a labradorian retriever laying relaxed in the middle of an aisle.

We met many of our Italian gamers and the resellers we have been working with. It was also great to meet MarcoValtriani who is one of the quest designers in Perdition’s Mouth Revised Edition. And also our dear friend Dagmar de Cassan – this was the third time during our tour!

Marco Valtriani and Timo in Modena PLAY.

Midnight Hobbies

Pietro played Darwinning with a dragon
- a special Kickstarter species
designed by Dagmar de Cassan.

After PLAY we had two weeks of gaming events booked with local gaming clubs, thanks to our translator Fabio and to Pietro Cremona. Pietro and his players were one of the many play test groups for Perdition’s Mouth. We wanted to get their opinion of Darwinning, too. Of course we were also spreading the happy news of soon available Italian version of Perdition’s Mouth Revised Edition.

These gaming events were in the evening. In Finland that would be ”soon after 6pm”. But in Italy, it meant ”starting after dinner, at 9pm”. In the first evening I was too tired to join in, so Timo and Väinö went together. I woke up half past midnight, and they were still not back. It was pouring rain, so I was a bit worried and phoned to Timo. I heard they had just left the event– and it would still take over half an hour for driving. After second evening we noticed that these evenings were too late for Väinö. Even if we didn’t have to wake up early in the morning, this changed schedule was tiring.

It was the third evening, when I got in bed at 3am. Even if we were demoing the introduction scenario of Perdition’s Mouth, the plays took many hours. I honestly can’t understand how our Italian players were able to wake up to work after these hobby evenings. But I’m starting to understand the afternoon siesta…

Missing Sauna and Speed

Adjusting to caravan life has been surprisingly easy. I mean, I haven’t really missed anything. Except sauna. Surprisingly we found one at a camping place next to Lake Garda. It was heated just for us, no extra charge. It had nice temperature of +80 C and we were allowed to throw water on the stove. The only minus side was, that the water in the bucket had some eucalyptus drops in it. Way too much eucalyptus. We changed the water twice, rinsed the bucket, and then it was possible to have proper ”löyly”.

In Italy we have also missed proper internet. Most of the camping places do not offer wifi, at least not for free. And even with money, the speed of data transfer is depressingly slow. There are data limits for the free roaming. When we have two games under production and a lot graphics to transfer, the lack of fibre optic is really noticeable.

Lake Garda.

Cheers for Sausages

We had also booked a vacation in Rome. In our case, vacation does not mean ”time when you do not have work”. It means ”time when you can relax a bit more”. Timo’s parents came also to Rome and offered to accommodate Väinö in their hotel. So me and Timo were able to spend some time together.

It was sunny, temperature nice +25. We bought a barbecue, an outdoor mattress, some sausages and good rucola salad from Lidl. We opened up a bottle of champagne. A proper champagne, that Timo had got as a present almost 20 years ago. We ate our dinner from plastic plates, under the sun roof and listened to extremely loud pigeons. That I would a call a proper vacation!

Old and New Boardgames

I felt thirsty. For the last hour I had been talking non-stop, as we were having the final livestream for Darwinning!’s Kickstarter campaign. During the two campaign weeks we made livestreams from 5 different countries. In the end, we got 101 backers and managed to successfully fund the game. Big thanks to all backers!

I gave a small piece of paper to a bartender. In the paper there was text ”bon boisson” and I got a small plastic cup of wine. We were in Switzerland and the organisers of Ludesco had provided us a nice pile of ”bon boisson” papers. In Finland you couldn’t have had an event for the whole family with alcohol drinks. At least you couldn’t walk around with your wine mug and minors (or alcohol drinkers) would have had to be segregated behind a fence... 

Yet, during the Ludesco weekend I didn’t see any drunken persons. Even if there was beer and wine available all the time. In Finland that wouldn’t have been possible, either.

Donkey Alarm

Ludesco was a well organized gaming event with tournaments, game library and prototype presentations, held in La Chaux de Fonds. We had a named contact person, Nils, whom I had met earlier in other conventions. He is half Swedish, so I was able to use my Swedish skills when solving issues. It felt really weird: to be in French speaking part of Switzerland and ”prata svenska” with a local.

We had also two our team members, Andrea and Sebastien, with us. They helped with all the other locals, who didn’t speak any Swedish or English. We accommodated them in our caravan at a camping place close by. (I have told you, it is a BIG caravan!) La Cibourg was a small camping area with a fairy tale style decorations. We didn’t need any alarm clock because the owners donkey woke everybody up at 9 when demanding breakfast.

During the weekend it started to snow, again. Not so special when you are high in the mountains, but still something that was not in the forecasts. I seems the clouds just keep following us – let’s see if the pattern continues through out the year.

Gaming from Generation to the Next

After Ludesco we drove to Germany to Ratinger Spieletage. Another whole family gaming event. Actually it felt like a whole town gaming event! So many people in different ages kept walking by and stopped to play Darwinning, Perdition’s Mouth and Black Hat.

This time we didn’t have any German speaking team members to help us. Luckily most of the people understood English. We offered, of course, also Finnish guidance, more or less as a joke. I guess we were rather surprised when one father told his kids would prefer that! We found out that Ratingen has quite large Finnish speaking community and even a school where Finnish is taught as one subject. Nokia had a factory there earlier, so many Finns moved to live there.

On our way towards East, to our warehouse, we stopped for a history lesson. Saalburg used to be on the north border of the imperium of Rome. This rebuilt fortress provides a lot of information of Rome’s history and has a small museum with surprisingly many artefacts. In the museum we saw an ancient Roman board game. Even the ancient Romans knew how to best spend their spare time!

Pit-Stop and New Records

At the warehouse waited a parcel from Finland...

We went to our warehouse in Leipzig to change winter clothes to summer clothes and winter tires to summer tires. We had booked a time for tire change at a caravan service – two weeks in advance. But when we arrived, the obviously-too-stressed-out-worker announced they have no time for us. He told that in German, but the message was clearly understandable. Customers service point of view felt still a bit neglected, though.

We had to get the tires changed because we were heading south and usage of winter tires was no longer allowed. So we kindly asked for a jack – and got one. Have you ever changed tires to a 2,5 tons caravan? Well, luckily Timo had had some experience when the tire went of... We spent 2,5 hours on a parking lot in a sunshine, sweating. It was not as fast as in Formula 1 races, but damn it, we made it!

In Portugal the Happy Shops guys, Frank and Sven, kindly asked us for a visit. Their company premises are in Merseburg, close to Leipzig. I immediately fell in love with the meeple shaped garden lamps in their yard! We had a nice couple of days with business and board games. About the business I can tell you that we have now a SpieleSchmiede campaign for the German version of Hideout expansion to Perdition’s Mouth! And about the board games I can tell that they lost to an eleven year old. Three times.

It felt good to meet same people again. When the scenery keeps changing all the time, a little repetition of the old and known is only good.

Under and Over the Mountains

The tunnel was many kilometers long. We don’t have many road tunnels in Finland and none of them are in Lapland. Driving underground has been a new experience. This time we had the Pyrenees on top of us. We had decided to leave Spain while the weather was still good. Forecast promised rain and more snow to northern Spain during the weekend.

When the tunnel ended, I was again able to see the mountain wall climb high on my right side and… nothing on the left side. There was a railing though. The road even had two lanes, but it was still narrow. We were in a S-shaped tricky curve, when a truck appeared. We couldn’t pass each other – the road was just too narrow for our caravan and the truck.

The Spanish truck driver jumped out and started yelling. He determined that we need to back up. Uphill, in a curve, with a caravan that barely managed to fit in the curve. No way. The smaller cars behind the truck had also stopped and reversed some meters to make way. I listened the Spanish yelling for some minutes, lost my temper and replied in Finnish: peruuta nyt pari metriä, niin me mahdutaan ohi. That worked. The guy returned to his vehicle, reversed a little and we managed to pass, thanks to Timo’s good driving.

The Fourth Opinion

Statue in Zamora.

We had returned the rental car in Spain after 1599 km trip to Portugal. On our way back we had stopped in the old city of Zamora. Timo had booked us a hotel room. We found it was a hotel with a single room. Actually just an apartment. But it had shower, washing machine and WIFI – exactly what we needed.

Due the car repair we had to skip our planned vacation in Valencia. We had agreed a business meeting on the French side close to the border for next week. Even though the car was thoroughly fixed, the brakes in the caravan did not work properly. Perhaps something had been damaged during the towing? Thanks to the long tunnel, crossing the mountain area was surprisingly easy. Anyhow we needed to get the brakes working as soon as possible.

For important issues it is always good to have several opinions – just to be sure. For the brake problem we got many. First place noticed a bent bolt on the caravan coupling. That might prevent the brake system in the stabiliser coupling for working. But fixing it requires an expert. So we went to see caravan repair guy who announced the whole coupling needs to be changed. It would take two days and cost nearly 1000 euros. We didn’t have neither, so I googled another place near Toulouse. They noticed that the bolt had nothing to do with anything – it was not physically connected to anything! They tested the brakes (read: pumped the caravan to the back of the car several times) and announced that the coupling itself was ok, but the brakes not. They didn’t have time for fixing, but booked us a time to a caravan garage near Lyon, for the next morning.

So we drove 600km through the Massif Central. We spent the night somewhere between. I woke up during the night because my nose was cold: we had run out of gas – again. Come on Mr. Murphy, we dealt this already! Caravan batteries and electricity heating kept us warm even the night was very cold. In the morning we had to scrape the car window!

Our navigator didn’t recognize the garage address, but with Google Map we made it there – just 10 minutes delayed. So – in French culture that would be just in time. We left the caravan there and went to buy food and gas. The supermarkets in France are amazing combinations of services. You can find bakery, gas station, and laundry machines in the area. This time we found also a circus with lions, a tiger, monkeys and a zebra.

After two hours the caravan was ready. I paid 78 euros and we were back on the road. This time heading to east, to Switzerland, to La Chaux-de-Fonds where Ludesco is held. And afterall, it was not the brakes that were at fault, but the brake cable support strut had bent during the towing in Spain.

1-2-3...

”We have plenty on time, it takes only one hour to drive there.” Timo announced when we started next morning from a camping place. It was pouring rain. He soon noticed a weird sound. The car didn’t feel right. Could it be that one of the brakes is jammed? Or worn out? He seemed very worried so googled the closest garage – only 1,5 kilometer ahead.

We stopped in a tiny village. Right after we stopped, a truck was honking a horn and the driver yelled: ”It went off about a kilometer ago!” And then we noticed the caravan had only 3 tires left. I stared at the empty place. There was still some marker paint after yesterdays repair. They must have forgot to tighten the bolts! It felt surreal. Yesterday, after the repair I drove us to the camping. On a highway. What if this would have happened then?

We disconnected the caravan. Timo and Väinö drove back to look for the tire. My job was to explain to the carage owner why we had blocked his yard with our caravan. I had to use hand signs and my theatre skills because no-parle-angle.

It feels stupid to repeat in situations like this that ”we were lucky”. But we were. Timo found the tire, intact. It hadn’t hit any other vehicles or people. The only misfortune was that we didn’t have any bolts to install the tire. Two wise men – some local road workers – came to help: take one bolt from all the other tires, so you will have 3 bolts in each. Solutions for tricky situations can sometimes be simple!

Murphy Go Home!

Next bigger village had a garage which sold us the missing bolts. They also checked the brakes of our car. Now that the vehicles were working all right and had all parts with them, I was able to relax a bit and enjoy the scenery. The road we were driving – from Pontarlier to La Chaux-de-Fonds – followed a small river. It had eroded an amazing canyon to Jura mountains. All of a sudden Timo stopped the car. There where signs to a cave.

The cave was quite large, eroded by water. There were several small waterfalls in it. Signs announced it was a holy place. It served as a chapel. To whom, I don’t know. We were in the middle of nothing. There was only one restaurant next to the parking place.

I’m not a religious person. But after all these events I’m convinced we have several guardian angels, -fairies and/ or -dragons with us. Obviously very much needed. I thank you all for sending those to us. Could you also please call Mr. Murphy back home?

All-inclusive Relaxation

After snow in Spain I wasn’t expecting any sunshine in Portugal either. Weather forecast promised constant rain and heavy wind for the whole weekend. In this case, it was just one more good reason to stay indoors and play board games. That’s what LeiriaCon is all about.

Me and Paulo.

Because of the broken car we had to quickly do changes for the weekend. We emailed Paulo, one of the organisers of LeiriaCon, that we would need accommodation instead of a big parking place. I packed clothes for all of us, but It was a bit tricky because we only have one small suitcase with us. Väinö packed his stuff to his school bag.

We checked the fridge and emptied the trash bin of our caravan and moved game boxes from our car to the rental car. It was Thursday morning, LeiriaCon was starting in Portugal, and we had 800 kilometers to drive. Nevertheless, without the caravan, we should make it there for the evening.

Fire & Water

The rental car was also a VW van, but it lacked many of the nice features we had installed to our car - like navigator. Fortunately we have a good navigation app downloaded to Timo’s phone. Only tricky part during the way was the Portuguese road toll system. I highly recommend travellers to check different payment options beforehand.

When we were closing Leiria, the scenery turned spooky. We were driving thru the areas that had large forest fires in 2017. Black, charred trees stood silently on both sides of the road. In the heavy rain we were driving, it was difficult to imagine the draught and hotness there must have been just a bit over half a year ago.

All of a sudden the Atlantic ocean was again in front of us. High, whitecap waves crashed to a long beach. Wind was gathering small dynes of sand to a sidewalk. Right there, by the beach, was the Hotel Cristal Vieira Resort Praia & Spa where LeiriaCon was held.

Dress Code: Lipstick

Starters, main course and deserts. Drinks included. I love LeiriaCon!

We made it just in time for dinner. Unlike in normal fairs and many other conventions, in LeiriaCon you can get all-inclusive participation: accommodation, all meals and 24 hours in a day for board gaming. What an excellent concept and very welcome change for fair days without any food!

We carried our stuff to the hotel room and I wanted to quickly change clothes. I was still wearing the same outfit I had dressed for yesterday’s driving day: comfy, grey college pants, long woollen socks (it was so cold!) and sweatshirt. I unpacked from the small suitcase a new shirt and trousers for Timo, clean shirt and socks for me and… well, that was it. Several shirts, socks and underwear, but NO trousers for me.

I clearly remembered thinking of packing my jeans. But obviously that thought was never accomplished. I’m sure at least all female readers can imagine my feelings at that moment. Timo comforted me: “Come on, this is a relaxed convention for board game nerds, nobody cares what you are wearing.” There was nothing I could do for the situation, so I just combed my hair, put on some lipstick and went for a dinner.

Friends For Life and Laundry

Frank, Mauro and another game I liked and lost.

They liked Darwinning! I'm sure you will, too. Pledge now!

The rainy days of LeiriaCon were filled with good food (especially the deserts…), nice people and hours of board games. We, of course, played Darwinning with many Portuguese groups and promoted our Kickstarter campaign, but we had time to test other games also. Väinö learned to play Ex Libris with Inka and Markus Brand. Yet another proof of his much improved English skills. Sven and Frank from Happyshops had several prototypes with them. I enjoyed playing all of them, even though I lost most of my games. This was the first time I had a chance to give feedback of other designers games and give ideas for the future development.

The atmosphere was really relaxed and positive. Nobody mentioned my grey college pants. Nevertheless, on Friday after siesta I sneaked out to the quiet, rainy beach village to look for a clothing store. Most of the stores were closed due the low season, but I found one store with handcrafts and clothes. There were only one type of trousers available: black college pants. I bought those and knitting needles for Väinö. He must knit mittens for school and I forgot to take the needles from home.

Early Sunday evening, when the event was about to end and I had lost two rounds of Azul, I took an hour of my own time. The spa offered a relaxation massage, and after all the events of previous weeks I really needed one. I also needed some quietness and time alone. During the past month and a half that we have been on tour, I have met more people than I usually meet during a whole year. I have seen three oceans and climbed higher than I have ever been. There have been moments and experiences I will never forget.

This tour is also about networking. I have got many new Facebook and LinkedIn contacts. But what I really liked about LeiriaCon, is that there you can really get to KNOW new people. It is not only changing business cards.

How do you know you have made new friends? Well, they invite you for a visit and offer to loan their washing machine.