Rayman: The Board Game

[Hunchman801]

Yeah, the interview is a bit strange. Maxime Tardif says that he played a lot of Rayman as a kid, and he was apparently 38 as of last June, so he must be familiar with the older titles. But then he goes on to say that... "one of Rayman’s biggest strengths is the fast-paced gameplay"? Sure, that's the case for the UbiArt titles, but the original trilogy is not particularly fast-paced.

Is that yet another case of the series' identity being reduced to that of the UbiArt games? Or probably just Rayman Legends in that case, as shown by quotes such as "maintain a similar feel to the video game" and "make the game feel true to the video game" (note the use of the singular). And yet the game is not named anywhere in the interview, only the series is mentioned.

It's already been discussed at length how the board game contains virtually no elements from the rest of the series and should have been called "Rayman Legends: The Board Game", but this interview leaves me with the bitter taste that they don't even realize it and that they're convinced of making something representative of the whole series.

[RayCarrot]

The interview to me reads like one big advertisement for Flyos. Specifically this answer:

I have to say, working with the FLYOS team was a great experience. They’re incredibly professional and worked very quickly to develop the visuals: levels, figures, cards, projectiles, bosses, and so on. I was actually very impressed by their speed and efficiency! Whenever I had a question, communication was smooth and responsive. It was a really enjoyable experience with strong two-way collaboration.

I'm also getting the feeling that the avatar art was AI-made, which isn't the best look for a creative studio such as them.



I feel like something might have happened with Flyos behind the scenes earlier this year. People working there were suddenly let go, including their community manager Billy. Their YouTube channel, which used to get monthly updates, now hasn't had a new video in over 9 months. Their Discord server has been mismanaged ever since Billy left, with several message spam attacks from bots across all channels, most of which are still there now even after a whole month. There's also barely any communication directly with the backers anymore, instead all we get are the monthly hub updates on their site which feel a lot less personal, and leaving a comment there requires it to go through a verification system for it to even appear.

Maybe I'm reading too much into it. At least it seems the Rayman board game is on track now, even if it turned out to be delayed multiple times without a real explanation for it.

[EdgyRabbid]

Didn’t they advertise that they didn’t use ai at all?? What the fuck is this??

[RayCarrot]

They confirmed it's indeed AI:

Didn’t they advertise that they didn’t use ai at all?? What the fuck is this??

Yep

And although they're still not using AI for the game itself I, as a backer, find it disappointing and in poor taste that they would use it to promote the Rayman board game. I backed it because of the creativity behind it. Having actual artists and designers transform one of my favorite video games into a board game. They could have easily used some other image, or even a photo of the guy they were interviewing. There was no need to do this.

[Greengoop]

I don’t think it’s that bad, a little confusing, but I’m just happy the board game is even being developed at all.

[EdgyRabbid]

Yeah but it’s hypocritical to say you won’t use ai and then to use ai.

[Greengoop]

They’re not using AI in the project, which is all that matters.

[EdgyRabbid]

I suppose, but I do still find it disapointing. Lets hope they don't use ai more for promotion.

[RayCarrot]

They’re not using AI in the project, which is all that matters.

Personally I disagree. This is on their main home page and directly promoting the game that we backed. It's even for an interview of the designer, which makes it feel even more in poor taste. I spent a substantial amount or money on this, not just because of the game itself, but also to support the people behind it and the brand.

[Greengoop]

Yeah it’s undeniably in poor taste, but it’s not gonna ruin the game, in fact they’re even less likely to use AI in the future when they’re already getting all this pointless backlash for using it for one image.

[RayGamer99]

Seems like FLYOS has righted their wrong, as they just changed the cover of the interview to show a real image of Maxime Tardif.

[EdgyRabbid]

I’m glad they did. I hope they don’t use ai in the future after this debacle.

[RayCarrot]

I'm really glad they listened to the feedback from the backers on this

[Rulez]

I keep forgetting about this, and only get reminded with the occasional email; that's why I don't really mind all the delays, but I admit, it'll be pretty cool to finally have a few figures of uhh, I don't even remember which ones I got, but it will be cool nonetheless

[Sabertooth]

The Rayman brand has such a comically strong hold on me. I know for a fact I'll play this damn game maybe once in my life. No, I spent $300 so I could have small pieces of plastic and I know it and I'm happy about it. No other brand would make me do this! At 28!

[Greengoop]

The fact that Sabertooth’s willingness to spend is Edge’ prime source of comedy is my prime source of comedy as well.

[Hugo]

We need a Fry "shut up and take my money" meme replaced with Sabertooth and Rayman

[RayGamer99]

We've got ourselves another update!

The samples for the 21 miniatures are still in development at LongPack. The 3D models have been fully approved, and each piece has already been broken down in preparation for the molding phase. We expect to receive physical miniatures for approval by the end of the month. This means we should have minis to show you in the next update (we cannot wait).

Once these models are approved by both us and Ubisoft, we will move forward with the molding process (the creation of the metal tools used to manufacture the miniature components). After that, mass production can begin.

At the same time, we are finalizing distribution orders with our partners (Canada, US, Germany, and Poland already confirmed), and we are still on track to launch production of the game by the end of the year, with the goal of delivering to you as quickly as possible. We will keep you informed.

We would also like to take this moment to wish a happy 30th anniversary to our favorite limbless hero! Rayman has transcended generations to become a true icon of video games. We are proud to have contributed to his legacy by creating the official board game, earning the trust of Ubisoft, and hopefully the excitement of players once they have it in their hands.

Here's the images of the early factory samples (top) and what I assume are some of the figure models themselves (bottom):

[EdgyRabbid]

Oh… god. Those are, certainly figures alright!

[Master]

Sculpting looks fine, some appear to be a bit cracked, but these are early samples so I'd expect these will be fixed as they refine the manufacturing processes. I'm also assuming the paint's probably going to be refined as it does look a bit flat. But the general shapes seem fine, let's not jump to conclusions yet given these are samples.

EDIT: Having actually read the update, yeah these aren't even production samples, these are effectively prototypes that if I'm reading things right are made from resin (my inner nerd wonders if they were 3D printed), that were then hand painted. So yeah, I'd be reluctant to make judgements on the final figures from these images, the sculpting and shape is probably not going to change (unless something crops up when they try making the moulds), but I would imagine the finish is probably going to be different.

Note: I'm not an expert at manufacturing, I'm making some guesses based off what I've seen and heard of the processes for making toys.