Greetings, Forge community!
It’s been a whirlwind of activity here at The Forge, and we’re absolutely buzzing to share everything that’s been happening behind the scenes. From the energy of GAMA Expo to some exciting new developments on the platform, and even a peek into the future of our UI, there’s a lot to unpack.
If you missed our latest livestream, don’t worry, we’ve got a full recap right here.
GAMA Expo: Connecting with the Community
Our team had an incredible time at GAMA Expo!
It was fantastic connecting with so many talented people from all corners of the industry. The energy at GAMA is amazing, and it is always inspiring to see the passion that drives our community.
We've brought back a lot of ideas, and we have renewed enthusiasm for what's next. Of course, what we're most excited about is...
The Secret Behind the Fun: Board Game Kit (BGK) Teaser
Remember those fun little "Time Killer" games we released: Holiday Solitaire, Dungeon Solitaire, Spider Solitaire, and even our first multiplayer game, Naughty & Nice? Well, we’re thrilled to finally pull back the curtain: these weren’t just random games! They were all built using our very own Board Game Kit (BGK), a powerful new software we’ve been developing.
Board Game Kit is designed for board game designers, with the help of board game designers, and can currently help expedite design and playtesting online. We plan on adding even more as its beta continues.
We’ve just published a new blog post that dives deep into the BGK, complete with screenshots and the story behind its creation. If you’re a designer and would like access to BGK, have feedback on the software, or have suggestions for features we can introduce into it, we heavily encourage emailing us via [email protected] or by reaching out on Discord.
Forge Platform Updates: Compendium Library v1.6.0 & More
Behind the scenes: While we're focusing on big UI changes (more on that below!), our development team is also constantly working on stability improvements "under the hood" to make The Forge as smooth as possible.
But that's not all! We’ve just released a major update to the Compendium Library (v1.6.0). While it’s just a package update, it’s an important part of our D&D Beyond Importer features, so this update makes that feature much easier to use (again), and brings some huge improvements to your games:
- Full Foundry v13 Compatibility: Ensuring everything runs seamlessly with the latest version.
- Dark Mode is HERE! Finally available for all users! Say goodbye to those bright screens during late-night sessions.
Thanks for your patience while we got this one ready for you. We will make sure its ready for V14 when we officially recommend it.
New Tutorial Videos: Quick Guides for Forge Features
We know your time is precious, so we’ve been busy creating new tutorial content designed to give you quick, clear guidance on Forge features.
Our latest video covers the User Manager, showing you how to streamline player access and make game setup a breeze. Keep an eye out, more videos are already in production and will be released soon.
A Glimpse into the Future: The UI Overhaul Teaser
This is where things get really exciting! We introduced you to some key members of our UI/UX team, Andie and Adrian, along with Tim from development, who are spearheading a massive UI overhaul. Their goal? To make The Forge even more intuitive, beautiful, and accessible.
The UX Vision
Andie and Adrian shared their core design pillars, focusing on creating a seamless experience. This includes a brand-new design system, ensuring visual consistency, and a strong emphasis on accessibility. This includes thoughtful contrast and color standards, information hierarchy, and even color blindness testing to make sure The Forge is welcoming to everyone. They even teased some early mockups of a redesigned Marketplace, new branding elements, and a slicker Game Card loading sequence.
Want to help shape the future? You can provide your feedback and test early versions via our Lark Form.
The Technical Side
Tim then walked us through the technical aspects, highlighting how they’re implementing accessibility standards (WCAG) with things like image ALT tags, screen reader support, and proper browser focus states. They’re also ensuring full support for both light and dark themes and working towards a fully responsive experience across all devices.
Get ready for a Forge that looks and feels amazing everywhere!
Catching Up: Recent Events & Community Highlights
Before we wrapped up, we took a moment to look back at some recent community events:
- Valentine’s Day: We celebrated the real relationships that matter with our blog post: TTRPGs: The Real Relationships We Maintain.
- International GM’s Day: We rolled for appreciation with our special post: Roll for Appreciation: It’s GM’s Day!
If you want to stay in the loop for more community posts, sales, and developer updates, follow us on our socials, or sign up for our new News & Blog notification channel to get updates directly.
Bazaar Showcase
We took some time to highlight some fantastic packages available on The Bazaar:
Under Darkness Vol. 1 by DumbHumanDrawn
Perfect for populating those dark caverns with unique and quirky monsters.
The Bridge by Angela Maps
Go boldly forth into the galaxy with this animated spaceship bridge map.
Wrapping Up
That’s a wrap for this update!
We had a great Q&A session during the livestream, answering as many of your questions as we could. We love hearing from you, so keep those questions coming. Thank you for reading through everything and for being a part of The Forge community.
If you want to follow us for regular updates, here are our social media links:
Or check out our Linktree for all our links in one place!
Until next time, may your rolls be lucky! 🎲