TRAVELLER Digest 539

Topics covered in this issue include:

  1) Weight by Bri <bri@teleport.com>
  2) Future of Traveller by Randy Hollingsworth <randyh@svpal.org>
  3) GDW Phone # by "David J. Golden" <goldendj@csn.com>
  4) The Future of Traveller by ereddoch@amaranth.com (Eris Reddoch)
  5) Re: TRAVELLER digest 538 by Les Howie <lhowie@lrmi.com>
  6) GDW Closing Down/TRC - a rescue mission by sjhumphr@bournemouth.ac.uk (steven J Humphrey)

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Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 12:38:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Bri <bri@teleport.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Weight
Message-ID: <Pine.SUN.3.91.960107123526.2610A-100000@julie.teleport.com>

 a while ago, I posted something on the huge weight of the TL-8 Prarie
Fire "fast" tank.
 Someone said that I was confusing metric with imperial tonns. According
to my referance, the XM-1(M1 proto) has a loaded weight of 58,000kg, and
the M1A1 has a loaded weight of about 70,000kg(from memory). And even
this is considerd extreemley heavy by modern day standards.
 Look at the Prarie Fire tank, it has a loaded weight of 247100kg!! Am I
the only one who thinks that this thing would have problems sinking into
the praries it's supposed to be used on?

Bri <bri@teleport.com>


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Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 18:49:35 -0800 (PST)
From: Randy Hollingsworth <randyh@svpal.org>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Future of Traveller
Message-ID: <Pine.3.88.9601071834.A11935-0100000-0100000@svpal>

The news about GDW upset me so much I accidentally disengaged my lurker
cloaking device, so I might as well transmit my $.02 credit's worth.

I feel that the best way to assure Traveller's future would be to declare
what I am willing to shell out for, to wit:

I'm willing to pay $50.00 US for a CD-ROM archive of the Traveller rules.
The CD could accompany a reissue of the TNE main book, or just about any
book since they are so darn cheap to manufacture.

The Adobe Acrobat format would be ideal as it is cross-platform, and
provides security features that protect the publishing interests of
whoever picks up the system. (I don't work for Adobe.) I believe you can
disable printing and copy/paste operations to protect the material.

Since the TNE rules have become a tad cumbersome to administer, and it
really, really looks like all the tables in the TNE books were done in
Microsoft Excel, I'd like to see some excel utilities for ship
construction and etc. on the disc. Excel is also cross-platform and
offers security features that prevent editing the formulas and data.

I wouls also be delighted if all barriers were dropped by the new
publisher on the writing of shareware utilities by the gamers. This would
promote more play due to increased ease of use, and the synergy between
developers and the publisher could help rejuvenate sales.  "You mean the
CD has the rules, the charts, and utilities too? I'll take it!!"

Utility programs could be required to read data from the CD, ensuring that only
authorized owners of the game could run any software, and utility makers
could be required to allow the publication of their work non-exclusively
on future CD's. I feel this would respect all the publisher's rights and
permit a beehive of innovative activity, albeit a non-commercial beehive.

I think including a CD will also encourage Mr. Miller or whoever is
adding to the Imperium to produce more material than is economical to
print, since CD duplication is dirt cheap. Finding plenty of extra stuff
on the CD is good for the gamer's wallet and enriches the Traveller
universe with more ideas.

That's my ideal future for Traveller. I look forward to seeing everyone
else's and eagerly await the next chapter in the Traveller saga, which I
have followed since 1978...

Best regards,
Randy Hollingsworth
randyh@svpal.org
randy@raydream.com



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Date: Sun, 7 Jan 1996 20:41:31 -0700
From: "David J. Golden" <goldendj@csn.com>
To: xboat@MPGN.COM, traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: GDW Phone #
Message-ID: <199601080341.AA20443@ns-1.csn.net>

        Seeing as there's still a few Trav items that haven't surfaced
around here, I'd like to get my hands on whatever copies GDW still has left.
Unfortunately, I've misplaced their telephone number ... could some kind
soul e-mail it to me at work (goldendj@fafb.af.mil)? That way I don't have
to wait until I get home ...
        Loren, if you're reading this, I'd like dibs on a copy of the RSB
and Striker II ...
 ___________________________________________________________________
  Dave Golden                              PGP Public Key available
  goldendj@whip.com        http://www2.csn.net/~goldendj/index.html

 "He that would make his own liberty secure must guard even his
  enemy from oppression; for if he violates this duty, he establishes
  a precedent that will reach to himself" -- Thomas Paine


------------------------------

Date: Sun, 07 Jan 96 23:12:47 CST
From: ereddoch@amaranth.com (Eris Reddoch)
To: xboat@MPGN.COM, traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: The Future of Traveller
Message-ID: <199601080522.XAA03300@mailhub.amaranth.com>


>GDW is closing down.  One of the oldest companies in the
>industry, founded in 1973...stops selling product January 19th
>and expects to be shut down by the end of February.

1.  It's a shame about GDW closing down, but companies come and
companies go.  GDW hasn't been the focus of my attentions, it's
been the games..particularly Traveller.  I'm sorry to see TW2k go
down the tubes too!

2.  I haven't been enthused about where GDW has been carrying
Traveller the last few years..never liked the Virus, even the
rebellion wasn't really where I wanted to to play or run games.

3.  SJG *might* be a good new owner for the Traveller products.
Are they interested in buying *all* of Traveller?  What about 2300AD?
What about TW2K?  Personally, I see them as a package.  But
anyway, SJ Games is an active and innovative publisher.  I like
GURPS well enough for it to be my second favorite system.  <g>
But frankly, I suspect they would treat Traveller more as source
books or world books than a system, and GURPify it as much as
possible.  I *could* live with that, but it wouldn't be my first
choice.

4.  Marc Miller has written that Traveller rights devolve to him.
I don't know why Mr Miller walked away from GDW and Traveller a
few years ago.  I've heard it was because he was 'burned out' on
trying to make a living selling games, but that's only second
hand rumor.  Would Marc be able or willing to do what it takes to
keep Traveller in print?  What versions of Traveller will he
support?  Will he have control over how Traveller history
develops?  What does he make of the Virus, for example?  <g> Will
he control TW2K and 2300AD, or just Traveller..and does that
include TNE?

5.  Wherever Traveller ends up, I think it will survive.  IMHO, it is
the only really good SF based gaming system around and as such
we'll be using it whether it's in print or not.  Until something
better comes along, and nothing has come along now has it?

6.  Whoever picks up Traveller will be in a position to do
something I'd really like to see..a divorce between the Traveller
game *system* and the Traveller game *history*.  Yes, yes I
know..so don't start flaming me!  <g> I realize that the detailed
history is what sets Traveller apart from everything else, so I'm
not suggesting that we dump it.  Just that we sanction and
develop more than one!

What I'd like to see is a general game system (that's what the
TNE rules were going to be, I think), and several Official
Histories.  Three that I can think of right now:  a. the Virus
collapsed history; b. the Rebellion induced Hard Times history; c.
the Classic Imperium where the Rebellion failed and no Virus was
ever released.  Maybe there could be other Histories that are
officially sanctioned and supported as well, but that are still
based on the Same System Of Rules.

Well that's my two cents anyway.

Eris Reddoch



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Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 11:03:24 -0400
From: Les Howie <lhowie@lrmi.com>
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: Re: TRAVELLER digest 538
Message-ID: <9601081503.AA26765@ lrmi.com>

Brendan wrote (in part)
>
>The net publication of a decent RPG, especially one with the history of
>Traveller would be a major event and could get publicity throughout the RPG
>media, attracting interest and letting Traveller grow instead of slowly
wasting
>away. It could even help attract interest from companies that might buy
>Traveller and resurrect it.
>

I have some hope that, based on the posts from SJ and Mark Miller, Traveller
will be with us for a while yet.

What I hope that the new publishers will consider are:

1. Net publictaion of official introductory material (players guides,
Imperial Encyclopedia, etc.)  This might attract some new players, and get
them into puchasing the main game, updates, etc.

2. Introduction of a No-Nonsence License Agreement of the form used by SJG.
This would get computer support tools for traveller (which are needed and
are lacking, or at least very thin on the ground) off the ground from
shareware producers.  I would be very interested in producing such products
if I did not have to worry (ethicly, if not legally) about copyright issues,
and SJG's pricing is VERY fair and resonable.

Have the people who have traveller pages considered adding access counting
to them?   I have no idea of how that is done technically (or if it has an
associated cost), but it would help Mr. Miller and his potential publishers
gauge the extent of WWW interest in the product.
Les Howie
Senior Software Developer
Atlantic LRMI


------------------------------

Date: Mon, 8 Jan 1996 15:59:23 +0200
From: sjhumphr@bournemouth.ac.uk (steven J Humphrey)
To: traveller@MPGN.COM
Subject: GDW Closing Down/TRC - a rescue mission
Message-ID: <v01530500ad16d2edc64a@[194.80.67.32]>

Previous postings To: GDW-beta@quark.qrc.com, Marc Miller at
FarFuture@aol.com,  traveller@MPGN.COM, BITS (A.S.Lilly@bnr.co.uk) and
SwrdKnght@aol.com
From: sjhumphr@athena.bournemouth.ac.uk. (steven J Humphrey)

Can you publish the following advert for TRC both on your website and list
server?

***START OF MESSAGE***

At present, I am setting up a multimedia project management company called
"TRC" (or Traveller Reformation Company) in association with another
company called WebTop Publico and Azinko Korp Unlimited here in
bournemouth.uk to investigate, set up and recruit the necessary staff to
undertake multimedia projects based on Traveller following the closing down
of GDW Games.

***TRC is investigating a project idea to put Traveller onto CD-ROM (as
"traveller:the compact disk" or t:cd) as an interactive multimedia
encyclopedia with conventional eGame componants, e.g flight simulation/3D
shoot'em up games, heavy on Animated 3D Graphics and content. Traveller has
always had computers integral to the system, and it seems logical to
include modern computing systems into traveller as an integral part of the
game system, and digitising Traveller on CD and via the Internet also seems
logical.

The t:cd project is therefore centered around literally putting the
traveller game system, rules, library data, subsystems e.g craft design,
character generation etc, and campaign data onto one or a series of cds,
designing the application that handles the data stored, adding a couple of
conventional game systems e.g a DoomII style eGame to make it sell, and
finally, selling the finished product to the distributors.

The t:cd will include an application software program to instal onto the
player's own Computer system to store and produce custom data e.g House
rules and campaign details, in addition to t:cd's encyclopedic functiions
and features. Combine these two features (multimedia CD and application
software) with the internet to update and support t:cd and to post
user-designed modules - in a similar way to DoomII's wads - and I believe
the true next era of traveller gaming will be released onto the 40 million
and more internet aware public.

The commercial aspect of t:cd is that cd's sell for around 50 bucks each
but once the software and data have been produced, the profit margins are
very attractive, costing only a quid or two per cd to mass produce.
Distributors then take a slice, producers, advertisers and other "fingers"
each take their chunks but overall, still a profitable proposition.

***The first phase of this project is to acquire the publishing rights, or
a license to publish, Traveller online and on CD. The second and third
phases are to recruit the relevent staff and to produce a working Demo in
time for EuroCon96. Tight scheduling I know but feasible and attainable
providing the licensing deal goes through. Following EuroCon96, the project
teams will develop a working alpha version within 12 months and full
release within two years.

***If you want to help produce, finance or otherwise develop t:cd project
then eMail me with how you can help.

***Specifically, I am recruiting:-

5x Project managers;
3D Graphics Artists/ Animaniacs;
Artificial Intelligencia Experts;
Database Design Programmers;
Multimedia Interface Designers;
Software Engineering Programmers;
and Webdesigners/ Administrators.

If can fill one or more of this positions, eMail your C.V/ Resume to me NOW!

Together we can travel to a new dimension with the Traveller reformation
Company

:-) may your thrusters burn free (-:

stevenjay Humphrey
sjhumphr@athena.bournemouth.ac.uk



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End of TRAVELLER Digest 539
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