Archive through March 23, 2010
Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Company-Conventions-Stores-Ideas: New Product Lines Development: GENERAL PROJECTS: New Product Suggestion Topic: Archive through March 23, 2010
By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 01:33 pm: Edit

See the galaxy map on the website. There are no "races on that side" nor can there be, the way the games work. Just a big outback until you hit the void zone, and on the other side of that is the Sargasso sector. Like Alpha-Omega, there is no contact between Alpha and Sargasso.

By Matthew Scull (Mscull) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 04:29 pm: Edit

"no races" Or "no major races".

By Garth L. Getgen (Sgt_G) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 04:58 pm: Edit

What about peoduct that's an add-on to the MRB with just those parts Loren listed??


Garth L. Getgen

By Xander Fulton (Dderidex) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 05:35 pm: Edit

Quote:

...a big outback until you hit the void zone...



This discussion triggered a memory of a product suggestion I wanted to make:

I always found the SH12 "Tomcats Over Leebyahh" to be a delight, and was wondering if an R-module (or would it be a C-module?) could be developed that would include slightly more robust handling of similar 'minor' races. IE., a smallish 64-page SSD book would have little to nothing from the major empires*, but consist of 20-40 different one-off or two-off ships from non-Empire races that operated somewhere in this sector of the galaxy#. The vast majority of these would be sublight/NTW ships of unique designs (could be another opportunity to cross-license Iron Crown miniature designs). A small handful of warp-refitted ships might appear - but very early technology.

Essentially, the product could be used to "fill in the gaps" on the map - 'outback' areas, "off map" resource zones, border regions, previously unexplored areas, etc...material for random encounters. Surely, even as the major powers ground their way through the General War, new species would be discovering FTL travel (in the form of NTW), and previously contacted but not assimilated minor species (never more than a single star system) might buy some third-rate knockoff weapons, fighters, or defenses from Orion pirates.

Could make for an interesting product (and a "Module C6: Minor Races" has a certain ring to it). Has a LOT of crossover potential for the 'Prime Directive' products, of course, too.

* What exists from the major empires would be strictly units designed for export. SSDs for Federation F-20 flights, etc.

# Thinking on this, there might even be a place for a few 'general units'. Surely, any race that achieves FTL would have gone through a period in which it engages in rocket exploration of its system (if not a full-on cold war between planetary "superpowers"). The net result being that everyone's first "warp ship" would likely look very much like Cochrane's Phoenix. (Not much, I imagine, even for the really big ones - a bridge, a hull box, maybe a lab, and 2 impulse boxes...)

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 05:52 pm: Edit

Nobody with space ships is out there.

By Michael Bennett (Mike) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 08:56 pm: Edit

At least nobody that is known about presently.. .

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 10:29 pm: Edit

Actually, I know, and nobody's there.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 10:30 pm: Edit

I had a thought.

1. Make a list of every worthwhile product idea.

2. Post the list.

3. Not allow anyone to suggest a new product idea until 50% of the list is published.

By Matthew Scull (Mscull) on Monday, November 16, 2009 - 10:36 pm: Edit

Still looking for a "railroad" type game?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 10:44 am: Edit

If somebody would do one...

By Matthew Scull (Mscull) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 11:15 am: Edit

I have some questions about that before I submit a proposal.

By Gary Plana (Garyplana) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 12:06 pm: Edit

SVC, When you mention railroad games, John Olsen immediately comes to mind.

Don't you like the idea of role reversal with him?

Doesn't that concept just bring an evil smirk to your face?

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Tuesday, November 17, 2009 - 01:21 pm: Edit

Gary: No, I wanted him to do one years ago. He never got around to it. If nothing else, it would bring a smile to my face that John could at last play the game he always wanted to design.

By Gary Carney (Nerroth) on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 05:59 pm: Edit

In other settings I'm familiar with, there are, have been, or will be 'historical' books - either novels, short stories or supplements which look at some of the defining elements of each setting's history.


For the SFU, two ideas for such stories I thought of were to do with some of the individuals and events which shaped the course of the 'big three' in the Alpha Octant.

One series, set on Klinshai, could tell stories from the Klingon homeworld's rise to promience - one telling of the rise of Kahless, another highlighting the coming of the Old Kings, and yet another looking at the first steps the Klingons took in the wake of the Old Kings' disappearance to found an interstellar empire of their own.

The other could look at the different paths taken in the wake of the Exodus from 40 Eridani A. One story could tell of the emergence of both Kya-yai and Kiay ri-ha-nai in Vulcan society back in the day. Then, stories to follow could take one of two forks in the road - with one route looking at the change which Vulcan itself went through (perhaps fast-forwarding to the era in which it made First Contact with Earth, then helped found the Federation) and the other following the Exiles through to, say, the ascent of Austus Tal as the First Emperor.


Other such stories would be out there to tell, of course.


The idea for this is not to clutter up Captain's Log - but instead to help flesh out the range of fiction which could go into trade paperbacks or novels. For The Glory of the Empire and Day of the Eagle are steps in that direction already, but even they are collections of stories from other sources.

If and when the time comes for new stories to be told in this format - ones which may be more accessible to those unfamiliar with SFB or FC, but still looking for Klingon or Romulan stories to delve into - perhaps this route could be an option.


(Plus, if one really wanted to, there are other GURPS and D20 modules which could be integrated with PD, for playing out such events in earlier TL eras.)


It's something of a long-range suggestion, which I don't ask to happen any time soon, if ever - but, if it's not too bad a concept, then maybe it might be something to consider one day...

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Friday, February 12, 2010 - 06:27 pm: Edit

Gary: Nice theory, but we currently (and for the last year) can only barely get enough fiction to keep Captain's Log going. I have said before that I'd print paperbacks if the fiction to fill them showed up. It never has. No one would be happier than me if it did.

By Stephen Foulk (Tostig) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 07:40 am: Edit

Hi - sorry if this isn't the right place to post but I was wondering if you would consider adding the 'dates in service' for the various ships in Federation Commander?

I'm only just starting out playing FC (played SFB quite a bit from 1982 through to the late 90s) so if it already exists colour me embarrassed!

By Tony L Thomas (Scoutdad) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 08:43 am: Edit

Stephen: The concept of "Date in Service" does not exist in Federation Commander.

All of the ship cards presented in the game (and it's expansions) are the fully refitted, final versions and as such - all are assumed to be available at all time periods.

By Mike West (Mjwest) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 09:58 am: Edit

To echo Tony's comments, all ships in Federation Commander are always available. There is no "timeline", per se. Therefore, there are no "year in service" dates.

Yes, that even means that everyone has battleships available. That means the Tholians can always use their snares and the NDD/NFF. The Feds can have a whole squadron of CSs. The Klingon D7 always has nose Ph-1s. All ships are always available.

Now, there are "settings". Briefing #2 outlines an earlier time period, which uses a different set of ships. Briefing #2 either includes or describes all of the ships available in that setting. However, if you are not using Briefing #2, then the idea of a "setting" doesn't really matter.

PS. In the future, please keep all Federation Commander discussions in the Federation Commander area. For this question, the appropriate place would likely be the Proposals topic in the Federation Commander area.

By Steve Cole (Stevecole) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 11:35 am: Edit

I would note that if you really want to know, you can go check the F&E MASTER SIT topic and find charts with the service dates for every ship in F&E (and thousands that aren't).

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 10:50 pm: Edit

SVC,

as I noted in my email the other day, I suggested that you make "ADB" stickers available on the cart (like the rest of the misc. stuff.

I for one would pay a dollar to have one....

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Thursday, February 18, 2010 - 08:58 am: Edit

Mike, you may want to suggest that again after F&E 2010 goes to press. Suggestions made now are likely to get lost in the shuffle.

By Shawn Hantke (Shantke) on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 12:16 pm: Edit

How about a dice game using SFU themed dice with simple mechanics like or similar to these:

Zombie dice-http://www.sjgames.com/dice/zombiedice/

or Cthulhu dice-
http://www.sjgames.com/dice/cthulhudice/

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 12:36 pm: Edit

Jean, has F&E 2010 gone to press?

By Michael C. Grafton (Mike_Grafton) on Wednesday, February 17, 2010 - 10:50 pm: Edit

SVC,

as I noted in my email the other day, I suggested that you make "ADB" stickers available on the cart (like the rest of the misc. stuff.

I for one would pay a dollar to have one....

By Jean Sexton (Jsexton) on Friday, March 19, 2010 - 12:55 pm: Edit

Mike, I can tell you are not following us on Facebook! If you were, you'd have been able to follow the progress on F&E 2010 (including it going to press) and today (what I think of as Humor Friday) you could watch SVC being "Gibbsed" at Origins. In addition, since SVC suggested it, I have my certificate for Gibbs Smacking also up there.

We have art, photos, news, humor, and a bit of everything!

By Michael Bennett (Mike) on Tuesday, March 23, 2010 - 04:00 pm: Edit

Noticed some talk in the CL thread about new intro giveaways that might go into the CLs and thought I'd throw this idea out there.

I have a couple of the "Fly a starship, save the Federation" bookmarks and have thought those could be done with a more technical design that would be more appealing.

Suggestions:

- The picture of the starship could have the brushed aluminum exterior look instead of having the near-cartoonish look that it currently has.

- The picture could include a couple of starships firing at one another and showing the protective effect of shields.

- Change the "Fly a starship, save the Federation" to something else. Perhaps something like, "Explore the Starfleet Universe."

- The back of the bookmark could list the contact info for ADB and the various game titles.

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