Federation Commander

Yes, I would expect an FC campaign to reflect the simplicity of FC, and have a supply system simpler than F&E, not grossly more complicated. Frankly, supply is a distraction and I cannot imagine any campaign needing a supply system more complex than F&E has (this one is between six and ten times as much work), but hey, so far as I'm concerned about any campaign system, every rule in it is independently optional. Feel free to leave out anything you don't like. I certainly would never use the system in FA, nor does it have much to do with how supplies really work. Ships don't draw supplies from trivial colonies that aren't even on the F&E map; they draw them from the major industrial planets and from military bases.

Is this still destined for a Fall (September) release?

Fall, yes. Specific month is not known, although September was pencilled in at one point.

That would still be the goal, although it's not the only project, it takes a bunch of time, and it's a huge thing compared to others. The last two times I worked on it, everything I did took so much longer than scheduled for that it was "punted" to another release cycle. I don't want that to happen but cannot predict if it will or won't. Remember that there are still 70% of the pages that I haven't even read yet, and no one can predict how fast I can work through them.

Right now, I am still doing stuff that should have been done before Origins, but was delayed to "right after Origins" by the need to get multiple products out. The time scheduled for that function is over, but the function is not, so I haven't even been able to start on the fall products. Well, I did playtest [one of the other fall products] last night.

Has any announcement been made for pre-ordering?

Also, is the goal to use the F&E galactic map and the playing field for FA?

It is tentatively scheduled for "sometime in September" and will be available for pre-orders when we start shipments to wholesalers.

When Federation Admiral is released will it be book only or will we be able to buy a PDF?

September is here. Where is "sometime"?

Communique #69 (now in the Commando's Snorkel) just says "...will be released this fall".

There are only so many hours in a day and SVC has been focusing on the Mongoose joint venture so you guys can see it for Christmas.

Fair Enough

And having played both, given the choice - ACTA is the one I'd prefer to see [no offense, Jay]

The Fed Admiral thing is a project that I should not have scheduled until I worked on it. The plan was "plug and play", just take Jay's manuscript and stick it in page maker, but it was discovered that certain elements caused certain issues, meaning that we had to actually "work on" the manuscript, and it's been pretty slow going. Nobody really knows how big the book is (which is why we've never set a price) and progress is very slow as things are going back and forth multiple times (because the original manuscript has to be, in some parts, totally replaced with things that actually work). One example is the tech block system, which was in the original just a generic system usable with any generic universe that had nothing to do with how SFU works (and the contract with Paramount says SFU products have to work like the SFU works, any deviation has Paramount asking if we're trying to sneak back into their post-contract stuff). That, and the Mongoose thing is taking VAST amounts of time. It was supposed to take an hour or two per ship in the 2500 series but they're taking entire days because of things not ADB's fault.

I don't want to speak out of turn, but I'd be more than happy if FA slipped into next year to make room for ACtA:SF. FA sounds as if it is a monster, and while I 'do' want to own it, we all understand thar ADB's resources are limited. ACtA is going to be a far bigger product, and I'd suggest that it should have priority.

To be the one voice in the desert... I completely disagree my fellow FC players have been waiting for fedadmiral since it was first hinted at. Patiently... It was a breath of fresh air to have a FEDCOM specific product designed for a campaign generator, tacking on SFB and Starmada was a letdown for me. The continual pushing back of the release and the explanations for those delays have turned a lot of folks against the product. Just check the vbam message board, there is very very minimal buzz about fed admiral any longer.

I'm deliberately not building buzz and I bet Jay is doing the same. You don't want to get people excited about something without a firm release date and that means a product nearly in hand.