Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
No problem. BTW, the cover art even looks good printed in B&W!
Stellar Reaches Fanzine, Issue #2, now released...
- Thread starter Flynn
- Start date
Liam Devlin
SOC-14 5K
Looks Grand!/me bows Nice work, and well worth the wait! 
What sort of topics have you got planned for issue 3? Also what resolution do you want the art at? I noticed that the cover was around 72 whilst Bryan's was around 150 (minimum quality print res). Yeah, I know I said I'd do some art for issue 2 and I'm not promising anything now but I just got the Art of Episode III and I'm itching to do some Ryan Church/Erik Tiemens style doo-dads in Painter and this seems like a good excuse.
Crow
PS - keep up the excellent work!
PPS - when you've got your patrons winners, do you want character portraits done?
Crow
PS - keep up the excellent work!
PPS - when you've got your patrons winners, do you want character portraits done?
Andrew Boulton
The Adminator
Just the questions I was going to ask!
Scarecrow,
I would love to add some of your work to the next issue as well, if your work allows.
Crow and Andrew, and all other interested parties,
I would prefer 300 dpi on images, if possible. 72 is nice for screen viewing, but I want to make sure it all prints out well and still looks good, particularly if there's fine detail involved. However, as beggers can be choosers, I'll gladly take any contributions, at whatever level you feel comfortable working with.
With Much Appreciation,
Flynn
I would love to add some of your work to the next issue as well, if your work allows.
Crow and Andrew, and all other interested parties,
I would prefer 300 dpi on images, if possible. 72 is nice for screen viewing, but I want to make sure it all prints out well and still looks good, particularly if there's fine detail involved. However, as beggers can be choosers, I'll gladly take any contributions, at whatever level you feel comfortable working with.
With Much Appreciation,
Flynn
The Hinterworlds Rambler
SOC-14 5K
I move and since there seems to be space, that there be ads in issue 3. Real ones would be nice, (esp. if you had people buying ad space!) but fake ones would be nicer! Anyone have any Ideas for this? Anything you'd like to see?
This is really top notch! 30 pages of high quality game materials for the download! I have been looking at the entire issue laid out and it's real nice. Has a good sense of congruency.
This is really top notch! 30 pages of high quality game materials for the download! I have been looking at the entire issue laid out and it's real nice. Has a good sense of congruency.
Fritz_Brown
Super Moderator
How about ads from the thread: The Gateway's Best Commercials/Jingles?
I cannot make any money from the fanzine. That violates the Fair Use Policy under which the fanzine is allowed to exist in the first place. So there won't be any buying of ad space. My apologies, but I don't want to lose the ability to produce Stellar Reaches for a few bucks that'd have to go to the settlement agreement anyway.
However, running free ads for QLI or SJG, etc, might be a possibility, assuming that they want to give me copy/image for a quarter-, half- or full-page advertisement in future releases.
(Once the limited license comes out, I could generate an OTU-free fanzine and make money off of that, but then I don't think people would buy non-OTU zines on a regular basis. It appears that they would want generic stuff that can be used in their OTU campaigns.)
Now, fake ads, particularly funny ones, would be cool. They can even be small images that fit about a quarter of the page, to put in the places where we have a column or two empty.
A comic would be great, too. Third Imperium had a comic in it. Problem is finding someone that is willing to create it and submit a small strip or a page every few months.
Hope that helps,
Flynn
However, running free ads for QLI or SJG, etc, might be a possibility, assuming that they want to give me copy/image for a quarter-, half- or full-page advertisement in future releases.
(Once the limited license comes out, I could generate an OTU-free fanzine and make money off of that, but then I don't think people would buy non-OTU zines on a regular basis. It appears that they would want generic stuff that can be used in their OTU campaigns.)
Now, fake ads, particularly funny ones, would be cool. They can even be small images that fit about a quarter of the page, to put in the places where we have a column or two empty.
A comic would be great, too. Third Imperium had a comic in it. Problem is finding someone that is willing to create it and submit a small strip or a page every few months.
Hope that helps,
Flynn
Things I'd like to see in future issues of Stellar Reaches:
More art!
I'd love to see adventures (even short amber zones) built using the UWPs from the Empty Quarter sector, which would let me know that people are possibly even taking their Gateway campaigns up into Empty Quarter from Ley. (As a writer, I love to hear from people actually using my work. Makes the effort seem much more worthwhile.)
Starships with deckplans, preferably ships that a PC group can run/own/use, and perhaps adventures to use them in, would be cool, too.
(Sensing a theme here? I want to see stuff that people will use.)
I'd love to see OTU pieces or even ATU pieces that are well thought out and have plunderable bits. For example, the Light Task Force article of CT ship designs in Issue #2 was set in the Spinward Marches, but can be used to inspire an adventure in the Empty Quarter circa 993 almost directly because of the anti-corsair bent to the example given.
How-To articles to help Referees to improve their skills would be cool. Good advice on the care and feeding of running Traveller as a longterm campaign (either Face-To-Face or over PBEM) or as a 4-hour convention slot would be excellent avenues to explore.
There's a lot of untapped resources out there that, given a little flexibility in presentation, would make excellent content for Stellar Reaches.
You know, I just thought of something else that might be cool: a 1-3 page overview of an ATU setting or an out-of-the-way OTU setting, suitable for inspiring others looking for something new or something different. If it were done concisely and with the viewpoint of presenting an overview of the setting to new players, it'd be a great way for Referees to share their work with a potentially appreciative audience. (I'd probably call such pieces "Campaign Overviews", "Other Campaigns", or even "Variant Settings", something like that. That is, if I got such a submission. I may not, if no one is interested in writing it.)
More later,
Flynn
More art!
I'd love to see adventures (even short amber zones) built using the UWPs from the Empty Quarter sector, which would let me know that people are possibly even taking their Gateway campaigns up into Empty Quarter from Ley. (As a writer, I love to hear from people actually using my work. Makes the effort seem much more worthwhile.)
Starships with deckplans, preferably ships that a PC group can run/own/use, and perhaps adventures to use them in, would be cool, too.
(Sensing a theme here? I want to see stuff that people will use.)
I'd love to see OTU pieces or even ATU pieces that are well thought out and have plunderable bits. For example, the Light Task Force article of CT ship designs in Issue #2 was set in the Spinward Marches, but can be used to inspire an adventure in the Empty Quarter circa 993 almost directly because of the anti-corsair bent to the example given.
How-To articles to help Referees to improve their skills would be cool. Good advice on the care and feeding of running Traveller as a longterm campaign (either Face-To-Face or over PBEM) or as a 4-hour convention slot would be excellent avenues to explore.
There's a lot of untapped resources out there that, given a little flexibility in presentation, would make excellent content for Stellar Reaches.
You know, I just thought of something else that might be cool: a 1-3 page overview of an ATU setting or an out-of-the-way OTU setting, suitable for inspiring others looking for something new or something different. If it were done concisely and with the viewpoint of presenting an overview of the setting to new players, it'd be a great way for Referees to share their work with a potentially appreciative audience. (I'd probably call such pieces "Campaign Overviews", "Other Campaigns", or even "Variant Settings", something like that. That is, if I got such a submission. I may not, if no one is interested in writing it.)
More later,
Flynn
I downloaded my copy yesterday & read it on my way home from work. Two words...ABSOLUTELY BRILLIANT!
I really enjoyed the central adventure, work on RNA memory implants and space stations. With the work on Space Stations, I hope that it gets picked up when QKI does their deadtree thing with Starships of the Imperium.
In the future, I might try pounding away at the keyboard and come up with something hopefully publishable.
I really enjoyed the central adventure, work on RNA memory implants and space stations. With the work on Space Stations, I hope that it gets picked up when QKI does their deadtree thing with Starships of the Imperium.
In the future, I might try pounding away at the keyboard and come up with something hopefully publishable.
Thanks, Kafka,
We appreciate the good feedback.
BTW, I'm curious: which style of adventure writing do you like better, Issue #1 (with more details laid out for you) or Issue #2 (with more generalities and suggestions and less details)? I'm trying to decide what would be a better approach when I'm writing future adventures, and am hoping for some comparison feedback on the styles after people have had a chance to read the latest one.
Thanks,
Flynn
We appreciate the good feedback.
BTW, I'm curious: which style of adventure writing do you like better, Issue #1 (with more details laid out for you) or Issue #2 (with more generalities and suggestions and less details)? I'm trying to decide what would be a better approach when I'm writing future adventures, and am hoping for some comparison feedback on the styles after people have had a chance to read the latest one.
Thanks,
Flynn
I rather like the second one. Although, I still have my fair share of problems with the EPIC style. It is probably the easiest and most flexible of all Traveller systems.
Keeping the action open is what Traveller adventures lack, and the feeling of being railroaded is what turns off most fantasy gamers, so if we want to begin to attract disgruntal or even Fantasy gamers who want a change - keep the format open.
Although, earlier comments about Gibson's babes...have me puzzled...they all look the same to me. However, if we to get Liz Danforth (who might be interested) the female form could get much more interesting.
Keeping the action open is what Traveller adventures lack, and the feeling of being railroaded is what turns off most fantasy gamers, so if we want to begin to attract disgruntal or even Fantasy gamers who want a change - keep the format open.
Although, earlier comments about Gibson's babes...have me puzzled...they all look the same to me. However, if we to get Liz Danforth (who might be interested) the female form could get much more interesting.
Thanks for the feedback, Kafka.
Chances are, there will people on both sides of that issue, but I can see your logic and the older CT adventures fall into that pattern. I think the greater definition of adventure plot specifics came in with the adventure nugget approach introduced by DGP.
Michael Taylor does a good job of marrying the more open style of CT with the EPIC format of adventure creation, in my opinion, and so his work was my inspiration for this last adventure, "Into The Lesser Rift".
What do the rest of you guys think?
-Flynn
Chances are, there will people on both sides of that issue, but I can see your logic and the older CT adventures fall into that pattern. I think the greater definition of adventure plot specifics came in with the adventure nugget approach introduced by DGP.
Michael Taylor does a good job of marrying the more open style of CT with the EPIC format of adventure creation, in my opinion, and so his work was my inspiration for this last adventure, "Into The Lesser Rift".
What do the rest of you guys think?
-Flynn
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