Federation Admiral Public Update

Charles Lewis · Post by **Charles Lewis** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:27 am

That is correct. While you can use FC to resolve combat, FA will also have a modified CSCR system as an alternative.

Shadow Warrior · Post by **Shadow Warrior** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 3:08 pm

Awesome, this game is truly ticking all my boxes. I'm so excited I'm beside myself. Is there any idea at all on when it will be released? Q2? Q3? Q4?

I recall there was some mention of an 'example of play' being published. Any chance we'll be seeing that sometime soon?

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 4:25 pm

Shadow Warrior wrote:Awesome, this game is truly ticking all my boxes. I'm so excited I'm beside myself. Is there any idea at all on when it will be released? Q2? Q3? Q4?

Thank you. As of right now SVC is planning to run it through their internal playtesting process. The last I heard, and I will try to send another email today, FA was sleighted for a summer release.

Shadow Warrior wrote: I recall there was some mention of an 'example of play' being published. Any chance we'll be seeing that sometime soon?

The idea there was to give a snapshot of a Local Campaign in action, and show what goes in to a game of Federation Admiral. I imagine it will be available before FA is, but I will see if I can get more information on when exactly.

Thank you,
-Jay

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 6:59 pm

Crosspost from http://www.starfleetgames.com/discus/

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Star Fleet Universe Discussion Board: Company-Conventions-Stores-Ideas: New Product Lines Development: VBAM Campaign Book
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PLAYTESTERS WANTED: The guys at VBAM doing the Federation Admiral campaign book say they have more or less finished the draft. I read it (didn't understand much of it) and gave them some formatting advice, which they have taken. What I do NOT want to do is publish this thing (which is a huge thing, way over 150 pages) and have people tell me "It's missing the ..." (where the missing item is the combat system, the link to Fed Commander, the entire operating system, or whatever). So what I need are two or three groups of people who are....

1. Familiar with SFB and/or FC.

2. Understand the general operations of the SFU.

3. Are "into" campaigns at various levels (from F&E level down to "border sector" level).

4. Are willing to spend twenty-plus hours over the next four-six weeks reviewing the document and telling me (and VBAM) what is missing, what is broken, and what could be done better.

5. Are preferably NOT familiar with other VBAM campaign books (so you don't just "assume" or "remember" something is there without checking).

Email me if you're interested. Put VBAM CAMPAIGN BOOK in the subject line. I assume you all know my Email address but it is Design@StarFleetGames.com if you have to look it up.

gambler · Post by **gambler** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 8:39 pm

By the way, just so people know... SVC's (Steve V. Cole's) post is in his normal tone which comes off as 'scratchy' to some. So don't read much into his 'didn't understand much of it'. In general too, SVC's rules' preferences (given what he's designed) probably tends towards a highly structured, almost legalese style which does not appear to be the style in which VBAM rules tend to be written (not a criticism, just an observation). My guess is that his tastes in games run differently too, as I recall he expressed equal befuddlement regarding an old product called "Campaign Designer's Handbook' which ADB published but which he had no direct role in.

If his playtesters come back and say "It's wonderful!" it won't matter to him whether it's something he would play (or even understand).

Shadow Warrior · Post by **Shadow Warrior** » Thu Apr 02, 2009 9:18 pm

Thanks for the updates, Jay and Gambler. Reading between the lines it looks like a Q3 release to me, possibly Q4 depending on what ADB's commitment to the convention season is like (I am assuming publication of their "own" products for the summer release slots will take priority).

Looking forward to seeing that sample!

Chyll · Post by **Chyll** » Tue Apr 07, 2009 9:56 pm

Feralkoala wrote:Which is a perhaps valid concern if that is 5 lost sales. However, it is also possible to consider that without a PDF there would be no sale at all--as the group doesn't want to pony up for 6 physical copies. I know in my local area, while many people are willing to play FC, there are only a couple of us that actually own 1 or more of the games.

Interestingly enough on this topic...

Wizards of the Coast has instructed RPGNow (message at top of landing page) and Paizo(message on forum) to cease all pdf sales of their products.

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 11:41 am

Chyll wrote:
Interestingly enough on this topic...

Wizards of the Coast has instructed RPGNow (message at top of landing page) and Paizo(message on forum) to cease all pdf sales of their products.

I got the impression that it was quite a bit of RPGNow's business. Was this a reaction to their anti-piracy initiative?

-Jay

Chyll · Post by **Chyll** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 12:40 pm

mwaschak wrote:
Chyll wrote:
Interestingly enough on this topic...

Wizards of the Coast has instructed RPGNow (message at top of landing page) and Paizo(message on forum) to cease all pdf sales of their products.

I got the impression that it was quite a bit of RPGNow's business. Was this a reaction to their anti-piracy initiative?

I don't know the ins-and-outs but got the impression reading comments elsewhere that either WotC is on a new anti-priacy bandwagon and or they have a new electronic vehicle in the offing. It was hard to tell, and I didn't run it to ground.

Still its a major player in the RPG (read: printed material) space, so I thought it was noteworthy. (probably should have started another thread for it though. sorry about that)

Charles Lewis · Post by **Charles Lewis** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 1:42 pm

Purely speculating here, but given WotC's attempt to more active online with 4E D&D, I'm guessing that a new inhouse online PDF store is in the offing. Sharing the profits of PDF sales lowers their bottomline, and makes WotC look less profitable to the Hasbro moneymen.

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 5:03 pm

Alright, back on topic!

I have five playtest groups recruited by SVC and we are off and running. I will keep you guys posted as this progresses.

-Jay

Tyrel Lohr · Post by **Tyrel Lohr** » Wed Apr 08, 2009 6:47 pm

Charles Lewis wrote:Purely speculating here, but given WotC's attempt to more active online with 4E D&D, I'm guessing that a new inhouse online PDF store is in the offing. Sharing the profits of PDF sales lowers their bottomline, and makes WotC look less profitable to the Hasbro moneymen.

What will be truly interesting to see is whether or not the WOTC online distribution method even allows for wholesale download of the product, or if it requires the user to be online to view the product (or use some other style of proprietary downloader/reader that they can control). I have seen some speculation that they might try heading this route, but it is probably more likely that they just want to increase their profit by 50% (which, given the size of their business, is a legitimate move on their parts).

The side benefit for WOTC seems to be that it will probably finish killing off the independent support for 4E, between the new GSL and this move it will make it harder for the third-parties to compete.

-Tyrel

Shadow Warrior · Post by **Shadow Warrior** » Tue May 26, 2009 10:53 am

How's it going with Federation Admiral? Been a while since we've had an update.

Charles Lewis · Post by **Charles Lewis** » Tue May 26, 2009 1:45 pm

Jay can add more details when he gets a chance, but here's the big picture view:

Federation Admiral is currently in the hands of ADB's playtesters. Overall, the feedback is very positive and the project is progressing nicely. Lots of little things are being found and fixed, but as of yet, no show-stoppers.

Because ADB is currently gearing up for Origins and Federation Admiral is not ready to go to press (but it's getting very close), it's being put off until after the convention.

Come July, I expect things to really start moving for FA with a potential end of summer, early fall release (though that part is pure speculation by me).

We're getting there!

mwaschak · Post by **mwaschak** » Tue May 26, 2009 7:03 pm

Charles Lewis wrote:
We're getting there!

Quite right. We got a few more scenarios done, but otherwise our full attention is getting the playtesting done. We have about four active groups who report reguarly on their games and progress, and while we are doing some revisions, it is nothing outlandish. The biggest change was outlining the basic rules so new groups could focus on build-move-destroy and start a game with the bare minimum, which is something we haven't really done before and probably should have. We also talked about a "First Campaigns" style PDF, but that remains to be seen.

All the best,
-Jay