2300AD on Pre-Order

[MongooseMatt]

Just to let you all know, the 2300AD core rulebook is no up on Pre-Order, so you can be the first on the block with a copy! You can reserve one at;

http://www.mongoosepublishing.com/rpgs/traveller/2300ad/2300ad-core-rulebook.html

 

[torus]

Nice cover.

 

[Wil Mireu]

I think the cover has been drawn by someone who has never read 2300AD and has no idea what's in it.

This is a game about a gritty, hard-sf view of the future, and we get a sub-standard space-opera-ish image with a couple of people slouching around on rocks and a pointy-nosed ship that has no resemblance to anything in the setting? And cover blurb that seems to be doing its best to minimize the hard-sf aspects and reassure people that "it's still a game"?

THIS sort of thing is 2300AD, IMO:

 

[torus]

Interesting. I haven't followed the thread about it, but assumed from the cover that they were pitching it a bit differently for the reboot, i.e. a little more Space Opera. Which I would be fine with, because actually I don't think it ever quite lived up to the billing of gritty hard sci fi, with all the different sentient aliens and the whole Kafer invasion plotline, and the cybertech stuff on Earth. And Bayern was more like a series of Star Trek episodes. I played a lot of 2300 AD.

But you're right, if what they are doing is just reprinting the original material with a new system, then the cover doesn't fit. I still like the look of it though - in thumbnail size at least!

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

From the info at the link provided above it says:

"2300AD strives to obey the laws of the universe as we know them. The stutterwarp drive, the technology that allows humanity to travel faster than light, is the sole departure from this. Some of the other technologies bend the laws a little, but that’s from the standpoint of the early 21st century. Three hundred years in the future is a long time. There are no blasters or laser swords in 2300AD, no magic anti-gravity or artificial gravity – just guns and helicopters, spin habitats and spaceplanes. At the same time, though, 2300AD is a game, not a hard-and-fast technical simulation."

That kind of suggests to me something along the lines of the original game.

With respect to the cover image of the new book though, I don't have any real problems with most of scenery, but the pointy starship does seem a bit out of place.

Regards

Pat

 

[middenface]

Great, the covers got a 'lets go out and explore' vibe, no 'if it moves shoot it, if it don't shoot it till it does look'

Well I got bit carried away and Aliens was on TV too... Speed build 2-3 hours ish...Look at Star Cruiser above you'll see the JFK.

Bigger:
http://biomassart.wordpress.com/2011/09/10/traveller-2300-kennedy-wip/

 

[middenface]

Built in a 1/2 section

 

[PFVA63]

Hi,

Nice model

Regards

Pat

 

[torus]

Ah yes Star Cruiser. I remember that; still have it somewhere. One of the most boring games I have ever played - possibly the most boring - and I think it even had broken rules, though can't remember for certain. And I used to love space combat games, like the Star Trek III game, so I remember looking forward to it beforehand.

 

[middenface]

Hi,

Nice model

Regards

Pat

Thank you.. tis a work in progress... just wait till she gets the name Ronald Reagan and Shark Teeth!

 

[Joi Sourcebook]

I'm definitely with Will on this

I think the cover has been drawn by someone who has never read 2300AD and has no idea what's in it.

This is a game about a gritty, hard-sf view of the future, and we get a sub-standard space-opera-ish image with a couple of people slouching around on rocks and a pointy-nosed ship that has no resemblance to anything in the setting?

And, at the risk of repeating myself, can I put in a plea to include Laurent Esmiol's work http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Admin/Index7.htm - the more the merrier.

Jonathan

 

[middenface]

And, at the risk of repeating myself, can I put in a plea to include Laurent Esmiol's work http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Admin/Index7.htm - the more the merrier.

Jonathan

Laurent did some work on 2320 too, I've some tanks on the Etranger 2300 Also. His vessels are rather good..!

I've done a rough version of the SC cover...



http://biomassart.wordpress.com/2011/09/11/traveller-2300-star-cruiser/

 

[Wil Mireu]

And, at the risk of repeating myself, can I put in a plea to include Laurent Esmiol's work http://www.users.globalnet.co.uk/~dheb/2300/Admin/Index7.htm - the more the merrier.

Jonathan

YES! Laurent's work is amazing! And middenface can turn out something in a few hours that looks better than the current Mongoose cover.

I find it baffling that Mongoose can overlook the good stuff that people have worked on over the past few decades. Laurent's work should definitely be in any 2300AD product. But then Mongoose's packaging/art/layout abilities have always been substandard IMO.

 

[Mithras]

Is there a fold out map? Or is it replaced with page by page versions? Can I use my old map with the new game???

 

[Colin]

Fold-out map, no, not as far as I'm aware of. Yes, you can use your old map, with one caveat. The connection to Highland does not exist. The line showing the connection on the map of the American ARm is incorrect.

As far as the cover goes, I made my comment to Mongoose...

I think the ship would work as a landing craft. However, I personally have reservations about the uniforms worn by the people on the cover. The rest? I like the suitably alien scene.

I've been trying to get ahold of Laurent. Mongoose has expressed some interest in using his stuff, and I have a bunch of it from 2320AD that is perfectly usable here, too. We really just need his permission.

 

[middenface]

Getting Laurent's work in would be good. His ship are lightyears* better than anything I could do. Still I can do vehicles nicely.... hint hint


*Ultimately I could use another package...like Rhino.. to get there.

 

[Pentapod earplug]

What...happened? There are loads and loads of fan based material on the net 1000 times better than that pointless 70s space opera piece. This is NOT Traveller! (or is it?, hmm). I want blocky ships, machine-guns and space suits you can barely move in! I will have to make a sleeve with appropriate graphics just in order to hold this in my hands.

Maybe this is just a mockup? Maybe there is some art that has something to do with the game somewhere that will be on the final covers?

And the text! Are they ashamed? Or have they just not understood a single thing about this whole 2300AD thing?

I hope there is still time to fix these issues. Because they are issues. First impressions count.

Edit: Oh, just read through Colins post and I feel slightly less agitated. Hoping for the best!

 

[torus]

I still like this cover, whereas I complained a lot about the Legend cover. Be glad you haven't got something like that.

But I can see that people who basically want a re-release of GDW 2300AD won't like this, because the cover is definitely unrepresentative of the game as it was. I was hoping this signalled something of a re-imagining of the game also. In my opinion the GDW game turned from being a cool take on humanity's foray amongst the stars into a big military sci-fi hardware-fest. All the stuff about the Kafer invasion and and their weapons and tactics was fun to read, but (I found) dull to play. I had no interest in playing Twilight2000 in space.

This cover looked like a very different direction. For instance, the people aren't wearing combat gear, and their spaceship doesn't look like it was made out of lego. It has a strong atmosphere. But if it doesn't fit the contents, I guess that's a fair criticism.

 

[Pentapod earplug]

I suppose I do not want machine guns as in loads and loads of machine guns. I want machine guns as in machine guns instead of rayguns. I agree that the Kafer stuff was dull, but that does not motivate space-opera designs and artwork. I enjoyed 2300AD because it was at the time the best RPG rendition of such gritty settings as found in Outpost, Alien etc. Without that, what is left?

Edit: Btw, not all old 2300AD covers were of military gear. Quite a few were actually quite civilian in nature.

 

[Sturn]

Edit: Btw, not all old 2300AD covers were of military gear. Quite a few were actually quite civilian in nature.

I just counted the covers on my stack of 25 original 2300AD books (I have all of them, but perhaps I missed one lying someplace). Of those 25 (including boxed set covers and the books inside), only 10 have any military theme at all, and that is streching the term. A.i. Ships of the French Arm has a ship with a weapon mounted on it so I called it, "military gear". In my opinion only 7 of the 24 really had a military theme to them.

Below are my personal opinions of which covers are military themed and which aren't. My definition of "military" could be different, but mine is actual armed forces themed. If you take anything with a weapon as being military-themed, this would include a very high porportion of non-2300AD Traveller covers too (a.i. MGT's Spinward Marches cover has several weapons, but to me it's not a military cover, but a spaceport scene).

In parenthesis I gave tags of (military), (civilian), or (mixed) for what was actually inside the cover.

Military Covers:

Traveller 2300AD box cover: Flying craft that just dropped off 2 people, one very military dressed. (mixed)
2300AD box cover: Soldier in combat armor with combat walker and burning city behind.(mixed)
Ground Vehicle Guide: Schematic of a French AC-12 hovertank. (mixed)
Invasion: Kafer fighter doing a strafing run on a mix of civilians and military-dressed humans. (military)
Operation Overlord: Soldier beside a hover APC w/binos looking at a Kafer fortress. (military)
Kafer Dawn: 2 soldiers in a fight for their lives against Kafers. (military)
Star Cruiser: Military starcraft above a planet. (mixed) space battles plus starship construction rules.

Possibly Military Covers:

Mission Arcturus: Cover itself is a spacecraft approaching a space station with no visible weapons. (military) Inside the cover you find out it's a military cruiser on a military mission.
Deathwatch Program: Heavily armed civilians fleeing in a hover jeep from unfriendly fire. Make it an air/raft and its a classic Traveller adventurer moment. (civilian)
Ships of the French Arm: Two spaceships above a planet. One has a spinal mount. (mixed)

Not Military Covers:

The 4 core books from both boxed sets: No artwork. (mixed)
Earth/Cybertech Sourcebook: A cyber street scene. (civilian)
Aurore Sourcebook: A pilot dropping off some sort of scientific device upon an alien beach. (mixed)
Colonial Atlas: A cargo ship flying past a moon. (civilian)
Bayern: An exploration ship (the Bayern) above a planet. (civilian)
Equipment Guide: 2 explorers with tons of survival gear. (mixed, but 93% civilian gear)
Kafer Sourcebook: A Kafer with no military gear shown. (mixed)
Nyotekundu Sourcebook: A 1960's-looking astronaut in a space miner scene. (civilian)
Beanstalk: A poor civilian falling from a beanstalk pod. (civilian)
Energy Curve: A civilian ship crew escaping their crashed spaceship upon an icy planet. (civilian)
Ranger: A Texas Ranger having a discussion with an alien on an arid planet. (civilian) Yes it's the Texas Rangers, but the adventure involves alien contact and negotiation moreso then firefights.
Rotten to the Core: A cyber bar scene including a man drawing a handgun. (civilian)

Yes I get the idea that 2300AD had a miltiaristic feel, I felt that also when it was new. But, I think this came mostly from the earlier released material. The first adventures included Kafer Dawn and Mission Arcturus. This led to the Invasion campaign setting. But, if you look at the material released as a whole, it is no more military then OT in my opinion. I think 2300AD got an early military tag due to its earliest releases that it was never able to shake off.