I recently made a puchase of 4 CD's from the other Traveller site. 
I never did have any of the original JTAS pamphlets, and I think I have only one Challenge Magazine, certainly not from the beginning of the series. So here's my review of the stuff:
Packaging - Regular black full-sized DVD case. The outside has a nicely printed label, with the back cover having a collection of all the various covers for the different magazines. The CD itself has been printed upon it, so no cheap labels. Overall the production quality of the packaging is high.
Contents - Just like the label says, you get the first 24 issues of the JTAS, pluse the next 12 that were part of Challenge magazine. It's the typical old-school Traveller addon - a clean copy of each magazine was taken apart, scanned, and then converted into a file. Everything is there - including the ads! It's a Lol trip down memory lane at some of the graphics and bylines. But definitely an interesting nostalgia trip for those that remember Traveller from the early days (not to mention some of the now-defunct gaming companies like Martian Metals and the Compleat Strategist - at least I think they are defunct!).
Placing the CD inside the drive activates the menu system (it's active content, so your computer should pop up a warning about the danger of running active content). Clicking past that you'll get to the main menu. It's simple, but effecient. First it gives the first 24 issues with a hyperlink to each issue, along with the primary article that was the centerpiece of each issue. I have just scanned through a few issues, but there are certainly some interesting articles in there (like jump points in a system that are naturally going to be clear of objects (L-points in some instances) and what type of encounters you may have around them - certainly useful today in MgT Traveller).
Other articles are included, like Broadsword class cruisers, or Darrians, Aslans, etc. Things that later got expanded upon a great deal and their own source books created for them. And lets not forget our Traveller News service articles.
Moving on to the Challenge articles - I'm a bit more disappointed here. When Challenge magazine came about, JTAS got folded into it. Which makes sense from an economic standpoint. But Traveller certainly got the short end of the stick here. The amount of material in each of the first 12 Challenge/JTAS articles pales in comparison to the original JTAS. Again, not having read every attached article, so I could be off here... but I went through three of the 12 and I'm pretty sure its going to be the same.
Production values are the same - cut and scan into a single file. It's all black and white, with some color (like the covers, and a few ads). It's all very usable and playable. Just short. Which, I suppose, was how it used to be in the original magazines, so I can't fault them for that.
It's odd that only the first 12 articles are present. I am curious if there are going to be additional ones added later, of if that's it. I still have a smattering of the old 'zines, some really odd, like Far and Away, the Traveller Chronicles and even issue #3 of DGP's The Mega Traveller Journal - I have no idea where that one came from!
Anywhoo, that's my report and I'm sticking to it! Lol! I've got three more to look through - the FASA/Gamelords compilation, TNE collection #1 and TNE collection #2.
Hope you enjoyed this. I'm off to wait for WoW - Cataclysm to drop at midnight at the stores. Gotta go slay some dragons and few elves, dwarves and humans. Pesky critters those elves... it's like Legolas was cloned by every 14yr old kid in the US.
I never did have any of the original JTAS pamphlets, and I think I have only one Challenge Magazine, certainly not from the beginning of the series. So here's my review of the stuff:Packaging - Regular black full-sized DVD case. The outside has a nicely printed label, with the back cover having a collection of all the various covers for the different magazines. The CD itself has been printed upon it, so no cheap labels. Overall the production quality of the packaging is high.
Contents - Just like the label says, you get the first 24 issues of the JTAS, pluse the next 12 that were part of Challenge magazine. It's the typical old-school Traveller addon - a clean copy of each magazine was taken apart, scanned, and then converted into a file. Everything is there - including the ads! It's a Lol trip down memory lane at some of the graphics and bylines. But definitely an interesting nostalgia trip for those that remember Traveller from the early days (not to mention some of the now-defunct gaming companies like Martian Metals and the Compleat Strategist - at least I think they are defunct!).
Placing the CD inside the drive activates the menu system (it's active content, so your computer should pop up a warning about the danger of running active content). Clicking past that you'll get to the main menu. It's simple, but effecient. First it gives the first 24 issues with a hyperlink to each issue, along with the primary article that was the centerpiece of each issue. I have just scanned through a few issues, but there are certainly some interesting articles in there (like jump points in a system that are naturally going to be clear of objects (L-points in some instances) and what type of encounters you may have around them - certainly useful today in MgT Traveller).
Other articles are included, like Broadsword class cruisers, or Darrians, Aslans, etc. Things that later got expanded upon a great deal and their own source books created for them. And lets not forget our Traveller News service articles.
Moving on to the Challenge articles - I'm a bit more disappointed here. When Challenge magazine came about, JTAS got folded into it. Which makes sense from an economic standpoint. But Traveller certainly got the short end of the stick here. The amount of material in each of the first 12 Challenge/JTAS articles pales in comparison to the original JTAS. Again, not having read every attached article, so I could be off here... but I went through three of the 12 and I'm pretty sure its going to be the same.
Production values are the same - cut and scan into a single file. It's all black and white, with some color (like the covers, and a few ads). It's all very usable and playable. Just short. Which, I suppose, was how it used to be in the original magazines, so I can't fault them for that.
It's odd that only the first 12 articles are present. I am curious if there are going to be additional ones added later, of if that's it. I still have a smattering of the old 'zines, some really odd, like Far and Away, the Traveller Chronicles and even issue #3 of DGP's The Mega Traveller Journal - I have no idea where that one came from!
Anywhoo, that's my report and I'm sticking to it! Lol! I've got three more to look through - the FASA/Gamelords compilation, TNE collection #1 and TNE collection #2.
Hope you enjoyed this. I'm off to wait for WoW - Cataclysm to drop at midnight at the stores. Gotta go slay some dragons and few elves, dwarves and humans. Pesky critters those elves... it's like Legolas was cloned by every 14yr old kid in the US.
