I want to keep you in the loop, so here's a response we're posting in various spots on the fan venues.
SVC ANSWERS TO VARIOUS MINIS REQUESTS/COMMENTS/QUESTIONS
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COMMENT BY SVC: We are going to do new 2400s but they will be done CGI to 2500-level detail and (eventually) released in both scales. Some of the new 2400s will be ships that already exist in both scales but are being done for 2400s to 2500 detail levels.
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BACKGROUND BY SVC: Several steps are involved in doing a mini.
1. The CGI model has to be made and approved. Costs vary.
2. The CGI model is "printed" as a "prototype". Costs $50-$200. The prototype has to be inspected by ADB.
3. The prototype is put into a "master mold". Cost is under $20 per ship but has to be done in batches of about six different ships, which means sometimes a prototype sits waiting for more prototypes to arrive.
4. The master mold is spun and yields a master that has to be approved by ADB. Then more masters are made and hand-cleaned to eliminate any excess metal, replace missing details, or fill in any holes. Costs vary.
5. The masters are used to create a production mold, which costs $50. The trick is that some ships need more than one mold; the B9 needed six different molds.
6. Production ships are made and inspected by the factor, then QC inspected by ADB. Cost varies from under a quarter to over three dollars per ship, based on size and how hard it is to get the mold to work. Molds wear out over time and have to be replaced.
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Got any starline ships kicking about?
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ANSWER BY SVC: I don't understand the question. Do you mean any production ships? Thousands of them (see shopping cart for list). Do you mean any not-yet-produced ships? No, the only one around was broken when the post office delivered it years ago.
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Maybe an Orion HCC or CV
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SVC: I don't understand. Do you mean CCH (heavy command cruiser)? I supposed most empires have one of those that has never been sculpted. CV? Externally identical to the base hull, no mini needed.
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Kzinti FFB and DD
Orion Medium Raider
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SVC: On the list but we're not sure they'll sell very well.
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Klingon D17
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SVC: Nobody wanted the mini as it is combat-equal to the D7.
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HDWs, Heavy War Destroyers
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SVC: The Feds have had theirs for years. The Klingon and Romulan were ordered from a non-Mongoose CGI sculptor a week ago (for both scales).
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Tugs and Pods
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SVC: Might do those, but they are not big sellers. Back in the days of the 2200s, retailers refused to even carry tugs.
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Franz Joseph Ships:
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SVC: The DNG in production is close enough to the DN to make a new mini unnecessary or at least a low priority. The CA is done. The DD might be worth doing and will probably be done (as the DDG). The SC and TG would be marginal sellers at best and are far down the priority list.
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If you do the Franz Joseph ships, it occurs to me that if I want to get 3 DD for example, I am going to have to buy 3 squadron boxes, with the issues of not needing 3 tugs or 3 DN, just like the Fed Reinforcements or Squad box 1 now. Would it be possible to sell the FJ ships in a squad box, or in groups of 3 ships (say 3 DD/Scout) to simplify the royalty recordkeeping? Just brainstorming here.
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SVC: Good chance for me to educate the customers. (ADB takes more customer input than any other game company. Why? Because we take the time to teach you how things work so your input is accurate and useful.)
The Franz Joseph ships are sold in 2400-plastic in complete sets because the only way we can buy them is in complete sets. We know that you don't want three tugs, but we have to pay for three tugs, so if you want three plastic 2400 destroyers we have to charge you for three tugs, and if we charge you for them, we might as well send them to you.
Now, if we did a 2500 DDG (technically we can't do a DD but we can do a DDG, welcome to the world of licensed property) we would sell it as a single. There is no way to offer one box everybody wants and no way to offer multiple boxes that sell single-digit copies of each combination.
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Starbase:
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SVC: Use the 2400. Starbases cannot be done to scale (not without spray painting a dinner plate gray) and don't have any external details, so we don't need a new mini at all; the 2400 will do fine. As for stats, yeah, those are easy.
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Monitor or some other Auxiliary if warranted.
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SVC: A 2400 monitor exists. It is not a good seller and I don't see anything but lost money doing a 2500. As for "other auxiliaries" I'm unclear what others exist. The standard "auxiliary" ships are made on freighter hulls, and exist in 2400s which are the same scale as 2500 freighters, so there is no need to do them.
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One of the Rom super heavy cruisers (Killerhawk or other?)
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SVC; Now, that's an idea.
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Romulan KDR
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SVC: The Klingon D5 is already there, but I suppose one with etched feathers might be fun.
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Romulan K7V and KDV
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SVC: Those are carriers, and won't sell to ACTA or Starmada or even FedComm players, as such, they may have to wait until fighter rules are published. For the time being, the Klingon version exists in 2400s.
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Would it be too far off the reservation to suggest a Parts Pack for all the empires? Saucers, Booms, Nacelles and Hulls
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SVC: We're one of very few companies that ever did these. (I think we might have been the first to do so.) We mostly did the small parts (engines as sensor dishes) because if you want a saucer, it's actually cheaper for you to buy the ship.
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Klingon F6, E5, Federation NCL, pol, Gorn DD, Romulan King Eagle, Orion OK6, Orion Double Raider,
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SVC: Those already exist in both 2400 and 2500.
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Gorn FF/Pol
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SVC: Could be an interesting ship as it doesn't exist in 2400s, but then, it's so similar to the DD and would be such a poor seller that there seems no point in doing a separate mini. I guess you could use a 2400 Gorn DD as a 2500 Gorn FF.
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Tholian DD, CA, PC
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SVC: Exist for 2400 and are in process for 2500.
Here's some details there. We got masters that were missing phasers from the CGIs we had approved. So, the first option is to ask Bruce if he can add them to the masters. If not, we'll have to have Mongoose do them over from the CGI level.
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Neo-Tholians, Hydrans, Lyrans, ISC, Seltorians, Vudar, WYN
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SVC: Exist in 2400 and will be done in 2500 when we do all of that empire.
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Peladine, Carnivon, Paravian, Frax.
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SVC: Might do them someday. Might do them in a scale that would work for both 2400 and 2500 since they won't sell well enough to do two sizes.
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Kzinti POL
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SVC: Externally identical to Frigate, which exists in both 2400 and 2500.
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Hydran POL
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SVC: Well, this was a poll for 2500s and since Hydrans' haven't been done for 2500s yet it's kinda moot. Anyway, it's a ship not done for 2400s that might be worth doing sometime. But it's going to be a double-bad-seller. Hydrans well 20% what Feds sell (if that) and no player needs more than one or two police ships.
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PFs, Fast patrol ships, Gunboats.
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SVC: These will be done during 2014; one size will work for both 2400 and 2500.
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Fighters
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SVC: These already exist for 2400s and those will be used for 2500s.
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PFTs for any empire
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SVC: Not sure about those. They're low-sellers (you only need one for your empire, at most two) and in some cases the existing CW is 90% identical. I might comment that gunboats don't exist for FC, Starmada, or ACTA so we might reconsider that after they're in all four tactical game systems.
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Heavy Freighter (four pods)
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SVC: Mongoose was working on this but given the weak engine issues with the other 2500 freighters I don't think what they have will work at all anyway. It would have to be redone with bigger engines on stronger struts. Which is not a deal breaker, and this is a "missing book one ship" and it would sell nicely for both 2500 and 2400 since they're the same size. So that's a good bed.
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Scouts
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SVC: bad sellers, generally, since each player needs only one or two. I'd rather sell you sensor dishes and let you roll you rown.
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Drones, and plasmas
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SVC: Already exist for 2400 and work just fine for 2500. It would be pointless to do new versions for 2500.
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Tournament Command and speciality ships...like Wyn's tourney ships...etc...
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SVC: You'll have to be more specific.
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Will the stands fit the mega maps or will we need new bigger maps?
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SVC: Dunno. The bigger 2500s need the bigger stands, which cost around eight to twenty times what the little black stands (used for 2400s) cost. I am not sure what we're going to do about stands when the current Mongoose-stock runs out.
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Pioneer and Commando Eagles would be really cool if they had extendable landing gear!
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SVC: I can offer no hope such a thing would ever be done.
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Klingon B10
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SVC: Mongoose was in the middle of making this. We're researching to see where it stands.
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Other battleships (Romulan, Kzinti, Gorn)
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SVC: These will eventually get done, but don't ask me (today) when. We don't know what will be in ACTA Book Two yet (battleships might or might not be part of it) which might make a difference. Battleships are already in SFB, FC, and Starmada.
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X-Ships, particularly the Fed
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Not much point in doing just the Fed X-ship. SFB has X-ships but ACTA, FC, and Starmada do not. I suspect that this is 2015 or 2016.
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Can more ships be added to a revised ACTA book one point two?
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SVC: We do not plan to do so.
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I'd like to see "What if" ships..?
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SVC: You have to convince me that they will sell. Consider that it costs at least $100 and maybe $300 or more to get any given ship to market. Hey, maybe we'll have a deal where you sponsor your favorite ship by paying that cost?
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