Spycraft Pocket - Color or B/W

[Cowboy]

I'm very, very tempted to get this as I have an irrational love for the pocket editions - I generally have a bit of an irrational attraction for small, compact items, I guess. I also love my EEE PC, my PSP and my DS.

Anyway, there's a few of the tables in the Spycraft book that I already find to be not altogether easy to read and I don't think being printed in greyscale would help at all, so I'm wondering if the pocket edition is in B/W (like previous pocket editions) or color and, if it's in B/W, has anything been done to make sure all the tables are actually readable?

 

[GamerDude]

Anyway, there's a few of the tables in the Spycraft book that I already find to be not altogether easy to read and I don't think being printed in greyscale would help at all, so I'm wondering if the pocket edition is in B/W (like previous pocket editions) or color and, if it's in B/W, has anything been done to make sure all the tables are actually readable?

After that first printing of the core book, everything went greyscale.

So now you're left with are they going to make a pocket edition.

 

[lastbesthope]

There is a pocket edition and it is in B&W.

LBH

 

[Cowboy]

Well, I just ordered it. I figured it's pretty cheap and I do love me a pocket-sized RPG book.

 

[lastbesthope]

Me too, I have all the Mongoose Pocket books.

LBH

 

[ravenpolar]

How do they manage to fit all the tables in?
I have the original full colour Spycraft 2.0 and some of those tables are pretty huge.
Is it in microprint or have they reformatted the tables at all?

 

[Cowboy]

If it's done the same way as the Traveller pocket ed., they've just shrunk them down.

So if you've got very poor eyesight, I suspect you won't be able to read the book at all without a magnifying glass. Fortunately, I only have moderately poor eyesight. :wink:

 

[ravenpolar]

Fortunately, I only have moderately poor eyesight. :wink:

Heh, me too. Might be worth picking up a copy of this then. Cheers Cowboy

 

[lastbesthope]

The Spycraft pocket Edition is based on the Spycraft 2nd printing (B&W) which has, when compared to the first printing in colour, had eratta included and the gear section reworked so you may notice differences in the tables between your colour printing hardback and the pocket edition. Though best I can tell the Pocket is basicallya shrunk down printing of the 2nd printing B&W version.

LBH

P.S. I don't have ALL the Mongoose Pockets, I forgot I don't have pocket Runequest, but then I don't have any Runequest :lol:

LBH

 

[ravenpolar]

I've got pocket Runequest and its pretty sweet.
If SC2.0 Pocket Edition is in the same vein then i'm definitely getting a copy.

 

[lastbesthope]

I'm sure it is, I j ust don't go in for Fantasy gaming much, prefer SF.

If only they'd done Wraith Recon in an SF setting, sigh....

LBH

 

[GamerDude]

If it's done the same way as the Traveller pocket ed., they've just shrunk them down.

Actually I've noticed that, eratta and new artwork aside, there are things missing from the pocket edition of Traveller. On page 70 or 71, the full size book has a textbox on diseases, but its missing from the pocket edition.

 

[ravenpolar]

So has anyone with the SC2.0 pocket edition noticed anything missing?

 

[lastbesthope]

YEs, it has been noted that the footnotes are missing from trav Pocket, Matt says they're looking into making them available as a download. There are also 'x' missing from the formulas in Trav pocket.

As for SC Pocket, not noticed anything missing, but then the format of that was different, no footnotes that I recall.

LBH

 

[Cowboy]

Allright, I just got my copy and here are my initial observations:
The book is indeed in B/W.
The tables that were originally in shades of green are now white and light gray which results in them actually being easier rather than harder to read than in my full-size color book in spite of the small size. Woo!
The reorganized gear chapter is great. I'm finding it easier to find stuff in than in the original even though I've had the original since shortly after it came out and I've had this for less than an hour.

It would have been nicer if the grey page backgrounds had been removed entirely which, honestly, could probably have been done fairly easily by modifying the master pages but it's no big deal - the body text is still fully legible. But, speaking as somebody who works with DTP, I would definitely have tried to remove the grey backgrounds to make the body text even more legible.

The text in the contents list at the start of each chapter also looks a little blurry - almost as if it's been rasterized and then reproduced at a slightly too low resolution. Weird.

The size of the book is just right and at the price, it's a bargain.

All in all, I'm very satisfied.

 

[Yogah of Yag]

Sooo...content-wise it's the same as the revised SC2.0 HC?
I've got the PDF, but would like it only if the contents are identical.

 

[Sangrolu]

The reorganized gear chapter is great. I'm finding it easier to find stuff in than in the original even though I've had the original since shortly after it came out and I've had this for less than an hour.

Yeah, I guess if you missed the full size second printing, that'd be a step up.

FWIW, the final round of full sized second printing (after Mongoose gave up printing themselves) is very nice. It has a textbook binding and lays open without difficulty or damage to the book.