We have had some new books completed while we were away in Vegas too. I have just finished looking over Warships of Babylon 5, and I think there will be people who go dippy over it - after all, who would not want to explore a Sharlin, inside out?
I _do_ have some concerns over producing deck plans of larger ships. On the one hand, we cannot go into corridor by corridor detail of a battleship or dreadnought unless we dedicate an entire box set to it - thus limiting the ships we can cover. On the other hand, I know from play experience (with Star wars, as the players crept on board a Droid Control Ship) that even a general guide as to where things lie on a ship is enough to conduct a long series of missions.
We will likely steer clear of very large ships for a while, once Warships has come out, until we find a suitable box set project. That said, we have already produced enough large ships for players to be getting on with for a good while, and in Warships even the 80,000 tonner Tigara has plans that are clear and easy to use. As for the likes of the Warbird and Hermes, well, they will be a joy to get into games!
The release of the Universe of Babylon 5 book sparked some debate about the use of fuel on board B5 ships, mirroring those in Traveller. Personally speaking, I am in two minds about this. It 'feels' a little odd at first, true, but given the (enforced) short life span of the Traveller-B5 line, we wanted to maintain a direct link with regular Traveller vessels, so the two universes could draw upon one another's ships with the least amount of work required for the referee. The next major ship-based sci-fi property we tackle will likely have complete revisions to Traveller-tech!
Oh, and yes, the Shadow Ship is in this book. But don't expect deck plans. . .
