Wild Sphere Newsletter

October 2006
 

Hey all,

How's it going? Hope that everything is well with you. Things here are pretty okay. I bought the Blue Planet Essential Collection (a collection of four hardcover supplements for one of the best hard SF RPGs ever), Serenity: Those Left Behind (the three-issue comic book miniseries bridging the gap between the Firefly TV series and the film), and the 2300AD CD-ROM (all of the books, supplements, adventures, and Challenge magazine articles for another one of the best hard SF RPGs ever). Plus, while ordering the 2300 AD: CD-ROM from farfuture.net, I got an email from Marc W. Miller, who originally created Traveller (the elder stateman of SF RPGs.) Shiny!

Things have also been busy with Wild Sphere. Unit Detail: Capreri 9th Marine Raider Battalion, the updated Campaign Setting: The Tangent, the updated Wild Space Watchlist, and the updated Movers, Shakers, and Notables of the Known Sphere are up.

The process of fleshing out the WS universe continues. "Capreri 9th Marine Raider Battalion" is the first Unit Detail from a non-Great Power. Also, since "Historical Note: A Century of Tesla" went up in August, I've been adding to WS' story bible, focusing on the period between World War I and the Space War and working on the pace of scientific development so I have a clearer of the tech of WS' 2150. Also, since I've been working off-and-on on a WS wargame for several years, I did some preliminary stats for the first generation of space battleships (the American Constitution-class, the Russian Admiral Kuznetsov-class, the Japanese Yamato-class, the British Trafalgar-class, the French Gloire-class, and the German Bismarck-class) so I could trace their development through WS' modern warships (e.g., the Terran Salamis-class cruisers).

I'm also revising the webcomic script: I'm keeping a lot of elements but it's going to be less Cowboy Bebop and more classic noir -- harder, darker, sharper, gritty -- fused with WS-esque badassosity. To better understand the tropes of the genre, I've watched two defining noirs, "Double Indemnity," and "The Maltese Falcon," as well as "Laura," and "The Third Man," with "Woman in the Window", and "Asphalt Jungle" on tap, and am bubbling with ideas. I've already started rewriting the plot, and think this version is WAY better than before. I've kept the plot points and scenes I like, and started ripping everything else out.

Alright, gotta run. Until next time!

Cheers,
 

George