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Old 01-09-2018, 08:37 PM   #1
Steve Jackson
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Default Ogre Archaeology

A few years ago, I lost my home, and a lot of my library, to a flood. I kept a few boxes of sodden notes and old drafts because I just could not stand to throw them out. Something, after all, might be recovered someday. I wasn't even sure what all was in those boxes, but it dated back to the very beginning of my gaming career.

Today was the day. The papers have dried out, and I'm going through them. There does not, sad to say, seem to be an unpublished TFT supplement, or even a new room for DEATH TEST. But I did find the first draft of Ogre. The VERY first draft, in pencil on lined paper, from when the game was going to be "Bolo," based on the Laumer books. And it's even legible.

Surprising; in some places the wording never changed at all from that pencil draft. In other places it changed a lot. And my first CRT went all the way down to 1:4 (hits only on a 6, and that only a D).

Thought some of you would find this story amusing.
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Old 01-09-2018, 09:14 PM   #2
Mack_JB
 
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

That would be worth seeing in print someday, as a scanned PDF, just for its archival importance to the game.
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Old 01-09-2018, 09:36 PM   #3
Steve Jackson
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

There are a few things here that might be of interest, yes. I've got two pages headed "Preliminary Notes on Magic in "Melee." And an early draft of Death Test that shows working titles of "The Thorsz's Test" (which was just awful) and "Final Exam" (which was cute but not good enough).
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Old 01-09-2018, 09:37 PM   #4
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mack_JB View Post
That would be worth seeing in print someday, as a scanned PDF, just for its archival importance to the game.
I will publicly second that request. Let's put it up in our Resources page.

And if only there were some sort of publication dedicated to Ogre where we might post an image or two . . .

D.
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Old 01-09-2018, 09:45 PM   #5
GranitePenguin
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

It was terrible to hear about that flood, and think about what could potentially be lost. In college, I had a man-made flood from the fire department (pick your poison, I guess). Many of my best books were lost, and yet...

It's no small irony that my original G.E.V. survived that flood the same way that initial draft of Ogre did. It seems they are hard to kill after all. :-)

I will heartily put in a third vote for digital archival; that's a precious save indeed.
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Old 01-09-2018, 10:01 PM   #6
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

It's sad to hear that you got wiped out in a flood...that's...yeah, not pleasant. Hopefully what was lost can be chalked up as 'just stuff', rather than the truly priceless stuff like photos, heirlooms, and memories. If not...my deepest condolences.

Hearing the first draft survived brings a smile to my face...that kind of stuff fascinates me, I'd love to see it too!
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Old 01-09-2018, 10:20 PM   #7
Tim Kauffman
 
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mack_JB View Post
That would be worth seeing in print someday, as a scanned PDF, just for its archival importance to the game.
Quote:
Originally Posted by wolf90 View Post
I will publicly second that request. Let's put it up in our Resources page.

And if only there were some sort of publication dedicated to Ogre where we might post an image or two . . .
D.
Quote:
Originally Posted by GranitePenguin View Post
I will heartily put in a third vote for digital archival; that's a precious save indeed.
FOUR! ;)
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Old 01-09-2018, 10:41 PM   #8
Steve Jackson
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

Okay, one way or another we'll get that released. If only, as Drew says, there were some sort of publication :)
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Old 01-10-2018, 08:35 AM   #9
ColBosch
 
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It'll be a fantastic companion to Winchell's art notes and sketches.
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Old 01-10-2018, 01:31 PM   #10
JLV
 
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Default Re: Ogre Archaeology

I remember when you wrote about that flood. My first thought at the time, was, "what a crushing blow!" I know, because while it wasn't a "flood" exactly, I lost all my games in a divorce over a decade ago and have been slowly re-building my collection (on a much less vast scale -- a couple of dozen, not hundreds, of games), but it also included most of my notes from my original TFT campaigns (plus all my original copies and micros), lots and lots of new ideas for Car Wars (most of which were overcome by events as you later published similar and better ideas), old Judges Guild stuff that I could have probably sold for a ton nowadays, and my huge wargame and S&T collection, probably worth several thousand dollars (my near mint copy of Campaign for North Africa alone was probably worth $300 or so back then).

What made your situation even worse, though, was that you were the DESIGNER of the great games I like the best; which meant your future biographer is going to be tearing his or her hair out in frustration...
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