Flat Black

[SCAR]

Originally Posted by Brett

I haven't been able to get Earth Made of Glass, and the others have to be back at the library on the 3rd of September.

AbeBooks is well worth a look for books which can't be found elsewhere.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by SCAR

AbeBooks is well worth a look for books which can't be found elsewhere.

Thanks. The library got it for me, but I had to read it out of order.

[Agemegos]

I have completed a draft of a complete, thoroughly-revised history for FLAT BLACK, which is on the wiki here.

Since I am inclined very much to work from an historical framework, getting the history right has been the hard part. The pace of progress ought to pick up now.

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by Long History

Eichberger managed to keep his invention a secret for nearly thirty years, during which time he extracted colossal profits from the monopoly on interstellar trade, and reinvested them all in expanding his fleet.

How did he manage to do that? Did he pretend to be a native on Aeneas? How did he avoid having his ship be detected leaving or arriving in either system? Did Aeneas also have extensive space travel? Did he fake an Aenean registry?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

How did he manage to do that?

Told only trustworthy people how it worked, how to make the components, etc.

It is the invention itself, not the fact of the invention, that was secret.

But as my supervisor said "If anyone says your paper isn't clear, they are always right." So I'll re-draft that bit. Thanks for pointing it out.

[sir_pudding]

How about?

"Eichberger managed to keep the technical details of his invention a secret for nearly thirty years, during which time he extracted colossal profits from the monopoly on interstellar trade, and reinvested them all in expanding his fleet."
OR
"Eichberger managed to keep his invention a trade secret for nearly thirty years, during which time he extracted colossal profits from the monopoly on interstellar trade, and reinvested them all in expanding his fleet."

[sir_pudding]

In 464 the Foundation deployed enormous plinkers—barely-mobile vacuum-UV laser platforms

Where did they build these if they were cut off from the high-tech colonies?

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by sir_pudding

Where did they build these if they were cut off from the high-tech colonies?

They still had access to TL9 colonies, and their own orbital manufacturing facilities. And it was an all-out effort that gutted the rest of their economy.



I am a little concerned that reviewing this material is not entirely appropriate to Steve Jackson Games's forums. Perhaps it would be better if we did this in PM, e-mail, or on the Flat Black forum at Wikidot.

[newtkeeper]

Originally Posted by Brett

I am a little concerned that reviewing this material is not entirely appropriate to Steve Jackson Games's forums. Perhaps it would be better if we did this in PM, e-mail, or on the Flat Black forum at Wikidot.

Roleplaying in General.... seems reasonable to me, for what little that's worth.

[Agemegos]

Originally Posted by newtkeeper

Roleplaying in General.... seems reasonable to me, for what little that's worth.

Yeah. When SJGames do this sort of thing with their own stuff (i.e. pick over ambiguous wordings &c) they do it on closed playtest lists. And I am inclined to agree that the nitty-gritty of playtesting, reader feedback, &c is not good material to publish. Publishing it on someone else's forums would be rude, I think.