You can look at the photos for free, or download them for money, starting at $8.95.
-- Steve Jackson
Infinite monkeys never shine so bright as when they're hard at work on a good sonnet. SIMI - the Search for Intelligent Monkeys on the Internet - is underway, setting infinite (well, 100) simian Shakespeares to write at random with every click of your mouse. If you get something worthwhile, let the webmasters know.
-- Suggested by Michael Dinsmore
GURPS Traveller Ground Forces is now in playtest. Pyramid subscribers can access the playtest files. And if you're not already a subscriber, subscribe today!
-- Keith Johnson
Sunday night was the banquet, and quite a banquet it was - with two bands, and a third one at the huge bar tent in the courtyard of the school which was hosting the convention. (Bar tent? At a school? You bet.)
There were more than 300 people at the banquet, and the energy level was as high as I have ever seen at a convention. The bands were great (the first one, a cover band with some really great, weird arrangements, could fill any club on 6th Street in Austin). We not only had people dancing, we had people pogoing and airplaning . . .
And, not to lose sight of the original goal, we had standing ovations for the winners of the various GMing and service awards. The energy and enthusiasm of the fans here is fantastic. As a matter of fact, if Danish gamers have a fault, it's that they are too modest. I was flat-out accused once of being "political" for saying this was a great convention . . . the fellow seemed certain that cons just had to be better in America. And several people gave me variations on the "But seriously, what do you think?" line. I think they don't know what they've got here . . .
Today is a quiet day, recovering from the fun and reading over some more of the stack of manuscripts we brought along. Tomorrow, it's off to Legoland.
-- Steve Jackson
XXXenophile: Why don't you beam up and see me sometime?
This game is for adult audiences only.
-- Brendon Rehm
This book is technically "out of print," but we have quite a few copies on hand that were returned from bookstores. They have cover dings and scratches and are NOT in good enough condition to send to retailers. (So don't order if you care about a pretty cover.)
-- Brendon Rehm
The con runs through Sunday night late. Monday we'll recover. Tuesday, Legoland! there will be photos, I promise . . .
-- Steve Jackson
The file is available in PDF or PostScript format at http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/maps.html.
-- Keith Johnson
The Alcatraz breakout. The Kennedys. Mobsters. God bless the Freedom of Information Act of 1966, because the FBI is spilling its electronic guts. After 35 years of requests they've created a FAQ, a "reading room" full of their most popular tidbits. Be careful what you ask for -- the FOIA just might get it for you.
-- Suggested by Chris Goodwin
Scott Vanya is our new Print Buyer, originally hailing from Houston, TX.
He has this to say about his background and goals: "My background is in
managing retail bookstores, both trade and academic. However, I derive the most pleasure from creating objects to delight the eye and excite the mind. Subsequently, when I am not camping or gardening with my wife, my time is divided between writing (poetry and short stories) and painting. The representations, I strain to muster, are best seen in dim light and shadow, tricking you to believe they're as real as . . . Tally-ho!"
Andrew Hackard is our Promotional Writer. He joins us from San Antonio, TX. Andrew has had jobs ranging from janitorial work to teaching high school (not all that different, when you think about it), and recently earned his master's degree in mathematics. Andrew says about his new job, "As a gamer myself for nearly twenty years, I know that gamers look for dedication, excellence, and fun in a product and in a company. I'm proud to be working for a firm that has all these qualities in spades."
If you need just a few more rooms or corridors to build a better, bigger dungeon just visit Warehouse 23 and buy the individual page that you need to complete your underground fortress. Just view the individual pages to see which one has the pit, door, wall, or other architectural paraphernalia you need and purchase that page! These will only be available as long as our supply of loose pages lasts, so don't delay finishing your perfect dungeon.
-- Brendon Rehm.I really do intend to get my eyes lasered someday, but I have been telling myself that for years and putting off new glasses. Bad idea. Now at least I am less likely to get hit by a truck before I get around to the laser thing.
Obligatory Gaming Tie-In: I certainly am glad to live at a Tech Level where vision correction is possible. When I take my glasses OFF, not only do things not have edges, they aren't there. The optometrist said "Read as far down as you can on the side that starts with R Z." I said "I can't tell which side is the R Z."
If I were a Neanderthal, either I'd have to be the guy who stays back in the cave chipping flint, or I'd have to kill the mammoths by strangling them . . . because I wouldn't be able to see them before I ran into them.
-- Steve Jackson
Dino Hunt (reprint)
Dino Hunt is a family game for two or more players, age 8 and up. In Dino Hunt, you travel through time, visiting the different eras where the dinosaurs lived, to capture them for your modern-day zoo. But the other players have cards that can make your hunt harder - and watch out for that charging T. rex!
Simple to learn and easy to play, Dino Hunt carries the Dinosaur Society Seal of Approval - all dinosaur information and art in the game conforms to current scientific knowledge.
Dino Hunt features over a hundred different dinosaurs. Each oversized card has full-color art from some of the best dinosaur artists in the world. The back of each card gives scientific data.
#1700, ISBN 1-55634-321-3. $19.95.
GURPS IOU (reprint)
Admit it. College would have been more fun if you were allowed to blow up
the instructors. And you really would have liked to major in Military
Biology, Anti-Social Sciences, Double-Entendre Bookkeeping, or Computer
Wizardry. Too bad you didn't know about IOU.
Illustrated by the one and only (two and only?) Phil and Kaja Foglio, this book supports three different campaign styles . . . Silly, Weird, and Darkly Illuminated. GURPS IOU takes you from creating a character to enrolling in classes, to study, finals, and the occasional academic blood feud, all the way to graduation.
#6072, ISBN 1-55634-206-3. 128 pages. $19.95.
GURPS Illuminati (reprint)
The Secret Masters have denied all knowledge of the various conspiracy theories put forth in the new GURPS Illuminati.
"To begin with, we don't even exist," said a spokesman. "The Illuminati are a myth."
Hail Eris! All Hail Discordia!
The publishers of GURPS Illuminati, Steve Jackson Games, admitted that it was a work of fiction, but added, "It's all true anyway! Just look at the book. It's closer than you think."
#6016, ISBN 1-55634-223-3. $19.95.
Tribes (reprint)
Tribes was an underground favorite for YEARS, whenever we took a playtest copy to conventions. So, finally, we published it. Designed by Steve Jackson and award-winning SF author David Brin, it's a roleplaying game with a difference.
In Tribes, the players are cave men and women. They hunt and gather food, make their tribal laws, and deal with natural disasters. But the object of the game is simple: Look after the children! In this game, the way to win is to have the most kids, and do whatever you have to do to make sure they survive. The players must know when to cooperate, and when to cut their losses and protect their own families. With a referee, it is possible to have several tribes at once (as many as 40 people can easily play in the same "extended" game). Each tribe will have its own laws and social pattern. The tribes can compete, trade, exchange people, or even make war on each other.
Stock #1800, ISBN 1-55634-355-8. $9.95.
-- Keith Johnson
Trying to find the most profitable trade routes from the Spinward Marches
to the Solomani Rim?
Anthony Jackson has created a 35-page PDF file with detailed maps of the entire Imperium in Traveller. He has not only agreed to allow Steve Jackson Games to host the files, but has also provided a PostScript version and data file used to create the maps!
The files have the maps of 35 different sectors in or around the Imperium and use Classic Traveller mainworld details, allegiances, and base codes. They even include WTN and trade route specifications from Far Trader!
You can download all of the files at
http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/traveller/maps.html
-- Keith Johnson
All good things must come to an end. But hey, we'll still see each other, right?
-- Suggested by Robert Schulz
"To create and deploy a bipedal humanoid mecha, for possible use in the civilian and military arena. To be admired and envied by nerds across the planet. This project could easily be completed in about three months by a dedicated team. The practical estimate is somewhere around 25 years, for a fully operational and functional design."
They are aiming for a mecha some 25 feet tall, but the first models will be considerably smaller, and made of (what else?) Lego.
-- Steve Jackson
Ask and you shall receive (well, sometimes, anyway). Last week I asked if a kind soul with more programming talent that I have would automate Robert Eaglestone's Vilani name converter. Through the courtesy and hard work of Lonnie Foster, the process of changing your name into Vilani has been turned over to a computer.
Traveller fans, enjoy!
-- Loren Wiseman
The military is finally catching up with science fiction . . . DARPA is taking proposals for Exoskeletons for Human Performance Augmentation. The Department of Defense wants soldiers to run faster, jump higher and work longer, and if you know anything about haptic interfaces, your Uncle Sam needs you.
-- Suggested by Kyle Bieneman
I've always loved Vance's work, and these books are Vance at his best. Aliens, monsters, and intrigue . . . this series will make a fantastic GURPS background. I'm going to have fun playtesting this one!
GURPS Planet of Adventure is tentatively scheduled for a late 2000 or early 2001 release.
-- Steve Jackson
Brendon Rehm is our new Retail Sales Manager and Warehouse 23
Supervisor. He came to Austin, TX from Arkansas. He says, "I've worked as a bookstore manager for the last 9 years and look forward to maintaining and improving Warehouse 23 not only as a
direct source for Steve Jackson Games products but also for other
games, geek toys, and cool stuff. I got introduced to wargames and
RPGs at the age of four by my older brother, and three decades later I'm still hooked. When I'm not at work, I'm dreaming of exotic tropical
vacations."
Here's Brendon on his last tropical vacation.
The headline was "Britain To Help Torture Victims."
It must be hard, being a headline writer . . .
-- Steve Jackson
Later note: They took it down! Darn. Tomorrow we'll fill everybody in on the joke.
A change in the W23 code produced a glitch that we didn't catch until late last night. The upshot: orders placed between 8pm Thursday and 9:40pm Friday (CST) didn't really get placed. If you ordered anything from W23 recently and didn't get an acknowledge ment, your order didn't happen. Log back in, please, and see if you still have a full shopping cart. If not, please re-fill it and buy the stuff again :-)
Thanks for your patience. It was the Martians, really. They write pretty good code, even though all the comments are just "Ak ak ak AK AK ak Ak AK ak," but we can't get them to debug it worth a darn.
-- Steve Jackson
