6 months late, and the last 10 pages are upside down...

[PinkSplice]

The color plates in back, apparently the source of all the delays, is also the thing making this issue a real collectible:

Last ten plates are upside down!!

AZH counters- too dark to read (blue)
AZH Cover too dark. Map key apparently water damaged/stained.

Invasion Earth counters- blue counters hard to read. Invasion Earth Map- everything except Eurasia too dark to read. Invasion Earth cover- way, way too dark.

FFW Map way too dark, hexes almost invisible, system names illegible. Blue counter mix, same problems. Box cover too dark.

NO COUNTER INVENTORY FOR 5TH FRONTIER WAR.

Snapshot cover/maps once again very depressed. Suggest Prozac.

Mayday Color box suffering from the blues too.

Imperium map worse than FFW map for illegibility. Imperium counters not as depressed as the others are. Alternate versions of Imperium box covers are suffering from depression, though.


On the positive side, the playtest maps, publication figures, etc were very nice touches.

Looking for things to improve.

Wally.

 

[WendellM]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PinkSplice:
Last ten plates are upside down!!<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That may be annoying, but I could live with it (if the info were there, which doesn't seem to be the case as you report). BTW, anyone else (or everyone else?) have page order problems with Marooned/Marooned Alone in FFE 004? They're all there, but are pretty mixed-up in my copy. This isn't a real problem, since all the info is there - just curious.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>AZH counters- too dark to read (blue) [...] Invasion Earth Map- everything except Eurasia too dark to read. [...] Imperium map worse than FFW map for illegibility.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

These, however, are serious problems. When you say "too dark to read," do you mean that literally? I don't mind if they're hard to read, but if they can't be read at all then that's a major problem.

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>FFW Map way too dark, hexes almost invisible, system names illegible. Blue counter mix, same problems.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

That's the one Traveller game I kept from the 80's, along with the High Guard LBB (I damn myself for selling off my other LBBs, Snapshot, and Mayday, but am redeeming my soul with reprints

).

If no other solution presents itself, I could scan my FFW map and counters and make them available (if the powers-that-be agree, of course). A friend has AHL so I can offer the same for those counters. I can also offer FFW, AHL, and Snapshot cover scans, though I consider them less important (data is king).

In any case, thanks for the report. Anyone else have a similar (or hopefully different) experience?


Out looking at the Leonids,

------------------
Wendell (IMTU tc++ !tm !tn !t4 !tg ru+ ge+ 3i+ c+ jt- au ls+ he)

 

[PinkSplice]

Yes, the last ten plates are intact as far as data, but are printed upside down and in reverse order.

 

[PinkSplice]

The parts of the counter sheets and maps mentioned ARE too dark to be legible.

Wally, rooked by cloud cover (for 400 klicks in every direction) out of the Leonids

 

[soloprobe]

I STILL haven't seen it for sale anywhere....

 

[kafka47]

Marc/Avery:

Are we likely to see a second printing soon to remedy some of the above noted concerns?

 

[PinkSplice]

According to my Friendly But Not So Local (fifty klicks away!!) Game Store Owner, there will be no reprints of FFE 005 Games.

Wally.

 

[DaveShayne]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by PinkSplice:
Yes, the last ten plates are intact as far as data, but are printed upside down and in reverse order.<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Perhaps it's an homage to the Martian Metals ads.

David Shayne

 

[Blue Ghost]

Can we ask the printer to rerun the job?

Who printed this catastrophe anyway?

 

[DaveShayne]

I just picked up my copy.

In it the only plates that are unusably dark are the AHL countersheet and the production map of Imperium. Since the Imperium map is duplicated on the next plate with a very legible pencil drawing that shouldn't be a problem for those interested in recreating the game components by hand.

A counter manifest for the AHL counters is definitely in order however. If I get the time tonight or tomorrow I'll drag out my old battered copy and see to it.

------------------
I am increasingly of the opinion that RPGs are by the nature of their creation subjective phenomenon. due to the interaction between game designers, game masters, and game players all definitions, rules, settings, and adventures are mutable in acordance with the uncertainty principle as expounded by Heisenburg. This is of course merely my point of view.

David Shayne

[This message has been edited by DaveShayne (edited 20 November 2001).]

 

[Gatsby]

How's about FFE allowing a legible SCAN of the corrupted components on-line. Actually, I could go for a really high quality scan of ALL the game components (minus the rules). That would be good faith, indeed, and fix the problems, somewhat.

Gats'

 

[DaveShayne]

Because the color plate for the AHL counters
in FFE005 are a bit dark to read I have compiled
this counter manifest. This post is the Navy and
Intruder counters.

In seeking permision to post this I learned that
it is planned to have scans of the AHL counters
and maps on www.farfuture.net and since as far as
I can tell the other counters are legible unless
I get specific requests this will be it.

Counter Manifest for Navy (black on blue)

Front Reverse
O1 AP+2 6-2 +3
O2 AP+1 9-5
O3 AP+3 3-6 +1
O4 AP+1 10-5 +2
O5 AP 8-2
O6 AP+1 7-5
O7 AP-1 5-1 +2
O8 AP 10-1 +1
O9 AP+2 8-4 +1
O10 t SP+3 5-4
W1 SP+3 6-6 +3
W2 SP+1 7-4 +1
W3 LC+3 10-1
W4 LC-1 7-4
W5 t SP-1 8-5
W6 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
W7 SP+3 8-2 +1
R1 SP 8-3
R2 SP-2 7-5
R3 SP+2 4-1
R4 ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?
R5 SP-1 8-3
R6 ACL+3 6-4
R7 ACL+2 7-4
R8 ACL-2 9-2
R9 ACL+2 3-5
R10 ACL+3 9-4
R11 ACL+3 4-2
R12 LC-1 4-2
R13 t SP 8-3
R14 t SP-2 11-6
R15 t SP+1 10-3
R16 t SP+2 10-2
R17 t SP+3 5-6
R18 t SP+1 2-6
R19 SP-2 5-5
R20 SP+1 10-3
R21 SP+2 8-6
R22 SP+3 11-4
R23 SP 5-4
R24 SP-1 7-3
R25 t SP+2 3-4
R26 t SP-2 10-6
R27 t SP-2 12-5

Counter manifest for the Intruders (black on dark
green)

O1 c LC+5 13-6 +3
O2 c AP+6 12-3 +1
O3 c AP+4 8-2 +2
O4 c AP+5 6-1 +3
O5 s PG+1 9-4 +1
N1 c GR+3 14-4
N2 c GR+4 12-3 +3
N3 c AR+2 13-1 +2
N4 c GR+4 9-2 +2
N5 c GR+2 8-6
N6 s PG+4 12-2 +1
E1 c ACR+2 12-6
E2 c LC+5 8-2
E3 c GR+5 12-2
E4 c GR+4 7-5
E5 c ACR+2 9-1
E6 c ACR+6 11-3
E7 c AR+1 16-4
E8 c AR+2 10-6
E9 c LAG+3 11-5
E10 c LAG+1 14-6
E11 c LC+3 6-2
E12 c LC+1 7-6
E13 c SMG+4 5-3
E14 c SMG+2 9-6
E15 c ACR+2 6-1
E16 c ACR+6 9-4
E17 s PG+1 5-10
E18 s PG+2 11-8
E19 s PG+3 11-8

Notes:

The letter t denotes a triangle
The letter c denotes a circle
The letter s denotes a star

The counters for the Navy W6 and R4 are missing
from my game (damn those moves) Judging from the
counter shot they should rate as follows:

W6 SP+1 3-3 +3
R4 SP+3 11-6

I can't really tell for sure from the color plate
but they don't seem to have any armor dots. If
somebody else has a copy of the game could they
please double check me on this?


------------------
I am increasingly of the opinion that RPGs are by the nature of their creation subjective phenomenon. due to the interaction between game designers, game masters, and game players all definitions, rules, settings, and adventures are mutable in acordance with the uncertainty principle as expounded by Heisenburg. This is of course merely my point of view.

David Shayne

 

[WendellM]

Good work, David. I went ahead and ordered the book, figuring that Marc/FFE would make things right, and it's good to see confirmation that scans of illegible items are indeed planned. A friend has an unpunched AHL - I'll ask him about the values you're missing and reply here.

------------------
Wendell (IMTU tc++ !tm !tn !t4 !tg ru+ ge+ 3i+ c+ jt- au ls+ he)

 

[DaveShayne]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by WendellM:
Good work, David. I went ahead and ordered the book, figuring that Marc/FFE would make things right, and it's good to see confirmation that scans of illegible items are indeed planned. A friend has an unpunched AHL - I'll ask him about the values you're missing and reply here.

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Cool. It's a pity the extra spaces got stripped from the table. It makes it a little annoying to read.


------------------
I am increasingly of the opinion that RPGs are by the nature of their creation subjective phenomenon. due to the interaction between game designers, game masters, and game players all definitions, rules, settings, and adventures are mutable in acordance with the uncertainty principle as expounded by Heisenburg. This is of course merely my point of view.

David Shayne

 

[tjoneslo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaveShayne:
Cool. It's a pity the extra spaces got stripped from the table. It makes it a little annoying to read.
<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

If you use the UBB CODE tags it sometimes works better. UBB translates the CODE tag into a HTML PRE tag, which allows most browsers to render table information better.

 

[DaveShayne]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by tjoneslo:
If you use the UBB CODE tags it sometimes works better. UBB translates the CODE tag into a HTML PRE tag, which allows most browsers to render table information better. <HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Well I wrote and formatted it an ASCII text file. The extra spaces that made the whole thing look good got stripped by the message board. Apparently excess spaces are a perceived problem among the people who created the UBB format. (That or the spaces got nuked during copy and paste.)


------------------
I am increasingly of the opinion that RPGs are by the nature of their creation subjective phenomenon. due to the interaction between game designers, game masters, and game players all definitions, rules, settings, and adventures are mutable in acordance with the uncertainty principle as expounded by Heisenburg. This is of course merely my point of view.

David Shayne

 

[WendellM]

David,

My friend confirms your guess on the missing data is correct:
R4 SP+3 11-6
W6 SP+1 3-3 +3
No dots, stars, or triangles on either.


------------------
Wendell (IMTU tc++ !tm !tn !t4 !tg ru+ ge+ 3i+ c+ jt- au ls+ he)

 

[WendellM]

Well, FFE now has scans available at http://www.farfuture.net/a5505-1.html for Imperium, Mayday, Snapshot, AHL, FFW, Inv. Earth, and Dark Nebula in that order. Everything seems to work except for the two Inv. Earth countersheets and FFW map which are "file not found" and the Snapshot map which cuts off about 2/3 of the way down (damaged .jpg file?).

As a test, I printed the Invasion Earth map and it came out legibly, so I feel better about buying FFE 005 Games. As for the the AHL countersheet, it's clear and legible (the back is a bit stained, but Photoshop easily fixes that (Hue/Saturation: Yellows: Lightness +100).

------------------
Wendell (IMTU tc++ !tm !tn !t4 !tg ru+ ge+ 3i+ c+ jt- au ls+ he)

 

[tjoneslo]

<BLOCKQUOTE>quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by DaveShayne:
Well I wrote and formatted it an ASCII text file. The extra spaces that made the whole thing look good got stripped by the message board. Apparently excess spaces are a perceived problem among the people who created the UBB format. (That or the spaces got nuked during copy and paste.)

<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

The "Extra Spaces" got nuked by the HTML render on your browser. This was a huge complanint by people posting code (or tables) until browsers supported both the PRE and TABLE tags.
UBB has it's own ideas about how to render stuff, it's bascially a dumbed down HTML. And since these boards have the HTML tags off, you have to work with the limitations of UBB coding. And HTML coding. And HTML Render. which is why some people dislike HTML bboards.

 

[PinkSplice]

Wendell wrote:

"As a test, I printed the Invasion Earth map and it came out legibly, so I feel better about buying FFE 005 Games. As for the the AHL countersheet, it's clear and legible (the back is a bit stained, but Photoshop easily fixes that (Hue/Saturation: Yellows: Lightness +100)."

Cool. Is this a new industry trend to do all the error correction at the end user level, just like computers?

Wally.