Moties
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trader jim
SOC-14 1K
well....i think our smilys that we use right here should be given "stats"...then turned loose in the forums....
Cleon the Mad
SOC-12
WHAT, you don't want a race that does the Droyne cast bit better then the Droyne themselves, and at least for the manipulators, do Hivers better then the Hivers themselves?Originally posted by Nurd_boy:
ONLY if you have an area of space that's IMPOSSIBLE for them to get out of....imagine the consquenses if there had been NO coal sack or if crazy eddie point hadn't been in the corona of a star !!!
(very good travellerish books too I might add...)
,
,, U, ME, everything
Seriously, I do agree. One suggestion, since in the first novel they didn't know about the Alderson/Crazy Eddie drive until the Empire of Man showed up, would be that due to the cycles, they tend to blast themselves before they can develop jump drive. Mind you, they seemed to have stuff past TL 9 in other areas, so perhaps this is the only aspect I'd cripple them in, for obvious reasons. You could also drop them in a rift or inbetween galactic arms, so that even if they get jump drive (which they probably will if they get onto a PC ship and look around for a bit, at least if Engineers/Watchmakers do), they can be hemmed in. Unless you WANT them to bust out...in which case...have fun!
As an aside, I do like their Navy/Nobility in that book series, makes me wonder if Traveller's Navy/Nobility were modeled after the same. Langston field reminds me much of a Black Globe also, I use the color changing up the visual spectrum for an overloading black globe IMTU.
For that matter, I think Niven in a short story collection explains the model kit he based the MacArthur upon in the first book...anyone ever see it?
I think Niven in a short story collection explains the model kit he based the MacArthur upon in the first book...anyone ever see it?
Yep. It was from AMT. It was called Lief Ericson's Galactic Cruiser in its first incarnation, and the UFO Mystery Ship (made out of glow-in-the-dark plastic) the second time around. I was a little surprised when I read about this, because I hadn't imagined that model being what the MacArthur looked like. Oh, well.
Yep. It was from AMT. It was called Lief Ericson's Galactic Cruiser in its first incarnation, and the UFO Mystery Ship (made out of glow-in-the-dark plastic) the second time around. I was a little surprised when I read about this, because I hadn't imagined that model being what the MacArthur looked like. Oh, well.
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
is that like "The Motie in Gods Eye"...who wrote it???...
Capt. Blacklight
SOC-12
Pournelle and NivenOriginally posted by trader jim:
is that like "The Motie in Gods Eye"...who wrote it???...
and YOU play Traveller?
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
Traveller????..whats that???...explain please...is
that some type of Game??
that some type of Game??
trader jim
SOC-14 1K
hey!!! waita minute!!!....are you gonna tell me this aint REAL LIFE....what a strange thought!!!! 
reality bytes.... 0001 0010 0100 1000Originally posted by trader jim:
hey!!! waita minute!!!....are you gonna tell me this aint REAL LIFE....what a strange thought!!!!
moties are fine (if you don't mind being hip-deep in the buggers) but remember, those on the main planet kept blasting themselves back to the stone age, those in the belts maintained technology longer.
I always had the impression human ship from the book had a travellerish look to them (veriation of simple geometric forms...cone, wedge, slab...right from high guard) and the moties had orginic looking stuff similar to aslan styles...
Read "The Mote in Gods Eye", by Larry Niven & Jerry Pournelle {I hope nobody here spoils there book for you by telling you things you don't need to know.}
Really quite an intersting race, enormously helpful. the race is subdivided into different professions, more like natural savants. There are doctors, engineers, all kinds.
There are small relitives too, kind of like monkeys they are unbeleivably useful in general mantaince task. tighening bolts, fixing sqeaky hinges, and other light repair work. But for general to heavy work you need an engineer. Not big talkers, but they can make a nuclear dampener from Chewing gum and tin cans. Sound useful?
I tell you what I'll make you a deal on a pair of engineers, heck I'll even throw in a half-dozen watchmakes.
Really quite an intersting race, enormously helpful. the race is subdivided into different professions, more like natural savants. There are doctors, engineers, all kinds.
There are small relitives too, kind of like monkeys they are unbeleivably useful in general mantaince task. tighening bolts, fixing sqeaky hinges, and other light repair work. But for general to heavy work you need an engineer. Not big talkers, but they can make a nuclear dampener from Chewing gum and tin cans. Sound useful?
I tell you what I'll make you a deal on a pair of engineers, heck I'll even throw in a half-dozen watchmakes.
Cleon the Mad
SOC-12
Hey, Trader Jim would love the "Motie" series of books. I mean with an old crafty merchant as one of the main characters, and...get this my good Trader Jim, they actually talk about COFFEE PERCULATORS as a small subplot in the first novel, I do believe this series is the one for him!
As an aside, I suspect the good Trader Jim, if faced with the same impromtu melee during the EVA crossing from the MacArthur to the Lenin would have kept the vacc suit tank full of Motie Watchmakers. IMHO his greed is MUCH more then Horace Bury's in the Motie Series.
As an aside, I suspect the good Trader Jim, if faced with the same impromtu melee during the EVA crossing from the MacArthur to the Lenin would have kept the vacc suit tank full of Motie Watchmakers. IMHO his greed is MUCH more then Horace Bury's in the Motie Series.
One of my favorite Traveller-esque short stories was a chapter Niven and Pournelle wrote for the Mote in God's Eye, but rejected as being unnecessary for the plot.
Basically, it was the battle that the MacArthur had been in immediately previous to the beginning of the story and explained why MacArthur had been so beat up... except,
Most of the story was from the rebel ship's perspective. It was in a Pournelle edited collection "There Will Be War" but the title escapes me.
Best,
-A
Basically, it was the battle that the MacArthur had been in immediately previous to the beginning of the story and explained why MacArthur had been so beat up... except,
Most of the story was from the rebel ship's perspective. It was in a Pournelle edited collection "There Will Be War" but the title escapes me.
Best,
-A
I read some where that it line edited by Robert Heinlien. I think it was in "n-space"...
Sure enough, A complete line edit by Heinlien his-self, It says they cut the novel from 245,000 Words To 170,000 --- 50,000 from the begining of the book. I'll Have to pick up Jerry's book, The 2 chapters in "n-space" where really interesting one was just an excerpt from Mote, but the preface was good. The other was some of the cut material, A scientist on New Scotland notices the brightening of a near-by star. Set against the backdrop of an inter-system war with another planet.
Then a brief discussion of meta-story choices, And a Discussion of tech and it's impact on the story.
Sure enough, A complete line edit by Heinlien his-self, It says they cut the novel from 245,000 Words To 170,000 --- 50,000 from the begining of the book. I'll Have to pick up Jerry's book, The 2 chapters in "n-space" where really interesting one was just an excerpt from Mote, but the preface was good. The other was some of the cut material, A scientist on New Scotland notices the brightening of a near-by star. Set against the backdrop of an inter-system war with another planet.
Then a brief discussion of meta-story choices, And a Discussion of tech and it's impact on the story.
Cleon the Mad
SOC-12
I think I remember reading what you're mentioning, both the line edit and the cut story. If memory serves, the planet they were at war at was New Ireland, the other "mainworld" in system, so it was a purly interplanetary war due to lack of having any Alderson drive ships left on either side, even if it started as part of the interstellar war...I think New Scotland was the "Loyal Empire" world in system, New Ireland the "Rebel" world.
Tom Schoene
SOC-12
Not Heinlein. Mote in God's Eye is by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle.
There's a sequel called either The Gripping Hand or The Mote around Murcheson's God's Eye, in the US and UK respectively.
To be clear about all this,
Pournelle and Niven wrote the book "The Mote in Gods Eye", They showed a draft to Heinlien. Heinlien said he could a blurb on the front if they'd let him make a few changes. Heinlein said the first 100 pages of the book had to be removed. Pournelle and Niven made the changes, editing the book from 245,000 pages to 170,000. The manusrcipt was then sent back to Heinlien who line edited the whole thing.
When the book was finally printed it said on the cover "Possibly the finest science fiction novels I've ever read" --Robert Heinlien
Pournelle and Niven wrote the book "The Mote in Gods Eye", They showed a draft to Heinlien. Heinlien said he could a blurb on the front if they'd let him make a few changes. Heinlein said the first 100 pages of the book had to be removed. Pournelle and Niven made the changes, editing the book from 245,000 pages to 170,000. The manusrcipt was then sent back to Heinlien who line edited the whole thing.
When the book was finally printed it said on the cover "Possibly the finest science fiction novels I've ever read" --Robert Heinlien
