Hi gang. Metlay here, back from GenCon 1989 in Milwaukee. So what's to
report?
Well, the Con was well attended and ran smoothly. As always, the single
biggest hassle was in obtaining onsite event registration (line lengths on the
average of one hour or more), and everything else went smoothly. I didn't see
any other List readers there, but what th'hey. Big sellers were FASA's new
SHADOWRUN game and everything else in their line, and Palladium and Leading
Edge also made a very strong showing. Big hits of the Con were the MIDIMaze
Interactive Combat Synthesizer and the FASA BattleTech display. Imagine a
video game where every piece on the board is being run by a live player, who
can think, move, and attack in real time! Both games offered this capability,
and each had its strong points. The MIDIMaze games ran on clusters of up to 16
linked Atari ST computers, and had tournaments, team or singles play, and open
gaming for $2 an hour. I actually won one round, which is nothing short of a
miracle, considering that the game was swamped by expert video game players
who racked up enormous lists of wins, including one guy who won a 15- against-
1 round singlehandedly! The graphics were simple but effective, and knowing
that you were playing against other people made the game extremely
stimulating. But the really spectacular event was the interactive BattleTech
display at FASA's booth. Four players in teams of two were seated in realistic
BattleMech cockpits, with complex display and hand controls taking the place
of the game's "Neurohelmets." They then fought one another on a computer-
generated battlefield, with great graphics, internal status readouts,
surround-sound effects, and total attention to BattleTech rules, including
disabled-unit movement and overheating problems. The game was phenomenally
popular, even at $3 for 5 minutes or until dead, whichever comes first.
Advanced setups allowed torso movement, and perhaps even jumping and kicking,
although I never saw an Advanced game. As usual, FASA demonstrated that the
most cash inflow came to the display with the glitziest setup, and this year
they even beat last year's Steiner-Davion wedding. Yeesh.
On matters Travellerish, I had a short pair of conversations with Loren
Wiseman and Marc Miller. Loren's a very nice guy but has such a full schedule
that it's damned near impossible to get anything out of him, and Marc is just
too busy to give anyone more than two minutes' attention. Digest Group was not
there this year, and their "To Kill An Archduke" MegaTraveller event was
cancelled, but I THINK I saw Gary Thomas there, looking so frayed that I
thought better of hassling him. Sorry, gang, but I just wasn't in nosy
reporter mode this weekend. What I did get was as follows.
These are lean times for the Traveller games, my friends. Digest Group is
doing its best to support the rules, but the big emphasis at GDW appears to be
on its other games, the ones with the four-digit numbers in their titles. Let
it also be remembered that Digest Group's people, despite their enthusiasm, DO
have day jobs, and that it's a miracle we get as much as we do from them. But
don't despair; both companies will be putting out their usual two or three
items a year, and let's remember that in the early years we were grateful to
get that much new Traveller material! That having been said, let's look at
what IS out there:
Currrently in the works from GDW are "Fighting Ships of the Imperium," a set
of ship descriptions and MegaTrav stats for various and sundry ships in the
Rebellion. Cutting through the sales pitch, what it appears to be is a reprint
and expansion of the old Supplement 9, for people (like me) who haven't the
time and patience to futz around with the new rules for ship generation.
There's also "Knightsfall," an adventure module for political intrigue(?). I
haven't any data on that. GDW was also plugging the two new books from Digest
Group, "The MegaTraveller Alien" and (I believe it's called) "The Black Duke."
No data on either of these, although I believe that the former book will be a
reprint and expansion of Alien Modules 1,3,4, and perhaps 5. The Aslan, Vargr,
and Zhodani will be covered; the K'Kree definitely won't, and neither will the
Solomani or Hivers; the Droyne are iffy, but I'd guess that they will be,
having been mentioned in detail in the Referee's Companion. For all you far-
antispinward fans out there, it looks like you're all S.O.L. Sorry.
Representation of the Traveller rules systems at GenCon was pitiful at best.
Besides my games and the ones sponsored by (and cancelled by) DGP, I counted
three other Traveller events, and they were all your basic kick-ass mercenary
contract sessions. The RPGA was supposed to run a Traveller tournament this
year, but I don't recall whether or not that went through. I'm not complaining
at all about the rarity of Traveller stuff though; as usual, "Near Miss VI:
Radio Free Terra" was a smash hit, sold out on all three rounds long before
the Con opened with Generic Ticket holders lined up for overflow seating. The
sessions went well at first and got better as the weekend progressed, with
Saturday Night's game a real free-for-all, half the players having been in
previous Near Miss games since 1985 and the other half being experienced and
inventive newcomers. Navy Ensign Horace Plimpton and Daisy Ferne of the
Columbia University Music Dept. are now happily married (imagine Rick Moranis
and Shelley Duvall as Romeo and Juliet) and all's well that ends well.
Schedule permitting, "Near Miss VII: Over the Edge" will run at GenCon 1990,
and there will be a Near Miss Book out from either DGP or GDW at some time in
the near future, both Gary Thomas and Marc Miller at least being willing to
entertain the concept if it's well-presented. Meantime, if folx are
interested, I may run bits and pieces of "Borrowed Snapshots," the first
full-length Near Miss story, on the List.
If anyone else has any questions about GenCon, feel free to ask.
later,
metlay