Star Wars Wednesday - Brak Sector MUSH/MUX & SW-X

in

Back in the '90s, playing RPGs online were a text-only affair. Pre-internet, starting sometime in the '80s, someone figured out how to create a multi-user game using modems, telnet clients and bulletin board systems and frankly functioned in way I'm not totally familiar with. They were text based, not unlike Zork, but with real people playing. These were originally called Multi-User Dungeons (MUD). As computer based systems commonly do, they evolved in a variety of ways. Later versions became MUSH (multi-user shared hallucination, if wikipedia is to be believed), MUX and a variety of other acronyms.

Sometime in the mid '90s, after my first WEG Star Wars product Flashpoint! Brak Sector was released, I discovered a "Brak Sector MUSH/MUX." It used my book as the basis for their online Star Wars d6 campaign.

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Star Wars Wednesday - 35th Anniversary and other things

in
This past weekend marked the 35th anniversary of the original release of Star Wars. I wasn't really thinking about it, until I saw Wired's many related articles and finally clued in. A few other things have come to light lately, so this post will be a bit like what I used to call grab bag posts on the old Delusions of Grandeur blog. Speaking of, if you're finally making the switch to reading this site, instead of over at starwars.com, welcome. Seeing as I was unable to post over there since last year, there are a lot of posts to catch up on.
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Greg Rucka's Alpha Map

in

So, it's been awhile since I've had a non-Star Wars post...or any other freelance related post for that matter. Hopefully that will change in the near future. There are a number of projects at various stages in the production and release process,many going back awhile now. 

Today, though, I get to talk about a new product type for me, if not a new type of freelance, exactly. Over a year ago, Eric Trautmann, former editor of some of my WEG products, introduced me to novelist and graphic novel author Greg Rucka. Comic fans might know Greg's name from his DC, Marvel and Dark Horse titles, including 52, Punisher, Gotham Central, Hellboy and many more. He's known for his own series of intense graphic novels Whiteout and Queen and Country, through Oni Press.

Greg was looking for someone to help draw a map for the setting in his new novel. Something to aid him while developing the book. Somewhere big.

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Star Wars Wednesday - Nova Eclipse

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This week, we take a look at the Nova Eclipse - the highly customized AR-37 Paragon-class light transport from Christopher West's maps and, and his personal game.

But first, a brief note that I was sorry to hear that Lucasfilm laid off Bonnie Burton (aka @bonniegrrl) this week, their long-time social network liason (and likely other duties I know nothing about). I only had brief contact with Bonnie, several years ago when she interviewed me for an article on my blog at starwars.com. Starwars.com announced that it was revamping the official blog, with their ongoing reworking of all things starwars.com that has been underway for awhile. The latest blog post is looking for feedback on what people want to see on the site, so now is the time to comment, if you want to see particular types of content, etc.

Now, on with the Nova Eclipse. We'll start once again with Chris' description, followed by my stats for Saga and d6 systems, as usual.

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Star Wars Wednesday - AR-37 Paragon Light Transport

in
This week, I finally return to the RPG stats for Christopher's West's Mass Transit III/Boarding Action map. It's time to take on the AR-37 Paragon-Class Light Transport...but there's a bit of a wrinkle. The stock version of the AR-37 doesn't actually appear on this map, it's on Christopher West's successful Kickstarter Offworld Docking Port map. The one on Boarding Action? It's the Nova Eclipse, Chris' ship in his home game, which I'll tackle next week. The second level of the AR-37 appears on the Kickstarter Nova Eclipse map.
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Star Wars Wednesday - Infographics

in
Infographics seem to be all the rage on the internet. They're great ways to distill facts or data (accurate or otherwise) down to an easily understandable image that highlights the point the creator is trying to get across. A new, or rather, a rediscovered series of Star Wars related infographics began making the rounds recently. It reminded me of some of past versions and put me on the hunt for others.
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Star Wars Wednesday - Clone Wars and Sidecars

in

So, being tired from a lot of stuff happening lately, I took some time tonight to catch up on the Clone Wars episodes piling up on the DVR. Watching several at a time, especially those that are linked story arcs, actually makes it easier to follow along. This is especially true for story arcs resurface weeks after they left off. 

So, you know, spoiler alert for those who haven't seen up to the most recent episodes (or some of the less recent episodes, like I said, they were stacked up and some were missed the first time they were broadcast).

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