Oolite Bulletins

I thank you.

Drew: I downloaded Space Engine.

My computer isn't powerful enough to run it.

In the immortal words of Gavin and Stacey: gutted.

Unfortunately the graphical demands are way higher than Oolite.

BTW, I'm really appreciative of all the work that's gone into the political docs on the Frontier writers' forum, looking forward to the Galcop one, although I don't think it will impact Elite:Reclamation as I'm set in the year 3299, just before the game opens.

A little bemused by how quiet it is on there though. Other than you and I, only one other author has posted, and that's after a full week. I know that I need to get my plot nailed in the next couple of weeks because I just won't be able to finish it in time for March 2014 otherwise. I need my fundamental questions answered now. I hope the other writers don't underestimate how tricky it is to ensure your story is cohesive with the timelines and backstories. I'm worried they have just gone off writing and will then have to rip their stuff apart to gain approval from Frontier - though I did my best to warn them!

We'll see I guess. My feeling at the moment is that some are going to drop by the wayside over the next year and some of the quality will be patchy. Having gone this way before I know how much work is involved and I'm planning accordingly. It's still worrying me a bit!

Cheers,

Drew.

Drew.

Out of pure interest, does the Frontier writers forum have any sort of NDA or please don't tell agreement?

drew wrote:

A little bemused by how quiet it is on there though. Other than you and I, only one other author has posted, and that's after a full week.

The Anthology writers are still waiting for access. I promise it will no longer be quiet once we arrive!

drew wrote:

My feeling at the moment is that some are going to drop by the wayside over the next year and some of the quality will be patchy.

Yeah... is there a reserve team?

Gimi wrote:

Drew.

Out of pure interest, does the Frontier writers forum have any sort of NDA or please don't tell agreement?

Yes it does. It's not an NDA per se, but it prevents me discussing the content on the writers' forum.

Cheers,

Drew.

drew wrote:

Gimi wrote:

Drew.
Out of pure interest, does the Frontier writers forum have any sort of NDA or please don't tell agreement?

Yes it does. It's not an NDA per se, but it prevents me discussing the content on the writers' forum.
Cheers,
Drew.

Seems fair. Would have been intresting to read those Political Docs. I hope they will be part of the game documentation in one form or another when the game is released.

Latest update on Elite:Reclamation is out.

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... s-that-be/

Cheers,

Drew.

drew wrote:

Latest update on Elite:Reclamation is out.

http://www.wagar.org.uk/elitereclamatio ... s-that-be/

Cheers,

Drew.

You sure know how to whet our appetite with those updates... Very much intrigued!

drew wrote:

BTW, I'm really appreciative of all the work that's gone into the political docs on the Frontier writers' forum, looking forward to the Galcop one, although I don't think it will impact Elite:Reclamation as I'm set in the year 3299, just before the game opens.

It's been a very thorough process, and I'm impressed by how much work has gone into it. A couple of days into the process I got a little worried about it and made a comment on the subject but since then my worries have been more than allayed.

I haven't had much word back about my latest draft of the GCW doc (and it's been nearly a week) so I'm getting a little concerned.

drew wrote:

A little bemused by how quiet it is on there though. Other than you and I, only one other author has posted, and that's after a full week. I know that I need to get my plot nailed in the next couple of weeks because I just won't be able to finish it in time for March 2014 otherwise. I need my fundamental questions answered now. I hope the other writers don't underestimate how tricky it is to ensure your story is cohesive with the timelines and backstories. I'm worried they have just gone off writing and will then have to rip their stuff apart to gain approval from Frontier - though I did my best to warn them!

I know what you mean - I have been struggling to keep up with the rest of the forum, but the Writers one (which I would have expected to be a little more full of questions) is practically dead.

I agree that there could be some cooling down as people realise just how much they've let themselves in for. It's a big job, this book writing, so it can be a bit daunting when you start and find out how far you have to go. So far, for example, I have two A4 pages of lists of stuff to go in the RPG. I think I'm looking at about 400 pages of text before pictures even go in.

Quality could be a problem. What happens to the ones who hand in a draft in January then it gets rejected by FD and a new draft has to be handed in in two months? Could be quite scary times.

The writer's pack I included in the RPG has already seen a small example of that. Thargoids in it aren't the Thargoids that are defined by Commodore Braben. Which reminds me I don't think I replied to that guy. Oops.

drew wrote:

We'll see I guess. My feeling at the moment is that some are going to drop by the wayside over the next year and some of the quality will be patchy. Having gone this way before I know how much work is involved and I'm planning accordingly. It's still worrying me a bit!

Agree with you completely there. It's a daunting task, especially knowing that 25,000 eyes are on you come release day... My greatest fear with this is getting this awesome chance to do something special then blowing it. In public. Nightmare fuel. Still, it's been rewarding so far.

P.S. DAMMIT! Can't get Space Engine to work on my WORK computer either!!! $£*%&^

Selezen wrote:

Quality could be a problem. What happens to the ones who hand in a draft in January then it gets rejected by FD and a new draft has to be handed in in two months? Could be quite scary times.

There is no way you can rewrite a draft if it's rejected at that point. There's got to be a mechanism for approval (in principle) throughout with some kind of final sign off, otherwise that book will be a disaster.

That's why my plan has the synopsis and detailed plot being approved now - so that I can work with a degree of confidence when I'm writing. The other authors have yet to even ask any questions, let alone get them answered. If they're expecting first time approval in Jan 2014 with no preliminary, they'll be in for a nasty surprise.

I think I'll ask a question in the writers' forum as to the 'approval' process.

Cheers,

Drew.

drew wrote:

Selezen wrote:

I think I'll ask a question in the writers' forum as to the 'approval' process.

Damn good plan, batman...

Failure to plan = Plan to fail.

Or as my Dad would say, PPPPPP.

Planning Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance.

Cheers,

Drew.

drew wrote:

I think I'll ask a question in the writers' forum as to the 'approval' process.

Michael actually read the first draft (not just synopsis) of my story a few weeks ago and listed the points that should be reconsidered, such as the name that one pilot had given his ship (Spitfire has too many connections with WW2, apparently, to fit into Elite universe) and the political context, the problem with the idea of a cloaking device (I had honestly thought that it might still exist as a secret piece of tech) etc.

So, in short, I'm guessing that they will be willing to review drafts etc. way before next year. It is up to the authors to realise that they _need_ to get that feedback to get the final approval when the time comes.