Oolite Bulletins

Disembodied wrote:

... I don't want to send young Jamesons running to find Raxxla right from the off!

Hehe... While not quite right from the off I did spend a couple of months trying to find Raxxla after I became Elite on the C64. I was convinced it had to be out there somewhere and that it was one of the hard coded missions. Spend way too much money on phone bills while trying to find info in the old pre-www BBS days...

Does anyone know if GalCo-op has a symbol of its own? Not the Navy, or the police, but the Co-op itself? I don't know if it needs one, really, but in any case I was at a loose end so I decided to make one -- monochrome, for the moment. It's supposed to represent the eight different political structures, all hanging in there together. Any thoughts/opinions/alternative suggestions?





and reversed:

Disembodied wrote:

Does anyone know if GalCo-op has a symbol of its own? Not the Navy, or the police, but the Co-op itself? I don't know if it needs one, really, but in any case I was at a loose end so I decided to make one -- monochrome, for the moment. It's supposed to represent the eight different political structures, all hanging in there together. Any thoughts/opinions/alternative suggestions?

It was always my understanding that GalCop used the Robotic Avian as it's symbol....

Captain Hesperus

I always thought that was the symbol of the Federation of Elite Pilots. A sort of lapel badge... You don't think it's too species-specific for the Co-Op?

The second one is quite interesting, Desembodied!

I think resembles a little the Republic / Empire symbol in Star Wars.

But certainly represents the union of multiple worlds, as I see it.

Hmmm... I hadn't thought about the Imperial symbol, but I see what you mean. It's actually a bit reminiscent of the old logo for the UK Co-operative Society:



Anyway, I've thought of a way to bring it in without making anything official. It could be a proposed design, but with GalCo-Op's inability to make a decision it's probably stuck in bureaucratic limbo while everyone debates what colour it should be...

I've heard of/shot the panels off GalCop... but GalCo-Op? Where did that come from?

Commander Mysenses wrote:

I've heard of/shot the panels off GalCop... but GalCo-Op? Where did that come from?

From the word, of course. It stands for the "Galactic Co-operative of Worlds", so it is quite obvious why you would want to write it with double "o".

Actually you will meet both acronyms in the literature. "GalCop" has become the more common variant, but personally I always found "GalCoop" better, as far as representing the actual name is concerned. Although it doesn't so easily allow for standing in for the police as well.

As far as the idea for the logo is concerned: I would go with the first one, but I suggest replacing the rings with small galaxies. Then it would represent the eight galaxies GalCop comprises of, which somehow makes more sense to me than the eight government forms (or eight economic categories; actually the number eight plays a big role for GalCop in many aspects).

Disembodied wrote:

I don't know whether to be proud or ashamed that I never thought of a centrefold (it has to be the lobster

waering a pink tutu of course to save any blushes.

The Robotic Avian (or the Elite logo) is the CANONICAL logo of the Galactic Co-operative of Worlds. See:

Andy Redman wrote:

The doors opened and he gazed out across jade floor tiles to the cleon foyer doors. Aligned vertically at their centre, and spreading up and across the access in a sweep of majesty, was the Golden GalCop symbol; RA the Robotic Avian, fixing him with a benign and impregnable stare from holocast eyes. Above its feathered helm, across the lintel, was the complex title; 'GalCop Space Licensing Authority'.

- IMPRINT, distributed with Elite Plus.

In my little universe, when a pilot qualified from the GalCop Space Flight Academy he/she was persented with a silver GalCop badge - his "wings". If he achieved Elite status, he was presented with a gold version of the badge with a holograph of the word ELITE that could be displayed across the front at the touch of a small recessed button. So in a sense, the silver RA was the pilot's "wings" and the gold RA was the "wings" of an Elite pilot. This also kept the logo correct as shown, being golden with the word ELITE across the front.

When I read Imprint (not that long ago) and discovered that it was referenced as the "Golden GalCop logo" I changed it do be a gold logo all the time, and the only thing that was different between the standard "wings" and the Elite pilot's "wings" was the ability to show the word ELITE. Since then I've read a lot of other fiction, and there are some other great ideas. Norman Mosser's Elite badge, for example, stores his flight record. Also, going into the future, when GalCop eventally falls, the Robotic Avian may solely become the logo of the Elite Federation.

I can't rightly remember if the Elite Federation was mentioned in The Dark Wheel - I don't have a readily accessible copy on me - but it's not mentioned in anything else up until Frontier. Maybe the Elite Federation is the last thing left of GalCop by then!

GalCop was always the short name for the Co-operative, as far as I have been able to work out, but it's never stated specifically in the manual. GalCoop (or GalCo-op) came about when the ArcElite version came out and the Galactic Police gained the nickname of GalCops...

EDIT: Double checked - the Elite Federation isn't mentioned in TDW either. Anyone mind if I write up a potted history of the EF? Maybe officially make the above part of the Elite/Oolite/Frontier shared history?

Thanks for enlightening us, Selezen!

In this case my vote goes to not developing another logo, but sticking to the RA.

I agree. The RA is obviously canonical. But I may still use the idea about an attempted change, after complaints from some (human) Democratic worlds that the RA was a bit too Imperialistic, and whinges from non-birds along the lines of "why can't we have a golden robot frog?", only for the whole project to plough nose-first into the bureaucratic mire... probably after vast quantities of Credits had been spent on consultations, competitions, designs, focus groups and opinion polls. It could act as a useful illustration of the unco-operative reality of the Galactic Co-Operative!

@ Selezen: I'd be interested to see a history of the Elite Federation: its murky origins, its dubious stance on piracy, its tacit encouragement of wholesale slaughter... It would help change a game mechanic into background and atmosphere, so it would be definitely something we could put in the Rough Guide if you'd be willing.

Disembodied wrote:

@ Selezen: I'd be interested to see a history of the Elite Federation: its murky origins, its dubious stance on piracy, its tacit encouragement of wholesale slaughter... It would help change a game mechanic into background and atmosphere, so it would be definitely something we could put in the Rough Guide if you'd be willing.

Although the Elite Federation cares not from whence the kills come, they take it all into consideration when they craft the *unique* Elite badge for the pilot.

Alas, I can't remember where I heard this, so I don't know if it is canon...

Captain Hesperus

Captain Hesperus wrote:

Although the Elite Federation cares not from whence the kills come, they take it all into consideration when they craft the *unique* Elite badge for the pilot.

Alas, I can't remember where I heard this, so I don't know if it is canon...

Captain Hesperus

Heck, does it matter? It's a great idea. We should make it canonical, even if the only source is inside your furry head!