Delayed Space: 1889 -- SF Role Playing in a More Civilized Time

[Carnacki the Ghost Finder]

Venerable RPG game of adventuring on Colonial-era Mars gets a dust-off/reboot.

 

This seems to be going well. It's close to having some miniature add-ons unlocked.

 

http://www.kickstarter.com/projects/440453703/space-1889-sf-role-playing-in-a-more-civilized-tim?ref=category

 

Cheers.

 

(Couldn't find this listed already -- apologies if I missed it.)

 

P.S. seems to be primarily a translation of a book that already exists in German, plus some of the stretch goals / add-ons that are new.

Edited August 22, 2014 by Darsc Zacal

[Jordan Peacock]

I'm enthusiastic about the game setting in general, and I have the Savage Worlds version, but I'm a bit concerned about the cues of future quality in the KS banners inasmuch as it might be a predictor of how well the English translation will be edited. E.g., the banner that explains "Pledgerewards" (all one word!) and "Stretchgoals," plus the treatment as punctuation as merely an optional way to terminate a sentence.

 

Of more immediate relevance to the miniatures: I like the CGI "sculpts," but I've become very wary of Kickstarters that feature CGI images that purport to be previews of how the final mini will appear. All too often, they look GREAT as CGI renders, and then the actual plastic mini comes out and all the details look slightly worn off -- and when you're dealing with especially DELICATE features, you can end up with figures with nearly blob-like faces and hands and such. I think that anyone using this approach to miniatures design needs to take into account that realistic human proportions and levels of detail aren't likely to translate well to mold and cast mini once it's popped out of the mold and given a layer of base-coat. There needs to be greater contrast of depth and detail -- maybe not to the excesses of, say, 1990s-era war-game miniatures where cartoonish proportions and gigantic shoulder pads seemed to be all the rage -- but still enough that it'll translate well to the realities of 25-32mm miniatures crafting.

 

I look at the delicately thin barrel on that rifle on the top figure ("Explorer"), and the needle-sharp haft of that axe held in the left hand of the "Martian Princess" combined with those dangly things on her dress, and I have a hard time imagining that's going to translate well. Those might be realistic proportions, but those are going to cause enough problems with breakage, bending and warping on a figure at 54mm or LARGER, let alone shrinking down to more common 25mm-32mm ranges used for most RPGs that employ minis.

 

I've tried visiting the Elemental Miniatures page out of curiosity (those Achtung Cthulhu designs look particularly compelling!) -- http://www.elementalminiatures.co.uk/ -- but I'm having trouble figuring out if Elemental Miniatures actually has any figures IN PRODUCTION anywhere. (Are those full-color pictures photographs of actual digitally-printed versions of the same designs? Painted by whom? Sculpted by whom? Where's the store?) Some of the client links look particularly intriguing, but the sparcity of information on the Elemental Miniatures page itself just strikes me as ... odd?

 

Don't get me wrong: I love steampunk, VSF, and wouldn't mind throwing in a bit of "John Carter of Mars," and I wish them well enough -- but if I was going to shell out the money for this prior to seeing a finished product, I'd personally want some better quality assurance.

[captenglish]

I was a huge fan back in the day, and would be all over this if I knew other gamers in my area. as it is, I think I will just wait until I can get my hands on the minis which cool.

[Pingo]

Heh. Saw the thread title and thought, "the 1980s?"

 

I miss Games Design Workshop.