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Line 73: Game designer [[Michael Mulvihill]] answered: Game designer [[Michael Mulvihill]] answered: − {{quote|''My name is Mike Mulvihill and act partly as [[Jordan Weisman|Jordan]]’s historical reference man and game designer, having worked with him for 20+ years.<br />While I wasn’t at FASA during late 80’s. I was there just a bit later and could give you a bit of perspective.<br />I believe there was a Comstar book advertised in the late 80’s, as you have indicated by your research, that would have been in the format of the House books. It was never produced. There are three main reasons I can think for this:<br />1) There were 5 “core” sourcebooks produced in 1988. That was a huge undertaking for a company that at that time had 2 other games going strong ([[w:Renegade Legion|Renegade Legion]] & ''[[w:Star Trek: The Role Playing Game|Star Trek]]'']). The ability to maintain that schedule is the reason why in the early days books appeared out of their numerical order (as you also noted, for instance 1627 appearing before 1622 and 1623). They would create a schedule and move things around as time permitted. Thus you would see an advert for a book that may not be out for a year or so – in other words the schedules we very malleable.<br />2) In 1989 a 4th game was added to the FASA schedule: [[Shadowrun]]. That is why the releases from 1989 consist of many less sourcebooks – the FASA team was spread too thin to maintain 6 “core” BT products and try to do a full RPG at the same time. In 1989 they only released 2 sourcebooks and a Tech Readout. In 1990 they only released 1 sourcebook and 1 Tech Readouts. As you can see that a spiral condition would occur as a book that missed its date may continue to slip – some for a long time – if a more current product replaced it.<br />3) BattleTech was unique in that it had a awesome timeline driven by the novels. The BattleTech team would gather twice a year for a summit to go over the novels and master plots for the year and what game product would enhance the stories. If something did get bumped like the Comstar book, it may just end up not being relevant again until the novels that focus on Comstar come back around or a novelist proposes using it. It would get replaced with more immediate and concurrent products.<br />So while that explains why Comstar didn’t exist – it doesn’t tell you how people may have remembered seeing a product.<br />My explanation is FASA was great at crafting adverts and teasers that would look like regular books. They used to create sneak peeks brochures that put the rest of the industry to shame: 8-16+ page brochures that would feature original fiction or short stories, full color art and even items you couldn’t get in the regular source material. These were coveted by stores and fans for hints of the future plot lines, new ’mechs to use and other cool stuff. I know I worked on many of these while I was there.<br />I’m going to assume this is what was seen in the stores. It would be the reason why you got an out of stock reference when you actually checked on the book for sale. FASA would not cancel the product, just say it was running late but it will be coming out. The stores would just list it as out of stock or unavailable.<br />To sum up there was only one Classic BattleTech Comstar book in 1992 (#1655) – why they changed the number from 1628 to 1655 I can only guess at: a) that FASA/stores/distribution probably had cleared the old number out of their systems b) it had been listed as permanently as OOS/Unavailable c) that the name of the book and the focus had changed enough that it would confuse 1992 level software systems d) they wanted it to fit with the currently released product numbers.<br />I hope this helps answer your question.<br />Have Fun!<br />Play Games!<br />Mike Mulvihill''}} + {{quote|''My name is Mike Mulvihill and act partly as [[Jordan Weisman|Jordan]]’s historical reference man and game designer, having worked with him for 20+ years.<br />While I wasn’t at FASA during late 80’s. I was there just a bit later and could give you a bit of perspective.<br />I believe there was a Comstar book advertised in the late 80’s, as you have indicated by your research, that would have been in the format of the House books. It was never produced. There are three main reasons I can think for this:<br />1) There were 5 “core” sourcebooks produced in 1988. That was a huge undertaking for a company that at that time had 2 other games going strong ([[w:Renegade Legion|Renegade Legion]] & [[Star Trek]]). The ability to maintain that schedule is the reason why in the early days books appeared out of their numerical order (as you also noted, for instance 1627 appearing before 1622 and 1623). They would create a schedule and move things around as time permitted. Thus you would see an advert for a book that may not be out for a year or so – in other words the schedules we very malleable.<br />2) In 1989 a 4th game was added to the FASA schedule: [[Shadowrun]]. That is why the releases from 1989 consist of many less sourcebooks – the FASA team was spread too thin to maintain 6 “core” BT products and try to do a full RPG at the same time. In 1989 they only released 2 sourcebooks and a Tech Readout. In 1990 they only released 1 sourcebook and 1 Tech Readouts. As you can see that a spiral condition would occur as a book that missed its date may continue to slip – some for a long time – if a more current product replaced it.<br />3) BattleTech was unique in that it had a awesome timeline driven by the novels. The BattleTech team would gather twice a year for a summit to go over the novels and master plots for the year and what game product would enhance the stories. If something did get bumped like the Comstar book, it may just end up not being relevant again until the novels that focus on Comstar come back around or a novelist proposes using it. It would get replaced with more immediate and concurrent products.<br />So while that explains why Comstar didn’t exist – it doesn’t tell you how people may have remembered seeing a product.<br />My explanation is FASA was great at crafting adverts and teasers that would look like regular books. They used to create sneak peeks brochures that put the rest of the industry to shame: 8-16+ page brochures that would feature original fiction or short stories, full color art and even items you couldn’t get in the regular source material. These were coveted by stores and fans for hints of the future plot lines, new ’mechs to use and other cool stuff. I know I worked on many of these while I was there.<br />I’m going to assume this is what was seen in the stores. It would be the reason why you got an out of stock reference when you actually checked on the book for sale. FASA would not cancel the product, just say it was running late but it will be coming out. The stores would just list it as out of stock or unavailable.<br />To sum up there was only one Classic BattleTech Comstar book in 1992 (#1655) – why they changed the number from 1628 to 1655 I can only guess at: a) that FASA/stores/distribution probably had cleared the old number out of their systems b) it had been listed as permanently as OOS/Unavailable c) that the name of the book and the focus had changed enough that it would confuse 1992 level software systems d) they wanted it to fit with the currently released product numbers.<br />I hope this helps answer your question.<br />Have Fun!<br />Play Games!<br />Mike Mulvihill''}} The FASA product code 1628 was not taken for another product, and remains blank. (Around 1987 it is also said to have appeared in FASA catalogues for a miniatures set that may or may not have been what was released as product #1633, ''[[PlasTech]]''.) The FASA product code 1628 was not taken for another product, and remains blank. (Around 1987 it is also said to have appeared in FASA catalogues for a miniatures set that may or may not have been what was released as product #1633, ''[[PlasTech]]''.)
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Game designer [[Michael Mulvihill]] answered: | Game designer [[Michael Mulvihill]] answered: | ||
| − | {{quote|''My name is Mike Mulvihill and act partly as [[Jordan Weisman|Jordan]]’s historical reference man and game designer, having worked with him for 20+ years.<br />While I wasn’t at FASA during late 80’s. I was there just a bit later and could give you a bit of perspective.<br />I believe there was a Comstar book advertised in the late 80’s, as you have indicated by your research, that would have been in the format of the House books. It was never produced. There are three main reasons I can think for this:<br />1) There were 5 “core” sourcebooks produced in 1988. That was a huge undertaking for a company that at that time had 2 other games going strong ([[w:Renegade Legion|Renegade Legion]] & | + | {{quote|''My name is Mike Mulvihill and act partly as [[Jordan Weisman|Jordan]]’s historical reference man and game designer, having worked with him for 20+ years.<br />While I wasn’t at FASA during late 80’s. I was there just a bit later and could give you a bit of perspective.<br />I believe there was a Comstar book advertised in the late 80’s, as you have indicated by your research, that would have been in the format of the House books. It was never produced. There are three main reasons I can think for this:<br />1) There were 5 “core” sourcebooks produced in 1988. That was a huge undertaking for a company that at that time had 2 other games going strong ([[w:Renegade Legion|Renegade Legion]] & [[Star Trek]]). The ability to maintain that schedule is the reason why in the early days books appeared out of their numerical order (as you also noted, for instance 1627 appearing before 1622 and 1623). They would create a schedule and move things around as time permitted. Thus you would see an advert for a book that may not be out for a year or so – in other words the schedules we very malleable.<br />2) In 1989 a 4th game was added to the FASA schedule: [[Shadowrun]]. That is why the releases from 1989 consist of many less sourcebooks – the FASA team was spread too thin to maintain 6 “core” BT products and try to do a full RPG at the same time. In 1989 they only released 2 sourcebooks and a Tech Readout. In 1990 they only released 1 sourcebook and 1 Tech Readouts. As you can see that a spiral condition would occur as a book that missed its date may continue to slip – some for a long time – if a more current product replaced it.<br />3) BattleTech was unique in that it had a awesome timeline driven by the novels. The BattleTech team would gather twice a year for a summit to go over the novels and master plots for the year and what game product would enhance the stories. If something did get bumped like the Comstar book, it may just end up not being relevant again until the novels that focus on Comstar come back around or a novelist proposes using it. It would get replaced with more immediate and concurrent products.<br />So while that explains why Comstar didn’t exist – it doesn’t tell you how people may have remembered seeing a product.<br />My explanation is FASA was great at crafting adverts and teasers that would look like regular books. They used to create sneak peeks brochures that put the rest of the industry to shame: 8-16+ page brochures that would feature original fiction or short stories, full color art and even items you couldn’t get in the regular source material. These were coveted by stores and fans for hints of the future plot lines, new ’mechs to use and other cool stuff. I know I worked on many of these while I was there.<br />I’m going to assume this is what was seen in the stores. It would be the reason why you got an out of stock reference when you actually checked on the book for sale. FASA would not cancel the product, just say it was running late but it will be coming out. The stores would just list it as out of stock or unavailable.<br />To sum up there was only one Classic BattleTech Comstar book in 1992 (#1655) – why they changed the number from 1628 to 1655 I can only guess at: a) that FASA/stores/distribution probably had cleared the old number out of their systems b) it had been listed as permanently as OOS/Unavailable c) that the name of the book and the focus had changed enough that it would confuse 1992 level software systems d) they wanted it to fit with the currently released product numbers.<br />I hope this helps answer your question.<br />Have Fun!<br />Play Games!<br />Mike Mulvihill''}} |
The FASA product code 1628 was not taken for another product, and remains blank. (Around 1987 it is also said to have appeared in FASA catalogues for a miniatures set that may or may not have been what was released as product #1633, ''[[PlasTech]]''.) | The FASA product code 1628 was not taken for another product, and remains blank. (Around 1987 it is also said to have appeared in FASA catalogues for a miniatures set that may or may not have been what was released as product #1633, ''[[PlasTech]]''.) | ||