RANDOM THOUGHTS #74

Steve Cole recently answered a series of questions from a fan of the company and its games.

QUESTION: Any thoughts to ADB going into a new path?
ANSWER: We think about new ideas every day.

QUESTION: Maybe a WW1/2/3 naval system, as the SFB rules could be modified to work with such.
ANSWER: I doubt if it would sell, and don't have time to do the detailed historical research. However, Mongoose is doing a new bunch of naval miniatures and they did ask me if I would consider converting SFB to the battleships venue. Maybe.

QUESTION: Would you consider doing a Babylon 5 or Star Wars version of SFB?
ANSWER: Probably not. A license would cost a lot of money and I can barely get the products we have now done. Also, people who are fans of such genres have a tendency to expect their games to faithfully follow the knowledge base and I just don't know it. Tell you what, though, I'll happily license the SFB game engine to anyone who wants to do a Babylon 5 game or a Star Wars game or any other game, assuming you can show me you have the legal rights to do such a game. Such a deal would NOT include access to any SFU or Paramount material and would probably involve a game that is not transparently compatible.

QUESTION: Would you consider doing a new version of FASA's Centurion/Renegade Legion?
ANSWER: I do not know that system, have no clue how to get rights for it, and don't know that I'd have time. Frankly, I just have no interest in it as a designer and I have more things I do want to do than I can do.

QUESTION: Would you ever consider doing something entirely new?
ANSWER: We do entirely new SFU stuff all the time. As for outside of SFU, you'd have to show me something that would be as profitable. And again, I cannot get all of the SFU projects done that I want to do. (Marines, KRAG, PD Tholians, PD Gorns, PD Feline Empires, Klingon Invasion, the list goes on.)

QUESTION: (In the opinion of the fan asking the questions) BattleTech has gone downhill bad in the last 10 years, and a new mech type of game could be well received if it allowed people to use their miniatures.
ANSWER: Ya know, I've never played a mech game and have no idea how to they work. I bought one once, read the first 20 pages of the rules, and gave the game away. It was just too complicated. Ok, that sounds funny, the guy who did F&E and SFB saying BattleTech was too complex, but the point is that after spending all day writing rules for SFB, FC, and F&E, I really want a game about as complex as Munchkin for an evening of relaxation with friends.

QUESTION: I know it is a pretty small shop, which may have no desire to branch out or diffuse support for current products, I was just curious to know if there were any plans to create additional great products.
ANSWER: More great SFU products, yes. Moving off in random directions and other venues and genres, probably not. Doing a new SFU product starts with a ton of research already done. Starting a new game on say the Boer War or Battlestar Galactica would take a year or two of research before we could even start.

QUESTION: Has there been any work on getting Paramount to allow SFB to expand into the Next Generation timeline?
ANSWER: We have talked with them in the past, but their licensing system is not really workable for us and they really aren't that interested in seeing the SFU expand into TNG. Now, when they're ready to have me take over the management of Star Trek as a brand, I have scripts written for the first ten episodes of Prime Directive.