Werefox Petain
Welcome back! It has been a little over two weeks since our last update. I hope you had a Merry Christmas and a good New Year celebration.I have decided to give the response to Pink's blog posts on BattleTech a rest. We've both made our points.
Here is what has developed:
- Paul Skowronek – Our final writeup editor has been hard at work. I have paid him up to date and should be sending another $21 this Friday. We are making good progress… he is now working on the Federated Commonwealth vehicles.
- The HMV and HMAero PDF files are languishing… I am going to work on them this week and hopefully have them all done by this next Friday.
- Stephen Huda has completed two Federated Commonwealth vehicles – the Werefox Petain and the Werefox AAV (anti-aircraft vehicle). See the header image above for the Petain – below is the AAV. Excellent work, as always.
Werefox AAV
- Eric Ou has completed the Draconis Combine’s Tomahawk and Revenant. See below.
Revenant
Tomahawk- Okay, and now for the part everyone has been waiting for....
Bill and I have been working independently for about the past two months. Friday night I got a chance to set with him for several hours and we worked on the TRO prototype.
I think we made significant progress – though some pages (such as the credits) are not there and will not be until the final version, the whole thing is beginning to shape up. We now have the entire Draconis Combine ‘Mech section in place.
In fact, we are advanced far enough that I am going to solicit reader feedback on this one.
Don’t hesitate to point stuff out – misspelled words, data out of place, canon or continuity issues, art, etc. I need to have as many eyeballs as possible looking at the layout, the text and the art. I don’t care if it is a matter of taste or you spot a hyphen where there should not be one – I will take it on board.
One thing – I have already spotted the model numbering errors in the Isometrus writeup between the Marik version and the Lyran version, so no need to point it out.
A word of caution: I have linked to this and downloaded the PDF using ‘save page as’. About half the time, I get a useful PDF. The rest of the time, what is downloaded is wonky and Acrobat will not open it.
[However, this is while using Google Chrome as a browser. A working version is easy to download if you use the latest Firefox.]
If you still cannot download a working version from the site link above no matter how you try, email me and I will shoot you a copy – it is lo-rez and only about 6.5 megs.
Thank you and welcome to the ranks of the proofreaders… and no, I’m not paying anyone (except Paul). I cannot afford to. But if you find some serious errors, I will add your name to the credits page. Howzat?
Thanks for stopping by.
Steve
20 comments:
Hey, my posts weren't meant to weqar you out, or even challenge you in particular, they are me thinking out loud.
Anyway, hope you had a nice one, and catch you on the bounce.
Thanks for the well-wishes. I just figured the ideas had had their thrashing and airing. More and folks would have had a hard time following the thread.
You weren't weqaring me out, just thought it was time to move to something fresh.
Weqar is a new clan word for wearing someone out with questions and answers. ;-)
x x x
Looking at that PDF the White Knight's shading really stands out. It doesn't look bad though I wonder how the background would fit in without as much shading in it.
Far as the actual PDF goes though I did notice the weight class sticker on the left and right pages (bottom center) is at a different height on each page...least it looks like it is. Set guides and snap would fix that unless that's what you wanted it to do of course. I might suggest a thin black border on the "TRO 3066" or doing something to bring it more contrast, as is it looks great on left pages but on the right it just seems more subdued. Readable, it just seems different is all. Keep it up man!
For a prototype it looks pretty well put together. The art quality for the mechs is definitely on par with Catalyst themselves. I'm looking forward to the production model.
My one comment? The entries should be in a clearer font, I'd say Caldabri or Arial.
I've taken a quick glance at the first couple of pages:
The Kurita intro features the phrase `Quad heavy `Mech
I think it should be
Quad heavy `Mech or quad heavy `Mech
Half of the headings on the Sentinal's page are not bolded. There are several instances in the Trebuchet's description where Trebuchet is not italicised.
That's worn me out for the moment :)
Hey, everyone. I am capturing your comments and saving them to a Word document. When enough have come in, I will print the document, roll it tightly and use it to light my cigar.
No, seriously, I will make the changes necessary to correct the errors. Most of them - spelling, italics, boldface, font - are a matter of proofing the text once it has been installed. That has not been done yet, but keep looking!
Many thanks,
Steve
On the Trebuchet, you have the LRM 15 w/Artemis listed at 7 tons using 3 criticals when an LRM 15 w/Artemis is 8 tons and uses 4 criticals.
Fantastic work on all of this by the way.
On the Scorpion, 2 ER Medium Lasers in the CT should be 2 tons and 2 criticals.
On the Isometrus, the MG ammo says 2 criticals when it should only be 1.
I like the design of the new TRO. I found the font a little hard to read, but it wasn't impossible. That's really been my only complaint so far. The layout itself is solid. I also like the idea that the mechs are going to be laid out according to faction. It's always nice to know where my mercenary army is going to need to steal their new mechs from. ;-)
Hey, it's me again! I really appreciate the extra eyes. Some of the stuff - bolding, checking to make sure the crits are correct, comments on the placement of certain things, and especially the comments on the writeups themselves - are particularly useful and I want to thank you very much for taking the time to sniff them out.
A lot of the stuff cannot just be dumped in and justified. We have to enter it by hand and format it, so yes, we are going to make errors as our eyes begin to cross on the tenth 'Mech of the evening.
That said, I have already taken the writeup suggestions for action, incorporating them into the base writeup and making a list of things to change or fix as we go along. Some of it is specific to an entry, others are going to be implemented across the board for future entries.
There are 107 entries in all, so please stay tuned. We are going to get to the 'across the board' stuff as soon as I can get over to Bill's house, and make a master sheet so we don't forget to check each entry.
I have been debating setting up a forum for this phase of the project. I don't think anyone at BattleTech Universe will mind if I start a thread there - the official Catalyst Games site might be another kettle of fish. I will announce my decision when issuing the next stage of the prototype in a week or so.
Keep up the good work!
Sincerely,
Steve
On the Isometrus, the armor tonnage is written as 14.5 tons. 5 tons of ferro-fibrous would max it out and go over by a few points.
Yes, I see it. What happened was this:
On the original information, there was a stat for crits and a stat for tonnage. 14 crits, 5 tons.
When Bill dumped it in there, he raced through a little too fast and mashed the two together. I know this is so simply because there is no way a 25 ton 'Mech could carry fourteen tons of armor.
We will fix it - your correction has been added to my database.
Thank you!
Steve
(As I'm at work and can't log into my usual gmail account, I'm posting using my website instead.) I haven't much chance to do the nit picking of the new TRO, but in my cursory scan I have to say, I like it. The fact that it's divided up by faction is a great idea. The art is also amazing, as we have been able to see prior to this. It's actually better looking than some of the newer TROs (the Experimental ones) put out by Catalyst, IMO.
Fantastic Project!
English isn'nt my native language so please bear with me ;)
I've looked over the data sections and found the following errors:
Sentinel:
The picture shows two lasers in its right torso but the data showes one in each side torso. The engine has to be 11.5 tons instead of 7.
Trebuchet:
LRM-15 w/Artemis should have 4 crits and 8 tons. It shows ferro fibrous armor but has only allocated points for standard armor.
Daimyo:
Data shows ferro fibrous armor but standard armor would be enough for the amount of armor points.
Privateer:
Two MRM-10 should be 6 tons instead of 8. Jump jets are allocated asymmetrically (two in center torso and one in right torso.
Scorpion II:
Two ER medium laser should be two crits and tons.
Isometrus:
Under Capabilities a 200 rated engine is mentioned instead of a 175. Armor should be 5 tons ferro fibrous. Data shows 16 double heat sinks instead of 10.
Greetings from Germany ;)
Rudel, I have added those to the list and am adding another check to the Master List - "compare writeup to art and make sure they match!"
Thanks and good catch!
Steve
Whats the scoop with Huda redoing the Whiteknight into 3-d?
TRO Prototype is looking great! Let me know if you need any more assistance. :)
Capt K
TRO 3063 is looking great! I've been following your progress...very impressive. This will be, without a doubt, the finest fan made TRO, or fan producted even Battletech print product, to-date. Good work. I look forward to the finished book.
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