Christmas bonus time, and I'm finally going to act on my pledge to pick up one of these.  I've heard too much good about them to ignore them, and Mr. Bowley is obviously committed to providing a superior product for his customers.

Problem is, I don't know which I want more.  My preference for one or the other based on what I've read shifts back and forth from day to day.  So I turn to you folks.

Pros or cons to each?  How developed is the SC2 setting?  Does one have an advantage over the other with regard to rules?  etc.  I'd like to hear your experiences with either game, good and bad.

(I know I could get them on pdf for cheap, but I like printed material, and a pdf would just sit on my HD, unread for the most part.)

Check out my review of Cold Space, fresh brand spanking new off the presses:

http://www.xanga.com/RPGpundit

The summary: CS gives me wood.

RPGPundit

Quote from: KenHRChristmas bonus time, and I'm finally going to act on my pledge to pick up one of these.  I've heard too much good about them to ignore them, and Mr. Bowley is obviously committed to providing a superior product for his customers.

Problem is, I don't know which I want more.  My preference for one or the other based on what I've read shifts back and forth from day to day.  So I turn to you folks.

Well, I'll do what I can to help you out. The settings and the technology are very different. Cold Space is a very hard alternate history SF. Except for the FTL/Antigravity device - the Solothurn Drive, which is based on an almost unknown physics theory - the science is appropriate for the time period, with the most powerful energy source being atomic reactors. StarCluster is very much higher tech, requiring reveral fundamental discoveries and their exploitation. You have morphing, thought controlled active materials, extensive and practically unlimited bio-engineering, matter-antimatter power, and the like.

In Cold Space there is only one alien race, the hominids of Tau Ceti, who are somewhere between gorillas or chimps and humans. In StarCluster, there are many advanced aliens, roughly on a par with humanity. The science is as real as we could make it, but isn't as hard as Cold Space.

Cold Space is set in the infancy of space travel. In StarCluster, humans first got to the Cluster 500 years ago.

StarCluster has PSI, and Cold Space has LUCK.

Quote from: KenHRPros or cons to each?  How developed is the SC2 setting?

The SC setting is far more developed in some ways, but huge areas are no more than a set of stats. There are a lot of supplements available - separately in pdf, or collected as the Big Book o' Tech and the Big Book o' Social Stuff in print.

The Oikumene of Cold Space is less developed, but most everything is mapped for you. There is FTL Now, which is a separate game - a sequel to Cold Space set immediately after the Cold Space period, from 1990-2006 - and the Cold Space Vehicle Design Guide. We will be releasing more stuff, but Cold Space is a new setting compared to StarCluster.  

Quote from: KenHRDoes one have an advantage over the other with regard to rules?  etc.

StarCluster 2 was a refinement of the original StarCluster, and was published long before Cold Space. CS is a refinement of the same rules as SC 2. We refer to the CS system as StarCluster 2.4, and FTL Now and In Harm's Way as StarCluster 2.5 system-wise. I think Cold Space is a better system, but the difference isn't glaring.

Hope that helps!

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceHope that helps!

It did.  Between your info and Pundit's review, I'm going with Cold Space.

It'll be a perfect fit with my other present to myself: a brand-spankin new copy of GMT's Twilight Struggle.

[D'oh, and I see DevP had a similar thread down lower that I'd missed!]

Cool! Let me know if you get a game going! I love gaming stories.

-clash

Quote from: flyingmiceCool! Let me know if you get a game going! I love gaming stories.

-clash

Definitely will.  I put my order in today; should be here before Christmas!

I forgot to mention this - there are a few StarCluster supplements which work very well with Cold Space:

Guide to Martial Arts: This one works without any problems in Cold Space. All the Martial Arts Styles are currently existing.

Weapon Design Guide: This one works if you don't use the higher tech weapons as bases. The WDG gives a process of modifying stock weapons by trading off one quality for another.

Vehicle Design Guide: There is a Cold Space VDG, but the SC2 VDG is very different in concept. Like the SC2 Weapons DG, the CS VDG lets you modify stock vehicles. The SC2 VDG is a more traditional build 'em from the ground up process. What you can do is create your own stock vehicles for modifying in the CS VDG. Just stick to Tech Level 7 and lower components.

Guide to Duelling: While technically usable without change, the Duelling Guide is only practical in a society that condones duelling. Possibly the micro-colony settled by the SCA in FTL Now would qualify...

Robot Design Guide: This works if you stick to the primitive Tech Level 7 robots. This would be best for the post-Cold Space era of FTL Now and beyond.

Good luck!

-clash

Believe me, if the game is half as good as everyone says it is, I'm sure I'll be picking up a few of these!

Got it yesterday...same day I got the shipping notification!

Looks awesome so far; love the song lyrics.

Awesome, Ken! Let us know what you're doing with it! The song lyrics were a bit of a lark - some folks liked them, others ignored them. I hope they help get the feel across.

-clash