Author Topic: A Proposal From Steven J York  (Read 3685 times)

Offline Arklon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« on: June 16, 2009, 10:03:28 AM »
I sent him an email last night asking him some questions about the OP2 story, and got them answered as well as this included.
Oh, and don't just reply with "go for it", you'll see he asks for more details if you actually read. :P

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Actually, now that I've answered your questions, perhaps you (and any other Outpost fans you might be in touch with) could help me with one of my own.
 
Many of my writer friends are experimenting with various ways of making additional income off of writing we have in our inventories, either unpublished, or previously published for which we retain rights, that otherwise is doing nothing for us.  For example, Michael Stackpole (best known for his work in the Battletech/Mechwarrior universe, where I've also done some work) has been a pioneer in self-marketing work through Amazon's Kindle, and makes some small but significant side-income from his electronically published works.
 
As an experiment, I've been considering putting out an ebook or two of my own to see how it goes.  Looking at my inventory of work, there are several possible ways I can go, but one significant piece of work that is currently doing nothing for me financially is the Outpost 2 stuff.  I don't own the universe, but my contract DOES give me the right to resell those novellas.
 
Obviously, the novellas are all over the net for free for those who look around, and anyone who owns a copy of the game already has it as well.  But free, on-line availability hasn't stopped other work from selling, and I'm thinking of putting together a package that would enhance the original work, adding at the very least, a new introduction, some back-story on my work on the game, and possibly a new essay or two about aspects of Outpost 2.  Unfortunately, I don't have the rights to create new Outpost 2 fiction, but I might also consider adding fiction that dovetails the subject matter and themes of Outpost 2, either previously printed stories from my inventory, or maybe even a totally original story written just for the book.
 
Likely it would initially it would be offered through the Kindle Store for Kindle or the iPhone.  If it seemed to be worth the trouble, I might migrate it to other electronic reader formats, or even make it available in a print-on-demand paper edition.  My suspicion is I'd try to keep the price for the Kindle edition low, maybe $2-6 depending on the amount of original content.
 
What I'd like to know from you (and any other Outpost fans you might be in contact with out there) is, do you like this idea?
 
Is there anything about it that would entice you to shell out at least a few bucks a copy to see it happen?
 
Do you think this might interest people who may know me from other work, or science fiction fans in general, who AREN'T familiar with Outpost 2?  (I'd love to be proved wrong, but I doubt there are enough Outpost 2 fans left at this late date to support this on its own.)
 
How much original material would it take to interest you in PAYING for such a work?  10%  20%  30%  40%  50%
 
What would interest you more as added material: essays, fiction (which would necessarily be NON-Outpost, since I don't have the rights), or a mixture of both?
 
Would you prefer essays that are about the history and making of my work on Outpost 2, on the general themes of OP2 (space colonization, artificial intelligence, etc.), or a mixture of both?

Offline Arklon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #1 on: June 16, 2009, 10:09:39 AM »
And if you're wondering about the questions and answers:
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Me
1) Vulcan's Hammer was described as having one billion megatons worth of destructive power. This is equivalent to the asteroid that wiped out the dinosaurs. However, we had stasis/suspended animation technology, as well as other things such as cool fusion which could be enough to power said stasis chambers. The asteroid would more or less block out the sun for several months to a year, thus wiping out all surface life, but what would stop mankind from filling bunkers with stasis chambers (if that would even be necessary), go into suspended animation, and then emerge after the dust settles within a year later? Food wouldn't be a problem, as the colonists who left with the Conestoga were equipped to feed themselves on a world that can't sustain life. This would make the need to build a starship and evacuate off-planet not exist. Or would other factors, perhaps another destructive world war just prior to the incident, prevent this from happening?
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Him
1.  I've got no idea where that "billion megatons" number came from.  I suspect it was already part of the Dynamix background materials for the game when I came on board.  At the point I came in, the "abandon Earth" scenario was already a given, and something of a standard sf-trope, so I don't think I gave a lot of thought to it.  Obviously, in the context of the official material, we don't KNOW why they decided to do what they did.  If I questioned it at all, I suspect I was more curious why they didn't try to colonize elsewhere in the solar system.  New Terra seems rather Mars like in many ways, and Mars is a lot closer.
 
The REAL answer is, that was the premise of the Original Outpost, and this was a quasi-sequel.  I didn't come up with the scenario, and just ran with what we had.
 
But in a fictional sense, I can think of a couple of ways I could justify it.
 
A. Geological: Possibly the problems on earth are larger than the initial blast.  If the crust were cracked enough to start a "super-volcano" (there is scientific precedent for this, and it's an alternate theory of dinosaur extinction), it might render the Earth unsurvivable for hundreds or thousands of years, not decades.
 
B. Astronomical:  The earth or the moon's orbit might be rendered unstable by the impact.  This is stretching a bit, but recent mathematical projections show that the orbits of the inner planets are potentially unstable to the point where Earth could (over millions of years) potentially collide with Mars or Venus, just by letting the solar system run undisturbed.  With a bit of a stretch, one could imagine a major impact causing the Earth to shift orbit in a way that would render it uninhabitable over the long term.
 
Another idea is that a secondary impact on the Moon (heck, maybe that's the big impact, and Earth is a secondary one!) could kick huge quantities of rock into earth space, rendering the Earth/moon system a dangerous place to navigate, much less to live.  Maybe it could even kick enough rock out as far as Mar's orbit to cause issues there as well.
 
C. Opportunistic: Building a starship is a huge, huge, undertaking (I was frankly bothered by the fact that our colonist might be able to build ANOTHER such ship, especially in the harsh, on-the-run conditions they were operating in, but that was the set premise of the game).  We've got to assume that a lot of the work may have already been underway.  Maybe our  guys only finished or modified work in progress to create their colony expedition.  Maybe they had reason to think they were going to find a convenient Earth-like planet waiting for them, and the science was bad, forcing them to New Terra as a last resort.
 
Or it could be some combination of the above.  Or maybe it's something more human-scale: a religious or philosophical movement that sees colonization as human destiny, and possibly sees the impact as a "message" from some higher power, or at least a blessing of fate.
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Me
2) At the end of the Plymouth novella, Frost launches herself (itself) to the surface to join with the Blight... but there's a problem. The Blight needs "food" to break down to stay alive and grow. It's been very, very rapidly depleting its source of food, and it wouldn't take long before it would starve and die out. Yet, Frost, a highly advanced artificial intelligence, still saw combining with the Blight as a good idea. How do you think she/it would deal with this problem?
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Him
2.  Good point.  But one has to assume that Frost would eventually give the Blight some sort of intelligence and self-awareness, and some sort of ability to alter its own nature.  It might eventually produce plant-like-masses to act as solar collectors, or tap into the planet's core for geothermal heat.  In that scenario, the blight (the word no longer really seems applicable) is a new life-form, with its own capability for evolution.  Once the entire planet surface is "consumed," the energy needed for rapid growth would no longer be needed, so it might naturally drop to a lower metabolic state while it evolved and transformed.
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Me
3) If you were to write a continuation of the Outpost story, what direction would you go in? Or, going back to the possibility of survivors on Earth, would you rather take a look at what's happening with them rather than follow the Phoenix Voyager?
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Him
3.  I haven't done a lot of thought about this.  One idea would be to have a colony-against-colony scenario again, but combined with a first-contact story, where rival colonies compete to territory/alienform the subject planet.  Another idea that could tie into a variety of scenarios is an extension of the Plymouth scenario in OP2.  The blight/Frost entity evolves into something with the capability and the reason to follow after humanity.  But as friend, or foe, or a little bit of both?  Lots of ways that could go.

Offline Spikerocks101

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #2 on: June 16, 2009, 10:30:45 AM »
Arklon, what made you just ask him that? Have you talked to him before? Any ways, I don't really like E-Books persay, but i still might buy it. Did you tell him there only like a hand full of fans left :P
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Offline Sirbomber

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #3 on: June 16, 2009, 10:37:16 AM »
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C. Opportunistic: Building a starship is a huge, huge, undertaking (I was frankly bothered by the fact that our colonist might be able to build ANOTHER such ship, especially in the harsh, on-the-run conditions they were operating in, but that was the set premise of the game).
Well, they had to level nineteen cities first.  Duh.  :P

Anyways, I'd be interested in his take on some of the stuff going on in OP2, but not in semi-related non-OP2 fiction.  I guess I'd like to see essays/commentaries/whatever.
"As usual, colonist opinion is split between those who think the plague is a good idea, and those who are dying from it." - Outpost Evening Star

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Offline Drakmar

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #4 on: June 16, 2009, 11:27:59 AM »
I'd be interested as well. I loved the novellas included with the game, and I'd definitely love to see some more outgrowth of that from the man who thought it all up.

Essays and commentaries would be great as well.

As good as the original story was, I can only image where he could take this. I'd buy it, as well as any commentary or essay he writes about the original story. The OP2 story/essay/outgrowth anyway.

Any non-OP2 story would have to have a premise that would intrigue me enough to read it, like any book I've ever gotten. If the story sounds good, I'll get it.

I hope Steven goes with it! I'd love to see what he comes up with! Hell, I'd even do cover-art for him! lol.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 11:28:16 AM by Drakmar »

Offline Kayedon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #5 on: June 16, 2009, 12:57:36 PM »
I'd be happy to buy a copy, even electronically, so long as it included something, anything, extra. Essays, documentaries, the source code to OP2... you get the picture. Anything that expands on the writing process, provides a little backstory, etc. Hell, everything. :P
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Offline Betaray

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #6 on: June 16, 2009, 09:11:19 PM »
HaHa, thanks for asking my questions arklon, pretty awesome to see his answers.

Kinda funny seeing that the direction I would take the blight, would be the same that York would.
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Offline Kayedon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #7 on: June 16, 2009, 09:46:07 PM »
Oh hey here's an idea. Have him register here. <3
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Offline Sirbomber

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #8 on: June 16, 2009, 10:02:37 PM »
No, he thinks we're still nice people.  Let's not change that.  :P  
"As usual, colonist opinion is split between those who think the plague is a good idea, and those who are dying from it." - Outpost Evening Star

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Offline Arklon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #9 on: June 16, 2009, 10:12:51 PM »
Seriously now, we all need to answer his questions (with realistic responses) so I know what to tell him.
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What I'd like to know from you (and any other Outpost fans you might be in contact with out there) is, do you like this idea?

Is there anything about it that would entice you to shell out at least a few bucks a copy to see it happen?

Do you think this might interest people who may know me from other work, or science fiction fans in general, who AREN'T familiar with Outpost 2?  (I'd love to be proved wrong, but I doubt there are enough Outpost 2 fans left at this late date to support this on its own.)

How much original material would it take to interest you in PAYING for such a work?  10%  20%  30%  40%  50%

What would interest you more as added material: essays, fiction (which would necessarily be NON-Outpost, since I don't have the rights), or a mixture of both?

Would you prefer essays that are about the history and making of my work on Outpost 2, on the general themes of OP2 (space colonization, artificial intelligence, etc.), or a mixture of both?
He says this would go for ~$2-$6 depending on how much new content he adds, which depends on what we ask for.
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My suspicion is I'd try to keep the price for the Kindle edition low, maybe $2-6 depending on the amount of original content.
« Last Edit: June 16, 2009, 10:15:40 PM by Arklon »

Offline Kayedon

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #10 on: June 16, 2009, 10:19:55 PM »
What I'd like to know from you (and any other Outpost fans you might be in contact with out there) is, do you like this idea?

I'd love it.

Is there anything about it that would entice you to shell out at least a few bucks a copy to see it happen?

Yup. More info.

Do you think this might interest people who may know me from other work, or science fiction fans in general, who AREN'T familiar with Outpost 2?  (I'd love to be proved wrong, but I doubt there are enough Outpost 2 fans left at this late date to support this on its own.)

I think it may interest people. And there are plenty of fans left!

How much original material would it take to interest you in PAYING for such a work?  10%  20%  30%  40%  50%

Any percentage.

What would interest you more as added material: essays, fiction (which would necessarily be NON-Outpost, since I don't have the rights), or a mixture of both?

Mixture of both.

Would you prefer essays that are about the history and making of my work on Outpost 2, on the general themes of OP2 (space colonization, artificial intelligence, etc.), or a mixture of both?

Mixture of both.
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Offline Hooman

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A Proposal From Steven J York
« Reply #11 on: June 17, 2009, 02:39:05 AM »
I wouldn't mind some essays about the history and the making of his work on Outpost 2. I imagine a lot of people here have an interest in game development, and any stories or insight into that world would be of interest to them. Granted, I imagine it would be a bit much to expect details on the programming side of things, which is probably my biggest interest. But the art is also a very important part of that game that shouldn't be overlooked. There's a lot of people that want to program a game, but know nothing about writing the background story or general plot (or how to make many any of the other forms of art that go into a game). I guess, tell what he knows about best, and perhaps a few details on what was going on elsewhere if at all possible.

And who knows, maybe he's bumped into a few of the programmers from time to time, and has some funny stories to tell. After all, with the average social skills of most programmers, I'm sure there's plenty of opportunity here.  :P


I also wouldn't mind a bit of similarly themed stories to Outpost. Perhaps similar works that inspired bits of the story, or works which may have been inspired by the story. Or just generally cool stories with reasonably similar themes. I have to admit, I'm not exactly familiar with his other work, so it might be interesting to read other stories he's written.

Also, I've generally enjoyed the theme of Outpost more so than perhaps the exact story. After all, some of those questions Arklon asked seemed pretty big and fundamental. I understand he was working within a framework. I'm sort of curious as to what would be produced if he didn't have to work within that framework, but still kept the general mood. I took particular interest in his point about "colonization as human destiny". I've found myself wondering, what if Mars had already been colonized, and this was the next phase being the first ship out of the solar system. Only, nobody knew about the meteor until after the ship was launched. Sure, there might be some survivors left on Mars, but if they're just a fledgling colony they're not exactly able to send anyone or anything to help you with your troubles. They'd be worried about their own survival. At best, they'd be someone to talk to over some communications link, perhaps telling you the news of what happened to earth while you were in transit, or shortly after arriving. It'd have the same basic feel of "you are alone on an unforgiving planet", along with "you are the some of the last of your species". I would certainly enjoy a story with that mood, and it would get around the near planet colonization issue. Btw, how much of a difference in the story would it take to be considered non-Outpost?  :unsure:


As for themes, I prefer space colonization over artificial intelligence. Being a programmer, I tend to be too picky about artificial intelligence stories. (Yet, I've never found myself complaining about the sound effects during the latest battle scene in Star Trek, despite the lack of a sound conducting medium.) Plus artificial intelligence stories don't tend to have as much variety as some adventure into the great unknown. :)

Btw, speaking of picky programmers and A.I. stories, I had a prof talking about a showing of 2001: A Space Odyssey with some students, when one of them got up to point out that HAL's memory banks were numbered starting from 1, instead of 0. Tisk, Tisk. (At least I think that was the movie. I heard the story a long time ago. I personally have only ever seen 2010, and that was way too long ago to really remember any of it).