This may be old new to y'all, but it's pretty new to me. I also don't know how many of you play pen & paper RPGs, but I do, and so this sounds good. A setting book for SMAC is coming out for GURPS (a rather realistic, almost painfully so, generic RPG system), and well, here's the capsule description of what they want, straight from their wishlist (they have the rights and so on, and just need a writer, though, apparently, they now have one):
"GURPS Alpha Centauri
NOTE: We think we have this title under control and we may be removing it soon. Queries are still welcome, but are likely to be rejected at this stage.
Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri, from Electronic Arts, is an innovative strategy game which tells the story of humanity's colonization of Planet, a world in the Alpha Centauri A system. GURPS Alpha Centauri will be a worldbook based on Alpha Centauri's storyline and setting. It will cover Planet's indigenous life forms, terrain, and landmarks in detail, and will discuss a number of unique topics vital to Alpha Centauri's plot, such as planetary consciousness and Transcendence. It will also tell the story of Planet's settlement by humanity, profile the major human political factions and their leaders, and catalog the technologies, social systems, and secret projects developed by the colonists. This material will be accompanied by notes on characters (explorers, pioneers, scientists, soldiers, spies, etc.) and advice on campaigns with themes such as commerce, exploration, military conquest, political intrigue, preservationism, and the quest for Transcendence. In the spirit of the Alpha Centauri strategy game, which is different every time it is played, this book will enable the GM render a customized version of Planet – with the GM's choice of timeline, factions, and technologies – rather than offer a single, monolithic view of the setting. 128 pages.
Other Notes: The writer must be both an Alpha Centauri player and intimately familiar with GURPS. Since the writer will have to produce a faithful adaptation of existing material on a short deadline, we are only considering previously published writers for this title. Please attach your publication list to your query letter."
The address is:
http://www.sjgames.com/general/author/wish.html
Well, it sounds interesting to me, and may be interesting to some of you writing SMAC fiction or the like...
------------------
"You're standing on my neck."
