Post originally by William A. Peterson at 2005-03-21 19:16:36
Converted from Phorums BB System

Hello, Colin...
I haven't seen anything about your game, other than this review, but I can tell you a little bit about 'Star Drive'...
which I consider to be one of the best dang 'toyboxes' to play in since Mr. Lucas thought up the 'Star Wars' universe!

Sadly, the rules to Alternity were horrid, so I never got to play in it...
but they did release a large number of Novels set in the Star Drive setting, most of which were quite good!

It, too, is a game about a 'rebuilding', though there are differences...
They have more different cultures, but fewer races, than in your game. Humans in Star Drive are still Top Dog, but they are broken up into a lot more cultures, some corporate, some theocratic, and some political...
Tech is a little more uniform, though a tad higher than in 'Star Wars'.
'Mindwalkers', and mutants exist, but they're a small part of the action.
There is an overarching enemy to all the races presented, that is quite scary, but you can almost completely ignore them, if you'd like...
The races they do provide are, in my opinion, wonderfully well detailed. If you're at all familiar with TSR's old 'Star Frontiers', these have that much inventiveness and detail, without duplicating them in the slightest!
The technology behind the 'Star Drive' itself, was quite interesting, as each 'jump' lasts a fixed amount of time, whether you go to the maximum range your drive will permit, or just stay in place!

The map really, really has to go, though, as it doesn't support the game world, at all!

I really like the notion that it took both the Humans, and the Fraal, working together, to build the first Star Drives, and I've never been much on ages-old Galactic Empires...
Your game DOES sound like it's got a different take on that angle, but most games just bungle it horribly!

Like your game, there was an effort, in the setting material, to give Diplomats and Rogues their place to play, and not to make it just another 'Gunbunnies in Space' game...

Now, if only they had given it a decent set of rules, and not printed the text on fields ot tan, aqua, and other shades that made reading impossible... {Sigh!}

I hope this helps, and good luck with your game!