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David Ladyman

Jump Point Editor and Manual Writer

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I can't help but notice that behind you there's an advertisement for Star Traders. What is that?

TL;DRLadyman explains the ad is for Star Traders, a board game he's about to Kickstarter, which resembles Star Citizen only unintentionally, as it was originally developed about 30 years ago.

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

It's there for a reason. In addition to all the stuff that we're doing with Cloud Imperium and Jump Point and so forth, I'm about to actually kickstart a board game. And it has similarities to Star Citizen. They are unintentional. The original version of this game was developed almost 30 years ago. But it's called Star Traders. And in the game, I just happen to have a board handy. In the game, you travel from world to world, you pick up cargoes at, perhaps at Wells, you pick up time machines, you deliver it to Willis, you might pick up positronic robots on Asimov, deliver them to Bradbury, or you might go to Endor and pick up some snuggly fur belts and deliver those to Adams. But you go from world to world, you have contracts that you use to pick up and deliver things. For example, McDevitt there has stellar antiquities. And when you do it, you get paid in Starbucks. And the best of all, you get to use the little ships that we used in the economy game. This is how I happen to know about them. You get to use the little ships to go from world to world. But that's Star Traders. And as you say, there happens to be a location where you can sign up. We'll be kickstarting it in about a month to two months. If you're interested, go ahead and check us out.

Ben LesnickDirector of Community Engagement

As David said, this is a game he worked on many years ago, and they're bringing it back, along with the help of another one of the members of our family, Ryan Archer. And it's not Star Citizen, but check it out when it hits anyway. I got to sit down and play a demo game with you guys when we were in Austin and I had a lot of fun.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016

What is the goal of the game [Star Traders]?

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

The goal of the game is to earn money, to gather prestige, to convince the Emperor that you are the one worthy to be the Star Czar in charge of all shipping and merchandise throughout the Galactic Empire.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016
EpisodeLore

Who is David?

TL;DRLadyman describes a career in tabletop and game publishing, including Car Wars, GURPS, Origin Systems' Wing Commander material, MMO game guides, and now Jump Points and manuals for Cloud Imperium.

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Well, I'm sitting here. I got into gaming back in the early 80s with Steve Jackson Games. I worked on Car Wars. I worked on GURPS. I was the guru for those two systems for a little while. We did Star Traders at that time. After that, I worked with FASA on Renegade Legion and MechWarrior. I did some D&D work for TSR. And then I started with Origin Systems just after Wing Commander 1 released, but I was, is it Secret Missions 1, and what were the add-ons to Wing Commander 1?

Ben LesnickDirector of Community Engagement

I think you start with 2.

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Secret Missions 1 and 2. And everything from there on out, including the Wing Commander movie. We did the Wing Commander movie book for that product. And after that, we did game guides for EverQuest, EverQuest 2, Asheron's Call, Dark Age of Camelot, Star Wars Galaxies. And then most recently I've been doing the Jump Points, the manuals, the brochures for Cloud Imperium.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016
EpisodeCommunity & events

Will David create manuals for the Squadron 42 games? Manuals or game guides?asked by Davian

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Well, you know the answer better than I, Ben. I don't know that we'll be doing any game guides, and the manuals are being decided on that end. But I would be happy to do them.

Ben LesnickDirector of Community Engagement

Yes to the manuals. Game guides usually are contracted through some outside publisher. We'll see if anybody wants to do one. And if they come to us, we'll point them at David.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016

What was your favorite game manual that you worked on?

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Oh, my. Possibly Ultima 9, which isn't Wing Commander. I should say Wing Commander, shouldn't I? Ultima 9 was the climactic episode, nine of a game that went nine long. And we did several interesting things to bring that whole series to a climax. And that was fun. Other than that, Wing Commander was, I think, Wing Commander Armada. I got to write, I'm left-handed, I got to write with my right hand a note from a four-year-old to her daddy about why is he killing the kitties? Because kitties are nice.

Ben LesnickDirector of Community Engagement

That manual is called Voices of War. The PDF is available online. It is fantastic.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016
EpisodeCommunity & events

What age is Star Traders made for? Can I play this game with my 8 and 12 year old?

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Actually, Star Traders has five levels of play. The lowest level is for seven years and up. The next level is 10 years and up, then about 13 and up. And then there's a really cutthroat game that I wouldn't recommend many families try. But there's actually five different games and the simplest can be played by kids who can read simple words.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016
EpisodeCommunity & events

Are there any plans, or would you consider, an online version of Star Traders at some point?

David LadymanJump Point Editor and Manual Writer

Two answers. One, maybe. This first one has to be successful, so everybody go to traderslock.com and sign up for the Kickstarter. That's one answer. The other answer is there is actually someone who owns the trademark for the electronic game Star Traders, which is an RPG game. It's like an MMO or something like that. So we'd have to name it something different if we went online with it.

Reverse the Verse›January 8th, 2016·
Published on this date.10 Jan 2016

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