On this episode, we discuss the pros and cons of softcopy (PDF) sourcebooks:

http://www.dumpshock.com/podcasts/shadowca...june28_2005.mp3

Feel free to discuss (and doubtlessly critique) here.

Good job, Spooky.

Very nice, and not what I expected you guys to sound like.

For some reason I was expecting Oscar the Grouch and Bert.

I carefully listening to this one more time. When you explained the pros and cons of pdf-s you didn't mentioned one important tihng - pdf's price is equal in whole world. With paper books, the problem is price of shipping (I know about Poland and heard same problem had erman fans) . That's big advantage of pdfs (I hope I can afford SoA pdf).

And if that's not secret - when episode 2?
And what'll be matter of discussion?

The discussion was mildly interesting and overall it was fairly well done.

However, what happened to the idea of doing a shadowrun play of sorts in the Shadowcast? Is that still in the plans for the future? Or have you decided to just have more discussions such as this in other episodes?

I seem to remember thinking "Man, they totally forgot to mention X when they talked about the PDFs" when I listened to it for the first time, but I'll be damned if I can remember it now.

No, something else entirely.

Oh, one thing that I did think of, but wasn't that thing: I'm not sure how Acrobat/Adobe Reader functions in the current version, but in at least version 6 and 7 of the full version of Acrobat, you can search within multiple files at the same time without having to use Google Desktop or Spotlight.

mattness pl and Adam

We'll be sure to bring these points up in the Errata section of our next show.

As for when our next show will be, dunno. Kage and I are working on our schedule as we speak. I'm hoping we can crack one out before GenCon, but that may not be realistic. And with GenCon just around the corner, I think the choice of topics is fairly small .

As a note regarding radio drama, we're going to need an extensive library of environmental sound effects to draw on for just about anything, so if anyone has any suggestions for where we could obtain such things with proper licenses for public reuse it'd be appreciated.

~J

I have a CD with everything from helicopters to bugs to applause, but using it for a podcast may be a sticking point. I'll try to track it down and see if there is a release on it somewhere. Then I can rip it and send it to you if all is well.

Oh yeah, and gunshots too.

You should listen to "A Prairie Home Companion" sometime. The sound effects guy does a lot with sandpaper, wood, old shoes, his voice, and a whistle that are quite remarkable. I think his name is Jim Ed Poole.

i think i'll be able to get my hands on some things here soon enough for sound effects.

The licensing isn't what kills you (though it hurts). The Royalities is what usually nails you. Back in my "live and breath theater" days, the licensing was a mere drop in the bucket compared to the per-use royalities on various effects and music in a long running show.

thats ehy you get royalty free

Very good. Production values seem to be quite high, to me at least. Good content as well. Keep up the good work!

Try your local library for royalty free sound effects. Most libraries carry several sound effect albums that are public domain.

Good job on the broad cast. I've only got dial up at home. I downloaded it during dinner. One thing you might do is start interviewing some of the old school writers. That would be really neat. Also you should post pictures of yourself so we have an idea of what you look like. It's always good to put a name with a face. Yeah know you could interview Clutch (Scott) from the Commando's or maybe Bitrunner and discuss the missions? That could be a great Fanpro Topic.

Anyways great job.
B.Gizzle aka Brian Guarnieri

A discussion with bitrunner about the Missions sounds like a good idea to me.

Technically Bitrunner no longer is in charge of Missions, but he is the creator and managed it for years so for right now he would be a good person to tell you about them, they're history, background ect. For the future of Missions you'd probably need to talk to Clutch.

I'll throw up any amount of my useless musical talent to help out...or my MIDI knowledge of sound creation...for you guys if you need it

Good job though on this, it's a nice start!

This is a note for Spookymonster, if you're out there—you have email and it needs reading by midnight, preferably.

~J

I would like to make a comment on the point you brought up on the "It's out of print so it isn't canon" arguement. With some things like TV shows, the older books won't be as valid, because they're describing a time 15-20 years before the current timeline. Most of the shows detailed in Shadowbeat would be long retired to reruns, or cancelled.

~J -

I'm here... been out of action for a few days - darling daughter threw my back out on Sunday, so I've been doing a little R&R. I read both e-mails, and I'm good to go. I'll respond in full later, when I get a few minutes (gotta catch up on some work first). If you get a minute, set up a Gizmo ID.

Looking forward to talking to you again!

(Was this cryptic enough for everyone?)

I have to say I was happy with how this went. (Just downloaded it.) I look forward to more!

On the Dumpshock.com main page.

~J

Indeed. Last exam is today, so the final barrier between me and an unbroken stretch of SR4-reading is the lack of PDF release.

Soon, though, soon!

~J

We're more likely to do that once we've a few releases under our belt and are settling into a routine, I think. There are some on that list that I was unfamiliar with, though, thanks.

~J

I just finished listening to your podcast and I have to say: Great work! Thanks a lot for the dedication to the hobby.

I can't wait for the next one. Any ideas when another one will be upped and what it will be about?


BTW Long time lurker, first post in ages. My old account from the deep resonance obviously didn't make it over.

The next one is coming soon. It'll be about SR4 (shock) and we're hoping to have a pair of interviews in it, one with someone who overall likes the system and one who dislikes what has been done with it. We're looking for someone who can explain their position in a detailed manner—Bull was our first choice, but since he isn't getting back to us we may have to find another option.

Glad you liked it!

~J

What happen with you, guys?
Will there be more of Shadowcast?

Competence don't sleep.

I'm willing to carry on if Spooky has the desire and time, but I'll be frank: the fact that I loathe SR4 has killed most of the motivation I had for covering new developments with SR. Sometimes giving something enough time to sink in doesn't make it improve.

~J

You could always do one on DS, since the news on SR developments is relatively lacking anyway.

I'm not sure sure a weekly/monthly news update for DS would be all that exciting either, i picture it something like this....
Week one

"On DS this week, someone had the novel idea that there's something wrong with the gun rules, and that someone should do something more realistic. Austere showed up, and set the person straight on how guns really work, and pointed out that "someone" already did, and points him to this BRAND NEW site by some guy named "Raygun".

In SR4 news, Emo Samurai is attempting to create Transformers into SR4 characters. This baffled many people."

Week two

"On DS this week, someone had the novel idea that there's something wrong with the gun scope rules, and that someone should do something more realistic. Austere showed up, and set the person straight on how gun scopes really work, and pointed out that "someone" already did fix gun scopes, and points him to this BRAND NEW site by some guy named "Raygun".

In SR4 news, Emo Samurai is attempting to create alien life forms into SR4 characters. This baffled many people."

Kind of makes you wonder about a lot of things on DS when you put it like that.