The Site was up from late 1998 to early 2000 and has long disappeared in the annals of net history. As I have no way of giving personal credit where it is due, here is the long, long defunct address of that site: http://home1.gte.net/edusmc/lostech.htm
The Site was up from late 1998 to early 2000 and has long disappeared in the annals of net history. As I have no way of giving personal credit where it is due, here is the long, long defunct address of that site: http://home1.gte.net/edusmc/lostech.htm
I will not replicate his TRO here, but I think it would be great to repeat his views on the two magazines:
Stardate Magazine
Stardate was a Science Fiction gaming magazine available in the 1980's. Stardate primarily catered to Fasa games such as: Battletech, Mechwarrior, Star Trek Combat Simulator, Star Trek Role playing game and Top Gun. Stardate also included various other game articles such as Traveller 2300 and Merc. During its publication period Stardate was authorized by Fasa to print information which made it a somewhat official source of information. This also included the printing of official rules and rules errata.
The Magazine was well put together with a heavy matte, news print type paper in an 11" by 17" format, which was folded and stapled twice down the spine. For the most part the articles and artworks were in black and white with a few exceptions. The outside front and back covers were a thick semi gloss with color artwork as well as the inside cover and back. Overall the Stardate magazine was very professional looking, well edited, and similar in appearance to a Dragon Magazine.
After Volume 3 Number 1, Stardate decided to change its name to Stardrive. They stated the reason for the change was to distance themselves from being a Star Trek or a Fasa house magazine. This disassociation was prompted by various Fasa products that portrayed women negatively (Sorsen's Sabers cover art) and were poorly done (Battletech Comic by Blackthorne Pub). Volume 1 Number 1 was the first and last issue of Stardrive magazine after which the magazine simply dropped from the store shelves. In its prime it was probably the best and constant source of Battletech related information.
BattleTechnology
BattleTechnology began publication in xxxx 1988 with issue 0101. At that time William H. Keith Jr. edited BattleTechnology in addition to providing most of the artwork and articles. Keith is responsible for writing several Battletech books as well as other science fiction. The first 6 issues were driven primarily by Keith himself due to the overwhelming amount of work credited to him. In addition to Keith's excellent artwork, there were many pictures of Mechs created with larger models and Robotech toys. These toys and models were often combined into other photographs to make for realistic looking pictures of Mechs in action. Unfortunately the lack of various toys meant the pictures were usually of Warhammers, Riflemen and Archers. Another unique concept of BattleTechnology was that it was written as if it were actually in the Battletech Universe complete with futuristic dates and advertisements. This made it strictly a Battletech source magazine, which at the time had creative licensing from Fasa.
The magazine itself was made of glossy 11" by 17" paper folded and stapled in the spine. The glossy surface gave it a real magazine feel but was a little too thin and was prone to ripping.
I imagine work on BattleTechnology became too much for Keith as he left the magazine after the sixth issue he left and Bob Carter became the new editor. Unfortunately, after William H. Keith left so did the quality of the magazine. The artwork, what little there was, in issue 8 and on was pretty crummy at best. Most of the pictures from that point on were nothing more than blurry photos of miniatures with white lines edited into them to look like weapons fire.
The technical readout portions of the magazine rarely had pictures of the Mechs and in some cases were drawn with a computer making them look like stick creatures. I bought issue 7 that had a cover picture of a Battlemaster model with a empty adding machine spool attached to its right shoulder and painted all in camouflage including the cockpit. I was pretty disgusted but I thought the inside would be better, but I was wrong. I quit buying the magazine after that issue and haven't bought one since.
return to Lost & Gone Forever
return to LosTech Cache