Charles/Doc wrote:

> Charles/Doc wrote:

> My lord man! You do great work but the once every month or so is

Howdy Chuk! First off, thanks for the kind words. I wish I could get stuff out
quicker but it's a long process to put together each chapter, especially when
I have only the vaguest outline of what comes next in my mind, though it falls
into place as the days go by.

RE; The battles: Most of the big engagements are gamed out between me and
Kr'rt (he's on the list also) who plays the Kra'Vak. I have a general idea of
what I want done and provide him with a scenario. There is enough variablity
in the setups for him to throw surprises at me however. We then game out the
battles (we've had three so far). fortunately they have turned out more or
less with what I've had in mind with teh overall story so I don'thave to
change the much. The acutally ocurances in the battle provide the fodder for
me to write in the story.

I did game out the Loki pass battle using Dirstside but not the second one.
Time is an issue here. The dogfight with Major Burns was done on my computer.
I set up the original scenario mission using DID Total Air War (An F22
simulator) which has a cheat in it that enables UFO of various types. I flew
the scenario a few times and even taped it onto my VCR (my 3d card has video
out). SO from there, I had a story. As far as most of teh SF and other ground
"grunt" action, that comes from 20 years of real military experience. (I've
been in eth ARmy (active and national guard) for going on 21 years, the first
6 as a paratrooper and the rest in Special Forces, so I have a fair amount of
anecdotal experiences to draw upon whaile writing.

I hope to publish the thing when done, though if Jon doesn't give permission
I'll have to change a few things around (NSL etc). I've been writing it
because it really is total fun to do, plus it's my main contribution to the
guys on the list. The great feedback I've gotten from people makes the late
nights very much worth while. Thanks!!!