7:08 AM
And so begin our trip to Fanime 2008 in San Jose, California. Richard and I got up about 4:00 AM and picked up Lawrence soon afterward. I realized that after we got to Lawrence’s, I forgot our itinerary and our badge registration reciepts. Damn it! Oh well. It was pretty much an uneventful drive to Ontario International. When we got there, the check-in lines were really long. But not worries, the personnel were so efficient that we went through quickly, even though we forgot our papers. Getting through security was also rather quick. Being a veteran traveller, we know all the in’s and out’s. Unlike the fiasco back in February, I learned my lesson not to bring any liquids through security. After a short wait in the terminal, we finally got on board our flight. After take-off, because of the weather, it was a really bumpy ride. Right now, we’re at cruising level and everything is going pretty smooth. Also, most of the seats onboard were empty so we spread out and rows to ourselves

1:45 PM
The descent into San Jose was pretty smooth. Much better than the take-off. Once on the ground, we proceeded to baggage claim and got our stuff. We took the shuttle to the Light Rail station. It was like bang, bang, bang. We waited no more than 5 minutes for our rides. We even came close to missing the train because Lawrence was having trouble with a dollar bill. We got the “all day” pass.

When we got to the convention center, we took our bags to the Marriott and had them held there. It was still too early to check in. We arrived at 8:30 AM at the hotel. Around the convention center, there were already cosplayers walking around, though still scarce. After the early check-in, we went to the convention center to get our badges. For a pre-registration line, it went fairly quick. We waited no more than 30 minutes. So after we got our badges, we went back on the Light Rail and went to the Great Mall. I forgot my belt at home. Also it was so cold heres in San Jose, that I needed a jacket. We were practically freezing after we left the airport. When we got to the mall, we were worn out from the trip. We were all up by 4:00 AM and we did not get enough sleep. We had a snack and coffee at Starbucks. There was also a Jollybee there. After the snack, we went to buy my belt, Lawrence got a haircut and I found a jacket. Cool!



After the mall, it was almost noon. We decided to go to Japantown to eat lunch. We ate at the same Korean restaurant that we ate at when we came here three years ago at the last Fanime. Nothing changed. After we ate, we headed back to the Marriott and got our rooms. The convention center is already filled with conventioneers. So now, we’re inside the room...resting, and then we’ll head for the Opening Ceremonies in a little bit.

4:20
Well, we went down to the main concourse to the Opening Ceremonies. We wound up watching a couple music videos, took some pictures and went to the dealers hall. The dealers hall is pretty huge. When we in line to enter the dealers hall, there was a staffer who said that we had to have our badges around our neck. Wow! That’s the first time I experienced something like that. I assumed that was never an issue. Not even in Anime Expo did that happen. So now I’m beginning to wonder, “Is the more laid back Fanime going to be as strict as Expo? Or had Fanime grown so large that it had to put its foot down on rules?” We’re going to be here for another three days, so we’ll see what happens. There was a lot to see, but the usual convention stuff was around; cosplayers, people of all ages, food vendors, etc. At the back end of the dealers hall, there is a large sitting area for people to chill out. We three walked around to look at the merchandise. Lawrence was shopping for some stuff. Richard and I were just looking around and scoping out cosplayers. Yeah sure! I was looking for a souvenir for a co-worker and bought some trading figures. After the dealer’s hall, we went to see the end of the opening ceremonies. We caught the last dancing act and went back to the room to drop off what we bought.



10:30 PM
After dropping our stuff off, we went back downstairs to chill out and take some more pictures. As we walked around, there was a long line leading out from the convention center. We thought it was the “At-Con” registration line. It was the line for tickets to Antic Cafe’s concert for Sunday evening. We got in line and waited and waited. While we waited, Alex and Tami showed up. Cool they made it. Alex was supposed to call, but I guess he spotted me because I was tall. Well, we waited some more and we finally got our tickets.

We were already hungry, but it was getting cold. We did contemplate whether to go to the Music Fest or feed our hunger. Hunger won. We went back to our room to get jackets because of the cooler weather. The next stop, hmmm, somewhere. We tried the one restaurant and it looked too expensive. We went to cheaper looking one and it looked like they didn’t have anything much to offer. It’s been decided...to eat at Original Joe’s, an Italian restaurant that we ate at the last time we were here. It was packed and we waited about 20 minutes to be seated. It was stuffy inside so we waited outside. While we waited for our turn, I met this guy who was also waiting to be seated. He was waiting for his friend to show up. We talking and he turned out to be pretty interesting. A little strange, but interesting. We talked about this and that. He was a local. That’s the whole purpose of traveling, to meet people and learn new things.

Eventually we were seated and got served our meals. Damn, the food was good! I vaguely remembered how good it was last time, but yeah, the food was good. The servings were huge. I had the roast beef. So at the end of dinner, we were stuffed. It didn’t help that we were tired also, but we tired to stay awake. This is when we decided to go last part of the Music Fest. When we walked in, it just finished and everyone was walking outside. Argh! Alex and Tami was there also and they spotted us while we were hanging around wondering what to do next. We weren’t sure what to do so we decided to go back to the hotel and maybe come back down after we rested. We parted ways and made plans to join up the next day for dinner.

As we walked back to the hotel, we made an unexpected turn to the convention center concourse. I guess there was a lot more stuff still going on, on assumption because we didn’t have a schedule with us. So while walking around, we peeked into the gaming hall and wondered why there were people lining up against the side walls. We went in to investigate. To our surprise, there was a swap meet going on and those people on the sides were people looking at merchandise. It wasn’t really a swap meet. Sure there were some people selling their old stuff, but a lot of the merchandise were more recent. I found an old “Iria: Zeiram” art book for cheap. Cool. We finished so we went back to out room. But on the way back, as with any convention hotel, the damn elevators were packed. Screw it! We took the “bat cave” way back to our room (the stairwell). And so ends out first day.

Last week, I was chatting to my friend Victor. He informed me that Palladium had published “Robotech: Shadow Chronicles®, The Role Playing Game.” Well, while we were chatting I went online to the Palladium Books website to order the RPG. I was excited to even know that the RPG was out or even that Palladium was publishing it. I soon realized that when I was at the Robotech® panel at Anime on Display (AOD), I did remember Jonny Yune talking about the RPG. He even presented some new drawings which I went over at the end of the panel. Anyway, I ordered it on the spot, as should any Robotech® fan.

Just the other day I received the package via UPS. Upon first glancing on the manga-sized role playing game book, it was unlike its predecessors. This was the first book since the original Robotech® RPG that used the real logo. Each of next RPGs used generic logos.

While flipping through the pages and reading a lot of the material inside, I realized that the book design was like the original books. Being a graphic designer, one might think that after some twenty years later, Palladium would have put a little more effort into the design of the RPG. The RPG uses the Times Roman typeface exclusively. Even though they used the typeface how it traditionally is used, basic graphic design standards should have been implemented. A contrasting typeface like even Helvetica could have been used to give some more visual appeal. Sure it was like that in the Invid section, but it could’ve been used more throughout the book. Additional simple graphic design elements such as dingbats or key-lined boxes to separate dice roll information could have also been used.

Another bad design in the book is the use of raster images (black and white images with shading). The image styles should have been kept constant. Throughout the book, line drawings are used. The raster images should have been redrawn as line drawings to give the book continuity. On the other hand, if redrawing the art is impossible, the book should have been printed at a much higher line screen. Based on the quality of the raster art, I assume that the book was printed in 72 line screen. At that resolution, the images appear dark. With the book also being manga-sized, the images also lost a lot of detail because of the size reduction. The book should have been printed at either 133, 150 or even 300 line screen. At these resolutions, the raster art would have retained a lot of the art and give it a smoother, almost photo, look. Through a print cost point of view, it would’ve cost almost the same if the book was printed at the higher line screen.

Other than the technical and graphic design aspects, the material stayed true to the original Robotech® RPG that came out 20 years ago and the Sentinels RPG four years later. A lot of the material was from the Invid Invasion RPG, as well as material from the Sentinels RPG. Other than the original material, a mountain of new material from the Shadow Chronicles was introduced.

In the opening of the Shadow Chronicles timeline, the major enemy is the Invid. The stage is set for the Battle at Reflex Point (at the end of the New Generation). The book opens with the background information of the Invid. New types in Invid mecha are also included: Soldier, Commander and the Overlord. The Invid Overlord is the most advanced combat mecha in the Invid arsenal. It’s the only Invid that’s transformable (three modes just like the Veritechs) and most formidable opponent.

The Haydonites are the new alien race in the Shadow Chronicles. According to the timeline, the Haydonites helped the Expeditionary Force develop new technology to help combat the Invid. But in the end, they betrayed the Expeditionary Force and are bent of destroying all humanity. The only two Haydonite mecha presented in this book are the Wraith and the Infiltrator.

The next section deals with the history United Earth Expeditioary Force as well as a timeline of main events leading up to the Shadow Chronicles storyline.

A new optional character creation method is introduced. If a player cannot make up his mind on what type of character he wants to be, just roll the percentile dice. This new method makes the decision of making character quicker. There’s also a lot more Occupational Character Classes (OCCs) that are added to the long list of OCCs in the Robotech® RPG. And since the RPG deals heavily with being a part of the military, a plethora of new Military Occupational Skills (MOSs) are also included. Also are new mecha such as the Bioroid Interceptor, the Condor and the “Silverback.” All the standard mecha are also in book such as the Alphas and the Betas. The one thing I was “erked” about back in the original Sentinels RPG is the look of the Shadow Fighter. For such an awesome fighter with all it’s additional abilities, the design is just plan gay! It’s synonymous to designing the Stealth fighter to make look like the F-4 Phantom. Remember those! The standard issue Alpha FIghter looks a lot better. Seriously! Also, the picture to indicate the Shadow Fighter is the picture of the Vindicator (Veritech/Alpha hybrid) that appeared the Sentinels RPG. At least show the right gay-looking picture of the Shadow Fighter. Kevin Long...what happened!?

The rest of the book deals with the game mechanics, the guts of the game. By reading a lot of passages of this section, it’s basically the same as in the Sentinels RPG. There are some new skills to reflect the setting as well as today’s world. At the end of the book are a list of main characters and their backgrounds that play major roles in the Shadow Chronicles.

As a final note, the layout of the book is somewhat confusing...to someone new to pen and paper RPGs. The book starts out with the Invid, the Haydonites, UEF, OCCs, Veritech Fighters, game mechanics, adventures and the main characters list. The way I would have laid it out would be the background of the Expeditionary Force (background, characters and mecha). The player would most likely be playing as a member of the UEF, so why not put all that information in the beginning? Next would be the Invid (background and mecha) and the Haydonites. After you know yourself, know your enemy. With all the background aside, the game mechanics will be next. It’s only logical to have the OCCs right after the initial character creation. And the Skills List and descriptions after that. The book does it backwards. And finally, the book should end with sample role-playing, non-player characters and adventure scenarios. All in all, aside from the lack of design effort put into the book as compared to other RPGs in the market today, the material contained within the pages are priceless. It’s a “must buy” for any Robotech® fan, whether or not you’re a gamer. Not so much as the artwork, but for the material. I hope they address these short comings in the version of the RPG. I can’t wait until I get my hands on the hard bound version of the Robotech® Shadow Chronicles RPG when it’s released soon. I pre-ordered.