Hey all! Apologies if this is the wrong forum to place this, but I have been wanting to share this.
First off, a late congratulations to the Diaspora team on their release! I worked with many of the team members on Beyond the Red Line back in the day and I was excited to see them go on to accomplish a feat, the challenge of which many underestimate!
Anyway, back during BtRL I went under the handle Dukeman42; I was lead writer for the project for some time. Those of you who were around for Beyond the Red Line may be interested to know what the story of the "preview" campaign would have been with my continued involvement. That story became Atlantia Rising, which is now nearing completion! While some of the plot points have changed to be more believable, a few new ones have been added (the chapter "Enemy of My Enemy" is entirely new), and focus has shifted from the action to the characters (though there is still plenty of action!) to better fit the narrative medium, the main characters and their overall journey remains relatively untouched.
Have a read of the background of Atlantia Rising below, then head over to
http://theunreadableblog.wordpress.com/atlantia-rising/ if you would like to read what has become a full-blown novel. Parts are still releasing every Wednesday, until its completion sometime in late April/early May.
Thanks an enjoy!
Atlantia Rising has its origins nearly ten years ago in 2004, around the time the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica (BSG) began airing in the US. I had done a small bit of voice work for a freelance video game project and, while looking for more, came across a BSG space simulator project that was in its beginning stages.
I put my name in to be a voice actor and had the opportunity to chat with the project’s founder about the game and his vision for it. He wanted an engaging story that would tie directly in with the recently aired mini-series. I offered a few suggestions on ways that might be achieved without crossing canon or coming off as too coincidental or ‘fanboy-ish.’ Soon after, I found myself heading up development of the story for the game’s eight-mission demo campaign.
This was the first time I had developed a story like this. I relished in the process, developing characters and plot points whenever and wherever I could—in the car, the shower, you name it—as I drew inspiration from Bear McCreary‘s unforgettable score. Before long I had a solid cast of characters and a story that was both exciting and organic to the BSG universe. There were some areas where I had to stretch believability to serve the needs of a game format, but all in all I thought I had a good addition to the BSG story on my hands.
Ultimately, The story would not find life on the PC. I had to leave the project and, even worse, the project on the whole failed to come to fruition. Several of the original team members did begin a different game project which recently celebrated its first public release. For anyone that is remotely familiar with fan-based game development where everyone is a volunteer and chain of leadership can be muddy at best, this is quite an accomplishment!
I digress. I was very disappointed in having to leave the project and as a result, the very thought of Battlestar Atlantia and her crew’s story was painful. I shoved it to the back of my mind (and hard-drive) and let it lie, not knowing when—or if—I would return to it. But there is a funny thing about a good story, good characters, that is true regardless of genre or medium.
They will not leave you alone.
As I began delving deeper into screenwriting, the tale of Atlantia began coming back up to the surface. Despite my efforts to force them back down and focus on other endeavors Admiral Nagala, Alan Sanders and the rest would not let go of me. The story has become a part of BSG canon in my mind. It is not an egotistical thing; quite simply, the characters came to life so fully that I could not help but find them integrated with the official BSG universe.
Around September 2012, I finally gave in and began writing the first chapter of the unofficial novella, Atlantia Rising.
This work is not affiliated with the new web series, the television series or NBC Universal in any way. Admiral Nagala, Battlestars Galactica and Atlantia, The Twelve Colonies and other referenced story elements are property of their respective copyright holders. All other characters are original. This work is offered freely and not-for-profit. I share it openly with anyone who wants to read it!
To say I am excited is an understatement. With the change of medium, I am able to more fully explore the characters’ actions and motivations than I ever would have been in the framework of a video game storyline. Still, given a novel is so utterly different from a film screenplay (which I have become most familiar with over the past few years), it will be interesting to see how well I am able to adapt to the format. Atlantia Rising is a labor of love, an experiment and a learning experience rolled into one.
I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I have enjoyed creating it. And I hope, for BSG fans, it will find a place in BSG history for you as it did for me.
Finally, thank you to everyone who created such a compelling universe, that I could not help but play in it for a time. And thank you to Glen A. Larson, who created the original Galactica so long ago. Without them, Atlantia Rising would not exist.
So Say We All.
