The Final Frontier Development Diary – Part 4

It’s been quite some time since I posted an update regarding the return of our Amiga Star Trek disk magazine, The Final Frontier, so I thought that it was about time to bring you all another diary update on what has been happening lately, although this time it hasn’t quite been as much as I would have liked…

 

Things have been changing a lot with Star Trek in recent months and it’s got me thinking quite a bit about the release of the finished magazine later this year. Since the legal battle with the production of the fan film Axanar and the guidelines released by CBS in relation to the creation of fan films and series based on Star Trek. While we’re producing a fanzine and not a series, one thing sprang to mind… some of the restrictions being placed on these fan productions when it came to distribution. While most of these fan productions have now gone into a state of indefinite hiatus while they ponder their next moves, all were faced with the same issue – not being allowed to distribute copies of their creations on DVD or blu-ray. It reminded me of a time in Star Trek fandom when Paramount wanted to take action against all fan clubs and fanzine authors preventing them from any form of organised activity and hinted at legal action being initiated against fanzine editors and publishers.

In the end this didn’t take place and it was business as usual for the non-profit making fanzine publishers but it does raise some issues for us. It was our intention to create The Final Frontier using the Amiga 1200 and releasing it on disk so it can be used as it was intended but also making it available for people to download if they wish. Now, to do this we would need to keep a supply of disks, duplicate them and mail them out for which we would need to charge. In the current climate, this may no longer be possible or practical for us to offer so where does that leave the future of the magazine? Well, the reality is that The Final Frontier is still pressing ahead but with a few changes to its distribution plan. At the moment, it’s going to be available as a free download only as an ADF file. If you want to use it on a real Amiga, you’ll need to take these files and transfer them back to floppy disk and run them that way. Sadly it’s not a perfect option but it’s the best we can do for now.

So, with that out of the way, what has actually been happening with the magazine itself? Not as much as I have wanted if I am completely honest. I have been working across the entire Infinite Frontiers group since the last update in addition to The Final Frontier, but I have also been struggling to stay focused on the work we are doing as my mother was recently diagnosed with cancer. As as result I have been spending some time away from home visiting my parents, but more often than not I have found it hard to concentrate on my writing. Fortunately my mother is responding to treatment but it’s still a long road ahead. However, her diagnosis has lead to the start of our charity fundraising campaign here at Infinite Frontiers for Cancer Research UK and you can find out more about it or support us at https://www.justgiving.com/infinitefrontiers

Onto the magazine though and it has been a bit strange. What I have tried to focus my efforts on is more on the planning side of things and preparing and creating early drafts of many of the articles that I’ll be writing for the magazine. One thing I have found as a writer is that I can usually create content far more easily and rapidly if I have ideas to hand than sitting at a keyboard trying to rack my brain thinking of what articles to write, so my first task was to create a shortlist of articles that I really wanted to write to at least give me a starting point.

Being the 50th Anniversary of Star Trek, I certainly wanted to make things special so I want to make sure that I take a look at each Star Trek series in turn, so I have started preparing a guide for each show looking at what I feel are the ten best episodes of each series as well as an extended look at 50 years of the franchise overall. Now, while I will be the first to admit that I have not been a fan of them, I am also going to be taking a look at the three recent rebooted movies.

On a more sombre note, with the recent sad passing of Anton Yelchin I don’t think it would be right to release the magazine without dedicating some of it to him and his portrayal of Chekov, nor should we forget any of the other cast members we have lost over the years and while it’s not something I want to dwell on too much in the magazine, I do want to make part of the magazine a fitting tribute to the actors who have breathed life into the many characters we love so much.

The last thing really for me is that I will be actively trying to bring in new writers to help with the magazine’s creation, not only for Issue 11 but hopefully beyond this if there is enough interest. Producing something of this scale does need a lot of content and input so I’ll be looking initially towards the Amiga community for any Star Trek fans who want to get involved and write anything – articles, fan fiction, reviews, features… as long as it’s family friendly then we’d love to hear from you! If there’s enough interest, we may even be looking for Amiga musicians and artists to be involved in future issues as well. If you think this might be for you, drop us an email to contact@infinitefrontiers.org.uk

Until next time…!

 

About Simon Plumbe 203 Articles
Husband, father and lifelong geek. Originally from the West Midlands, now spending my days in South Wales with my family and a house full of animals. Passionate about video games, especially retro gaming, the Commodore 64 and PlayStation Vita. Love pro wrestling, sci-fi and I'm an animal lover and vegetarian. Enjoyed this and my other articles? Why not buy me a coffee: http://ko-fi.com/simonplumbe

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