**>> SPYNET BULLETIN **>> EARTHDATE 91.12.22 **>> AN H-by-A SERVICE **>> STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS - STOP PRESS We are very pleased to say that following the problems with the game yesterday (Sunday) (See later in this bulletin) we WERE able to bring the game back yesterday, allowing you to play during the night. It also looks like damage to personas, in the way of lost groats, is fairly minimal. If you think you have lost groats or any other persona attributes, please let us know using the Feedback option on the main menu. **>> IT'S A BAD NEWS BULLETIN The big bad news this week is that Alan Lenton (Bella, the designer and programmer of Federation) has had an accident and is in hospital. Alan was coming home from a drink with some friends and was crossing the road on a pedestrian crossing, when he was knocked down by a car. He has broken his left leg badly in several places, as well as suffering numerous scrapes and bruises. The doctors are hoping to operate tomorrow to put a steel rod in the leg to hold the bones together. If they do, and if all goes well, Alan could be allowed to go home on Christmas day. I went to visit Alan in hospital this afternoon, and he is in good spirits. He is flat on his back, unable to move, because the leg is currently in traction. I passed onto him all your good wishes and he was very touched by your concern. I will make sure that you are all kept informed of Alan's progress. **>> A PECULIAR WEEKEND The second piece of bad news is that Fed has been experiencing some technical problems this weekend. The first inkling that something was wrong was when three players logged on today to find their personas had vanished! The unlucky people were Vaxhacker, Angel and Blackmark. In the absence of Bella, it fell to the Vile Cryptosporidium to try to find out what had gone wrong. It became apparent by looking at the log that something was very wrong with the persona file, so the decision was taken to shut the game down until the problem could be fixed. At the time of writing this bulletin, we are not sure if the game will be back today or not. In any case, when it does return, it will be with a previous copy of the persona file, so you will find that anything you did in Fed since the copy was made will not have been saved. Any lost groats will, of course, be reimbursed. Please make a note of what you think you lost, and we'll tell you how to claim later. We do apologise for the inconvenience caused, both by the temporary unavailability of Fed, and by the loss of groats earned. **>> SANTA CLAUS IS COMING TO FED At last, some good news! Over the festive season, Santa Claus will be travelling around Fed and secreting himself in out-of-the-way nooks and crannies of Fed Data Space - and unlike last year, he will be leaving the confines of Sol space, too! Santa has presents of GEnie connect time, and groats, to give out to all the good little girls and boys. He'll have special presents just for certain ranks, and general presents that anyone can try for. The main presents are two lots of GEnie connect time, of 4 hours each, one of which will be given away on Christmas Day, and one of New Year's Day. Sometime during the 24 hours that comprises those days, Santa will visit Fed Data Space and hide himself. The first player to find his hiding place will receive the connect time. In addition, two other presents of connect time will be given away some time between Christmas Day and New Year's Day, and Santa will also be popping in and out from time to time to give groats away. Every player has a chance to get a present from Santa - you just have to be on the game at the same time! **>> NEW, NEW, NEW! Before her accident, Bella put a new version of the game in with two new features. The major change is that you now need planning permission before you can build a factory on one of the player-owned planets. The command to request planning permission is the same as it was to build before - . When you type this, the planet owner will receive your application and be able to or . A planet owner can only consider one request at a time, and both the planet owner and the prospective builder must be online at the same time - as must the planet in question. A corollary to this is that planet owners cannot buy factories any more. For the time being, they can keep the factories they already have, but these will be taken away from them eventually. The minor change is one of those simple ideas that proves so useful you wonder why no-one thought of it before. It's an alarm, to stop you burning your dinner or forgetting to set the video while you are in Fed. The command is where 'minutes' is, naturally, the number of minutes you want to elapse before the alarm sounds. **>> MPGRT NEWS Bella has uploaded a new Who's Who file into the Fed library. This lists the names, ranks, shipnames, company and planet names of all current Fed players. Hazed will be running a special RTC in January in conjunction with a Fighting School. One hour of theory, in the RTC, will be followed by practice sessions back in Fed. This will be a chance for you to learn how to shoot down enemy ships - vital for the promotion to JourneyPerson. The RTC will be held on January 12 at 3.00 Eastern time. More details in next week's news. **>> PROMOTIONS NEWS The only promotion we know about this week is Galt, who made it to Trader after what seemed like an awfully long time! Well done Galt. **>>CONTACTS The following information will appear at the end of every News Bulletin, so you don't have to read it if you already know it. In the event of a problem or question, you can: * talk to Hazed, Bella or Clem in the game * leave a message in the game log * send mail with the Federation Feedback option from the main menu You can order a copy of the unexpurgated printed Idiot's Guide to Federation by typing ORDER at any GEnie menu. Cost - a mere $12.95. Federation has several category in the new MPGames RT. To get there, type M1045,1 from any menu prompt and SET category 13 (for information, instructions, questions and answers) or 14 (for general chat and discussions). The Federation Leader in the bulletin board is Occy (Mail ID: OCPAC). The MPGames RT also has a Federation library in the files area, Library 5. Library 18 holds the Federation News Archives. **>> BULLETIN ENDS