It's come out at last! Thanks for the heads up fireproof (and bullet3).

I'm bumping my own thread to ask a question of the scifi nerds out there:
In the Phantom Menace Commentary our brave panelists discuss politics in space and how it doesn't work for Star Wars, much to the fans horror.

However, the Dune novels explore politics in great detail of a galactic empire, including many different organizations, houses and armies. Even in the movie adaptations, the politics of the situation are never denied but explored as each side vies for position.

This may be an oversimplification, but can political scifi, like Dune, work, even in screen adaptation?

And Sg-1 didn't really start to become really political until at least season 4 or 5.

It doesn't work in the Star Wars prequels because only lip service is paid to the politics. It merely states a political intention, but neglects to develop either the background to the argument, or the argument itself. And without a social or financial argument at its heart, and at least two sides to that argument that you can understand (and actually make sense), it's just a half-baked idea. And I find that a poorly communicated/told political story is one that breaks down more noticeably than others. I had similar misgivings about the politics in 300 (see that thread).

If you pick up a random Star Trek episode, you'll find it did this much better, where often within its 45-minute running time it will present a commentary about a political topic. And it does it well because it lends credibility to both sides of the discourse.

In TPM, the taxation of trade routes alone isn't interesting, but it's also nowhere detailed enough to make it interesting. That the motivation of the villains remains vague and seemingly at odds with their desires also hinders its effectiveness as a driving plot force. Why would a Trade Federation block trade? It's just thrown in there but never developed beyond being mentioned a couple of times. Worse, the whole manner of its dealing in the senate is laugable, and stretches plausibility to the extreme because we can't see how this political organisation can ever function. Remember, the senate cannot even agree that Naboo is blockaded, and yet it allows a vote of no confidence regarding the 'non-existent' crisis. What? Did someone even read that twice when they wrote it?

When you create a make-believe world with its own political institutions, demonstrating that they make sense and work is vital. And that requires a fair amount of thought and research in the writing process.

I have the game. It's OK, but to be honest I've never tried to win: I stop as soon as I'm at the final sector. What I DO find amusing are its fans in various forums. Whenever anyone has ANY comments on things they don't like, or features they'd like to see, the response is: "It's a Rogue-like game! What do you expect!" As if genres are absolute

(I had never heard of Rogue until FTL, but assume it's an early example of the style)