Several dead games that I used to play have gotten a revival. Alternity just got a kickstarter with a revised, more modern system. Shatterzone got a reprint and a new system as well. Torg is getting a revival and so is Dark Conspiracy. The only game left that I would care about is Star Frontiers.
Star Frontiers was a simple sci-fi setting that avoided a lot of the baggage that most sci-fi RPGs seem to think they need. Where did the humans come from? Where is the homeworld of the {plug in an alien race name}? While Traveller was intended more of a generic sci-fi game that late developed a setting, Star Frontiers was more about the setting than the system. While I liked the basic Alpha Dawn system, the Zebulon’s Guide made a much more fun system to play in my opinion. However, many old school fans of SF would not agree.
The Star Frontiers would need an update, for sure. Something that harkens back to both the AD system as well as Zeb’s Guide. There have been several fan made attempts but nothing concrete because I think WotC still owns the rights to the setting. I would like to see a little more fleshed out setting, however. Homeworlds would be nice, as well as an expansion of known space. What is the Frontier? If there is a frontier, isn’t there a core or home sector? THe name implies a little. At the same time, I would not want too much of that because it would change the setting too much.
Until then, I bring elements of SF to my various other generic systems/settings – True20, Savage Worlds, Alternity.
EARTHDAWN