ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[Engineer]

You're welcome to start a new thread.  Maybe a kindly mod could even split the posts.

I started a thread like this a while ago where astrophysics discussions would be more than welcome!! It didn't catch on like I was hoping, but maybe I just didn't catch the right people. Lol. Here's a link to the thread if you all want move that discussion there:

http://www.avpgalaxy.net/forum/index.php?topic=53083.0

[windebieste]

It could be because the CMTM was written in I think 1997.

It was published in mid 1995.

How does Fox regard it?

I'd like to know the answer to this question, too. 

I have the reprint edition.  I'm assuming because the book has had additional print runs now since 1995 - and is now published by Titan, a company that 20th Century Fox deals with regularly - that 20th Century Fox regards it as canon.  As the owner of the Property, they have the last say in this regard.

Which as far as I am concerned is the metric for measuring all canonical fictional material, which the Colonial Marines Technical Manual neatly fits into.

If so, what I'd like to know is: Did Fox adopt it as canon after it was released?  ...or has Fox always regarded it as a legitimate part of the the EU?

-Windebieste.

[Local Trouble]

Maybe not the final word on marine hardware, but as close as you'll get, and more than anyone could want.

So they can cherry-pick the good and leave the rest.  That reminds me of how LFL treats the old Star Wars EU now.

So while it may be regarded as a font of ideas that they can use whenever they want, that shouldn't be interpreted as Fox's tacit endorsement of the CMTM as a canon source of information.

When can we expect an SM-revised edition of the CMTM to be published?  I hope you fix the Solomons error.

[SM]

So they can cherry-pick the good and leave the rest.

Without getting into varying mileages of "good"; yes more or less.

Some of the events depicted are obviously apocryphal, but most of the technical information is solid and often referenced in other media.

[Local Trouble]

So how does Fox regard contradictions between the CMTM and the WYR?

[SM]

I believe the latter would take precedence.

[Local Trouble]

T'would have been interesting if the current WYR had been subtitled "First Edition" in anticipation of any new or contradictory information coming to light in either Alien: Covenant or Alien 5.

It could be like Oceania's Newspeak Dictionary. 

[Xenomrph]

If any source, anywhere, bothered to acknowledge how "impossible" a planet that small is, then we wouldn't be having this conversation. A throwaway line where someone says "yeah, tiny LV-426 is made of absurdly-dense Unobtanium, that's why we mine there", literally anything.

Ah, I get it.  It's not that you can't suspend disbelief and accept it, it's that it hasn't been lampshaded to your satisfaction.  So if the WYR had made a passing reference to the oddity of LV-426's gravity for its size and then redacted a portion of the following text, would that have been enough for you?

To be honest, yes. Granted it wouldn't have jived well with other sources (or the movies), which don't lampshade the size in any way, but it would have been a hell of a start.

I'm totally okay with the Alien being an "impossible" creature, because that characteristic is at the forefront of what the Alien is, and what makes it scary and interesting. Its impossible abilities and characteristics are deliberate writing choices. LV-426's size is not. Having LV-426 (or, going by the WYR, LV-223 as well) be similarly "impossible" without being lampshaded or serving the plot in any way, is the result of bad writing and we shouldn't reward that- and the CMTM didn't, it deliberately fixed it. It's worth pointing out that the CMTM also not only lampshaded the "impossibility" of the Alien in the final chapter, but emphasized it; I imagine that wasn't by accident.
Lambert's line in the deleted scene isn't meant to be taken as gospel truth any moreso than Dallas saying the facehugger bleeds "molecular acid" (spoiler: molecular acid is nothing special, since all acids are molecular acid), or the arbitrary functionings of Ash's motion detector reacting to "micro changes in air density".

It's technobabble written by people who aren't scientists, for a presumably under-educated audience who can't tell the difference. That doesn't mean we should adhere to it as gospel truth after fact-checking it.

And I appreciate your suggestion, but I'm already familiar with Solaris.  I just wish more people were.

Ditto.

[gold]

It could be because the CMTM was written in I think 1997.

It was published in mid 1995.

How does Fox regard it?

I'd like to know the answer to this question, too. 

I have the reprint edition.  I'm assuming because the book has had additional print runs now since 1995 - and is now published by Titan, a company that 20th Century Fox deals with regularly - that 20th Century Fox regards it as canon.  As the owner of the Property, they have the last say in this regard.

Which as far as I am concerned is the metric for measuring all canonical fictional material, which the Colonial Marines Technical Manual neatly fits into.

If so, what I'd like to know is: Did Fox adopt it as canon after it was released?  ...or has Fox always regarded it as a legitimate part of the the EU?

-Windebieste.

The level of scientifically accurate detail is breathtaking in the CMTM, from the skills required in orbital spaceship warfare to descriptions of the xenomorph metabolism and acid chemical makeup, the dates, distances, important bts, speeds of the ships, etc.  Just all of it really. The WYR is also great, much more slick presentation but the depth to which the CMTM goes to is a step beyond imo. CMTM is like the work of a genius or a certified mad man.

Really, to have this treasure trove of incredibly detailed Aliens encyclopedic knowledge sitting there, and for Fox to not use it would be foolish. Also seeing as it's a free download nowadays (search using the title and .pdf) Also the plot of the videogame (whatever your opinion of that may be) starts in the TM which itself is like a mini sequel to 1986 Aliens anyway. (Shinyo Maru, Resolute encounter at LV-426 on Sept 14th 2179). All the weapons in the game are more or less the weapons from the TM, etc.

But yeah, the franchise is going to need new editions of everything soon. But that's normal for a franchise with a 15 year gap between 2 movies. The movies had Ripley and Hicks dead, the game had

Spoiler

Ripley dead, Hicks alive,

[close]

Blomkamp has both alive, etc.

So new editions to everything are likely coming. Lol, wouldn't it be funny if in cryosleep Ripley dreamt Alien 3 and Hicks dreamt the game and the weird Dark Horse alien telepathy merged their dreams. All sources combined into 1 canon, problem solved, cue Blomkamp ;P

[SM]

How exactly is the CMTM free?

[gold]

How exactly is the CMTM free?

I don't know, but for the past 6 years or so, if you google: Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual.pdf its literally the first link (vk.com)

[SM]

And that doesn't strike you as being a pirated copy?

[gold]

And that doesn't strike you as being a pirated copy?

It's on google (not some bittorrent site) and it's literally been the first link for many years.

Google usually DMCAs search results that infringe copyright. Maybe the first edition is public domain since the release of the 2012 edition?

[windebieste]

I'm not aware of any digital version of the book being available.  It may the case, but I seriously doubt it.

Nonetheless, here's the publisher's web page for the book on their online store.  There's no mention of any digital version being available - for free or otherwise - at all. 

It's $19.95 and won't bust the bank if you would like to purchase an unquestionably legitimate item. 

As far as being in the public domain goes, edition version has no bearing.  The content covered by the book is current intellectual property owned by 20th Century Fox which means no edition of the book can be considered to be in the public domain, no matter how old it is.

-Windebieste.

[SM]

Interesting that Boxtree/ Harper Prism are giving away e-books on Russian social media...