Author Topic: Stories  (Read 50541 times)

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Offline Erik L (OP)

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Re: Stories
« Reply #15 on: May 29, 2009, 03:53:03 PM »
So you mean something like this...

Code: [Select]
Fiction
    |---- Aurora
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |-----Starfire
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |------BTS!
               |--------Thor's
         

That's doable... But with a couple of exceptions, I'd need the authors to inform me what fiction goes where.

Offline Steve Walmsley

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Re: Stories
« Reply #16 on: May 31, 2009, 05:09:27 AM »
Quote from: "Erik Luken"
So you mean something like this...

Code: [Select]
Fiction
    |---- Aurora
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |-----Starfire
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |------BTS!
               |--------Thor's
         

That's doable... But with a couple of exceptions, I'd need the authors to inform me what fiction goes where.
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. For my own fiction, the Rigellian Diary is Starfire and everything else is Aurora

Steve
 

Offline Erik L (OP)

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Re: Stories
« Reply #17 on: May 31, 2009, 04:30:26 PM »
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "Erik Luken"
So you mean something like this...

Code: [Select]
Fiction
    |---- Aurora
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |-----Starfire
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |------BTS!
               |--------Thor's
         

That's doable... But with a couple of exceptions, I'd need the authors to inform me what fiction goes where.
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. For my own fiction, the Rigellian Diary is Starfire and everything else is Aurora

Steve

Done for Steve and Kurt (as those two are the easiest:) ). Any other author's want to chime in and I'll classify them accordingly.

Also, each author has full moderation rights in their forum, which includes deletion of other's posts.

Offline Steve Walmsley

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Re: Stories
« Reply #18 on: June 09, 2009, 12:18:26 PM »
Quote from: "Erik Luken"
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "Erik Luken"
So you mean something like this...

Code: [Select]
Fiction
    |---- Aurora
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |-----Starfire
    |           |-----Steve's
    |           |-----Kurt's
    |           |-----Etc
    |
    |------BTS!
               |--------Thor's
         

That's doable... But with a couple of exceptions, I'd need the authors to inform me what fiction goes where.
Yes, that's exactly what I mean. For my own fiction, the Rigellian Diary is Starfire and everything else is Aurora

Steve

Done for Steve and Kurt (as those two are the easiest:) ). Any other author's want to chime in and I'll classify them accordingly.

Also, each author has full moderation rights in their forum, which includes deletion of other's posts.
Sorry to be a complete PITA :)

Steve
 

Offline Erik L (OP)

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Re: Stories
« Reply #19 on: June 09, 2009, 12:48:17 PM »
How's it look now? :)

Offline ShadoCat

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Re: Stories
« Reply #20 on: June 09, 2009, 02:11:22 PM »
Quote from: "Erik Luken"
How's it look now? :)

Looks good.

It'll take some getting use to but it won't really impact me.  My use of the board is to just look to see what folders are red and see what's new.

Offline IanD

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Re: Stories
« Reply #21 on: August 21, 2009, 03:17:14 AM »
A forum where you can post new campaign ideas would be welcome. I am not allowed to start a new topic in the Fiction Forum which is probably not the most appropriate place for it anyway

Regards
IanD
 

Offline mrwigggles

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Re: Stories
« Reply #22 on: January 23, 2010, 06:55:46 PM »
I would like a a forum for writing up a campaign world, please. With the name of Mr. Wiggles Fictions, please.

I have a decent enough sense of the game currently to not have my ineptitude to interfere with a story harshly, and I would really like to write from a perspective of a transnewtowian 1950's Retro Future Buck Rodger type deal, where the earth won't end in a nuclear flame with the intent of the entity being solidified as a integrality power, thusly giving itself a conclusion.
 

Offline Erik L (OP)

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Re: Stories
« Reply #23 on: January 23, 2010, 08:53:04 PM »
Quote from: "mrwigggles"
I would like a a forum for writing up a campaign world, please. With the name of Mr. Wiggles Fictions, please.

I have a decent enough sense of the game currently to not have my ineptitude to interfere with a story harshly, and I would really like to write from a perspective of a transnewtowian 1950's Retro Future Buck Rodger type deal, where the earth won't end in a nuclear flame with the intent of the entity being solidified as a integrality power, thusly giving itself a conclusion.

Done, but your best bet would be to send me an IM. I'm guaranteed to read those ;)

Offline mrwigggles

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Re: Stories
« Reply #24 on: January 23, 2010, 09:05:14 PM »
Ah, I didn't see a preferred communication method in the OP.

I will keep that in mind for the future though.
 

Offline James Patten

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The Kabringi Empire
« Reply #25 on: February 16, 2010, 07:45:07 PM »
Kabringi Empire

Many versions back I got rather tired of not being able to advance my empires much before Steve rolled out a new version.  So I made the conscious decision to pick a version and stick with it until I ran into a problem, or a really good version came out with features I just couldn't live without.  Version 5 sounds like it might be that version.  Currently I play on version 4.26.  

I also decided to play something other than Humans.  So I invented a race, the Kabringi, who run the Empire of Kabranga.  The home-world is Kabri.  Their ideal oxy content is .07 (.04 to .09), gravity is .67 (.4 to .94) and an ideal temperature of 77.9 (48.9 to 106.9).  They have a House Davion theme and Chinese commander names.

My home-world was in a nebula.  I knew that either missiles or beams wouldn't work in a nebula, but couldn't recall which; I decided it must be the beams that didn't work, because of the gasses which blocked the beam from penetrating – but I guessed wrong and it's missiles that don't work.  I therefore built my ships all wrong from what I wanted to do, which was to be heavily into the weapon type that worked and nearly not at all into the weapon type that didn't work in nebulas.  So I designed and built a lot of missile ships.

I didn't write anything down and this isn't an attempt at any kind of well-flowing fiction.  But I thought readers might like to see an empire that expanded deliberately.

As of this moment I am about 50 years from the beginning year, which I imaginatively called Year 1.  There was a couple of months where I played very infrequently because I had other duties calling me, so I'm nowhere near as advanced as I could be.  A couple of game decades ago I peeked into the database to fix an oops on my part (zero-sized mineral packets) and found that there were two other races out there, but neither seemed to have anywhere near as many colonies as I.

Kabri, the home world, had for the most part good minerals.  The rest of the system had a few largish deposits but accessibility stank.  Eventually another world in Kabringi system had a geosurvey team raise the accessibility of Duranium to somewhere around 1.0 on a moon with lots of it.

Below is the map of my systems at current, so that you can follow along (or there would be a map if I could attach the attachment I uploaded).

If memory serves I started without jump tech, so I spent a few years researching and developing jump tech, then built some geosurvey and gravsurvey ships.  The first system was Semichi.  It had a planet that was fully habitable!  Unfortunately the minerals were nearly non-existent, and there was no duranium.  I started a colony (Semichi Colony) and began transporting colonists there.

I don't recall the order of exploration, but Udibi had good minerals with OK accessibility and I started a mining colony there.  Kotzebue also had some minerals on one world, so I started a mining colony there as well.  Andro had a gas giant with Sorium, so I started sorium harvesting.  Exeter had a world which could be made habitable along with some really nice mineral deposits, so I started Kabriforming the Exeter world (Exeter colony).  Elidere and Franklin were unremarkable, although Franklin had worlds with large deposits but low accessibility.  Sullivan was the same.

Then there was Sekulman.  My geosurvey ship was destroyed by unknown aliens, so I withdrew in panic.  Later I tried another ship (in test mode) to try to communicate, but that ship was destroyed and I could not establish contact.  It turns out they were Precursors.  They didn't chase me.

I then explored a jump point off of Exeter which led to Bryceland – also the home of Precursors.  This was the end of my first round of exploration, which was probably around year 10.  I spent the next number of years researching weapons, sending test fleets against the Precursors (and restoring the database afterwords after the fleet was destroyed).  In the meantime I colonized Exeter Colony, finishing up the terraforming.  I decided to concentrate all of my colonization efforts on Exeter, because it had the best minerals of all the colonizable worlds that I had.  So I spent the next 20 – 30 years building up my colonization fleet and sending people to Exeter, as well as lots of mines and factories.

At one point, I think around year 15, I realized my duranium on home-world was about to run out.  Fortunately the geosurvey team had just found better accessible duranium on one of the moons, so I started cranking out the automated mines.  Unfortunately for me, I should have instead converted mines to automated, because long before I was able to get an equal amount of duranium from the moon's mines, the duranium on home-world ran out.  I discovered the conversion trick several years too late.  So for several years the economy on home-world was at a standstill while I tried to recover from the duranium shortage.  In the end I shipped about half of my factories (500 or so) offworld so that the construction rate wouldn't outstrip the mining rate.  I probably spent about 10 – 15 years trying to get the mining rate on the moons back up to the old rate.

Later on I ran into a problem with Gallicite running out on home-world  Luckily there's another moon in the system with Gallicite with good accessibility, so I was able to keep the Gallicite flowing.

On Year 22, I sent another test fleet against the precursors at Bryceland and won!  I explored the system and found a world with ruins that was also habitable, with Kabriforming.  Once I had built the jump gate I sent the terraforming fleet in, and they started working.  I also sent a Xeno team in and they started working too.  The ruin was a major find, with over 100 installations.  I started colonizing Bryceland Colony.  Unfortunately the system is somewhat light on minerals.  BTW I don't believe I got any new technology out of Bryceland's ruins.

A few more years to build or refit more ships and I sent a test fleet to Sekulman.  Whereas prior test fleets had been handily defeated, this one won.  This was Year 32.  Another major ruin, although the planet was unhabitable and unKabriformable.  A nice bonus was that Sekulman had nice minerals that were handily accessible.

Unfortunately the xeno team would find infrastructure and that would cause my civilian colonizing fleets to target Sekulman for colonization.  Alas the colonists died as soon as they got there.  So I had to scramble to remove infrastructure from the planet as soon as it was found, and make sure the civilians didn't colonize it.  Millions of hopeful yet misguided civilians died at the cruel lies of the colonizing companies.  Inquests are still ongoing as to who knew what and when, and how much money they got away with.

With the Kabriforming of Exeter and Bryceland Colonies complete, the Kabriformers looked to new places to work their craft.  Suitable worlds were found in the Sullivan and Kotzebue system which could with small effort be Kabriformed.  Sullivan Colony was established, and the mining colony in the Kotzebue system was turned into a people colony.  I now had 4 colonies within 1 jump of home-world, and one more two jumps away.

Sullivan Colony was quite a distance away from the jump gate to Kabringi, and in Kabringi system it was quite a way out of the system, so the transit time between Sullivan and Kabringi was a long one.  And Sullivan had only duranium, so another world was found which had nearly all other minerals, automated mines and mass drivers were set up.

At this time there was no way I could put the same level of support into these new colonies as I had put into Exeter.  I had supplied Exeter with hundreds of mines and factories.  Homeworld was finally on the rebound from the mineral shortages.  So I decided to spend the next ten years concentrating on send people and some materials to Sullivan and Kotzebue.  Actually Kotzebue was nearly all set up already, as they had had mines there for years that were feeding home-world  I traded their automated mines for manned, sent them some factories, and Kotzebue was up and running.  Sullivan was (and still is) a long slow slog to get them viable, due to the distance and the mineral problems.

About year 40 I decided it was time for my second round of exploration.  It was time to complete the second circle of unexplored systems, which had been started with Bryceland.  I had two sets of geo and grav exploration fleets, one of each teamed together.  So I explored in two directions.

From Udibi I found Pararito, which included a habitable world (with a little nudging).  I established Pajarito Colony.  I also found Chanute, which contained a world which could be habitable.  Chanute Colony was born, but it had the same problem as Sullivan Colony, so automated mines were set up on a world that could mine and send the output to Chanute Colony.  As can be seen from the map there's other systems with worlds than need Kabriforming before they can be colonized.

From Sullivan, Frankin and Elidere I found nothing that really interested me as far as mining colonies, or colony worlds.

From Sekulman I ran into Precursors at Kesai.  I sent my fleet after them and wiped them out.  But they weren't guard much expect listening posts.  There wasn't much of interest in the other systems from Sekulman.

From Andro I found the Marlette system with a Kabriformable world and some ruins on two worlds.  I explored the ruins, and eventually Marlette Colony was born.  It just reached fully habitable status, so the Kabriform fleet has left.

I struck the motherlode from Kotzebue.  Three systems each with Kabriformable worlds.  Northfield and Ashkum had ruins.  I started Northfield Colony and gave it a Kabriform fleet.

During all this time Exeter was finally reaching a point of self sufficiency (note that this is about 40 years after colonizing began!) - it had plenty of factories, mines, and other installations, including some small shipyards towed in from other worlds.  Then I hit a population crunch, and had a small shortage.  I diverted nearly all available colony fleets to boosting Exeter Colony's population.  In the last year or so the shortage has gone away but I'm still only a few million above so I'm continuing to send 90% of new populations there.

Current year is year 48.  My goal for Exeter Colony was to have it able to start building small warships by year 50 and it can certainly do that now (it's building Orbital Weapons Platforms and geosurvey ships).  My first colony of Semichi has suffered for many decades with few jobs, but I've redirected my Udibi mineral output to Semichi and this steady stream of minerals has allowed them to build (and “steal”) more factories and other installations.

So that's my empire.  I consider myself extremely lucky to have to 9 colony worlds within 2 jumps with  another 4 – 8 worlds as colony possibilities within those 2 jumps.  I haven't run into any NPRs yet other than Precursors.

I have a population of 2.9 billion (1.8 billion on home-world); a shipyard capacity of 983,000; 70 research facilities; 2026 factories; 1260 manned mines and 1143 automated mines; 7.1 million tons of shipping; 121 tracking stations; and 6 academies.  I have several thousand officers; recently I did quite a bit of culling in the upper ranks to remove officers in poor health.
 

Offline Steve Walmsley

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Re: Stories
« Reply #26 on: February 16, 2010, 08:18:57 PM »
Great report! You will be glad to hear the problem with civilians dropping colonists on uninhabitable worlds was fixed a few versions ago :)

Steve
 

Offline S.K. Ren

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Re: Stories
« Reply #27 on: March 03, 2010, 12:48:35 AM »
Man, I'm envious of you guys. Whenever I sit down to do a write up nothing happens... at all. I've gone through several campaigns, at least two centuries in and several systems explored and no NPR's. The only thing to write about is research progress and death caused by accidents, disease and old age. While I haven't tried a multi-faction home world, that's something that can happen at anytime.

The only time I encountered an NPR was 10 years into a Conventional start and a single ship came to my home world armed with 3 Plasma Carronades and destroyed all of my defenses and just sat there. I was blockaded by a single ship after only 10 years.

So I have to ask: What's the secret?, What do you guys do to keep interested in your own story?
 
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Offline Steve Walmsley

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Re: Stories
« Reply #28 on: March 03, 2010, 07:48:32 AM »
Quote from: "S.K. Ren"
Man, I'm envious of you guys. Whenever I sit down to do a write up nothing happens... at all. I've gone through several campaigns, at least two centuries in and several systems explored and no NPR's. The only thing to write about is research progress and death caused by accidents, disease and old age. While I haven't tried a multi-faction home world, that's something that can happen at anytime.

The only time I encountered an NPR was 10 years into a Conventional start and a single ship came to my home world armed with 3 Plasma Carronades and destroyed all of my defenses and just sat there. I was blockaded by a single ship after only 10 years.

So I have to ask: What's the secret?, What do you guys do to keep interested in your own story?
Excellent question, especially as I was begining to lose interest in my current campaign. Personally, I think you need a strong theme and/or philosophy for your Empire. In a sense your Empire is like a character in a book or film. If a character has a strong personality, either as a good or a bad guy, you become interested in what happens to them. Obviously it is difficult to write a compelling story if nothing happens though :). To create more action, make sure you have Precursors switched on and try raising the percentage chance of NPRs being generated.

Don't worry about writing much detail about the few first years if nothing is happening. Write a brief overview or use that portion of the story to introduce the theme, or talk about your ship designs, and them get into more detail when things start to happen. One option is to start with a short story, or after action report, that covers a single battle

Steve
 

Offline Kurt

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Re: Stories
« Reply #29 on: March 03, 2010, 05:14:50 PM »
Quote from: "Steve Walmsley"
Quote from: "S.K. Ren"
Man, I'm envious of you guys. Whenever I sit down to do a write up nothing happens... at all. I've gone through several campaigns, at least two centuries in and several systems explored and no NPR's. The only thing to write about is research progress and death caused by accidents, disease and old age. While I haven't tried a multi-faction home world, that's something that can happen at anytime.

The only time I encountered an NPR was 10 years into a Conventional start and a single ship came to my home world armed with 3 Plasma Carronades and destroyed all of my defenses and just sat there. I was blockaded by a single ship after only 10 years.

So I have to ask: What's the secret?, What do you guys do to keep interested in your own story?
Excellent question, especially as I was begining to lose interest in my current campaign. Personally, I think you need a strong theme and/or philosophy for your Empire. In a sense your Empire is like a character in a book or film. If a character has a strong personality, either as a good or a bad guy, you become interested in what happens to them. Obviously it is difficult to write a compelling story if nothing happens though :). To create more action, make sure you have Precursors switched on and try raising the percentage chance of NPRs being generated.

Don't worry about writing much detail about the few first years if nothing is happening. Write a brief overview or use that portion of the story to introduce the theme, or talk about your ship designs, and them get into more detail when things start to happen. One option is to start with a short story, or after action report, that covers a single battle

Steve

I have to agree with Steve, here.  I feel that I write the best when I have a good feeling for the race/empire that I'm writing about.  The better I know them, the better developed they are, the better I can write for them.  

Usually as a campaign goes on I get to know my races and characters better and better, and so the stories become easier and easier.  In some cases, though, it just doesn't work and I can't get into them.  As Steve noted above, that is usually when a campaign will die.  

The odd thing is that there have been several cases where I created "throw-away" races that I never expected to survive or to be developed, and they became very popular on the old Starfire list.  Sometimes you just can't tell when a race/empire/concept is going to take off, even in your own mind.  

At any rate, the key, as Steve said above, is to spend some time developing your race, its government, and at least a couple of individuals.  Once you do that, once you understand how they will react in any given situation and why they are different from any other more generic race, then you'll hopefully feel that you have something to write about.  

Kurt