Niccolo Edwards
Looking busy
Rule #1: The people that read your story are invested in its outcome, don’t leave them hanging.
Rule #2: Know that your story will get a fair trail, update it, make sure its edited and people will read it. There are however 41 pages on this sub-forum, if you don’t update it may end up on page 41 and won’t get a fair trail.
Now onto the guide:
There are three general types of stories:
History books:
There are different ways this can be done; they can be told as if they were general history books in your world or they can also take the form of excerpts from different books, they can even be a character in 2050 reading about the events of the past. There is no limit to what you can do here, just make sure that you stick to this format once you have started.
For an example check out Zoolooman’s end of history (unfortunately incomplete) http://lparchive.org/Civilization-4/
Narrative:
Again may different ways you can do this; most common is to follow different people around the major events of the empire. You will need a lot of characters to keep up with the different events and the passage of time. Of course other forms such as history books and comedy can be added in to make it more realistic.
For an example check out Vanadorn’s Pax Romana (sadly it is also incomplete) http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=88714
Comedy:
Either character or game based with the intention of making readers laugh; this is the most free and least restricted format of story.
For an example check out MaxWar’s RandomLand http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=445176
It is recommended that you take detailed notes on every event
My method is
Turn:
Year:
Events:
Under events I list what happened, what happened, where did it happen, who was involved.
For example if I were to build a theater in my city of Memphis on turn 105 in the year 500 BC I would write
Turn: 105
Year: 500 BC
Events:
Theater built in Memphis
Similarity for military engagements one would write where they occurred, who was involved, and the result
Turn: 105
Year: 500 BC
Events:
Theater build in Memphis
Defending Horse Archer near Thebes defeated by attacking Roman spearman. Roman spearman sustained 2.8 damage
Attacking Horse Archer near Thebes victorious against defending Roman spearman. Horse Archer near Thebes sustained no damage.
These notes help later on when you need to write about what happened when. This also helps you to not have to open up your game and load it to the year to see the events.
I recommend you finish your game before beginning a story. This does two things; first it makes sure your game is worth a story being told. I had a game once where I took an entire continent in the first eighty turns, I had two wars and limited contact with other civilizations. This also ensures that you know how the story will end it allows you to decide what events are relevant to your story; you may have ten thousand words in notes across fifty pages, but, are all of those words relevant to your story; without a doubt the answer is NO! Not all your events are relevant, but some of them that you would think are inconsequential may not be, thus, you should know roughly how your story will play out. If you look at my story, The Ascent and Betterment of Rome (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=543391) you can see that I had been planning several events well in advance. From my third update until my eighth I had been planning a revolution. I however also know how that revolution will affect events thousands of years into game future; dozens of updates into the future.
If you have questions leave them below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Depending on if I believe there is enough for another lesson I will add one.
Until then, I wish you the best of luck writing and hope to see you on the forum.
Rule #2: Know that your story will get a fair trail, update it, make sure its edited and people will read it. There are however 41 pages on this sub-forum, if you don’t update it may end up on page 41 and won’t get a fair trail.
Now onto the guide:
There are three general types of stories:
History books:
There are different ways this can be done; they can be told as if they were general history books in your world or they can also take the form of excerpts from different books, they can even be a character in 2050 reading about the events of the past. There is no limit to what you can do here, just make sure that you stick to this format once you have started.
For an example check out Zoolooman’s end of history (unfortunately incomplete) http://lparchive.org/Civilization-4/
Narrative:
Again may different ways you can do this; most common is to follow different people around the major events of the empire. You will need a lot of characters to keep up with the different events and the passage of time. Of course other forms such as history books and comedy can be added in to make it more realistic.
For an example check out Vanadorn’s Pax Romana (sadly it is also incomplete) http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=88714
Comedy:
Either character or game based with the intention of making readers laugh; this is the most free and least restricted format of story.
For an example check out MaxWar’s RandomLand http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=445176
It is recommended that you take detailed notes on every event
My method is
Turn:
Year:
Events:
Under events I list what happened, what happened, where did it happen, who was involved.
For example if I were to build a theater in my city of Memphis on turn 105 in the year 500 BC I would write
Turn: 105
Year: 500 BC
Events:
Theater built in Memphis
Similarity for military engagements one would write where they occurred, who was involved, and the result
Turn: 105
Year: 500 BC
Events:
Theater build in Memphis
Defending Horse Archer near Thebes defeated by attacking Roman spearman. Roman spearman sustained 2.8 damage
Attacking Horse Archer near Thebes victorious against defending Roman spearman. Horse Archer near Thebes sustained no damage.
These notes help later on when you need to write about what happened when. This also helps you to not have to open up your game and load it to the year to see the events.
I recommend you finish your game before beginning a story. This does two things; first it makes sure your game is worth a story being told. I had a game once where I took an entire continent in the first eighty turns, I had two wars and limited contact with other civilizations. This also ensures that you know how the story will end it allows you to decide what events are relevant to your story; you may have ten thousand words in notes across fifty pages, but, are all of those words relevant to your story; without a doubt the answer is NO! Not all your events are relevant, but some of them that you would think are inconsequential may not be, thus, you should know roughly how your story will play out. If you look at my story, The Ascent and Betterment of Rome (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=543391) you can see that I had been planning several events well in advance. From my third update until my eighth I had been planning a revolution. I however also know how that revolution will affect events thousands of years into game future; dozens of updates into the future.
If you have questions leave them below and I will get back to you as soon as possible. Depending on if I believe there is enough for another lesson I will add one.
Until then, I wish you the best of luck writing and hope to see you on the forum.
)
) so I just read into that the wrong way. Again I'm Sorry.
