Optical
The Fall of the Eleventh
The Stories and Tales Times
2nd Edition
2nd Edition
Acting Editor's Foreword
____________________________________General Olaf said:
Tomorrow's Dawn's Story Reviews
Civilization V:
The Mandelbrot Affair
by krc
The Mandelbrot Affair details the exploits of the German people as they strive towards the noble goal of harnessing, harvesting & discovering the secrets of ‘fractals’. While that may not make sense as I describe it to you now, upon reading a few posts in this comedic gem, it still won’t make sense but it may so happen to cause you to laugh. Tongue-in-cheek humor directed at the absurdity of Civilization game mechanics is usually a big hit-or-miss with me, but The Mandelbrot Affair is so smooth in its delivery that it definitely hit the mark right on the bullseye. krc has crafted a story that demonstrates clear-cut mastery of Civilization-centric comedy and in my humble opinion, sets the standard for Civilization comedy. If you like a little comedy in your Civilization, then I highly suggest you read this story.
Now go give this story the attention it deserves!
Rating: 4.5/5
Civilization IV:
A Story of Earth
by strijder20
A Story of Earth presents us with a very interesting premise. While played on the Earth18 map on regular BtS, strijder20 imposed several conditions on himself similar to the Historical Goals presented to us in the Rhye’s And Fall of Civilization mod. The Malinese people are tasked with not only completing their own Historical Goals, but also must meet the requirements of the Carthaginians as well because strijder20 migrated them north. The story is done in a standard gameplay-oriented model…until a certain, specific point in the game causes strijder20 to turn the story on its head and engross us in narrative literature. The surprise is not offsetting and the writer manages to pull it off well. If you like surprises and otherwise, a very solid gameplay-oriented story, A Story of Earth is right for you.
Rating: 4/5
Civilization III:
Celtic Fury
by Sparthage
The Celts, from their humble homelands of western Africa, are about to show the world the rage of their Celtic Fury. Like the majority of Civilization III tales, we are treated to a delectably, savage Celtic military romp across the ages. I must admit that whenever I read a Civilization III story, I eagerly expect it to be a story of conquest and sweeping military action. And Sparthage certainly does not disappoint us in this regard. Aside from the writer’s excellent command of a reader’s attention with the Celts’ constant wars, Sparthage also manages to reinforce it with something completely unexpected:
Excellent Formatting.
It makes the writing that much easier on the eyes and is very much a contributing factor in the sleekness and appeal of the story.
New writers, take note of this one; if you can get your story to be half as clean cut as Celtic Fury, I'd say you're on the right track.
Rating: 4/5
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Forward to the Backture: A Look into S&T Archives, by General Olaf
WARNING: DO NOT, under ANY circumstances, bump OLD, DEAD or FINISHED stories. They have been written and finished, they belong in the past, and any subscribers really don’t want more subscription emails. NEVER, EVER, NECRO THESE STORIES.Now that’s done, let me introduce myself. I’m General Olaf. I’m a relatively new member of the subforum... and yet, I’m fascinated by old stories. The glorious history of the Civ Stories and Tales forums is underestimated. Princes of the Universe, while extremely old and practically a household name among Civvers, is still alive according to author Sisiutil. So that’s not what I mean by an ‘old story’.
No, I mean REALLY old stories. Such as my focus for this edition: user Helmling’s Philosopher Kings series.
Much like Princes of the Universe, Helmling’s story details the exploits of not just a civilization, but its ordinary people. Episode VII, Tartarus (to take one example) is a one page story: it skips much of the detail... and it shows important parts of the showcased game... and in contrast, Episodes 8, 9, and 10 form one, fairly long, story. I really enjoy both ways of presenting the story, and Helmling is the master at both. Every screenshot is a window into the world of Helmling’s subjects. It really is brilliant.
Not only that, though. Helmling’s highly acclaimed series traverses TWO Civ games: III and IV. Players of either game have plenty of reading material, and Helmling’s stories are such that a player of IV can read the III parts, and vice versa. And rather than spoiling the stories for you, I’ll include the links below. These stories belong in the Hall of Great Civ Stories. Enjoy.
Oh, and also: Episodes VIII, IX and X form a trilogy.
The links below go to each of Helmling’s stories. DO NOT bump the threads. Old stories belong in the past.
Civ3 Stories
The original (Episodes I, II and III): http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=93858
Episode IV: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=94266
Episode V: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=104845
Episode VI: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=108790
Civ4 Stories
Episode VII: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=150319
Episode VIII: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=160928
Episode IX: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=163540
Episode X: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=164879
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NinjaCow64 Interviews Sisiutil, Author of Princes of the Universe
NinjaCow64: When did you first encounter Civfanatics and why did you join and start a Story?
Sisiutil: I came across the Civilization Fanatics' site shortly after I purchased and started playing Civ IV. I had Googled "Baba Yetu", the most prominent words in the Civ IV (vanilla) main title music (which, I soon discovered, was also the song's title) because I enjoyed it and wanted to know more about it. The top search result was a thread in the CFC forums, where I learned everything I wanted to know about the song. I quickly realized that the site was an excellent resource for learning about the game and sharing my enthusiasm for it with other like-minded people. So I, too, became a Civ Fanatic.
As I stated in the introduction to my Princes of the Universe story, my direct inspiration for creating it was Helmling's Philosopher Kings story series. I lay no claims to being very original in this regard, because Helmling laid the groundwork and I followed in his footsteps. I suspect he was also inspired by writers such as James Michener and Edward Rutherford, who have written these wonderful, sweeping, multi-generational historical sagas. I went in a different direction overall--my Romans are very warlike, whereas his Greeks were, as his title implies, much more philosophical. But the overall structure of a multi-generational story based on a Civ IV game, complete with screenshots, was there for me to emulate. Thanks, Helmling!
NinjaCow64: Where did you get your inspiration for your username?
Sisiutil: I live in Vancouver, BC. The Sisiutil is a legendary creature in the stories of the Nootka, the native people who live on the west coast of nearby Vancouver Island. That's the short answer. But I'm a storyteller, so here's a longer one.
If you go to the west coast of Vancouver Island (which I highly recommend, especially to Long Beach National Park), you'll see trees and rocks that appear to be twisted around upon themselves. According to the Nootka legend, these are, in fact, people; they became transfixed in these contorted positions because they were confronted by Sisiutil, a monstrous, two-headed sea serpent. These former humans ran away in fear, but the monster's appearance is so hideously fascinating that they couldn't look away even as they tried to escape it, hence their twisted final forms.
But if you ever encounter Sisiutil, if you can find the courage to stand your ground, you will not be destroyed. By standing firm, you will enable Sisiutil to see his other face; all creatures seek to know their other side, to understand that ultimate truth about themselves. By standing your ground and allowing this to happen, Sisiutil will bless you and protect you for the rest of your days.
I first encountered the story in the writings of Anne Cameron, a BC writer who has collected native legends into several books. It appealed to me because I saw not only universal wisdom in it, but also uncanny parallels to Taoist ideas of the balance of yin and yang. My wedding ring was carved by a native artist and features a depiction of Sisiutil, so you get an idea as to how much the story means to me. So when I had to select my board name, it was an obvious choice. I lay no claims to being Sisiutil, mind you--rather, the choice of name is an homage to the creature, his legend, and to the native people of the place where I've chosen to make my home.
NinjaCow64: Your story, Princes of the Universe, is probably the most praised on the whole of Civ 4 Stories and Tales. How do you write so engagingly? Is there a secret?
Sisiutil: Thanks for the compliment, though I don't know if it's true--as I mentioned, Helmling got there first, and there are several other very engaging stories by talented writers in that forum.
Every writer hopes to engage his or her audience. The biggest advantage of writing and posting on the Internet, even if there's no financial compensation, is that you get to interact directly with your readers; in a forum environment especially, such as CFC, they'll post, comment, and critique your work. Though it's a technology-based medium, it harkens back to the beginnings of storytelling, when tale-tellers sat at campfire and wove their stories while their audience responded directly and immediately. Modern storytellers--published authors, screenwriters and directors, etc.--don't get much opportunity to do that anymore. I've felt privileged to have so many people read the stories I've posted at CFC and comment on them. I've learned a lot in the process and I like to think I've become a better story-teller and writer as a result. So if I have a secret to share with other writers, it's paying attention to your audience and taking their responses to heart.
NinjaCow64: You have a book coming out in real life. Could you please give us some details when/where it is coming out and when it will come out?
Sisiutil: Heh. Well, that's still in the early stages. I do indeed have a full-length novel finished--an historical fantasy, I'm calling it, set during the Trojan War (the working title is The Trojan Messenger). But completing the book was just the start of the battle. At this point I'm trying to interest an agent who will, in turn, hopefully interest a publisher. For those of you who are unaware, the publishing industry has changed; there's no longer any point in sending an unsolicited manuscript to a publisher. I don't know of any publishing house that will accept them. They've basically turned the job of screening unpublished authors over to agents.
So that's the route I'm attempting to take; if it doesn't work out, I may simply turn to on-line e-book publishing (which is what my wife, also a writer, has been doing for a couple of years now) or even on-line self-publishing. My wife, in fact, has encouraged me to go that route anyway, but I'm an old-fashioned fuddy-duddy and would like to see my work published in a traditional format.
To more directly answer the question, at this point I have no idea when it will be coming out, let alone if, but as soon as I know you can bet I'll be shouting the news from the rooftops and, of course, posting about it on CFC.
NinjaCow64: You have attempted a ALC (All Leaders Challenge), where you play as every leader in Civ 4 and win, in the Strategy and Tips section. Could you please describe the experience?
Sisiutil:The ALCs were every bit as rewarding as writing and posting the Princes tales have been. I can't honestly remember if many people were doing anything quite like it at the time I started; I know that succession games were around, but that wasn't what I did, though they helped inspire me. But even without a model to follow (unlike Princes, patterned, as I've said, after Philosopher Kings) posting a play-by-play account of a game, accompanied by screenshots and saved game files, while requesting feedback on what to do next, seemed like an obvious way to take advantage of the CFC forums and improve my gameplay.
It certainly worked. Thanks to the ALCs I moved up the difficulty levels from Prince to Immortal (no, I still haven't cracked Diety yet). Interacting with so many fellow Civ enthusiasts was fun as well as informative. And all writing is good writing; the ALCs were also, in their way, a form of story-telling, and I know posting them improved my writing.
But playing a game while capturing screenshots, then selecting and uploading them, then writing a narrative about the round proved to be a draining experience over the years that I did it. I think I also hit a wall where my gameplay became as improved as it was going to get, and my off-line games since then seem to have proven that point. And Firaxis kept adding more leaders with each expansion pack, so the self-assigned task of playing and posting a game with every leader became more daunting over time. So I retired from playing and posting the ALCs, but happily, others have picked up the challenge since then and the series continues. Countless other people have also chosen to post play-by-play games in the Strategy forum at CFC, I notice--AND THEY ALL OWE ME ROYALTIES.
(...just kidding...)
NinjaCow64: Do you have any new ideas on the drawing board or anything coming up that might interest our readers?
Sisiutil: Now that my first novel is complete, I am returning to and attempting to finally finish Princes of the Universe. It's not easy, as I have several other novel ideas I want to work on (as well as a 9-to-5 job to pay the bills, among other responsibilities), but I feel I owe it to all the people who've patiently followed the story over the last few years. Once it's done I'll probably retire from posting on-line stories and concentrate on material I can (hopefully) get published. But I'm still playing Civ IV and posting on the board every now and then, so anyone who's interested in what I'm doing can easily find out--no doubt I'll post any relevant links in my signature. So keep watching that space!
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S&T Writers Challenge, By Mayor
Welcome to the S&T Writers Challenge. A place for writers to go head to head and show off their skills. A place for new writers to make a name for themselves and where experienced writers can try new writing styles and concepts.
What do you have to do to participate?
In every edition of the S&T Times you can get your challenge.
This challenge can consist of several things. It is possible you’ll get a basic story line for yours story and a save map. It is also possible you’ll just receive a civilization you have to use or you get a specific event you have to write about.
Furthermore your story has to consist of at least 1000 words and a maximum of 1500 words° and you’ll have three weeks to write it.
When your story is finished you send it in a PM to me. I’ll judge the stories with the help of two other (guest) judges. If your story is best of that challenge your story will be shown in the next S&T Times.
The first Challenge:
You will play the Mayans in an RFC game with a 3000 BC start. Your cities are already built and have already started building things. You’re also researching a technology.
This is the point where your story starts.
The story will finish when you encounter the first non-american civilization.
Good Luck and more importantly: Have Fun
°There is a margin of 10%
1st S&T Writer’s Challenge.CivBeyondSwordSave
EDIT (yes, to the paper, I know, how terrible
): Above save is broken, post 88 (this post) has the working save.EDIT2: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=10836092&postcount=109 - the ave for those who have the latest version of RFC, which must be downloaded via CFC; this version was not released with 3.19.
Besides that obvious 
mistake, Good Job! 
