Gelion
Retired Captain
Anything by anyone?
Guide to NESing!
- Thread starter Gelion
- Start date
uknemesis
The Nemesis
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Messages
- 2,293
UKNemesis (lol get the spelling right!)
Generation: First
NESes run: Ummmm, anything from ten to sixteen, not too sure.
Favored types: Board Game NESs, some story NESs
Disfavored types: Story NESs that get too many pages too quickly for me to keep up!
Favorite NES: StJNES4, Troquelet's NESs, Toasty's NESs, one or two of Roddy's, and I didn't mind RTOR2 when I finally got into it, although it was all a bit hectic for me!
Animosity towards: Nobody, no reason to.
Approves of: Everyone!
Generation: First
NESes run: Ummmm, anything from ten to sixteen, not too sure.
Favored types: Board Game NESs, some story NESs
Disfavored types: Story NESs that get too many pages too quickly for me to keep up!
Favorite NES: StJNES4, Troquelet's NESs, Toasty's NESs, one or two of Roddy's, and I didn't mind RTOR2 when I finally got into it, although it was all a bit hectic for me!
Animosity towards: Nobody, no reason to.
Approves of: Everyone!
uknemesis
The Nemesis
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Messages
- 2,293
lol just read das's guide to diplomacy. I think that should be called the Maverick Approach.
My preference depends on my character. Sometimes I will play like the Maverick - screw over everyone including my allies to get what I want, but rarely.
Most of the time I prefer to play honestly, my allies never betrayed, and I fight to the death against someone who betrays me. I think it's called the Gentleman's Approach lol.
Just imagine chivalry, and that's how I usually prefer to play
UKNemesis
My preference depends on my character. Sometimes I will play like the Maverick - screw over everyone including my allies to get what I want, but rarely.
Most of the time I prefer to play honestly, my allies never betrayed, and I fight to the death against someone who betrays me. I think it's called the Gentleman's Approach lol.
Just imagine chivalry, and that's how I usually prefer to play
UKNemesis
das
Regeneration In Process
UK, glad to see you back!
Either way, true enough, I too try to sometimes play fairly (well, generally in-character, so it depends on that) but after some time I begun to preffer that approach. Ofcourse, usually I don't really betray those allies whom I trust. [Colour=White]That's not speaking for the said trusted allies though...[/Colour]
Either way, true enough, I too try to sometimes play fairly (well, generally in-character, so it depends on that) but after some time I begun to preffer that approach. Ofcourse, usually I don't really betray those allies whom I trust. [Colour=White]That's not speaking for the said trusted allies though...[/Colour]
Gelion
Retired Captain
A now a product of the last 2 hours of work:
5. Modding a NES
You think you are tough enough to run a NES? So you think you have the stomach for modding your first NES? Or perhaps you want to introduce NESing to your forum? Well confidence is half a success. If thats so this part of the guide will tell you all about modding a NES in other words making NESes work.
5.1 Before Modding
If you are not the first person to start a NES on your forum it is recommended that you gain some experience first. Play a couple of NESes of various backgrounds. PM or email one of the established mods to ask his advice on how to start and talk about how it feels to run a NES. You have to make sure that you can stay committed to your game as modding a NES is a horrible amount of work. Depending on the setup you will have to role-play at least once every few days. You have to study the subject you NES will mainly focus on.
Dont be afraid if people dont join your NES they will grow up in time
. Also keep in mind that not all forums will like the NES idea. Interest in history, alt. history, writing stories and role-playing (a governor) is crucial to NES players so make sure you have those kinds of people on the forum.
5.2 So you want to do it? (Setup)
Pick a subject. Make sure it is interesting to other players. Modding style makes the game what it is (i.e. successful or not), but a great concept idea will help you and the players get into the game quicker. Keep in mind that the more detailed and bigger the rules are the less likely you are to get dedicated players. Same is true for specialized NESes. A NES on Cambodian civil war is unlikely to get many players in contrast to Napoleon conquers Europe alternative history scenario. Even Lord of the Rings NESes are not that popular. Better try modding a broad story NES first before moving on to specialized or more detailed NESes.
Rules are crucial. Only the stats and rules that you really need should be in your rules. You can always edit them later. Keep in mind that a players country is defined by the stories written and stats on the front page. If you can try to minimize the stats for every country, but the stats that stay should represent the countrys condition well. In other words the players must be able to influence all country stats with their actions.
Dont concern yourself with detail while writing a NES. If you have to make stats for every little territory of the world dont bother with it, as few people will pay attention anyway. Merge small nations and delete islands if you think this will simplify modding for you and does not create a big problem historically. I.e. deleting Cyprus in a Mediterranean NES is kind of fatal, but I would not bother with smaller islands.
Always try to have a graphical representation of your NES. Historical NESes are represented through a map. Well drawn and moderated maps are a great asset to NESes that attract players. Keep the maps as simple as you can manage without hurting the gameplay. Generally country borders and influences are enough. Roads, trade routes important production areas and cities can also be added.
Opening a preview thread for the history setup or a new set of rules is likely to increase your chances to get players.
In short what you must prepare upon opening a game thread:
Introduction kind of self explanatory
History background not necessary for real history setup. However important to help players get a feel of the game.
Rules what players can do. Cut them to the bone and make sure they relate to stats and map.
Stats initial stats for players. In some cases stats for PCs are made after they join, but NPC stats should be done before.
Map well map . Should be done before and represent the situation at the game start (yeah right).
A note on organization. This works different for different mods, but I like to keep record of everything going on in a NES. I have a document for rules and unchangeable stuff on first page , one doc for stuff on first page that changes often, stats (could be an excel document), PMs, orders (for all updates) and annals (updates and important stories). I also have maps .
5.3 Modding a NES
You started? Good.
How to mod a NES? You must live it! .. elaborate? Sure.
Firstly if you started a NES you must already have the following: background, rules, stats, map. What I say now may sound like common sense, but I better write it all out rather than risking not explaining in full.
Assuming some of the people join you should see what the people are doing. Normally players post a few stories about their nation (how they see it) and a post saying that now my country shall change and go in this direction. This is called introduction or assuming power speech. Depending on the content you can get the rough idea on where the players are headed. Players will then post some diplo messages to NPCs. You can reply in different manner depending on NPCs and your game vision. If those diplo or stories do not come or there are few give a shot yourself post some diplo and stories (noting major thats for the update). Players reaction to them should give you an idea of how they are interested.
It is generally better to go easy on players in first few turns. Having their great plans ruined in the first turn will certainly discourage them. However as always try to keep things realistic. If a player goes overboard you can always PM him and say you can do the same thing, but in a different manner like this:... Set a date for your first update. It should not be tomorrow, give the players at least 2 days to prepare and write orders. If the players say they cannot do it by that time postpone it for some time. Treat orders as teachers treat homework if its not there, its not great for players, but a deadline is a deadline.
Once you have orders you can start on your first update. The method I use might be a little time consuming, but it guarantees that you will not miss anything. You are free to simplify it however you feel is best. Firstly you get all your orders in one document. You could organize them in chronological order if you want. Browse the thread to get and store important stories and diplomacy. Read the orders to see what is going on with relation to what was posted in the thread.
Read everything it again, get the feeling of what is going on in the world, what will happen. Make a special doc file for disposable orders which will act as a plan for the update. The follow the plan:
1. Do the orders that involve routine increasing of stats (raising armies, grow economy, wonders countdown etc). These involve automatic increase of stats.
2. Do other stats increase, but this time those which are due to players orders.
Now you are ready for the update itself.
3. Implement players orders write stories for that and update the stats for that. In case of a disagreement on orders follow your hearts judgment or make the guy who set orders before the other one win the dispute. Delete stuff from the disposableorders.doc as I go along implementing them. Make notes on unrealistic stuff you want to walk to players about, diplomacy that comes up form the stories .. this is the main part of the update so take your time with it.
4. Finish polishing the stats, writing updates for small stuff on the first page (weapons descriptions, best nations or whatever you have there, spelling checks etc. Update a map and host it on your forum or somewhere else. Find pics (and host them) if you want to use them in the update.
5. Post everything on the forum. First reserve enough space (normally two pages are enough), then the update, then update the first page.
After which you can sit and relax, enjoying the comments. Oh on a final note this is how an update that people see is structured: update itself (i.e. stories), maybe with a spotlight, diplomacy messages, notes from the mod (OOC stuff) and then the map.
Now lets talk about other aspects of modding a NES.
Order requirements some mods have them. I prefer not set any requirements for orders, but it is good when orders are organized and well written. I always comment on the orders I like to encourage them to continue writing good orders. The more time players spend writing good orders the less time mods spend figuring them out. This sentence should be engraved in every NESers mind.
Resolving conflicts. There are two types of conflicts: player vs. player and player vs. mod.
Player vs. player conflict is relatively easy to manage. Conflicts in orders (normal player vs. player situation) are resolved best according to mods judgment of the situation.
Player vs. mod conflict arises when a player is not happy with mods decision. It is always the player who starts this conflict beware as mods can simply ignore any players statement that they find wrong. This type of conflict is better to be solved privately. Public discussions take the players attention from the game and heat up the atmosphere. It is generally better either to find compromise or stand firm in your modding descision.
Mod = God, but dont play God. If you act like a God i.e. favoring some nations over the others, introducing a lot of random events etc people will just quit your NES.
Balance between realism and what players want in their orders. Do not favor players so that they are happy if realism suffers greatly this will ruin the NES. Once you accept one allowance players will ask for more to the point where it destroys the game. For once we had Fusion power inn 1970s when computers were not even there. The mod had to fix that and put constraints on what is meant by Fusion power.
A mod should stay creative and live the game. Beware of the stats, cuz they can kill the spirit of modding in you!
Note on Maps: Maps are generally the only graphical representation of your NES . Generally a map is a must for a NES so think of ways to attach it to your forum.
Nicely designed maps attract some players (me for example), so do spend some time working on your maps. It is generally good to get a blank world map (from CFC) for example and use that. Photoshop is not that difficult. However it is wise to add only those things that are important from gameplay such as roads or cities. Some maps only have borders on them and nations colored differently it is a minimum. Different NESes require different level of details on a map and different maps. Maps could be uploaded to a host site or the forum itself.
It is possible to change the rules of the game as long as you inform the players and the change is necessary and does not unbalance the whole game.
5. Modding a NES
You think you are tough enough to run a NES? So you think you have the stomach for modding your first NES? Or perhaps you want to introduce NESing to your forum? Well confidence is half a success. If thats so this part of the guide will tell you all about modding a NES in other words making NESes work.
5.1 Before Modding
If you are not the first person to start a NES on your forum it is recommended that you gain some experience first. Play a couple of NESes of various backgrounds. PM or email one of the established mods to ask his advice on how to start and talk about how it feels to run a NES. You have to make sure that you can stay committed to your game as modding a NES is a horrible amount of work. Depending on the setup you will have to role-play at least once every few days. You have to study the subject you NES will mainly focus on.
Dont be afraid if people dont join your NES they will grow up in time
. Also keep in mind that not all forums will like the NES idea. Interest in history, alt. history, writing stories and role-playing (a governor) is crucial to NES players so make sure you have those kinds of people on the forum.5.2 So you want to do it? (Setup)
Pick a subject. Make sure it is interesting to other players. Modding style makes the game what it is (i.e. successful or not), but a great concept idea will help you and the players get into the game quicker. Keep in mind that the more detailed and bigger the rules are the less likely you are to get dedicated players. Same is true for specialized NESes. A NES on Cambodian civil war is unlikely to get many players in contrast to Napoleon conquers Europe alternative history scenario. Even Lord of the Rings NESes are not that popular. Better try modding a broad story NES first before moving on to specialized or more detailed NESes.
Rules are crucial. Only the stats and rules that you really need should be in your rules. You can always edit them later. Keep in mind that a players country is defined by the stories written and stats on the front page. If you can try to minimize the stats for every country, but the stats that stay should represent the countrys condition well. In other words the players must be able to influence all country stats with their actions.
Dont concern yourself with detail while writing a NES. If you have to make stats for every little territory of the world dont bother with it, as few people will pay attention anyway. Merge small nations and delete islands if you think this will simplify modding for you and does not create a big problem historically. I.e. deleting Cyprus in a Mediterranean NES is kind of fatal, but I would not bother with smaller islands.
Always try to have a graphical representation of your NES. Historical NESes are represented through a map. Well drawn and moderated maps are a great asset to NESes that attract players. Keep the maps as simple as you can manage without hurting the gameplay. Generally country borders and influences are enough. Roads, trade routes important production areas and cities can also be added.
Opening a preview thread for the history setup or a new set of rules is likely to increase your chances to get players.
In short what you must prepare upon opening a game thread:
Introduction kind of self explanatory
History background not necessary for real history setup. However important to help players get a feel of the game.
Rules what players can do. Cut them to the bone and make sure they relate to stats and map.
Stats initial stats for players. In some cases stats for PCs are made after they join, but NPC stats should be done before.
Map well map . Should be done before and represent the situation at the game start (yeah right).
A note on organization. This works different for different mods, but I like to keep record of everything going on in a NES. I have a document for rules and unchangeable stuff on first page , one doc for stuff on first page that changes often, stats (could be an excel document), PMs, orders (for all updates) and annals (updates and important stories). I also have maps .
5.3 Modding a NES
You started? Good.
How to mod a NES? You must live it! .. elaborate? Sure.
Firstly if you started a NES you must already have the following: background, rules, stats, map. What I say now may sound like common sense, but I better write it all out rather than risking not explaining in full.
Assuming some of the people join you should see what the people are doing. Normally players post a few stories about their nation (how they see it) and a post saying that now my country shall change and go in this direction. This is called introduction or assuming power speech. Depending on the content you can get the rough idea on where the players are headed. Players will then post some diplo messages to NPCs. You can reply in different manner depending on NPCs and your game vision. If those diplo or stories do not come or there are few give a shot yourself post some diplo and stories (noting major thats for the update). Players reaction to them should give you an idea of how they are interested.
It is generally better to go easy on players in first few turns. Having their great plans ruined in the first turn will certainly discourage them. However as always try to keep things realistic. If a player goes overboard you can always PM him and say you can do the same thing, but in a different manner like this:... Set a date for your first update. It should not be tomorrow, give the players at least 2 days to prepare and write orders. If the players say they cannot do it by that time postpone it for some time. Treat orders as teachers treat homework if its not there, its not great for players, but a deadline is a deadline.
Once you have orders you can start on your first update. The method I use might be a little time consuming, but it guarantees that you will not miss anything. You are free to simplify it however you feel is best. Firstly you get all your orders in one document. You could organize them in chronological order if you want. Browse the thread to get and store important stories and diplomacy. Read the orders to see what is going on with relation to what was posted in the thread.
Read everything it again, get the feeling of what is going on in the world, what will happen. Make a special doc file for disposable orders which will act as a plan for the update. The follow the plan:
1. Do the orders that involve routine increasing of stats (raising armies, grow economy, wonders countdown etc). These involve automatic increase of stats.
2. Do other stats increase, but this time those which are due to players orders.
Now you are ready for the update itself.
3. Implement players orders write stories for that and update the stats for that. In case of a disagreement on orders follow your hearts judgment or make the guy who set orders before the other one win the dispute. Delete stuff from the disposableorders.doc as I go along implementing them. Make notes on unrealistic stuff you want to walk to players about, diplomacy that comes up form the stories .. this is the main part of the update so take your time with it.
4. Finish polishing the stats, writing updates for small stuff on the first page (weapons descriptions, best nations or whatever you have there, spelling checks etc. Update a map and host it on your forum or somewhere else. Find pics (and host them) if you want to use them in the update.
5. Post everything on the forum. First reserve enough space (normally two pages are enough), then the update, then update the first page.
After which you can sit and relax, enjoying the comments. Oh on a final note this is how an update that people see is structured: update itself (i.e. stories), maybe with a spotlight, diplomacy messages, notes from the mod (OOC stuff) and then the map.
Now lets talk about other aspects of modding a NES.
Order requirements some mods have them. I prefer not set any requirements for orders, but it is good when orders are organized and well written. I always comment on the orders I like to encourage them to continue writing good orders. The more time players spend writing good orders the less time mods spend figuring them out. This sentence should be engraved in every NESers mind.
Resolving conflicts. There are two types of conflicts: player vs. player and player vs. mod.
Player vs. player conflict is relatively easy to manage. Conflicts in orders (normal player vs. player situation) are resolved best according to mods judgment of the situation.
Player vs. mod conflict arises when a player is not happy with mods decision. It is always the player who starts this conflict beware
as mods can simply ignore any players statement that they find wrong. This type of conflict is better to be solved privately. Public discussions take the players attention from the game and heat up the atmosphere. It is generally better either to find compromise or stand firm in your modding descision.Mod = God, but dont play God. If you act like a God i.e. favoring some nations over the others, introducing a lot of random events etc people will just quit your NES.
Balance between realism and what players want in their orders. Do not favor players so that they are happy if realism suffers greatly this will ruin the NES. Once you accept one allowance players will ask for more to the point where it destroys the game. For once we had Fusion power inn 1970s when computers were not even there. The mod had to fix that and put constraints on what is meant by Fusion power.
A mod should stay creative and live the game. Beware of the stats, cuz they can kill the spirit of modding in you!
Note on Maps: Maps are generally the only graphical representation of your NES . Generally a map is a must for a NES so think of ways to attach it to your forum.
Nicely designed maps attract some players (me for example), so do spend some time working on your maps. It is generally good to get a blank world map (from CFC) for example and use that. Photoshop is not that difficult. However it is wise to add only those things that are important from gameplay such as roads or cities. Some maps only have borders on them and nations colored differently it is a minimum. Different NESes require different level of details on a map and different maps. Maps could be uploaded to a host site or the forum itself.
It is possible to change the rules of the game as long as you inform the players and the change is necessary and does not unbalance the whole game.
Gelion
Retired Captain
^ please post your comments on that...
I want to have it in a different post...
I am looking for any link that is usefull for NESing: list of maps, different names, weapons, historical articles.... all the good things will go in the back of the guide as reference. Please do not put anything like google or "firstwordwar.com"...
Thanks!
I want to have it in a different post...
I am looking for any link that is usefull for NESing: list of maps, different names, weapons, historical articles.... all the good things will go in the back of the guide as reference. Please do not put anything like google or "firstwordwar.com"...
Thanks!
Gelion
Retired Captain
Well its a last bump that I am making 
das
Regeneration In Process
Good work, Gelion. Now on the details...
5.1. Yes, but you also shouldnn't be too shy about "inexperience". If you feel that you have the time and a good idea that is interesting to YOU, then go start it - its unlikely that you won't find any players. Ofcourse, us expert mods are always there to advise... Another thing - its important that you don't delay updates needlessly, at least not the first two. Those two updates are the decisive ones. Delaying those is likely to destroy much interest in it - not only for the players, but also for you.
5.2.
But also remember that what's much more important is that its interesting to YOU.
As for the rules, again, remember to make rules that are interesting to you, and those that you yourself can manage. You can always afford to sacrifice some realism for playability.
When working on the stat rules, you should be sure to pick those that represent important factors that could affect the way things go in the update. Again, you don't have to include ALL factors, only those that are important, those that won't be too hard to manage and that will be easy to take into consideration during the update. For instance, education influents the technologic progress, confidence and culture influence the resistance of a nation's population to invasion. Some stats, how ever useful, can needlessly slow down update - those you could do without.
Its important that maps aren't overtly confusing; that's why a small map legend could be useful, i.e. "white=rebellion, small black square=fortification, small black circle=city".
Its also useful for development purposes. If you run out of ideas for rules or something, that's what the other people are for.
Um, Gelion... Stats for PCs are made after they join in fresh start NESes. Often enough NPC stats should be done as they appear in those, albeit there were historical exceptions.
For me its like this - folder, in it doc files for rules, updates, stats, orders and all the maps. Another important thing is, btw, to come up with a "NES schedule". Practically, you specify the days for your updates and plan for how to do it. Some things you could do before the update itself, like the domestic part of update for those who sent in orders already, but it really depends on you.
5.3. Lots of comments here too.
Note that RPing the NPCs is very important. Frankly I, and many other mods apparently, like to put... colorful personages in charge of NPC nations. Determine (for major and medium NPCs at least if you have lots of those) the personality of those in charge and plan for them accordingly, and then reply to diplo and operate them accordingly. Interesting NPCs are one of the keys to succesful NESing. Problem is that you could possibly become too attached to a NPC, leading to soemthing of a bias. Try to supress it.
Important thing is to encourage players to ask questions - about their nations current state, their history, etc, etc. Making up things as you go is not really bad, as long as its not in conflict with the information you already gave out.
As for the deadline, its best not to move it in the last moment, especially as many people like to post stories revealing their secret plans just as the deadline passes. Naturally, that can screw up lots of plans needlessly.
Btw, about teachers and moderators, I've observed this parallel for some time now... It led me to pity my teachers, naturally enough.
That's one way, but for instance one could do like I do and divide the update into domestic and military part. You could in the domestic part go order-by-order, edit the stats as you go and write something about them in the domestic part. Also, its useful to edit the map as you go - i.e. after writing about the breakthrough on the Liberian front you could then on the map modify the frontlines there and then also modify the stats to represent casualties.
Or after writing an update that involves lots of bad things happening to PCs you could disconnect and flee for your underground bunker with lots of bodyguards, and only emerge in the morning to see the comments that most probably don't involve any death threats. But to be on the safe side...
(And yes, I was quite compelled doing that occasionally in "climax updates")
Technically its up to you, though.
Oh, also, you can always add some random events to make things more interesting. Not only those I put in my random events, i.e. stat changing ones, but less random things like public movements, succession crisises, NPC diplomatic initiatives... It always spices things up.
On order requirements - IMHO these should be standardized or something. IMHO its important that people always point out where which of their troops are. Especially the troop numbers should be, if not pointed out every time you split up forces, then at least they should be possible to figure out. YES, that was was the biggest problem I faced thus far with player orders.
IMHO you should give a better definition of this. Player vs. player conflicts being the conflicts between PC nations, or - as one could assume from the description of the player vs. mod conflicts - flame wars based on grudges or somesuch? I assume its the former. In that case it should indeed be determined as you see fit - in conventional combat, for instance, taking into mind numbers, training, terrain and tactics. Its best to assume that both armies execute their orders at approximately the same time; also, btw, one should remember that army commanders can override their orders in a radically-changed situation; whether they remain motionless in the absence of replacement orders or act according to their sense of the situation is up to you; I preffer to solve it with the Army Leadership stat and with those genius commanders I occasionally drop by to the various armies randomly.
As for the public discussions, as long as they aren't offensive they are only reasonable. Frankly I think that the authority of the moderator should be upheld... but the moderator, on the other hand, better have a reasonable explanation for all that happened in the update!
Random events (and NPC actions) aren't really bad as long as they don't become more important then PC actions.
When it comes to technologic development its best to leave it to the moderator, IMHO. As for development caused by the players, they could develop what they want as long as they could make a good case for it. If they want 70s fusion... sure thing, if they could really explain how do they expect to get it. Same, btw, with other unconventional actions like some of the espionage antics of some people I could mention. If the mod thinks them unlikely, he should make the one who came up with them explain himself.
As for maps, the most important part is that they, indeed, are a correct graphic representation that isn't excessively confusing. Its hard for a player to come up with plans when he doesn't understand what is where exactly.
Its best not to change the rules at all during a NES. There are exceptions, for instance in BTs in ITNES (and similar happenings in, for example, GoobNES) when a whole new situation is created, thus allowing the players to create new plans based on it; in that case, rule changes, as long as they are agreed on with the players, are unlikely to be detrimental.
IMHO that's rather useless. Depending on NES practically any historical/geographical/scientific site could be useful.
5.1. Yes, but you also shouldnn't be too shy about "inexperience". If you feel that you have the time and a good idea that is interesting to YOU, then go start it - its unlikely that you won't find any players. Ofcourse, us expert mods are always there to advise... Another thing - its important that you don't delay updates needlessly, at least not the first two. Those two updates are the decisive ones. Delaying those is likely to destroy much interest in it - not only for the players, but also for you.
5.2.
But also remember that what's much more important is that its interesting to YOU.
As for the rules, again, remember to make rules that are interesting to you, and those that you yourself can manage. You can always afford to sacrifice some realism for playability.
When working on the stat rules, you should be sure to pick those that represent important factors that could affect the way things go in the update. Again, you don't have to include ALL factors, only those that are important, those that won't be too hard to manage and that will be easy to take into consideration during the update. For instance, education influents the technologic progress, confidence and culture influence the resistance of a nation's population to invasion. Some stats, how ever useful, can needlessly slow down update - those you could do without.
Its important that maps aren't overtly confusing; that's why a small map legend could be useful, i.e. "white=rebellion, small black square=fortification, small black circle=city".
Its also useful for development purposes. If you run out of ideas for rules or something, that's what the other people are for.
Um, Gelion... Stats for PCs are made after they join in fresh start NESes. Often enough NPC stats should be done as they appear in those, albeit there were historical exceptions.
For me its like this - folder, in it doc files for rules, updates, stats, orders and all the maps. Another important thing is, btw, to come up with a "NES schedule". Practically, you specify the days for your updates and plan for how to do it. Some things you could do before the update itself, like the domestic part of update for those who sent in orders already, but it really depends on you.
5.3. Lots of comments here too.
Note that RPing the NPCs is very important. Frankly I, and many other mods apparently, like to put... colorful personages in charge of NPC nations. Determine (for major and medium NPCs at least if you have lots of those) the personality of those in charge and plan for them accordingly, and then reply to diplo and operate them accordingly. Interesting NPCs are one of the keys to succesful NESing. Problem is that you could possibly become too attached to a NPC, leading to soemthing of a bias. Try to supress it.
Important thing is to encourage players to ask questions - about their nations current state, their history, etc, etc. Making up things as you go is not really bad, as long as its not in conflict with the information you already gave out.
As for the deadline, its best not to move it in the last moment, especially as many people like to post stories revealing their secret plans just as the deadline passes. Naturally, that can screw up lots of plans needlessly.
Btw, about teachers and moderators, I've observed this parallel for some time now... It led me to pity my teachers, naturally enough.
That's one way, but for instance one could do like I do and divide the update into domestic and military part. You could in the domestic part go order-by-order, edit the stats as you go and write something about them in the domestic part. Also, its useful to edit the map as you go - i.e. after writing about the breakthrough on the Liberian front you could then on the map modify the frontlines there and then also modify the stats to represent casualties.
Or after writing an update that involves lots of bad things happening to PCs you could disconnect and flee for your underground bunker with lots of bodyguards, and only emerge in the morning to see the comments that most probably don't involve any death threats. But to be on the safe side...
(And yes, I was quite compelled doing that occasionally in "climax updates")Technically its up to you, though.
Oh, also, you can always add some random events to make things more interesting. Not only those I put in my random events, i.e. stat changing ones, but less random things like public movements, succession crisises, NPC diplomatic initiatives... It always spices things up.
On order requirements - IMHO these should be standardized or something. IMHO its important that people always point out where which of their troops are. Especially the troop numbers should be, if not pointed out every time you split up forces, then at least they should be possible to figure out. YES, that was was the biggest problem I faced thus far with player orders.
IMHO you should give a better definition of this. Player vs. player conflicts being the conflicts between PC nations, or - as one could assume from the description of the player vs. mod conflicts - flame wars based on grudges or somesuch? I assume its the former. In that case it should indeed be determined as you see fit - in conventional combat, for instance, taking into mind numbers, training, terrain and tactics. Its best to assume that both armies execute their orders at approximately the same time; also, btw, one should remember that army commanders can override their orders in a radically-changed situation; whether they remain motionless in the absence of replacement orders or act according to their sense of the situation is up to you; I preffer to solve it with the Army Leadership stat and with those genius commanders I occasionally drop by to the various armies randomly.
As for the public discussions, as long as they aren't offensive they are only reasonable. Frankly I think that the authority of the moderator should be upheld... but the moderator, on the other hand, better have a reasonable explanation for all that happened in the update!
Random events (and NPC actions) aren't really bad as long as they don't become more important then PC actions.
When it comes to technologic development its best to leave it to the moderator, IMHO. As for development caused by the players, they could develop what they want as long as they could make a good case for it. If they want 70s fusion... sure thing, if they could really explain how do they expect to get it. Same, btw, with other unconventional actions like some of the espionage antics of some people I could mention. If the mod thinks them unlikely, he should make the one who came up with them explain himself.
As for maps, the most important part is that they, indeed, are a correct graphic representation that isn't excessively confusing. Its hard for a player to come up with plans when he doesn't understand what is where exactly.
Its best not to change the rules at all during a NES. There are exceptions, for instance in BTs in ITNES (and similar happenings in, for example, GoobNES) when a whole new situation is created, thus allowing the players to create new plans based on it; in that case, rule changes, as long as they are agreed on with the players, are unlikely to be detrimental.
IMHO that's rather useless. Depending on NES practically any historical/geographical/scientific site could be useful.
Gelion
Retired Captain
Good point that last one
das thank you VERY VERY much for the comments. I now know which parts I need to expand and work on. Some of the ideas are very helpfull
I'm going to include all that you wrote in the guide today.
das thank you VERY VERY much for the comments. I now know which parts I need to expand and work on. Some of the ideas are very helpfull
I'm going to include all that you wrote in the guide today.
das
Regeneration In Process
Hello? Is anybody else going to comment on it? I feel rather lonely like that.
Gelion
Retired Captain
Hear hear..... come on guys this thing is like 80% done...
uknemesis
The Nemesis
- Joined
- Jan 16, 2002
- Messages
- 2,293
Just skim read it for now, but can't help but notice it seems to tell you what kind of NES to make. Remember, not all NESs are these hybrid NESs - you can have pure story ones with very few nation stats, and game NESs (which this one definitely isn't geared to, with "the stories players write affect their stats" or something to that effect).
Not criticising, just saying it should be made clear this is how to mod a story NES. I'm sure Roddy, Jason, myself and others can contribute to a section on moderating a board game NES...
Otherwise an excellent piece.
Nemesis
Not criticising, just saying it should be made clear this is how to mod a story NES. I'm sure Roddy, Jason, myself and others can contribute to a section on moderating a board game NES...
Otherwise an excellent piece.
Nemesis
Gelion
Retired Captain
Thanks! Thats a lot coming from you
I think I should add a line about the type of NES being taken as an example...
I will post the "final" version some time this week.
I think I should add a line about the type of NES being taken as an example...
I will post the "final" version some time this week.
das
Regeneration In Process
Precisely, albeit most NESes nowadays are hybrid NESes of various kinds we mustn't forget about the others.
Lord_Iggy
Generation: Sixth
NESes run: 1- LINES
Favored types: Story NESes
Disfavored types: Board NESes
Favorite NES: StKNES5
Animosity towards: Sheep annoyed me once. And so did Symphony D. Jason killed off 3 NESes I wanted to join, but he's okay other than that. Oh, and he stole EGYPT FROM ME IN StNNES something.
Approves of: Everyone else.
Generation: Sixth
NESes run: 1- LINES
Favored types: Story NESes
Disfavored types: Board NESes
Favorite NES: StKNES5
Animosity towards: Sheep annoyed me once. And so did Symphony D. Jason killed off 3 NESes I wanted to join, but he's okay other than that. Oh, and he stole EGYPT FROM ME IN StNNES something.
Approves of: Everyone else.
Gelion
Retired Captain
Did some more work on the guide... will need some reflections from you soon....
