The S&T Times

[Tambien]

The Archive/Page for each edition!

Current Edition:
Edition 7

Old Editions
Edition 1
Edition 2
Edition 3
Edition 4
Edition 5
Edition 5.1
Edition 6
Edition 7

Obviously, links will be added when the paper publishes editions.

We could let authors do short summaries of their peices so far, kind of like reviews, but with an entire article devoted to one story.

This has been approved by the Times Board, so if you want to do this send me a PM in the following format!

Name of Story[Linked]
Summary
Any other comments you want to put in.

 

[Tambien]

Edition 1
June 2011

WELCOME TO THE TIMES!
By Tambien​

This is the first edition of the Times. We are a newspaper dedicated to Stories and Tales of every kind! We will have many interesting sections covering everything from tips to writers to interviews with some of the writers that frequent the S&T Forums. We will be covering the S&T Forums for CivIII, CivIV, and CiV. We hope to generate more interest in the S&T Forums, and to show everyone the amazing works that exist in these places. Welcome to the Times!

The Story of the Week​

By SouthernKing​

One of the things that got me hooked on Stories and Tales in the first place was that Civilization was a game where if you used your imagination, you could create an entire alternate world out of your game. One of the stories that does this the best is The Celestial Bureaucracy by Tomorrow's Dawn. It is most definitely one of the top Civ stories out there, and a definite must read.

This story is set in the world of the Giant Earth Map scenario, as the Chinese people. The story at first seems like any other AAR, but the updates get better and better as you keep reading.

One of the great things about this story is that it completely immerses you in the alternate world that the story takes place in. The story tells almost every little detail of the world, ranging from the clothing of the Chinese people to Chinese military campaigns ethnic tensions between the various cultural groups of the nation.

If you are new to S&T, reading this story is a great place to start. This story deserves much more attention that it gets, as it is one of the great stories of today.

Story Reviews​

By Christos​

Story: World War I... in 2051 A.D.!?!?

Writer: Coinich

Civ Version: Civ3

Review:
Summary: Babylon, at peace for 250 years, gets involved in the Mayan war against the English. A freak accident involving a Babylonian sub and a Mayan frigate sparks a war between the two former allies and is the start of a World War that will change world history forever, and not necessarily for the better.


Writing: The writing is mainly scenes and reports. The amazing writing makes the story enjoyable to read. Also, the screenshots, that include real pictures, make it more realistic.

Overview: World War I... in 2051 A.D.!?!? is a very good story, with screenshots, that include real pictures, good writing and realism. Also, this story has 73 pages.
Editor’s Note: I request that you read this, it is amazing, I love it.


Story: [RFC] Pharaohs, the Lords of the Sun

Writer: Jusos2108

Civ Version: Civ4 BTS

Review:
Summary: The story begins in 3000 BC in the land of Egypt when Menes finally managed to unite Lower and Upper Egypt. Thus he was the first man to inherit the throne of Horus.

The Egyptian Kingdom soon manages to colonize North America, create nuclear weapons, take over Greece, have a war with Rome, win a World War and create one of the largest empires in the world.


Writing Style: The writing is Historical in style. When I say historical I mean that when you read it, you think that you are reading a history book. The good historical writing makes the story seem more real
than others (not that others stories without historical writing aren’t good).


Overview: The [RFC] Pharaohs, the Lords of the Sun is a very good story with realism and a historical writing that makes you think that you are reading a history book.

Story: Princes of the Ancient Lakes: A Greek City-States RP

Writer: Sonereal

Civ Version: Civ5

Review:
Summary: This realpolitik starts in Athens, where after almost 800 years without government, the people decide to crown a king. The first danger for the new kingdom is a war-band led by someone named Pericles. The economy is bad because of some bandits who forced a tax and the lack of a professional army.


Rules: The Princes of the Ancient Lakes: A Greek City-States RP is a realpolitik, however, Democracy is not absolute. At the start there is a Monarchy but later there can be democracy. Also until a social policy tree is filled every Greek city is an Independent city state with their own government and king. Kings of City-States may not conquer another city-state until a social policy tree is filled. Players can form houses. Houses are like political parties but there is no democracy. The City-States of Greece may go to war with one another for control of puppet states at any time. If one city-state declares war on an outsider, they're ALL at war with the civilization. Whether or not they choose to do anything beyond defend themselves is up to them.

Overview: The Princes of the Ancient Lakes: A Greek City-States RP is a new RP that has new rules (no democracy in start, city states) and is realistic because we all know that all nations, before they were united, were city states.

JamesCaesar’s Story Reviews​

By JamesCaesar​

Stalin of Russia: A faux cryillic aar

It is a Russia 600 AD RFC story by Civ'ed.
Up to Chapter 4 of writing, but I find that like most of these good stories, they die out. The writing is is Faux.
****/***** stars now. ***/*****at the end

Duel Civs- one of my own stories

It is each civ against each other one a duel map. It is more of a documented test that a story. It is by myself, JamesCaesar. It is a very new story, with updates 1-2 times a week.

***.5/***** stars

Vote on MoreEpicThanYou's next story!

This is not really a story, it is just for
MoreEpicThanYou readers that want to decide his next story. The choices are Beeline the Internet, RFC, and Monotheistic Asia.
Editor’s Note: I know that this is different from christos’s style, but I wanted to let each person find their writing niche and get comfortable with this.

Tomorrow’s Dawn Offers Some Tips To New Writers​

By Tomorrow’s Dawn​

1) Type your drafts out in Microsoft Word or another program that is packaged with Spellcheck instead of drafting it all on the forums, even if the style of your story happens to be short. There are some unsightly errors that you might miss even with Spellcheck though; the common misuse of “to” instead of “too” when speaking in quantitative/qualitative terms is a prominent offender of this.
i.e) “That soup is to hot,” --> “That soup is too hot,”
It’s pretty basic but you wouldn’t believe how many people fall victim to this, no matter how eloquent they normally are.

2) In the event that you need to drop your story, let your readers know. Maybe it’s a vain attempt to save some face from a poorly planned story or maybe personal issues have come up in your life. It could even be school or career related. Either way, it’s not in good form to just orphan a story without giving a reason. Most readers will probably have it in their hearts to understand the circumstances relating to the abandonment of a thread.

3) It’s popular for many people to write their stories about ongoing games. I’m an adherent of the alternative method. I generally prefer to play through a game and finish it first, taking screenshots as I go. Sometimes it becomes readily apparent from the beginning of the game that the session will be something to remember. Sometimes not, but either way, I get something to remember it by.

I like this method for several reasons:
a.) You already have all the screenshots you need on hand for an update.
b.) When you have readers who constantly clamor for updates, actually playing the game takes up a lot of time needed for the updating process. Having finished it, the only thing I need to come up with is the writing.
c.) You can devote the majority of your thought process to the actual writing itself.

Depending on your style of writing, the apparent value of this method may differ. Perhaps your story is simply comprised of many screenshots and little commentary. If that’s the case, the popular method is probably the more feasible choice. If you’re attempting a narrative story like mine, I can personally attest to the effectiveness of the “Finish first, Write later,” method.

4) When I started my first story here on the forum, I did not have a lot of access to the support and the following that many newer writers today are able to find. Many updates were posted back-to-back largely ignored with most people eschewing my story in favor of more established ones. Looking back at many of the earlier stories in the history of this forum, the same applied to many other stories. Slow Game Blog...A Long Alternate History of Ireland... is a tragic example of little attention for a novel concept of a story). Today, the Stories & Tales forum is fairly bustling with activity. You could even call it a Renaissance of sorts. Many of the readers & writers here will be keen to follow a new story and give encouragement to new writers so if anytime is a good time to do your own write-up, it would be now.

5) Try and find a niche for yourself! What is it about your story that sets itself apart from others? Is your story funny, or is it dramatic? Some of the more successful stories on the forum, whether knowingly or not have adhered to that principle. Suleiman’s Harem was popular because it had a wonderfully unique ribald sense of humo(u)r. Princes of the Universe could be considered the “Primetime” drama story of its day, with its legacy still being talked about today because of its scope.
Competition between similar stories is great but sometimes people want to read something fresh! So what are you bringing to the table?

I hope this was helpful! If you have any questions, feel free to leave a visitor message on my profile page and I’d be happy to answer them.

Red_Spy’s Interview of the Week
By Red_Spy​

Yoshiegg737
-Where did you come up with the idea of the 40 Civ stories?
When I got Civ 5 on the launch day, I saw the Mod's section already had some simple mods, and most of them linked me to CFC. So I came here, saw the Civ4 S&T, read Pacifist's stories, and wanted to write a story like his; hence why my style is almost similar to his. As for the 40 Civ name, I had just discovered RoM:AND at the time and was playing with it. Most of the time, with 40 Civilizations. So I just booted up a normal 40 Civ game, picked Pericles, and made my CFC account and began the first 40 Civ story.

-What tips could you suggest to new people who want to write a story?
I have one very important tip:

MAKE SURE TO FINISH THE STORY

-What do you feel makes a good story?
Definitely the writing. It's a story after all, so you should be reading something nice. The game itself is also good. It's always very entertaining to watch somebody play really really well (Or fail really really badly )

-And finally, what stories would you suggest new people read?
My Stories

For a less vain answer, new people should read Princes of the Universe and The Celestial Bureaucracy, easily the two best stories on the forum at the moment. If they want a story with less Roleplaying, they should look at Copaczin's story.

NinjaCow64’s Interview of the Week
By NinjaCow64​

Lighthearter
Q: When did you first encounter Civfanatics and why did you join and start a Interactive AAR?

LH: Well, it was . . . early 2010. May, I think. I had been on Paradoxplaza for a few months at that time and had played in a single, ill-fated Realpolitik game and decided that I would do the same thing, just on Civilization 4 instead of Hearts of Iron II. And so, after meandering for a while around the internet, I found this site and took a chance. Seems to have worked out pretty well if I do say so myself.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for you username?

LH: Well, the name of one of the characters in my novel The Last Prophecy. "Kevin Lighthearter" has always been something of an Author Avatar, and I just like the feel of his last name. Plus, it'd be weird for a guy to be "LadyLaiin" - which is the only other character/username I would really use.

Q: Where did you get your inspiration for Realpolitik Civ?

LH: Paradoxplaza. The user "Totally Random Productions" or "TRP" - a pair of genius Belgians - had invented the game system in late 2009 and run a wildly popular first game. I came on board in one of the successors and loved the potential . . . even though I never liked the idea until I tried it. And just look at me now

Q: Apparently, you favor Civ V over Civ IV in terms of GMing. Why is this?

LH: In Civilization 4 I was spending an hour, maybe even two hours playing single "turnsets" as we RPers call them . . . that's 15 turns to the non-RPers. In Civilization 5 I can do them in 20 minutes, tops. Plus I much prefer Civ 5 as a game to Civ 4, but we're getting into flame-bait territory. Suffice it to say, I ultimately think that Civilization 4 is better for RP than Civilization 5 because Worldbuilder is better than Firetuner, but my limitations as a GM mean I can't stomach Civ4.

Q: In Realpolitik One and Two, the players were Immortals. However, in Realpolitik Three, the players are Lord of the Rings style wraiths. Wraiths aren’t the first things that you think of when you think of a Democracy. Why did you do this?

LH: Well, there were two main reasons. One is that I've been spending a lot of time working on The Last Prophecy and wanted to try a similar setting. The other is that I wanted to shake things up. You know, change the game. It's very interesting to transplant these people used to portraying pacifists and communists and imperialists into a setting where our game goal is the take over the world and we gain our power by human sacrifice. And since RP2 was set with us battling against a Dark Lord of Evil, this seemed like a logical progression that allowed me to keep the same basic feel without it seeming contrived. Plus it allows me to flesh out a few ideas for the book without anyone being the wiser as to what I'm doing.

Q: In Realpolitik Two, there were Governors. However, at a glance at the rules, they have been removed and replaced by a Senate system. Why did you do this?

LH: Mainly, I'd received some complaints about the governor system and I looked it over. I came to the conclusion that ultimately it wasn't working the way I intended, as the President still ordered the cities around, and more or less it was just slowing the game down. So I changed to a Senate system, but because of recent difficulties with another system, I've had to change the rules for it and merge its functions with this other system.

Q: Could you give a brief explanation of the new Senate system in RPIII?

LH: Certainly. The Senate system(with these new revisions) will be merged with our new "revolter" civs that I'm also playing in Hotseat. See, if someone disagrees with the president and has the right people backing them, they can take one of these two factions and secede from the nation, starting a new nation and an endless war until one faction absorbs the other. With the new Senate rules, the people of the "revolters" or "subfactions" each appoint a "Steward" by popular vote as their leader to command their cities and domestic units. He then appoints the "Governor-General" to command the subfaction's military. These people are still answerable to the President, though, since the subfactions are technically a part of the main faction. If someone wants to secede, they need to win over a Steward, at least, and preferable a Governor-General as well.

Q: Do you have any new ideas on the drawing board or anything coming up that might interest our readers?

LH: I have an idea on the proverbial drawing board for a new forum game in the style of Fallout: New Vegas. I have no plans for a Civilization AAR(story) at the current time, nor for any other game, but a few ideas have been bouncing around my head in that direction. Perhaps a comedy, perhaps a dramatic work - I've written both in my day. Otherwise, all I have to say is that The Last Prophecy will (with a healthy dose of luck!) hit stores at least in Virginia, USA sometime in the next two years, depending on when I can attract an agent.

 

[Mosher]

You need to edit JameCaesar's reviews. I did not write Stalin of Russia, and why exactly is "Vote on METY's Next Story" or whatever being reviewed?

His "star" system could do with revision, I didn't get that the asterisks were stars until I started writing this reply.

 

[Tambien]

Who wrote it? Also, I am working with him on it....
If you dont like his style read christos's

 

[Steel Knight]

awesome!!!

 

[Yoshiegg737]

Christos's story reviews was my favourite section

 

[Mosher]

Christos did excellent reviews.

The asterisks were Caesar's, Tambien.

 

[Tambien]

I know.

 

[MoreEpicThanYou]

Um... Why'd my vote forum get up there? I thought I annouced that I was doing Monotheistic Asia.

 

[Tambien]

Ask JamesCaesar.

 

[choxorn]

Just to point out, 2051 AD is in C3C, not plain vanilla Civ 3, which you may want to mention if you also mention that Pharaohs is in BTS.

 

[bestrfcplayer]

Nice job! Hopefully I can contribute next time (I forgot).

 

[LordNwahs6]

Definitely subbed to this.

 

[NinjaCow64]

Good Job!

 

[veBear]

subbed

 

[Red_Spy]

Good job!

 

[Tambien]

Just to point out, 2051 AD is in C3C, not plain vanilla Civ 3, which you may want to mention if you also mention that Pharaohs is in BTS.

We were only saying the base version.

Nice job! Hopefully I can contribute next time (I forgot).

Thanks, and don't worry about contributing. You can do it whenever you have time.

Good Job!

Thanks.

Good job!

Gracias.

The Next Edition Should be out in about 2 weeks.

EDIT: Where can you find the page views?

 

[veBear]

Go to the subforum the thread is in, and you will see it on the far right of the thread you would like to know the views of

 

[mbkkbm]

Good job! Subbed.

(I would have said Great job, but i didn't get interviewed )

 

[SouthernKing]

Sub post, just so this is in my subbed threads.