A guide for would be Fan-Fiction Authors

clark · #1 June 18th, 2003, 06:01 PM

I haven't seen this topic approached in any other thread, and if it has, I apoligize for wasting bandwidth.

I am impressed with a great many of the Fan Fiction authors and the work they labor over. I find myself drawn to SEIV much more with each story I read.

What I would like is for the authors of such Fan Fiction to post tips on how they do what they do. What is the process they go through when creating their stories? What is the hardest part? What do you try to avoid?

Are big games with hundreds of systems unworkable, or are smaller games better for stories?

I think tips, suggestions, or any insight others can give will only lead to more Fan Fiction for all of us to enjoy.

Thanks for your time and consideration.

Erax · #2 June 18th, 2003, 06:34 PM

Hello, welcome to the forum.

I haven't seen this topic before. It's been mentioned before, but never in a dedicated thread.

Before my own 'war for the stars' story, I had never written any fiction. I had written a few articles for local game magazines and translated some game-related material. About the closest I had come to fiction was a few introductory paragraphs for homemade game scenarios.

Then I read Sachmo's "Rise of the Remorhaz Society". It gave new depth to the game. This was a typical standard SEIV game, but with real, living characters to which you became gradually attached. And you knew that this wasn't a television series or movie in which the main characters never die. On the contrary, they may die suddenly and unexpectedly the next time the author clicks on the 'next turn' button. This was something I could get into.

But I didn't start writing right away. This idea took shape over several months, until one day I woke up and said to myself, "I can do it. I can write a Space Empires story."

Suicide Junkie · #3 June 18th, 2003, 07:05 PM

Quote:

Originally posted by clark:
[QB]I haven't seen this topic approached in any other thread, and if it has, I apoligize for wasting bandwidth.

Fear not! If a thread like the Name-changing thread can exist here, you can rest assured that you're not going to be looked down upon for bandwidth usage

http://www.shrapnelgames.com/cgi-bin...;f=23;t=006550

clark · #4 June 18th, 2003, 07:11 PM

I have enjoyed, and been impressed by both your thread Erax, as well as the Sachmo's work. You both are doing an excellent job.

I myself am contemplating doign something similar, for exactly the reasons you cite- the lure of a story where the unexpected is all to possible.

What do you do to prepare for your installments? What kind of notes do you take? Do you write as you play, or do you play several turns, then write?

How do you keep track of all the characters?

Is a strong AI opponent better in terms of creating a dynamic story, or is a lower level AI preferable?

Thanks for the welcome and the replies!

sachmo · #5 June 18th, 2003, 07:23 PM

First, Erax, if my story inspired you to write yours, then my whole effort is truly worth it! Thanks for saying that...it made my day.

Clark,

I don't do much in the way of preparation. I just play a turn and watch how it comes out, writing as I go. SEIV is Alt-Tab friendly, so it allows me to switch over to my Word doc quickly. I have story threads in my mind (which, oddly enough, usually come to when while I'm brushing my teeth and shaving in the morning?) but as Erax said they can change in the blink of an eye. So they key for me is to be flexible and have fun. I find myself being overly cautious at times, hoping that my main characters don't get vaporized, and I take less risks in the game.

To keep track of my characters, at the end of my story I have an information section with all sorts of notes about the galaxy. It lists character names and details, military structure, system information, ship losses to date, and a host of other things. I generally check here to ensure that I don't suddenly replace one ship's captain with another.

As I read back over Remorhaz, I find it interesting to watch how the writing itself shaped the story...I started out with a narrative that had many references to the game, and then moved to an event by event format, to now what is basically a novella. Who knows how it will turn out, but the biggest key for me is that I have fun doing it, and that people are enjoying and responding to it. After all, writers write for their audience, no matter what they say.

Good luck and I look forward to reading your work!

Raging Deadstar · #6 June 18th, 2003, 07:33 PM

It depends if you are basing your story off a game. I've based my story off the space empires universe but there's no game behind it, whilst sachmo's and erax's are based on a game.

I keep a word file with all sorts of trivial notes in, going from month by month including when charcters are introduced/killed off, battles, facilities constructed, captains for ships etc. Thats the easiest way to keep track of things

I'm guessing that a large quadrent would be overkill. The best thing in my opinion is do a small or medium galaxy. For my story i drew out a map of systems and at max there are 20. Big maps things start getting confusing for the reader

Anything else just ask, all us writers will be willing to help!

I have to admit Sachmo, it's not only erax you inspired to write a story. You and Atrocitie's great stories inspired me to write my own, i can remember the very night i read most of your completed chapters on Spaceempires.org and it fits together beautifully

[ June 18, 2003, 18:36: Message edited by: Senator Raging Deadstar ]

Suicide Junkie · #7 June 18th, 2003, 07:39 PM

For my story (End of the Line), I used a 2-system hermit empire...
It was a valiant struggle against overwhelming numbers and tech, just to survive in a hostile world.

Ruatha · #8 June 18th, 2003, 07:40 PM

My first story was a 256 systems map...
A grand epic saga! (NGC2)
I had help by the other co-authors, our stories influenced each others, our main characters interacting.
So sometimes I would put the words in the mouth of the other authors charachters and sometimes they would do the same with mine, real fun.

The story could suddenly take a whole new turn, to bad most of my characters died

clark · #9 June 18th, 2003, 07:50 PM

Thank you all for your input so far, but the interrogation, "She must continue!" (imagine a thick german accent)

I have downloaded the TDM mod, so I think I have quite a few races to work with, but are there certain ones that might make better opponents or foils for a story based SE4 game?

Do you play differently in terms of what you research in the game, or in other words, do you alter your strategy to fit into your developing storyline?

My main issue is I have a tech strategy that I consider optimal for my playing style, however, early introduction of certain weapons (like the phased polaron) can make for unbalanced tension in the story. Part of the draw to some of these fan fiction stories (for me) is the "impposible odds" as your race is confronted with Organic technology while all you have is a DUC.

In your opinion, am I better served trying to actualy role-play the game to the point where I determine stragey from the perspective of the characters and the universe?

IE- not really reserching weapons technology until you encounter a real need for weapons tech (like the Rage)?

Suicide Junkie · #10 June 18th, 2003, 08:07 PM

You could always have a militant or paranoid race...

With mine, I was bent on terraforming my universe to perfection, and stacked up 3000 mines to keep the AIs from bothering me while I did it.

All that research into planet improvement left me with a huge military deficit, and my LCs had to go on some tech raids against the ever-present dreadnoughts roaming the badlands beyond the minefields. And all with the minesweepers continually bashing away at the fields, providing that countdown to Doom.

[ June 18, 2003, 19:09: Message edited by: Suicide Junkie ]