Column #147; By DanQ

DanQ returns to the Column scene in hopes that the tradition of background stories, such as in SMAC, will continue in future incarnations of the Civ series in his latest article entitled "More Background Stories, Please...".

Comments/questions are welcomed here, or you may opt to contact the author directly.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

[TCO]

Good column, Dan. Do you think the combination of a story and a game is kind of the same appeal that people get from RPG's?

those books mentioned in the game (The Centauri Monopoly, Essays On Mind And Matter etc.), do they exist? Are there ****ers who are silly enough to write books after a game? Can I buy them, somewhere?

Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they
warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your
awareness outwards, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self
of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the
greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve
enlightenment.

-- Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang,
"Essays on Mind and Matter"

[Christantine The Great]

No, the books only exist in the blurbs in the game. Why would anyone write a book of that stuff?

Good call, Dan. I'm all in favour of the background tales- they add depth and flavour to the gaming experience.

Unfortunately, I think that SMAC could prove to be a one-off as I don't think the Civ games lend themselves to this as well.

[Sprayber]

SMAC is kind of unique in that the game has 14 different factions that are more defined than a whole civilization. It is like a game on cult of personality. In the other games you are just defeating the Germans or English. In SMAC, you are defeating Yang or Santiago. Many times I have yelled at the computer when Yang or someone betrays me. Its funny to take it personal when its just an AI. This enviroment is rich for story telling. And if done in the right way, it might even make a great movie. Think of the possibilities.

[DaveV]

quote: Many people will tell you that gamers such as ourselves are becoming illiterate ... as a Civer I can tell you that last time I checked it was pretty hard to give orders to your troops or sign a peace treaty with your neighbours without being able to read.

Dan - I guess modesty prevents you from mentioning that reading the wisdom at the Apolyton site is necessary to play the game at the highest level. I am frequently impressed by the literate, well thought out posts on this site. Some of the discussions about the inner workings of the game could come from college textbooks.

[lord of the mark]

3 points

1. background stories are more essential for sci fi and fantasy games - civ2 and (presumably) civ3 already have the grandest background story of them all - human history.

2. its not gamers such as ourselves who are accused of being illiterate - its gamers in general, colored by the many genuinely illiterate games out there - i mean really, there are more console games than PC games, and PC games include more action games and action-adenture or action-RPGS than strategy - and RTS outnumbers TBS, even if we seperate out the few intelligent RTS. I like Civ - i dont feel compelled thereby to defend all the shoot-em-up junk out there.

3. As any good civer knows, there are differences between "alphabet", "writing" and "literacy". The last represent something more than the level of reading and writing needed to give orders. While these forums represent a highly literate place (thanks guys)
and its necessary to be literate to absorb the history to complete the civ experience, someone who only played civ and never read a book would hardly be literate, in my not so humble opinion.

[St Leo]

Is your nick a reference to the land of Rohan?

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St. Leo
http://www.sidgames.com/hosted/ziggurat/
http://www.sidgames.com/forums/