commments on "The Spartan Chronicles" (vol. 3) - Page 6

D4everman · January 15, 2001, 17:43

I just wanted to say this story is great! I can't wait to read more! My compliments to all of you talented people involved!

D4

Googlie · February 27, 2002, 14:10

double post

Googlie · February 27, 2002, 14:12

Updated map now posted on the site (the Battle for Sparta Command)

Go to:

http://clik.to/sparta

and then to the maps page to download to your scenario directory (note that it won't open from your maps directory as it is not a map, but a scenario) - so open it with the scenario/edit scenario command

G.

korn469 · March 2, 2002, 03:16

WOW!

ok i haven't read any of the spartan chronicles in months, so i thought i would read the last little bit, and suddenly i get all of these excellent stories building up to an excellent finish, so then instead of just browsing through the last couple of post, suddenly i'm going back and further back, all the way to the begining of vol. 3 to refresh my memory

this isn't great writing, this goes far beyond that, this is breath taking, i mean for a group of people to accomplish this on the internet about a game...i don't know if it has happened before or if it will happen again, but the Spartan Chronicles IS the story of Alpha Centauri, hehe the guys who did the CGI for SMAC should do like a movie of it

if they ever do have a reissue of SMAC or do SMAC2 this should come on the CD as a file or something (or bind it into a book)

my hat is off to everyone who stuck with it, and everyone who joined and stuck with it after i left! i'm very proud i was part of this even for a little while, and i just want to say to everyone that i really am floored by the success of this project, you basically made one of the most in depth novels about an imaginary world ever, all on the internet in a fairly free flow type writing environment!

great job, i'm enjoying the hell out of reading (and rereading) it

senatus · March 7, 2002, 11:56

Thank you korn! It's sort of neat to see what your "baby" has grown up to, eh? I am thrilled to see that the "founding fathers" such as you and vel are pleased with what this creation has become, and that many of your characters have not been forgotte and that your efforts have been continued.

The Spartan Chronicles aren't over yet, although as you surmised, we've started to enter the climax and conclusion that the remaining writers felt was called for. I won't to say we're trying to "wrap it up", but rather we want to make sure that the story does complete as such a massive work of group effort deserves. Hearing comments such as yours helps give us the enthusiasm to fulfil this.

Quote:

Originally posted by korn469
WOW!

ok i haven't read any of the spartan chronicles in months, so i thought i would read the last little bit, and suddenly i get all of these excellent stories building up to an excellent finish, so then instead of just browsing through the last couple of post, suddenly i'm going back and further back, all the way to the begining of vol. 3 to refresh my memory

...

my hat is off to everyone who stuck with it, and everyone who joined and stuck with it after i left! i'm very proud i was part of this even for a little while, and i just want to say to everyone that i really am floored by the success of this project, you basically made one of the most in depth novels about an imaginary world ever, all on the internet in a fairly free flow type writing environment!

great job, i'm enjoying the hell out of reading (and rereading) it

Hydro · March 7, 2002, 14:00

Thanks korn,

You deserve a lot of credit, by the way, or helping us understand how military issues might work in SC, since before your valuable input they were all over the map (my understanding was particularly fuzzy). Your posts also helped crystallize how the Morganite society is structured and its ‘atmosphere’ with your excellent UoP Resistance posts. Of course, your work on the SC maps helped SC survive its early birthing pangs, too, since it helped us get our bearings and have a coherent story line.

Now, it's time for me to get of my duff and get back to work...

Hydro

Googlie · March 9, 2002, 13:42

Hey, korn:

good to see you back (and reading, if not writing) - and I echo the others' thanks for the compliments.

You are one of the "founding fathers" and, as Hydro said, without that early map we'd all have been floundering.

Most of the map is intact, imported into smax format to accommodate the Aliens (and I took the liberty of amending the early map to missor the story line rather than amending the story line to mirror that early map)

And we are nearing completion - at 2600 pages, and counting (although Marr has a couple of cards left still to play)

Cheers

Googlie/Rynn/Slats/Paula Forbes et al.

The_Progenitors · March 9, 2002, 13:55

Emotion :: scorn at puny himan boasts//mirth at human weakness

Message :: death of human despoilers of Manifold Six imminent

Ultimate outcome :: Progenitor victory

#############################

Conqueror Judaa Marr

korn469 · March 11, 2002, 10:58

Ok after having read all of the latest volume of the Spartan Chronicles I have a few comments

The first thing i noticed is that you have grown as writers, maybe not so much in technical ability, but in your confidence with the story, all of the latests post are much more ambitious than any of the original posts to the SC.

Also another thing is that communication and cooperation between you guys has came so far from the chaos of the early SC, plus it is harder to tell a difference between the authors, and i think this reflects on the fact that you are all solid writers, while i can pick out differences in the writing styles, the story as a whole is very consistant as far as writing is concerned

When it comes to continuity of story, you have done an excellent job, hehe and you nailed how i imagined Xavier perfectly, i smiled when i saw you guys had unthawed him, also you bring up past situation enough to keep them fresh and to show how they have influenced the characters, good stuff keep it up

Also the other things that most impressed me was that the factions felt alive, and that the characters, even the unimportant ones seemed to have motivations and characteristics that real people have, there are no cookie cutter bad guys

Out of all of the faction leaders the ones with the best portrayals in my opinion are Miriam and Yang. They both seem alive, and dynamic, which is a credit to the SC, because it would have been easy to make them one dementional, and instead you can see what shapes their visions for humanity...Yang is perfect, so much more than a simple power hungry despot,and yet quite possibly the most ruthless and cunning of all the faction leaders...your take on Miriam is certainly different than the normal religious fanatic, and i think it fits her quite well and makes the dronebelievers a faction you could actually respect, in fact your entire representation of the dronebelievers is quite good, as is all of the detail with the hive...out of all of the factions in the SC i think that the inner workings of the hive have received the most attention and all of the details and fitting and interpret the hive in the most believe way

another thing that you have done quite convincingly is made the aliens feel both alien and ancient, i encourage you to further explore their rituals, and their society in future posts, and i feel slightly sorry for Zzar, because out of all of the aliens he is the one who seems least infected by the cultural rot that plagues them...i'm not sure if that is the portrayal you were going for but that is the impression i have

though i do wonder why they couldn't use the RNA learning methods to train a few people capable of repair...sorry if this is in older posts of the SC

on another note while the story is quite creative, you really have kept the SMAC feel to the game
_____________________

anyways, i'm glad that the map helped out, and one thing that hasn't changed about the Spartan Chronicles is that you are all still as gracious as ever!

hehe though after reading this, i have the worst urge to go play a game of SMAC!

although i know the end is getting close, i'm still not sure how you are going to wrap it up, but i look forward to more! so keep up the good work

Hydro · March 11, 2002, 19:00

korn,

SC is well coordinated now, but there is something to be said for chaos. There was a lot of energy and creativity in early SC, and an edge since no one had any idea where the story line was going. Another plus for chaos is that there was always room for someone that had a new take, and they could jump right in and everyone else would have to react (like the UoP Resistance, for instance). That said, the chaos came close to pulling it apart a few times and, since we need to get on with it, some coordination was needed (plus trading characters as part of that coordination has been a lot of fun for me).

I have to admit that Yang is my favorite SMAC faction leader. His quotes show a frightening depth and clarity of thought that hints of shells within shells, and of a master chess player that has every feign and sacrifice plotted in advance. And he is spiritual in an atheistic way with a deep-seated inner calm. He is utterly controlled amid chaos, and enforces that control on those around him through pure intellect and strength of will. His weapon is his soft, silky voice, and the fact that while he never loses his temper you definitely do NOT want to be around if he ever did!

So, while Yang is my favorite faction leader I would give ANYTHING not to be one of his subjects – his vision is my vision of hell on Planet. Maybe that shows in my posts about Yang (Plex Anthill, anyone?).

**warning – long-winded reply to korn’s simple question to follow**

I posted a couple of times on that subject RNA and the Progenitors. RNA teaching is how the Progenitors use egg crèches and cloning vats to force pre-programmed learning modules during the creation of the workers and technicians their society needs. What they get are non-thinking but technically adequate drones, which is what Marr wants. Every once in a while something goes wrong, and the gestation in the crèches and (later) cloning process goes awry and produces an anomaly, regardless of the force or the RNA learning. That is Zzar, who had a proto-Caretaker crèche egg-tender who violated all the rules since he was a ‘special’. Her own RNA was transferred to him as she cared for his egg as part of extensive contact with her body and body fluids, so he was indeed a ‘special’ before and after the fact. Besides RNA education there are also authorized Personalities and Faces chips that are used to boost the applied knowledge of the elite Progenitors they are loaned to. These Faces and Personalities are downloaded interactive memories from the ancient past, which also strengthens the adherence to strict Progenitor faction orthodoxy. This sameness reinforces the ridged Progenitor society and makes it almost impossible for it to change over thousands of years except under extreme duress when these social codings break down (like on Manifold 6). Your question about technology is a good one, though, and as I see it some of the ancient engineer Personalities that have this knowledge have gotten lost and destroyed as the wars rage and Flowerings ripe the fabric of Progenitor society apart. RNA teaching gives you the knowledge, but not the understanding of how to appropriately use and integrate it. I have hinted in my Progenitor posts with Zzar that these engineer Personalities are the rarest, and most valuable, of the Personalities since they are the most used, and therefore the most likely to be lost or destroyed. When these are lost so is their link with these fabulous technologies that allowed them their greatness. They have already lost the secrets of Manifold 6, and slowly but surely more and more is lost as they destroy each other, and now the humans. The Progenitor response to the stress of millennia of war is stasis, which works for a while – but decay is inevitable. So, while they can repair (some things, but not the BattleMech Ogres), they can not create or innovate, and with each generation something else is lost since they are building nothing new. After a while this society will (has?) slip below critical mass and that will be the crisis that allows change to occur. Then the cycle starts again and a new faction or factions will form from the debris of the last. They will innovate and ascend to greatness, rise to the stars and build upon the ruins of the past. Then they too will war with each other, stagnate and decay, and then fail after tens of thousands, or even millions, of years. That is the Great Cycle of destruction and rebirth of the Progenitor, and that of their greatest works – the Manifolds, through the last 500 million years. I see the Progenitors knowing, at some basic level, that they are in an endless cycle, and that uncounted ages lie in back and in front of them, but to them it is not tragic – it just ‘is’.

Hydro

Hydro · May 9, 2002, 10:46

This is my 200th post to Spartan Chronicles. That isn’t nearly as many as the vaunted Googlie (and his avatars) but it does seem like a milestone for me. Just think – 200 posts, which average 3-5 pages each - that’s about 800 pages of text. Now that is over 2 ½ years so the productivity isn’t that high. Still, 800 pages is almost novel length. Who would have guessed that when I reluctantly joined the SC crew because it was too “militaristic” that I would get this involved?

Anyway, this is the fourth version of this post. Two versions with Morgan and one with Yang just didn’t work, so I picked up an unlikely character of Googlie’s that I’ve worked with in the past. Plus, it was time Sarah had another showing.

Hydro

Dcole78 · May 9, 2002, 11:44

ok moved over to the fiction forum just to check out what was going on and low and behold not only were the spartan chronicles still running (what is it now a year or more after the sub commandar left?) but there still incredible! I agree this is absolutly amazing, goes to show how much can be done with a TBS if only a little plot is thrown in. Good work guys, wish I had time to start writing again, but I've got to graduate a enter the real world (Man what a scary thought the real world shiver)

Mr. President · May 10, 2002, 04:07

800 pages is "almost" novel length? Gosh, what would you consider a "long" book?

Kataphraktoi · June 11, 2002, 18:19

20+ volumes?

Kataphraktoi · June 11, 2002, 19:32

errr,i was looking through oldish posts on the forum and didnt remember that this wasnt posted in for over a month

Googlie · January 7, 2003, 19:26

Well, after some prodding by Hydro, I have finally come back to the Chronicles and picked up the story line where I left off do many months ago.

And we are committed to finishing it this spring.

Thanks Hydro for the partience and prompting, and the help (a chunk of the current post is borrowed from him)

A new map is downloadable at the Chronicles site:

http://www.clik.to/sparta

And thanks to any readers who are left - your patience will be rewarded with a fitting ending

Googlie

History Guy · January 8, 2003, 19:28

Well...I was impressed. Greatly. Indeed...I loved it. However...I want to see some Usurpers get there's...

Hydro · January 15, 2003, 21:43

Goog worked on that post for a while, and it was worth the wait. I'll post a few more before the end of the week.

Hydro

Hydro · January 30, 2003, 11:51

I have to offer a mea culpa to the readers of Spartan Chronicles for one of my recent SC posts. Senatus had a very valid objection to Gaian acquiescence on the Morganite plan to (attempt to) use a PB on the nasty Usurpers. He is quite right. Of all the factions the Gaians (and, strangely, the Hive) have been the truest to their core beliefs, often to their detriment.

After thinking about it for a while I think Dee would have the opinion ‘two wrongs don’t make a right’ when considering using a fusion PB to counter a pair of singularity PBs. By comparison, any of the other factions (even the PKs, I think) would happily lob PBs at each other given the right circumstances.

The post will be altered to make it more appropriate.

*~*~*~*

Post fixed, along with some editing irregularities.