Writer's Workshop

Kody · September 18, 2003, 05:43

I'm going to attempt to refine what Tassadar started on the ACDG introduction. People give suggestions, be critical as possible about what you think doesn't work and also say what you think works well. We also might need a picture or two as graphics usually impresses people

.

I'll probably be editing my post quite regularly too.

Quote:

Tassadar wrote:

Welcome to the Alpha Centauri Inter-Factional Democracy Game.
First off, if you don't already know, Sid Meiers Alpha Centauri (or "SMAC" as its called by fans) is a very nice Turn Based Strategy created from the mind of Brian Reynolds, also the mastermind behind Civilization 2. In our democracy game (and we'll explain that in a minute) we'll be using the expansion pack as well, Alpha Centauri Alien Crossfire (or "SMAX") for this game however it is not required if you just want to take part in the role-playing element.
Anyway, by now you must be wondering what exactly this "interfactional democracy game" is? Well, for the most part this game is like your traditional PBEM (Play-by-e-mail). You play your turn, save, and send it to the next person. However, there is one very important difference between most PBEMs and this one.
Instead of one individual player playing each faction, we have several players playing each faction. Each of these factions sets up a government and creates positions. For example, The government structure may be something like this (Note that the people on top have higher authority, and the people on bottom have lesser authority):

PRESIDENT
|
|
VICE PRESIDENT
|
|
|
MINISTER OF FOREIGN AFFAIRS
|
|
|
MINISTER OF DIPLOMACY

And so on. One person is elected to each position and has control over anything that falls within the category of their position. For example, the "Minister of Diplomacy" as displayed above may have control over interactions with other factions, but would not have control over what is to be built in bases. Please note that there is no standard and some factions may have 3 government positions and others have 33. The people elect other players to these positions (hence "democracy" game). Each of these is done at an interval agreed by most players of the faction. For example, the entire government may be re-elected every 1 month in real time in FACTION A, while in FACTION B the government may be re-elected every 4 INGAME Turns. However, this does not end the job of the people.
In addition to electing government officials, the people also vote on government decisions. For example, if the MINISTER OF INFRASTRUCTURE has the option of building a "Recreation Commons" in a base called "Washington", then he will post a poll which will ask the people if they wish to build a Recreation Commons, another base, nothing at all, write-in, or "xenobanana".
"Xenobanana? Whats that?" Xenobanana is an option that most polls will have. If this option gains more than fifty percent of the vote, then the poll is deemed invalid, oudated, and is discarded. Of course, the poll will automatically be discarded if it violates the rules of a factions constitution.
What is a constituion? Each faction has the option to create a constituion or "set of rules" which will detail what is or is not allowed, government positions, etc etc. Some factions may opt out of creating a constitiuion if they so wish.

Now that you know the basics of the Inter-Factional Democracy Game, it's time to join! These are the factions avalible:

THE HUMAN HIVE - This faction plays the SMAC faction known as "The Human Hive" (hence its name). The current leader of The Human Hive is "Chairman Voltaire".
THE FREE DRONES - This faction plays the SMAC faction known as "The Free Drones" (also hence its name). The current leader of The Free Drones is "Forman Buster".
THE CYBERNETIC CONSCIOUSNESS - This faction plays the SMAC faction known as "The Cybernetic Consciousness" (again hence its name). The current leader of The Cybernetic Consciousness is "Function Maniac".
PLANET UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY - This faction plays the SMAC faction known as "The University of Planet", but has changed it's name. The current leader of this faction is "Dean Archaic".
PEACE - This faction plays the SMAC faction known as "The Nautilus Pirates", but has changed it's name. The current leader of this faction is "Hercules".

Each of these factions are great factions and I would highly recommend all of them. However, you can only join one faction and once you join, you cannot leave and join another faction so make your choice carefully!
Once you have decided, it is time to join the faction of your choice. You can make your selection here. After you have made your selection, you will have to wait for the leader of the faction you have chosen to approve you. After that: Welcome to the Alpha Centauri Democracy Game and have fun!

I wish to join the HUMAN HIVE (Human Hive)!

I wish to join the FREE DRONES (Free Drones)!

I wish to join the CYBERNETIC CONSCIOUSNESS (Cybernetic Consciousness)!

I wish to join PEACE (Nautilus Pirates)!

I wish to join the PLANET UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY (University of Planet)!

Kody · September 18, 2003, 05:48

Thread Title:
For new members. The Alpha Centauri Democracy Game, an introduction

Contents
* Introduction
. . . .The computer game Alpha Centauri
. . . .Roleplaying
. . . .Government & Diplomacy
* Teams
. . . .The Hive Team
. . . .The Cycon Team
. . . .The Peace Team
. . . .The University Team
. . . .The Drones Team
* Being Involved In The ACDG
* Joining In
* Extract from Hive IC Story - part II

Introduction
The Alpha Centauri Democracy Game is based upon the computer game Alpha Centauri. It is often referred to by the abbreviation ACDG. There are 5 teams of humans that are playing in this game. In addition to the playing of the actual computer game, the teams are roleplaying, running their own internal governments that decides on and executes decisions and most importantly having fun interacting with each other.

Our time is mainly spent on roleplaying, playing the game and running the government & diplomacy. A new member can contribute to any of these aspects of our game, and does not have to become involved in an aspect they are not interested in. These three aspects of our game will be discussed briefly.

The computer game Alpha Centauri
Alpha Centauri is a turn based strategy game that has a loyal following of gamers due to it's complexity. Unfortunately the same complexity prevented it from being accepted as a mainstream game. However, most of the people here are unfazed by that.

The game Alpha Centauri is set in a futuristic world where earth is dying. In a last ditch effort to save the human race the space ship Unity was built and sent to the nearby star Alpha Centauri. A couple of decades later, the colonists arrived and began their approach to a planet they named Chiron. However, things did not go to plan as space debris hit the ship forcing the colonists to crash land. This combined with an assassination of the captain, broke the chain of command and caused the survivors to break up into 7 separate factions with different ideologies.

The game begins as you crash land on the world. You need to built up your cities, and rediscover much of the technology that was lost in the crash. You also have to contend with the other 6 factions that are somewhere else on the planet. However, that's not all, as this brave new world is also an alien world. As you progress through the game you have to learn about and understand the planet you have landed on.

Usually one or two people from each faction are nominated to play the game turns. These people usually take the advice and directions of their team mates, then make the moves in the game before pass it on to the next team. Currently, the game is progressing at 1 turn every 5 days. At this rate it is expected the game will finish in a year to a year and a half.

Roleplaying
Roleplaying is about imagining yourself in a interesting situation or having a different persona. It's about acting out a character.

In this case you're pretending to be someone in the futuristic world of Alpha Centauri. The type of roleplaying depends on the faction you decide to join. The different teams have come up with varying ideas on how to roleplay in their faction. So you should probably have a look at the individual descriptions of each faction.

There are many ways to roleplay in the ACDG. It is doubtful anyone will try and restrict you, but it's easier if you're with people that like to roleplay in the same ways. So far it appears the favourite ways of roleplaying are in writing stories, writing newspaper articles, roleplaying your position in the government, writing diplomatic messages, and making jokes while acting out your character.

Government & Diplomacy
The majority of factions are running a democracy for their government system. This means that many decisions are voted upon. Decisions have to be debated with arguments and reasoning before approval can be made for all major decisions. Inside each faction there is a government hierarchy, and work is distributed among the members according to their government position.

Diplomacy occurs within a team in convincing other team members of ideas and running for elections. External to the team there is inter-factional diplomacy. This involves mainly alliances and trading in the early stages of the game. When the first global council is called it is expected that issues of global important will also be decided.

Teams
The differences in the team aren't only in their roleplaying descriptions. They're also different in the way they are run, what they spend their time doing, and how they roleplay.

The teams have different governing systems and command structures. This is highlighted in the descriptions each team has provided. The priorities of each team also vary, with some giving high priority to the technical aspects of the game and others to roleplaying.

This can be divided even further. Certain teams will likely stress aggressive game play or prefer to build up their forces for the long run. In roleplay, certain factions may place high emphasis on roleplaying while making decisions. Other factions may prefer to use story writing or newspapers as the main outlet of their roleplay.

Which faction you choose should depend on what you are interested in. Once you have committed to a team you cannot change teams. This is to prevent secret information from being leaked into other factions. If you have joined a team and find you don't like it, your only opinions are to attempt and change way the team is being run or quit. Enforcing your will on all your team mates is going to be difficult so you should try and choose the team you want to join carefully.

The Hive Team
The Cycon Team
The Peace Team
The University Team
The Drones Team

Being Involved In The ACDG
People are involved in this game because it allows them to interact with other people. Some of the participants are here to learn the game from the experts that are playing. Others like to write articles or stories and show them to others in their team. Roleplaying with your team members can be something fun to do every now and again. Most often people come to this place just for an excuse to talk and share jokes.

Having others to play with is a major part of the ACDG and interacting with the others is what makes it fun. This is why we are always interested in new members.

It's not necessary to devote large amounts of time to the ACDG. Some members spent less than 1 hour a week making a few comments. If you are interested in more commitments then there are always jobs available. How much you want to get involved depends on what you decide.

Joining In
If you are interested in joining, you should first be fairly sure which team you will fit into best. One mistake people make is joining a team based on which faction they have enjoyed playing in the past. The differences between the teams are more than just what their faction can do.

You can only join one faction, and once you join that faction you will be unable to change to a different faction. This is because many of the game secrets are shared among team members, and allowing someone to change between factions may result in one team’s secrets being told to another team.

It is suggested you read each faction's description before making your decision.

Once you have chosen the faction of your choice you should look at the links at the top of the page. The links highlighted in the below picture allow you to join a faction, leave a faction and after you have joined the private forum link will appear there. These links will only be visible when you are in the ACDG forums.

To join, you click on the join link associated with your chosen faction then send a private message to the leader of the faction. Do not attempt to join multiple teams at the same time, as you will get rejected by all of them. This is so that game secrets won't get leaked out by someone that has access to multiple teams.

The factions and team leaders to private message are listed below.

Join the: Hive Team Leader: Voltaire Description: The Hive Description	Join the: Cycon Team Leader: Drogue Description: Cycon Description	Join the: Peace Team Leader: Hercules Description: Peace Description
Join the: University Team Leader: Archaic Description: University Description	Join the: Drones Team Leader: Buster Description: Drones Description	Computer Players: Believers Data Angels

Extract from Hive IC Story - part II
The world revolves. It turns, changes, and yet remains the same for some. Water flows, currents drift, and wind carves the landscapes beauty. Even the most resolute stone cannot help but be altered by the forces of time. What abnormality caused Rokossovky to remain stagnant through all of this? How did the world revolve past him, around him, but leave him standing, a dam in the river? This was the question he pondered.

“How did you manage to get a bigger office than me?”

HongHu laughed lightly at the question as she stood from her desk. “Well my dear Marshal if you hadn’t ran off for all that time I’d probably still have the smaller one.”

“Can I help if it matters more important than politics call me away for a time?”

“Marshal, even YOU should have noticed that in the Hive politics IS the most important. Mind worms go away; the party is a little more concrete. You should learn to dangle the carrot for it more often.”

“Ah, the party. I must say that I find this most amusing coming for you, the one who has slapped the carrot in the face of the party, the people, and the chairman.”

“Nonsense, I told them all that my term as Deputy Chairman would be finite. I did my duty.”

“Why do you not continue to serve?”

“A desire for peace, I suppose. A longing for a simpler existence.” This note hit a cord with the Marshal. Peace was a word which appeared very often in his dreams, but so little in his life. …the sky… he would think, alone in his restful fiction …the night sky, the pure expression of peace. So alive, yet so still and calm. There are not clashes, no politics, only existence. Black and white, light and dark. Twinkling in our view, far away; and even farther beyond our reach…

“I can understand that.” Rokossovky’s mood was sombre now, as he was forced to consider real life and his absence of peace. He was unsure, as always, as to what would indeed bring it to him. He did know that peace did not involve declining opportunities to advance; but he knew HongHu was a different person with a different view on life. That he truly could comprehend. “Well anyway, now that you’ve found YOUR peace, where shall we go for supper? I suspect you are rather hungry after a full day packing.”

“Somewhere quiet. I’d like to start my new life quietly.”

Rokossovky looked at his watch. …01:30…the maintenance crew should be done by now… “Are you up for a bit of adventure? A quiet one though, I promise”

“It depends on what you mean?”

“My cooking.”

HongHu let out another small laugh. “I’m sure it is far from an adventure.”

The Alpha Centauri Democracy Game, an introduction - by Kody

Nubclear · September 19, 2003, 00:00

Very good, though get rid of the "LINKS" picture and just put the links in yourself. Less confusion.

You can copy-paste mine if you want.

Kody · September 19, 2003, 00:08

I know, but they need to learn how to use those links. We had one new member that took 3 days to figure out how to get into our private forum. I had to explain via PM to fix that problem.

Kody · September 19, 2003, 02:05

Well I need to think of a good roleplay story to tag on the end of that. Then it'll be up to each team to come up with their descriptions. Also pointing out spelling or grammar mistakes will be appreciated.

Kody · September 19, 2003, 08:22

Okay I hope everyone has been busy planning what they're going to write about their faction. The main document just needs people to read over it and remove any possible errors. Then addition of the links to the other descriptions.

Can I get confirmation from each faction that they intend to submit something? If you're not planning on submitting I'll throw something together. However it will be nowhere near as good compared to if someone from your faction wrote something.

Kody · September 19, 2003, 08:33

If anyone has suggestions for a better roleplaying segment....

It should be stronger and more interesting, but I'm restricted in what I can reveal about what is happening in the game. I can make it very generic, but that means it's just the same as the rest of the AC stuff out there and doesn't relate well to what is occuring in the ACDG.

Kody · September 20, 2003, 06:13

IMPORTANT

Can people confirm whether their team is going to give a description of their faction? Even if you don't know just say you've read this.

I'm wondering if the title is causing people to not read this, and if nobody responds I going to try make a new thread with a different title.

GeneralTacticus · September 20, 2003, 06:15

I have read it, and I do intend to write up a factional description at some point.

Hercules · September 20, 2003, 06:16

Five in a row. Yes we'll provide a description and the title does confuse.

Maniac · September 20, 2003, 06:34

Read.

Snowflake · September 21, 2003, 23:18

Provost GT, are you the current leader of the University? Just curious.

GeneralTacticus · September 21, 2003, 23:19

Half-leader. Archaic is technically leader, but I have the authority to play the turns and so on, and he's been rather inactive lately, so I'm probably the highest-ranking person in the PUT atm.

Kody · September 22, 2003, 02:42

Hive description at this time

You should join the hive because we really need new members to help spread out some of the workload.

jtsisyoda · September 22, 2003, 15:55

I read this, but I don't know of any Drone plans to write anything.

Kody · September 22, 2003, 20:36

Contents
* Introduction to the Hive
. . . .????
. . . .????
. . . .????
* How the Hive Game is Run
. . . .Roleplay
. . . .Government
. . . .Strategy

Introduction to the Hive
Incomplete

How the Hive Game is Run
The Hive is a very active faction, both in strategy and in roleplay. In a roleplay sense we have a very structured government. However, this does not translate to how the faction is actually run and our greatest weakness is in coordination.

Roleplay
The majority of the hive's members spend most of their time engaged in roleplay. The main projects underway are the roleplay story, one sentence story and the newspaper Pravda. The emphasis for both of these is to have fun rather than producing high quality writing. We believe that setting harsh criteria for submitted writing would be detrimental to number of people able to participate.

The one sentence story and Pravda are mainly places to exercise a sense of humour, although several serious articles have been submitted to Pravda. For a new member that wishes to not get deeply involved, the one sentence story is an ideal place to post every now and again. At present there is no official Pravda editor, which has lead to recent declines in the release rate of new Pravda editions. So if a new member enjoys writing and compiling newspapers the position is currently open.

The roleplaying stories are generally serious in nature and there is an unspoken understanding we won't insert silly jokes. Each person is allowed to create as many of his or her own characters as required and can add in their own thread to the story as long as it does not purposefully contradict what has already happened. Plot twists and future plot plans are usually discussed in the story discussion thread. There is no one person organising the direction the story is taking rather it's a group effort. Characters phase in and out of the story depending on whether their writers are busy or not. This allows for high flexibility in participation.

A new project was suggested that involved an interfaction roleplaying story. The idea was to spread some of our roleplaying to other factions and allow them to participate via private messages. The idea was the plot line would be interesting to other factions as factions would only be given some of the details and they would have to interact and make decisions to find out what is going on. However, someone with some free time is needed to organise this project and provide some of the writing.

Government
While our decision making process isn't highly structured we are satisfied with the results. The focus is mainly on decisions made early or fast. Decisions of minor importance are generally made among whoever is available. Generally this is vote among 2-4 people.

More important decisions have information threads posted and members are requested to give their opinions. If there appears to be some disagreement with the chosen course of action, members that haven't responded are contacted for their opinion too. A poll is then made together with an information post that states all the ideas and opinions that have been gathered from the forum and from MSN conversations between the members. When there is a deadlock between opinions and it becomes clear that further discourse is unlikely to break the deadlock. Then the chairman is asked to make a veto decision.

Information on the precise moves is posted before the turn. Usually the precise moves are ready several days before the turn arrives. This allows for problems to be found by members, and allows further optimisations to occur. Rough moves are usually planned 5 turns into the future, and the effects are predicted 10 turns into the future.

When the move arrives the turn player plays the turn while accompanied by at least one other member on MSN. New developments are discussed and any issues caused by other factions or random events are resolved between the people present.

After the turn has been completed the turn chat, details of new developments and a screenshot of the current state of the game are posted.

The main problem with this decision making process is it allows for members to get away with not contributing to the decision making process. This results in the less than critical decisions getting little or no input, as everyone expects someone else to help make the mundane decisions.

Strategy
While the hive actually lacks in experience compared to the other factions the members have made up for this deficiency in other ways. Large amounts of time are spent researching new ideas and precision in every single turn is paramount.

Consequently, a new member can contribute more as all ideas are considered important. Also a new member can learn more as when a new idea pans out it is explained in depth to the other members.

Back to Contents Page

Vev · September 22, 2003, 22:05

GLORY TO THE HIVE!!!!

Kody · September 22, 2003, 23:44

Just installed the links to the seperate factions in the introduction post, this post is just to check that the links all work correctly.

When the rest of you do write your sections copy the html tag that is embedded in this post for your faction (you'll need to click reply with quote to see it). That way the main introduction document links will jump directly to your faction's description.

*Cycon Link
Back to Contents Page

*Peace Link
Back to Contents Page

*University Link
Back to Contents Page

*Drones Link
Back to Contents Page

Octavian X · September 23, 2003, 01:49

Glourious Comrade Kody, I can write up a few paragraphs for the Hiverian Introduction. Just tell me if you want it to be semi-serious, or semi-humorous with a weird bit of RP.

Kody · September 23, 2003, 02:19

http://apolyton.net/forums/showthrea...69#post2350469

This is the thread where we're trying to sort it out. The main problem is everyone has started a little bit, but nobody has finished what they've written. My idea on the matter is to have the same roleplay styles as what we usually see inside our private forum. The only difference is it's directed at a new member.

Impaler[WrG] · September 24, 2003, 14:39

Nice job Kody, as I said earlier I will be making my desison on what faction to join based on these descriptions so I hope they are informative. I cant wait to start anoying my new faction with questions and insane coments

Snowflake · September 24, 2003, 15:27

Looks like you will really fit in with the Hive.

Hercules · September 24, 2003, 18:51

Or the Pirates

Kody · September 26, 2003, 09:28

I'm thinking of posting the intro soon (2-3 days from now), so it might be good if the faction descriptions started trickling in.

Kody · September 29, 2003, 04:03

The I'm really quite disappointed that none of the other factions felt the need to contribute. Oh well I'll post the ACDG intro and the hive intro.

jtsisyoda · September 30, 2003, 19:13

Sorry, Kody, I guess not everyone has +3 Industry IRL.

Impaler[WrG] · October 1, 2003, 12:36

I too am disapointed am becoming disalusioned with the whole Democracy game thing. Its been 2 weeks since my initial anouncment of interest in the game. But It apears the comunity cant or wont get its act together to come up with simple faction introductions for potential new members.

People seem more conserned with starting a whole new democracy game then with actualy doing anything to support the current one. And you people are SUPRISED that half your elections are uncontested well DUUUU, the whole thing has goten so elitest and closed to outsiders that nobody who hasen't been involved with you for 6 months has any idea whats going on or a chance to partispate. Its as if you have all locked yourselves in NORAD as you have fun time comanding a war and I have come along beating on the reinforced steel door to get let in and inside everyone is wonder why their are no new recruits coming along to sustain the efforts. This leads me to question the long term sustainability of your whole effort if your so shortsighted as to not do something so simple and nessary.

Without information I have nothing to base a desision on which faction to join. And seeing as how its a perminent desision which eveyone has said should not be taken lightly I an completly stranded here.

I am ready to join just about any faction what can articulare even the most febale description of its internal workings and play style. Infact I am even considering the Hive because of Kody's diligent efforts at recruitment, he is only one to show even the slightest effort in this area!!

If none of the other Factions can even take the time to post a message here then I will be forced to join the Hive despite my contempt for their Brutal Nihilistic philosophies, I would most likly be nerve stapled into submission and sent to labor in the Recycling Tanks.

Voltaire · October 1, 2003, 12:41

Quote:

I will be forced to join the Hive despite my contempt for their Brutal Nihilistic philosophies

Actually today's Hive is much kinder and gentler.

Maniac · October 1, 2003, 13:21

Hi Impaler[WrG], what exactly would you like to know?
We can hardly disclose to the outside world what is happening in-game.
If you're interested in the government structure, we have the Prime Function who normally plays the turn, the Second Function who fills in for absent functions, does some administration and is also responsible for social engineering, the Internal Affairs Function who is responsible for science, build queues, workers, formers, CPs and lots of other things, and then the External Affairs Function who is responsible for Foreign Affairs and Military Affairs (After all war is the continuation of diplomacy, or whatever it is that IIRC von Clausewitz said).
But all things are discussed rather informally, so it's not like we have some inefficient bureaucracy.
We of course roleplay a bit too. For that I would like to refer you to the topped "Planetary Archives" thread, which contains links to all Digital Data Downloads (3D) editions.

Corellion · October 1, 2003, 14:18

Everything is pretty straightforward. Imagine the Cybernetic Consciousness and how they would act... that's how we act. Imagine the Free Drones and how they would act... as far as I know, that's how they act. I can summarise every faction's playing style by saying...

They tend to take the approach their faction would in the game.

Choose the faction who's playing philosphy you most agree with or you most want to roleplay, and then get involved as much as you please.