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Outline Draft - Now with examples!; to be archived/deleted when completed
Topic Started: Feb 21 2012, 07:23 PM (86 Views)
Cervos
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Posting this here so as not to clutter up the doc. each category will have its own thread, the first post as an index, and the following posts in order following that index with all appropriate information.

*if possible, I would like this forum to be doHTML enabled. That will make it much easier to organize things, make layouts similar, etc. I can write up the CSS and posting formats for it.

  • History and Timeline
  • Geography & Flora / Fauna
    order: area by alphabetical (so far it'd be: Du Yhemen, Lyseille, Messa, Moirae, Parcae, Zenith - not including continent#2)
    flora&fauna of that region posted with that same region post, in alphabetical order.
    EXAMPLE:

    Du Yhemen
    -smallish banner/picture reference, if possible-
    :primary information: area type, ecology/biodiversity, if population then races, culture, politics, buildings/structures, etc. if ruling faction then secondary paragraph/section on them.

    :full, complete, all-encompassing description about the area. can exclude explaining the above information unless further detail is needed, can also exclude detailed information about flora/fauna since information will be listed below this section. Can be separated by regions within the country if there are any (Du Yhemen, for example, will have a military base, a civilian area, a prison, and the region the ruling family's estate is located; as well as a general "surrounding areas", and each will be described in detail).

    :flora/fauna found in the region, with small picture reference if possible. description and, if applicable, effects/uses as well as rarity and in which area(s) to find it.

    ;; even if areas have similar/the same/repeating flora/fauna, they might have slight variations in them and since they're located in different areas, the information would probably be repeated (such as in Du Yhemen, the Jellybean Flower might only be located in the Sultan's Palace, while in Lyseille it might grow around the Chocolate Trees). ((disclaimer: plants listed non-canon. sorry.))

  • Races and Canons
    canons, I think, should have their own "adoptable" posts in applications ("adoptables" subboard, perhaps).
    order: alphabetical
    EXAMPLE:

    Behemoths
    -picture references left-aligned, word wrapped-
    :Species name(s), slang names/terms for them
    :Spoken language(s) (if applicable)

    :Full description of race history.
    :Full description of race physical attributes.

    :Where the race can be found, if found only in specific areas/regions/countries/climates (Behemoths, for example, would probably only be found in darker areas.)
    :How other races see them

    :Miscellaneous information, if any.

  • Religion
    index, each religion has their own post.
    EXAMPLE:

    The Church of Atom
    -picture symbol of the religion/doctrine/church- (atomic bomb)
    :founder/current leader, if any (confessor cromwell)
    :where it is practiced/headquarters/locations (megaton)

    :paragraph information. founding, mission statement, and any relevant policies.

    :full description about what the doctrine believes in, worships, and relevant information about gods worshiped, and any other details regarding any short-listed information above. also would include rules, guidelines, who may and may not join, how to join, initiation rules/rituals, and/or anything else desired. (such as that the followers of atom are called the Children of Atom, they must bask in Atom's glow, etc.)

    :list of worshiped god(s), if any. (The Bomb)

    :active practitioners, if any (Children of Atom, Confessor Cromwell, etc)
    ((disclaimer: Church of the Children of Atom is from Fallout 3. sorry.))

  • Bestiary
    (if we have beasts/need a bestiary). alphabetical listing, categorized with index and posts separated by region (most likely; if there are repeats I can always shortcut anchor link to the first post of information).
    EXAMPLE:

    LOCATION (Quarry Junction)
    -picture of location, if possible same used for geography locations-
    -picture of creature, left-aligned, word-wrapped-
    :name of creature (deathclaw)
    :population - how many generally in area (too many for comfort; ~12)

    :physical description/attributes (armor piercing, high damage threshold, huge fucking claws to rip you to shreds, heavy grunting, disturbingly fast, highly aggressive - especially the mothers. some blind but other senses are enhanced to dangerous levels.)

    :any other notes about the creature,such as eating habits, breeding habits, sleep cycle (nocturnal, day, etc), hunting patterns, domestication (deathclaws are not domestic and you really don't want to try), whether they're hunted or not, history, where else they may be located, and/or whatever else desired.

    -picture of creature, left-aligned, word-wrapped-
    :name of creature (yao guai)
    :population (not many in any one area, territorial)

    :physical description (probably were bears at one point. armor-piercing, resist cold due to (remains of) fur, long talons to rip you apart, gnashing, thick teeth to eat you alive, highly aggressive - especially the mothers with her cubs around. high sense of smell. public safety announcement: don't feed the yao gui! that is all.)

    :any other notes (located almost strictly in mountain/forest regions and generally stick as far away from civilization as possible, unless starved for food or drawn by scents they particularly enjoy - bloody or raw meat or particularly sweet fruit. mothers give birth to 1-4 cubs.)

    ((disclaimer: deathclaw and yaoi gui are from Fallout 3. sorry.))

  • Database of Technology
    index. organized alphabetically, posts organized by rarity/tier/commonality/etc.
    EXAMPLE:

    COMMON
    :name of tech/theme/etc (Laser Rifles)
    :invented by (if desired)
    :prevalence (found throughout the world)

    :functionality (insert techy stuff here that already confused Leoni before)

    :history (developed by Nova Corporation to blast shit at high-heat-intensity levels, possibly plasma, and technologically made just to confuse others with descriptions!

  • Gear
    broken down by category - armor, ammo, weapons, vehicles, bio-tech. each has own post. specific items within groups organized by alphabetical.
    EXAMPLE:

    ARMOR
    -picture of category if possible-
    :type (armor)
    :attribute (protection, resistance, durability)

    :types (fire-resistance, kevlar/bulletproof, impact absorb)

    :extra description such as further types, development history, etc (impact absorb armor was created for those that like to stupidly jump off high cliffs and land with all bodily pieces intact! superabsorbant micronanocellthings absorb energy and diffuse it as a form of chemical heat out of the back panels, meaning that wearing the suit can get quite warm.) etc


basically, for things that won't really change (primary geographics, primary races, etc.), the posts will be individual and alphabetical. for things that there will be a lot added to, edited of, and such, they'll be grouped in a certain manner that makes it easily to just appropriately pop a new item in the list alphabetically without having to move posts to other previous/after posts, which would be an impossibly annoying royal waste of time.
Edited by Cervos, Feb 21 2012, 08:22 PM.
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Yssak
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Most of this looks great! Some of the context formats could use a bit of tweaking, and it's something I want Leoni to be a part of, but this is all I can imagine for the meat of the game. Gewd jerb.

EDIT: O ya. We need a place to keep inventory of clans, factions, and unions. Maybe if we like this form for religion, we can just change the topic title to something broader and lump religion in the same place as the other groups? ...Aaaaaand then put religious lore in with the other lore/history? I bet we'll have more than a couple of general myths~

EDIT 2: Also, where do we put diseases/ailments? Languages?
Edited by Yssak, Feb 21 2012, 08:47 PM.
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Cervos
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I think groups, factions, cults, etc. should have their own post, but be lumped together under "Factions". This would include corporations IMO. Some of them will be religion-based but not all, so I think it's important to keep them distinct, since religion could also include information about our three old world gods (which definitely is different from "factions").

I think "mythology" - any legends, myths, folklore, etc - could have it's own thread "Lore". Each post can be a different story and we'll have an index, and that DOESN'T have to be ordered alphabetically since we'll probably add on to it a lot. I know we'll be adding weapons, tech, etc., but I just feel like those should be alphabetical. Maybe that's just me.

Languages, I think, if they're just basic, can have their own threads, one post each. HOWEVER. If we want more developed languages instead of just "here are a few terms", I feel like they might require their own subforum. Maybe. It ultimately depends on how much detail/how developed we want to post the languages as. Are we going to completely custom build languages, or are we just gonna throw in a few words here and there? Just certain terms for stuff, or so much detail that people could learn it and start speaking it IRL like Elfin, Parseltongue, Klingon?

Diseases/ailments will have their own thread, probably categorized by types (flus, colds, necrotic, etc.), OR by alphabetical (diseases starting with "ABCD" in this post, "EFGH" here). Whichever makes more sense pending upon what sorts of diseases we create. Same with ailments, all under a general "Ailments" title likely.

Also, drugs. Are we gonna have them? They make sense in modern/futuristic cultures. If we have them, they'd have their own thread. Similarly, organized by type - much easier than illnesses. Such as "hallucinogenic", "depressant", "stimulant", etc.


This is still just the first draft. I'm going to create the actual threads with placeholder posts for the main things as the next draft, so you can actually see how they'd be organized and fleshed out.
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Yssak
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I'm ok with giving factions, lore, and religion getting their own individual threads. I want to have drugs, yes, but I think they should just be in the same thread as diseases, in a second post. I want to keep things together as much as what makes sense.

Right now we need to put the idea of detailed languages and making actual translations on the back-burner. There are many significant pros and cons to making them, and if we do, we will need at least 3 separate languages, maybe more as the overall plot progresses (alien visitors n such). Filling that info out should probably come last after we can see how complicated we are already making the game. That'll likely be the deciding factor.

So for now, don't make a topic for languages at all. We will assume everybody speaks the same language until otherwise decided.
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Cervos
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I agree that drugs fall under the same general category as ailments and such, but if we start having a lot of them it might eventually qualify them for their own. Just a thought.

Yeah, that's the deciding factor. Building a language takes a LOT of work (I've built one before, and it took awhile, and to be frank I even cheated a bit). A thought for it: I don't really think it's worth it to build full-on languages with translations and everything. Not many people would fully use it anyway. We can always say what these languages are, maybe give some basic rules and common words/phrases, but I don't know if we want to devote that much time and energy to something that, ultimately, probably wouldn't be used often enough to justify the time spent on them. (although we may eventually just WANT to do it anyway xD).
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Yssak
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Nah, I still don't think drugs should get their own thread, even if there are 100 (very blunt answer here. Sry it's not more sophisticated). My reasoning is simply that it still covers the same area of the game, and having the list as a simple post beneath the slightly more complex explanations of diseases (of which there won't be more than 20 in TV's entire existence, I guarantee) will still look nice and orderly while not making members go hunt for another thread.

And we are on the same page for languages. =)
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Solvi'n
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Okies, i've been avoiding this topic as you most likely tell. why? because i hate it.

So here is my two cents.

Factions should be together, this is the side you are on. corperation bandit etc however in the little lits of information should have a religion blerb, people like belifes. just like westerners are mainly christians, arabs are muslim, indians are hindus/sikhs and most asians are buddihist, it gives a faction/race a sense of self. obviously there will be randoms. just like you get black muslims and arab christians. so we should make sure these dont sound too compulsery.

next religion should have a seperate topic, festivals holidays, details of the gods, their lore and teachings. it can be the guide for how a faction/cannon/race acts because of thease teachings and lessons.

On to language, once upon a time, i thought it cool to do so. but no they dont get used, it takes way to much time and effort. if we MUST have languages then we need to use ones that exist already.

as for meds/aliements... i dont care, both make sense for me.
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