Manifest Destiny: The American Warlord

dexters · June 6, 2003, 07:49

Hello folks.

This is my first story. It's written in the first person and is indended to sound like an auto-biographical work from the player. The style is inspired by the many great chronicles in the Civ3 community, including Sullla's game reports.

I would like the story, once it is completed, to be considered for the Story competition. I hope linking it off site (for formatting reasons) would not disqualify it. If it will, I will try to report the chapters here. Let me know DarkCloud

The Chapters So far
Prologue: An American Warlord
Chapter 1: The Dawn of Civilization & First Contact
Chapter 2: Isolationism and the American Republic
Chapter 3: Imperium Americanum
Chapter 4:The Great Diversion NEW!
Chapter 5: The Forces - Balance of Power (Coming Soon

ChrisiusMaximus · June 6, 2003, 14:16

Dexters, its a very interesting account and I look forward to reading about the upcoming struggle for the silks.

Kaos XIII · June 6, 2003, 15:09

I like these chronicles.

Your strategy in this game is similar to what I always do. And that is to build and live peacefully, unless I lack luxuries. Then I look enviously and jealously upon my neighbors.

TheGuitarist · June 6, 2003, 16:10

Great so far, dexters, keep it up.

dexters · June 8, 2003, 06:19

Chapter 4 is up. Sorry, but as I was writing, it became clear I wanted to describe the conditions and the state of the world.

The "War" placeholder title I had previously put up as a tease was changed.

Enjoy.

TheGuitarist · June 8, 2003, 14:24

Great job, dexters, the story is really shaping up well.

Give us more! I can't handle the suspense!

dexters · June 8, 2003, 17:53

I'm glad you liked it.

Chapter 5 is in the works.

ChrisiusMaximus · June 8, 2003, 17:59

Oh! good to hear

unscratchedfoot · June 8, 2003, 20:41

A little long-winded for my liking to be honest. What I mean is I prefered the early parts of Kaos's story, straight from a game, which was concise and easy to read; however, his story is getting really heavy and long-winded now too.

ChrisiusMaximus · June 8, 2003, 21:26

Just one minor niggle from my corner, I didnt like the way you discussed the AI strengths etc as you so often do on the general and stategy forums.

Now dont get me wrong I very often read your threads and posts and I think you have some very good insights into the Civ3 model and I like a lot of your suggestions for future improvements.

Just think that this should be a story and nothing but a story, parts 1,2 and 3 were great but you did ramble some in part four. Any way I am looking forward to the upcoming battles.

dexters · June 8, 2003, 21:49

Thanks for the feedback guys.

Most people, when they write, refer to the Romans, Greeks, and what not as their enemy. They give them personality, and character. What I choose to do is place the game AI in the front seat as my opponent. I would naturally refer to it as the Aztecs or Indians, but it is clear in my discussions that as a player, my opponent are not fictional characters, but a game system.

For those interested, my first draft, essentially a story based narrative with fictional characters based on the game wasn't satisfying to me. I had a hard time writing . WTE_OzWolf, SKI, Kaos, et al can do better than me with that format. I've been trying for ages to crack in here with my own story, and haven't done so because of my weaknesses there.

I like to focus on the leader's eye view on thing. The dilemas, the conflicts, the planning, the big picture a player faces. And I decided to model my stories after game reports when the only format is to report the game.

Eh, sorry for a long response. But I really appreciate the support I'm getting for this story. Chrisius, Kaos, TheGuartarist, Unscratchedfoot as well as lurkers, thanks for the support. For those who made suggestions, I'll keep them in mind. But understand that I have to actually like what I'm writing to be able to do it too. And trust me, a lot of interesting stuff is on the way. Well, at least I think it's interesting..

EDIT: Having gone back and re-read it, Chapter 4 seems slow and long-winded without advancing much. This is a valid criticism. But take it as a quirk of my style. I was indulging a bit there. But glad you liked 1 to 2 Chris.

ChrisiusMaximus · June 9, 2003, 02:09

Now on with the story

unscratchedfoot · June 11, 2003, 07:15

You gonna start that invasion or what? I'm here waiting with my popcorn and soda but the curtains aren't opening.