[Project] NS2 fiction

henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
<div class="IPBDescription">Following in the footsteps of "Six Days in Sanjii"</div>I remember being super excited when I first read <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns/world/intro" target="_blank">Six Days in Sanjii</a>. There was something about it that captured my imagination. It made me feel like I knew something about the outmatched Frontiersmen, facing their horrifying alien foe for the first time, and it sure as hell made me want to play the game. My hope is that you felt the same way.

I want to work with some of you to make more fiction for the NS universe.

I won't pretend to know all there is to know about the NS setting, and clearly there are going to have to be some changes from that first story to expand on the differences between the marines at first contact and the marines as they are now (and let's not forget the aliens), but I'm open to feedback and editing. In fact, I'd especially like to use the project as a co-editing space.

My vision for this project is as follows:
-I will write around 50k words in story material (stories or setting documents, number TBD), with more forthcoming if it seems successful
-I will make this material available to others for the purpose of peer-editing
-I will provide all of it to UWE for use as setting and theme material, to use as they see fit
-I will work to make all of this as true to the setting as I can, hopefully with input from UWE, and
-I will give the UWE creative team final say in defining what is canon

I hope that:
-you will be moved to contribute your own words to this effort, in an amount TBD by yourself
-you will help out by editing my work and pointing out any errors I have made
-you will accept the editing suggestions of others
-you will also submit your material to UWE and accept their definitions of what is canon

I expect that some of what I make will be unusable. But some of it will be good, too. And I will count successful any fic that UWE can post that makes people want to play the game.

Interested?

Comments

  • SkymanderXSkymanderX Green Marine - The Few, The Proud, The Green. Join Date: 2011-07-29 Member: 113006Members
    I would be honored if I could help work on this. I'm into all the back-story and lore. I might know another person who would be interested as well.
  • zastelszastels Join Date: 2003-11-29 Member: 23731Members
    I wanted to do a nice back story for my map, besides putting the little story in my map I'm not sure what to do with it.
  • SkymanderXSkymanderX Green Marine - The Few, The Proud, The Green. Join Date: 2011-07-29 Member: 113006Members
    that would be alot of fun to do... details about your map?
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    SkymanderX, I would be happy to work with you and your friend on this! I meant this to be an open invitation :)

    I expect I'll be posting a link to the initial 10k of material by the end of the upcoming week, or whenever I finish the original piece that I have ideas for, whichever comes first.

    Also, Zastels, I too would love to hear more about your map. Is there a defining concept of the place?
  • zastelszastels Join Date: 2003-11-29 Member: 23731Members
    I'll reply within 24 hours with my map description. ; )
  • goblingoblin Join Date: 2004-09-05 Member: 31412Members
    and the cinematic editor would be used to make a narrative video using this fiction
  • l3lessedl3lessed Join Date: 2010-06-07 Member: 71977Members
    With my teaching winding down and finishing my masters work, I could be interested in this. I have been wanting to do something like this for a while myself, but been to swamped with my own studies and writing for my college program. I could probably at least provide one side story and character in a non-fiction style.
  • zastelszastels Join Date: 2003-11-29 Member: 23731Members
    <!--quoteo(post=1933980:date=May 6 2012, 04:31 PM:name=zastels)--><div class='quotetop'>QUOTE (zastels @ May 6 2012, 04:31 PM) <a href="index.php?act=findpost&pid=1933980"><{POST_SNAPBACK}></a></div><div class='quotemain'><!--quotec-->I'll reply within 24 hours with my map description. ; )<!--QuoteEnd--></div><!--QuoteEEnd-->

    Ya I'm going to need another 24 lol

    I've started it, didn't think Mother would be dropping by from the great white north . .
  • SkymanderXSkymanderX Green Marine - The Few, The Proud, The Green. Join Date: 2011-07-29 Member: 113006Members
    haha, no worries...
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Ok, <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/pub?id=1Wk76r0u8YQf761I1fCri4dyLmi1uvOwpclY6ZKvdd6c" target="_blank">this is what I have so far</a>. It is shoddy, etc., and I would very much appreciate your comments. There's only about 5k of work here, but I didn't know where to go with this that didn't feel like I was dragging things out. Maybe you'll have some ideas.

    I would appreciate your thoughts on how I should distribute access to my pieces in the future. I chose to use the googledocs publishing function because they mention that it is less resource intensive, but perhaps I should be giving you folks commenting access instead?

    Also, while I wait for your comments on the above piece, do you have any ideas for things that I should write about? Particular setting documents, stories, any ideas would be welcome. I can't guarantee that I'll use them or follow them the way you had thought they would go (for that, you have to write stuff too :D ), but with any luck we can come up with more cool things to put together for this project.

    Finally, how do you incorporate IPs and Phase Gates into the fiction? Are new marines coming through them, or are the IPs just spawning stored copies of the on-duty soldiers according to records from the local nanogrid? How do members of the TSF get from star system to star system? Are there big interstellar phase gates, or other FTL travel, or is it something altogether slower?

    I'm looking forward to hearing from you guys!
  • Champlo0Champlo0 Join Date: 2012-04-17 Member: 150617Members
    I would gladly assist in this project through some sort of collaboration as an aspiring writer. We really need to compile all the canon, though. It would be rather difficult to have to cross-reference different sources to maintain in-universe constancy.
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Champloo, feel free to critique, suggest, what have you. I'd be happy to have you collaborating with us on this.

    And I completely agree that there should be some attempt made to compile the existent canon. What material, besides Six Days in Sanjii, is there that you know of? Perhaps one of our first documents that we should make should simply be a listing of various background material and the especially relevant facts that may be drawn from it?

    For example, I tried to do something like that at the beginning of my piece by listing some of the events that I had presupposed to exist for the purposes of the story / setting. But I should also have added that I just made up the idea of having the Kharaa produce deep-space capable spores that would act as starter seeds for future colonization in other areas. And I just kind of assumed that there is a TSF navy of some sort, with ships that are capable of bombarding a station with high-energy plasma weapons, lasers, or kinetics.
  • Champlo0Champlo0 Join Date: 2012-04-17 Member: 150617Members
    edited May 2012
    Well there are 2 background sections on the <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Frontiersmen#Background" target="_blank">marine</a> and <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Kharaa#Background" target="_blank">alien</a> on the wiki, but I don't know about their official endorsement at this point. The two sections are sourced from <a href="http://3-pg.com/urd/manual/introduction.html" target="_blank">this</a> website, which I can find no affiliation with UWE at this point, either. It looks like it's from NS1 days, though I don't see any reason for excluding it as a basis for further lore development. I can't find anything affiliated with the actual websites of UWE or the NS2 one, just the wiki and the previous website. That being said, I will create a section in the wiki for us to collaborate on. I apologize for the late reply, I was working on something for my youtube channel. Looking forward to your next reply.

    EDIT: Here is a link to the <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/wiki/index.php/Community_Lore" target="_blank">community page</a> I created for the project. You'll be better off creating an account on the wiki, and formatting is fairly straightforward for simple matters. You can google anything over the simple stuff fairly easily.
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Champloo, thanks for the wiki work. In fact, your links to the old Kharaa / TSF write-ups gave me an idea for where to go next.

    I'll have some more material ready for you folks soon, in the form of several TSF database entries covering the Kharaa. In the meantime, I was just thinking that I should have made <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Wk76r0u8YQf761I1fCri4dyLmi1uvOwpclY6ZKvdd6c/edit" target="_blank">my material more accessible</a>, so now you can enter comments.

    I really hope that some of you will be interested in offering some workshop-esque advice, as I still consider the above stuff to be a rough draft and I feel like I need an outside perspective on it. I look forward to seeing whatever else you folks want to put together, and I'd be happy to offer critique / commentary on your pieces too.
  • SkymanderXSkymanderX Green Marine - The Few, The Proud, The Green. Join Date: 2011-07-29 Member: 113006Members
    I think it might be neat to see a wright up of the TSF charter
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Here's the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/10QrM9I_3LxNU4kAMTL2qf9pusibuJ-z7fnSYSkBrfGA/edit" target="_blank">latest bit</a>, with another 8k. Inspired by Champloo's comments about background lore, I wrote about the various known Kharaa lifeforms. It's formed to look like a series of data entries in the TSF database, written from the perspective of a TSF researcher. Again, this is a first draft, and I would very much appreciate any editing or comments or anything else you might have for me. The document is set to accept comments, so you can just do it through googledocs.

    I like the idea of writing up the TSF charter. Do you have any ideas in particular, SkymanderX? I was thinking I should look up details from the UN Charter, but the existent background for the TSF makes me think that we might want to base it off something more like, I dunno, Rainbow 6 :)
  • SkymanderXSkymanderX Green Marine - The Few, The Proud, The Green. Join Date: 2011-07-29 Member: 113006Members
    hmm, i can't recall right now but i know there is some basic information about the charter, maybe in six days in sanjii? I'll have to find it. But whatever you want to base it off of. Just remember it never gave the TSF too much power and always left places for the TSF to be monitored and controlled.
  • Champlo0Champlo0 Join Date: 2012-04-17 Member: 150617Members
    The universe of NS2 places the TSF as the universal monitoring police that was created by powerful figures in the hopes of exerting their influence upon their opponents. It became "belligerent", in the sense that it maintained an individuality from all authorities. However, it is heavily financed and given authority by the various groups in the universe. Thus, the TSF maintains existence by the distrust and competition of the various contending groups around the universe; while none enjoy its influence they are unable to independently act against it for fear of universal opposition. Obviously, this creates a rather limited charter for the TSF which is extended by the appearance of the aliens. If the TSF fails in its task, though it is not explicitly stated most likely, they will be subject to the removal of their powers and a new group will appear for fighting the aliens, most likely independent to each state, so to speak. Therefore the TSF charter has an amendment which gives it the power to raise special task forces to combat the aliens on the frontier.

    That's my take on it, sourced from one of those links I posted previously in the thread.
  • AlignAlign Remain Calm Join Date: 2002-11-02 Member: 5216Forum Moderators, Constellation
    Sounds rather like X-COM, come to think of it...
  • That_Annoying_KidThat_Annoying_Kid Sire of Titles Join Date: 2003-03-01 Member: 14175Members, Constellation
    edited May 2012
    ns fan fiction?

    That sounds right up my alley aye Rob...


    I would be down to help


    Also if you are bored go read the NS fan fic I wrote 7-8 years ago... The link is in my sig

    [edit]
    also look in your maps folder for the official map back stories as well

    also Nanites
    [/edit]
  • ArcL!ghtArcL!ght Join Date: 2007-11-27 Member: 63031Members, Squad Five Blue, NS2 Map Tester
    BTW is there any official NS2 lore, NS2 wiki or something like it?

    If not would it be possible to create?

    What year is this, main locations etc.
  • KoruyoKoruyo AUT Join Date: 2009-06-06 Member: 67724Members, Reinforced - Shadow
    edited May 2012
    I dont know, i would like to see some backstory about the universe in general first, instead of some skirmish epic battle storys, that dont bring you any further in understanding anything.

    Population, technology, politics, resources, colonization of other planets - why, how, how many, where...

    First alien contact.

    Goals or reasons why humans and aliens fight eachother. Do they need the same resources? Are humans trying to harvest resources from alien planets? Do kharaa even have multiple planets? Or is it more like aliens, where humans carry them around on their ships - then some ###### happens and suddenly we have a hive mother... or the predator stuff.

    Or do aliens have some form of space travel too?

    You dont need too much information on the aliens since you can write it a bit from the human perspective - so you only know what they discovered everything else is not yet known.

    Is it the other way around, do aliens invade human outposts?

    Guess its pretty much starcraft marines vs zerg, imperium vs tyranids kind of story.
    Even tho uwe doesnt want ppl to look at kharaa as the "evil" race... well they are aliens, relative primitive with teeth and claws... dont think you will ever take a cup of tea with them.
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Koruyo, I have recently learned that there *is* actually a bunch of that information being developed by someone working with the UWE team. I don't know whether there's a timeline for release, but I think it's being handled pretty solidly (plenty of discussion of background material with Charlie, Cory, aforementioned writer).

    Arclight, there is a wiki that Champlo0 posted a link to on May 9th (the first page of this thread), with links to both Marine and Alien info. Other than that, I know of little to no background information. The writer I mentioned above is working on changing that.

    Also, my apologies for not getting more material out to you guys recently. I have been writing more, but my pace dropped right about when several of my friends finally pushed the Vorkosigan saga in front of my nose. Not a coincidence.

    I did totally rewrite most of the "Fall of Hovd" piece to improve the pacing, but it's still a first draft of this new version. Many much comments would be appreciated.

    Also, what do you think of the <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/10QrM9I_3LxNU4kAMTL2qf9pusibuJ-z7fnSYSkBrfGA/edit" target="_blank">Kharaa analysis</a> writeup that I posted a while ago? I haven't seen any comments on that either, and would much appreciate them. Especially since I'm currently working on something similar for the TSF's own technology.
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    Ok, here's that <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/1Yn4bmcNUILlUyeBTFq7-Ck8BV4aIfOHycrV6l--8h_I/edit" target="_blank">TSF tech piece</a> that I was talking about before. As I mention at the very top of it, it is now out of date (I wrote it a few patches back, I think the GL is the only big change). I also have now started something in an NS2' universe, where the NS2' universe is exactly like the NS2 universe except that I don't have to worry about keeping it within canon. That piece will come here soon as well, and so far deals more with things happening between the corporations and the TSF.
  • henrythewhitehenrythewhite Join Date: 2011-01-29 Member: 79551Members
    <a href="https://docs.google.com/document/d/12PWEtWmuc29122Ui_0wSlXmyqNttTbxReWLkuMSSKL8/edit" target="_blank">This piece here</a> is my latest work on the NS2' universe that I had mentioned last time, and it clocks in at another 18k. As always, quality may vary.

    I haven't added anything for a few days, because I hit my 50k word goal and wanted to take a breather to work on something else. I know, the words don't quite add up, but I have another unposted piece on the formation of the Charter that makes up the discrepancy.

    What do you folks think? I'd enjoy working more on the NS2' piece after I get some of this other work done, where should I take it and what else should be in there?
  • SoapSoap Join Date: 2011-08-26 Member: 118638Members
    TL:DR'd a lot of your writing (Somehow I ended up on Wikipedia reading about the history of Hawi'i, lol.) But I enjoyed the Kharaa analysis a lot, keep up the work!
  • SomnambulistSomnambulist Join Date: 2010-07-26 Member: 73051Members
    edited August 2012
    50k words is an immense goal...You do know that the first dark towers book was only 55k? This sounds very cool, though. Always into anything that lends some more story to any game. You may consider brevity over length given the reading nature of many gamers.
  • MistenTHMistenTH Join Date: 2003-01-01 Member: 11706Members, Constellation, Reinforced - Shadow
    There was this piece of fiction, not sure if fan or official, that I clearly read but just can't find the source anymore.

    Basically some reporter was granted interview access to the TSA home system, they cleared the gate, stared down the barrels of several heavy defensive platforms, and got silently boarded for security inspection by a TSA marine squad.

    They then went into the TSA base, going through the training facilities, where cheap low-tech solutions such as RC toys being used as fake-kharaa targets (due to limited funding by the continually fighting governments), next to high tech phase gates & holo-grids (new tech paid for by same panicky governments now that the kharaa are on the scene).

    Finally ended saying the governments had wanted to control this TSA creation of theirs, but now that it has been given real teeth, may grow beyond their pathetic attempts at control.

    Anyone got a link to this background story?
  • Soul_RiderSoul_Rider Mod Bean Join Date: 2004-06-19 Member: 29388Members, Constellation, Squad Five Blue
    There is a whole forum of fan-fiction art from NS1, of which I wrote some too, that has been migrated into teh NS2 forums. Check this thread for useful, if outdated listings.

    Also you MUST read MONSTER. One of the best NS fan fictions ever written and it's huge!!

    As well as Gates Moon and Stars, another brilliant NS universe background.

    <a href="http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/index.php?showtopic=29447" target="_blank">http://www.unknownworlds.com/ns2/forums/in...showtopic=29447</a>
  • SkulkJesterSkulkJester Join Date: 2012-09-18 Member: 159858Members
    I could help with some lore too. I do a bit of writing myself on my free time :)
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