Something missing here

Strange

You know... throughout every single string.... there is never any romance between your char and anyone else... is it really that lonely of a thing to be a star ship captain, or are you so wrapped up in your "mission" your greater perpose to have any romance or ever to release that I am sure grossly powerful sexual tension that you have built up over the course of how ever many years since your days at the acadamy?
-Strange

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Kame

Writing a romance story is somewhat more involved than you may realize. Not difficult, just a little more time consuming which is probably why most (ok, I at least) choose to leave them out. The main problem comes from the player's choice to be either male or female. Nova has the ability to write dynamic text based on your character's gender but this can mean writing stories twice as long to accomodate the differences in words and actions.

On a more positive note, I agree. There is a little bit of love in the Auroran story but it's pretty insignificant. It'd be fun to see some romance have an actual impact on the story.

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I used to jog but the ice kept falling out of my glass.
(url="http://"http://www.0three0.net/evn/RONIN.sit")RONIN(/url) - A new breed of Bounty Hunter
Good weapons are instruments of fear; all creatures hate them. If you rejoice in victory, then you delight in killing. That is why victory must be observed like a funeral. - Tao Te Ching

EVula

I think that you don't see many love stories in EV simply because the engine isn't quite geared towards that. What are you going to do, keep meeting your significant other in a bar (or, with Nova, the Outfitter, Shipyard, or Trade Center) and have questions like "Will you go out on a date with me?" | Yes/No | "Great, pick me up on <DST> in a month and we'll have dinner."? It just doesn't lend itself to a love story that well.

Now, that said, that doesn't mean that it shouldn't be attempted. I'm a big fan of stretching the engine to it's limits, and I'd certainly like to see a plug like this come out.

Quote

Originally posted by Kame:
Nova has the ability to write dynamic text based on your character's gender but this can mean writing stories twice as long to accomodate the differences in words and actions.

I wouldn't say that it makes the writings twice as long, you just have to pay MUCH closer detail to pronouns used in your text; you'd be surprised at how easy it is to ignore a "his", "he" or other articles that address the captain that have a gender-specific meaning to them.

Of course, you could do complete gender splits, where different actions happen to different genders (ie: you could have a mission string where the female captain has a child, and use a cron to delay the time of the game by nine months), which would involve twice as much writing, but the above relates more to the Auroran storyline style of gender differences.

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what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by EVula:
**I wouldn't say that it makes the writings twice as long, you just have to pay MUCH closer detail to pronouns used in your text; you'd be surprised at how easy it is to ignore a "his", "he" or other articles that address the captain that have a gender-specific meaning to them.
**

Yea. If you've ever played the Auroran thread first as a male character, then as a female character, you'll notice that while the male character reads correctly, sometimes the female character's gender is switched, as well as the love interest's.

Matrix

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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."

(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 04-07-2003).)

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by Strange:
**You know... throughout every single string.... there is never any romance between your char and anyone else... is it really that lonely of a thing to be a star ship captain, or are you so wrapped up in your "mission" your greater perpose to have any romance or ever to release that I am sure grossly powerful sexual tension that you have built up over the course of how ever many years since your days at the acadamy?
-Strange

**

I have to admit, I think along the same lines. I mean, come on, the player just might be the Messiah, but he/she doesn't know that. And they're only human. And therefore, they're gonna wanna get... and I think I'll stop right here before I say something that gets censored and gets me a karmaslap...

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

Bomb

Quote

Originally posted by EVula:
**Your EVN love life

**

LOL. Funniest thing I've read in a while... "Let's meet at <DST> by March 12 2365.."

Note the new profile.

_bomb

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I think that you don't see many love stories in EV simply because the engine isn't quite geared towards that. What are you going to do, keep meeting your significant other in a bar (or, with Nova, the Outfitter, Shipyard, or Trade Center) and have questions like "Will you go out on a date with me?" | Yes/No | "Great, pick me up on <DST> in a month and we'll have dinner."?
-EVula

(This message has been edited by Bomb (edited 04-07-2003).)

EVula

Quote

Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
Yea. If you've ever played the Auroran thread first as a male character, then as a female character, you'll notice that while the male character reads correctly, sometimes the female character's gender is switched, as well as the love interest's.

I haven't played through the Auroran string, but I have read enough of the beta emails citing gender issues here and there to know what was going on.

Quote

Originally posted by Bomb:
**LOL. Funniest thing I've read in a while... "Let's meet at <DST> by March 12 2365.."

Note the new profile.**

Glad I could be of service.

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mrxak

Quote

Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
**Yea. If you've ever played the Auroran thread first as a male character, then as a female character, you'll notice that while the male character reads correctly, sometimes the female character's gender is switched, as well as the love interest's.

Matrix

**

If there's any problems like that in the latest version (at this point I'm so confused I don't know what number that might be), report them quick!

what_is_the_matrix

Quote

Originally posted by mrxak:
**If there's any problems like that in the latest version (at this point I'm so confused I don't know what number that might be), report them quick!

**

Woops. Sorry. Should have said that it was a 1.0.0 bug. Haven't played the Auroran string since. It's almost like a new version comes out by the time I get back into the game and try a new string. So I've played the Auroran string on 1.0.0, Polaris on 1.0.1, and Vell-Os on 1.0.3. If I get back into it again, I'll be playing 1.0.4. Hmm.

Matrix

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"Nothing is fool-proof to a sufficiently talented fool."

(This message has been edited by what_is_the_matrix (edited 04-07-2003).)

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by what_is_the_matrix:
**Woops. Sorry. Should have said that it was a 1.0.0 bug. Haven't played the Auroran string since. It's almost like a new version comes out by the time I get back into the game and try a new string. So I've played the Auroran string on 1.0.0, Polaris on 1.0.1, and Vell-Os on 1.0.3. If I get back into it again, I'll be playing 1.0.4. Hmm.

Matrix

**

Gets confusing fast, doesn't it?

I agree with Strange, romantic subplots are great additions to plugs -- but they're also just that, additions, and nothing more. You can't base a mission set around romantic subplots, because they're SUBPLOTS, not major plots. The point behind Nova is to blow the crap out of anything that moves. The point behind a romance story is that the main characters get laid in the end. Okay, so that's a little simplistic, but it's mostly true. Now, if you're smart, you'll realize that those two objectives are quite compatible. Just remember that the romance story is the subordinate plot. Good work. Class dismissed.

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

(This message has been edited by spacecowboy (edited 04-07-2003).)

Curufinwe_Fëanor

All plots should have some drama, unless you want to make a comedy, which doesnt really apply for the case, unless you make ships with "harry the handsome executive's" sprites... (hey, i did that!)
don't really have a good idea how to put love into EVN plugs.... ill give it a thought

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(URL=http://www.geocities.com/infini_d_maniac

mrxak

Pilots do seem to be lonely. It must be why there's so many bars at starports ;).

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by mrxak:
**Pilots do seem to be lonely. It must be why there's so many bars at starports;).

**

Makes you wonder if they're singles bars. Of course, there's a problem with those -- most of them might as well have a sign on the door saying "Only Married Men and Single Women Allowed"...

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

Raithun

Am I the only person who's ever played through the Clavius and Beyond plug-in for original EV? (ha, yeah right.) That seems to be the sort of thing that Strange is talking about, at any rate =D

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Strange

I must say, I for one, have not played that plug in for original EV. I don't tend to play plugins much right now.. AOL screws them up.
-Strange

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Blackdog

Quote

Originally posted by Raithun:
**Am I the only person who's ever played through the Clavius and Beyond plug-in for original EV? (ha, yeah right.) That seems to be the sort of thing that Strange is talking about, at any rate =D

**

Read the 'mature content' topic.

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I was disorientedly changing my body orientation in a clockwise direction while simulateously expressing my appreciation of mikee's humor and watching my posterior disconnect -- ElG7

HeWhoMustNotBeNamed

Quote

Originally posted by Raithun:
**Am I the only person who's ever played through the Clavius and Beyond plug-in for original EV? (ha, yeah right.) That seems to be the sort of thing that Strange is talking about, at any rate =D

**

One of the greatest plugs ever, in my not so humble opinion...

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"Damn, everybody wants something up their ass today! Yeah, I'm cool like that." - forge

Vast Deathmaster

I don't envy you guys making TCs. I've notice all kinds of problems writing in Second Person. "You do this, you do that" Short text is ok, but any longer, and I notice all the "you"s. Reading the above, I'm thinking of tring to switch to third person

As far as te game goes, it is a trader/fighter game. I think that if you put a romance or something like it in the middle, it could get distracting and possibly annoying.

I know it would mean a lot of writing, but it would be interesting to have a button at the beginning that turns "on" romance. That mission to hunt down a bad guy changes when you find that your target is a {G "handsome man" "beautiful woman"}. Etc, etc,etc.

Also, a good writer won't be limited by Bars and Shipyards. I've noticed that a plot can take place outside of the spaceport, you just can't "click" on it.

One last thing. Can someone give me an example of switching from Second person to third person? I was hoping to start out with something related to "You walk into the bar" and then change it. Or should the whole plug be written in one way.

Or, if the TC I'm doing this for is all in Second Person, should I keep this small part in Second Person.

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Ivanova: "I can only conclude that I am paying off karma at a vastly accelerated rate."

(This message has been edited by Vast Deathmaster (edited 04-10-2003).)

spacecowboy

Quote

Originally posted by Vast Deathmaster:
**I don't envy you guys making TCs. I've notice all kinds of problems writing in Second Person. "You do this, you do that" Short text is ok, but any longer, and I notice all the "you"s. Reading the above, I'm thinking of tring to switch to third person

As far as te game goes, it is a trader/fighter game. I think that if you put a romance or something like it in the middle, it could get distracting and possibly annoying.

I know it would mean a lot of writing, but it would be interesting to have a button at the beginning that turns "on" romance. That mission to hunt down a bad guy changes when you find that your target is a {G "handsome man" "beautiful woman"}. Etc, etc,etc.

Also, a good writer won't be limited by Bars and Shipyards. I've noticed that a plot can take place outside of the spaceport, you just can't "click" on it.

One last thing. Can someone give me an example of switching from Second person to third person? I was hoping to start out with something related to "You walk into the bar" and then change it. Or should the whole plug be written in one way.

Or, if the TC I'm doing this for is all in Second Person, should I keep this small part in Second Person.

**

Trust me, stick with Second Person. I know it's a *****, but it's the only thing that works. People don't like reading about themselves in Third Person. It just makes them feel Strange. And although a full storyline written in Second Person may look a little Strange , it's a whole lot less Strange than it would be if it was written in Third.

But back to the topic. If a romantic subplot is not done right (i.e. just tacked in there like it was an afterthought, or just done to give the plug a more 'mature' feel), it really really REALLY looks Strange. But if it is carefully woven into the fabric of the story, it works beautifully, and it becomes hard to tell it apart from the gameplay. And I doubt that a romantic subplot -- again, if written carefully and coded properly -- would become annoying or distracting or Strange. It would add volumes to the gameplay. And that particular mission you suggested might be rather Strange , but on second thought, the idea of falling in love with the person you were initially supposed to kill is not all that Strange , but one that has been tried and tested, and has proven itself true.

NOTE: Yes, I'm having fun with Strange 's screenname. I have a lousy sense of humor, and I felt like having a little chuckle here. But I still stand by what I just said.

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Suddenly, the little scoutship disappeared and then reappeared right behind the alien warfleet. The gravitic ship's captain hailed the armada. "You are going to be destroyed, but I will give you a choice as to how you want to spend eternity: big pieces, little pieces, or quarks?"
Dead silence.
"Quarks it is, then."

mrxak

Hey, maybe somebody should write a plug in the first person. Kind of like the player is keeping a log of his journeys:

"When I landed on <DST> and dropped off my cargo, I was given 50,000 credits for my services. It was pretty good for such a short trip. The dockworkers told me to stop by in the bar where somebody was looking to talk to me. I headed over there right away."

"In the bar was a couple of guys in military uniforms. They asked me if I wanted to take another mission. This time it would involve a bit of combat." (Yes/No)

"I took the mission they were offering. All I had to do was destroy a courier vessel believed to be carrying secret orders to a fleet in the ______ system. Then I had to land on <DST> to report back in to the same military officials."

A little different, but it could work. Just an idea...

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