01-01-2001 09:24									#1
	Column #147; By DanQ Support Apolyton, buy Civilization 2

DanQ returns to the Column scene in hopes that the tradition of background stories, such as in SMAC, will continue in future incarnations of the Civ series in his latest article entitled "More Background Stories, Please...".

Comments/questions are welcomed here, or you may opt to contact the author directly.

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Dan; Apolyton CS

	01-01-2001 11:18									#2
	Put an end to popups!

Good column, Dan. Do you think the combination of a story and a game is kind of the same appeal that people get from RPG's?

	01-01-2001 19:04									#3
	Lose 30 kilos (of popups)

those books mentioned in the game (The Centauri Monopoly, Essays On Mind And Matter etc.), do they exist? Are there ****ers who are silly enough to write books after a game? Can I buy them, somewhere?

Learn to overcome the crass demands of flesh and bone, for they
warp the matrix through which we perceive the world. Extend your
awareness outwards, beyond the self of body, to embrace the self
of group and the self of humanity. The goals of the group and the
greater race are transcendent, and to embrace them is to achieve
enlightenment.

-- Chairman Sheng-Ji Yang,
"Essays on Mind and Matter"

	02-01-2001 02:20									#4
	Help yourself to an AD-FREE life

No, the books only exist in the blurbs in the game. Why would anyone write a book of that stuff?

	02-01-2001 14:40									#5
	Support Apolyton, buy Civilization III: Complete

Good call, Dan. I'm all in favour of the background tales- they add depth and flavour to the gaming experience.

Unfortunately, I think that SMAC could prove to be a one-off as I don't think the Civ games lend themselves to this as well.

	02-01-2001 17:42									#6
	Suffering from ads?

SMAC is kind of unique in that the game has 14 different factions that are more defined than a whole civilization. It is like a game on cult of personality. In the other games you are just defeating the Germans or English. In SMAC, you are defeating Yang or Santiago. Many times I have yelled at the computer when Yang or someone betrays me. Its funny to take it personal when its just an AI. This enviroment is rich for story telling. And if done in the right way, it might even make a great movie. Think of the possibilities.

	02-01-2001 21:32									#8
	Enter the AD-FREE zone

3 points

1. background stories are more essential for sci fi and fantasy games - civ2 and (presumably) civ3 already have the grandest background story of them all - human history.

2. its not gamers such as ourselves who are accused of being illiterate - its gamers in general, colored by the many genuinely illiterate games out there - i mean really, there are more console games than PC games, and PC games include more action games and action-adenture or action-RPGS than strategy - and RTS outnumbers TBS, even if we seperate out the few intelligent RTS. I like Civ - i dont feel compelled thereby to defend all the shoot-em-up junk out there.

3. As any good civer knows, there are differences between "alphabet", "writing" and "literacy". The last represent something more than the level of reading and writing needed to give orders. While these forums represent a highly literate place (thanks guys)
and its necessary to be literate to absorb the history to complete the civ experience, someone who only played civ and never read a book would hardly be literate, in my not so humble opinion.

	05-01-2001 09:27									#9
	Full PM-box? Change here!

Is your nick a reference to the land of Rohan?

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St. Leo
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