I'm pondering a Star Wars place that is really stand alone and am seeking help to make it a collaboration.

/The/ story is happening out there in the background, but the focus is on a local system. Something more along the lines of the 'grittier' movies; Rogue One and Solo. During Imperial Era, an upstart system as the central focus. Not fully in revolt but enough of an Imperial presence due to resources that conflict does happen with regularity, including the planet's own native species in rebellion against human+ locals and Empire alike.

Really, just looking for others interested in joining the creative process. Can't do it alone. If I did, it would be a few years down the road until something came of it. A few other creative minds to explore the specific theme and work up something really interested would be great. Better coders than myself for the conservation of time wouldn't be turned away. Anyone willing to contribute.

Not looking to open it up for board development here so much, just seeking interested individuals willing to collaborate. I have some basic info as a start, would be glad to share with anyone interested.

Original Theme Space Opera, Retro Atomic Age

Rings of Terra is set in an alternative universe, a human race on an earth like planet met with travesty several centuries ago. During their atomic age, a much larger rogue planet entered their solar system and the two bodies collided. This created an asteroid belt in orbit around their white sun. Somehow, inhabitants of both worlds survived this and for the past two centuries, there has been a feudal struggle between the human race and mixed races brought by the rogue planet. Within this asteroid belt, divided into several rings, there are 8 large asteroids with surface areas of 2 million square miles or larger (roughly with land masses on the scale of USA or China). The humans maintained the largest of these at about 3.5 million square miles of surface.

This changed, an invading force arrived in a lightning blitz and conquered the largest land mass. The humans have been scattered to small independent asteroids and outposts. The remaining seven asteroid nations are under threat of being conquered, some have sworn fealty to this empire to help in this conquest of the solar system. The past two centuries had been a struggle for survival, fighting over resources. Now with a new threat, they are left to try and put aside their differences or join with this new cause.

I enjoy creating theme and world building, but am interested in trying this as a group effort. I am seeking individuals to help develop the various factions/nations along with me to see what we might come up with. There is a location for this game to be hosted, and I am not concerned about coding, I am looking for individuals interested in creating an original space opera them as a group effort.

A wiki is started to assist with development (http://terraring.wikidot.com/start) but its basically all that was said here. If interested please contact me here or via gmail (galacticvicelord@gmail (dot) com). It looks like we will be utilizing Slack for development/discussions.

Edit, not an edit (more than this ad info): yes, i was interested in doing Flash Gordon, but realized like most comic places, everyone enjoys different versions or has different takes on what the Flash Gordon Genre should be.

I am looking for individuals with an interest in developing theme and opening a Flash Gordon Mu*. All equal co-staff along with myself. Some primary direction, either pre Gordon influence on Mongo or post overthrow of the tyrant. Focus on the various peoples of the planet Mongo and inter relationships from alliances to open war far. Retro Sci-Fi a must! Ray guns and space ships that look like pneumatic tubes with needle noses, mingled with savage world primitives from Ape Men to dragons and flying pterodactyls.

Interest in determining a good system, potentially coding if one likes, theme developers, plot runners, story tellers, and all that. All these things I could do myself given enough time, but I just have a preference to find good contributors and staff now willing to make this a good group project. And I'm lazy at my age, I'd prefer to bounce ideas around, get excited off the creations and contributions of others, and enjoy an environment of creative feedback with constructive criticism.

Its a good sci-fi environment with unlimited potential for action, it ranges from PvE to PvP amongst the kingdoms with even a good mix of L&L for those who wish the social life while war rages across the planet.

There is a lot of potential here, in a setting developed, re-developed, visualized and re-envisioned for over 70 decades that is still going strong as a weekly strip; ie there is a ton of room to play and update it to work in a Mu* setting, taking good elements already there, adding our own as needed.

A good handful of collaborators, five or six of us, could make a vibrant active place with potential for fun on many levels; whereas in the hands of one seems destined to fail. One can do it, but a tyrant does not a game make; ie Ming the Merciless.

@bad-at-lurking That's jumping to conclusions a little. I said imperial era (between clone wars and bby 0). It involves an upstart system in revolt without enough imperial presence for conflict with full on planet bombardment. Based on Rogue One and Solo (Han as imperial trooper fighting upstarts in trench war fare). And syndicate presence for smuggler/pirate. Revoltion and change, whether white hats win or Empire dominates. Star Wars without using proper people places and things (which exist elsewhere just not on this part of the stage). Basically that fight between imperial oppression and potential rebellion but with is own heroes and villains for whatever change they fight for.

@faraday ... This is good to hear I may look into Ares as an option. That will cut down a lot of work.

So, I'm sitting here doing my now regular weekend thing, adding theme content to the current wiki to develop the regions of Mongo and give the culture a little more life (beyond mustache and goatee-always bad guys and pretty people mostly the good guys).

The whole planet makes it easy to get around, visit other regions, consistent with the majority of the comic strips, most of the serials and movies even.

But then my mind wanders. The black hole concept from /the/ movie, the one most people are familiar with and possible have seen, was a little fetched, but as a wormhole to another part of space has been used sometimes and plausible sci-fi.

That aside, my fingers and the internet reading and research has fallen on the main asteroid belt of our solar system. While I'm mostly talking to myself, throwing my voice to the void, I figure someone may listen and have advice or become interested along the way. So ...

What if instead of a planet, the larger objects of the asteroid belt where various 'kingdoms' of Mongo, with Ming sitting on Ceres or possibly one slightly larger such object?

Space travel keeps enough distance from earth, thus focusing the area of play amongst the large orbital like kingdoms in the belt, but opens up for space rockets/ships. Overall from our perspective, the planetoids and bodies are infinitesimally small (the total mass of the objects in the belt - 5% of the moon's mass), but looking at surface area, Ceres is roughly 1/3 the land mass of China. Could make standard time travels, 1-2 days between orbital bodies and such, or jumps between bodies of a day or two to string out more distance between big bodies.

Thoughts, not quite pros/cons but a list:

One Planet: easier to get around, can have larger scale conflict and battles between groups, but is it any different than picking a random planet, and calling it a space game without much space involved other than sci-fi stuff like mad science, ray guns, etc.

Asteroid Belt: Controlled areas of play, rocket ships are a big part of the picture, harder for the localized combat such as Tree Men vs Ape Men (harder but manageable, some atomic/space guild/sect helped terraform the larger bodies, both species live on one large object).

@tinuviel said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

@skew Will this be Empire vs Rebels, First Order vs Whateverthefuck, Republic vs Confederates? What's the sitch, yo.

Without giving away too much.

The system is under Imperial Occupation. It is compliant but only for political purpose, to include avoiding the alternative of an Imperial storm. There is give and take here, room for resistance and sympathizers alike. There is an indigenous population as well that is generally opposed to both. The primary resource of the planet is highly prized for its technological value in subspace communications. Generically its a conflict of choice between support of Empire vs support of rebels, first loyalty is to the system itself and deciding for the character which option suits their interests and planet and pursuing those goals ICly to their end if possible.

So Locals vs Empire/Rebels/Outsiders/Natives. Its Imperial Era (between Clone Wars and A New Hope), so technically its Rebel vs Empire.

To further the thrust of what @Arkandel started and sort of what I was getting at, and others have said after, the distinction of the game and what type of MU* it is informs me what I would expect.

MUSH to me is less code focused, more RP driven. Just when I go onto a Mu* these days, it is folks in OOC room not doing much. And I can watch, come a posted, scheduled event, the OOC rooms clears and stuff happens. To me it feels like its getting away from the idea of it being a MUSH.

Feels more oriented towards a MUX maybe, or a MOO. Even a MUCK in a way, somewhere between MUD hardcode, lots of NPC quests and mobs and farming and building to do that doesn't rely on other players (yes, RPI/RPE MUDs have RP between PCs, but generally a player could play solo), and a MUSH environment.

On the spectrum, I think (and I don't know if I'm qualified to actually say there is such a Mu* spectrum), MUSH is environment provided, some meta guided, but more open for players to take initiative and do things on their own (or page/talk with staff for some guidance if they like), a MUD is more staff intensive with code set up and more control of the game and its focus; everything else is somewhere in between.

I just think along the way (late 90s), the drive of Mu*, outside of MUDs, sort of drove admin to reclaim more control. Some players learned the code and knowing where it was copied from could manipulate objects in the master code room and such. Others made puppets that snuck around dark and listened as spying devices. Some made objects that they hid in side, and let players pull them around. People got sneaky with the code and abused it, which sort of splintered the concept of the multi-user experience.

We started with far more trust in the shared environments (heh MUSE), but the trust was lost. Fewer player bases, and while lots of creative folks have left or ran out of time, seems some of the ones not to trust still linger. But instead of code breaking things, its more creep factor these days.

@Bobotron Defenders would be fun, but a group of friends could probably OTT that group endlessly on any of the multi-genre crossover comic places too.

I'm looking at Mongo itself and the people there; from the people of Frigia to Gundar and the desert tribes; from King Jugrid and the Lion Men to Queen Undina and the people under the Sea of Mystery. Battles against hawk men, shark men, ape men, snow giants, myriad dragons, terra worms, Ming loyalists, the dark dimension.

Not to set any of that. Just inspiration, room to update.

More Alex Raymond era Mongo. Though Mandrake would be pretty awesome and more people may be familiar with Phantom.

I'm in the camp that space travel time or RP downtime filler is not helping RP.

I've played countless hours of SW1, it has economy, space travel, cargo trade andv other simulators. But I'm not playing a mu* to solo a game.

In fact if I want that I'm booting up old Elite, or it's modern open source equivilant Oolite. One even has mmo servers going somewhere last time I checked. No space trade/mining mini game compares to Elite for me, inlcluding Mu*s that have tried.

This is going similar realm as that How to Change Mu thread. Coded filler is cutting into RP time. I've enjoyed the bajeezus out of coded poker, pool, bowling, tarot, sabacc, space trade, battlemechs, +combat. But really I want the interactive story telling that is Mu* (multi user) RP.

@tinuviel The major players, storylines, planets, ships (ie anything named/referenced in movie, book, comic) etc. are out there in the universe, but not part of the game.

Solo doesn't show up to work with the local smuggling group for a few months. Mon Mothma doesn't show up to start a splinter group of the rebellion. Younger Tarkin doesn't park his star destroyer over the planet to personally deal with the issues of the system. There isn't an interlude involving some component of the death star being built on the planet where players can interact with the main story. Its really stand alone with original characters (pc and NPC) in a its own fish bowl so to speak. The major story components are out there in the distant background with this focused locally.

@zombiegenesis said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

So judging by what you've leaked of the theme is it safe to assume you'll be primarily using Age of Rebellion as your source? What I'm really asking here is...will there be Jedi? It seems like the answer would be no but I just want to confirm that.

Yes Age of Rebellion will be the primary source, will probably borrow from others for things like additional race options. No Jedi, but some minor force elements, you are correct.

@warma-sheen I had a passing familiarity with the FFG system as we started this. It was sort of a Core/Fate resolution, dice are rolled with either positive or negative indicators compared to each other to determine final outcome. When I asked, I was imagining I would be doing my own take on old WEG d6. What I found is it builds right from there, including WIld Die, and expanded to make each situation rather unique in resolution. I'm loving it more, as it seems complex on the surface but is pretty simply as a tool for storytelling through use of dice, rather than gaming mechanics and stats/numbers.

@tinuviel said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

@skew Will this be Empire vs Rebels, First Order vs Whateverthefuck, Republic vs Confederates? What's the sitch, yo.

Without giving away too much.

The system is under Imperial Occupation. It is compliant but only for political purpose, to include avoiding the alternative of an Imperial storm. There is give and take here, room for resistance and sympathizers alike. There is an indigenous population as well that is generally opposed to both. The primary resource of the planet is highly prized for its technological value in subspace communications. Generically its a conflict of choice between support of Empire vs support of rebels, first loyalty is to the system itself and deciding for the character which option suits their interests and planet and pursuing those goals ICly to their end if possible.

So Locals vs Empire/Rebels/Outsiders/Natives. Its Imperial Era (between Clone Wars and A New Hope), so technically its Rebel vs Empire.

@sunny said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

@alexraymond

So, brainstorming, rather than writing files / descs / etc.? Or?

Between brainstorming and writing files. Files are being drafted, not quite to building/desc level. The shell is up and the FFG plugin for Areas will be looked over as we decide which elements belong or not (such as adding/removing talents) More like deciding, how big is this main area, what is the political structure like. Working right in that direction certainly.

@sunny said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

@alexraymond

What kind of help are you envisioning needing? Like, if people go 'I like this idea, I want to help, he's mentioned needing help', what kinds of things are there for them to do? It will help people figure out if they have it in them to contribute or not.

Asking for a friend. >.>

So it started as an umbrella, addressing some of the things brought up here. Number of planets or moons, type of system, how much control is there by non-Imperial vs Empire's reach. Building from top down and flushing out needed details. Some might say its more fluff work, but really, that's the meat of it. We'll bounce an idea and see where it goes and add it to the current doc that is building up on that topic as needed. Its flushing out more concrete ideas into something suitable to eventually get to some wiki and some help file once there is a better understanding. But the generic understanding is probably universal, Imperial Era, pre Battle of Yavin, that won't change much its more the details of breathing life into this growing setting.

Derail all that is wanted in regards to Ares. I'll say from only being less than a day into this project, Ares was easy to install and @Faraday was very helpful in support on the back end. I've yet to delve into anywhere near the level @ZombieGenesis has with command files and such, but accessing and manipulating the data files is pretty easy. I am a WinSCP user, though this may be changing; the good thing with Ares is that we can use the web portal at Aresmush to get into the files and edit it from there without using another program. She's done an impressive amount of data entry just in getting data files in there, but it won't be hard for us to find talents/careers and such from other source books and quickly add them into the data files. Like traditionally I'm used to just adding it (&race`newname dataobject=name|stat1|stat2), or other staff coding it in +race/add name=stuff 1|stuff2. But just jumping into the file through the portal is easier. Its like any wikimedia/wiki, copy paste the formatting, change the names, done.

Seriously easy, glad she decided to work up an FFG plugin. Unexpected and it saved a ton of time. More time to focus on theme/setting issues. Room for contributors still if anyone is interested, but we're moving forward. Or @Skew is, I'm trying to catch up.

@skew said in Star Wars Stand Alone - Staff Sought:

I hate the idea of being beholden (entirely) to a story that's fixed

This, this is the part that interests me most.

You have 3+ million habitable planets, Lucas has a Leia quote that there werre 32K systems in the Galactic Senate alone. Its a large canvas, as has been pointed out, why do we need to RP on Tatooine or Corellia, again even? Obi Luke and Chewie are skulking about the Death Star, how many PC teams do we need hanging round there leading up to the Battle of Yavin?

I'll keep you in the loop @skew, seriously going to look at Aresmush here to conserve some time and effort.

@bad-at-lurking That's jumping to conclusions a little. I said imperial era (between clone wars and bby 0). It involves an upstart system in revolt without enough imperial presence for conflict with full on planet bombardment. Based on Rogue One and Solo (Han as imperial trooper fighting upstarts in trench war fare). And syndicate presence for smuggler/pirate. Revoltion and change, whether white hats win or Empire dominates. Star Wars without using proper people places and things (which exist elsewhere just not on this part of the stage). Basically that fight between imperial oppression and potential rebellion but with is own heroes and villains for whatever change they fight for.

@faraday ... This is good to hear I may look into Ares as an option. That will cut down a lot of work.

@tinuviel The major players, storylines, planets, ships (ie anything named/referenced in movie, book, comic) etc. are out there in the universe, but not part of the game.

Solo doesn't show up to work with the local smuggling group for a few months. Mon Mothma doesn't show up to start a splinter group of the rebellion. Younger Tarkin doesn't park his star destroyer over the planet to personally deal with the issues of the system. There isn't an interlude involving some component of the death star being built on the planet where players can interact with the main story. Its really stand alone with original characters (pc and NPC) in a its own fish bowl so to speak. The major story components are out there in the distant background with this focused locally.

I'm pondering a Star Wars place that is really stand alone and am seeking help to make it a collaboration.

/The/ story is happening out there in the background, but the focus is on a local system. Something more along the lines of the 'grittier' movies; Rogue One and Solo. During Imperial Era, an upstart system as the central focus. Not fully in revolt but enough of an Imperial presence due to resources that conflict does happen with regularity, including the planet's own native species in rebellion against human+ locals and Empire alike.

Really, just looking for others interested in joining the creative process. Can't do it alone. If I did, it would be a few years down the road until something came of it. A few other creative minds to explore the specific theme and work up something really interested would be great. Better coders than myself for the conservation of time wouldn't be turned away. Anyone willing to contribute.

Not looking to open it up for board development here so much, just seeking interested individuals willing to collaborate. I have some basic info as a start, would be glad to share with anyone interested.