Poll, should Vel write another strategy guide....

[Stuffe]

Vel what is the SMAX guide for? some older civ game or? I tried to press the link in your sig, but it doesnt work or the great firewall of china has it blocked...

[Velociryx]

Sorry 'bout that! BookSurge is now routing all their stuff through Amazon. My Sig is updated with that information, and we should be good to go.

SMAX Guide was the first strategy guide I had ever written (for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri). It was well-received by the gaming community, and has been referred to as Alpha Centauri's "Bible" *blushes*. Now, I don't know about all that, but since it turned out to be pretty popular, I have been looking for another game to write a guide for. Civ III looked promising for the first couple weeks, and then...nada. Wasn't enough there to even warrant a guide.

This tho....Civ 4...

-=Vel=-

[Verrucosus]

While we are talking about the good old days, I vaguely remember a thread containing a sort of mini guide for Imperialism II. I couldn't find it in the archives, but the archive search is a little unreliable I think. Do you still have a link to this or any other mini-guide of yours buried in the archives?

[Velociryx]

Ohhhhh! I remember that! Fond memories of IMP2...as I recall, the only real beef I had with the game was the "armies can be anywhere" approach....still, fantabulous game!

Alas...I don't have a copy of the old writeup I did for it.... Wish I did...man, that was a fun game!

-=Vel=-

[DrSpike]

I voted banana because of the clear redundance of the poll.

[Alexfrog]

Absolutely! They are always excellent.

[Gen.Dragolen]

Different Perspectives are always Welcome

Vel,

After reading through your threads on how to analyze the starting positions to succeed in the face of the devious and skillfully implimented AI nations, we would all benefit just from your way of showing things from a different perspective.

The best part about the Civ series for me has always been the need to re-learn how the game works, be creative with the resources at hand, and then see a way to win inspite of the AI's apparently stronger starting position. And then you make it look so simple and easy when you explain how to look at the situation.

Vel, you may have missed your true calling in life as an educator who can teach students to think for themselves.

I look forward to reading what ever you decide to publish.


D.

[Little Honey]

Thanks to everyone for the continued votes of confidence and kind words on this thread!

I am writing this morning from my wife's computer, cos we're having some network troubles that has knocked my machine offline for the moment....fixing it is on today's "do-list."

Work continues on the guide, although I don't have an update to give this week--things were somewhat delayed on account of a familial wedding I had to attend, and all the requisite family entertaining that goes along with it.

Still, I've been able to bang together some solid notes on the early economy, and should have a significant update to roll out for next week (to include all the edits/changes/additions of the previous part, thanks to your sharp eyes, and the new stuff for your reading pleasure).

And to Dragolen....what can I say but thank you!! My wife is reading this over my shoulder, and nodded at your words, saying I'd either make the world's most annoying professor, or one of the best, largely depending on the students....LOL! I'm not sure exactly what she means by that, but it appears that you and she are on the same page!

Some notes about the upcoming Civ Four strat guide, and random points of information:

I don't know exactly when it's gonna be finished. It's done when it's done...that's my philosophy. A project like this isn't something that can be rushed. If it's not right, then it goes back for revision, and that process continues till every piece is right. Then, the pieces are assembled and we make sure that it all hangs together properly, and THAT (the structure and order of the material) gets beaten into shape until it too, is right.

Then it gets published in bound form.

Periodically though, I'm gonna be releasing notes here, in the forums (and specifically, to the strat thread above), such that when it's all said and done, the entire book will be laid out here for all to see.

Now, maybe it'll be the case that nobody will bother to buy the book at all....I dunno.

I don't much care, either, because really, I'm not doing it to make a buck. If people want to compile the rough drafts and notes here and "avoid" buying the book when I publish it...hey, that's cool. I got no problems with that.

Of course, there will be value IN the published guide. It'll be more highly polished, contain expansions (often significant) on the draft notes published here, and contain some segments that have already been covered previously--old strat threads, etc--and probably more than a few surprises tossed in for fun, but the *spirit* of the writing will certainly be captured in the drafts, so you'll certainly be able to craft I viable guide from the notes found here, and I would encourage that.

In fact, I might gather all those notes up myself and publish the "draft version" of the guide here, completely free, in addition to the "bound, final version" via BookSurge and Amazon.

Some folks might say that's a crazy idea, cos who's gonna want to buy the book when they can get it for free.

*shrug*

Maybe nobody, but I'm not in it for the money, so what do I care? *I* will buy a copy of my own book, and I suspect that there's enough interest in the project that others will too, and there's a certain amount of evidence in support of that. There are three versions of the old SMAC/SMAX guide running around out there, and they didn't dampen interest in the published version. If anything, they may have piqued more interest.

Besides, the bound version is just gonna be COOLER than the three-hole-punch-ring-binder version.

Anyway, that's my morning ramble. I'm gonna go put some coffee on for the soon-to-be-awakening family.

-=Vel=-

[Verrucosus]

I think it's safe to say that I wouldn't have ordered the SMAC Guide if I hadn't seen the draft versions published here. (I still have versions 2 & 3 on my lap top, so I can look things up even when I'm away from the books. For "historical" reasons, I'd be keen to see the first version, but I wasn't around at the time.) Those who liked the SMAC Guide and play Civ4, would probably buy the Civ4 guide more or less blind, but I suppose you are aiming for a larger audience.

Also, I agree that it's "cool" to put a book about your favourite game on the shelf. When I have friends over, quite a few of them like to inspect my bookshelf to see what's new and I know for a fact that two of them bought SMAC to find out what game someone could write 200 pages about.

Verrucosus

P.S.: I found fragments of the Imperialism II thread in a text file on my old computer. It's definitely incomplete and stops abruptly in the middle of a game report, but if you want to, I can mail the file.

[snafuc4]

Well, speaking for myself (who else could I speak for?) & as the author's most hated/loved being (a critic/editor), I'd love to see your guide, both in draft & published form!

I've never seen, let alone read, your SMAX guide, but I doubt if the people enthusing over it here are fanboys!

All of your notes here seem to me to be well-written, well-researched & well-delivered, with just that touch of humour that brings a tutor up from delivering a dull subject dully to investing it with a spark that makes the students interested. If the students are interested in the subject, they /will/ learn! - even if it is only a minimal amount - & they may well invest their time to researching the subject in their own time & of their own volition, although that's definately a bonus

More power to your elbow, Vel! (& especially to your arteries )

[padillah]

Originally posted by Verrucosus
Vel,

it was well past my bedtime when I finished reading the teasers you posted last night. Having pushed the "yes" button for this poll with as much strength as I could muster, I drifted to sleep, happily thinking both about my next Mongol game and the day when Vel's Guide to Civilization IV will proudly sit on my bookshelf.

Your SMAX guide is still a joy to read as I discovered a few weeks ago when a post on the SMAC forum prompted me to take it from the shelf and look for a quote. As much as the thoughtful analysis it's the sheer enthusiasm and love for the game that captivates me and, if I'm able to put it down for a moment, it's usually to start up a new game and try out the stuff I've read about. Your guide is certainly one of the reasons that I still enjoy Alpha Centauri as much as I do after all these years and despite its flaws. If you can provide a similar longevity treatment for Civ4, I'm willing to pay good money for it. If the excerpts you posted are anything to go by, the magic is as strong as ever. The methodical approach, the willingness to consider "odd" strategies and the conversational style ... it's all there and, to me anyway, it's an irresistible combination.

I can only imagine that planning to write something even close to comprehensive about Civ4 strategy is a daunting task to set oneself, but by all appearances you will really have a great time doing it and enjoy the game even more than you already do. Civ4 may not have as much "atmosphere" as SMAC, but it is more balanced and it still offers a staggering number of elements to combine into strategies.

Other than my warmest encouragement, I have not much feedback to offer at this point. In particular, I don't have a wishlist of topics that you wouldn't think of anyway. Regarding your earlier comment about the Civs themselves being only the tip of the iceberg, you might want to consider moving the Civ-specific notes towards the back of the guide (maybe along with map-type-specific notes and so on). It's probably tempting to start by discussing Civ-specific strategies because you can do so in more detail since you know about the starting technologies, traits, special units etc, but with eighteen Civs there's a real danger of some redundancy. If you move the Civ-specific notes backwards, you could build on the main body of the guide, concentrate more on what makes each Civ different and reduce the risk of having to repeat yourself. You could still pick out a couple of Civs (maybe one for each of the main styles of the builder/momentum spectrum) and give them a more detailed treatment, not because they are more important than others, but because they are particularly suited to illustrate the various styles of play. It would be a departure from the tried and tested arrangement in the SMAC Guide where the faction notes are included in the first main chapter, but it may be worth giving it a thought.

In any event, you should have no doubts whatsoever that your guide will be well received.

Best wishes,
Verrucosus

Uummm, what he said. ^^^



Tom P.

[Nikolai]

I'm all for a new strategy guide.