UFO Fanfiction Discussion

[Bomb Bloke]

Ah, but I'm still not done yet! It's midnight now, but that's ok, as I've started moving the final few gigabytes across the network and that's gonna keep going for the next few hours.

 

Concerning the weapons, I raised the issue because some people seemed to think custom weapons were not allowed, others figured they were. I just saw a contradiction creeping into the fic, thought I'd point it out. I'm all for custom weapons, but nothing to modern. No Metal Storm weapons, for example, but I guess you all figured that.

 

Not that I'm the rulemaker, mind you.

 

What the - hey! Ki-tat just changed his avatar!! It's now... um... cheesy.

 

Ok, where was I. Right! Fic history and analysis, interspaced by random comments. The fic started off great, several posts per day, tons per month, and then "Chapter 1" ended. That was it. Bang. Suddenly, it was down to one post per week. All I can find in this discussion thread is Vet complaining about it. And this was just before the missions started, mind.

 

Everyone suddenly got writers block. This seemed to be due to character interaction being shot to hell, but I can't think why that would happen.

 

The first UFO landed. Vet posted later it was shot down by Gia. The second UFO was shot down by Grizzly, over Italy. I'm sure there are some comments in the fic later saying it was in Australia, but I could be wrong.

 

Vet posted this over a year ago:

 

Squad three is:

Igor Zhandovich (Heavy weapons)

Paul Jasper (immortal and a pistol scout like his buddy Tim in squad one)

J. Goldstein (a temporary rifle point who deserves to die with a that name)

T. Steedman (another rifle wielding mortal. Kill at your pleasure)

W. Paxton (Who are these guys?! Kill them all!)

C. Dietrich (Never before has a medic been more expendable)

M. Biehn (bloody spick by the sounds of it... I'll kill this one)

Y. Yamanov (apparently permanent crew with a rifle)

M. Kerr (possibly human controlled, the name is familiar)

J. Ulbricht (Ditto Kerr, let's try not to kill these until we run out of germans, I mean rookies...)

 

In summary... I have a very vague idea of what I've just done so any help is welcomed! Squad three will be attending the first terror mission by the sounds of it.

 

To which Alitorious made this comment:

 

C. Bruheme is in squad three, as well. (Heavy Weapons)

 

(And he's MINE to kill... all mine... mua ha ha!)

 

Make of that what you will.

 

Patrick O'Maley was how Hankosha's romm mate was introduced. When he left the fic, his name had 'evolved' to John O'Malley. Make of that what you will.

 

A note from Hankosha reminds me, O'Malley never did get his funeral...

 

It would seem the squads were made of troops in descending order of skill. That is to say, squad 1 rocks, squad 3 does not.

 

More or less. That doesn't make logical sense to me, as if I were a commander I'd even them out.

 

Noting Kilum;

 

I thought he was pretend all along! You mean he's a real person?

 

Vet had this idea.

 

If we had a bit longer between them we could have the motion scanner prototype... Although maybe it would be more fun to have that in the terror mission. Have the scout kind of walk around for a while and sudddenly *blip!* Hey guys I have something! *blip blip blip* uh guys... I have more things... *blip blip blip blip blip blip* you have got to be kidding me

 

I'll hit the "Add Reply" button again now, but mind I'm still not done!

[FullAuto]

This all happened before I got here, but I'll respond anyway.

 

A note from Hankosha reminds me, O'Malley never did get his funeral...

 

I could've sworn O'Malley and chen got buried in the same scene. Or they shared a memorial service. I mean, he's not still in the kitchen freezers, surely?

 

It would seem the squads were made of troops in descending order of skill. That is to say, squad 1 rocks, squad 3 does not

 

That's how it seemed to me, so I rectified it slightly by giving squad 3 the best test scores. I think the bias was because all the writer-controlled characters were in squads 1 & 2. If no-one else chips in with new characters, I'll knock up plenty of new ones after the terror mission and make sure things are a little more even.

[Bomb Bloke]

O'Malley didn't get buried. Chen got shipped off, O'Malley wasn't mentioned. It doesn't matter at all; it's just a detail that wouldn't have been skipped if everyone was posting. Just a random observation.

 

Ok, so fic posting slows down big time at the biginning of chapter 2. The first mission begins, and Tammy's last post is right there (I note that because she also has a fair percentage of fic posts).

 

The mission crawls along, ends. Posting pics up a little (ie one per week). I made my first post, the mission 2 begins. The fic gasps, and dies half way through, for months.

 

FullAuto turns up, and completes the entire mission.

 

*applauds*

 

The fic promptyl dies again for anoter month or so, but then posts become a bit more regular (once per month). Then FullAuto drags me in here (resident spammer ), and now it's mostly us two dragging things along.

 

Incedently, could someone gimme a quick low down on the "Agents" fic? I really have no idea, and don't want to research it... Just now...

 

As far as I can see, Alitorious owns the motions scanner subject in the fic, so he gets the calls as to when it is complete. He's not around... much, but by my standards NO ONE is ('cept FullAuto, of course), so that's Ok.

 

Anyway, from what I can read, he reckons the scanners have a way to go. Although there is an idea mentioned that perhaps the alien nav system could be used to hurry that line of work.

 

Anyway, after that section of this discussion thread, there are about ten more pages, most of which is me and (wait for it) FullAuto.

 

Don't mind me, it is late. :dead: Very late. I'm now in ranyt mode, and it is late. Be warned.

 

Anyway, now that I've read everything there is to read about the fic (fwaha!), my final notes (in no particular order) -

 

Everyone stopped posting as soon as X-Com went operational. No one wants to interact with other characters, because they think the owners won't like the results.

 

This is easily remedied by post edits. Plus, right about now I feel I could write dialog for ANY of the characters - though don't get me wrong, I'm not about to take over and write a one-man fic.

 

During mission time, only about a third of the cast is actually doing anything. The only person who has 'dared' to mention characters not in the scene of combat is Vet (*applauds*), with the discussion about the leadship role of squad one, between Rick and Warlord.

 

Most of the people who stoppped posting didn't really justify it, but I can note that Crazy Photon got a job, Vet went to boot camp, etc. Various people got busy, and they've been away so long I doubt they remember the fic EXISTS.

 

Thus, the options for continuing the fic are these -

 

1) It continues as it is. Which mean FullAuto and I are going to spit out most of the posts, as we seem to have lots of free time. That's not really acceptable, given the amount of authors (20) who have written into the fic.

 

2) A new fic is started. That seems ridiculous, given the immense amount of time taken to get the current fic to where it is, which is not really that far at all, really... Character development took months.

 

3) We drag everyone else back in here. I... don't know how well that'll work. But I get teh impression that many people would be surprised to see that the fic has not 'left them behind', as it hasn't gone anywhere.

 

Bleh, that looks like I'm writing ultimatums now. Bah. Just keep this in mind before you take anything I say seriously: :mad:

 

Where was I! Ah yes, squad responsibilities. It would seem the general concensus of the authors outside the fic that squad 1 was to have a mission, then 2, then 3. However, inside the fic, it's just a matter of time rotation. The squad on duty is supposed to be given five minutes to get on the Skyranger should something happen. Thus, the squad 'responsibility' doesn't rotate by mission, it rotates every five hours (I believe) or so, as it would be impractical to keep a squad 'ready' for, say, a week. Meaning, that the troops have no real idea as to which squad is supposed to go up next, even if we (the writers) do!

 

Now, I hate saying this, but that means there's no real reason to drag Gaston into squad 3 unless neccesary. That is to say, unless a mission starts, squad 3 happens to be on duty, and Rubenstien is still in med. That's perfectly arrangable. It also means squad 3 is not meant to be the ready squad all the time... It should rotate a few times per day!!

 

Readig the fic from start to finish, it seems a quite notable problem... But it would be easy enough to iron out, with a few tweaks of posts. Fitzwilliam's excuse's for wanting Gaston could simply be to get the best test scores, etc, etc, etc... I don't know.

 

Concerning science, the projects plodded away, then after the post drop, it started to rush. Alien Alloys are 'researched' in ONE SENTANCE. (Or two, but close enough). Suddenly Dana is expected to design a forge for the stuff. There is nothing in there to say "so-and-so checked out the alloys, noting this and that". There is no mention of uses for the stuff. It's a case of UFO shot down - a paragraph saying alloys are strong - Dana noting her schedule tells her to make a forge.

 

So, in the week or so since X-Com raided two UFOs (in a matter of a few days), they have -

 

- Worked out the details of alien alloys

- Worked out that a captured Sectoid was a navigator

- Got some insight into the power source of the UFO

 

etc.

 

Erm, I don't know, but it seems to me next month... Avenger?

 

It would also seem X-Com has the equivelent of 100 units of Elerium in less then a week. I'd love to have that much in game...

 

But that's just me griping. Onto some practical issues!

 

I'm going to start a new post now, so people may comment...

[Bomb Bloke]

Ok... X-Com is a covert operation. No one should know about it, nor the aliens. The next mission due is a Terror Mission.

 

Think about it.

 

What we have is an open alien assualt on a town (or city, even). X-Com covert status has to remain, and that's easily achieved by posing them as normal infantry. As for the aliens? Well, them turning up all weapons blazing is not something that would go un-noticed. This is when things go to all out war.

 

The civilians are going to know what's going on. News is going to be out. There is a lot of posting fodder there for the people at X-Com, and indeed around the world. Meetings with Genega, etc. The two UFO assaults might even result in political backlash against X-Com, saying it was they who provoked the aliens to attack! The posting possibilities are endless.

 

My point is, that mission can't be just another mission. It needs a ton of support posts. Indeed, since X-Com wnet operational, the fic has seen nothing but combat. Out of combat, it's just brief notes until they get back into it - take for example the whole alloys thing. The soldiers, and indeed humanity, have officially encountered aliens for the first time in Earth's history. The coverups in the X-com base are over, the aliens are here, it's real. None of the troops has yet taken the time to stand back and go "Wow. Never thought I'd see this.", they just load up and go and shoot aliens. The scientists seem more bothered by the distraction the new technology provides then amazed. There's all this stuff to go "ooh" and "aah" at, and well... I get the impression it's been treated like someones playing the actual game for the fifty-first time, and they've already got their research plan done, etc.

 

Anyhoo... I can't believe I may be up for another four hours... hang on, it's 2am already! Stupid slow network! I need a new smily to show my anguish!

 

A-n-y-way. Just my two cents. My point is this; the fic started, rolled along just fine, then died. FullAuto kicked it back to life (and it took a few kicks), but without the rest of the authors, I don't think it will work. Oh, and the missions and research needs to slow down BIG TIME.

 

That said, I'm on holiday, and over the last few days I've done nothing but read and type notes on the fic. I've got it on the brain. So excuse my strutting around like I think I'm some sort of mystic-fic guru. Gimme a day or two and I will recover.

 

...

 

Did I mention that it's late...? :dead:

[The Veteran]

Bugger big style! Right firstly the concessions on my part...

 

I got Cpl Wales mixed up as being the Squad Leader for Squad 3 not the training instructor. I therefore assumed that what's his face who I just had in my post had simply taken command of his own accord (that's how it seemed to me when reading previous entries anyway!)

 

So obviously I have an edit to make there but not quite sure how to do it!

 

Also Gaston is of course not in my squad, I believe Rick's distaste towards the man sprung from the new year party and not from the actual combat mission side of the fic.

 

Again, quite how I can fix that is a mystery but all will be fixed asap.

 

Now for Rick... I see how I confused everybopdy but what I meant to say was he surrendered HIMSELF TO the position, thus taking it unwillingly to prevent Warlord having to take it. As opposed to him sacrificing the position himself and making Warlord take it. The big guys too good a soldier for a Squad leader poosition, Rick knows that. Nothing there is changing any time soon!

 

As for lasers (not my faulkt!) personally I think it's still to early to use them so the previous mention of their development should be stricken from the record with utmost vigopur and urgency...

 

Also an important point... The Lightning which Gia flew was a single engined prototrype of thew Hurricane (ingame interceptor) find out more about these two great military crafts in the 'data canister' topic or on VHS and DVD titled 'Alien Busting Machines of the 20th Century' The reason it's called the Lightning is because that's what they wanted to call it, Hurricane, Lightning, get where I'm coming from? The reason that the Lightning as we know it is called the lightning in many many months from now is because the old Lightning should have killed Gia when it went down but she survived... There's a big storyline coming up on my part concerning that but you lot will have to get writing way quicker if you ever want to see it!

 

Ok I stopped reading the last few posts because I'm being harassed so let me know if I've not rectified anything said here. As far as the no-posters situation goes I think the easiest sort-out for it all is to contact everyone who has a character and ask if they're going to write full-time, part-time or not at all... If they say full-time then they must post once a week unless there are complications (Air Force, Microsoft etc...) If they say part time then they must specify who they would most like to care for their character(s) and how they would like them to proceed. Being a part-time writer provides the owner with the continued option to contribute to a storyline and future development scheme fcor their character. It also means they can continue to post as regularly as they can. If an owner decides to stop writing then they are given the same foster-parent choice as a part-timer but have much less input on the character unless they specify they still want it. If anyone fails to reply in part or in whole to this query then they must understand that their character may be taken control of at any time by any person and the characters future and fate will be none of their concern. Death could result...

 

But now to check the story itself! And people may be pleased to hear that a new member may be joining the army... We'll see!

[FullAuto]

Our army of writers, I hope.

"be you angels?" Vet asked me and BB.

"Nay, we are but men"

"ROCK"

[Zager]

It would also seem X-Com has the equivelent of 100 units of Elerium in less then a week. I'd love to have that much in game...

 

If that's a problem, Dr. Zager can take care of it with a lab explosion.

[Bomb Bloke]

[/rant]

 

Gaston = Vet's bad

Rick = My bad

 

 

I'll chop the early laser pistol. I think it got mentioned in a few posts , but remember it wasn't a working model... Well, it was, but it was an unpowered working model.

 

Erm... Are you serious about "'Alien Busting Machines of the 20th Century", Vet?

 

*googles it*

 

Guess not.

 

I guess the Lightning thing isn't really a problem... I just thought it odd that no one seemed to notice.

 

I'll change the laser post to read that the scientists have developed plans for a large laser prototype model (something bigger then even an HWP could carry). That way, nothing gets built, but it bumps things a long nicely.

 

A quick scan through the following posts doesn't seem to mention the finished prototype, but I vagualy remember it resurfacing later. The 'problem' stopping the gun from being used is the biocells couldn't be attached without a quasi-organic wire... Or something.

 

Don't feel harassed, Vet... You're the only one who posts anything, so you're due to make the most mistakes. Not that they matter, mind.

 

Concerning the elerium... Well, it was never stated whether the second UFO's drive exploded or not. That's not a real problem... I just think things would be odd if X-Com got too much elerium, especially this early in the game. In most of my games, I only get a few hundred units - I'm not good at raiding landed UFOs, I tend to shoot them down, and the engines go POP!

 

Speaking of which, That first UFO. X-Com makes first alien contact! Finds a real flying saucer! Unscathed! No weapons damage, no scratches, nothing, a fully functionable, flyable UFO.

 

So they chop it into tiny pieces so's they can return it to base.

 

Erm. I'm going into rant mode again. I'll stop just there.

[FullAuto]

So they chop it into tiny pieces so's they can return it to base.

 

Expediency, dear boy. It is, after all, an imperfect world.

[Alitorious]

I'm here, and lurk regularly. I'm just... erm... lurking and not posting. (Stupid schoolwork...)

 

So they chop it into tiny pieces so's they can return it to base.

I'm the one who covered that. I made Zager really ticked that they couldn't get it back to base in one piece, but Genega said that it was (unfortunately) not going to be the only one they get.

 

(Speaking of which... there should be a big chopper-type thing that can carry big and heavy loads arriving. Uhh... anyone?)

 

(And he's MINE to kill... all mine... mua ha ha!)

 

MUA HA HA HA HA HA!

 

Edit: Oh, I should also say that it was an incredible amount of work you've done, BB. You didn't just read the fic and discussion boards over a bunch of times... you analyzed it.

Whooaaa..

[Bomb Bloke]

I read it once.

 

The idea was to try and get new people posting... With a summary, it's not quite such a daunting task to get up to speed with who's in the fic, what's happening, what's happened, etc.

I figured since I was going to read the whole thing anyway, why not?

[Zager]

The 'problem' stopping the gun from being used is the biocells couldn't be attached without a quasi-organic wire... Or something

 

I lean towards cooling problems. High powered lasers without coolant melt.

 

Expediency, dear boy. It is, after all, an imperfect world

 

What sort of excuse is that? We're supposed to figure out that technology. Having working technology is necessary. We get some working alien technology. Or we had some, what we have now is some alien alloys, some destroyed computer components, a propulsion system that it's in ten thousand different pieces and unattached antimatter power plant without a computer safety system that will blow up Australia if we turn it on wrong.

 

Hey, about alien propulsion, I was reading through my d20 Future manual, and I came across this gem that might be used as alien drives.

 

Intertial flux engines: By precisely controlling the quantum energy level of every atom on the ship simultaneously, the inertial flux engine assumes the inertial states necessary to produce motion in any direction. In effect, by operating the controls, the pilot chooses from instant to instant what vector the ship's atoms will next possess, and the inertial flux engine alters them simultaneously-along with everything else aboard, including the crew and passengers

[FullAuto]

What sort of excuse is that?

 

A better one than 'Duh, gee, boss." and the best one to date.

[Zager]

A better one than 'Duh, gee, boss." and the best one to date.

 

Bah.

[FullAuto]

I know. Soul destroying.

[Bomb Bloke]

It wouldn't be a problem if the craft had crashed. We know the crafts can be dissassmbled with ease, but you would expect them to at least take a look at the UFO before slicing it to pieces. I mean, there's no guarenties that X-Com would get another UFO; they did, and the salvage of that one went undocumented. I mean, what about the craft weapon systems? Chopping the thing up could be suicide!

 

Concerning the quantum drive, it would also need to transfer the matter around it. Well, that isn't strictly true; however, if air and the like was moved out of the way (or made to do so), that would reduce frontal air pressure, generic friction, etc and generally make for a faster ride.

 

X-Com UFOs work by true anti-gravity, a feature unique to element 151. The gravity waves of that element extend out past the particles themselves, so 151 is not just a random number. But as much scientific conjecture that goes into the fic, the better. The Avenger can outrun a Battleship, after all.

[FullAuto]

That's element 115 to you, boyo.

[Bomb Bloke]

...

 

Mine's bigger then yours.

[Zager]

Concerning the quantum drive, it would also need to transfer the matter around it. Well, that isn't strictly true; however, if air and the like was moved out of the way (or made to do so), that would reduce frontal air pressure, generic friction, etc and generally make for a faster ride.

 

It's got the word quantum in it's description. That's a science fiction word that means it can do anything! It's also got the word flux in it.

 

X-Com UFOs work by true anti-gravity, a feature unique to element 151. The gravity waves of that element extend out past the particles themselves, so 151 is not just a random number. But as much scientific conjecture that goes into the fic, the better. The Avenger can outrun a Battleship, after all

 

Maybe X-COM could use that for the Avenger then, while the alien's use the anti-gravity technology. Human's are pretty inventive you know, maybe the science team could develop the intertial flux drive as the next step up from the anti-gravity drive.

[Bomb Bloke]

I was thinking something along the lines of a hybrid, but I've no idea what.

 

I figure the more high tech stuff you throw on the thing, the better it's gonna be... It must have some pretty good tech on it, considering that

 

1) It's the fastest thing in the game.

2) It is essentially a box.

 

Boxes don't normally fly very fast, anti-grav or not.

[Zager]

What if it's a quantum flux box?

[Bomb Bloke]

Ah... yeah... that would be good.

[Alitorious]

Just not as long as it's not a quantum flush box. Or a quantum toilet. Or quantum toilet paper.

Quantum news paper.

Quantum news.

Quantum olds.

Quantum oldsmobile.

Quantum mobile home.

Quantum home.

Quantum house.

Quantum houseparties.

Quantum drinking.

Quantum beer.

 

 

Mmm.... quantum beer....

 

And that, ladies and gentlemen, is how you get from Avengers to Beer.

[Hankosha]

Hankosha here. though i haven't read ALL of the Fic. I will do so soon. However I'm a bit distracted by school and my new PS2. for now, I'll keep trying to figure out who he Spy is, and attempt to find my charm. (It does still exist).

 

 

-Hankosha

[The Veteran]

Quiet! Crazy people... What's all this madness? Where is the fanfic posting?