Fiction Guidelines

[The Writer2]

Thank goodness I asked the question before Mec got to it, then.

[Xentax]

And remember that there is a wealth of made up curse words that can be substituted for current slang. Ruttin', Gorram, Clot and Dreck (which is not just made up, but is very old and out of use) are just a few that would work and still keep things PG-13.

I think "frack" from BSG is my favorite. Nothing like seeing Starbuck tell someone to "go frack yourself" and smile because the FCC can't do a thing about it!

Frackin Censorship Committee....

[mputtre]

Hi. I'm an enthusiastic Sword of the Stars player, and I've just published my debut science-fiction novel on Lulu.com. Is it cricket to plug a novel here that's not SOTS-related? If so, I'll post the Prologue, which works as a stand-alone short story (PG-13, some language and a non-explicit sex scene). If not, I won't and I'll thank you for the forum and a terriffic game!

I'm an experienced aerospace and defense journalist, and I've done my best to make my space combat as realistic as possible. I'll also point out that epic games like SOTS, the Homeworld series, and Hegemonia are very inspirational for a developing writer with an bent toward intelligent space opera and military SF.

[mputtre]

I just posted a link to my novel in the Misc section, under the thread "What are you reading?" That seemed more appropriate:

http://www.kerberos-productions.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=1699&start=45

[Mecron]

congrats on finishing your novel mp!! It always the hardest

[mputtre]

Thanks Mecron. A week ago I would have said that finishing was the hardest. Now I would say that marketing is...

By the way, I understand from the intro of this thread that you wrote the script for Homeworld, among other things. I wrote a review of Homeworld back when for the old Games Domain site (remember them? not the zombified current incarnation), and I pointed out that the cinematic qualities of the game in terms of plot, pacing, and storyline were what made it so special.

So: Bravo!

By the way, did you read the old TTA books when you were a kid? That's the first thing I thought of when I spotted Homeworld.

http://www.khantazi.org/Rec/TTABooks/TTABooks.html

[Darth_Malevo]

Hey guys, I know I'm probably not the most active, but I have been checking up occassionally on the writing section, and while reading through most of this, I have begun to come up with a few ideas of my own.. Would any of you be interested if I wrote up something advancing the plot and technology by about a century or so? Just a few ideas for SotS I've been toying with for a while now.

[Erinys]

Hey guys, I know I'm probably not the most active, but I have been checking up occassionally on the writing section, and while reading through most of this, I have begun to come up with a few ideas of my own.. Would any of you be interested if I wrote up something advancing the plot and technology by about a century or so? Just a few ideas for SotS I've been toying with for a while now.

The point of the fiction forum is for people to express their creativity and have fun. Please keep in mind that we have already worked out most of the timeline of the SoTS universe at this point, and for both legal and artistic reasons we won't be able to tell anyone if any speculations they make in their fiction are "warm" as to the content of future games.

But other than that small caveat--it's always great to see new fan ficiton! Please feel free to dive in.

--Arinn

[CatchCharyou]

Please keep in mind that we have already worked out most of the timeline of the SoTS universe at this point...

--Arinn

Sooo... the guy... he dies in the end, right?

[Darth_Malevo]

Please keep in mind that we have already worked out most of the timeline of the SoTS universe at this point, and for both legal and artistic reasons we won't be able to tell anyone if any speculations they make in their fiction are "warm" as to the content of future games.

So... not even if I hit the nail on the head with a few pieces of tech? Drats, oh well.

And I do believe so, I mean, he's always acting so smart and backtalking his betters, it's a natural part of life that some Hiver ends him.

[Errai's Hero]

I know this is probably obvious, but I'm going to ask anyway.
I'm a young writer, just getting into the business, and I find that, for now at least, I'm better at classical fantasy (orcs'n'elves) than sci-fi just yet (I'm am working on it though) and I was hoping that I might be able to "practice" with intellectuals that love reading fantasy/fiction/sci-fi and have, as you put it Erinys, honor, respect, courage, and at least try to understand. These qualities are much harder to find in real world situations , and since this is a fiction/sci-fi based forum and I'm decently well know with some of the more frequent posters, this might a good place to begin. And I hope series' (or chronicals in my situation) aren't too much to ask.

[Erinys]

This forum is only for SotS-related fiction--there are many other places to post Tolkein or TSR-inspired fiction, and there is really no reason to host it here. If you would like to post some of your non-SotS fiction to another site or a blog, I would recommend you put a link to your writing in your signature line. Some readers here may visit your link and give you some feedback on your non-Sots writing via PM or email.

--Arinn

[Errai's Hero]

I understand and thanks for the tip.

[Mryddlin]

Hello!

Thanks for the forum and the posts, very nice of both of you to take time out and help us out.

I have a question about find cannon sources for SotS, so far I have been using the wiki and race home pages to get an idea of the events timeline. I have started a script project for SotS and I want to REALLY avoid contridicting the offical cannon of the SotS universe.

Also where can I get a copy of The Deacon's tale? (other than the CE edition of the game?)

Cheers!

[Erinys]

Hi Myrddlin! If we haven't spoken before, welcome to the forums!

If you want canon information about the SotSverse, the best place to seek it is the Races forum here on the Kerberos site. Although the threads on the various races and topics do take quite some time to read and are full of the usual jokes, arguments and non-topical ranting that you can find anywhere on the Internet, the posts I've made there essentially ARE the canon of the game universe.

The Wiki, although it is usually an excellent resource and most of its pages are quoted directly from my posts, is nonetheless not a compendium created by me personally. It is created by the community, not the developers for SotS. Sometimes, speculation or interpretation of the background fiction is posted there which is NOT clearly marked as non-canon or not written by me.

I've run into a few problems with this lately. People who read the Wiki seem to come away with a very poor sense of what the word "Suul'ka" means and how it is used in Liir society or among Black Swimmers, for example.

A new edition of The Deacon's Tale should be available via print-on-demand and Amazon some time this fall, if all goes as well. I hope that it will be an improved version in many ways, not least because when Lighthouse printed it for the CE edition, it had to be copy-edited and bound specifically to fit into a very small space in the box.

There are appendices added and many of the chapters have annotations, which will add more info on the history, languages, etc. of the SotSverse during and prior to the CE era. We may also provide a rough timeline of recent human history if there is space.

Hope that answers all the questions, and that you enjoy writing in our sandbox. Good luck!

--Arinn