Discuss/Plan a ST4X Consolidation Thread

[tenbsmith]

Last week, I posted suggesting creation of a consolidation thread that would have links to all the most informative threads about ST4X. Before we start, it's probably worth doing a bit of planning.

The model for this is John Robinson's thread on the HoS board. You'll notice that the initial post in that thread serves primarily as Table of Content with links to other threads in the forums that provide the actual content. I want to follow that model.

Any suggestions for a title? Maybe something like this.
Player's Guide to ST4X

Please post suggestions for threads. I'll add some as my time allows. I'm concerned that some of the older stuff, like the Successful Invasion Ship Designs thread, may have inaccuracies. We'll need to think about how to deal with that.

Below is a draft of the beginning of the first post in the consolidation thread, to give an idea of how it might look
________________________________

This thread contain links to the most informative sources on ST4X, mostly here on this forum.

Overviews

The Help button on the ST4X Main Menu (aka splash screen) takes you to a Game Manual that provides an overview and some specifics (e.g., the effect of each Treaty). That manual is available here: www.tresebrothers.com/star-traders-4x-empires/game-manual

The Trese Brother known to us as Fallen has created two 'Let's Play' videos. The first shows the beginning of a game and establishes the core worlds (20 minutes). The second expands the empire from its humble 3 colony start to a 6 colony empire (30 minutes).
Available here: startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/8335

((In the future more stuff will be added))

[johndramey]

Not to toot my own horn, but I did this for ST and think the layout is pretty decent in that it's basically just a thread linking to all the other threads. Check it out.

As far as what you should include, basically everything is good. Try to keep it organized though, as the more organized it is the more players will be inclined to use it. If you want some help combing through threads for good ones, I'd be more than happy to help out!

[acecow]

Feb 23, 2016 19:39:27 GMT -5 johndramey said:

Not to toot my own horn, but I did this for ST and think the layout is pretty decent in that it's basically just a thread linking to all the other threads. Check it out.

As far as what you should include, basically everything is good. Try to keep it organized though, as the more organized it is the more players will be inclined to use it. If you want some help combing through threads for good ones, I'd be more than happy to help out!

Yeah, the only problem I'm finding though is that since the 4X forum gets less traffic, there are less decent threads to link too. Should we make additional threads that compile information (such as on Radiation) and then link to those from the "pinned, comprehensive thread"?

BTW, tenbsmith - Your link to John Robinson's thread just links back here, might want to check that.

[johndramey]

That's definitely an option, but would require a lot of work! I'm down for whatever is decided and will try to help out as much as possible, but time is a scarce resource for me these days.

[acecow]

I mean, it's either make separate threads (good to keep clutter out of this thread?) or make one F/S/RAQ thread (frequently, seldom, rarely) and post it...OR just throw the information into the comprehensive post.

[fallen]

I would highly recommend using John Robinson's model which has been so successful for Heroes of Steel:
startradersrpg.proboards.com/thread/5905/players-guides-heroes-monsters-tables

1. Someone makes a new thread with a good title: "4X Empires Comprehensive Guide" (of course, Brutus Aurelius already has one called that !
2. People make subthreads on topics and put all the really important information in the top post in that topic.
3. The owner of the guide topic edits in a new link to this awesome new topic.

Allowing links and details to slip into the page and pages of commentary make them very hard to use for new users. The critical thing is for the owners to curate the threads and edit their first post, and keep putting the best info (and in the case of the Guide thread, the best links) there.

It has been an amazing resources for Heroes of Steel, and is one of the top-viewed threads I can find on the forum

[tenbsmith]

Been super busy today. But I agree with a thread that is primarily links to other threads that contain the content. I also agree that week have to make a bunch of those content threads because stuff is sprinkled all over this forum.

[acecow]

Alright so, going for the thread/topic model...lets bteak this down.

Broad Categories - General, Empire and Combat

General - actually have no idea what would go here

Empire - Politics, Economy, Research, Colonies?

Combat - Ships, Xeno (or does this even need to be broken down? Probably)

From there...we should be able to figure out where any existing and new threads could go under. Let me know if these categories are good enough, maybe I can put together a draft.

[tenbsmith]

I like where you're going acecow, defining the topics is a good first step.

I suggest we divide combat into these two categories:
--Ship-to-ship Combat
--Planetary Invasion

Economy would be cool but it gets very complicated if you try to define the equations behind it. This is very important, but I'm not sure what content it would hold. Maybe Economy could have an overview thread and several detail threads.
--Economy Overview: Provides an overview of all the factors that affect economy
--Morale
--Population Growth & How to Control It
--Guide to Faction Politics (I've already written this one.)
errr... i'm not sure that's a very good solution. Ima think on it.

[acecow]

Scratch that, we can just do
Empire - Politics, Colonies

Politics is big enough to get its own topic, research and economy can go underneath the Colony section along with other building related discussions?

Good point on the ship2ship/invasion. I was wondering how to split that as well.

Unsure if I'll be able to get to it today, maybe tomorrow night.

[tenbsmith]

I expect we'll need a series of overlapping threads to do everything justice.

I'd really like to hear thoughts and suggestions from Brutus Aurelius . His 4x empires comprehensive guide thread provides a great overview of the game, would be one of the first links in the consolidation thread we're discussing here and seems does a good job parsing ST4X info.

Also, kudos to johndramey for coming up with the "thread linking to all the other threads" approach. We appreciate it bro.

[Brutus Aurelius]

My opinion is that, since the thread I started a while back is pinned, I could just take the links to all of the threads you guys want linked in one spot. Then we have a one stop thread for all your ST4X needs.

[tenbsmith]

Brutus Aurelius, I re-read your thread the other day and think it provides a great overview. I especially like the passage on the economy. Using that thread didn't occur to me because it has a lot of content and I was thinking of an original post that was mostly links without content--like the two threads mentioned previously. You might achieve something similar by adding links to the top of the original post in your Guide thread and pushing all the text down, but I think it would be best to start a new thread. But, I'm open to other ideas. Anyone else have an opinion?

Whichever way it goes, I'd be happy for you to run the new thread or add to the old one.

[acecow]

Currently toying around with a "Fleet Building 101" thread...

[tenbsmith]

That sounds like a good thread. I think we need to build at least a few more threads before it is worth having a consolidation thread, no matter what form it takes.