OK, well it basically killed my lunch hour writing this and my wife is
probably wondering why I am late for dinner (and yes she will suspect it has
to do with gaming), but here is a document in the spirit of the CIA World Fact
Book. It is in HTML format since I believe we can all read that. I did the
original in Microsoft Word 97. A lot of this became tongue in cheek when I ran
out of serious things to say. Perhaps we can make this a group effort and fill
in the holes that I initially filled in with jokes. Who knows, if this gets to
be detailed enough perhaps it can be used as a "serious" tool for designing
scenarios and picking fights.
The format divides the nationalities into Super Powers, Major Powers and Minor
Powers. It then lists the nations in no particular order. Each nation then has
a timeline written for them. I basically took the given timeline in FT and SG
and for the most part expanded on each item. In some cases I did it from the
point of view of the nation (ie, the ESU speaks of NAC aggression...)
I actually feel closer to the background information now. I think it is easily
one of the most complex backgrounds for any game I've ever played.
I go up to 2182 and not 2183 because that is the year of the Xeno War and I
want to use the document to figure out just exactly where everyone is just
before the "Big Boom Cometh."
To think this all started because I wanted to write a small merc campaign...
(See attached file: nsogzg.zip)
> Peter Mancini wrote:
> Perhaps we can make this a
Some comments to the file:
"...that might not be GZG canon..."
According to Jon, there is no such thing as a GZG canon - or, if it is,
it
is vague enough to cover a huge lot of interpretations :-/ The rest of
my comments should be read with this in mind:
I very strongly doubt that the Eurasian Union would use the abbreviation EU.
That stands for the European Union, which according to the timeline doesn't
split into the FSE and NSL until 2101 whereas the Chinese and Russian
amalgamation occurs in 2047. (You call the European Union the
"EC",
but the name and abbreviation was changed in favour of "EU" some years ago
- after FT2 went to print, though.) Therefore the references to the "EC"
in
the FSE, NSL and IF sections should be "EU" instead :-/
Indonesia might have slipped down to Minor Power status, but if so it is still
the most powerful Minor Power around. Most of their wars have been
successful (...ie, they haven't had to cede any territory so far :-/ ),
and
they should have the second largest population of any state - only the
ESU (with both China and India) would be bigger (with the PAU as a close
third), and they probably have a very strong economy too (since all of the
current Tiger economies have been absorbed into the IC).
Japan was more or less a NAC protectorate for a long time (noted in the DSII
future history), but it seems to be reasserting its independence now.
Switzerland is NOT the home of the Nobel Peace Prize. Norway (part of the
Scandinavian Federation) is.
Also, Switzerland might be peaceful, but they're hardly pacifists - the
reason they've managed to stay out of so many wars is that no-one in
their right minds really wants to invade a mountain fortress where each and
every
able-bodied man (and women too, in a not-too-far future) is armed and
prepared to
defend the place :-/
Later,
Thanks Oerjan Ohlson, I will use your notes to correct my document. I should
have caught the Nobel Peace Prize goof myself. As for the difference between
EU and EC I was not aware of the change. I have recently added European news
to my news agent (for an unrelated reason) and perhaps I will become more
aware of things like that.
If someone could check the document I sent on Friday against the Dirtside II
history I'd greatly appreciate it. I don't have a copy of DSII so I am in the
dark on the differences.
I will continue to work on the N/S/O doc until it becomes a useful
tool. It is nice seeing a countries own timeline without having to search the
entire main timeline. It is also easier to figure out who is enemies with
whom. Having not really read the timeline very closely before I was unaware,
forinstance, that the FSE and NSL were enemies and had once been part of the
same organization.
--Pete