Author Topic: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory  (Read 6022 times)

Offline SugeBearX

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Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« on: May 27, 2015, 09:24:02 pm »
All seemed well in our budding Zenith settlement of Kulrider. Despite the close proximity of an Acutian settlement, and the pollution that comes with it, we were pursuing a tranquil path of scientific discovery. What follows are excerpts from the personal journals of Premier Zeke I of Kulrider…discovered by me in the wreckage of our once proud city. May these accounts prevent others from repeating our mistakes…

Entry: I was wakened in the night with news that our Acutian neighbors had instigated a war of aggression…against fully half of the known races present on this world! Thankfully, we are not one of them…Yet. What am I saying? Even if the report is correct, and I have doubts about its accuracy, surely they cannot hope to win. They will be eliminated, along with their threat and their disgusting pollution…and good riddance.

Entry: Unbelievable! The Acutians have emerged victorious. How can this be? How weakened are they? Does it even matter? We are in no position militarily to take advantage even if they are devastated. What if they are not devastated…What if we are next? Damn me for allowing my advisors to convince me we had no need for a standing army. That changes…now! I will divert all our resources towards military readiness. Will there be enough time? There has to be…

Entry: The Minister of Health has been pestering me about a meeting for weeks, so I finally decided to placate him so I can be free of his whinging. It seems our fair minister is concerned that his funds for disease research have been diverted to military research. After explaining to him that there has been no hint of any disease since the founding of our fair city, I denied his request for renewed funding and sent him on his way.

Entry: Our newly constructed guard post has been utterly destroyed by some kind of damned subterranean worm…And worse, it seems that the Acutians have been working fervently to reconstitute their military might. This is…concerning.

Entry: The Minister of Health barged into my office reporting the outbreak of some sort of fungal infection. Although the mortality rate is not high, it appears to be highly contagious and the symptoms highly debilitating. I agree to divert whatever funds are necessary to the Minister of Health, but the look on his face tells me that it may be too little…too late.

Entry: Disaster! Our spies tell me that the Acutians are preparing to launch a full scale assault against us. We will be too weak to defend ourselves. Those who have not died in the damned pandemic are too sick to work. Our trained physicians, few as they were, died of disease whilst attempting to cure the afflicted and our military installations are manned by skeleton crews.

Final Entry: This is the end. Only a few hundred of us are left and only a few dozen have avoided infection. I have sent away the last few healthy citizens, for all the good it will do. There are not enough of us left for us to be genetically viable as a species. The Zenith end here. My only solace is that no one will be left to share my name that it be cursed forever more…

I have never had so much fun losing at a strategy game and have certainly never felt compelled to write something about it. I just wanted to share the experience…I'll stop wasting time and get back to testing now. :)

Offline x4000

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #1 on: May 28, 2015, 08:39:38 am »
This.  Is.  Awesome!

Very well written, and I'm so glad you had such a great time. :D  And it wasn't game bugs that killed you, yay! ;)
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Offline x4000

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #2 on: May 28, 2015, 08:41:10 am »
You know, I have been super short on time to keep the blog on the main site alive at all.  Would you mind if I used your post on there?  I'd credit it to you of course, either under your forum name or otherwise if you prefer.
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Offline jerith

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #3 on: May 28, 2015, 01:59:54 pm »
That kind of reminds me of the stories Kizor tells on IRC about whatever game he's playing. Those got me into Crusader Kings, and I bought him TLF just so I could see what he'd do with it. :D

Offline Kizor

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #4 on: May 28, 2015, 02:34:02 pm »
Thanks for that, by the way. I did this with TLF, seems like the time to plug it. Hope it satisfied. :P

And it wasn't game bugs that killed you, yay! ;)

Indeed, just a bug.
« Last Edit: May 28, 2015, 03:08:32 pm by Kizor »

Offline SugeBearX

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #5 on: May 28, 2015, 04:26:38 pm »
Absolutely! Use it however you see fit. :) Credit it to my forum name or Sean Johnson...whatever seems more appropriate. Heh, I think the more prosaic version of the story sold a couple of copies to my friends...Will lock them down when I display the beta for them this weekend, provided that's allowed. I don't have a ton of friends, but every sale and good word of mouth counts, eh?

I assume you have a list of Youtubers to distribute to when the game goes live? I have a few suggestions...let me know if you want them. Cheers!  8)

Offline x4000

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #6 on: May 28, 2015, 09:42:43 pm »
Thanks guys!  Both of you. :)  I'll be sure to plug the TLF AAR, too. :)

For youtubers, we absolutely are always looking to hear of new ones.  If you can send emails to arcengames at gmail dot com, that will get them to Erik, who handles all that end of things.  He has a big list and is always adding to it, and I have no idea who is or is not on there.  My head is elsewhere. :)

And yes, every sale definitely does count, and word of mouth is just absolutely key.  I hope to continue refining this to the point where it's really something that gets more and more people jazzed up prior to release.
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Offline x4000

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #7 on: May 29, 2015, 01:12:24 pm »
Here's the post!  http://arcengames.com/better-a-memorable-defeat-than-a-forgettable-victory/

I'm linking this off our upcoming steam page and our main site page, at least for now. :)
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Offline nas1m

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #8 on: May 29, 2015, 01:35:39 pm »
Here's the post!  http://arcengames.com/better-a-memorable-defeat-than-a-forgettable-victory/

I'm linking this off our upcoming steam page and our main site page, at least for now. :)
Just mantised this as a direct result of the blog post.
Any chance to get this?
Craving some more color and variety in your next Bionic run? Grab a boost and a couple of custom floors!

Offline x4000

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #9 on: May 29, 2015, 01:45:58 pm »
Here's the post!  http://arcengames.com/better-a-memorable-defeat-than-a-forgettable-victory/

I'm linking this off our upcoming steam page and our main site page, at least for now. :)
Just mantised this as a direct result of the blog post.
Any chance to get this?

I think there's a misunderstanding in that one?
Have ideas or bug reports for one of our games?  Mantis for Suggestions and Bug Reports. Thanks for helping to make our games better!

Offline nas1m

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Re: Better a Memorable Defeat than a Forgettable Victory
« Reply #10 on: May 29, 2015, 02:11:42 pm »
Here's the post!  http://arcengames.com/better-a-memorable-defeat-than-a-forgettable-victory/

I'm linking this off our upcoming steam page and our main site page, at least for now. :)
Just mantised this as a direct result of the blog post.
Any chance to get this?

I think there's a misunderstanding in that one?
With regard to the Mantis entry? It's about allowing the camera to zoom further in - so that the tiles may look as good as in the pictures you used to illustrate the blog post.
Sorry if I was unclear - sometimes not being a native speaker bites me...

EDIT: Nevermind. I replied on Mantis.
« Last Edit: May 29, 2015, 02:15:23 pm by nas1m »
Craving some more color and variety in your next Bionic run? Grab a boost and a couple of custom floors!