Board Thread:New on JNation Wiki/@comment-26240180-20160108022902

The New J Nation

The Old into the New- IN the times of the old J Nation our group of friends had began to develop a game of which we could create our own worlds and build them up as our own. With this came the game creation which dealt with how the game was to be played and how we would determine any time of situation dealt with in a real world setting. We wanted the game to both be realistic but also still be a game. With much bickering and many arguments, several versions of the game play and the units used for the resources within the game were formed and used in the best way that the creators could think to use them. Eventually resulting in a breaking of the game altogether, the system of creation was not certain and was not dealt with well. I was one of the many group members to be a part of the creation and that tried to get it going, I was also a main cause to the many problems that were developed during the creation of the game. What I have to say today is that, 'THERE IS A BETTER WAY!' a way that I shall propose to you now.

The New J Nation- The idea of which sparked my mind to the creation of the new J Nation was that, that has been bugging me for the longest time .. a question “Why am I (or any one of the other group members) deciding how things are determined in the game?”. I have pondered this question in every event that the game is or was talked about and even when we were creating the game. I tried my very hardest to think of a way to make it so that we didn't have to do that and I didn't think of anything. Having been at a loss I really just gave up on the game not throwing away any of the materials used for it. I hated coming up with every bit of information for a game that took so long to develop and also took so much effort and thinking to even try to create. Really all the information had to come from one person for the game to become a game at all. Today I am saying to you, NO MORE! This is the dawn of a new J Nation where “YOU” do the work, your only boundaries are the boundaries of our reality.

This is the New J Nation:

Section 1:How you start: The beginning of the game actually is where the part about “YOU” comes in. YOU choose a biome. With this decision, YOU then conduct your research on the biome, gaining as much information as you think necessary for your game play (Keeping the documents or the information locked away or printed for the use of possible arguments in which case being able to prove whether or not something is or is not possible in your biome; Wikipedia not being a source that is credible for use... anyone can write anything on there). This information consists of: Plants, animals, terrain, whether, temperature, natural disasters/ their frequency, etc. and would be used for everything between the beginning of the game to whenever you decide to stop. This research is the base of your game play, it's everything! So if you don't have sufficient research then you probably won't do too well. Basically what the research does is explain why you are able to do anything within your biome such as why you're able to get certain materials, why you're able to get certain meats or hides, why you're able to mine certain rocks... it's your justification and if you don't find that it's true for that biome then you can't do it. I'll say it again “IF YOU CAN'T FIND THAT IT'S TRUE FOR YOUR BIOME THEN YOU CAN'T DO IT”! Obviously there will be a lot of similarities as to what you can or cannot do in all the biomes thus it shouldn't be a huge problem. Now Changing between stages is determined by the person themselves. You need to feel like you are ready to move on or not, whether that is because you think you have enough materials or you have enough research or enough land … etc. it is all determined by you. Section 1:Stage 1: Implementing Your Research Stage one is essentially just the use of what you've learned about your biome. You don't necessarily have to stop doing research because it will be useful to know more and more throughout the game play, but now you use what you have learned and start your civilization or your game play. It starts off with you choosing a certain number of people that will start your civilization between 2 and 100 people. You decide how many men, women, or children … you decide ages and obviously you have to be able to back up anything if it seems farfetched (with research, sensing a trend?). Then you obviously have to consider all the things that that group is capable of and start building. Everything you do in this game has to be backed with research if it is noted by anyone that it seems farfetched. So stage one is all about using what you've learned and simply starting your shelters and families and the very very basic needs of survival (Food, water, shelter, maybe weapons, etc.).

Section 1:Stage 2: Development After starting your civilization with your chosen number of people, you now go into a stage of just “continuing life”. Basically all that means is that you write how things are done in your little village, the families, the beliefs, the ethnicity, the culture, etc. and you just begin the overall understanding of your civilization. This is mainly just a story side or an explanation of everything that you wish to be. All within in, of course, the boundaries that is our reality.

No research is really needed for this unless you are going to copy or use existing ideas all the way through. This is truly just your idea of how you want your soon to be country to be.

Section 1:Stage 3: Time Now a very important piece to this puzzle is time frame. Meaning how long the game lasts and how long each session is within the game. This was certainly a problem for the prior idea of J Nation as it was a problem for when the group could meet or how everyone would know about each others timing for things. So I have decided to leave it up to debate, as to say that those playing decide based on the idea of “how long do we want this game to last?” and “how often do we want to update?”. Thinking on it this way: If we are to play a short game that we want done within a 24 hour period then we can do it to where every 10 minutes is a year ( or every 5 whatever) or if we want it to span within a month or a few months or a year we decide a day is a year or a week or .. however the players decide to do it is how it's going to be. However the suggestion is to use 1 year intervals.

Section 1:Stage 4: Game play The actual game play is done online and in person. Really in person is optional because of the scheduling and the need for a physical representation. The game play is mainly just saying what you're going to do and how you are going to do it and who you're going to do it with. The main part of the game really is developing your civ as far as you need in order to be able to reach other civ's and collaborate with them. With the extension of your civ comes the interaction of your countries by which you decide what to do whether that is war or alliances or trading whatever it is, you have to decide and also do your research on the functionality of the other in order to decide these things. This game is built on research, documentation, effort, and strategy.

Section 2: Documentation This game is “pen and paper” meaning everything you do needs to be documented somewhere and needs to be accessible to every “eye” pertaining to the game. Thus, the game will mainly be online such as on a wikia or if a website is created for the game specifically. This is to create both security and understanding for everyone with everyone and everything going on within the game. “IF YOU DON'T DOCUMENT IT … IT DIDN'T HAPPEN”. Everything means things from laws being made and how long that took, roads being built and with what and how long and how it was done, etc. … everything pertaining to your civilization is to be documented. That being said, obviously not everything that you wish to do has to be documented so if you are thinking about joining with someone in the future of your civ then you don't have to tell everyone what you're thinking … only when it actually happens. Time frame is always to be documented.

Section 3: Representation This is most likely going to be the most worked on section of the game because it deals with: your flag, your beliefs, what your place looks like, how you wish to portray your civ and so on and so forth. This means diagrams, digital representations, print outs, game boards, etc.

Summary: The New J Nation This game is played by your imagination through realities boundaries. In gamers terms: Choose your character- Biome Customize- Starting population (2-100), culture, beliefs, families, etc. How long you play- the time frame of each session (long term game or short term, 1 year intervals) Saving- Documentation Who you are- Representation Game play: Walking places, fighting, figuring out how to pass a certain stage, etc. - Game play: doing research, making decisions, collaboration with other players, etc.

This game is not for someone else to create the world for you, it's for you to create the world with what reality gives you. If you want to do something with the tools you have … figure out how long it'll take, figure out what you need, figure out everything … you figure it out … no one does it for you. Use google … use books … use reality. You make the decisions, you build, you research, you do what you want … Reality is your only rule. 