Writing AARs For This Forum

[Lost In Transition]

I'd like to try my hand at an AAR or story. I've read the four posted in the AAR thread (above) and find them very interesting.

Any suggestions on how to get started? Do I have to ask permission before I start (some forums, I think, require this)? Are there any rules I should be aware of?

I did read the lenghty post by Luther on the old RTR forums.
Unfortunately, the forums went down before I had a chance to get started. I have a couple of ideas I'd like to try.

Thanks in advance for your suggestions.

[RedXIII]

1) No permissions are required, unless you are using somebody else's material.
2) I am not aware of any AAR rules, besides the global rules of the forums.
3) I'll see if I can find a copy of that thread with Lucifer's post.

edit: Found a copy of that thread in .doc format. His post is about 3/4 down the page.

[Maced0n]

Do I have to ask permission before I start (some forums, I think, require this)?

No you dont need

Are there any rules I should be aware of?

Just no porn...

[MCM]

Ah, another AAR entry!

Fanstatic! I don’t have any tips for you per se, I just encourage you to be as creative as possible and let your creativity flow.

Some people like to use special house rules that make their campaigns more interesting,like only recruiting troops in certain areas etc, or level of difficulty- this is totally up to you.

I will suggest that you limit any modifications to your game version to as simple as possible, and write down somewhere safe what setup you have in case you meet with some unpassable ctd, always a bummer for you and your fans.

Lastly, do lots of save games in case anything goes wrong- its easier to go back and pick up where you left off.

oh! In your preferences txt, disable ‘ green arrow markers’, that hideous green glow that strikes your troops when you have a unit highlighted ( lol) , and when you do have a highlighted unit, hit backspace ( ?I think) to de-highlight them.

good luck!

mcm

[Quinctius Cincinnatus]

There are also some tips for taking screenshots in-game (battles mostly).

Before pressing the 'prt scr' button, press enter (the unit highlights will drop), always move your mouse cursor in the unit card section (you can edit the cards out afterwards). Always pick a good angle with good view on battle, try to capture as many soldiers as possible (so you get an idea of 'this is a big battle'- it isn't nice when seeing thirthy men fighting on a massive open plain).
After having pressed 'prt scr' , press ALT+TAB and open an image program (paint, adobe photoshop, etc...). Past it in here, and cut the section of unit cards out.
this will leave you a nice screenshots, as beautiful as possible.

Good luck with your AAR (I have done some myself!)

QC,
RTR: PR.

[Lost In Transition]

Thanks to everyone for their replies. I am anxious to try this out.

One question about images: do I post them to the forum here or how do I store them? Some stories I've seen have literally hundreds of images. Where and how I store them, and do I just link to them?

Thanks.

[Quinctius Cincinnatus]

Well, actually it is quite simple.
You have an image shot, e.g. 'AAR ROMA 1.jpg'. You go to www.imageshack.us , there you upload that image (you can resize it to the size necessary, preferably 15 inch monitors, you could do 17 inch ones- be aware that people will need to scroll horizontally when you post them like that!)

Then pick "hotlink forums 1" or something similar (the big box in any case).

just paste that link here in a thread- and it will load your image directly to page. Experiment a few times- you will get very used to it.

Hope that helps.

QC,
RTR: PR.

[bomberboy]

You could use photobucket aswell although you have to register for free it's worth it if you dont want imageshack links.

For tips on writing try and give characters personalities or intrests. They could help a lot.