Graphics Collection from CD's Ultra-Fine House of Style

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I go as the Lord leads and/or inspires me to, or at least I try to, anyway. The Game has many, and at least one or two of them have gone on for long times, it seems, through multiple OOTP versions.

Of course, I may often have other ideas for dynasties and all, but then again, I generally have a lot more free time on my hands than most here might, especially if they're still not retired from their professional work careers. Different people may certainly have different demands on their time than others do, you know, at various times in their lives.

Unfortunately, a lot of the time, I do have problems with staying focused when it comes to certain things in my life, for sure. That's probably one reason I've not yet been able to finish Lighting Up the Darkness as of yet, even in just a first-draft state of existence, though not necessarily the only one. Another reason I've probably not finished many of my stories is often being disorganized or losing access to various papers and/or computer files I've worked on over the years, for various reasons, for instance.

I'm not quite sure how the needed song in this next chapter will go, or what it will have to be like, et cetera, either. Among various other things I'm not quite sure of yet in direct relation to the story in question here as well, at the current time, to be honest.

I've been working on this story since November of 2019, and was hoping to finish at least its first draft by last December, but it's now nine months after that time, and I still have a lot of the story left to write for it. If I can just get past the climactic 17th chapter, I hopefully should be able to proceed much better with the story's denouement portion, at least until I get to chapter 24, which I plan to have as the final battle chapter in the current story, if at all possible. Then, once that battle is fought, end the current story with chapter 25, as sort of an epilogue to the main story, and as a prologue to the next story, in due time, for sure.

Researching certain things has been interesting, yet challenging and at least somewhat difficult, at times for me with this story, for instance. Or for any of my other stories as well, come to think of it. I hope to finish the entire first draft of it in no more than about 450 to 500 pages, at most, if I can, but it looks like my manuscript will be closer to 500 pages long than it'll be to 450 pages long, at this point. And that's not counting the various reference materials I'll want to include in the entire volume related to this story here, of course, even. Which would probably add at least another 20-25 pages of overall content, actually, I think.

I hope the final draft version of this story will consist of no more than about 350-400 overall pages, not counting the related reference materials included in the applicable volume here. But we'll have to wait and see if I am ever able to complete this project well enough first, of course, you know, jg2977 and EC and everyone else. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

I am aware that you have trouble focusing on one thing.

Try it one time... pick one of your projects and focus only on that project... and see what happens when you finish it.

I would think you would be very happy if this came about... you might get great enjoyment from it.

Finish the Book Lighting Up the Darkness that you are always talking about, but never finishing.

Or just play one of your many, many leagues that you are always working on, but never finishind... play the one with the most complete graphics... gets your logos, jerseys and caps that you need and play the league.

Give yourself the joy of playing just one league... you might be surprised how much fun you can have doing this.

Ask God to help you focus on one project and He will help you do it.

I will also ask Him to help you focus on one project and get it done.

[TC Dale]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

I am aware that you have trouble focusing on one thing.

Try it one time... pick one of your projects and focus only on that project... and see what happens when you finish it.

I would think you would be very happy if this came about... you might get great enjoyment from it.

Finish the Book Lighting Up the Darkness that you are always talking about, but never finishing.

Or just play one of your many, many leagues that you are always working on, but never finishind... play the one with the most complete graphics... gets your logos, jerseys and caps that you need and play the league.

Give yourself the joy of playing just one league... you might be surprised how much fun you can have doing this.

Ask God to help you focus on one project and He will help you do it.

I will also ask Him to help you focus on one project and get it done.

Eugene gives you some good advice here. Focus on a league that is ready to play without interruptions. On the book, you just need to focus on the next chapter and keep your notes and outline at your side to keep you on the task. Like Eugene and jg does, backup is your best defense whether it is playing OOTP or writing your book. Export your files for the book to somewhere not on your PC so when things go awry, you can pick it up and go without much of a bump. Good luck. Focus. You can do this.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Thanks for the advice to both of you fine gentlemen, EC and TC_Dale. I know what I want to have happen in the next chapter, actually, at least generally speaking, but executing the writing of it is not happening at the moment. I'm thinking of having the relevant characters perhaps sing a song related to their homeland, but seeing as I don't have any sufficiently-locked in map-related details available to me at present, that may be part of my problem here. If I could get some free maps of sufficient enough quality done, whether by me or others, that would help a great deal, I'm quite sure.

I'd estimate Cirriddiqua/Slaabovia's total national territory to be about the size of Argentina in the middle of the North Atlantic Ocean, more or less, whether it is land-based territory or water-based territory, in fact, here. I can draw a little, but not very well, in many cases, unfortunately. I have at least a rough idea of what the landmasses might look like, but I haven't yet been able to permanently lock certain details down, except for CD's hometown of Lima in his home state/province being roughly centered on 30 degrees North Latitude and 46 degrees West Longitude.

Research is proving rather challenging at times trying to keep things sufficiently plausible in the story, with its main time period being in some version of the 16th Century AD, on an alternate Earth of some sort. Lord willing, I will eventually get this particular story done, I'm sure, but I still don't know just when that might be, and what the entire story will look like and read like here, when it's finally completed in its entirety.

If I can just get past chapter 17 of this story, that should hopefully allow me to shorten the length of each chapter considerably, until the penultimate chapter of the story in question. Simply because I'd then be in the third major part of the story, carrying out the denouement of it, of course. Although chapter 24 will potentially be a real challenge to do, because my narrator won't be able to be everywhere at once, of course, during the final battle in this story, for sure. I've been using only one narrator for the entire story in a strictly first-person point of view, which I normally do not do with my stories. So that has made it quite a bit more challenging for me while I've been working on this particular story here. Especially seeing as I can't currently peek into certain other characters' heads and see with their eyes here, et cetera, obviously.

This story is currently being narrated by a middle-aged man, and the next planned story will ideally be narrated primarily by his chief student of sorts, if you will. The third story will likely be told primarily by the future wife of the second story's narrator, which ought to be rather interesting and challenging to do here, for obvious reasons. And if there is a fourth story that comes along after volume three, it will likely be told primarily by the chief advisor to book two's main narrator. After that, I don't know who would likely be the primary narrator of each potential sequel that might be written yet, of course.

If I hadn't had to move frequently in the last 20-30 years, or perhaps or actually lost access to various related papers and/or computer files, for various reasons, I think I could very well have been already to book five or six by now, at the very least. But life sometimes doesn't go as expected or planned, you know, and you have to deal with whatever might come up from time to time, quite often, like it or not, for sure.

TC_Dale, you are most definitely more than welcome to drop by this thread at any time you might so choose to periodically give your thoughts here about certain graphics and other things, of course. I'd really not mind it at all, I think, and I'd certainly appreciate it if you did drop by and comment every so often, about various things mentioned in it, as well, for sure.

I have included baseball-related things in the story at least once or twice, by the way, as I've periodically been known to do with certain stories of mine, but they're still not necessarily a major plot element in this particular story. I don't know if you'll ever be able to read the entire story once done, just yet, of course, but I hope someday that you'll eventually be able to, Lord willing, within the next few years or so, if possible and all. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

EC, what languages are you well-acquainted with besides English? I've begun learning Spanish, French, Hebrew, Italian, Greek, Latin, Japanese, Scots Gaelic, and now Swahili, on Duolingo, either to boost my prior knowledge of them or to learn them for various reasons.

I'd envision Slaabinese, the native language of many Cirriddiquans/Slaabovians, at the very least, if not also people from certain other fictional nations of mine, to be sort of a blend of Latin and Japanese, with some touches of influence from other languages. Languages like Russian, for example, when it comes to certain things like assorted medical terms, for instance, at that. I've been trying to develop it over the years, for sure. But up to right now, I haven't really been able to develop it quite as much as I'd like to somehow actually develop it in my life, unfortunately, for various reasons, of course.

Also, because I haven't been able to sufficiently lock down certain geography-related details for Cirriddiqua/Slaabovia as of yet, I haven't exactly been able to decide just where the various foreign invaders are mainly concentrated in Cirriddiqua's national territory at present in the story, either. And where they first appeared in Cirriddiqua's national territory when they arrived there, decades before the current time in the main story here, for that matter. Many times this has bugged me at least a little whenever I've been able to work on this overall setting of this particular storyverse, of course. But hopefully one day, those details will be finalized sufficiently well, and locked down permanently, somehow. Lord willing and all, that is, you know. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

CD, I just know basic Russian... not fluent by any means... and I studied German in college... but I am not very good at it.

College instruction was not very good... they stressed reading and translation with very little speaking... I studied Russian in the Air Force at the Army Language School in Monterey, California... now they know how to teach a language... they stress speaking the language... at the end of a year, we spoke basic Russian pretty well.... I went to Russia on a Viking River Boat tour several years ago... I spent a month reviewing the grammar and trying to rebuilt my basic vocabulary... the Russians told me I spoke very clearly, but with a slight accent... it really made the trip special conversing with them... but to tell you the truth, I retained a lot of Russian I learned 60 years ago... I never really forgot it.

[Eugene Church]

CD, you need to simplify your projects... you make them far more complex than you need to.

Just make your own map of Slaabovia... even as limited as I am in making maps, I made a pretty good map for my Islandian Pro Alliance and also for the North and South Island Leagues.

You are far more skilled with computers and graphics than I am... do it yourself... but just make it simple and not complicated.

It is sad that you can't focus on one thing at a time... you have far, far too many loose ends and projects in your life... try to complete one or two of them.

Try to get organized... focus on a one or two projects at a time.

You should be able to work on OOTP and write the book at the same time if you would set realistic goals and keep them both simple and not make them overcomplicated like you do.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

Very interesting, to say the least, EC. Maybe someday you can share some of it with me, as well, at times. I know Spanish the best, seeing as I took it in high school, but I have picked up a good deal of French, at least, if not also other languages since then.

Duolingo's Hebrew course unfortunately does not have transliteration available to go along with the Hebrew symbols it uses in it. Their Japanese course does include some transliteration in the form of romaji, but the kanji and the hiragana symbols I've learned to date are still hard to remember at times, of course. Hebrew and Japanese, when in symbol form, at least, are typically written from right to left instead of left to right, which makes it a bit more challenging to learn those languages easily enough. I would expect the same thing to often be true for languages like Arabic and certain other Asian languages, at least, in like manner.

I may eventually have to start on the German course as well, at least for certain story-related purposes, but I don't expect to do that for a good while yet. Same thing with Chinese and Portuguese and certain other languages as well. I don't believe Duolingo has a Thai-language course just yet for themselves, but I actually still do have certain Thai characters present, or will have them present, in various stories of mine, for sure. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Decide what you want to do.

Which is most important to you?

The book Lighting Up The Darkness?

One OOTP League that you would actually complete setting up and play?

Or learning languages?

Simplify your complicated life.

Pick one of them... focus on that one... complete it... then go to the next project.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I honestly do try to keep things as simple as I can, but I often dream big, in many cases. Or get especially descriptive and all, for that matter, when I probably shouldn't, as far as my writing goes. I suppose that's at least partly due to the fairly simple fact that I generally haven't been able to have a lot of experiences in life that a lot of other people typically have in their own lives, if not entirely because of that fact. Or that I haven't seen much of the world outside my family's moves from time to time in our lives, at that.

I've never really been able to travel much outside of doing it with my family in my life. About the only time I've really spent away from home was during certain summers when I was still younger than 20 years old, actually. And probably the last time I really did that was in 1991 when I was working with the Minnesota Conservation Corps at 18 the summer before my senior year in high school, come to think of it, for about two months that summer.

I first started work on developing Slaabovia in 1990, while I was still at Camp Buckskin near Ely, Minnesota, for about a month. And from then on, I've been working on trying to develop it as often as I can, as best as I can, along with all the related details and characters for it, for sure.

Maybe one day, Lord willing, I'll actually be able to complete this current story, and get to CD's own personal story in his own words in book two of a potential story series. That would be really nice, I think, if I could do so well enough, for sure. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I actually have completed certain stories before, but not as often as I've wanted to, for various reasons. However, I'm still not a professionally published author, just yet, to be sure. Maybe one day, if I can improve my writing skills, I actually will be one, Lord willing, of course. CD out.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I normally write in a third-person omniscient point of view, I believe. But this story here is requiring me to stay more focused on what Garrett might be thinking and/or experiencing as it progresses in his telling of it, months after the actual story's events have concluded in his life. He is telling the story months after his likely last return to his proper time and place in the Universe's history and all, actually, but I still haven't decided just how the story will ultimately end here, for sure.

I'm hoping that I ultimately have a happy ending for the story, of course, but there's still much to happen in it, in any case. The ending of this story will depend on how the final battle in it goes, obviously enough. And there's still a good chance that it won't end well, I think, at this point in time. I'll just have to see just where the Lord might lead me with this story here, when it comes to its actual ending here, of course, then. CD out.

[jg2977]

You should be able to create a map of Slaabovia, or any fictional map for that matter, without worrying about exact distances or longitude/latitude. Also don't include towns that aren't part of your league. That just complicates it too much. I like EC's map of Islandia because it is simple. It shows only the cities that are in the IPA with a few bodies of water, rivers and mountain ranges. The main purpose of the map is to show where all of the league's teams are in relation to one another, and it doesn't need to accomplish any more than that.

[Eugene Church]

CD, you have heard very often from me over the last 3 years or so since we encountered each other and became good friends here on the OOTP Forums... you have grown as a person... the CD of today can relate better to other people than the CD of that time... and I think you have taught us how to be better people, too... we have been good for one another.

CD, just do things that make you happy... someone on the Dynasty Forum told me the bottom line for success of a dynasty league was not the number of viewers per day your league got or how popular it got, or how much praise you got from the viewers, but how much you personally enjoyed doing the dynasty league.

For whatever reason, viewers on the OOTP Dynasty Forum is way down this year... could it be people are tired of the IPA which has been going for 15 years... could be OOTP is not as popular as 10 years ago... the IPA in recent years has averaged about 350 views per day... the record is 767, set about 2 years ago... recent I only got 71 views.

My South Island League has average about 150 views a day... the best day was 315 a year or so ago.

Well, I hate to tell ya, Pilgrim, but my South Island League has had almost no followers in recent weeks, averaging only 75 viewers per day... Wednesday only 3 views checked it... that is embarrassing... but then the thought hit me, that I still do enjoy doing it... so I will continue to do it.

I make stop doing my life story on the South Island League... it could be very boring to anyone other than me... actually, it is pretty boring for me... it's also hard to relive the sadness and loneliness of my life from 1953 to 1964... then things changed... I made friends and my life changed for the better... that was my problem... EC wasn't friendly, therefore I had no friends... at least not very many... I only had friends when I played sports... but they were not real friends because I would not get close to them... that changed in 1964.

The Islandian Pro Alliance will also continue... but I will greatly cut down on the amount of time I will spend on it... I will keep it simple.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

In the case of my story and/or its potential series of stories, then, you recommend I don't include any city or town not actually mentioned or present in the story or its potential series of stories, at the very least, except for important cities like the capitals of various provinces/states/territories or the nation, for example? CD and his companions will be in many places all over Cirriddiqua/Slaabovia, for sure, in any case, in their lives.

I'd like at least one map I can easily consult at any particular time when needed and all, to help me better write the story or stories with events happening in that nation, and to help me better visualize where my characters would be in the nation at certain times in their lives. But right now, I don't really have such a map or maps created, probably, that I can easily refer to while writing stories set there, unfortunately. Maybe someday, someone, if not me, can actually create them quite well here, based on details mentioned in the related reference material I'll certainly have to include with the main text of the relevant story or stories, Lord willing and all, of course. CD out.

[Eugene Church]

Originally Posted by jg2977

You should be able to create a map of Slaabovia, or any fictional map for that matter, without worrying about exact distances or longitude/latitude. Also don't include towns that aren't part of your league. That just complicates it too much. I like EC's map of Islandia because it is simple. It shows only the cities that are in the IPA with a few bodies of water, rivers and mountain ranges. The main purpose of the map is to show where all of the league's teams are in relation to one another, and it doesn't need to accomplish any more than that.

Great advice, jg2977.

CD needs to keep his projects simple.

Create a simple map of Slaabovia... you have better graphics skills than I do and I created a pretty good simple map of Islandia.

CD, don't create a language for Slaabovia... just create names that give it a unique personality... you set impossible standards for yourself... you will never reach them... aim a little lower for something that is obtainable.

I wanted to go to college and play baseball and basketball... but I didn't have the skill to do that... so I settled to be a very good intramural player at college and had a great time.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

I've had sad times before in my life, of course, but that's part of life, you know. Such times often help one to treasure the good times more, I think. I like hearing about other people's lives periodically, especially since I haven't really been able to get out as much as I've generally wanted to do since I got out of high school in 1992. Occasionally, I have, of course, but not generally as I've really wanted to, for sure.

I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing here, mind you. But I still think that with that generally being the case for me, it's kept me from certain life experiences that many other people often have in their lives after high school, including spending time with certain friends of mine, for instance. Of course, without such experiences, it's no doubt affected the quality and plausibility and the content of my various writing projects, you know, in certain ways. Even when it comes to portraying matters related to dating relationships between males and females, for instance, whether as young people or older people, for sure.

Maybe someday, I'll have a chance to experience much more in life than I have typically done to date in it. But that might not happen while my parents are both still around, unfortunately. Especially seeing as I can't drive, and we don't really live in an area where there's a lot to do near us here, it seems to me, at present.

However, I am still trusting in God to take care of my family and me, as He wills and all, for sure. And even if my parents leave this world, at some point, seeing as they're both now in their middle to late seventies in their lives, I will still continue to trust God to take care of me, as He wills, when He wills, most definitely, for as long as He allows me to live on in this world He created thousands of years ago out of sheer nothingness, in any case at all here. CD out.

[jg2977]

Originally Posted by Eugene Church

Great advice, jg2977.

CD needs to keep his projects simple.

Create a simple map of Slaabovia... you have better graphics skills than I do and I created a pretty good simple map of Islandia.

CD, don't create a language for Slaabovia... just create names that give it a unique personality... you set impossible standards for yourself... you will never reach them... aim a little lower for something that is obtainable.

I wanted to go to college and play baseball and basketball... but I didn't have the skill to do that... so I settled to be a very good intramural player at college and had a great time.

This - at one time a few years ago I wanted to be both a great bowler and musician. I realized that I couldn't do both, as I would have had to invest more time in a day than what was allowable, and financially it would have been too much. I realized that my greatest passion was music, so I stopped practicing bowling. I still go bowling from time to time, and would like to join a recreational non-competitive league again, that's my fun hobby,

In terms of music, I want to be able to play both piano and trombone really well. My first passion is trombone - although I love piano music, my skill level on trombone is much higher than it is on piano. I was practicing several hard pieces at once on the piano but it got to be too overwhelming. So now I'm just practicing one piece of advanced difficulty, while quickly learning several pieces of much easier skill level that are still enjoyable. That also leaves enough time for me to practice my trombone and maintain my current skills and abilities on that instrument.

The key to being successful at anything is to recognize your strengths and weaknesses, while setting reasonable expectations for yourself and knowing how to prioritize your time and effort.

[Eugene Church]

Here is what your map of Slaabovia should look... it should only have the most important sites.

Game of Thrones only included the basic cities and areas important to the story line.

This is not a good clear map... I myself, as untalented as I am, can do one much better.

You could, too, CD.

[Clovidequano Dovatha]

True, jg2977 and EC, one can't necessarily do everything they might wish to do in life, of course. But one can still try to do what they can to the best of their own respective abilities that God has given them, I'm sure, in their lives. And especially for His plans for them in them, that is, I think.

There are certain things I'll never be able to do in this life, like it or not, for sure. I'll probably never travel overseas, at least in this life, like I'd really like to do, if I can. But if that's the case for me in this life, then so be it, as the Lord wills and all. I'll never be able to play sports for real, most likely, or at least not at a sufficiently high level of skill and all.

As for whether or not I ever somehow manage to write a best-selling novel, for instance, I'll leave that entirely up to God to decide here. I'm not writing with that goal in mind, actually, but with the goal of writing as best as I can, whatever the Lord inspires me to write, and however He leads me with my writing, et cetera, for sure. Whether my stories are original fiction stories or fanfiction stories, at that, that is. CD out.