About AARs

[unmerged(62118)]

Okay this might be off topic so everybody out there that gets all pissed when somebody doesn't post something on topic, SORRY. But I was wondering how you do an AAR. I love reading about them and I would love to do it. But it kind of seems like there's a certain way to do it. Thank You


Jake Fessler

 

[unmerged(4344)]

There's no certain way they are done; that's rubbish. Read more than a few AARs and you can see great variety.

If you want to do it, do it. Start a game, and start writing about it. It doesn't have to be good; you'll learn what you like as you go along. If you are still afraid about style, just find an AAR that you like and copy it.

 

[Dspencer]

the only aar's i like are ones that just stick to what the player actually does in the game, with a bunch of pictures at different stages of the game. I dislike "RPG stories" that most aar writers do because they always start off hokey, and end up crappy(IMHO )

 

[Fremen]

I suggest you read the AARland FAQ ... [thread=263220]here.[/thread]

It's full of practical advices regarding writing AARs and also has some very good links on the same subject, where many AAR writers share their experience.

 

[Powerslave]

the only aar's i like are ones that just stick to what the player actually does in the game, with a bunch of pictures at different stages of the game. I dislike "RPG stories" that most aar writers do because they always start off hokey, and end up crappy(IMHO )

This is the kind of AAR I like as well. AAR stands for AfterActionReport but most AAR on this board is rather AAS AfterActionStories. While I think most people like AAS for us that like the more player oriented AAR without much of the stories around has to search hard to find any. I would very much welcome different section for these two kind of AAR(S).

But then again there are even more way to do an AAR and classifying and seperating them would probably not be manageable.

Well this is just my honest opinion anyway.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

Hope to see you writing an AAR soon. I suggest just taking a look around the forum for a while before though and reading through AARs. Find what ones appeal and think how you'd like to improve them. That should give you an idea of how to write.

 

[CatKnight]

Wreck is right, jd. There are many different styles out there. Since it seems you're reading the AARs already, just pick one or two you like and try to emulate them.

Generally AARs break down as follows:

Pure game play.
History book.
Narrative (story)
Comedy (which can contain elements of any of the above)

People go back and forth between those styles pretty freely, sometimes in the same AAR.

I'd take a look at the FAQ that Fremen posted. Then, on the top of the screen if you click on "AARs and Fanfiction - General Discussion" you'll be in the main area. There you can find all sorts of advice on setting up, or just post and ask questions.

Good luck!

 

[unmerged(62118)]

Hope to see you writing an AAR soon. I suggest just taking a look around the forum for a while before though and reading through AARs. Find what ones appeal and think how you'd like to improve them. That should give you an idea of how to write.

Yeah I hope to be soon also haha. How do you get screenies on the sight, like from the game? I love the AAR's but I like the ones with pictures a TOOON better. Any help there?

 

[Duke of Wellington]

To use screenshots do this.

1. Take the pic and edit it to suit. It helps to reduce the size of the BMPs that EUII take by opening with Paint and saving as JPG or PNG.

2. Host it on a website like Imageshack

3. Copy the text Hotlink for forums (1) into your post and it will appear.

 

[Reveilled]

This is the kind of AAR I like as well. AAR stands for AfterActionReport but most AAR on this board is rather AAS AfterActionStories. While I think most people like AAS for us that like the more player oriented AAR without much of the stories around has to search hard to find any. I would very much welcome different section for these two kind of AAR(S).

But then again there are even more way to do an AAR and classifying and seperating them would probably not be manageable.

Well this is just my honest opinion anyway.

I agree. First thing I do when I open an AAR thread is scroll down to see how many screenshots are on the first page. All text AARs are a big "no thanks" for me.

 

[unmerged(40258)]

agreed. pictorial AARs are the way to go!

although, text AARs take a lot more time to be done and usually that means they are more 'polished'. I am at my 3rd pictorial AAR, while still struggling to write a narrative one and a comedy one.

 

[Dspencer]

i think to take a screenshot you use f11, and it saves it to the directory eu2 is installed in.

 

[Duke of Wellington]

i think to take a screenshot you use f11, and it saves it to the directory eu2 is installed in.

Correct. If you're using a mod thoguh then it goes into that folder.

 

[Mr Me]

Jdfess you should reduce your signature size to confirm with the rules.

 

[unmerged(62118)]

Jdfess you should reduce your signature size to confirm with the rules.

What? What rules do you mean?

 

[Duke of Wellington]

What? What rules do you mean?

A signature has to be no longer than 10 lines. Just deleting the empty lines in your sig should fix it.

 

[Cyrus_The_Great]

I am writing a history book style AAR and prettymuch i play the game with microsoft word open, a paintshop, and an internet. I minimize to type what happens in word, take screenshots and paste em to photoshop, save them and using my imageshack toolbar host screenshots.

I seriously suggest you do one lots of fun .

 

[Carolus Rex]

What? What rules do you mean?

http://forum.paradoxplaza.com/forum/faq.php?faq=new_faq_item#faq_faq_forum_rules

Your signature should be composed of the default font size or smaller and should be 10 lines maximum (including lines of spaces) when viewed at 1152 x 864, and with the "User post bit set left". That means the option to display user information on the left of the post rather than the top of the post.

 

[EvilSanta]

Throw your brains to shell and write whatever comes to mind. Then erase it and start real writing. Does it help? No? Is it funny? No? Do I care? No.

Seriously, there are no rules for an AAR. You can do whatever you want, as long as you stay out of banned subjects and dont be overly offensive.

 

[CatKnight]

For screenies I keep 5 copies of Paint open when I play. As something interesting comes along, I 'print screen', hop over to Paint, paste it in, make any changes I want and save as a jpg.

Depending on what game you play it's a good idea to cut off part of the picture somewhere left-right. Otherwise it's a little large for the forum and will widen your post, sometimes to the detriment of what you're trying to write.

Imageshack is the way to go. I've never had a problem with them.... though I do erase the "url" part of their link. I find it annoying when I accidentally click on someone else's picture and now I'm in another site.