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It's a real shame about the premature end to this AAR, just as things were about to start kicking off as well. Hope the situation is resolved soon 
I loved the look around the solar system. And I have to say that I much prefer the designs of your flags to the official Mars one!
Sorry to hear about the computer issues, it happened to me last week.
I hope you manage to get everything back!
Sorry to hear about the computer issues, it happened to me last week.
I hope you manage to get everything back!
Hey everyone, long time. If anyone is still interested, I'm happy to report that I'm now in a position to continue Towards Blue Skies. I really enjoyed writing the parts that got finished, and would love to carry on the story of the UNE. The save files are intact, and I still have the screenshots for the next century or so of gameplay.
Unfortunately, it seems that Stellaris - and most of the mods I was using - have moved on in the interim. This presents some practical difficulties. While I could backdate Stellaris itself to an earlier version, there's no real way to backdate all the various mods to match. I'll do some testing to see how things work, but I'm hesitant to attempt to carry on the save with outdated version info.
If the save works, and I can push further ahead than I had before my computer failure, I'll do that of course. But if not, there are a couple options I'd be interested to hear thoughts on:
1. "Reboot" Towards Blue Skies on a new game once Federations comes out
Unfortunately, it seems that Stellaris - and most of the mods I was using - have moved on in the interim. This presents some practical difficulties. While I could backdate Stellaris itself to an earlier version, there's no real way to backdate all the various mods to match. I'll do some testing to see how things work, but I'm hesitant to attempt to carry on the save with outdated version info.
If the save works, and I can push further ahead than I had before my computer failure, I'll do that of course. But if not, there are a couple options I'd be interested to hear thoughts on:
1. "Reboot" Towards Blue Skies on a new game once Federations comes out
- This option would let me take advantage of the expansion's very nice-looking diplomatic and internal political mechanisms. Also, it'd let me add in some more realism mods I didn't find until after I started the original AAR (0.1x habitable planets, No Gaia Worlds, Guilli's Techs). In order to keep things interesting, I'd make sure this AAR took some different narrative paths than the original. Things like the Theta crisis would be nigh-impossible to replicate, anyhow. (I still have no idea what it was! Part of me doesn't want to know.)
- Basically, this option would be a TL on AlternateHistory and/or Sufficient Velocity that'd continue the narrative of Towards Blue Skies past where I was last able to play the save, but without any gameplay of any kind. I'd pick up the number of maps, graphics, and other interesting images to compensate; I could even slide in Stellaris screenshots of things like planets for continuity. Advantages of this approach would be greater narrative freedom and none of the frustrations of gameplay, like bugs or unrealistic travel times, plus I'd be able to spin the storyline into a much more hard-realism kind of narrative, whereas Stellaris would inevitably get sillier as the UNE discovered exponentially more aliens.
- I'd probably only do this in concert with option #2, since I definitely want to continue the Towards Blue Skies story in some capacity (I made a lot of maps...). I'd gladly take suggestions for a new AAR country, though I'll preclude ahead of time playing any fascist states (because I wouldn't enjoy that).
Glad to see you're bringing this AAR back. I had the exact same conundrum with my Faith in Chaos AAR, and I ended up following a solution similar to option #2. I'd recommend option #2 purely for the narrative freedom. Incorporating elements of the Stellaris universe into a story is so much easier than the other way around, at least in my own experience.
Regardless of what you chose, I can't wait to see a continuation of the story.
Regardless of what you chose, I can't wait to see a continuation of the story.
Good to hear that you'll be back!
I'd like both 1 and 2 but I might suggest an option 1.5 where you can reboot it behind the scenes and then return to the narrative once you have a close enough match to the original ending condition.
In any case, I'm looking forward to whatever solution you might come up with!
I'd like both 1 and 2 but I might suggest an option 1.5 where you can reboot it behind the scenes and then return to the narrative once you have a close enough match to the original ending condition.
In any case, I'm looking forward to whatever solution you might come up with!
Strictly speaking, you wouldn't have to port it over to a different forum for #2 to work; game-inspired fan fiction is perfectly acceptable here even if it isn't an "after action report" in the strict sense, so long as there's an obvious connection to the game itself. There have certainly been popular AARs in the past that have continued on after the game files have been lost, or even just use a single in-game event or scenario for inspiration for their own narrative.
Whatever you do decide, certainly keep us all in the loop
Whatever you do decide, certainly keep us all in the loop
I'd lean for option 1 personally, since it looks like Federations is going to make diplomacy much more attractive. But as @Specialist290 pointed out, #2 could work without having to redirect us to a different forum.
Leaning towards 1 simply for continued interest on the forums, but 2 does allow for much more narrative freedom. Will support either way!
Thank you all for your feedback. I've decided to reboot Towards Blue Skies with Federations, when it comes out. This will also give me the advantage of being able to "begin with the end in mind", so to speak (I didn't actually decide to make this AAR until about 2230 game year).
Since there will be some time between now and then. I'll have a chance to create some supplementary features to build the setting. I will probably do that in a new thread, starting with a detailed graphical look at the government and institutions of the UNE.
Since there will be some time between now and then. I'll have a chance to create some supplementary features to build the setting. I will probably do that in a new thread, starting with a detailed graphical look at the government and institutions of the UNE.
Certainly, and I'll make a post both here and in the new thread to explain the reboot situation.
I'm excited about this, because there are some new mods I've been messing around with that will really enhance the narrative and realism quality.
