I've mentioned the Arcana Wiki (http://arcana.wikidot.com/) before. And now I'd like to start on a project which should be very useful for people here - a Random Nation Generator.
Such a generator would work similarly to the Random Character Generator (http://arcana.wikidot.com/random-characters). It wouldn't bother with coming up with specific statistics (such as "how many people live here"?), since that wouldn't work well with the Wiki software and those details are massively setting-dependent anyway. Instead, it would come up with random entries from specific categories - see the Random Character Generator for how it works for a different application.
So what needs to be done is to come up with (a) specific categories which represent the basic building blocks of the generator, and (b) come up with and write different entries within these categories. Here are some ideas I have so far:
Government: In this entry, the random generator would pick one of a large number of different government types. I have created a list of different government types here (http://arcana.wikidot.com/government), which is based directly on a list given by a Wikipedia entry (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Forms_of_government) - but for the generator to work, these must exist as distinct entries. Furthermore, this list only covers real world forms of government - and there is no reason why we shouldn't add forms of government from fantasy and science fiction, such as "Magocracy" or "Hive Mind".
Dominant Terrain: This would expand on the Terrain page (http://arcana.wikidot.com/terrain). Users could use tabs (like with the Random Character Generator) and select how many predominant terrain types they would like to have for their nation (let's say from one to five). However, the number of terrain types listed in the wiki is still rather limited, so new entries for terrain need to be written as well.
Trade Goods: After that, we need to figure out the economy of the nation. For this, we need entries for all sorts of different industries. This page (https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/fields/2090.html) of the CIA World Factbook is probably a good starting point. However, substances from mythology and fiction - including various types of Phlebotium (http://arcana.wikidot.com/applied-phlebotinum) - need to be added as well (how about Orichalcum?).
Religion: I think there should probably be two sub-categories for religion. One is the overall form of the predominant religion(s) - Shamanism, Monotheism, etc.. I haven't yet found a good page for all those different types, but this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polytheism#See_also) might be a good starting point. The other sub-category should list specific divinities or other powerful entities which are worshiped - the Mythological Characters (http://arcana.wikidot.com/mythological-characters) page should be a good starting point for this. Note that these entities don't need to represent the actual deities of the setting - just something you can base your own creations on.
What other categories should there be in such a generator? And more importantly, who would be willing to help me out with it and write entries for it?
You need an economic system that does more than trade goods. Perhaps one that spits out capitalist, socialist, barter, etc.
You could also expand the government one by having two variables, ala 'constitutional monarchy' or 'oligarchical republic.' That just means you need to separate the list.
Quote from: Stargate525You need an economic system that does more than trade goods. Perhaps one that spits out capitalist, socialist, barter, etc.
Good point.
QuoteYou could also expand the government one by having two variables, ala 'constitutional monarchy' or 'oligarchical republic.' That just means you need to separate the list.
Hmmm... Maybe I should add an optional secondary tab so that users can choose a secondary type of government...
For religions, that seems a good start. You might also want to consider Panentheism, which is sort of like Pantheism, except in Pantheism god is the sum of all things, whereas in Panentheism god is greater than the sum of its parts.
OK, I've created a first prototype (http://arcana.wikidot.com/random-nations) for this generator. What do you think of it so far?
Oh, and this has pretty much exhausted my Procrastination Time Bank for today... and tomorrow and Friday as well. Thus, I'd really appreciate it if someone would help me write up entries for the various government forms...
Added new categories for "Major Personalities" and "Major Projects".
I finally got around to adding a few more government forms. Now the generator has the following:
- Consociational State (http://arcana.wikidot.com/consociational-state)
- Demarchy (http://arcana.wikidot.com/demarchy)
- Exilarchy (http://arcana.wikidot.com/exilarchy)
- Noocracy (http://arcana.wikidot.com/noocracy)
- Puppet State (http://arcana.wikidot.com/puppet-state)
- Technocracy (http://arcana.wikidot.com/technocracy-bureaucratic)
Is anyone here willing to tackle the more traditional forms of government, such as monarchy, republic etc.?
Your wiki seems to have a few bits of incorrect or questionably correct data floating around.
One example being your space exposure page.
- Your blood will not boil (though sweat and exposed water on your body's surface will)
- You won't freeze (space can be cold but vacuum does not transmit heat very well)
- Your body won't bloat up like a balloon (though you can experience some swelling).
Note that the pressure difference in going from sea level to space is the same as going from 30 feet underwater to the surface. Sure as hell uncomfortable and dangerous but your body isn't going to turn into a bloated jelly blob.
There's some other bits in the wiki that were off. Don't feel like I'm railing on your in any way. I loved reading through your wiki, lots of interesting information and ideas. Just some content that could do with a looking over.
oh almost forgot... here's a good page to look over for that info: http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html (http://imagine.gsfc.nasa.gov/docs/ask_astro/answers/970603.html)
Quote from: NomadicYour blood will not boil (though sweat and exposed water on your body's surface will)
Doesn't the water in your body boil though?
Quote from: LlumQuote from: NomadicYour blood will not boil (though sweat and exposed water on your body's surface will)
No, your skin and blood vessels do a fine job of keeping the water in your body liquid even under vacuum (though the water in your nasal passage and mouth might boil off if they were exposed).
So... don't get cut in space!
I was reading through your link, and apparently the last thing a guy who got trapped in near vacuum before he passed out was the water boiling off his tongue! That's badass!
Quote from: NomadicThere's some other bits in the wiki that were off. Don't feel like I'm railing on your in any way. I loved reading through your wiki, lots of interesting information and ideas. Just some content that could do with a looking over.
[exasperation]
Then
change the relevant parts! This
is a wiki for Pete's sake, and I've enabled anonymous editing so that you don't even have to register!
Currently, pretty much all of the work is done by me and two other people, and one of the others wrote most of the space-related parts - including this page. I mean, we would like to be better with all the fact-checking, but we are only three people and we seem to be unable to attract any new contributors...
[/exasperation]
Sorry for the outburst, but my inability to attract new contributors to the Arcana Wiki has been a great source of frustration for me.
Quote from: Jürgen HubertThen change the relevant parts! This is a wiki for Pete's sake, and I've enabled anonymous editing so that you don't even have to register!
I would have but I couldn't find an edit button when I was on there. Might have missed it but I actually did try to do just that. When I couldn't find that and only then did I post this comment here so it's not like I was being lazy. I'll give it another look over though and see if I just missed it or if my browser is crapping out.
Edit: ah that's why I couldn't find it... it's at the bottom of the page. Yea I'm used to the default wiki layout that has the edit button up top so that lost me.
I've added a category for various economic systems. So far, I have the following:
- Grain-based Local Currency (http://arcana.wikidot.com/grain-based-local-currency)
- Just-in-Time Socialism (http://arcana.wikidot.com/just-in-time-socialism)
- Monopoly By Royal Decree (http://arcana.wikidot.com/monopoly-by-royal-decree)
- Resilience Economics (http://arcana.wikidot.com/resilience-economics)
- Robonomics (http://arcana.wikidot.com/robonomics)
I've changed the layout of the Random Nations Generator page (http://arcana.wikidot.com/random-nations). Now you can see thumbnail previews of the linked entries.