Hi -
I was wondering where there are good examples of abstracts.
Is there an Abstrat writing 101 somewhere?
Here is a rough draft of what I have for a game I have been designing:
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Space Pirates Tycoon – The board game
Background
Thousands of years from now and a hundred years before our story begins the end of another story took place.
There was only one large empire in the galaxy and the people were happy. As we know all good things must end and this was no exception. There were two rising factions within the Empire and the current Emperor was aging. One group that came to be known as “The Conglomerate” felt it necessary to be a monopoly and insisted on the state owning and controlling all enterprises. The empire that came to be known as “The Agency” felt the people should all have an invested share of the Empire. Civil War was a constant threat for years.
Then from the pages of myth and legend the Noctouri decided to end the stalemate. They are huge squid-like space creatures that could out pace battle cruisers, take direct fighter shots, and destroy entire stars. Some believe they were dormant and God only knows why they choose now to stop. No one really knows where they came from but they choose to build their nest in the center of the empire.
This united the people of the empire in the short term and war was full scale against the Noctouri (or Nox). The result of which was a nonverbal truce. Someone noticed that they stopped attacking outside their region of space.
This left the people with their two factions and the need to rebuild. Since they wanted to be separate before, they decided to rebuild as two new empires. In the end they were not happy with this arrangement either. They felt there should only be one empire and war continues between them.
Over a hundred years later there seems to be no end of the war in sight. You begin our story as a young freight service entrepreneur. You have no affiliation with either empire. Good luck.
Objective:
To be the most successful cargo entrepreneur, delivering cargo throughout the galaxy.
It’s a game of resource management. You have to decide from turn to turn how much cargo room you need; how much money to keep on hand; what cargos to deliver; how strong militarily to grow a fleet and so on. You also have to decide if you can take on a mission or send a fleet to attack your competition. All the while you have to avoid attack from either empire or the Noctouri.
You begin the game with one freighter and a hand full of credits.
Thanks Rene you are right.
I choose to try and write an abstract as an exersise to help me sharpen my focus on my game.
Here is what I have now:
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Space Pirates Tycoon – The board game
Thousands of years from now the galaxy is vast and in need of good cargo delivery companies. They need hard working folk that are willing to do anything. Men and women just like you!
You begin the game with one freighter, a hand full of credits, and a pocket full of dreams. From there it is up to you to decide what path you will take. It’s a game of resource management. You have to decide from turn to turn how much cargo room you need; how many credits to keep on hand; what cargos to deliver; how strong militarily to grow a fleet and so on. It is also game where you have to decide if you can take on a mission or send a fleet to attack your competition. All the while you have to avoid trouble from the empires and you really have to limit your exposure to the mysterious space creatures called the Noctouri. They are gigantic squid-like beings that can out pace battle cruisers and take fighter shots point blank.
The game has 11 space-ports across the board each teaming with up to 6 different types of cargo. If you are feeling adventurous you can take on missions that promise to be dangerous.
Good Luck!
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I think that it doesnt describe the mechanics enough but I think I will get it to where I want it.
And it did help me focus the design of the game.
- Dwight