Factbook Question/Answer Thread

[Vallermoore]

Adding military ranks is fun.

[Arthropol]

Maybe you could add like a music, sports and food factbook.

I would need to learn a bit about those things before writing about them.

See I have a hard time writing about the arts in nioya. I saw a post not long ago asking "Most famous novel in your nation?" I didn't know how to answer that. How would I go about answering it?

Maybe just write about some music you like, and click on random music on youtube until you find something your citizens would like, and then add the link. For sports, again just add like a football league or something, make up 20 soccer team names and rank them randomly. For food, just add what you think your people would eat.

[Diarcesia]

You can choose not to sweat it. When this nation is new, I didn't have much to add to my factbook. It only got gradually populated as I posted some more and spur-of-the-moment ideas came to being.

[Ludania]

Since my country is a monarchy, I added a table of ranks, biography of each member of the royal family, things like that. Perhaps that would be something that would interest you.

[Estane]

Hello, all! I made a new factbook, the Economy of Estane... please upvote it if you like it! Thank you so much, and enjoy.

If you have any questions about it please ask.

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=estane/detail=factbook/id=881822

[Manevistan]

If you haven't already, adding a history can really flesh out your idea of your nation. A military factbook isn't usually a bad shout either.

What are some good starting points to go about creating your nation's history if you have no clue where to start?

Edit: For those of you who RP based on real-world history/geography/culture, is there any standard for accuracy or realism or just anything goes?

[Estane]

Just finished my National Assembly factbook, which is the official legislature of Estane. If you like it please up-vote it! Please give me some tips, and if you have an idea for a factbook you would like me to make, please tell me. I have other factbooks, please make sure to check them out!

https://www.nationstates.net/nation=est ... /id=881971

[Estane]

I am also taking requests from people to make other factbooks if you ever need any help with factbooks of any sort. I am here!

[Merni]

Not bad at all. Please make the colours in the diagram contrasting, I can hardly make out the difference. Maybe also make the headings more prominent.

[Martian Commonwealths]

Good god it's presented like a wiki page! I really like that :b it gives it a professional feel

[Estane]

Martian Commonwealths... thank you very much! I try my best.

Merni... thank you too! I might change back to different colors, but I did it like that the first time and it looked a bit strange.

[Martian Commonwealths]

Martian Commonwealths... thank you very much! I try my best.

Merni... thank you too! I might change back to different colors, but I did it like that the first time and it looked a bit strange.

What do you think about my Factbook? :b

[Krieg Imperium]

I would suggest that you change the colors on the diagram to contrast each other.

[Estane]

Krieg Imperium... Thank you! I will look into that!

[Liburia]

Write about your national language and geography

[Estane]

Liburia. Thank you for mentioning... we have a small section for geography but that is a good idea! I will make more; for the language... I might do that, it will be a project though!

[Estane]

Hello! I have finished my newly requested Geography Factbook!

Check it out!
https://www.nationstates.net/nation=est ... /id=882165

[Merni]

You should probably say how many seats each party has too.

[Estane]

Merni. I do have that!

[Keverai]

If you haven't already, adding a history can really flesh out your idea of your nation. A military factbook isn't usually a bad shout either.

What are some good starting points to go about creating your nation's history if you have no clue where to start?

Edit: For those of you who RP based on real-world history/geography/culture, is there any standard for accuracy or realism or just anything goes?

Gday! The best suggestion I've heard is working backwards. What is your nation like now? What is your culture? Culture generally reveals a LOT about history because History esentially explains Culture. If I were to create a new nation at the moment (Which I'm currently doing with Keverai, my main account is Ainslie), I would be doing it this way. When it comes to accuracy and realism, generally speaking, if it has happened or can happen in an Earth nation, it's okay. If you've got any specific realism questions you'd like to send my way, feel free to telegram me here.

[Brellach]

I agree with Merni that you should make the colours in your 'structure' diagram contrast better. Bright, distinct colours would make it easier to read. Otherwise it's great!

I'm a huge fan of your overview page, especially how you've dealt with 'largest cities'!

[Merni]

You should probably say how many seats each party has too.

Merni. I do have that!

To clarify: below the diagram, against each party name, so that I can get how strong the government is at a glance. Also, you should probably indicate which is the government. Something like this: (I just made up the parties and numbers)

[Diagram]
Government alliance: 169 seats*
- Liberal: 107 (excl. speaker)
- Green: 41
- Democratic: 31
Opposition alliance: 118 seats
- Conservative: 79
- Culture and History: 21
- National: 10
- Independence: 8
Other parties: 6 seats
- Communist: 2
- NSWP: 2
- Monarchy: 2
Independents: 12 seats
Vacant: 1 seat

Total: 305 seats

This is just an example, with made up names and numbers.


*this can also say Government coalition, just government (one party), or minority government, depending on situation

[Maltropia]

What are some good starting points to go about creating your nation's history if you have no clue where to start?

Very brief increasingly long answer because I can't pass up anything with the word 'history' in it:

Read what you like and write what interests you. If there are real-world historical events or situations that you find exciting, funny or otherwise cool (e.g. Battle of Gaugamela; murder of Caesar; Great Schism; Discovery of the New World; Fall of the Berlin Wall), read up on them and consider how an analogue to one or all of them might work in your history. I have reasonably well fleshed-out histories for most of my countries because I absolutely love reading historical stuff and it inspires me to put in little events and fill in the finer details of my history.

I'm not much of a culture writer, quite honestly, but knowing what you want your present-day to look like is a good start for guiding your history. Your recent history should conform reasonably well to your modern state. The further back you go into the mists of time, the further apart those various strands which form your country's culture can afford to be - waves of invasion/migration in the early middle ages introduced Germanic and then Scandinavian cultures to Britain, for example.

Paint in very broad strokes to give yourself a basic guideline. Write down maybe half a dozen years out of the last two thousand that really matter to the development of your state. Fill in little details that are almost inconsequential, and go into crazy detail about one day in July just because you liked some pictures on Wikipedia. It's what I do and it's tons o' fun. If you've any more specific questions about history-crafting, please send me a TG and I'll get back to you a.s.a.p.

[Estane]

Brellach! Thank you so much... I will keep all of this in consideration!

[New Totzka]

Could someone point me in the direction of the Guide to writing Constitutions, because I definitely seeing one... somewhere?