NationStates Jolt Archive

I am a new country(4 days old) that is just learning. I appreciate any help because this game sounds so cool and unlike anything I've heard of.

The main questions I have.

Is there a geography for my region(America)?
Am I assigned to a certain part of that region?
Or do I just get to make up my country's geography(that sounds cool)?

Can I make up anything I want about my country?
Do I make up my country's natural resoures for imports/exports? Or there a place I know what I really have?

Can I make up my country's literacy rate?
How about the number of children per household?
Can I make up my country's history?
How do I figure out how much money I have to buy weapons? Can't I just make up what weapons I have?

Ummmm, I think that's all the questions I have, but I'm sure I'll come up with more ;) . The main question I have is, what part of the game can I make up and what part can't I make up?

You make up most of it, but NSEconomy (http://nseconomy.thirdgeek.com/) can help you.

Is there a geography for my region(America)?
Am I assigned to a certain part of that region?
Or do I just get to make up my country's geography(that sounds cool)?
Regions occasionally get together and draw up a map of their territories. Usually, one person uses some sort of map generator (whether it be MS Paint, or any other program on the net), and creates a continent/islands/whatever the rest of the region would prefer. Once the map is done, the rest of the nations could pick and choose what their territory is. If your region isn't too cooperative in that sort of thing, you can always just create a map of your own country. Suprisingly, MS Paint is pretty good for that, if you know how to manipulate the tools.

It doesn't have to be that way, but that is one of the many options. Another way could be that each nation creates their own individual map, and then one person could combine them all into one picture; but that seems a little more complicated.


Can I make up anything I want about my country?
Do I make up my country's natural resoures for imports/exports? Or there a place I know what I really have?

You can make up anything you'd like about your nation, because that is the joys of free-form roleplaying; however, you don't want to put everything to your advantage. For example, if you made it so that your nation doesn't need to import anything from any other nation, that wouldn't exactly be a good thing. Almost everyone in NS needs to at least import something from foreign trade. Most of NS doesn't actually roleplay the import/export side of things. It's assumed that it already takes place, without the need to RP, so I suggest you make a list of resources that you have to export, and resources that you need from other nations. Besides, its a great way to get to know other nations. An example of choosing what you import could be:
1)If you were a nation with the climate of ...lets say... Saudi Arabia, you have a lot of oil that you can export, but your weather isn't exactly perfect for some of the specific agriculture out there.. so you'll need to import that from another country.

Can I make up my country's literacy rate?
Thats another roleplay thing. In most nations' factbooks, they determine their own literacy.

How about the number of children per household?
If your nation has a high population growth rate, then you can make the number of children per household. Again, feel free to make it what you want, but try to keep it realistic... 10 children per household probably isn't the best thing. ;)

Can I make up my country's history?
That is what the most fun in NS is. You can make your own history. You can choose to do anything, such as correlating your nation into RL history, or making your nation exist on some sort of other planet...you can even have your nation be a completely different race..which is done quite often here in NS.

How do I figure out how much money I have to buy weapons? Can't I just make up what weapons I have?

The link that Jjuulliiaann gave you will help you determine how much money you have to spend on weapons. I suggest checking out some of the storefronts in International Incidents if you prefer to purchase your weapons from other nations. You can also decide to construct your own weaponry by researching some of the RL modern weapons. I know that some people have gone as far as buying books from the bookstore to learn more about the current weapons of the RL world.

Ummmm, I think that's all the questions I have, but I'm sure I'll come up with more ;) . The main question I have is, what part of the game can I make up and what part can't I make up?
Almost everything in this game can be made up by you. The one thing you have to keep in mind though, is to stay realistic. It's the best part of joining NS.

Thanks guys, I appreciate it. Now I need to get to work!

:D