Forte Universe Highlights

So much to see on all the Forte Universe sites! How’s a person supposed to know where to start?

Well, thought I’d make a few suggestions and point out a few highlights for those new to the F-Verse.

While the original Forte campaign has all the history, most of that history isn’t online yet. The bulk of the Forte material you’ll find is on the Forte 2000 site, since that “sequel campaign” was born on the web and all its content is on the page. That site contains the most graphically fun page in the Forte Universe, the Forte 2000 Gallery. That’s a great place to start, since there’s no reading involved. Just LOTS of art to check out! Note that it’s broken down into three sections – Character Art, Issue Covers and Wallpapers. Character Art contains all the art we’ve had gone for the characters (and you’ll find many of classic Forte characters there as well as the new ones, and it’s broken down by artist. So be sure to scroll all the way down to see it all). Also in there there’s an easy-to-miss link to a page called the Eryck Webb Art – Other gallery. Eryck is the most prolific F2K artist, and has done dozen of works, but not all for Forte 2000. He’s also done art and design work for other Forte world characters and teams, and some non-Forte stuff (like ConTinuum and Omniverse). This gallery collects those works as well. The Issue Covers page is fun, as it turns existing art into Forte 2000 comic book covers. And give the Wallpapers section a peek, too, and catch some neat desktop candy, most design by Aaron Storck.

On the Forte 2000 Adventures page, there are many tales to read. And they’re chronologically numbered, so of course, I’d advise that you just start with the one with the red “1” next to it and just go in order! But, if you’re lacking that kind of time…here’s a few suggestions. If you want to see how it all began, I’d recommend trying the origin story contained in Forte 2000 #1, #2 and #3. I think it’s a pretty exciting read. Just keep in mind it’s written in “game update”, not prose, style. A faster read is “The Keys”, a fiction piece taking place during the early adventures of the new team, one where they’re hanging out at the original Forte base. No combat involved in this one, just a fun character story. If you want character stuff AND action, and have time for some reading, I’d advise “The Storm” (parts one and two), a dramatic and suspenseful tale that takes place right at the end of the first era of Forte 2000 (before the new characters joined up). I wrote that one to feel like a big TV show season finale. I think you’ll really enjoy the “Hotline” series of stories. These are written in an unusual format – in phone call transcript format. So it’s all dialogue, which makes them nice and quick to read, and they’re a lot of fun (and surprisingly touching in some parts). Try to first one, and if you like it and want to see what comes next, the link to the next story is right at the bottom. Find out for yourself what happens when an average dude gets his hands on the phone number for a secret hero base. I also highly recommend “Family Matters”, one of Aaron Strock’s Dyna Girl-centered tales, but one that brings in all kinds of Forte world elements, with the new Forte characters and the old, Forte NPCs, Forte world guest-stars, and puts them all together in an action-packed Seattle adventure.

Over on the Forte ’05 page, you’ll find a handful of Forte stories set in 2005, mostly centering on original Forte characters. Most are prose, but I’d advise you try out one that, like the “Hotline” stories, is written differently. “The Dr. Jackal Interview” is the transcript of a radio interview with the Forte founding member, and gives you a nice little summary of Forte history. I think it’s a fun read, and the page that got built to house it (made to look like the web site of Import, the super-heroine/web radio diva of the Forte universe) is fun to look at. So tune in!

On the Forte Expanded Universe Page, a pretty quick and fun read is “A Hangover Far, Far Away”, starring original Forte hero Anvil and current Forte heroine Dyna Girl. In space. If you’re wondering why they’re in space, you can get the backstory first by reading "Forte Chronicles #1: Into the Realm”, which is the adventure that takes place before this story. “Hangover” is another zero-combat character tale that I think you’ll enjoy.

And if you REALLY have some time on your hands, head on over the Forge page and read the origin story – chapters one, two, three and four. This story is a novella, really, but turned out, I think, really well. Here, you follow the origins of a new hero team, every step of the way, and then get into all the many details that go into starting one. Rich in Forte history (five of the six characters are former Forte heroes, with one new hero thrown into the mix to shake things up), this tale lays the groundwork for the adventures to come, the tales of the first Forte spinoff team and the newest hero team in the Forte universe. If you can make it all the way through, I promise you an entertaining ride.

As for the Forte.com page, I can just say, I general, that you should just go there and start poking around. The page itself is a work of fiction – it’s meant to simulate what the actual Forte computer system looks like, so it lets you feel like a real Forte hero, logging in. There’s all kind of stuff to check out, but obviously, since it’s NOT the real Forte site, some buttons and links don’t work. But some do…so try everything! There may be an Easter egg there for you! Or, to make things easier, you can use any of the “help” buttons on each page to give you the “real world” facts on that page (like, what works and what doesn’t, or a little piece of pertinent Forte trivia). I’d advise trying the one (currently) working message board thread there (“Poker in the Rear”), for a fast, fun read. And also try the “Links” page and scroll through all the fictional Forte world web sites out there (and a few real ones mixed in). The whole thing’s designed to give you a feel for what it’s like to live in the Forte universe – and to be a part of Forte.

The Forte Online Chronology is a helpful tool, as it lists all the Forte tales from all the pages in chronological order (though not the classic Forte updates from the Forte Prime page yet – I want to get all of them online before including them). So if you want to get through EVERYthing in the Forte online universe, this is your roadmap (with handy links) for how to do it.

And as a reminder, new Forte stuff is generally added to coincide with new issues of the Clobberin’ Times Online, so you’ll mostly see new material being posted bi-monthly. The exception is Forte art, which usually gets added to the F2K Gallery as soon as it’s received, so always feel free to drop in there and see if there’s something new (and the new stuff is always posted at the top of the page in the “Most Recent Additions” area).

So if you haven’t yet, I hope you’ll step into the Forte Universe and browse around, try out a few of the tales, learn some of the history, and enjoy twenty years of super-heroic adventure along with us. Welcome!