 |
| |
|
|
Velociryx
|
 |
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Swapped a couple of threads with my Brother Googlie just a bit ago, and the topic of our discussion was such that I figured it ought to have it's own thread. I've copied and pasted below:
{Googlie's Post:
Vel:
I'm just offering the teeny tech tree thru the SC site (In fact, with the imminence of publication of your Strat guide I've removed it as a downloadable item - didn't seem fair to be giving it away for free when it is now a commercial item)
So get your marketing hat on and promote it shamelessly
G.}
{My response:
Brother Googlie! As always, you're both a scholar and a gentleman! The Apolyton forum has been like a second home to me, and I've met a number of good friends from this very place....seems only right that I should give something back to the place that's given me so many chuckles and smiles over the many months I've been lurking and writing here, so I'd like to announce here and now that the both versions 1.0 and 2.0 of the guide are to be considered "FreeWare" from here on. Put 'em on your sites, print and make elaborate paper airplanes out of them, hell, if you can get anything for them, auction off your dog-eared copies of version 1 on ebay! LOL...and if you make a mint, drop me a line and let me know!
Hmmm....Come to think of it, perhaps I should put this announcement in its own thread as well....}
Okay....so news like that won't bring about world peace or feed the hungry, but still....I figured I'd let everybody know.... 
PS: New e-mail addy for me....I put that someplace too, but what the heck. I tried updating my profile...no dice there, so the new addy is:
WebMaster@velociryx.every1.net
-=Vel=-
[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited May 08, 2001).]
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Quite right you are, and upon further reflection, I see no reason why I should not go ahead and make v3 of the guide "freeware" as well. Howwzat?
As to version 4.0, I'm getting really excited about it, and I think you all will like it very much!
Ahhh, and I just now caught what you meant. V3.0 was indeed "released" in the sense that I put it out there for everybody to take a peek at, but I meant "released" as in "declaring it freeware," but again, on further reflection, I don't see why not. There are some pretty significant differences between v3 and v4...certainly more than enough to give it weight and merit as a separate "product" so after thinking further on the matter, I see no reason why I shouldn't open v3 up in the same manner as I did the elder versions.
-=Vel=-
[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited May 08, 2001).]
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Version 4 has been re-organized into nine chapters for publication in book form. I'm plowing through each of those one final time to make sure I don't have too many of those durned colons ::::: I'm so fond of, and to make sure that there aren't any really stupid spelling errors or other snafus.
Structurally, everything is done except the embedded linking that will be part of the electronic version of the guide, allowing the reader to hop instantly to various sections of the book from the table of contents, and in some cases, move around within the book when additional information is offered in some other chapter.
As to a specific timeframe...LOL...I'm a little leery of that...last time I said I was almost done, I wound up spending almost three weeks in the hospital. The one advantage though, was my forced vacation allowed me to approach the project with a fresh perspective, and I came back to it with a number of new ideas.
Anyway, it won't be long now, and I'll keep you guys posted. When I send her off for formatting, I'll make the announcement here, and then it'll be just a matter of days, if my previous experience with the company is any indication.
-=Vel=-
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Stuff that's been keeping me up late these past few nights:
I'm a little perplexed. See....I can only send one manuscript to press. Can't send one for the electronic version and another for the bound version, which means that my internal linking has to be built into the framework of the book, but at the same time not be intrusive or hard on the eyes of those who want the bound edition.
There are two ways that I know of to create "links" inside of a word document. First, simply insert a hyperlink pointing to a bookmark placed elsewhere in the work. That's easy, and it makes it easy to spot for readers of the electronic version, cos it's underlined, and a different color. But, for those who have the bound edition, it'd look...odd.
On the other hand, I could use cross referencing, which is the same basic concept, only the text looks no different on the screen. No different at all (though I could go back manually and make it a slightly different color, to at least give some indication that it's clickable). This approach looks good from the perspective of the bound edition, but might be hard to spot in the electronic version.
So...I'm at a bit of a loss as to how to proceed here. Embedded links? No links? Some other way of doing it that I'm not aware of?
-=Vel=-
|
|
| |
|
|
|
Closey
|
|
Sundsvall, Sweden
Mar 2001
time: 06:13
|
|
Ok, I don't really know how they tend to do this, but couldn't you make the electronical version yourself as a pdf or something? Or does both versions have to go through the publisher?
And one way to make those links could be to have them as foot notes or on either side of the text. Maybe in a little smaller font or something.
You probably could have the links just using another color and not having them under lined, I mean there's lots of links like that on the web and they aren't hard to spot. Maybe a blue or green color? They don't stand out as much as, say red would.
Edt. Ah.. spelling.. *hunts it down*
[This message has been edited by Closey (edited May 10, 2001).]
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Good ideas here...thanks guys!
Solver, thanks for the boost...needed that after having spent most of the day in the guts of the strat guide, tweaking and polishing.
I have no idea how many pages it'll translate to in book form, but the manuscript is a whopping 217 pages long (and that's single spaced type, with double spacing between paragraphs).
It may fluxuate slightly as I finish editing and polishing, and I do have one more section to add near the end...prolly no more than a page or two, so I'm guessing that when I finish this thing off, it'll be sitting right at 220 pages, looseleaf.
As to the internal linking, I'm now pretty happy with the look and feel of it. The text links are of a slightly smaller type than the surrounding text, and blue in color which means that when the book goes to press, there won't be a notable difference on the printed page--certainly nothing to upset the eye. The only thing I cringe at now is the fact that I've put page numbers next to all the links, which will allow people with the bound edition to also "jump" to the same sections that folks with the electronic version will be able to, but when the manuscript goes to Formatting, all my carefully laid out page numbers will be ruined, and I'll have to go back and do that part again. ::shrug:: Good way to spend a weeknight...lol
::sigh:: Okay, break's over....just had to come up for another breath of air...back to editing. Still got almost two hours left of the work day.... 
D'oh! I almost forgot! Solver, I think getting a bound copy on "your side of the pond" won't be a problem! The company has just finalized agreements with a press in England which will be responsible for print and distribution to that side of the Atlantic! (don't know the name of the company there, or the first thing about them, but that's the buzz)
-=Vel=-
[This message has been edited by Velociryx (edited May 10, 2001).]
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
Wow....came back from a long weekend to find lossa new messages on the board!
Rynn...LOL...yeah...::as he grumbles something about not getting caught dead playing CtP::
Solver....much as I appreciate the compliment, I must disagree with your assessment...I think it can be fairly said that I'm the most verbose SMAC-er hanging out 'round here, but as to the best....nahhh....I leave that to the true diehards in the game.
What I DO consider myself is....a Professor? See....there are a group of people who seem to take an almost sadistic delight in utterly rending new players (MP), then bragging and gloating about it--I'm sure you've all been exposed to the type. You don't find that so much any more with SMAC....it seems to be a cyclical phenomenon, most common when a game first comes out, and then fading with time. My hope with the guide has always been to get players thinking in unconventional ways in an effort to prepare those players for an eventual run-in with one of the gaming trolls. In that regard, perhaps....Ramerez from the Highlander movie? LOL....or perhaps not. Anyway, my thinking behind all that goes something like this:
The aforementioned gaming troll tends to hunt down players new to MP and just run them into the ground, then rub it in and gloat about how talented they are....not only is that boring to listen to (and hey...in the final analysis, no matter how outstanding it is, it's still just a game, so how valuable can the "skill" of crushing unsuspecting opponents really be?), but it hurts the game itself in the sense that the new player who just got trounced and gloated to stands a chance of getting so frustrated he'll decide not to play further. That sucks, no matter how you look at it, and preventing that or at least making it more likely that the newer player won't be completely blind-sided has been a hope of mine from the start. Whew! How's that for waxing philosophic first thing in the morning....
So...all that to say....I'm probably not the best player here....there a lots of other folks who are playing every day, continuing to hone their skills, and they'd prolly kill me in a heartbeat, but I'd like to think I'd give them a surprise or two before they trounced me outta the game....::grin::
Okay, and before Thantos or any of the others who are anxiously awaiting the newest version of the guide tar and feather me, I'm gonna subit this post and get back to the painful process of editing....painful, but I love it....
-=Vel=-
|
|
| |
|
| |
|
|
|
Velociryx
|
|
of Candle'Bre
Apr 1999
time: 05:13
|
|
And you may well be, Solver! Kudos for it in any case. The metagame is the most elusive of all the concepts covered in the strat. guide, but in my book, also the most potent trick up anybody's sleeve. Anybody who has a firm grasp of the metagame would be an exceedingly tough opponent to beat, because such players often do things that defy all logic, but work out perfectly nonetheless.
Players fluent in metagame concepts can control the map in ways that make them appear almost like ghosts, appearing at exactly the right moment (or wrong moment, depending on which side of the fence you're on), doing tremendous damage, and then vanishing before any retributive strike can be organized.
Mostly, it's about control of every element of the game. Making your opponent believe he's following his own game plan, when actually he's playing right into yours. Seeing to it that battles occur on exactly the terrain you dictate, and of course, making sure that every advantage belongs to you when the fight begins. In this way, the fight is effectivly over before it begins.
Cool stuff, that....
-=Vel=-
|
|
| |
|
| |
All times are GMT. The time now is 05:13.
Apolyton Time is 00:13. |
top of page
|
| archivepost |
|
Forum Rules:
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts
|
HTML code is ON
vB code is ON
Smilies are ON
[IMG] code is ON
|
|
|
|
|
|
09-05-2001 00:38
.
|