OoliteRS and the quest for document standards

[KZ9999]

Turns out that RL was kind to me this week , so here’s the new draft Oolite Reference Sheet. Taking information from both the Ahruman’s PDF Readme and some of the ideas I’ve worked out for the game manual. Now expanded to eight pages it includes:

Code: Select all

*     All table headers now surrounded by a 1pt thick box.
*     Keyboard Guide page
     *     Includes missing Mac keys.
     *     Explanation of ID Recognition effects on pylon systems.
     *     Corrected information in relation to game paused
*     HUD page has had half the bitmaps replaced with vectors.(WIP)
*     First General Information page.
     *     Vector images now replace all bitmaps on this page.
     *     Equipment Guide now split into Weapons Guide and Equipment Guide due to space restrictions.
     *     Equipment and Weapons Guides now has icons showing what category each item belongs too.
     *     Government Guide now lists numbers of both Police and Pirates.
     *        Added type icon to entries in Commodities Guide, which links to the Economy Guide.
     *     Economy Guide show what a economy imports and exports.
     *     Entries in the Combat Rank guide now directly matches what is shown on the Commander’s Profile page.
     *     Legal Status and GCW Interstellar Laws moved to next page.
*     Second General Information page.
     *     Legal Status corrected to reflect actual game mechanics.
     *     GCW Interstellar Crimes & Bounties (was GCW Orbital Laws) altered to better reflect the game mechanics
     *     Joystick Controls updated for new ‘Target Nearest Incoming Missile’ function.
     *     Added table showing other controls available when the game is paused.
     *     Game Settings table moved to next page.
*     Third General Information page.
     *     Options Menu corrected and sorted by version (all, Mac only, Linux & Windows only.)
     *     Game Configuration updated and split into two. Features now sorted by OS (all, Mac, Linux & Windows.)
*     Tables in Commander’s Log has 1 pt lines now.

Please look at the design and suggest any idea for the new empty space. The pdf is at only 150dpi since this is a rough draft, for the sake of file size.

This is will most likely be the last version of the current design. I’ve reached the terminal limit of what can be done in a word-processor. (Doing these corrections caused Open Office crash every 5 minuets.) The next draft will have to be rebuilt from scratch using a different technology. This raises a few new issues that I want to hash out with you folks before I start.

So, which technology to use? One of the biggest issues is making it accessible. It’s all very well turning out the final product but it’s the source that matters. It has to be in a format that is accessible to everyone, regardless of OS or preferred application. The issues I’ve had in exporting the last version of the RS into MS doc format from OpenDoc format, and the less than stellar results, makes me never want to do it again.

This also is important for the other documents I’m working on. I want to use one system, that everyone can agree on. I believe I have a solution, but before I explain it I would like to hear (read) your ideas first (just in-case you come up with something better. )

[Rxke]

From first glance, it looks *really* good!

Sterling job :thumbs:

[Sendraks]

This is great, I shall be printing this off, it is a great resource.

Suggestions

The first general info page - more could be said about the different government types. I think the little summary table of security and priates levels is really good, but if you want to fill the space a little flavour text about the government types and what a Jameson can expect to encounter in those systems wouldn't hurt.

Some of the space on the third general info page could be devoted to explaining how to install OXPs and where they are found? OXPs are mentioned elsewhere in the ref sheet and give general info is largely a technical page, it would be apt to put something like OXP info there.

[Micha]

Looking great!


Corrections/Suggestions:
[9 Missiles]
- Perhaps draw a black border around the missile diagrams? The yellow ECM Hardened missile is very hard to see on a white background.

[16 IFF Scanner]
- Ditto as per above, perhaps a black border to accentuate the display.
- If there is space, add the colour-name in the description for people using b&w printers

[Weapong Guide] / [Equipment Guide]
Not sure I agree with some of the splits - eg, Fuel Injectors and Wormhole Scanner are more Equipment than Weapon? And if Shield Booster is Weapon, then why not Escape Capsule or Extra Energy Unit?

[Game Settings menu - By OS]
Spoken Messages are available now for Linux as well (1.73+)
[edit]On some distros. It appears speech may be broken on older distros (eg, Ubuntu 'hardy') due to the way those distros are configured. We are investigating.[/edit]

[Paused Game Controls]
n Turns on(?) the HUD and turns off all debugging flags.

[Observers Guide]
Is the black box necessary around the Wormhole or is this WiP?

[pagroove]

Simply wow

[Alex]

Hi Commanders,
I have a wee problem with the manual, it doesn't show any of the images.

{image.}
Empty pylon

Is what it shows. I have WIE 8, firefox latest. and adobe reader 9.
Anyone know why they don't show?

[pagroove]

Hi Commanders,
I have a wee problem with the manual, it doesn't show any of the images.

{image.}
Empty pylon

Is what it shows. I have WIE 8, firefox latest. and adobe reader 9.
Anyone know why they don't show?

To my knowledge it's a draft manual so at the place where images must be inserted you read 'image'. I assume you are referring to the draft manual?

[Diziet Sma]

I can see the images in the draft version.. but I don't use Adobe Reader, as I feel it's bloatware.. I prefer Foxit Reader instead..

[KZ9999]

Hi Commanders,
I have a wee problem with the manual, it doesn't show any of the images.

{image.}
Empty pylon

Is what it shows. I have WIE 8, firefox latest. and adobe reader 9.
Anyone know why they don't show?

It clear that you are referring to my alpha draft version of the Game Manual. To quote section 1.1 of the said manual, 'This is the revision of the first public draft of the Oolite game manual. The contents are incomplete by intention. ... The diagrams and images are missing as to keep the file size down. ... The text surrounded by {} are: notes to myself, location of images, material that will be in footnotes or breakout/quote boxes, and to highlight material that may or may not be in the final version.' In other words, there are no pictures because the said pictures are not required for that version of the document. Rest assured that the mark 2 version of the alpha will have the images included.

Since no-one offered any suggestions for a format for the documents I will offer my current choice. To whit a smart slide show system using a DHTML called Slidy. Using a mixture of style-sheets and a low overhead java script produces an extremely capable paged information system that has very able hard copy printout system and even some basic animation. Best of all it's a product from W3.org so its totally standards compliant and open source.

Could everyone try it out and report if they have any issues. I've tested in both Firefox 3.x and IE 7&8 on Windows systems and it works fine. What I need to know is how well it behaves on other OS and browsers.

There are a whole bunch of other reasons why I want to use it. I'll cover it in a separate post after you folks have had a chance to try it out. If there is general support for the system I'll start work on the update/s as both will use the same system. The RS will become a subset of the game manual, since both will be small enough to become part of the standard file set.

[Lucas1510]

I just read your manual, it's a good help for me (someone who just started playing Oolite). Thank you

[Killer Wolf]

excellent work.

as for the empty space suggestions, how about newbie tips? ie, the step-by-step method of docking that the original manual had, or tips on your first trades, in how to pick a lucrative route or such like.

[Kaks]

And / or hints on how to get rid of trumbles?

[Star Gazer]

It seems absolutely fine in Safari 4.0.3 on MacPro with OS X 10.5.8

[pmw57]

And / or hints on how to get rid of trumbles?

Perhaps an advert for Trumbles with the typical Gremlins warnings.

For the best care and enjoyment of your new pet, GenFun ask you to:
* prevent unsupervised feeding
* store in a cool environment
* collect the set

[Kaks]

I like 'store in a cool environment'! Together with disembodied's hints, that should really help in steering new Jamesons towards the final solution! ...err... so to speak...<ouchie>