Oolite Bulletins

Hi KZ,

Any particular reason you moved from OpenOffice to Word? Unfortunately the current version doesn't format correctly in OpenOffice (both 2.4 and 3.0) and hence requires an awful lot of twiddling if I want to make minor mods for my own uses.

That aside, Page 1, Note 6, I think that 'a' is superfluous:

6) Unless the cargo is selected the ship’s computer will dump a one unit from the first commodity listed in your manifests

Otherwise very nice indeed!

Cheers,
- Micha.

Micha wrote:

Any particular reason you moved from OpenOffice to Word?

Like it or not most people use Office, so when I started doing the offical version for Another_Commander, I had to switch to Word so the largest number of people can access it. (No boos from the Open Source / Linux set please.) The switch also meant that I had to do a total rebuild from scratch which has improved it no end.

To be honest I rather be doing the whole thing as a DTP file in Scribus, but that's even less well known than Open Office. These files have to in formats that anyone else can take over the job in my stead. (That's why it's in doc and not docx format.) When the RS has gone gold I'll rebuild it Open Office again and run both version in parallel.

I might even do a Tiddly Wiki version of it now I'm starting to get of the hang of the program. <He says quietly to himself.>

Micha wrote:

Unfortunately the current version doesn't format correctly in OpenOffice (both 2.4 and 3.0) and hence requires an awful lot of twiddling if I want to make minor mods for my own uses.

If you think that was bad, try getting Word 2007 to read a Word 2003 file generated by Open Office. Why do you think I said that the air didn't just turn blue but went ultraviolet. Let it never be said that this droid doesn't like a challenge. Thanks for the bug spotting too.

tomsk I'm not sure what you are pointing out. The [key] and [key][key] setup is done to display that F6 is a toggle key. The layout is no different to any of the other toggle keys on the same page. Either edit your posting with more details or message me with the error as you see it.

Sorry toconn I won't include information on the OXPs in the RS. That sort of information belongs purely on the Oolite Wiki (when it stops acting like grumpy trumble after eating a q-bomb). OXPs alter the core game mechanics and discussing them in any details would just confuse new comers. I included information about the OXPs as warning more than anything else. Since you did point it out, I add an entry in the notes section on page 1 to point people there.

KZ9999 wrote:

tomsk I'm not sure what you are pointing out. The [key] and [key][key] setup is done to display that F6 is a toggle key. The layout is no different to any of the other toggle keys on the same page. Either edit your posting with more details or message me with the error as you see it.

I know this! What he means is that it should read:

F6 F6 / 6 6
and
F6 / 6

instead of F6 F6 / F6 F6...

Btw, there's a couple of mac specific versus windows & linux specific things that might need to be highlighted. I'm going to play around with word ('joy'!) & will send you a kaks-ified version for your perusal...

Micha wrote:

Unfortunately the current version doesn't format correctly in OpenOffice (both 2.4 and 3.0) and hence requires an awful lot of twiddling if I want to make minor mods for my own uses.

Not to mention that Arial Narrow isn't available everywhere…

Kaks wrote:

I know this! What he means is that it should read:

F6 F6 / 6 6 and F6 / 6 instead of F6 F6 / F6 F6...

Oops. That's a major boo-boo! I'm trying to down load the correction version of the RS by Another_Commander so I'll add that to the fix up.

Kaks wrote:

Btw, there's a couple of mac specific versus windows & linux specific things that might need to be highlighted. I'm going to play around with word ('joy'!) & will send you a kaks-ified version for your perusal...

I'm aware of the mac versus other versions issues, so notes to that fact will be appreciated. You don't have to send me the whole word file, just the sections that need touch-up. I've kept everything in mini tables so just delete out the correct ones and mail me the remainder. I'm KZ9999 a single typography symbol for a-t google mail for those who are interested.

I'm kind of stuck with hobson's choice when it comes with fonts at the moment _ds_. As this RS was built for a Win/Word system (I have to cater to the majority after all (No booing from the mac/linux users please)) I stuck to their standard set of type. I have a look for an open source narrow san-serif font after the RS goes gold, and use that for both RS and upload the font to my filebox for your use if desired.

Another day another update.

I've just uploaded the latest update to the RS to my File Box account. See the sig to jump to it. They are named OoliteRS_1_73_PreGold. Baring any other bugs, including Word and my own dyslexia, this will be the gold version and become part of the standard Oolite File Set.

Many thanks to Kaks for the Mac / Linux / Pc corrections.

Up coming task:

• Rebuilding the RS in OpenOffice Writer format.
  Sourcing a CC/PD sanserif narrow body typeface so that people can maintain consistency if they remix their own version of the RS.
  Converting the bitmaps used in to vectors to reduce the file size. I'm getting the hang of Inkscape but if anyone wants to chip in that would be great.

Anyway, check the PDF for any bugs that have crept in. If there's no issues by Monday I'll post it to Another_Commander and call it gold.

Glad to be of help!

About the sanserif typeface: there's an arial lookalike in the liberation font set. Have you had a look there, and would that one be suitable?

PS, I'm repeating myself here, but I'm well impressed at the way you managed to wrestle word to the ground! Just a couple of hours of cutting and pasting inside that 'productivity suite' got me really wound up!

I think my embarrassed positive reinforcement sub-procedure just got stuck in a recursive loop.

Kaks could you mail me the address of where I could find the font you mention.

Word in it's own right isn't a bad application, it's just the core design methods annoy me. I come from a WordPerfect background (5.1 to be precise) and find Word just to limiting. Word designed for short business documents while WordPerfect designed to handle 1000+ pages multi-part legal documents, and it shows in both of them. If I could afford to update I'd be using WordPerfect, but suffering unemployment right now, I have to make do OpenOffice. I still miss a lot of WP features that none of the others have, like a true revel codes mode and a blue/dull white text only mode which is brilliant for an eight hour working session.

As I said before, I rather be using a proper DTP program like Scribus to do the job, but you work to meet the needs of others not your own.

At the time of writing I see that 5 copies of the PDF and 1 of DOC have already downloaded since posting yesterday, so there should be a good number of eyes bug stomping.

I'll work on building the OpenOffice version of the sheet during this week and post it on the weekend.

Hi KZ,
Hope you don't feel pressured into doing an OO version - you've already done a great job and I guess most people will only ever use the PDF anyway.

My question arose mostly because you moved from a more to a less accessible format (imho) - after all, even if people have Office, nothing stops them from installing OO whereas the other way around is not so possible.

Might be worth doing a poll before you spend hours twiddling to see how much interest there is in the source document in the first place.

Cheers,
- Micha.

Hi ya Micha.
Don't think you are pressuring me at all. Most of the work in doing the OpenOffice version is just importing the finalised Word version and juggling the layout settings. It will only take a few hours to do, and that because I'm a fussy droid at software simulated heart.

I'm more that happy to run both streams together as the maintenance work is pretty minimal since it's proto-finalised.

If you are interested in a poll, I would like to hear if there should be a 'Your First Flight' guide included in the Oolite file set. It's been prompted by the various discussions I've been involved in dealing with pilot commanders. So bop on over to the thread and have your say.

Hi KZ9999

Just a bit of a nudge - both Open Office and Scribus will output to PDF format. Everyone (I say with fingers crossed behind my back) has a PDF reader. Then you can use the software you want to use and no-one has compatibility problems.

Mike

MKG wrote:

Hi KZ9999
Just a bit of a nudge - both Open Office and Scribus will output to PDF format. Everyone (I say with fingers crossed behind my back) has a PDF reader. Then you can use the software you want to use and no-one has compatibility problems.

It not so much the output. As you note, it's pretty much a given that everyone has some format of PDF reader (Acrobat or Sumatra are the most common.) It's creating source files that someone can continue editing and updating it should I leave the Ooniverse (perish the thought.) As others have posted, the source files are becoming popular because it allow them to 'roll their own.' Its making it its a universally accessible is the fun part. (I truly do enjoy it. It's like doing a 3d jigsaw puzzle where all the places are black. <Joke!>)

I've found a universal source font that will be used for the version of the RS after 1.73, called Deja Vu. It's already part of several open source projects and is released under a GPL. It a full set of sans, serif, and mono typefaces with narrow/light versions. What great about it is that it has a huge range of symbols which aren't found in most commercial typefaces. If you are having issues editing the source word doc due to missing typefaces, Deja Vu makes a suitable solution and its available for all os.

After I finished spouting off on various threads, I'll be going over the source file with a fine tooth comb to clean out the typos so the final version will be uploaded in the next couple of days.

Thanks to you for all the support and encouragements over the last month. It's what kept me going during this, sometimes very frustrating, task.

KZ9999 wrote:

I've found a universal source font that will be used for the version of the RS after 1.73, called Deja Vu. It's already part of several open source projects and is released under a GPL.

Debian(-derivative) users: ttf-dejavu.

KZ9999 wrote:

After I finished spouting off on various threads,

Oh dear. That could be years away…

_ds_ wrote:

KZ9999 wrote:

After I finished spouting off on various threads,

Oh dear. That could be years away…

Ok, ok, I admit I'm a bit verbose. I can't help it, it's part of my core programming, being a sales droid after all.

The finalised version of the RS PDF and doc have been uploaded to my box space. I've crammed down them a bit more and zipped them up so to reduce the file size.

The PDF is http://www.box.net/shared/qq4t78dlo4
The Word doc is http://www.box.net/shared/6tzl4xpp2n

Now on to the revamp using Deja Vu and Open Office. I should have added that the [above] Deja Vu link takes to their wiki with full instruction on how download the set for various OS systems.

Looking good! Can't think of a single nit to pick!