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Zydor
Zydor
Join Date 03/2006
+38

DA Documentation - This time its really needed

December 2, 2006 11:22:49 AM from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
GalCiv2 has never been strong on documentation, and in a way that was fine as such, since there were not mega numbers of features to unwind. Usually when coming in at N00b level you could figure it out after a few games.

DA will be a different ball game, miners, spys, economic treaties, research treaties, combat system blah blah. Put it all together with the existing GalCiv stuff, and from a N00b viewpoint it will get confusing at the start, for some too confusing without uptodate documentation and an uptodate on-line manual on start screen that reflects latest changes.

DA is a "tipping point" on documentation, and although I am well, well, aware that documantation is never a favourite topics in developer circles as a genre, from a commercial perspective, it needs to be focused on from the time DA is released and on into the future. Without it there will be a significant number of confused bunnies out there who are new to the game.

GalCiv is starting to get near the 'mass appeal' arena, and to survive in that Commercial Space good documentation is a Commercial must.

Regards
Zy
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Zydor
kryo
Join Date 05/2003
+458 moderator
Reply #1 December 2, 2006 12:00:50 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Yes, there will be a new manual for DA, with loads of new and detailed info (it's 40 pages longer than the old one, IIRC).
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Zydor
Drengin
Join Date 09/2003
+17
Reply #2 December 2, 2006 1:17:38 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
...and will be downloadable for those who have purchased online?
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Zydor
thehandofzarquon
Join Date 09/2006
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Reply #3 December 2, 2006 1:52:02 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
...and will be downloadable for those who have purchased online?


Considering there is already a placeholder PDF doc (it's GalCiv 2's manual) in the Dark Avatar folder (and the very fact that the downloadable version of GalCiv 2 itself has it)... I don't see why not
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Zydor
Tommymac
Join Date 03/2006
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Reply #4 December 2, 2006 2:52:04 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
GalCiv is starting to get near the 'mass appeal' arena, and to survive in that Commercial Space good documentation is a Commercial must.


Hate to say it, but I have to disagree here...I have not found many big commercial releases with even 'good' documentation. To have 'mass appeal' to most (not all) of the gaming public is to be able to load a game and figure it out in 5 minutes with out reading anything....sad but true.

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Zydor
Drengin
Join Date 09/2003
+17
Reply #5 December 2, 2006 2:59:33 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Considering there is already a placeholder PDF doc (it's GalCiv 2's manual) in the Dark Avatar folder (and the very fact that the downloadable version of GalCiv 2 itself has it)... I don't see why not


Me neither but it never hurts to ask

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Zydor
DethAdder
Join Date 02/2004
+73
Reply #6 December 2, 2006 3:22:24 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Bad thing about all these .pdf manuals nowadays is when your first learning a game, you have to take yourself out of the game to check something in it, or you have to use damn near an entire printer cartridge to print them out for reference during the game. I realize the digital manual saves companies tons of money, but I still don't have to like them.  
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Zydor
Zydor
Join Date 03/2006
+38
Reply #7 December 2, 2006 3:22:45 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Hate to say it, but I have to disagree here...I have not found many big commercial releases with even 'good' documentation. To have 'mass appeal' to most (not all) of the gaming public is to be able to load a game and figure it out in 5 minutes with out reading anything....sad but true.


A valid point, the game does need to catch the n00b's initial attention in the mass market without needing a Degree in English   . However once thats acheived they want to move on, and without documentation they will have a few problems. We all like to think we can survive without a manual, but in private most of us end up falling prey to the old adage "when in doubt read the manual" - most tend to keep quite about such weakness tho    

Regards
Zy

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Zydor
Zydor
Join Date 03/2006
+38
Reply #8 December 2, 2006 3:33:30 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Bad thing about all these .pdf manuals nowadays is when your first learning a game, you have to take yourself out of the game to check something in it, or you have to use damn near an entire printer cartridge to print them out for reference during the game. I realize the digital manual saves companies tons of money, but I still don't have to like them.


I agree - and in due course - sooner rather than later - a Galactopedia type of facility is also required in addition to the standard manual that can be accessed from within the game environment to assist with all those minor thoughts/problems we all get during a game. Civilization IV has a good one for example - many others of course in the gaming world - but it is needed now in DA.

Regards
Zy
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Zydor
Drengin
Join Date 09/2003
+17
Reply #9 December 2, 2006 6:35:31 PM
from GalCiv II ForumsGalCiv II Forums
Bad thing about all these .pdf manuals nowadays is when your first learning a game, you have to take yourself out of the game to check something in it, or you have to use damn near an entire printer cartridge to print them out for reference during the game


Or you are lucky enough to have a multi-screen setup
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