Rulebook Text

[ElectricPaladin]

My Internet is down, so I won't be able to perform my alpha reader task until Thursday. Looking forward to it, though!

[afterimagedan]

It would be nice to see the basic - advanced divide gone.

[Gorlak]

I've only just started the combining process and, as expected, its quite difficult. Deciding where each paragraph would be most relevant in a combined book is surprisingly tricky.

I can share a working folder with you which might make it easier to collaborate on this stage?

If sending you the current documents via another method would be of use, just let me know.

H

[Gorlak]

It would be nice to see the basic - advanced divide gone.

I do agree, but for now its more straight forward to take paragraphs from the FAQ and drop them into the relevant sections of either Basic or Advanced. I think intergrating the two after that will be more straight forward. Advanced includes only relatively short sections for Movement and End phase, the majority is Battlefield (terrain).

H

[afterimagedan]

Sounds great. Keep up the good work!

[AndrewChristlieb]

I hate to be a debbie downer here but the basic/advanced divide is there for a good reason . It really does make teaching someone to play a ton easier without having the extras there. I would think at the very least if you combine them any advanced rules should be inside a labeled text box within their relevant sections and have a short disclaimer that they should be overlooked when starting out.

[Gorlak]

...It really does make teaching someone to play a ton easier without having the extras there...

That is also partly the reason I didn't want to do that straight away. I do kind of agree.

I'm a bit concerned that adding in all the (albeit very clear) text from FAQ2010 might make the 'Basic Rules' too formidable when introducing new players...

The alternative of course is a separate form of 'quick start' rule set, a short document that covers just the basics, and then a larger, 'full' rule book.

[afterimagedan]

I hate to be a debbie downer here but the basic/advanced divide is there for a good reason . It really does make teaching someone to play a ton easier without having the extras there. I would think at the very least if you combine them any advanced rules should be inside a labeled text box within their relevant sections and have a short disclaimer that they should be overlooked when starting out.

I think the divide is there with good intentions, but not good reason. It's annoying. You may learn the rules better the first game or two with that divide (though I don't think it would be all that much harder with them combined), but then you have the annoying divide forever. Most people I know that play read the full rulebook first and didn't attempt the game without reading the advanced rules section.

[Neferhet]

The idea of a merged rulebook & quick start document seems really good!
 A little bit more work required perhaps...
Anyway I dare to post here a link to the mess i've done with the faq merging in the rules (don't want to steal your idea or work, mate!)
It's a little bit messy and "embrional" but I think it can help(?)
Everything I added is highlighted in yellow.
There were some minor writing errors. Where i saw those, i removed.
Adding the complete wording from the faq really makes talking about Basic/Advanced a non sense.
Its a text wall here and there...
I was thinking about having an area of the rulebook where each peculiar case or clarification could be written. In the relevant chapter we could have a box saying : "for peculiar cases and clarification see page XX, issue number Y". Just an idea.
Here it is.
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4uh9148apu0pzxc/rulebook%20merged%20with%20faq%20%28Basic%20%2B%20Adv%29.odt

[Gorlak]

Neferhet - Ha! Thats excellent! We seem to have done the same thing! While there was some down time at work today, I made a start doing the very same thing. It will be very interesting to see where we match and where we don't.

My (barely started) version is here:
Gorlak_Basic Rules + FAQ2010_130327.docx

I've had the briefest of glances at yours and it looks good, exactly the sort of thing I was thinking. I assume you used the text documents I posted up here? I certainly hope so - they took many hours to do (on and off) so I'd like to see them being used well! 

I'll try and compare and contrast yours and mine when I get the chance. I'm keeping a record of what from FAQ2010 I've used (so far) as well, which can be used to make any reviews easier/clearer.

H

EDIT

Actually, yours looks really good! I'm having a closer look at it and you've done exactly what I was hoping to do! I definitely wouldn't take this as stealing my idea or work, its supposed to be a community project anyway! I just wanted to (at least) get the ball rolling by getting the tedious job of converting to text out the way. That makes it all FAR more accessible.

I'm beginning to think a shared folder (via Dropbox) might be in order for those that are interested in helping out? That way we can all see as we develop files/work collaboratively on a single 'master' rule book.

Once we are happy with the combined book, I'll start the process of putting it into our own InDesign document with all the pictures and niceties one can expect. 

[fracas]

tremendous work you are doing
thanks

[Neferhet]

Neferhet - Ha! Thats excellent! We seem to have done the same thing! While there was some down time at work today, I made a start doing the very same thing. It will be very interesting to see where we match and where we don't.

My (barely started) version is here:
https://www.dropbox.com/s/4bqxrh8dal287tk/BFG_Basic%20Rules%20%2B%20FAQ2010_130327.docx

I've had the briefest of glances at yours and it looks good, exactly the sort of thing I was thinking. I assume you used the text documents I posted up here? I certainly hope so - they took many hours to do (on and off) so I'd like to see them being used well! 

I'll try and compare and contrast yours and mine when I get the chance. I'm keeping a record of what from FAQ2010 I've used (so far) as well, which can be used to make any reviews easier/clearer.

H

EDIT

Actually, yours looks really good! I'm having a closer look at it and you've done exactly what I was hoping to do! I definitely wouldn't take this as stealing my idea or work, its supposed to be a community project anyway! I just wanted to (at least) get the ball rolling by getting the tedious job of converting to text out the way. That makes it all FAR more accessible.

I'm beginning to think a shared folder (via Dropbox) might be in order for those that are interested in helping out? That way we can all see as we develop files/work collaboratively on a single 'master' rule book.

Once we are happy with the combined book, I'll start the process of putting it into our own InDesign document with all the pictures and niceties one can expect. 

I'm glad to hear that!
Yes, I used your text documents. They where excellent.
The shared folder could really work, but should be used "cum grano salis" (with some rules to respect, since it will be open)
Next days I'll be mainly offline. Holydays
All ahead full!

[Gorlak]

I'm glad to hear that!
Yes, I used your text documents. They where excellent.
The shared folder could really work, but should be used "cum grano salis" (with some rules to respect, since it will be open)
Next days I'll be mainly offline. Holydays
All ahead full!

Glad to hear it! I will set up a working shared folder between you, Dan and myself for now and anyone else who wants to help can comment here.

One quick question - does your combined text use all the content from FAQ2010? As I was doing mine I was noting what I'd used and what I'd eventually come back to. Yours looks pretty comprehensive, but I didn;t want to go through and cross check that everything was included...!

tremendous work you are doing
thanks

Thank you! I think we are well on the way to having one central rulebook for gameplay, which is great. As I've said in this thread before, I think the nature of having rules spread over multiple volumes was really holding BFG back somewhat, so to have a central resource will be ideal.

[Neferhet]

Writing from phone. I ve the original faq document with the remaining parts I haven't used. I'll share that too when on pc. 

[Gorlak]

Writing from phone. I ve the original faq document with the remaining parts I haven't used. I'll share that too when on pc. 

I've just PM'd you about setting up a shared folder to make sharing and editing these docs a bit easier.

Cheers,
H