You are not logged in (log in or sign up)
RPG Laboratory

Hound Topic

Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Fri, 2007-11-02 17:31.

As a bit of a test for my knowledge of document design - I tried rearranging ErrinF's excellent Hound of Tindalos solo game. At least on my computer, its far easier to read.

The one page contest is a great teaching tool. Not only is it about being careful, concise, and clear about directions, but how to use the page is perhaps as well. Sometimes adding space can help even when your page count is limited.

Thanks for starting the contest, and for providing so many great games.

Update: Credits and name changed per author's request

» Chainsaw Aardvark's blog | add new comment | by Chainsaw Aardvark | 399 reads

LOL

Submitted by ErrinF on Fri, 2007-11-02 21:31.

That's the best damn free editing I've ever encountered for one of my games! Excellent job, Jason. Thanks!

I'm guessing that the revised version of Tindalos was still hard to read even with the new font. Not sure what was up with that... I could still try to fix it, but it seems that I will not top the layout you have just presented.

Here's what I'd like to ask of you, my man... can you change 'By ErrinF' to 'By Errin Famiglia With Layout By Jason Kline', or something along those lines? I'd like the final draft of Tindalos RPG to be the one you have done here, with you credited for the excellent layout job you did. Once you do that, we can make 'Hound Test' become 'Tindalos RPG'. Sound good? If not, I can always take it as is, retitle it, and upload it here in the Tindalos RPG blog as the new file. It's great as is, just I rarely, if ever, use ErrinF as my game writing tag. Then again, I usually put NO tag or credit on these one pagers.

Anyway, thanks again for solving whatever weird layout/font problem I was having with this. The version you did looks great, and is a real compliment to me that you even did it.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

Adventuria Online RPG

» reply

Glad to be of service

Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Fri, 2007-11-02 23:32.

For all the news about identity theft on the news, my general view is that people do it to themselves. Posting personal information on the web at MySpace etc. is just inviting trouble.

As such, I wasn't going to list your name without permission. Nor did I want anything wrongly attributed.

The who CA name started off as so that I could recognize any emails addressed to "Mr. Aardvark" as scams easily. But its a fun moniker - so I'm using it quite a bit now.

There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.

» reply

Thanks again

Submitted by ErrinF on Sat, 2007-11-03 14:37.

Well, this ended up being a pleasant surprise, having you do an unexpected layout for my Tindalos RPG which then ended up improving the game's playability vastly. I will eventually have to get to the bottom of why my pdf kept printing the font much smaller then I set it too, but that's a seperate issue at this point... I'm very happy with the new look for the game, and will deal with whatever problem I had later.

My one question to you is if you think that clipart I had of the hound was worth keeping in or out. I'll upload it to the Tindalos blog, that way you can decide if you want to download it and add it to the layout, or not. I'm not sure if you chose to remove the clipart for a reason or if you were merely unable to transfer it given the pdf I had made. The current clipart-free version of Tindalos RPG will be the pdf available for download, but if you feel like downloading the clipart and adding it to your layout, go for it. I'll let you be the judge of if and where you add the hound clipart to the layout you made.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

Adventuria Online RPG

» reply

Picture this

Submitted by Chainsaw Aardvark on Sat, 2007-11-03 17:37.

The graphic disappeared simply because I couldn't cut and paste it with the rest of the text. My goal was to change as little as possible aside from the layout, and the font size. (its 10/10.5 with a 14 title.)

Given that part of the mythos behind the Lovecraft's creatures is that their true form best are left to the imagination - dropping a small illustration doesn't seem like a major folly.

Switching gears, I've got a few ideas about the slightly fatalistic pattern of these solo games. There could either be objects to find (such as the keys in "Doom: Semper Fidels") or an expendable attribute (fatigue to run away) that gives the player a limited ability to shift the location die roll.

Another interesting idea would be to have the exploration die be a user chosen attribute. A lower die means less likely to encounter the dangerous creatures in the high numbers without exploration - but it also means possibly running out of time/letting the enemy grow stronger. The reverse would also be true - high die means potentially faster progress - and a chance to meet big threats too soon.

How about tying the exploration to a percentile roll? Then some locations could be more common than others, rather than a flat 5% for any given one. (Entry 1-5: secret passage, find the BFG, 6-26 Imps!, 27-37 crushing ceiling...)

There is a fine line between hobby and obsession. I seem to have lost sight of it some time ago.

» reply

Works for me

Submitted by ErrinF on Sun, 2007-11-04 11:54.

Though I liked that hound clipart, it was inaccurate, so I agree that it is just as well to leave it out. Even though that was supposed to be artwork of the hound of Tindalos, it actually resembled a hound... a hound of Tindalos does not, and gets it's name by it's ability to track down prey through the vast reaches of time and space. Not showing a pic of the hound so as to leave it to the imagination works good for me.

As for your other suggestions about the fatalism in some of my solo RPGs, I will take them into account. Funny enough, I just made a new solo RPG that does indeed have Keys as well as the ability to choose which location you explore during a turn, though location choice is limited by how many Keys you possess. The game is called The Wizard's Test, and I'm going to go post it right now. With it, I have reversed my usual formula so that there is a little fatalism and a lot of choice. You'll have to check it out and see.

Peace, Errin : )

http://www.1km1kt.net/Errin-Famiglia.htm

Adventuria Online RPG

» reply