Back In Print Project presents...CAVES OF SYDWALL!

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Well folks, here it is! The first official adventure module of the Back In Print Project...

CAVES OF SYDWALL

You can left click on the link above and it will open a pdf file in your browser (if your browser is set to do that), or you can right click and then click "save as", to save it to wherever you want to save it to.

Please feel free to post feedback, comments, etc.

Enjoy!

[Rhuvein]

Excellent. Got my copy and I hope to read through it this week.

Thanks.

[Varl]

There appears to be scattered compatibility issues with certain PDF viewers out there. Should we perhaps convert the document to Word and offer it under that format too? Or is that something we don't want for some reason? Just asking.

[Halaster Blackcloak]

I have an older version of Adobe Reader and it seems to work fine with that. Is anyone having a problem with opening it? I know there's a program called Foxit Reader that's free and works with pdfs.

I suppose we could offer it in its original Word format if anyone wants it that way. It's just that there'd be no art in that, an it'd be single column formatted, etc.

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Ah, I noticed that Premier at DF was having problems with Acrobat Reader 5. I think that's the problem because I have version 6, and while it does give me a pop up warning me that it might not load correctly, it definitely does load fine. The blank space after the Notes is intentionally left blank as space for DMs to write notes in, so that's not being caused by the version issue. The other issues he's having seem to be due to using version 5. Weird that Adobe isn't backwards compatible. :

Damned software is changing too fast. Everything is outdated by the time it's released.

Is there perhaps a more universally workable format besides pdf? I'm not aware of one, but I'd like to make sure its in a format most people can use. I thought pdf was it.

Traveller told me about a free pdf reader called Foxit that's free and supposedly uses less resources and is faster than Adobe for reading pdfs. You might want to suggest that. I'm going to try it later tonight to see how it works.

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Screw Foxit. Don't even recommend it. I just installed it and it's what I refer to as a FPOS program (short for "fucking piece of shit"). All those problems that Premier was talking about on DF occurred when I opened it in Foxit PDF Reader. When using Adobe Reader 6.0, there are no problems. Apparently Foxit fails as a PDF reader. Opens almost instantly compared to Adobe Reader, but what's the point when it leaves entire pages blank?

[LeSong]

PDF is the industry standard...You could use NotaBene and accomplish the same goal and be able to switch between different formats easier, however it does cost a couple of dollars to own. I'd stay with the PDF it is universally recognized.

As for the Word issue, how come you won't have art in it? How come it would be single column? If it is a matter of formatting in Word, I may be of assistance...if you have other reasons I am curious.

LeSong

[Varl]

Yeah, we recommended that Premier upgrade to at least Reader 6. Whether he does or not is up to him. We can't be held responsible for people unwilling to upgrade when the program creators don't even offer Reader 5 any longer on their website.

As far as Word goes, you can have the art and enjoy it too! In fact, many of the creature files I've collected over the years have art associated with them placed in Word. I've got a couple PDF to Word conversion programs if anyone wants me to offer a Word version.

[Traveller]

Indeed. In fact, how do you think I made the PDF in the first place? I use Microsoft Word. So if Hal really wants to offer a Microsoft Word version, I only need to send him back the Word file I used to make it. However, offering the module in Word really makes it easy for some of the less scrupulous role players and entrepeneurs out there to strip the copyright notice or other elements out and try to profit from Caves of Sydwall, whether by selling the module as a whole or reusing the artwork, so I don't recommend offering a Word version.

There are other PDF readers available besides Foxit. Foxit just happens to be the one I use, and for me at least, it works fine, especially if you add the jpg plugin to Foxit (which would explain why JF couldn't see images: they're all jpg files and Foxit doesn't display many of them without the plugin).

I have to repeat it because it's so true: We can't be held responsible for people unwilling to upgrade. Technology marches on, and if you're unwilling to upgrade, it's time to get off the Internet.

[Varl]

Indeed. In fact, how do you think I made the PDF in the first place? I use Microsoft Word. So if Hal really wants to offer a Microsoft Word version, I only need to send him back the Word file I used to make it.

Oh good. Saved me a lot of work.

However, offering the module in Word really makes it easy for some of the less scrupulous role players and entrepeneurs out there to strip the copyright notice or other elements out and try to profit from Caves of Sydwall, whether by selling the module as a whole or reusing the artwork, so I don't recommend offering a Word version.

That's true. I'm not much of a PDF fan myself, but I can certainly appreciate wanting to protect one's work.

[LeSong]

FYI, Adobe Professional would help to convert back to Word for those interested.

However as a final 'product' I still agree that pdf is best.

[Mira]

Had no problems with Adobe 7 (which is outdated, but it's the latest that will run on Panther).

If you look for the Adobe Speed-Up program http://www.mercola.com/2005/jan/26/adobe_speedup.htm (for Windows, try here for Mac tips http://www.macworld.com/weblogs/macosxh ... /index.php) it can help performance considerably, just disables some of the plugins you never use. I more than doubled the speed of Adobe Reader by only loading plugins I use!

Mira (The 50-50-90 rule: Anytime you have a 50-50 chance of getting something right, there's a 90% probability you'll get it wrong)

[Zherbus]

I'm using Adobe Reader 6. I sent a PM on ADnDCampaigns to Traveller and Hal.

[Varl]

That Mercola page requires signup, Mira. No thanks, not interested.

[Mira]

It does? well, do a search on it, there are other places to get it that don't. It's been a while since I've used it, but I know I didn't have to sign up to use it. I didn't intentionally send you to a page where registration is required, I hate that kind of stuff with a passion!

(edit)I just tried it and it didn't ask me for anything, just downloaded the file. When does it ask for you to sign up for anything? I guarantee I never did, all I did was do a search and go there.(/edit)

Mira (If Fed Ex and UPS were to merge, would they call it Fed UP?)

[Traveller]

I sent a reply to Zherbus on his forum regarding the issues he's having. Using Acrobat 7 (full version) and Foxit, no problems spring up here other than the obvious one of the old website URL on the title page. I've not changed it as of yet because I wanted to see if the general populace is catching errors so we can fix them.

So far, only Codger on ADnD Campaigns has mentioned any typos. I'm waiting for his response, and then I can make changes.

[Halaster Blackcloak]

I got the note from Zherbus, but I can't seem to duplicate any of those problems using Acrobat 6. Except of course for the old BIP link, which we have to wait to change when I get the main site up.

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Varl wrote:

That Mercola page requires signup, Mira. No thanks, not interested.

Mercola is requiring sign-ups on his site now? I gotta slap that man. He provides a valuable service (if you want the truth on just about anything health related, he has one of the finest resources online), but his self-promotion irritates me to no end.

I thought you only had to sign up to receive the newsletter though.

[Varl]

That might have been what it was. All I know is it blocked and filled the entire page without even being able to view the front page. I don't mind signing up for things; I just don't like it when they're so mandatory about it. If you have to shove a signup popup in the faces of new visitors because all of your subscribed content on your front page, you've got a poorly designed website.

[Mira]

Oh, maybe that's why I didn't seen anything, I don't see popups. I would think you could just close that window and keep going. Alt-F4 maybe if no cloes button is displayed.

Between Firefox's built in pop-blocking and the Adblock extension, there's a lot of garbage I never see

Mira (I feel like I'm diagonally parked in a parallel universe)

[Varl]

Trust me, I have popups blocked in Firefox too. I hate popups worse than spam. I tried simply bypassing the signup page by canceling the signup, but it redirected me to an entirely different page. Go figure.

Edit: Gods! It wouldn't even let me enter in a fake email address to register long enough to read the article! Don't ever let me meet Mercola's moronic website admin. I'll beat the everloving dogsnot out of him.

Second edit: All in all, once I got past all the Mercola bs, that's a nice speed up program. Thanks Mira!

[LeSong]

I started to read the module today; very professional, my hat off to the group.

As I proofread for a living, I am taking that approach for feedback. I think it is well written and will, only, list typos etc.

On page three you have Sydwall high tailing it

"However, he was in quite a hurry and could only take his
some of his belongings"

Anyway, just being a perfectionist....I love what I am seeing and will keep you posted.

LeSong

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Varl, I may have to give Mercola another verbal beating.

He's in the suburbs here, just outside Chicago. Like I said, his website is a fantastic resource for health topics, but he is arrogant and a shameless self-promoter with a shit-poor site admin.

Check this example. He once had an excellent article about grass fed cows. Cows are designed to eat grass, not grain. Grass fed cows have higher vitamin E levels in their meat, better fatty acid profiles, etc, than grain fed cows. Much healthier meat overall. At one point in the article it said something like "Because grass fed cows have lower levels of vitamin E..." and it was clearly a typo in that it was supposed to say "higher levels of vitamin E". The article spelled that out, but that one sentence had a word error. I wrote him to report it and either he or his site admin (they didn't even sign the reply) wrote me back saying "the information in the article is correct". That was the entire email. Snotty, condescending, and ignorant.

Some of his supplement prices are insane as well.

That being said, it's still one of the first sites I'd go to if I needed to research some health issue. Lots of great info there.

Anyway, like Mira said, I don't see pop-ups because everything on my computer is set to block them. I remember turning it all off once and going to Planet'Tard, and the pop ups were just insane!

Lastly, LeSong wrote:

I started to read the module today; very professional, my hat off to the group.

On behalf of the entire BIP Team, thank you! Everyone worked very hard at producing it.

Anyway, just being a perfectionist....I love what I am seeing and will keep you posted.

Argh! I read it 10 times. How did that one get past me?

After awhile you just can't catch them...you're reading more from memory than anything else. I'm a perfectionist too, and this will have me climbing the walls, so keep a running list of any typos you find, so we can correct them. Thanks LeSong!

[LeSong]

I have read a few more pages, excellent module...here are my, admittedly nit picking suggestion


This one is subjective;

"Adventurers may only find parts of gold-embroidered
tapestries still in good shape"

maybe this flows better?

"Adventurers may find parts of several gold-embroidered tapestries..."

I think for this line;

"Notice that the upper-left number must be eight, and that each case must have at least one token."

... you meant each square? or if you meant case you might want to mention it in context with the squares earlier.

Also on the same line...is it a mathematical reason to notice the the upper-left number must be eight (?), in which case ignore the following, if not I would state "The upper-left number must be eight,..."


I stopped at Room #9, for now. I am NOT seeing the typical mistakes we see in the mass-produced modules these days and a very good job of editing has, obviously, been accomplished; again good job.

I'm loving the module and can't wait to hit the next couple of rooms...I'm already thinking of a good prop for the puzzle room!



LeSong

[Halaster Blackcloak]

Thanks, LeSong! I love perfecting things, so this is very helpful.

Your example about the tapestries flows much better, and indeed the word "square" should appear in place of the word "case".

I think the original intent PaSquall had was indeed to make the upper left corner be eight, so that I think we can leave in there. That was the hard part as I've been test playing it, but then again I have only one player going through it with me, so that means less brainstorming.