http://www.mediafire.com/?7qv4wm0e6py
Take a look and let me know what you think--be sure to include suggestions! I'm thinking of building on it and making it more comprehensive.
Thanks!
MapTool Manual
Moderators: dorpond, trevor, Azhrei
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chrome0011
- Kobold
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:58 am
MapTool Manual
I decided to try my hand at putting together an introductory guide for MapTool as a project for a manual writing class I took this last semester. It's a PDF available at this link:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7qv4wm0e6py
Take a look and let me know what you think--be sure to include suggestions! I'm thinking of building on it and making it more comprehensive.
Thanks!
http://www.mediafire.com/?7qv4wm0e6py
Take a look and let me know what you think--be sure to include suggestions! I'm thinking of building on it and making it more comprehensive.
Thanks!
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chrome0011
- Kobold
- Posts: 9
- Joined: Sat Apr 14, 2007 3:58 am
So far I have just skimmed it, but at first glance this looks great! Professional looking and it covers a lot. I will read it in detail over the next few days and get back to you if I have any suggestions.
Awesome work!
Awesome work!
View MapTool video tutorials at RPToolsTutorials.net
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mrobviousjosh
- Dragon
- Posts: 418
- Joined: Sun Dec 16, 2007 12:14 am
- Location: Fort Smith, Arkansas
- Contact:
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Full Bleed
- Demigod
- Posts: 4736
- Joined: Sun Feb 25, 2007 11:53 am
- Location: FL
Re: MapTool Manual
Very Nice!chrome0011 wrote:Take a look and let me know what you think--be sure to include suggestions! I'm thinking of building on it and making it more comprehensive.
Don't have much in the way of suggestions except that I would love to see this completed... and any input you can wrangle out of the hard core players and developers would really make this pretty darn comprehensive.
Hi, chrome!
Thanks for the work you've done on a MapTool manual. It looks very nice so far.
As one of the people currently using MapTool on Mac OSX, I'll give you some hints about updates for your manual.
First, on page 7 is some information for downloading Java. But the OSX version is only available from Apple Use this URL. (Currently, Java 6 is not available from Apple. Personally, I think that Apple -- being the proprietary company they are -- might be a bit scared about Java 6, since it's covered under an OSI-approved open source license and would require Apple to release their changes to the JVM. My guess is that they are going to wait to release Java 6 until they have found a way to separate their code out of the core Java JDK and distribute it separately, yet still be able to integrate it. I'm beginning to dislike Apple as much as I loath Microsoft.
)
Second, it might also be worth noting that older versions of MapTool are available by clicking on the "ZIP Archive" link on the main download page (as Phergus pointed out, your graphic is a bit old for that).
Third, the OSX version doesn't have any easy way to double-click to run the application. I have provided a fellow Mac user with a technique that hopefully will work for him this coming Wednesday. if it does, I'll send it to Trevor & Gang for inclusion in future ZIP archives.
Fourth, some of the screen shots are unclear that there is more to the physical display that the screen shot is depicting. For example, at the bottom of page 11 is a screen shot showing the upper left corner of the MapTool window. But it's not clear that this is just the upper left corner -- there's no feedback to the reader as to where on the screen they should be looking. While I agree that many manuals are written this way, it is perhaps not the best technique. An alternative is to take two screen shots, one of the entire window and another showing a blowup of just one section, then put both on the page with extension lines or something similar to show the area being enlarged. This might be a bit painful in MS Word, though, and you might need to go with Publisher or use an open source tool like OpenOffice Impress (which is more slide-oriented) or Writer (which is more of a word-processor).
Fifth, on page 13 it might be good to mention the use of the Control key to force snap-to-grid when drawing topography (and btw, the Control key always means snap-to-grid). (To everyone else: is that last assertion correct?)
Sixth, the bottom of page 16 might reference PortForward.com as a source for how to resolve port-forwarding issues. And a note about how difficult it is to host a server when the user is behind a firewall that they can't perform port forwarding on would be a good thing! (Phergus' attempt to introduce a UPnP solution will mitigate this issue, in most cases.)
Seventh, on page 18, when moving a token the Spacebar sets a waypoint -- a location that the creature most move through to reach its destination. This allows the user to specify a route other than point-to-point. (And I'm looking forward to MapTool implementing some kind of movement-blocking-layer so that the tool can do this itself in the future!)
And last, on the bottom of page 19, adding some notes about some of the other Chat commands could be helpful: the /gm option, as well as /w and /im. And teh macro buttons don't actually change color as shown in the screen shots: a note to the reader about this would be a Good Thing.
Very good job, chrome! I write course material for a living (well, mostly I teach, but I also write courseware) and what you've done is very professional looking! It's entirely possible that this is a "Chapter 1: Introduction" approach and you planned on going into more detail later, in which case all of these comments can contribute to later chapters instead of this first one.
In any case, good job!
Thanks for the work you've done on a MapTool manual. It looks very nice so far.
As one of the people currently using MapTool on Mac OSX, I'll give you some hints about updates for your manual.
First, on page 7 is some information for downloading Java. But the OSX version is only available from Apple Use this URL. (Currently, Java 6 is not available from Apple. Personally, I think that Apple -- being the proprietary company they are -- might be a bit scared about Java 6, since it's covered under an OSI-approved open source license and would require Apple to release their changes to the JVM. My guess is that they are going to wait to release Java 6 until they have found a way to separate their code out of the core Java JDK and distribute it separately, yet still be able to integrate it. I'm beginning to dislike Apple as much as I loath Microsoft.
)Second, it might also be worth noting that older versions of MapTool are available by clicking on the "ZIP Archive" link on the main download page (as Phergus pointed out, your graphic is a bit old for that).
Third, the OSX version doesn't have any easy way to double-click to run the application. I have provided a fellow Mac user with a technique that hopefully will work for him this coming Wednesday. if it does, I'll send it to Trevor & Gang for inclusion in future ZIP archives.
Fourth, some of the screen shots are unclear that there is more to the physical display that the screen shot is depicting. For example, at the bottom of page 11 is a screen shot showing the upper left corner of the MapTool window. But it's not clear that this is just the upper left corner -- there's no feedback to the reader as to where on the screen they should be looking. While I agree that many manuals are written this way, it is perhaps not the best technique. An alternative is to take two screen shots, one of the entire window and another showing a blowup of just one section, then put both on the page with extension lines or something similar to show the area being enlarged. This might be a bit painful in MS Word, though, and you might need to go with Publisher or use an open source tool like OpenOffice Impress (which is more slide-oriented) or Writer (which is more of a word-processor).
Fifth, on page 13 it might be good to mention the use of the Control key to force snap-to-grid when drawing topography (and btw, the Control key always means snap-to-grid). (To everyone else: is that last assertion correct?)
Sixth, the bottom of page 16 might reference PortForward.com as a source for how to resolve port-forwarding issues. And a note about how difficult it is to host a server when the user is behind a firewall that they can't perform port forwarding on would be a good thing! (Phergus' attempt to introduce a UPnP solution will mitigate this issue, in most cases.)
Seventh, on page 18, when moving a token the Spacebar sets a waypoint -- a location that the creature most move through to reach its destination. This allows the user to specify a route other than point-to-point. (And I'm looking forward to MapTool implementing some kind of movement-blocking-layer so that the tool can do this itself in the future!)
And last, on the bottom of page 19, adding some notes about some of the other Chat commands could be helpful: the /gm option, as well as /w and /im. And teh macro buttons don't actually change color as shown in the screen shots: a note to the reader about this would be a Good Thing.
Very good job, chrome! I write course material for a living (well, mostly I teach, but I also write courseware) and what you've done is very professional looking! It's entirely possible that this is a "Chapter 1: Introduction" approach and you planned on going into more detail later, in which case all of these comments can contribute to later chapters instead of this first one.
In any case, good job!
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Double King
- Cave Troll
- Posts: 88
- Joined: Mon Nov 19, 2007 6:27 pm
Are you the fellow Mac user (I don't recall)? If so, try it and see. For testing purposes, you can just rename the Launch MapTools.sh so that it ends in .command instead. Then double-click it.Double King wrote:"I have provided a fellow Mac user with a technique that hopefully will work for him this coming Wednesday."
yeah, yeah. promises, promise. We'll see if Santa brings me that self extractor or if we're in voip hell for an hour on Wednesday Az.
After that, if you want to change the memory size, you'll need to edit the file. I won't have a nice GUI done for tonight, but probably for the next game...
It would be really cool if your manual mirrored in a book format the video tutorials that Brad is setting up. Here is his URL: http://www.rptoolstutorials.net/