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  1. #111
    Quote Originally Posted by JohnD View Post
    A0 took me around 12 hours to do for C&C but I gave it the full treatment.
    I plan to proofread each conversion before laying it out. A proof for the typical 32-page adventure would take between 3.5 and 5 hours. If I did a substantive edit beforehand to revise passages and even reorganize passages, that would take between 13 and 18 hours. So, I could put just under 23 hours into making the original text nearly flawless.

  2. #112
    Exactly. As I was saying, it just depends on how much time you want to put into it, what features you want it to have and how perfect you want to make it.

    If I am working on a publication quality version, I have two copies of all the module text.

    One is in single column format in story mode along with links to all of the FG resources in-line. I place the story text in separate pop up story boxes, so that it keeps the details from cluttering the layout, while still being at the dm's fingertips. This is designed and laid out to try to streamline in game use and easy access to everything.

    Then I do the module in duel column format in reference mode, also with links to all of the FG resources in line. In this case, I try to layout the module to appear as close as possible to the original pdf as I can make it. The purpose of this section is to make the module easy to study and read for pre-game prep. I also include a resource section that has an organized list of each type of resource (images, encounters, npc's, parcels, etc. etc.) which allows easy access to find what you might need.

    I then follow all of this up with linking all room descriptions, encounters, parcels etc. to the dm map. I also do a lot more extensive work on dm and player map editing etc.

    It can take anywhere between a week and two weeks of evening working on the module and requires some going in and editing of the xml etc.

    None of this is an extent to which I would wish to go to if I were just working on this for myself, likely. It's pain staking and tedious work.

    One tip, regardless of your goal, that I will offer based on my recent experiences. If you are using an old style white background map, you will need to change the color of the map somehow, because the targeting circle that Fantasy Grounds uses is white. This means that you will have a very hard time telling which token is selected during combat if it is white on a white background. So, expect to spend some considerable time editing your maps.
    Ultimate License Holder GM

    Games currently Playing: AD&D, DCC RPG and D&D 5e

    Finished Projects: AD&D Ruleset
    New School NPC Maker 5E
    New School NPC Maker PFRPG - 3.5E
    Old School NPC Maker

    Current Projects:

    1) Adventure Module.
    2) Maintaining and improving released projects.
    3) C.O.O.L. Beasts
    4) Basic Fantasy Ruleset
    5) Metamorphosis Alpha Ruleset

  3. #113
    This would seriously rock and I would run games in it ALL THE TIME

  4. #114
    You may not remember this conversation--it took me a while to reply because I only recently started to use maps, in a walk-through of Forge of Fury.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    I place the story text in separate pop up story boxes, so that it keeps the details from cluttering the layout, while still being at the dm's fingertips. This is designed and laid out to try to streamline in game use and easy access to everything.
    This layout sounds like a smart idea, especially given the large amount of text in some adventures. Also, since a conversion guide can't have DM-read text, the "separate pop up story boxes" serve as placeholders for DMs who want to add that material to a simple conversion of stats, magic items, spells, etc.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    Then I do the module in duel column format in reference mode, also with links to all of the FG resources in line. In this case, I try to layout the module to appear as close as possible to the original pdf as I can make it. The purpose of this section is to make the module easy to study and read for pre-game prep. I also include a resource section that has an organized list of each type of resource (images, encounters, npc's, parcels, etc. etc.) which allows easy access to find what you might need.
    I'm not at this stage of development yet. I plan to create an outline for how to organize information based on the WotC releases for FG. Laying out the encounters, parcels, and so forth, follows the NPC conversion.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    It can take anywhere between a week and two weeks of evening working on the module and requires some going in and editing of the xml etc. None of this is an extent to which I would wish to go to if I were just working on this for myself, likely. It's pain staking and tedious work.
    Yes, it is. I've converted fifty-two NPCs for the FRE1 adventure. Two NPCs an hour on average.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    One tip, regardless of your goal, that I will offer based on my recent experiences. If you are using an old style white background map, you will need to change the color of the map somehow, because the targeting circle that Fantasy Grounds uses is white. This means that you will have a very hard time telling which token is selected during combat if it is white on a white background. So, expect to spend some considerable time editing your maps.
    I walked through The Sunless Citadel in "theater-of-the-mind" mode. I needed a generic background for some early encounters in The Forge of Fury and remembered your advice. So, I made a simple map with a green background, which made it easier for me to see the targeting circle. Thanks for the tip!

  5. #115
    I do remember. And you are welcome.

    Sorry to say that mine own efforts to make some adventure modules for publication got side-tracked amongst the need for doing some programming projects and other life stuff, but, glad what I said helped.

    If you do many of the things I outlined, you will actually be setting a bar higher than what previous fantasy grounds publications tried to meet, which in my book is a very good thing. I have old eyes and do not and will not read long stretches of straight text in story mode on the computer; which is why I recommend having the duel column reference mode for that type of long reading. It's a bunch more work, but many will appreciate it.

    And do learn to use Ikael's library extension tool for the Savage Worlds ruleset rather than trying to code everything directly in xml; it will save tons of time and headaches.

    Also, look up my extensions for making npc's in the savage worlds ruleset environment that can be used in 5e and pathfinder (npc maker extension for 5e and pathfinder, respectively). I haven't updated them in a while, but they still should prove a timesaver.
    Ultimate License Holder GM

    Games currently Playing: AD&D, DCC RPG and D&D 5e

    Finished Projects: AD&D Ruleset
    New School NPC Maker 5E
    New School NPC Maker PFRPG - 3.5E
    Old School NPC Maker

    Current Projects:

    1) Adventure Module.
    2) Maintaining and improving released projects.
    3) C.O.O.L. Beasts
    4) Basic Fantasy Ruleset
    5) Metamorphosis Alpha Ruleset

  6. #116
    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    I do remember. And you are welcome.

    Sorry to say that mine own efforts to make some adventure modules for publication got side-tracked amongst the need for doing some programming projects and other life stuff, but, glad what I said helped.
    It helped indeed.

    Life stuff happens. I teach at a university. Earlier this week, the philosophy chair offered me a logic class to teach this fall, and I accepted. Usually, my summertime goes either to freelance editing for academics or working on the odd project. But this summer--given that most of my editing projects will begin in July or August--I want to make a long-delayed improvement to the logic course. The task is to prepare lessons from a new textbook. It'll take over a hundred hours to prepare, but the new textbook should have fewer errors and discrepancies than the previous one.

    My modest goal for FG is to spend thirty hours a month on it--that's more or less my "free-time budget." This year, so far, so good.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    I have old eyes and do not and will not read long stretches of straight text in story mode on the computer; which is why I recommend having the duel column reference mode for that type of long reading. It's a bunch more work, but many will appreciate it.
    I'll look into the two-column format for story mode. As a professional editor, I don't mind a "bunch more work" when the outcome helps others and adds to, or complements, my skills.

    Perhaps FG Unity will enable increasing the size of the text.

    Quote Originally Posted by vodokar View Post
    And do learn to use Ikael's library extension tool for the Savage Worlds ruleset rather than trying to code everything directly in xml; it will save tons of time and headaches.

    Also, look up my extensions for making npc's in the savage worlds ruleset environment that can be used in 5e and pathfinder (npc maker extension for 5e and pathfinder, respectively). I haven't updated them in a while, but they still should prove a timesaver.
    Would it be possible for me to have links to those extensions? Is it possible, for example, to link to your SW NPC extension in your signature?

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