Arcmage, initial/partial review
Posted: Sat Dec 03, 2016 09:48
Since WT team failed, and the project was left almost untouched since around 2013, I'm just a part of the problems of the past, not a part of future solutions. Bear that, for that reason I'm no longer involved and I've happily retired. I have to say it's better to be close, but out of something that succeeded, than inside some sort of a failure. This being said, I'm really happy with the takeover.
I think constructive criticism is best when pointing errors and leaving responsible people with the information and, if possible, a part of solution. Also, it's best when errors are pointed once, and doing it twice is a waste of time, just like fixing it twice. Our life is short, reviewing the old errors, that some other person mindfully left in place without saying, is disgraceful for the reviewer. Or, assuming there's complete mutual respect, it's just an open invitation to a distinct type of game, one I don't want to play, and you, Nico, wrote me you don't want to play it as well. I suggest starting some sort of publicly open flyspray for this sort of stuff. For now it's the forums. Sorry to be the nasty, rude, filthy bastard again. As said, I'm the part of the failure.
There are some things I've noticed and I wish to point out, and that is the first part.
First, you have to stay in line with GPL license. Simple stuff.
I couldn't care less for my own work, I'm happily donating most of it under WTFPL anyways. But gosh, it's mandatory to provide copyright and licensing information every time you publish stuff, not just mention the fact, that you love free stuff and that there is a thing called GPL license somewhere in the world.
Landing page:
I take the logo to be a placeholder, at least it totally looks like one. I don't fancy Elvish, I reckon "I'm the last man standing" in plain english was just too manly for the motto, so you went with a quirky and obfuscated version for the esoteric folk.
All the tutorials:
The volume is really very low, I could barely hear what you were saying. Good headphones, volume up to 100%, pretty quiet house. Since the tutorials are incomplete, I won't complain about lack of methodology or missing subtitles for the impaired folks, I just hope it'll be good in the end. If you're worried: No problems understanding, your spoken English is way better than mine.
To be honest, I'd expect only something like a single game, meticulously directed of course, with all the elements explained in detail as you go. You're planning for more, that's really cool.
Cards. Sorry, since it was my responsibility, I have to be open about this.
What I've been telling some months ago seems still valid. Small text, that optimally would be vector and black to print well, looks like very dark blackish brown bitmaps from where I am. I've prepared the tracks for you folks, you decided to publish sub-pair stuff. Spare yourself some time, do it in MS Word, I'll be totally happy not having to care.
I just try to say these high-end cards, you've paid for more, than for collectible Piatniks, could have been printed a touch nicer if you'd care, with zero extra cost. Lack of knowledge is out of the question, it's all there, at least in three places: project pages, working files and my filthy e-mails to mr. Nico, the one who seems not to give a dime.
Nico, as long as you don't care, whatever gold you touch will turn into crap. It's that simple. You've assured me I should not have heart for this type of undertakings, for the manly folks who know better, can improve later, or just don't care at all. I see the amount of cash and time you've placed into the project, and I simply can't believe what you've done to save yourself an hour or two. And you've released PDFs, stating it's good, cause it's in CMYK. I wrote you months ago, these files will result in sub-optimal results in laser and offset. If you're waiting for the out-of-beta official release with quality step-up, I have to ask you to point a modern GPL game, that got to this state ('state' as opposed to 'statement'). Possibly some "Conway'sgame of life" clients or text-based adventure stuff...
I think there's a need for the typesetting job to be a part of the development process. I've prepared it that way with the best FLOSS tools that were available at the time, I've done the best I could. The tools got slightly better since then, some bugs have been fixed, less of a workaround is needed, and, sure, I dream never having to touch Scribus again too, but it's the only way possible for the time being. This, or "buy yourself a talented slave to make the game for you".
I've had no say as to how cards look. This is the reality of working with manly S., he allowed no changes to the template, nothing that would improve print quality, changing the looks even slightly. You've inherited a bugged template, and I've pointed out the issues in the filthy, nasty, heartless and very offensive series of like three mails to you. I'm thelast person to exhibit "my way or the highway" type of attitude, and this is exactly how S. was dealing with the templates.
You've been complaining about cards not being cut properly. This is the reality, sadly: industrial paper trimmer is not as precise, as we all wish, even knife and ruler are way better. The paper and cutting process itself is the worst enemy, entire thing can't be dealt with any better.
Safe zone and bleed are the right ways to avoid trouble and to make your life easier, not harder. Make proper 2mm bleed and 1mm safe zone and see if the cutting goes easier. 2mm safe zone would be better, but 1mm is not that much of real estate you will be giving up. Both the guy who designed the template, and the one who ordered the template, didn't knew any better. You do, you have one excuse less. Don't blame it on the guy who cuts it.
Take a look at the card I've attached. I've moved the flag's corner away from the card's right crop line to create more of a safe zone, I've extended the graphics that needs to be cropped beyond the crop lines, creating some bleed allowance. Now 0.5mm pull while cutting won't ruin the looks. It would have been easier (and actually useful) to do it in vector files, however you haven't published your source files at the time I'm writing this, and these were somewhat different from what I've been using for WT.
With 90x64mm, I suggest strongly publishing also a version with 3x3 cards on page, with tiny crop marks embedded entirely in bleed area and zero space (no bleed) between cards, it should be 274mm, so it could fit on more problematic (279mm?) letter size paper when printed on some sort of office hardware, 5mm less than paper sheet size is usually what these printers need.
Some illustrations and description of technical terms:
https://signature-book.com/Mfg_Tolerance.htm
Typography, card aesthetics:
Santi really did great job!
The vertical spaces (above, between and below textblocks) look random all over the place, right side of the text seems random too, not justified, nor aligned to left. These tings differ from card to card, sometimes even within one card. Some cards like Foul Imp and Sanctuary miss some background under the card title. Lobotomized library and other cards got lobotomized sans serif font for no apparent reason, could have been thicker/bigger/outlined/drop-shadowed variant of whatever was in place, you could have placed bullets or custom-made chars, colors, underscores, italics, fancy fonts etc. in place... You decided to vandalize the cards with some illegitimate, utilitarian lettering, that belongs strictly to an industrial and corporate world.
Scribus folks have fixed some troubling issues with drop-caps. It was a very bad idea right from the start to use drop-caps, it's the biggest character on card for no real reason, it makes cards hard to read and it's a PITA to execute it while typesetting. I'd leave something similar only for the tap marks, not as a drop-cap, but as a bullet (so displacing all lines of text in the paragraph, not just initial two). Also I'd add a new character, telling "this will happen when this card hits the table", which seems to be common mechanics.
The right border loyalty marks have to be more visible, we've had quite some trouble tracking that when playing IRL with printed cards. I think just a small dab of bling-bling goes a long way here. Also take a look on the card I've attached and compare it with the original. Just an idea.
The barb at the bottom of the flag faction logo. Excess. Take look at what I've done. Not much, but makes the template a bit less distracting and interfering.
Some card illustration have it (Grassroots), but most lack a shadow underneath. they'd pop out more with the shadow in place, it's easy choice to make if you use one or not, just stay consistent. The shadow has to be avoided under landscapes with semi-transparent skies, though it helps with all the other illustrations.
Also wording of "I" and "me" on cards seems just plain wrong. "This card" is what I'd put there. Seriously, it's as awkward, as Lewis Carroll's affection.
Sorry to be that negative blunt folk. I feel really disappointed both by S. defensive attitude towards the templates, and your 'will take care later or find a guy and pay for it' thinking.
Anyways, overall a great, great job (seriously), not much of anything I think would be wrong so far, the issues I've pointed are easy to rectify. So fingers crossed for the future.
I'll do some testing, I think. This may take some time.
Best wishes!
Cheers!
I think constructive criticism is best when pointing errors and leaving responsible people with the information and, if possible, a part of solution. Also, it's best when errors are pointed once, and doing it twice is a waste of time, just like fixing it twice. Our life is short, reviewing the old errors, that some other person mindfully left in place without saying, is disgraceful for the reviewer. Or, assuming there's complete mutual respect, it's just an open invitation to a distinct type of game, one I don't want to play, and you, Nico, wrote me you don't want to play it as well. I suggest starting some sort of publicly open flyspray for this sort of stuff. For now it's the forums. Sorry to be the nasty, rude, filthy bastard again. As said, I'm the part of the failure.
There are some things I've noticed and I wish to point out, and that is the first part.
First, you have to stay in line with GPL license. Simple stuff.
I couldn't care less for my own work, I'm happily donating most of it under WTFPL anyways. But gosh, it's mandatory to provide copyright and licensing information every time you publish stuff, not just mention the fact, that you love free stuff and that there is a thing called GPL license somewhere in the world.
Landing page:
I take the logo to be a placeholder, at least it totally looks like one. I don't fancy Elvish, I reckon "I'm the last man standing" in plain english was just too manly for the motto, so you went with a quirky and obfuscated version for the esoteric folk.
All the tutorials:
The volume is really very low, I could barely hear what you were saying. Good headphones, volume up to 100%, pretty quiet house. Since the tutorials are incomplete, I won't complain about lack of methodology or missing subtitles for the impaired folks, I just hope it'll be good in the end. If you're worried: No problems understanding, your spoken English is way better than mine.
To be honest, I'd expect only something like a single game, meticulously directed of course, with all the elements explained in detail as you go. You're planning for more, that's really cool.
Cards. Sorry, since it was my responsibility, I have to be open about this.
What I've been telling some months ago seems still valid. Small text, that optimally would be vector and black to print well, looks like very dark blackish brown bitmaps from where I am. I've prepared the tracks for you folks, you decided to publish sub-pair stuff. Spare yourself some time, do it in MS Word, I'll be totally happy not having to care.
I just try to say these high-end cards, you've paid for more, than for collectible Piatniks, could have been printed a touch nicer if you'd care, with zero extra cost. Lack of knowledge is out of the question, it's all there, at least in three places: project pages, working files and my filthy e-mails to mr. Nico, the one who seems not to give a dime.
Nico, as long as you don't care, whatever gold you touch will turn into crap. It's that simple. You've assured me I should not have heart for this type of undertakings, for the manly folks who know better, can improve later, or just don't care at all. I see the amount of cash and time you've placed into the project, and I simply can't believe what you've done to save yourself an hour or two. And you've released PDFs, stating it's good, cause it's in CMYK. I wrote you months ago, these files will result in sub-optimal results in laser and offset. If you're waiting for the out-of-beta official release with quality step-up, I have to ask you to point a modern GPL game, that got to this state ('state' as opposed to 'statement'). Possibly some "Conway'sgame of life" clients or text-based adventure stuff...
I think there's a need for the typesetting job to be a part of the development process. I've prepared it that way with the best FLOSS tools that were available at the time, I've done the best I could. The tools got slightly better since then, some bugs have been fixed, less of a workaround is needed, and, sure, I dream never having to touch Scribus again too, but it's the only way possible for the time being. This, or "buy yourself a talented slave to make the game for you".
I've had no say as to how cards look. This is the reality of working with manly S., he allowed no changes to the template, nothing that would improve print quality, changing the looks even slightly. You've inherited a bugged template, and I've pointed out the issues in the filthy, nasty, heartless and very offensive series of like three mails to you. I'm thelast person to exhibit "my way or the highway" type of attitude, and this is exactly how S. was dealing with the templates.
You've been complaining about cards not being cut properly. This is the reality, sadly: industrial paper trimmer is not as precise, as we all wish, even knife and ruler are way better. The paper and cutting process itself is the worst enemy, entire thing can't be dealt with any better.
Safe zone and bleed are the right ways to avoid trouble and to make your life easier, not harder. Make proper 2mm bleed and 1mm safe zone and see if the cutting goes easier. 2mm safe zone would be better, but 1mm is not that much of real estate you will be giving up. Both the guy who designed the template, and the one who ordered the template, didn't knew any better. You do, you have one excuse less. Don't blame it on the guy who cuts it.
Take a look at the card I've attached. I've moved the flag's corner away from the card's right crop line to create more of a safe zone, I've extended the graphics that needs to be cropped beyond the crop lines, creating some bleed allowance. Now 0.5mm pull while cutting won't ruin the looks. It would have been easier (and actually useful) to do it in vector files, however you haven't published your source files at the time I'm writing this, and these were somewhat different from what I've been using for WT.
With 90x64mm, I suggest strongly publishing also a version with 3x3 cards on page, with tiny crop marks embedded entirely in bleed area and zero space (no bleed) between cards, it should be 274mm, so it could fit on more problematic (279mm?) letter size paper when printed on some sort of office hardware, 5mm less than paper sheet size is usually what these printers need.
Some illustrations and description of technical terms:
https://signature-book.com/Mfg_Tolerance.htm
Typography, card aesthetics:
Santi really did great job!
The vertical spaces (above, between and below textblocks) look random all over the place, right side of the text seems random too, not justified, nor aligned to left. These tings differ from card to card, sometimes even within one card. Some cards like Foul Imp and Sanctuary miss some background under the card title. Lobotomized library and other cards got lobotomized sans serif font for no apparent reason, could have been thicker/bigger/outlined/drop-shadowed variant of whatever was in place, you could have placed bullets or custom-made chars, colors, underscores, italics, fancy fonts etc. in place... You decided to vandalize the cards with some illegitimate, utilitarian lettering, that belongs strictly to an industrial and corporate world.
Scribus folks have fixed some troubling issues with drop-caps. It was a very bad idea right from the start to use drop-caps, it's the biggest character on card for no real reason, it makes cards hard to read and it's a PITA to execute it while typesetting. I'd leave something similar only for the tap marks, not as a drop-cap, but as a bullet (so displacing all lines of text in the paragraph, not just initial two). Also I'd add a new character, telling "this will happen when this card hits the table", which seems to be common mechanics.
The right border loyalty marks have to be more visible, we've had quite some trouble tracking that when playing IRL with printed cards. I think just a small dab of bling-bling goes a long way here. Also take a look on the card I've attached and compare it with the original. Just an idea.
The barb at the bottom of the flag faction logo. Excess. Take look at what I've done. Not much, but makes the template a bit less distracting and interfering.
Some card illustration have it (Grassroots), but most lack a shadow underneath. they'd pop out more with the shadow in place, it's easy choice to make if you use one or not, just stay consistent. The shadow has to be avoided under landscapes with semi-transparent skies, though it helps with all the other illustrations.
Also wording of "I" and "me" on cards seems just plain wrong. "This card" is what I'd put there. Seriously, it's as awkward, as Lewis Carroll's affection.
Sorry to be that negative blunt folk. I feel really disappointed both by S. defensive attitude towards the templates, and your 'will take care later or find a guy and pay for it' thinking.
Anyways, overall a great, great job (seriously), not much of anything I think would be wrong so far, the issues I've pointed are easy to rectify. So fingers crossed for the future.
I'll do some testing, I think. This may take some time.
Best wishes!
Cheers!