Question of how to present information. One book or many?

[richks]

This has probably come up a number of times, but I'm trying to decide the best way to make Urban Mythos available.  The first release will be a free PDF, there will eventually be a charged PDF with better presentation and as much re-write as people think it needs to clarify/improve the writing.  There may also be system changes if there are suggestions which need integrating.  Ultimately there will be a print edition, mostly for vanity reasons :)

The format I'm thinking of is pretty straightforward, and seems logical to me.  But there might be reasons why it's a bad idea and hence this post.

The way I see it, it's not much harder to produce multiple small PDFs as it is to make one big one.  I'm really only looking at having a 64 page booklet in total anyway, but I think there's additional stuff that won't really fit and isn't really necissary, but which I want to include.  I like the idea of releasing the material as 3 files:

1) Setting
2) Rules
3) Other stuff

The idea here is that you really only need to print the Rules section for play.  That's gotta save paper.  The content of the "Other Stuff" book is probably not worth printing, it's mostly campaign ideas, flavour text and optional bit's and bobs which you really don't need.  I'll probably make sure that the spells in the rules section take up a set of pages that can be printed seperately.  Ideally I'll do an index so that you can print the whole thing in one volume if you want.  For the pay pdf, the first 2 files will came together, and the last one will remain free to download.

Does anyone think this is stupid?  Can aynone think of a pressing reason why having one book is better than a bunch oof little ones?

[clehrich]

This is almost exactly how I'm doing Shadows in the Fog myself, so obviously it makes perfect sense.  :)

I actually think it makes more sense to keep these bits separated as different files (how to sell it as pre-bound volumes is a different issue), because in play multiple people can refer to different things simultaneously.  I say go for it.  I also entirely agree about the volume 3 (other stuff) remaining a free download even when the rest is for-pay; it's stuff that might be useful, but it might not, so why not just throw it in as a freebie?

Sounds good to me.

[Mike Holmes]

Yeah, what Chris said. Actually anything you can do to make the stuff more organized is great. I'm not sure if three books is the best way, but it might be better than one big thing.  

What would really tickle my fancy is the game distributed as HTML that's easy to read on the screen, and effectively linked. I know you can link a PDF, but as it's a print format, you have blur, and all sorts of problems reading the rules on the computer (which is where I prefer to do so). So HTML would be my favorite choice.

Mike

[Matt Wilson]

Mike:

I think there's a free game in html format. Icar, maybe? They get a lot of use out of the format.

You could offer "pretty pages" with cool art and screen-friendly type choices, and "print pages" with condensed rules and useful chart tidbits.

It's a pretty cool idea, IMO. The only drawback would be if you didn't want people to have easy access to cut/paste your text, or for whatever reason to modify it and redistribute it.

[Mike Holmes]

The only drawback would be if you didn't want people to have easy access to cut/paste your text, or for whatever reason to modify it and redistribute it.

Howzat any different than PDF? I've never had any problems with grabbing PDF text from any game I've purchased (thank God). Given that the whole file can be copied, it's not piracy you're worried about. I can't see a downside to the HTML version.

I've been through the ICAR site quite thouroughly. Some good stuff about the presentation, and some not so good.

Mike

[Matt Wilson]

The only drawback would be if you didn't want people to have easy access to cut/paste your text, or for whatever reason to modify it and redistribute it.

Howzat any different than PDF? I've never had any problems with grabbing PDF text from any game I've purchased (thank God).
Mike

It's possible to lock a PDF so you can't cut/paste text. We do it here at work with sensitive docs. I'm not saying a game designer will want to do this, but it's possible.