Talk:In-Game Text Template

Nice work on the templates, they look great. On a side note I've been finding the documentation for some of the more advanced formatting for tables and stuff to be hit or miss on the metawiki sites (and often not applicable to this particular wiki package. So I was thinking of making a few help pages where we can put formatting markup as we come across it.

--Tlosk 08:03, 12 April 2008 (CDT)

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I've added one entry using this new style: Geowulf's Journal. I added line breaks at the page breaks, this was the best way I thought of to still include in some way the page numbers. I also added the icon. What does everyone think? should this be the new text template? Any tweaks? I just copied the base code from Tlosk's template for zone pages, so by all means feel free to make any adjustments you think it needs.

--An Adventurer 12:13, 11 April 2008 (CDT)

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--Tlosk 07:31, 29 March 2008 (CDT)-- Nice, the only reason I can think of for having a separate entry for untranslated items is sometimes you'll find a random item somewhere and have no idea what quest it's associated with or where to take it and having a discrete entry would let you find it right away (since the search function seems skewed more toward being helpful for content creators than content consumers). But that doesn't happen often enough to be a big issue, I'm fine either way.

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--Sanguis 20:27, 28 March 2008 (CDT)
This is fantastic looking, I tend to agree that the number of pages and stuff is not ver important but we should keep track of it somewhere for the sake of being thorough. This template is considerably nicer than the current though, i'm all for it.

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So we have two styles for translated texts now. There is the regular template like this: Observations and Instructions: Dojiro Sangi and there is this: Singed Note.

Now the texts template was one of the first things created on the wiki so it could probably use some improvement, so lets talk about that.

I personally think that we do not need an individual page for the untranslated versions of texts such as the singed note. One reason for this is if someone is interested in the text, they will want to read the translated version. Also all information on untranslated text is very brief: name, descrip, pre-translation author, how obtained, translator, translator speech. So its very easy to fit all information on one page. Also, many untranlated texts share common names. Virindi message shards and the shadow lumps come to mind. So each of those pages would need something tacked on to the name of the page.

But there is still room to improve on the template. quickly borrowing some code from the zone page code we could do something like:

File:Icon.jpg Virindi Message Shard
A message shard retrieved from the corpse of the Virindi, Demerax the Sculptor.
Author	N/A
Translator	Diyas al-Yat
Obtained By	Aerbax's Prodigal Human quest.

You give Diyas al-Yat Virindi Message Shard.
Diyas al-Yat tells you, "Fascinating..."
Diyas al-Yat shudders.
Diyas al-Yat tells you, "This seems to be the research notes on the creation of a "Prodigal Human". It seems Aerbax was trying to create another Martine, but one with more potential, and bound directly to a shard of his own essence! Is this what his recent creations all are? Shards of his essence, given form?"
Diyas al-Yat tells you, "Here, see for yourself."
Diyas al-Yat gives you Observations and Instructions: Dojiro Sangi.

Observations and Instructions: Dojiro Sangi
From the Aerbax's Prodigal Human quest.
A translation of the Message Shard taken from the Virindi, Demerax that Sculptor.

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Master will be pleased. Demerax has done as Master instructed, with Master's potion and Master's most prized experimental subject. Master warned us of the delicacy of the process. The potion is so powerful, Master said, that an indelicately applied dose could undo Master's work of synthesis, or simply destroy the meat-body of the Child. Such care was taken, and Master's timing is so precise, no delay or setback could be permitted in the development of this vessel. Demerax is pleased to be so trusted.

Thrilling, to have had such time and leisure to examine this singular "Human" creature, spawned through horrifying and messy biological practices by other Humans. We have examined this creature inside and out, always remembering to numb or knock out the creature, per Master's instructions. Of course, first we experimented upon the subject itself, briefly, without the numbing - to observe the reactions caused by "pain", the strong stimulation of the Human's neurological apparatus.

After the procedure was completed to Master's exact instructions, Demerax verified that the vessel was completely and properly invested. But the vessel retains a will of its own. It resists and begs and pleads in its undisciplined, viral language. It is more tenacious than any of the other subjects that Master spoke of, but Master warned us to expect this, and Demerax was prepared.

Master told us that Humans had posed such a threat to the Singularity with their own singular wills that they caused the schism between the Singularity and the Master's former comrades. Demerax also remembers the story of the Human called Martine, altered with cruder techniques and less complete understanding by Master himself, before Master broke free of the Directive and severed from the Quiddity. Because of the singularity of the Human will, Master thinks this one will be the most promising of the Children.

Demerax feels jealousy towards this cousin, blessed with so much of Master's care and attention and essence. But Demerax is fascinated and eagerly awaits the occasion when the Child will be released upon its former comrades. There will be so much to observe.

-- Demerax that Sculptor

I'm not great with all this coding, but the basic idea would be to get it to look like the in-game parchment color. This style would include all the information of the old template except for page numbers, which doesn't matter.