Manual.

[Don]

I have a friend who's just playing his first round... and actually reads the manual... but is having some problems because age 4.5 hasn't been updated. This really has to happen if you want new players to join, which I believe was the impetus for much of the change. I'm here to explain things that have changed to him... but what of the players who have just found the link and decided to give it a shot? This isn't really something that can wait till 2 rounds down the road imho...

For instance, just 2 bullet points from the 'Pure Solo' benefits:

* +7.5% troop experience (on top of any law and fame troop experience gains).
* +5% Insurance (on top of any other insurance).

- L/F? Insurance? Experience?

And in other sections...

. The 3 different systems are called "Effectiveness", "Bounty Hunting" and "Government Valuation", and a description of each of these can be seen below

- Point made. :P

[Lordie]

I have to agree with you Don. I would have thought that the manual, a vital tool to those starting out their Bushtarion journey's, would be updated in the event of drastic changes, that we have seen in the making of age 4.5.

When a helper, or Azzer, gets time to redo this, it'd be greatly beneficial to those that are trying to learn the ropes through the manual.

[WackyJacky]

Yes I concur! And no it is not just because Don asked me to post. It really is a problem for newer players without Helping Hands. :-D

[Polo]

I think Azzer wanted the manual to be migrated to the wiki, eventually, which would allow everyone/anyone to update things as they're changed. Shame nobody ever bothers with the wiki now. :P

[Don]

That may be, but regardless, I think that as the creator (and thus, the one that makes money from new people signing up), he'd be a bit more on top of the manual... I mean, it would take maybe 2 or 3 hours to update/correct the entire thing. Just remove the references to the things that no longer exist...

[Darryl]

I'm working on updating the manual as we speak, I figure Azzer will be more enthusiastic if it's all just emailed to him and he doesn't need to do anything himself. Should be done within the next couple of days. Volunteers welcome.

I'd really appreciate volunteers to:

write an overview of Fantasy for the current "routes" page, and perhaps update the other route sections due to the inclusion of the fantasy route, as I'm not very experienced with the route.
Write sections for the current "player tips" page, especially the fantasy section, but contributions for all sections will be accepted.

If anyone wants to help with anything else, I'd appreciate you letting me know (this isn't an official update, and I'm not declaring myself "in charge", but it'll stop me wasting my time and updating pages other people are working on).

Most of it's just minor changes, removing the old concepts, etc, with a couple of new pages, but complete page rewrites are welcome.

P.S. I've not cleared this with Azzer, so I might just be wasting my time. ;)

[Illumination]

If Don says it should be done, then it should be done and fast 8)

[Don]

Ok, I hate to bring this back up, but it still hasn't been amended. It's been quite some time... I still get questions about things that don't exist... I know that at least one helper was updating it and sending it to Azzer..

Does this mean that:

* 1,189 IDs have been active in this world in the last week.

is all we want? Many buy BC's in the game... if I paid for a computer game in a store and the manual was totally inaccurate, I'd be pretty upset. Seriously, it's getting kinda ridiculous at this point.

(Feel free to move this to gripes if necessary... heh)

[Darryl]

As far as I can see, I've updated all of the manual pages that were in need of update. However, Azzer wasof the opinion (and it makes sense), that it was better to have them put in the wiki, than in the manual (easier and quicker updating). So I've put all of the manual pages in the wiki, and protected them, in their updated form. They can now be browsed via the manual sidebar in BushWiki - Let me know if you think it could be formatted better.

As far as I'm aware, Azz still intends to make the full conversion from manual -> wiki, pretty soon, I'm not sure if he wants some other further changes or something, first, though.

[Enrico]

IN which case the manual needs a caveat so people search the wiki instead.

And I still think a MANUAL from A-z with all important aspects is something not easily replaced by a wiki, as all gamerules (beit a boardgame or a computergame) usually needs to be read in a somewhat chronological order to make sense.

[Darryl]

And I still think a MANUAL from A-z with all important aspects is something not easily replaced by a wiki, as all gamerules (beit a boardgame or a computergame) usually needs to be read in a somewhat chronological order to make sense.

You might notice that the pages are in the same order, with a manual template (http://bushtarion.com/wiki/index.php?title=Template:Manual-page) at the bottom of each page, for easy navigation.

[Enrico]

TBH, I haven't read much in the wiki, as I knew the game when it was introduced, and I have a healthy sceptisism of all wikis after many years on TeH IntArWeBz!!1!

:)

but my main point was that the manual, as long as its linked and not updated, should be marked "many aspects of the game has been changed, especially: Effectiveness, Law, Fame, Bounty, Injuries - Please consult the Bushwiki for updated rules [linky]"

[Don]

Ahhh, ok... nicely done, Darryl... :) Wasn't expecting to have to go to the wiki for it, but looks good... Thanks!

[Azzer]

Doing a little health recovery atm - but rest assured one of the things I want to sort out as a priority is finalising the Wiki<->manual conversion. I want to look in to the technologies and staff/units pages being ahrd-coded as "special pages" - so they appear within the wiki (eg all the wiki headings/menus), but are just a page coded by me that list, live, all of the units/techs direct from the database. That way it really will be 100% pure Wiki, and I'll remove the manual and update all in-game links.

Until then, I'd love for people to get browsing the wiki in general - not just the manual section but all the other user-submitted sections... they provide an absolute wealth of information and stuff that wasn't really appropriate for the "official manual", but there is still so much more that could be added - there's even a section dedicated to general "guides" etc. Users unite! Get adding to that wiki... and then the change is made "officially" from manual to wiki, there will be all the more useful stuff there for new players! Meneldil was working on a tutorial, perhaps somebody could get that off of him in whatever state it's now in and make a wiki section on that, and if it's appropriate we could even add a special link to the tutorial wiki page (complete with screenshots?) to the left hand menu to really help those new users... *beg beg, hint hint*

[willymchilybily]

but what happens if i add to wiki and im wrong. I dont want to lead others astray. i am happy to do so on the forums because i can use the prase "imo" and get away with it. but on wiki what i say i have to know to be fact. Which more often than not it is, but i cant prove it.

[Bobbin]

but what happens if i add to wiki and im wrong. I dont want to lead others astray. i am happy to do so on the forums because i can use the prase "imo" and get away with it. but on wiki what i say i have to know to be fact. Which more often than not it is, but i cant prove it.

Because the wiki is editable by everyone... so even if you make a mistake on it, others can correct it. One of the beautiful things about the wiki system.

[Alcibiades]

I"m sorry to bump such an old thread, but it really is horribly lazy of Azzer not to at the *very least* have removed the portions of the Manual which state that L/F is the current system in use in Bushtarion. So cmon azzer, delete the false information so that new players won't arrive, look at the manual, look at the game, and see next to no similarities ;)

I understand that you were trying a move to wiki, and while that is currently struggling, perhaps removing those portions of the manual which are blatantly wrong should be a priority of yours ;)

[Turnip2k]

Just thought - its quite confusing for new people when it comes to hidden unit bonses, the fact they eixst aren't even announced in the manual. Maybe have two stars by units with hidden bonuses, like Sorcerer ** etc... and then give a brief explaination of what hidden bonuses mean for a unit.

[Alcibiades]

Another example of the crapness that is rife within the manual...

Here is the text copied directly from the manual concerning sleepdmode...

Sleep:
This page enables you to enter sleep mode. You can go into sleep mode for 8 hours, 24 hours, 72 hours, 1 week or 2 weeks. Once in sleep mode you will be unable to log in until the period of time has passed. Once the time passes you will be able to log in. Your account collects no seeds whilst in sleep mode.


This following part is ingame when you go to ID settings...

Sleep Mode
Important Notes:
* The moment you click "Activate Sleep", this ID will irreversibly enter sleep mode, and will be unable to perform many activities within your Bushtarion account.
* An account in sleep mode gains a maximum of 15% normal seed gain, and all research/construction development stops whilst asleep.
* Sleep mode activation takes 3-4 ticks from the point you click "Activate Sleep". In those 3-4 ticks, you can still receive incoming mobs (hostile or friendly).
* Any current incoming you have will still go ahead - sleep mode will not stop any attack/defence already incoming/at your company.
* Once sleep mode has kicked in fully (after the 3-4 ticks activation period), nobody will be able to send any mobs at you (hostile or friendly).
* If you have less than 25 land, your account will be removed after 10 days inactivity.


Now i know that the one ingame is right. (i think anyways, who knows these days ;)).

Again i'll reiterate my point. Shocking that the manual has fallen into such disrepair. You're misleading than helpful. Full of mistakes. Take it down goddamn it!

[Alcibiades]

Wahoo another post on the 'update the manual thread'.

*hauls out his Resurrector Kit...*

http://bushtarion.com/wiki/index.php?title=Manual_Index

Darryl has written up or at least formalized/completed a manual which was up to date as of December 2007. Apparently it's all set to go on Wikipedia as the link above demonstrates. I've had a quick scan through it and it looks fine to me. At the very least, it's not teaching people the wrong things. ;)

Azzer, can't you just use the already created, mostly accurate and just about 99.9% ready to go manual and link it to the manual button on the left side of our Overviews? pretty pretty please...?