Thanks to everyone who posted or mailed me comments on the Solipsist 7 Settings chapter, I've got lots of good things to take away from that. Now, on to the next bit :)
At the start of the rules I have a two page glossary, which is supposed to introduce all the terms used in the game before they are used in the rules. It is supposed to be clear, and standalone enough that it can be read without reference to the actual rules, so I was hoping that you kind folks could take a look over it and tell me if it does. Do all the terms mentioned make sense in isolation, without having to refer to the rest of the rules?
(Obviously the glossary can't explain everything, but does it work as a glossary)
You can find the file on the new [insert pseudo-random plug] Solipsist website
Quick notes:
Submitted by Rich Stokes on Fri, 21/12/2007 - 13:45.
Right, here's the quick version. Everything is IMHO, YMMV etc etc. I'm not claiming to be an expert here David, but these are my thoughts:
1) Holy crap, that's green! Looking at the website is unpleasant. Backgrounds to text need to be white, or off-white and text ought to be black. Anything else is harder to read and therefore inferior.
Don't get me wrong, I like the green, it's a nice colour and all, but not as the background to text.
2) This list is in totally the wrong order. For example, It starts with Ascend, which immediately forward references Solipsist and Vision. You therefore need to define Solipsist and Vision before you define Ascend. Solipsist isn't even included in the definitions.
You're saying this is to go before the rules, which is great. So it's teching tool, not a reference. Putting stuff in alphabetical order is fine for reference, but crap for teaching.
3) Some of the definitions are a bit terse. Like "Interaction (with a scene)". Saying what it's not is OK, but I'd prefer to see an actual definition.
4) There are a few other things not defined. Consensus Reality for example. Also Animacules and Solipsist.
5) The definition of GM and Narrator seem muddled. For example, the GM is "responsible for setting scenes, and narrating those things outside the control of the Solipsists" while the Narrator is "responsible for describing what happens". So, er, what?
6) Also:
"The Game Master is the player responsible for setting scenes"
and
"A Player is anyone in the game who is not the Game Master."
These cannot both be true. So, is the GM a player or not? Yeah, I get that there are Players and players, but this is confusing and easy to avoid.
7) You're still using the word "action" with relation to scenes. There is a common misconception that action = gunfights/car chases/explosions. "Story" might be a better word. Or it might not, I dunno.
Thanks Rich, comments much
Submitted by David Donachie on Fri, 21/12/2007 - 18:26.
Thanks Rich, comments much appreciated!
Interesting idea to make it not alphabetical, I see exactly where you are coming from. It was a proper glossary before, so it went at the end and was, naturally, alphabetical, I'll try it another way.
Solipsist and Animacule need to be added ... check.
As for the word action, that's much harder. I get where you are coming from with the idea of action = fights and stuff, maybe I should start a thread about it somewhere :)
Now for the hard one .... the green :)
All I can say is, blame Gregor. The green is the colour of the cover of the game ... and it looks nicer on my monitor too :P
Solipsist RPG, on its way ... eventually
We can put an alphabetical one...
Submitted by Gregor Hutton on Fri, 21/12/2007 - 18:41.
Oh, we can put an alphabetical one at the back of the book with the Index. That way we can have one like Rich suggested at the front. Does that sound like an idea?
David did see it turn a horrible green at a monitor at his work, but it looks OK on my monitor and at home. (Though I could be colour crazy.) I guess we see if there is a lot of reaction to the green, I guess the background image could be lightened to one of these Dulux green-whites if need be.
:-)
I think David's manage to get the CMS looking like the book and I love the Nav bar down th side. Pretty awesome.
Oh, I call people taking part "participants" rather than "players" but you might find that a bit naff. It does keep GM and Player as distinct words though.
Thanks a million for the feedback, Rich.
At this rate I'm going to
Submitted by David Donachie on Fri, 21/12/2007 - 20:48.
At this rate I'm going to have to doubt everything I see on any monitor ... because the color space of my laptop is obviously not what most people expect from sRGB. I see the green as greener in Photoshop, but not in Firefox.
Re: Player vs. Participant, I wanted to get in the idea that the GM is as much a player as everyone else, though that obviously makes nonsense of the definition for player, I'll fix that :)
Solipsist RPG, on its way ... eventually
Colour issues
Submitted by Matt on Sat, 22/12/2007 - 13:50.
Remember that the default Gamma settings for Macs and PCs are different, so a green that looks OK on a Mac may look murkier on a PC. LCD and old style monitors has a degree of difference too. Plus if you're using PNGs for imagery, if you don't pull the gamma info they behave differently across browsers... All part of the fun of web design!
-Matt
Realms Publishing
Yes I hear you on the PNG
Submitted by David Donachie on Sat, 22/12/2007 - 14:14.
Yes I hear you on the PNG issue!
I did the whole thing in PNG and then had to change it all to GIF because I couldn't seem to remove the gamma settings. Plus some browsers render PNGs in a different colour space even if they do have the gamma removed! I realised I wasn't using any partial transparency so I gave up on the PNGs.
The site looks *much* different on my iBook to how I saw it at work. Even having recalibrated my monitor I still see a somewhat olive green, much darker and tamer than what I suspect some others are seeing.
We should probably split this from the playtest request! :)
Solipsist RPG Website