[OGCS] What happened to Tempest?

[helium3]

Heh. I just downloaded that Inkscape program. Mayhap I'll work on it as well. I like my content, but I think the presentation is too technical. Oh well. Work in progress, I suppose.

 

[Nellisir]

I think the climate stuff rocks. I was looking at some of it today. All the maps should be pulled together on a map page, and links made clearer. Maybe if I can wiggle out a few free minutes sometime. :\

 

[helium3]

The Inkscape program rocks and I'm going to use it to update stuff a bit. I agree that a map specific page would be a keen idea. The main pages could have thumbnails which would link to anchors on the map page, so they're all in one place. Or not. *shrug*

 

[Nellisir]

The Inkscape program rocks and I'm going to use it to update stuff a bit. I agree that a map specific page would be a keen idea. The main pages could have thumbnails which would link to anchors on the map page, so they're all in one place. Or not. *shrug*

Well, not -all- on one page. But there ought to be a master map page with links to all the general purpose maps, at least. The original map, names map, inkscape maps, climate maps, etc and so forth.

 

[Yair]

Hello all!

I just got back from the war (in Lebanon), and I was very happy to see this project rekindled. I know at least one person wanted to join and I wasn't there to approve it; I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm here now if anyone else wants in.

I'll be making a more coherent response later. Right now I need to go to sleep to make up for sleep deprivation in service. Talk to you all soon,

Yair, the Tired Soldier

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Hello all!

I just got back from the war (in Lebanon), and I was very happy to see this project rekindled. I know at least one person wanted to join and I wasn't there to approve it; I'm sorry for the delay, but I'm here now if anyone else wants in.

I'll be making a more coherent response later. Right now I need to go to sleep to make up for sleep deprivation in service. Talk to you all soon,

Yair, the Tired Soldier

Glad to see you are okay! Have some rest, and let's see what can be done over the weekend. I have some vacation time coming up, so I might also add some more detail on the various countries...

 

[helium3]

I did a fairly significant update/reorganization of the Geography page. Please take a look. I'll be putting in more updates as I get them done. I think I've come up with a good schema (am I using that word correctly) for organizing the geographic information.

Also, wikispaces has included some new functionality including the ability to delete files and rename files. In order to do this you need to be an "Organizer". There are a number of files that I posted that I would like to delete due to a lack of relevancy but I would need to be an organizer to do this.

Additionally, it'd be nice to have more than one organizer so that basic changes can be made to the space in case the current organizer is unavailable.

 

[Yair]

Also, wikispaces has included some new functionality including the ability to delete files and rename files. In order to do this you need to be an "Organizer". There are a number of files that I posted that I would like to delete due to a lack of relevancy but I would need to be an organizer to do this.

I've made you an organizer.

 

[Yair]

Regarding the Category: GURPS idea - I largely see Tempest as a D&D setting. I don't think a D&D setting is much of a system-independent setting. Too many D&D assumptions. For example, in my depiction of Reshen I suggested a plot-hook based on the reincarnation spell and its ramifications for Reshen's society - is this mechanics or fluff?

Since I see the setting as a D&D setting, I suggest "boxing in" rules issues in side-bars rather than putting them in seperate links, for ease of reading. Support for alternate rulesets, if any, could be put in as links. (Is it possible to create collapsable links, that open up when you click on them or something? That would work best, for all rulesets.)

Legally, I am not sure how you intend to support GURPS, for example. Putting GURPS mechanics into the wiki would, IMO, be not legal or at least shady. Likewise for Ars Magica or whatever. Barring OGC or other open systems (True20, Fudge...), and I mean really open ones (not Iron Heroes, for example), I would personally prefer to stay very clear of such murky legal waters.


I really like the new maps. They may be less eye-catching, but they are very clear and just what I think is needed. The new open-source format is also a very good idea. (I use Firefox too.)
The climate-maps were a great thing, I would love to see them reworked into the new format. (The only problem I had with them was that I am a bit color-blind, and found some of the colors hard to distinguish.) I would also like to see a map with D&D-environment defitions however ("this area is Cold Mountains, this is Warm Forests..."). Perhaps I'll try to master the program and work on something like that based on the current climate maps.



I liked the guidelines. They form a good summary of, well, the setting.
I suggest adding the last section in the wikis front page to the guidelines page. The guidelines page should contain all of the guidelines, including the notes on the OGC.



I like the Geography page, but I would suggest making the first paragraph less technical, and a little thicker in detail.
The section opens with a very general section, which is great. However, it talks in degrees and latitudes which mean very little to me and, I suspect, to most any reader. I suggest that instead the analogy-system would be used. "Brennan is roughly the size of North America and Gerin is roughly the size of Australia." is a great sentence. Saying "Brennan is a wide continent that spans a diverse climate from an ice cap at its north to jungles at the south", however, works better for me than "these two continents span roughly 70 degrees of latitude" [I hope I remember the climates right]. What about changing the first paragraph to something more like:

The Tempest Campaign Setting encompasses two continents: the large continent of Brennan and the smaller continent Gerin. Brennan is roughly the size of North America and is a large and diverse continent with a climate ranging from an eternal ice cap at the far north to jungles at the south, and with many cultures, kingdoms, and fallen empires. Gerin is roughly the size of Australia, a northern and smaller continent that is almost entirely cold (although not permantnly frozen, excepting its eastern mountains).

A blank latitude/longitude map with mountains, rivers and coastline can be found here. Five degrees of lattitude or longitude on this map is roughly equal to 345 miles.

Something like that? (I'm sure I've got things a bit wrong, but I think in terms of style it works better when it's less technical.)

I like the overall organization of the page. Very clear, and good categories. Excellent. (Of course, we still need to add the small descriptions, and the more detailed wiki entries.)

 

[Jürgen Hubert]

Legally, I am not sure how you intend to support GURPS, for example. Putting GURPS mechanics into the wiki would, IMO, be not legal or at least shady. Likewise for Ars Magica or whatever. Barring OGC or other open systems (True20, Fudge...), and I mean really open ones (not Iron Heroes, for example), I would personally prefer to stay very clear of such murky legal waters.

Actually, they are not murky at all - fortunately, SJGames has a very clear Online Policy. I've just added an appropriate disclaimer to the main page. All anyone needs to do is add a "GURPS" tag to any page that contains GURPS as opposed to OGL material - an example can be seen here.

Seems pretty straightforward to me.