PDF Chat -- For Further Questions

[Man-thing]

pda format

Comment from a pdf buyer:

I was reading the transcript of the pdf chat. I'm a regular purchaser of pdf material to add to my gaming collection and would be very interested if someone was to produce stuff in a pda format as well. I'm a playtester for a print company and all documents my group is sent are transformed into a pda document for ease of reading and reference. I use Palm eBook Studio to compile the releases. I have also done this with other items that are handy to have with me at the gaming table like Ronin Arts' Atheneaum Arcane:Menu Items. I would be interested in volunteering to help any pdf publisher that is interested in experimenting with a pda format release along with the pdf release.

Mark Gedak

 

[annadobritt]

Comment from a pdf buyer:

I was reading the transcript of the pdf chat. I'm a regular purchaser of pdf material to add to my gaming collection and would be very interested if someone was to produce stuff in a pda format as well. I'm a playtester for a print company and all documents my group is sent are transformed into a pda document for ease of reading and reference. I use Palm eBook Studio to compile the releases. I have also done this with other items that are handy to have with me at the gaming table like Ronin Arts' Atheneaum Arcane:Menu Items. I would be interested in volunteering to help any pdf publisher that is interested in experimenting with a pda format release along with the pdf release.

Mark Gedak

Question: How well do tables work in a pda?

 

[Man-thing]

Question: How well do tables work in a pda?

Poorly for the most part. It is next to impossible to build a core class table in because of the screen width. However I've been toying with the idea of building the class tables as a graphic and imbedding that graphic. It may work. Smaller tables could be built with a little patience on the part of the pda maker.

You could have dual type tables

Lvl BAB F R W
1
2
3
4
5

Lvl Class Abilities
1
2
3
4
5

It would be easier if the font width of all characters was the same in the estudio but unfortunately it is not. I think builting the table as a graphic and importing it is still the best option.

 

[annadobritt]

Poorly for the most part. It is next to impossible to build a core class table in because of the screen width. However I've been toying with the idea of building the class tables as a graphic and imbedding that graphic. It may work. Smaller tables could be built with a little patience on the part of the pda maker.

You could have dual type tables

Lvl BAB F R W
1
2
3
4
5

Lvl Class Abilities
1
2
3
4
5

It would be easier if the font width of all characters was the same in the estudio but unfortunately it is not. I think builting the table as a graphic and importing it is still the best option.

That's what I was afraid of. Some of the tables in the SRD 3.5 are very large, how small of a graphic would it have to be?

 

[Man-thing]

How small of a graphic would it have to be?

Physical size doesn't matter, but the file need to be less than 64 K. If the graphic is too large to display it appears as an icon you tap to open and then you can drag the graphic around to see what you want.

 

[annadobritt]

Physical size doesn't matter, but the file need to be less than 64 K. If the graphic is too large to display it appears as an icon you tap to open and then you can drag the graphic around to see what you want.

I will definitely keep this in mind. Thanks for answering my questions.

 

[Man-thing]

Thank you for having an interest.

 

[HellHound]

Sorry I missed the last one, crew. Been mucho busy.

I'll write this one in on my calendar.

 

[jmucchiello]

Lvl BAB F R W
1
2
3
4
5

Lvl Class Abilities
1
2
3
4
5

If I were do PDA builds (and I don't because my last PDA croaked) I would bother doing class tables at all. There is nothing about them that needs to be a table. I would do classes as straight text:

PDA Class
Descriptive paragraphs

Game Information
Bab: Good / Average / Poor
Hit Dice: dX
Fortitude: Good / Poor
Reflex: Good / Poor
Will: Good /Poor
Skills: blah, blah, blah

Class Features by Level
1 Fit on small screens
2 Saves bandwidth, +1 caster level
3 More features
4 Still more features, +1 caster level
5 etc.

Class Features
Armor and Weapon Proficiencies: PDA Classes can only wear medium armor and use all martial but no simple weapons just because it's bizarre.
Spells per day: yada yada every even level yada yada
Fit of Small Screens (Ex): .....

-----------------
Thus the whole table disappears, absorbed by the main text. If you had something weird like a monk class to do, you might be forced to do a table, or just a bunch of mini tables if the abilities change every few levels:

Monk speed by levels:
1-2 30ft
3-5 40ft
etc.

------------------

My problem with PDA formatting is there is not one screen size being targetted. Some are taller than they are wide, some are square, some have color. With a PDF, you target a standard sheet of paper and let the reader worry about seeing the page. Or if you are generous you do a landscape 8" x 6" page at 100 dpi for on-screen viewing. But even that is more than 3-4 times the size of the average PDA screen. The PDA market isn't big enough for a defacto standard to have evolved.

 

[GMSkarka]

I'd love to show up, if I can---does anybody else use a Mac, and if so, how are you connecting?