a book

Threads moved from the Suggestions forum after implementation

Moderators: Public Relations Department, Players Department

User avatar
nova hero
Posts: 9
Joined: Mon Dec 28, 2009 4:37 am
Location: edinburgh

Re: a book

Postby nova hero » Sat Aug 07, 2010 4:45 pm

someone above mentions using glue in binding books - surely a great opportunity to get rid of some bones - crush bones, boil them up = glue? i would put this as a seperate suggestion, if it hasn't already been suggested, but i can't think of any other uses for glue in cantr
User avatar
Marian
Posts: 3190
Joined: Thu Dec 15, 2005 12:16 am

Re: a book

Postby Marian » Sat Dec 11, 2010 12:19 am

I'd love to see some more discussion on this.

Even a really simplied version of the idea would be nice. Like just add an extra button to envelopes, 'bind book', which would change it to a book, which in turn would have an 'unbind book' button that turned it back into an envelope if you wanted to add more notes to it, sort of like sealing or unsealing works now.

A book would be different from an envelope in that instead of checking a box to remove a note and then going to your inventory to read it, you could click to view the note directly, then use the back arrow to go back to the 'table of contents' and click another one. Trying to take a note from a bound book would put a copy of that 'page' in your inventory instead.

I like sifting through old trash envelopes sometime but it really is a hassle, especially when you get the envelopes within envelopes business. This way you'd save a lot of clicking and wouldn't clutter up your inventory, plus if you've got a lot of related stuff (history or multi-part diary or whatever) the contents wouldn't ever get scattered by someone pulling notes out and then forgetting or not wanting to bother with putting them back in.
User avatar
Joshuamonkey
Owner/GAB Chair/HR Chair/ProgD
Posts: 4527
Joined: Sun May 01, 2005 3:17 am
Location: Quahaki, U. S. A.
Contact:

Re: a book

Postby Joshuamonkey » Sat Dec 11, 2010 3:15 pm

Marian's suggestions would definitely be nice, though I think being able to actually make books would be even nicer.

I think that, when reading the book, you should be able to switch easily to any page number, by either listing links to the page numbers under the page you're reading or having an "Enter page number" option.
Joshuamonkey's Blog
http://doryiskom.myminicity.com/
https://writealyze.com
"Don't be afraid to be different, but be as good as you can be." - President James E. Faust
I'm LDS, play the cello, and run.
User avatar
Oob
Posts: 64
Joined: Sat Jan 23, 2010 8:22 pm
Location: Paradox Cubed

Re: a book

Postby Oob » Sat Dec 11, 2010 8:37 pm

I really like the idea of books. Only having read back a few posts, there are ideas about using bones for making glue for binding books, also introducing books could lead to clasps, bookshelves, pedestals, chained books, best of all libraries!

I think Marian has it right with what she says, seeing a recent discussion about a lack of in-game notes and written history etc, books would encourage more to be written down. Pages torn from books could have sections, chapter headings and page numbers on them so on finding a page it could be possible to go and look for a complete copy of the book somewhere to read more of the subject matter.

I agree with Joshuamonkey, you should be able to move easily to any page number in a book, have an "Enter page number" option maybe also have "Next" and "Previous" options for pages and chapters etc.
User avatar
Armulus Satchula
Posts: 1244
Joined: Wed Oct 29, 2003 3:57 am

Re: a book

Postby Armulus Satchula » Mon Dec 13, 2010 6:20 pm

I think books are a great idea. As for envelopes being books, I suppose that is true if you rip each page out of ever book you read and then rebind them together.

You would have to every page one by one into the book. Then when reading it, I imagine arrows at the bottom of the page. I'd also like see paper have a weight and require some resources to make it. Also for it decompose over time. I can't even imagine the number of notes in the world.
User avatar
MelloYell
Posts: 598
Joined: Fri Sep 03, 2010 7:16 pm

Re: a book

Postby MelloYell » Sat Jan 08, 2011 5:54 am

i am so excited for this, as i have several characters writing very lengthy books. :D and i doubt the subjects of these books are in cantr. XD
User avatar
Greek
Programming Dept. Member/Translator-Polish
Posts: 4726
Joined: Mon Feb 13, 2006 5:41 pm
Location: Kraków, Poland
Contact:

Re: a book

Postby Greek » Sun May 03, 2015 10:44 pm

Bump.

General plan of how book could work (it's almost a copy of one of the older posts in this thread):
Book is a note storage similar to envelope (easy).
It's possible to put/retrieve notes from it. It's possible to edit and copy notes inside (easy).
It's possible to maintain order of notes inside (hard).
When reading a note in the book it's possible to use special buttons to go to next/previous note in the book (easy).
It's possible to bind the book so it becomes impossible to put more notes, edit the notes or change the order of notes, but still possible to read them. It's possible to disassemble the book and drop the notes on the ground. (quite easy)

So general use case is:
1. manufacture the book
2. put notes into book
3. set the order of notes in the book
4. bind the book
5. read the book, copy it (a project) or destroy it


The only problem is maintaining the order of notes in a book.
I have some own ideas, but none of these is perfect, so maybe you'll have better solutions ;)

These are things worth noting:
- it should be possible to maintain order of uneditable notes
- it should be convenient to use
- note storages are much like any other storage, so if the idea is so generic to work well for any storage then it'd be great
- it should be possible to keep the original (current) note ordering or be able to reset to such order - especially in case the proposed idea can work for envelopes too
‘Never! Run before you walk! Fly before you crawl! Keep moving forward! You think we should try to get a decent mail service in the city. I think we should try to send letters anywhere in the world! Because if we fail, I’d rather fail really hugely’
User avatar
Swingerzetta
Posts: 615
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:21 pm

Re: a book

Postby Swingerzetta » Mon May 04, 2015 11:11 pm

This sounds great! I'm really looking forward to this, and a book as a bundle of notes is a perfect mechanism.

As for ordering, currently it's by date created, for the most part? The simplest solution is to make the container able to be set as date or alphabetical... And allow the players to name their book pages things like 01 - table of contents, 02 - introduction, 03 - brief history, etc.

The most convenient for the player would be a drag-and-drop style interface for the menu, but I can't imagine where to start coding such a thing... Or simple up/down buttons among the other buttons to swap a note with it's direct preceder or follower.

Either would be done while looking in an envelope or editing a book, and the order could be accomplished by a hidden name... Notes could be renamed "00-date-Note Name", the first two *-'s hidden, and then alphabetized, and to change their order you'd just change the 00 to a different 'layer' through drag and dropping, and to reset it, all notes would just be returned to the 00 layer. Still, this part probably would be hard to code, too.
User avatar
*Wiro
Posts: 5855
Joined: Mon Sep 29, 2008 1:24 pm

Re: a book

Postby *Wiro » Mon May 04, 2015 11:13 pm

Renaming notes doesn't work because of uneditable notes. Personally I'm all for an invisible number that you can assign through a new menu.
Read about my characters by following this link.
User avatar
Tiamo
Posts: 1261
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: a book

Postby Tiamo » Tue May 05, 2015 6:55 am

'Page numbers'?
I think ...
User avatar
Swingerzetta
Posts: 615
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:21 pm

Re: a book

Postby Swingerzetta » Tue May 05, 2015 8:54 pm

Tiamo wrote:'Page numbers'?

That's what I was thinking with renaming, but Wiro pointed out that name changes aren't always an option. Maybe if an extra bit of data could be added to book pages, that could be a page number. And an input box (or drop-down with the right number of options given how many pages are in the book container) would let you chose the number in the 'edit' screen?
User avatar
Tiamo
Posts: 1261
Joined: Fri Feb 01, 2008 2:22 pm

Re: a book

Postby Tiamo » Wed May 06, 2015 5:36 am

The page numbers should be part of the 'book', not part of the notes. Each page number (slot) would point to one specific note in the book. That way the notes can easily be retrieved unchanged if the book is disassembled.
The notes can be sorted/moved in the book making process, but the page numbers would be fixed when the book is completed.
I think ...
User avatar
Swingerzetta
Posts: 615
Joined: Mon Feb 11, 2013 11:21 pm

Re: a book

Postby Swingerzetta » Wed May 06, 2015 6:14 am

In that case, maybe it's simplest just to have the pages be sorted by the order in which they were added to the book. If someone adds them in wrong, like a real book, they'll jsut have to disassemble it and rebuild it correctly.

(I hope there will be some aspects of bookbinding included, though! Leather and string, and talent and patience)
User avatar
Friar Briar
Posts: 429
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:57 pm

Re: a book

Postby Friar Briar » Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:11 pm

Allow books the option of having a lock and key, much like those cheap, dimestore diaries you can buy for $2. :?:

Can book covers be customized? Leather-, hide-, canvas-, mushroom paper-bound covers for the book?

Also, I agree with Swingerzetta, a drop-down menu or menu tree would be nice for organization.
User avatar
Friar Briar
Posts: 429
Joined: Mon Sep 08, 2014 8:57 pm

Re: a book

Postby Friar Briar » Sun Jun 21, 2015 8:39 pm

Swingerzetta wrote:(I hope there will be some aspects of bookbinding included, though! Leather and string, and talent and patience)

Make it a carpentry skill? As paper is a derivative of woody substances anyway...

Return to “Implemented Suggestions”

Who is online

Users browsing this forum: No registered users and 1 guest