• New Horizons on Maelstrom
    Maelstrom New Horizons


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Need Help Build Mod Manual

Levis

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So we wanna release 3.2 somewhere in the first part of may.
I noticed last time already the manual might be a bit outdated so my question is.
Does anyone have a editable version of the manual.
And does anyone want to update this manual? It doesn't require any coding knowledge whatsoever. It's just check all thing in it and see what is missing and improve that.
 
The "New Horizons Manual.pdf" and "New Horizons Ship Recognition Guide.pdf" were made by Snow White Sorrow,
who left angrily many years ago for reasons unknown. So we don't have the original file for that one, unfortunately.

However, @Thagarr made the "New Horizons Tutorials & History.pdf" file. Perhaps he still has the source file available.
 
Indeed, I do, I built it in Libre Office and still have all the original files. I reckon with all the work that has been done in the past couple of years, it is certainly time for an update. I don't suppose there happens to be some change logs lying around somewhere convenient by chance? :checklist

It still annoys me we never got that manual complete the way we wanted Pieter, maybe I will just have to do something about that! :type1
 
See attached for the latest Change Log. Unfortunately it leaves out everything between Build 10.1 and Build 14 Alpha 8.5, so that's a bit of a gap there....
 

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  • Build Info.zip
    41.7 KB · Views: 70
Thanks mate, I'll take a look when I get the chance.
 
I am in the process of updating the manual Pieter, but I was wandering whether I should leave the section about the Willemstad Builders' Trials? That part seems a bit out of place now, is that code even still in the game?

EDIT: Ah, nevermind mate, just found it in the text file you posted, I will just change the location!
 
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That's still in there. It is the "Realistic Ship Inertia" feature that is part of Realistic Game Mode (Build default).
 
Got it, thanks! It's been way to long since I worked on this thing! :wp
 
Just a little feedback on the manual. I played seadogs 1 & 2 a LOT. I recently started watching the Black Sails TV show which got me thinking about the game again.. which eventually took me here. I know you all work on this without being paid, so I don't want this to sound like I am demanding things when I am unwilling to contribute my own free time to it.. but ;)..

The main thing I have been trying to find out all over these forums was what this mod compilation did differently to the original game and technical information on game mechanics. I know it adds content and realism but I couldn't find exactly what content or a complete list of game mechanic changes. At least not in the manual or on the download pages. It happens to me at work, and i'm sure many of you can relate (especially any programmers), where the information I need is obscured by too much narrative.

My suggestion would be to restructure the manual into short focused chapters rather than a chronological walkthrough and reword it so that it tells how to do things from neutral perspective. After a while, the manual feels like fan fiction of someones pirate adventures when it should be a compiled list of important information to players. One of the best examples of a roleplaying style game manual would be from the ultima series. The ultima 6 manual here http://www.replacementdocs.com/download.php?view.964 shows a good balance between narrative and important information stated clearly.
e.g. a chapter on the towns, combat, sailing, trade. You could almost use the exact same headings as the ultima 6 manual.

These things aren't super important to me, and I do appreciate the time and effort you guys spend on this project. I just thought i'd gve you some feedback on how it looks to someone who just downloaded it for the first time yesterday. I know when I have been working on something for a long time, sometimes a fresh set of eyes are useful (and sometimes they are just annoying :D). Hopefully this falls on the useful side of the line.
 
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Cheers, mate! :cheers

Perhaps the in-game Tips & Tricks menu would be more useful to you. Or the "Build Info.txt" in the main game folder that contains the "change log".
 
Ahoy Vad, welcome aboard and thanks for your comments mate!

Just to clarify things a bit, the Tutorials and History PDF manual I worked on was meant to be an addition to an actual gameplay manual that was being worked on by another member who is unfortunately no longer here and that project was never completed. I have some other information that we have compiled that I may use to complete a gameplay manual at some point, which will hopefully include some different information, but I am not sure if it will be exactly what you are looking for. Unfortunately when we first started modding, no one realized that a lot of early should have been retained. We also had a couple of forum crashes early on that lost a lot of information.
 
For reference, attached are some summaries from a few years back that I still had in my files. I think you were actually involved in making those, Thagarr.
 

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  • Build_Feature_List.zip
    35.3 KB · Views: 86
Ah yes, thanks mate, I had forgotten about those. I have added some stuff to the manual, but there is more I want to do before I release it. There are a couple of sections I need to rewrite and edit a bit. Sorry I am so slow about it mate, there just doesn't seem to be enough time to get everything done! :modding
 
Thanks guys. I got the hang of the game again and I have played new horizons long enough now that I know it's worth installing even without knowing all the specifics. :onya
 
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