Game Manual in HTML Format ?????? - Page 4

Dime Greenback · #31 November 16th, 2000, 02:05 AM

Richard, would it be acceptable to Shrapnel to mail out a PDF manual to those paying customers who request it?

From what I have read on the forum someone has already made a PDF which he could give you, and you have the email address of your customers anyway. So where is the problem with that approach?

Just a suggestion...

Tim Brooks · #32 November 16th, 2000, 06:27 AM

This message has also been posted in the "Manual Disappointment" topic.

Hi Guys:

Just so you understand our position. Yes, piracy is one of the issues here and it is an important one. You have to understand the amount of money invested in just the parts to the game. The Last thing any publisher can afford (especially a small publisher) is wholesale piracy as it deletes the investment monies, making it less likely that the game would be supported in future Versions. Remember that investors look at the return on their dollars. If less than they could make in, say, mutual funds, hey then why take the risk. It is all about limiting risk. And the more you set yourself up for ease of piracy, the more it will be pirated. This isn't a great answer for the gamer, I know, as I am one myself, but it is the reality.

But to me is an even more important point. That being the other markets. This is a game that, at some future point, deserves the retail chain, especially in foreign countries where shipping costs can really limit your internet market. If we were to release the manual in other formats, the chance of the larger retailers picking it up would go way down. The more you "deplete" the product like this the less interested the stores are in the product. And for the same reasons - they have to get a certain return on their investment in the product and if they see it being depleted through piracy, they won't take it.

The honest gamer gets hurt by this, I know, and I am sorry for that. We could print a manual and offer it at cost to those who really want it, but we have our doubts as to how many would really pay for this (thus the reason why we didn't include it to begin with - the extra cost involved in printing an almost 400 page manual - plus the issue of the depleted graphics you get in printing 72dpi images).

This is the way we came up with to give the gamer the quality graphics, and the information they need. In so choosing this method, we are minimizing the cost to you, the consumer, maximizing the ROI of the investors and maximizing the amount of money Malfador can make, thus allowing many more Versions to come in the future.

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Tim Brooks
Shrapnel Games

Werdna · #33 November 16th, 2000, 08:58 PM

Dime Greenback:"So is it possible to hit a button and get the complete manual printout in one print job?"

I did this with IE 5, there is an option when you select File > Print, you can check a box labeled "Print all linked documents", this worked fine for me.

Though I would be much much happier with a .pdf document, preferbably with page numbers and a table of contents and an index.

aweill · #34 November 18th, 2000, 12:58 PM

Say, am I missing something obvious? I find no file listing for any manual on my CD. Is my CD missing something? All it has is the setup, autorun, icon, readme, and demos folder. Where's the manual?

James Sterrett · #35 November 18th, 2000, 04:58 PM

For all that it is called the CD manual, it's actually installed to your hard drive. Confused yet? 8)

In the SEIV Start Menu section there ought to be a link to it; it's an HTML file.

Georg Korch · #36 December 29th, 2000, 04:21 PM

Sire,
i really love this game. I paid 60$ to get it to Germany. I will pay for a well printed manual again a lot of bucks. Why not by Primagames ? No Pirate would like to buy a printed Strategy Guide and Game Manual, only YOUR CUSTOMERS. (Read the Mails carefully, we love the Company, the Game, YOUR WORK. But HELP us with a Solution.)
Thanks, Georg Korch.

quote:
Originally posted by Richard:
Guys,

Okay here goes...

The problem is posting a PDF or the html manual just encourages pirates. I spend a large segment of my time hunting down and trying to take down sites that pirate our games. In fact, more than larger publishers, pirating is something that kills us small fish publishers.

That being said if you wish to make a pdf for your personal use by all means do so. But posting it is a violation of copywirght law.

We wish it didn't have to be that way, but to do otherwise will just encourage pirates and take money out of Malfador's and our pockets. If it were up to us we would allow this, but because some folks seem to think stealing sofwtare is legitimate we cannot do that currently.

We could not originally include the large manual, simply because we had a set price and adding the manual would have meant the price going up (which isn't fair to the pre-order folks) or cutting our profits and Malfador's in half.

One other option we are considering is printing the full manual and offering it for 7.95 from our website. This cost would ONLY cover our printing costs and would not represent profit to us, but it might be an option for some of you. If we here enough support for that we might just do it.

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thorfrog · #37 December 29th, 2000, 06:46 PM

I understand Tim's point but I think it is wrong. You are obliged to have a deceint instruction manual. Why do I have to play the game several times just to figure out how make star bases? Claiming pirating is the reason why you can't put out a decent rules manual is a lame excuse. I have no problem paying extra for a manual. The game is great but it needs a manual like those found on BotF, Civilization, MOO2,ect...

Nyx · #38 December 29th, 2000, 06:59 PM

quote:
I understand Tim's point but I think it is wrong. You are obliged to have a deceint instruction manual. Why do I have to play the game several times just to figure out how make star bases?

Nah, I think that a good tutorial can do far more for a game than a thick manual. And SE4 has an above average tutorial.

Adding in some advanced tutorials, like building ringworlds, and designing ships with large selections of equipment, and detecting cloaked ships might be handy, but I think tutorials are far more useful than a thick manual.

[This message has been edited by Nyx (edited 29 December 2000).]

thorfrog · #39 December 29th, 2000, 08:43 PM

Sure a tutorial helps but you still need a manual. A tutorials are very limited in what they can show. And if you want to look something up its a pain. I for one like to read over the rules before goingto bed. That my point.

Georg Korch · #40 January 1st, 2001, 04:01 PM

Please, can anybody help me ?
How can i print the HTML Manual with one command ? (IE 5).