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[The Fifth Horseman]

I think that might have been suggested before, but I decided to post this thread just for the heck of it.

Anyway, it isn't too impossible to have a link at the top of the review that launches an extra window supplying information about:

• Trivia related to the game
• Easter-egg jokes (without details on how to find them)
• Technical tips on running that specific game (particularly, command-line switches, solutions to typical problems with it etc)

The window itself could be organized in a table, so that it looks somewhat like that (except prettier by some grahpics thrown into the mix and CSS usage, that is):

___________ . . _______ . . ____________
|Tech Tips \ |Trivia \ |Game Hints \
==================================================
Syntax and switches:
ILLUSION.EXE [configfile] /[parameters]

List of parameters:
S - runs the Setsound soundcard configuration before running the game
O - runs the game options selection program before running the game
R - restores all game options to the standard settings before running the game
? - displays help text

Memory Managers:
The game seems to hate QEMM or EMM386 if running with more than 48MB RAM Installed, runs fine without them, though.
(Submitted by ZipoB, registered forum user)

Config file:
The config file can be left blank in the syntax, where the game will use the default
If a given filename does not exist, a new config file will be created using this name. Next time that filename is used for config, all settings from it will be used.
Note that your highscores are also stored in the config file, so if you change to a different file the highscores will be blank (but re-changing to the old config will reinstate the old highscores), and when you delete your config file they will be erased alltogether.
(Submitted by the_fifth_horseman, registered forum user)

Problems with music:
I'm just wondering whether anyone managed to get all music when playing this in Dosbox. Certain tunes simply don't play, and the main menu tune also doesn't play when I quit a table (does when I start the game up)...
Am I missing certain settings or does the game itself exclude some of the music?
(Asked by Skyrage, guest forum user)
I've played this version many years ago and that had a problem with music as well, that's why I sticked to the floppy version every time I didn't want to play the Viking table. It's a bug in the code, not in DosBox.
(Answered by FirstChild, registered forum user)
Exactly. The music is not gone, though, as it starts after a minute or two.
(Added by the_fifth_horseman, registered forum user)[/b]

A bit of explanation what the concept means:
The "tabs" at the top have been spaced out with an invisible table, and are actually links that change between the contents (that menu is the same for each of them).
Each tab is made using standard text (with CSS used to keep the text size consistent regardless of the browser settings), surrounded with small images that make a nice border around it (and form the "tab").
The currently active tab is denoted via using a brighter font and a slight alteration of the border at its bottom (vide Firefox tabs for reference).

Now, what would that be usseful for? Well, as the threads get longer and longer, people fid it pretty hard to find previous posts on their problem (vide UFO thread and "TFT screen syndrome"). That solution would allow easy reference to things like that.

The "trivia" and "easter eggs" are just additional uses of the same thing, so that users might also find additional useful info.

A "gameplay hints" tab could also be a good idea here, as some games might be a bit complex for certain people to start out - or particular puzzles might prove a very common problem.

What do you think about this idea?

[Japo]

So it would be updated with info from the forum, oh it's a great idea.

[guesst]

The concern that I have is that it's putting a huge responsibility on the adminstration to stay on top of filling this information out. I agree that it would be nice to have the posts orginized in a better way, but especally now who wants to go through the 186 or so pages of X-Com categorizing the wealth of information that thread contains?

Aside from the volume of work this presents I like it. My only suggestion is to not have an "easter egg" tab as not every game out there has easter eggs and those that do would fit well into "trivia" IMO. But do add a "Gameplay hints" tab as almost every game could benifit from this.

This would be a move towards making Abandonia more wiki-like.

[velik_m]

<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE(guesst @ Jun 23 2006, 04:14 PM) [snapback]239164[/snapback]</div>

The concern that I have is that it's putting a huge responsibility on the adminstration to stay on top of filling this information out. I agree that it would be nice to have the posts orginized in a better way, but especally now who wants to go through the 186 or so pages of X-Com categorizing the wealth of information that thread contains?

Aside from the volume of work this presents I like it. My only suggestion is to not have an "easter egg" tab as not every game out there has easter eggs and those that do would fit well into "trivia" IMO. But do add a "Gameplay hints" tab as almost every game could benifit from this.

This would be a move towards making Abandonia more wiki-like.
[/b]

every self respectful game developer puts easter eggs in the game. come on... a game without easter eggs?



maybe instead of Trivia section a Resources section for fanpages, extra maps, links to remakes, tutorials, walkthroughs...

[Blood-Pigggy]

It can be handled the same way the rest of the content on Abandonia, the members would collect the information and give it to the admins, leave it to the community.

[Bobbin Threadbare]

I believe I suggested it. Tom said PM him (I think) and he'll upload them to the game page.