15-06-2010, 05:48 PM
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   Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ,
Posts: 6
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BananielTheSpaniel
Hiyall
Today I scanned the Installation/Reference Map (20 pages) of PE, and the sector map (A3 / 11.6" x 16.5"). I would be ready to scan a 18 page (A6 / 4.1" x 5.8") walkthrough from the german playtime magazine, given that there are any willing translators  , although I don't see any advantages to already available walkthroughs (no maps).I found the "U.N.F.A. Contact Manual", too but I'm rather not willing to scan that little beast since its about 30 pages full of trivia about PE, namely Chronology, Mission Briefing/Order, Character Descriptions, Ship Systems, Weapons and short sector descriptions (granted some valuable infos there) The map is a PNG (2000x1500 px / 600KB). The PDF of the reference/installation was created with Acrobat Pro V9, is adjusted to 1024x768, has got no OCR and weighs 3.2 MB. Acrobat offers an easy OCR facility. Considering my previous experiments with the demo of IRIS OCR (which produces excellent results), I know that at least 300 dpi scans are necessary. I suppose that I reduced the pics within the PDF down to 72dpi (imported as a Web-PNG), because not a single word was recognized. I could try with the big scans, but I suppose that this would result in a hefty size of the PDF. Explanation: In IRIS e.g. you got 2 options. The preferable is a document with the plain pictures in it, and weaved into that the textual informations. The other option is to let the OCR software reconstruct the layout (with tables etc.), and just include picture bitmap data (but no text bitmap). The latter one results in a rather small pdf, as there is much less bitmap data, but requires excellent source material (which my scanner does not offer). So I got only the first option. My estimation for the pdf-size would be 10-20 MB. So if you want text-pdfs and can endure the additional bandwith usage... As I posted in http://www.abandonia.com/vbullet/sho...?t=7469&page=3, I made a shiny walkthrough, about how to get your collection into DFendReloaded. Used Dune 1 as an example. Not a completley arcane procedure I know, but I explain how to get Roland MT32 and GUS running and how to fine tune for speed. The layout is fine in opera but FF and IE probably need a polish. Got the GUS installation and MT32 drivers (inc. roms) beside that. My opinion is that pure dosbox hacking is often time consuming, as in contrary I got a perfectly forstered game running in about 2 minutes in DFendReloaded. In addition it would keep away all the technical wizardry from game-discussions. So I'm out for some Buck Rogers now.  |
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16-06-2010, 04:26 AM
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    Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chisinau, Moldova, Republic of
Posts: 3,147
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Experience shows people find it complicate even to read instructions, so I don't know. Btw, did UNFA Contact Manual get distributed along with the game, or is it a 3rd-party venture?
__________________
Don't think about the probabilities. The smallest chance can take us a long way forward. It's not like we have anything else to lose. |
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16-06-2010, 06:49 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ,
Posts: 6
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manuals
Thats why I only scanned the reference, which lists just needed commands to get a quick start (shortcuts and the like). No 3rd party, everything was inside the box. I admit the game may not appear very shiny, I just remember i played it alot. Besides I found out yesterday, that OCR is a piece of cake with Acrobat. It's your turn. If there's no demand, I'm out of this, although I can't promise to find additional abandonware in the closet.
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16-06-2010, 07:07 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chisinau, Moldova, Republic of
Posts: 3,147
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Well except the walkthrough which is from a magazine, we want all of it
 of course only if you have the will and patience to scan the rest of it.  I'll send you the FTP instructions in a PM.
__________________
Don't think about the probabilities. The smallest chance can take us a long way forward. It's not like we have anything else to lose. |
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22-06-2010, 03:32 PM
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Join Date: Mar 2010
Location: ,
Posts: 6
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Anvil of dawn manual
I just used Acrobat to convert the Anvil of dawn manual from a pure picture based pdf to a searchable text pdf (took it about 5 minutes). It looks exactly as before, but... how about getting back some bandwidth? 12MB vs. 2MB is, if I recall my school math (who laughed?), a reduction of about incredible 83%. And its so much more usable/faster after OCR. Acrobat even conserved the unusual font of the manual. Did I mention how much I adore Adobe products?
 Shall I upload the manual as a sample? |
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22-06-2010, 03:39 PM
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Join Date: Jan 2008
Location: Chisinau, Moldova, Republic of
Posts: 3,147
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Quote:
__________________
Don't think about the probabilities. The smallest chance can take us a long way forward. It's not like we have anything else to lose. |
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Linear Mode
