Mage World Journal

[cypherwulfe]

I am not trying to steal Xaa's thunder, nor am I tyring to steal his users, but if you are interested, the following 2 links are being hosted on my site for mageworld Journal. Kilarin and I are already there, and we welcome you to join us.



www.enigmatic-dreams.org/MwJ/
www.enigmatic-dreams.org/bboard/


If you do show up, just please dont stop posting here. I do not want Xaa to loose any customers.

And for those who dont speak english, I do have the option of setting the board language to several other languages. Right now it is set for French, Russian, and English, but I can add more.

[Dean340]

I need to thank Kilarin for creating the MW journal.
If I had to do all this by hand, I would be SOOOOO lost!!!

[Kilarin]

I need to thank Kilarin for creating the MW journal.

You are very welcome! I still have plans for more upgrades so let me know if there are any features you would like added. I don't promise to add them, but I do promise to consider it.

[Duo]

Kilarin, we want a feature which marks key points on the map.

Instead of putting down 'I need to go here', we could make certain squares important ones (ie. K8, K1, Q5).

[Mikegus]

I'd love to see automatic reformatting/resizing based on the overall window size, or maybe horizontal scroll bars.

Kilarin, thanks for this very useful tool!

[eeklady]

Thanks again Kilarin for Mageworld Journal. I don't know how I played Mageworld without it. I love all the updates.

Here's a suggestion for another update:

I have made my own paper chart (and a copy in MSWord) that keeps track of spell creation combinations. I have the 3 rune types and transformation potion at the top of the columns and objects down the rows. As I try each, I mark what happens. It would be nice to have that in MWJ.

[Kilarin]

Duo:

we want a feature which marks key points on the map. Instead of putting down 'I need to go here', we could make certain squares important ones (ie. K8, K1, Q5).

That makes sense. As a matter of fact, I MIGHT be able to go one better than that. What if I not only allowed you to flag a square as "Important", but let you enter a short string that would pop up as a "mouse-over". So if you tagged a square as "Riddle Dungeon", then hovering the cursor over that square for a few seconds would result in a "Riddle Dungeon" popup tooltip kind of thingy. I've never tried to do one of those before, should be fun!

Mikegus:

I'd love to see automatic reformatting/resizing based on the overall window size, or maybe horizontal scroll bars

I agree, I've been TRYING to make MwJ size everything according to the available space instead of according to the max screen size. Haven't succeeded yet. Time to give it another attempt. Learning how to do things in Java IS one of my primary goals here...

eeklady:

I have made my own paper chart (and a copy in MSWord) that keeps track of spell creation combinations. I have the 3 rune types and transformation potion at the top of the columns and objects down the rows. As I try each, I mark what happens. It would be nice to have that in MWJ.

Actually, you CAN do this in MwJ. Sort of. I have a list of every object I've found in the game in the "Crafting" tab. In front of each are blank spaces where I can place 5 letters. The letters correspond to:
T=Transformation potion
C=Rune of Creation
D=Rune of Destruction
P=Rune of Protection
E=Enchantment
But, of course, it's not as nice as having an actual table. Which is WHY I've been working on the Mageworld Crafting Database. Its a big project and I don't know if it will be complete by the next version, but its pretty cool
The crafting database keeps track of every skill and item you find in the game. When you attempt a new recipe, a couple of clicks will enter it into the crafting database. From there you can easily discover what skills you have tried with what items, and even automatically trace crafting trees. AND, part of the design is the above list (very similiar to yours) that makes it VERY easy to see which items you have tried with each rune, enchantment, and transformation.

So, I AM working on your idea already, but it may take a while to complete.

Thank you very much folks, all excellent suggestions. I appreciate the feedback. Keep it coming!

[NARAYAN]

Can you put Images or their thumbnails of screenshot folder into the MWJ.

[Kilarin]

NARAYAN:

Can you put Images or their thumbnails of screenshot folder into the MWJ.

That one is already being worked on as well! It depends on whether I can get Java to read in a bmp file. I've been pointed an object that SAYS it can do it, I need to sit down and figure out exactly how.

Thank you for the suggestion!

[NARAYAN]

Have you tried the making of other journals like LoH journal,LOA journal etc.
A common for all can be also good.After playing MW I am lacking at least journal for all other maps.All DS players need it but nobody tried.
I will be thankful if you will try.

[Kilarin]

NARAYAN:

Have you tried the making of other journals like LoH journal,LOA journal etc.

It's an interesting idea, but what would you WANT in a LOH journal that you couldn't do in a good text editor?

Mageworld lends itself to something like the Mageworld Journal because of its map format. The player knows ahead of time exactly what the map looks like and just needs to keep track of what is in each square. Linking a simple mapping function with the journal tabs and the auto-gather works quite nicely in this case.

BUT, having a mapping function for something like LOH or LOA would be much more complex, and would give away quite a bit of game detail. And without the mapping function, MwJ is just a primative text editor.

If you want to use MwJ to keep notes for LOH, just create a new character and keep your notes in the journal tabs. You could even use various MW squares to keep notes on different LOH regions I suppose, but the connections between them would certainly not make sense. And I think you would probably be better off just downloading NoteTab and using it.

I'm not saying NO, just that I don't really see how to make something useful along these lines yet.

[NARAYAN]

what would you WANT in a LOH journal that you couldn't do in a good text editor?

A text editor can never replace a journal like one you have created.See the map Tarkus has created.There are limits of places that can be visit but sometimes missed something like I did 1st time that after completing SP I found lots of places remains like goblin cave.Details of NPC,Merchants,Spells,Quests etc in journal seems to be very good.In fact we need DS journal not a text editor.In some other games I found Diary in place of Journal to compensate upto some extent.Make the custom buttons in journals like you did in MW like QK1 can be replaced with crystalwind in Utrean Peninsula.

[Thunderess]

I love your Journal, I would be lost without it as I have been using it like crazy.

I do have one suggestion for your next version. I've been copying things from my Blacksmithing Compendium, Alchemy books etc. and tried to put some headings in bold print, which turned the whole page into bold print. So, I was wondering if there was a way to incorporate colors or to be able to use the bold and italicized prints for just highlighted text. It would be useful for finding things faster. An example would be:

Tinkering

Metal Studs = Iron Ore + Metal Studs Pattern

Metal Rings = Metal Studs + Metal Rings Pattern

Great work

[Kilarin]

Thunderess:

So, I was wondering if there was a way to incorporate colors or to be able to use the bold and italicized prints for just highlighted text

It WAS part of the original design. But I ended up having a LOT of trouble implementing it. Getting java to store and use formating information in a text window is possible, but very complicated. *IF* I could make it do it the way I wanted to, you would even be able to incorporate images and links. Oh yeah! THAT would be nice.

BUT, it ain't makin it into the next version. Still hope to get it working sometime though.

Glad the journal is proving helpful to you, thanks for the kind words and the suggestion!