So that updated character sheet I made recently? Well, I had done the last one in Corel Draw – an ancient version. I’m not sure which one. 10? 11? 9? Dunno, can’t remember. Doesn’t matter. Point is, I don’t have it available to use any more. I haven’t seen the install CDs for years.
So I needed something else. I decided to try Inkscape.
Early in the existance of this blog, I wrote a post about writing tools. I have been happily using Notepad++ since then, writing in the Markdown format. It was useful – it served the purpose I required of not distracting me with what the text looked like while I was trying to get out the spine of the game. But that time, I think has passed, and so now I’m trying to get out of Markdown and into a word processor, without much luck at all so far. Read more…
I’ve been trying to come up with a name for this game I’m working on. I’ve done online polling – twice. I’ve asked all my friends and playtesters. The answer is here, it’s final, and it’s a surprise – even to me. Read more…
I wanted to take a moment here to talk about what tools I’m actually using to do the work on this project. I’ve got a number of requirements that I think many other people and many other projects might share, so whatever I eventually come up with might actually be of use to someone else.
I’m writing this game in my so-called spare time. That means I end up working on it when and wherever I can. I can’t always have a thumb drive or CD with me, and I can’t always work on my own computer. That means, I’ve got to have access to my main file via the net. On the other side of this requirement, I can’t always reach the obvious solution, Google Docs. So, I’ve got to have some sort of magical works-like-local, access-anywhere solution. I’m working on making this happen, but I don’t quite have it yet. File this under “To Be Determined.”
I know I want to have the flexibility to work across multiple systems (see above, re: working on whatever computer is handy), and I also know I want to have the ability to eventually put this into a number of formats for publication (web, PDF, print, etc.,). That, along with the desire to work free from the distractions offered by modern word processors has led me to the conclusion that I want to work in a plain text format. I was at one time quite familiar with StructuredText, but that’s changed since I last used it and now I’m pretty sure that Markdown would be better. My intended workflow would be something like Markdown -> HTML -> Word Processor / Page Layout. I’ve got almost twenty pages in a word processor format right now though, and I’d rather not lose the formatting work I’ve done so far. So I need a way to get it from that format to Markdown.
I’ll post more on this topic as I get these things resolved.
