A better and friendly read me #12945
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This project has potential but has a meh read me so i decided to make it easy to understand cozy. Contact me at, [email protected] Hoping for the best Good luck!
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How do I visualize the new one in a similar manner as how you can visualize the current one in Hard to say if the new one is actually better than the current one otherwise, especially since your explanation of what the problems are with the current one is just that it is "meh". What's the difference between "Community-created maps" and "Diverse scenarios ranging from World War II to fantasy realms"? Are there community-created maps which are not scenarios ranging from World War II to whatever, or are there scenarios ranging from World War II to whatever which are not community-created maps? It looks to me like the fourth point is saying again with different words what the first point already said. If they are describing the same set, they should belong to the same point. I get that "maps" and "scenarios" are two different concepts, but I'm not sure about the substantial difference here and doubt anyone reading it will be able to understand the difference between what "maps" are and what "scenarios" are. Besides, even if they deserve having separate points, I would have them being consecutive, not starting talking about maps, then talking about the AI, then about the lobby and then going back talking about maps or scenarios again. Not sure if this is off-topic, but it's funny that TripleA does not actually offer the second image displayed in its own README (as that is a map-skin, and map-skins are no longer supported). Looking at the images, the three images should better have the same wideness (and maybe them all should better be snippets like the first one instead of showing the entire map like the other two), and the third one could be exchanged for an image of "Middle Earth - Battle for Arda" (same fantasy world but arguably better a game, surely more lore-consistent, surely much better looking and apparently also more popular in the lobby, albeit most likely less balanced). I would also add a fourth image, showing "270BC Wars" (or "270BC", but I think that "270BC Wars" looks better) since that war is somewhat part of the description. |
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his/him's changes are here. I agree he could have made it easier for people to see.
So gotta click on the "better and friendly read me" thingy Edit |
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@Cernelius You can view it with with option View file (direct link) @beelee1, @Cernelius: I think it is an improvement so if you agree I would merge the PR (further improvements mentioned by @Cernelius can be done later). Plz give quick feedback. |
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I think at the very least consolidating the first and fourth points I mentioned into a single one is a must unless what I pointed out can be sensibly argued against. |
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@Cernelius Could you state clearly which you consider "the first and fourth points"? To me it is not clear. |
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@frigoref TY I didn't know one could do the visual as well. I have no opinion one way or the other. Will ping @WCSumpton @TheDog-GH @panther2 @asvitkine @RoiEXLab @RogerCooper @DanVanAtta as it it would be an impactful change from introduction standpoint imo. Sorry to bug on everyone, but any changes to the main page seem as if they should have a lot of imput :) Edit |
I believe I clarified it at my previous post: I'm talking about the points at the "About TripleA" section of the new one. "Community-created maps" and "Diverse scenarios ranging from World War II to fantasy realms" should be consolidated into a single point in my opinion (The why is explained at my first post.). Also saying "The Axis push towards Moscow in WWII" is like saying "Napoleon's march across Europe during the Napoleonic Wars" or "Rome's conquest of the Carthaginian Empire during the Punic Wars": it's redundant unless there is an other war where the Axis has pushed towards Moscow. On top of that, it gives too much emphasis on the Moscow thing: I would imagine that you are talking about a Russian Front theatre map of WW2. It is not redundant in the current formulation because it is "players can recreate World War 2 with the Axis pushing through to Moscow", that is first you talk more generally and then more specifically, even though I still don't like it and would rather write something like "players can recreate World War 2 with the Axis pushing through to Moscow or the Allies marching on Berlin or whatever else strategy and dice may will". Nit picking, I would write "WW2" instead of "WWII" or even better "World War 2" (as it is written in the current one) or "Second World War" (which is the most correct way to write it). Generally, I'm not a fan of Roman numerals in acronyms, although in this case it is obvious that "II" is not a double "I" and means "Two" and not "Second" or "the Second" of course. |
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I would suggest instead of "Well-developed AI for single-player experiences" say "Any or all nations can be played by a well-developed AI for a single-player experience or multi-player cooperative play". |
That would need rewording the whole section because as of now it is just meant to be a list of items completing the phrase "TripleA offers". You cannot say "TripleA offers any or all nations can be played...". Besides, I'm not sure the AI should be hyped that much. It's not like TripleA can really give a challenge beside pro-AI unbalancing. The AI should rather be presented only as an introductory tool for the simplest maps, maybe with a mention that some competitiveness may be added by the use of customizable AI bonuses (beside maps which are both basic and unbalanced enough for the AI to be natively competitive on one side). |
| - Napoleon's march across Europe | ||
| - Rome's conquest of the Carthaginian Empire | ||
| - **Fantasy Realms**: Dive into imaginary worlds, like Sauron's conquest of Middle Earth | ||
| - **Customizable Gameplay**: Enjoy a wide variety of community-created maps and scenarios |
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A mention somewhere here that the game rules can be customized might be good.
| @@ -1,41 +1,66 @@ | |||
| ## [Download TripleA](http://triplea-game.org/download/) | |||
| # TripleA: Open Source Strategy Game Engine | |||
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Perhaps "grand strategy" instead of just "strategy". The former is it's own category and consistent with the website IIRC
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I tend to think that just strategy is the better term because, for example, it is crucial in TripleA to decide to have your stack of units on a territory or the nearby one (or split it between the two or whatever the like): this is strategy but not grand strategy (and the decision may even belong to the operative level if you assume the existence of this level in between of tactic and strategy).
I agree that consistency is important. I would therefore remove "Grand" from
https://triplea-game.org/
Technically, TripleA is even a "tactical" game because decisions like getting 1 hit and deciding whether to take out 1 infantry, 1 artillery or 1 armour is a tactical decision (or rather the end results of many tactical decisions in the moment a single unit may be 100,000 soldiers or more plus machines, animals and other equipment), but the tactic part is so limited and abstract that of course I don't think anybody would call TripleA a tactical game. However, it is possible somehow to make (in my opinion not very good because TripleA is not very good at simulating tactical situations) tactical games in TripleA, and a very few have been made, but I've never played any one of them and assume almost nobody has: the games which are any popular are certainly only the very much strategic ones.
On the other hand, whereas there is very little under the strategic level, there is a lot above it if we do not comprehend grand strategy when we just say strategy. Chiefly, what units to purchase with the militarily usable income of a whole country (and in theory how much of your money to spend, though in practice you always want to spend it all because in most TripleA games there is no incentive to save money for later) is a political decision (and, if it is left entirely to the military, that would just mean that the country is practically a military dictatorship or the military has been invested with politic powers), and games may have politics (like Global 1940 or the FFA of Napoleonic Empires), meaning diplomacy, which is foreign policy (a type of politic).
The conclusion is that I tend to think that TripleA can be defined as an "Almost Purely Politic and Strategic Game".
As a final note, saying "Grand Strategy" saves us from having to say "Politics and Strategy" because "Grand Strategy" already encompasses the relevant politic elements in TripleA games (namely, the mobilization of resources (what I buy with my money) and possibly the diplomatic behaviour (who are my allies, and who are my enemies, or how long do I wait before declaring war on those guys), so an alternative to saying "Politic and Strategic" would be saying "Grand Strategic and Militarily Strategic". This also means that it may be acceptable just to say "Strategic" if we assume that "Grand Strategy" is "Strategy" too, that is, when we say "Strategy", we actually mean "Grand Strategy" on top of whatever else can be called "Strategy" as well (possibly even down to operational strategy).
I will quote the B. H. Liddell Hart definition of Grand Strategy from Wikipedia:
The role of grand strategy – higher strategy – is to co-ordinate and direct all the resources of a nation, or band of nations, towards the attainment of the political object of the war – the goal defined by fundamental policy.
Grand strategy should both calculate and develop the economic resources and man-power of nations in order to sustain the fighting services. Also the moral resources – for to foster the people's willing spirit is often as important as to possess the more concrete forms of power. Grand strategy, too, should regulate the distribution of power between the several services, and between the services and industry. Moreover, fighting power is but one of the instruments of grand strategy – which should take account of and apply the power of financial pressure, and, not least of ethical pressure, to weaken the opponent's will. ...
I will also quote an other excerpt from Wikipedia:
This gave rise to the concept of the grand strategy which encompasses the management of the resources of an entire nation in the conduct of warfare. In the environment of the grand strategy, the military component is largely reduced to operational strategy—the planning and control of large military units such as corps and divisions. As the size and number of the armies grew and the technology to communicate and control improved, the difference between "military strategy" and "grand strategy" shrank. Fundamental to grand strategy is the diplomacy through which a nation might forge alliances or pressure another nation into compliance, thereby achieving victory without resorting to combat.
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Thanks @Cernelius . I think that is pretty compelling to just say strategy. It is a bit niche I believe for a gamer to know the difference, therefore the distinction is potentially also unhelpful
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| TripleA is a fan-created, open-source strategy and board game engine that brings Axis and Allies-style gameplay to life. Launched in 2002, TripleA offers: |
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This does read quite nicely, feels quite a bit more compelling. I like it!
| ## Getting Started | ||
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| ### Download | ||
| Get the latest version of TripleA from our official website: |
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I felt that the download link being up front and top was important. I do like the new flow to introduce the project first and then the "getting started"
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@Cernelius wrote:
Map vs game, they are different. A person can build a map from scratch, or build their own scenario. The latter speaks to adjusting unit stats, starting positions, etc... @Cernelius you raise a few other good suggestions, like the image not having everything that is still currently available. Re: colon list needing to be the suffix of the preceding sentence. IMO it can be best practice, but as long as it still reads well we can bend the rules (of grammar) I'm on a phone, my apologies to not respond more fully. The organization seems more logical, and has better flow IMO. |
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@RogerCooper wrote:
I agree that the "single player" mention is overly specific. Maybe just strike those words? Less is perhaps more. |
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@Cernelius Said :
Thanks for your suggestion i will be working on those. And please forgive my mistakes I am only a 13 years old. |
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@Cernelius And Sorry for not clarifying the current problems. At that time i just came from my office so i was really tired and couldn't clarify it. So here's a breakdown of the problems :-
People tend to form their first impression of a project based on the content at the top of the page. The initial section currently lacks visual appeal, which can result in disengagement. Since studies show that humans process images 60,000 times faster than text, I replaced the introductory text with an image that clearly communicates the project's purpose. This leverages the psychological principle that visuals are more likely to capture attention and create an immediate emotional connection, thereby encouraging users to explore further. |
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Maybe, instead of the 2nd and 3rd images in the new one (namely the map-skin of Napoleonic Empires and the map of Lord of the Rings), a carousel of 4 maps or more? |
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Next steps:
Thank you everyone involved! This is all good discussion. Let's continue it. I think @frigoref was right that we should prefer to accept the updates, and there has been considerable review at this point. We should not let perfect be the enemy of good (or even simply, better). Next, I think (1) any further changes are going to be easier to review as their own diff, (2] there is then opportunity to split up those changed to make them easier to discuss and merge on their own, and (3) we open opportunity for anyone to do quick follow ups. |
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This project has potential but has a meh read me so i decided to make it easy to understand cozy.
Contact me at,
[email protected]
Hoping for the best
Good luck!