Let me guess: Clone Wars and Old Republic?

Let me guess: Clone Wars and Old Republic?

No and no. Good guesses though!

Curious what program you are using for layout. I think the content is solid, but I'll admit that the layout is a little bothersome to me. And I'm not saying this to be mean, you guys did a great job.

But there just seems to be too much "whitespace" in the left and right margins, and the gutter between the columns seems a bit too small. Also, the justification of the text seems off a bit.

My only critique is the slingshot. It should do more base damage, but be only short ranged: we never saw Ezra use it beyond that. We do see it harm some storm troopers, though, so a higher base damage is warranted, I think.

-EF

Curious what program you are using for layout. I think the content is solid, but I'll admit that the layout is a little bothersome to me. And I'm not saying this to be mean, you guys did a great job.

But there just seems to be too much "whitespace" in the left and right margins, and the gutter between the columns seems a bit too small. Also, the justification of the text seems off a bit.

Essentially this same comment was made by someone else, and is one of the things we’re looking to see if we can fix in this final release.

Good to know.

I'm aware it can be a pain though, any changes in layout can do all kinds of crazy to the amount that fits on each page, which can then lead to a lot of reformatting.

Good to know.

I'm aware it can be a pain though, any changes in layout can do all kinds of crazy to the amount that fits on each page, which can then lead to a lot of reformatting.

Yup, and that was definitely one of the big concerns. However, one of the guys figured that he might be able to shift the columns without changing their size or otherwise affecting the layout. So, that’s one thing we’re looking at, but I don’t think anyone is making any promises in that area.

Curious what program you are using for layout. I think the content is solid, but I'll admit that the layout is a little bothersome to me. And I'm not saying this to be mean, you guys did a great job.

But there just seems to be too much "whitespace" in the left and right margins, and the gutter between the columns seems a bit too small. Also, the justification of the text seems off a bit.

Thanks for the feedback. To answer your question, we used a free desktop publishing program called Scribus. As Brad mentioned, the margins and spacing between columns is something we're looking at. I wish I'd had someone tell me this before I did all 90 pages essentially the same, doh, lol.

As far as the text justification being a bit off, can you give me a specific example? It's occasionally a bit off on the final line of a paragraph, though I've tried to fix most of those instances that look really off.

My only critique is the slingshot. It should do more base damage, but be only short ranged: we never saw Ezra use it beyond that. We do see it harm some storm troopers, though, so a higher base damage is warranted, I think.

-EF

That's a decent point, thanks for the feedback. I'm inclined to agree with you, so I'll discuss it with the person who statted it out in the first place.

Good to know.

I'm aware it can be a pain though, any changes in layout can do all kinds of crazy to the amount that fits on each page, which can then lead to a lot of reformatting.

Yep, also totally true, and as Brad mentioned, the big obstacle in the way of making drastic changes at this point, particularly since each page needs to be adjusted individually. But we will definitely get this right from the beginning on the next project.

I think the justification issues mostly come from how narrow the columns are, so probably not fixable without a TON of work. With narrow columns and justified type, there can be much bigger stretches between words as there are less spaces to divide up that spare space. So some of the lines look very thinned out.

Thanks for the feedback Emperor Norton.

Jaspor might be too humble to say this, but this was his first project with Scribus, which he had to learn along the way. Not an excuse, but it's why some things are the way they are - it was a learning process. And of course any future releases will benefit from this experience.

Oh trust me. I have years using inDesign for hobby stuff and I still make stupid mistakes. (and I've never attempted something as big as this.)

(and I've never attempted something as big as this.)

We might be able to help you fix this problem.

Interesting take on the Mandalorians. Before reading this fanbook, I made a mandalorian human species myself, based on the ground set by the corelian human on "suns of fortune". In my version, mandalorians receive one rank in discipline (and can reach three ranks at character creation), considering their background as a martial and conquering people, resistant to the worse things the galaxy can throw at them. And I see mandalorian society organized upon military discipline (even the new mandalorians). Would you care to share the logic behind the fanbook take?

(and I've never attempted something as big as this.)

We might be able to help you fix this problem.

Ha, I'd love to help out, but my work schedule has been seriously brutal and looks to continue being brutal through at least October. And at that point, I think I'm going to be working on writing a short AoR campaign similar to the FFG style adventure books built around the theme of something like Wraith Squadron (seriously, one of my favorite things from the EU.) Admittedly less "just drop it into your campaign" than the FFG ones though, as its going to include my house rules for starship combat and going to be much more structured around the idea that this is what your group is (I think that all made sense. I'm kind of high on pain meds for a hurt back right now)

Just hoping I can do something half as good as what you guys have dropped down though. When I have more time, I would definitely love to talk a bit about how you did some things (mostly in procuring art and permissions and all that), and would also love an extra pair of eyes for my stuff, and try to help you guys out on the layout stuff where I can. I'd rather do a smaller project though to get the feel first for what I can fit in my schedule, so if you ever do something more in the 10-15 page range, I'd be happy to see what I can manage.

Layout is always a PITA! I am glad I left that world behind (mostly) over a decade ago. I've even learned to let minor things go by without being bothered by them... that took a few years... in time, you'll get closer to normal... heh heh

Layout is always a PITA! ...

(image of a lamb pita with tzatziki, olives, & pepperoncini)

Mmmmmm...sounds delicious. Sign me up.

(Sorry...I couldn't resist. Also, I'm not actually sorry)

Layout is always a PITA!

I actually really enjoy doing layout, especially if my font and style choices are already decided so I don't have to try to figure out what I want to do with that myself. Honestly, I really wish I DID have the spare time to help out on this kind of stuff. I mean, doing document design is a hobby thing for me, and I'll admit to being no expert (though I think I'm pretty decent), but I find it really relaxing.

If I am doing it and I have the final say, I still enjoy it. It's when you get reject after reject from committee style leadership with press deadlines and dated material that it gets old fast...

"No time to discuss this as a committee."

I would be interested in lending a hand to help with this.

That goes double if there is any plan to do anything relating to the Old Republic, Heir to the Empire locales and villains, or applying this to Fantasy/Cyberpunk/Cthulhu

Interesting take on the Mandalorians. Before reading this fanbook, I made a mandalorian human species myself, based on the ground set by the corelian human on "suns of fortune". In my version, mandalorians receive one rank in discipline (and can reach three ranks at character creation), considering their background as a martial and conquering people, resistant to the worse things the galaxy can throw at them. And I see mandalorian society organized upon military discipline (even the new mandalorians). Would you care to share the logic behind the fanbook take?

This is the kind of stuff we love talking about. You can be certain that each and every thing you see in this book was reviewed and discussed before we agreed upon the final version. Mandalorians was one of those things that had quite a bit of discussion. I'll let MrDodger respond to your question directly, since he was more involved in shaping this than I was, but it was certainly something that several people on the team had opinions on in terms of how we capture their "culture" within the mechanics for the species as a PC option.

Layout is always a PITA! I am glad I left that world behind (mostly) over a decade ago. I've even learned to let minor things go by without being bothered by them... that took a few years... in time, you'll get closer to normal... heh heh

Yeah, by the time I was done, I was letting some things slide... And then of course some of the testers keep me honest and call these out. And then you guys notice even more things and make me feel guilty about taking short cuts, lol. We're making some final adjustments and addressing some of those things I personally thought were minor enough to let go, but not everybody has been as forgiving. ;P

"No time to discuss this as a committee."

Hah, yeah. Sometimes a decision just has to be made and we move forward. The stat blocks are something I would have liked to improve before release, but really felt like if we waited much longer, there would just be more things that pop up that could delay things even longer. Overall, I'm very happy how the first version came out (despite some minor mistakes and flaws) and will be completely 100% content once we get this next version out with the final set of adjustments.

I would be interested in lending a hand to help with this.

That goes double if there is any plan to do anything relating to the Old Republic, Heir to the Empire locales and villains, or applying this to Fantasy/Cyberpunk/Cthulhu

Cool. I have to say the amount of support overall has been incredibly overwhelming and humbling, and we've gotten lots of offers to help, which is great! We actually have some many people now that we've got two things in the work in parallel at the moment. If you're serious about joining the team, shoot me a DM and we can further discuss what kind of role you'd like to fill.

I would like to say I'd help, but I'm pretty useless with most things. The only thing I could do is proofread and edit. Regarding The Old Republic, I had some ideas about that, but, again, I'm useless for anything other than bouncing concepts off of and proofreading.

(Are you working on Dark Forces?)

Excellent Job. I also enjoy the small scenario for Fort Anaxes.
Hopefully they go over what happened there later on in the Rebels series.

I would like to say I'd help, but I'm pretty useless with most things. The only thing I could do is proofread and edit. Regarding The Old Republic, I had some ideas about that, but, again, I'm useless for anything other than bouncing concepts off of and proofreading.

(Are you working on Dark Forces?)

Nope, no Dark Forces. ;P

I'll keep you in mind when we're ready for some proofreading, thanks!

I would like to say I'd help, but I'm pretty useless with most things. The only thing I could do is proofread and edit. Regarding The Old Republic, I had some ideas about that, but, again, I'm useless for anything other than bouncing concepts off of and proofreading.

Proofreading and editing are actually pretty important, IMO.

That was the bulk of the 70+ items that I pointed out.