CF: RE: proposed docs (longish)

["Ken Woodruff" <kpwoodruff@msn.com>]

Mark wrote:
> Might I suggest that HTML might be better than latex/postscript?  

I second this opinion.  Modern HTML viewers provide formatting
and printing which is nearly as good as TeX, and the advantages
in terms of accessibility are enormous.  There is also an aesthetic
advantage, since you can imbed color images (such as screen
shots to illustrate a point).

As for the structure of the documentation, I essentially agree with your
outline, but suggest that we clearly separate "reference" sections,
such as how the user interface works, and "game play" sections,
such as the kinds of magic, etc.  These will need to change
independently of one another, especially as new clients are developed.
I also favor more "self-documentation", in which the game itself contains
descriptive information.  For example, why not let the user discover
for themselves that there are two kinds of magic?  We could create 
a variety of beginner's maps which impart this kind of information.
This would allow the external documentation to focus only on the
most basic information - how to start the game, how to connect
to a server, how to move around, how to apply an object.  Fill a
library map with books containing such information as "tips for 
fighting dragons", or "more mana made easy".

--Ken