PLEASE print the "manual" in a decent sized type-face on white non-gloss paper. Even if you have to charge a couple bucks more for the game due to it's increased size and weight, it's still cheaper than another new pair of glasses......
One Simple Request...
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Put it on PDF on the CD and print it out? IIRC the EU2 manual was often wrong and in any case soon out of date with the patches.
The EUII manual is wonderful, if out of date. Please print the EUIII manual in colour. 
May I second for there not to be a paper manual? Have one included as a .pdf on the CD. Why charge everyone an extra $5/game for something that will be out of date within a year?
TheLoneTaco said:
Right! Let's make 'em spend $100-200 on a printer instead. Just because you have one doesn't mean everyone does..., or wants to.
100$ for a printer?Mike Scholl said:
Eh, a paper manual would be nice anyway. Those that don't want one can always use gamersgate.
I have to agree. Paradox games are patched regularly, which is good, but makes any paper manual obsolete in no time. No need to spend resources on something some people will look at once or twice. I rather have good digital documentation. Hell, I rather see a good wiki than a .pdf manual!TheLoneTaco said:
That's silly. No one who was going to pirate a game will choose not to because they don't get a copy of the (usually outdated even in version 1.00) manual.bmk1st said:
bmk1st said:
Haven't they introduced a new system to combat piracy in Diplomacy - something involving registration using the web or something. It might just be to play multiplayer though.
I really hope they don't introduce that system to EUIII. Systems like that usually turn out bad.NeilJT said:
Actually it worked, with Victoria and few other games, many pirates got banned when they asked for a manual after they pirated it.Sindai said:
However, it isn't a sole reason for not having PDF manual.bmk1st said:Actually it worked, with Victoria and few other games, many pirates got banned when they asked for a manual after they pirated it.
There isn't a protection scheme yet invented that does a lick where piracy is concerned, except for piss off legit customers. Game companies generally can't seem to wrap their brains around this fact, but I'm hoping that EUIII is different and Paradox releases it without any protection whatsoever. The pirates will still do their thing (no one can stop them), but we won't have to worry about headaches like 'phone-home' programs, or moronic SafeDisk schemes that don't work with half the DVD players in existence, or whatever rot some idiot in marketing thought was a great idea.
I also want a paper manual and I don't care if it's out of date by the first patch. The last bloody thing I want to do is read a book on a computer. I'm not (quite yet) Mr. Roboto, thank you very much.
Max
A. If you pay 100 bucks for a printer it had better be a damn good one.
B. It's a computer game, what's the point of writing the manual on paper?
C. If one can spend hours in front of the monitor playing a game, one can spend (a lot fewer) hours in front of the monitor, reading a collection of texts.
B. It's a computer game, what's the point of writing the manual on paper?
C. If one can spend hours in front of the monitor playing a game, one can spend (a lot fewer) hours in front of the monitor, reading a collection of texts.
Rotten Venetic said:
If one is spending less than a hundred bucks on a printer, one is buying garbage. Quality costs. That's true in electronics as it is everywhere else in life.
Since Word is a computer program what's the point of writing a manual for it? Or for any computer program, for that matter? I'm just hazarding a guess here, but I suspect it's because most people actually like real, honest-to-god books.
Go ahead - you do that. Knock yourself out. I won't stop you. But me, I want a manual. An actual paper one, with words and stuff. Maybe some pretty pictures too. That'd be nice.
You do your thing and I'll do mine. If it makes you feel any better, I'll happily buy the version of the game that costs an extra $5 and comes with a manual, while you can save the money by buying a version without a manual. Everyone is happy.
Except for Mr. Roboto, of course.
Max
Why do you want a paper manual so bad? It's out of date in record time, it costs Paradox money to supply it and we have much better alternatives. I prefer that Paradox spends its time and money on pretty pictures in the game rather than in some manual that gathers dust at a shelf.maxpublic said:
From what I've seen, EU3 will have a functional tutorial. With most games I played, if you want any in-dept info or strategy you have to read a forum or wiki.
I would be very surprised if EU3 came with a paper manual.
I'm sorry to say but that's a very unlikely scenario. I've never heard of any game that came in two version, one with manual and one without. I don't see what Paradox would gain from such an arrangement.maxpublic said:
Aye - the best options are an in-game tutorial (which can be updated in patches if need be), and a .PDF manual; again, it can be updated in patches as features are added/amended.
As much as I love reading a game manual made of fresh, crisp, beautiful paper, as many have pointed out, they quickly become obsolete.
As much as I love reading a game manual made of fresh, crisp, beautiful paper, as many have pointed out, they quickly become obsolete.
knul said:
'Cuz I do. Most folks do, which is why most computer programs come with a manual.
You seem to think that the production of a manual is mutually exclusive with other aspects of the game, which is incorrect. If Paradox runs like 99% of the other companies out there, the people who make the manual don't do anything else but that. They're writers, not programmers or artists. Writing a manual doesn't have any effect whatsoever on any other part of the development process.
And the manual HAS to be written, whether it's in electronic or paper format. The only question is how it's going to be delivered.
Unfortunately I agree with you. Mr. Roboto will be pleased.
Max
Personally, I prefer a paper manual to a digital manual. If I have a question that I want answered immediately, I can just glance at a certain page in a manual, mark it and never have to ALT + TAB to the desktop back and forth and back and forth to read a .PDF file.
That's true, but then, when you download patch 1.01, a few things in the manual are now obsolete. "So what?" right? It may be no big deal when you download v 1.01. but what happens after you've downloaded v 1.09? Your manual will be innacurate in many places. Even after fewer patches. Just think about how different Crusader Kings v 1.05 is from v 1.00! How about Vicky 1.04 from Vicky 1.00! I have a Crusader Kings manual and it does me little good. It really never did me much good to start with! Paper manuals are not much help. I rarely ever read them more than once. The only exception to that would be the "Zeus, Master of Olympus" manual, but then again, I read that one because of the nice "narrative" style its written in, not because I really need to.AdmiralNelson said:
I've found that a good tutorial is the best way to learn a game. That, and the forums.
I bought the Strategy Six Pack, which is actually how I got introduced to P'dox games. There were no manuals for any of the games. CotN and TT were so simple that I caught on to them easily. I caught on to the basics of EUII easily thanks to the tutorial (with zero help from a manual), the only crucial thing I didn't understand until I came to the forums was inflation. But other than that, I understood EUII quite well. Vicky completely lost me until I came to the forums. Not even the VikiWiki could help me with concepts that I did not understand at all, only advice from fellow players. I never got the hang of HOI 1... But that's 'cause I got HOI 2, which I understand real well (though not perfectly), even though I only read the first ten pages or so of the manual.
Even games by other companies, such as Spartan and Chariots of War (by Slitherine), or Rome: Total War, or Stronghold: Crusader, or Mech Commander 2, etc. I didn't learn much from the manuals. Most of what I learned about the aforementioned games I either learned from the tutorials, or from trial and error (especially in the case of R:TW).
To sum it up, I do not see the need for a manual, especially not for a Paradox game, which will probably be updated enough times (this is something I like! Updates are good!
) to quickly obsolete the manual, when a good tutorial (which is also updateable, while a paper manual is not) will do more than suffice.