Beginners' Strategy Guide for Sid Meier's Alpha Centauri/Alien Crossfire

[Buster's Uncle]

I was thinking I'd make webpages out of the final product and post on the site, too.  -Word will save documents as .html, so no trouble.

Did that w/ How to Play Chess at the club site actually - arranging into columns to look like the one-sheet would have been a lot of work in a proper .html editor, but not actually needed on a webpage.  Linking the one-sheet .pdf(s) on such pages definitely the way to go.

Just for what-the heck reasons (search engines can read .pdfs and the crowd is not incompatible), I'll attach those How to Play Chess .pdfs again here...

[Buster's Uncle]

Check THIS stuff out:
http://alphacentauri2.info/SMACX%20Beginners'%20Guide/Beginners'%20Getting-Started%20Strategy%20Guide%20for%20Sid%20Meier's%20Alpha%20Centauri-Alien%20Crossfire.html

[Buster's Uncle]

I have now completed the most basic part of the formatting on the version that will make the .pdf...  And so, to bed.

[Buster's Uncle]

EM, I think ben's basic text is pretty strong, only in need of a ruthless edit for length so I have room to break into sections and add headlines, so no time pressure to chip in until I find time to get that done...

[Earthmichael]

Is the latest link all I need to download, or do I need some earlier stuff also?

[Buster's Uncle]

The latest link to a cursory web page has the full text, and I've yet to have done anything more to it, so there's definitely a chance to work it over, if you like, before I do - remember, it's for beginners and I'd like to free up enough space to add a few links to good online resources at the end...

[benschwab]

Is the latest link all I need to download, or do I need some earlier stuff also?

For the guick start guide, the latest link is the progress so far.  The guide is still a work in progress so it will likely change.

As far as editing for length.  I know I'm verbose and that has created problems for me and will likely continue to.  I don't think I can change this part of my personality (at-least I have other things to put effort into).  I wish you the best but I don't think I can help you cut it down in length.  When the wiki revamp is complete, it may be possible to cut out large portions for links to the wiki but this won't help players who would need to print out the quick start guide to use it live.  Hmmm...

[Buster's Uncle]

No problem - I'm the king of run-on sentences and convoluted (if correct) grammar, and this is far from the first time I've needed to do a line edit on something to cut it by half or more without actually taking anything said therein out.

I can do it, but my plate runneth over with stuff in need of doing, with more appearing all the time, so not promptly...

[benschwab]

No problem - I'm the king of run-on sentences and convoluted (if correct) grammar, and this is far from the first time I've needed to do a line edit on something to cut it by half or more without actually taking anything said therein out.

[goat]Did you leave that incorrect comma in there on purpose?[/goat]

[Buster's Uncle]

Before "and?"  That's me making up my own rules, but google "Oxford comma" to see I'm not the only one.

[benschwab]

<pendantry>https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Serial_comma requires a list of items to apply.</pendantry>
I was taught in English class all sorts of comma rules including not to use it when joining two phrases to make a compound sentence but my rule at present is to compare the two sentences, with and without the comma, and go with whichever options helps the reader to understand what you want to say with ties going to leaving the comma out.  I cannot forget all of those nit-picky rules though...

[Buster's Uncle]

Commas are to separate ideas in a sentence and the rule that the conjunction overrides is inadequate, at times.

-Also, the rule that the punctuation goes inside a quote ending a sentence is just wrong unless the punctuation was already there.

[Nexii]

I think for a true beginner's guide you would want to condense it down to 1 page or 2 pages tops.  Focus on the aspects that have the biggest impact on whether a new player can 'get off the ground' so to speak.  I'd pick no more than 7 or 8 of the most crucial topics to explain.  For example horizontal growth / making colony pods early.  One of the most impactful since new bases provide extra support plus the base tile.  Formers as another since they vastly improve the productivity of your land and let your bases grow vertically.  A few others like how to fight native life, diplomacy basics would also be relevant.  I'm not sure what else would be the most important - perhaps explaining drone riots, and some focus on research priorities.  A basic explanation of SEs and how they work.  That would probably be plenty, a new player isn't going to read 10-100 pages before even playing... 

[Buster's Uncle]

Good thoughts - it's definitely possible that ben covered too much...

I would really like, again, to include some links to online resources at the end, since my real purpose is to grow the community...

[Buster's Uncle]

I checked Google the other day for the .html page I posted three weeks ago -it should have been up long enough now- and no luck on the first couple of pages of hits.  Our content usually does a lot better than that, and this thread shows on the first page for most search terms I tried, but not the beta-page I posted.

However, I realized there wasn't a keyword line in the page code, which has been corrected, and you'll find it added to the pull-down resources listed/linked in the top menu under "SMACX".  I bet it does a lot better in around two weeks...