Use of Hyperlinks in Lusternia

by Richter

Back to Common Grounds.

Richter2009-07-03 21:28:22
I received a message today telling me that I should include a map of my manse in the clanhelp. It's a great idea, and one I hadn't thought of. Upon reflection, however, I figured out why I hadn't thought of it: it'd require me to put a hyperlink in a place that a lot of people were looking.

Currently, I have a hyperlink to wherever my most recently updated map is residing in both the Merchants Guild and The Aethercity of Deepnight clans, under clanhelp map. Both files contain only the hyperlink, as I didn't want to provide any great fanfare or draw anyone's attention to the fact that they'd now be viewing a webpage outside of the game. It probably wouldn't bother some people, but it does tend to break the immersion for those that do care. Placing a link in my clanhelp is even more obtrusive, because it's a file anyone can view.

It may seem like silly debate, but I'd like some opinions on whether or not hyperlinks can/should be included in things where they're absolutely necessary (an ASCII map would never work, the city is too large).

Thanks!
Unknown2009-07-03 21:29:52
QUOTE (Richter @ Jul 3 2009, 05:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I received a message today telling me that I should include a map of my manse in the clanhelp. It's a great idea, and one I hadn't thought of. Upon reflection, however, I figured out why I hadn't thought of it: it'd require me to put a hyperlink in a place that a lot of people were looking.

Currently, I have a hyperlink to wherever my most recently updated map is residing in both the Merchants Guild and The Aethercity of Deepnight clans, under clanhelp map. Both files contain only the hyperlink, as I didn't want to provide any great fanfare or draw anyone's attention to the fact that they'd now be viewing a webpage outside of the game. It probably wouldn't bother some people, but it does tend to break the immersion for those that do care. Placing a link in my clanhelp is even more obtrusive, because it's a file anyone can view.

It may seem like silly debate, but I'd like some opinions on whether or not hyperlinks can/should be included in things where they're absolutely necessary (an ASCII map would never work, the city is too large).

Thanks!

You should file to have yourself granted an official mapper status in order to be able to get your city mapped in game.
Richter2009-07-03 21:31:40
QUOTE (Kialkarkea @ Jul 3 2009, 02:29 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
You should file to have yourself granted an official mapper status in order to be able to get your city mapped in game.


I would only be so bold to ask for such a thing if the city were completed. I'm a bit chagrined at the state it's currently in.
Estarra2009-07-03 21:32:32
QUOTE (Richter @ Jul 3 2009, 02:28 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
It may seem like silly debate, but I'd like some opinions on whether or not hyperlinks can/should be included in things where they're absolutely necessary (an ASCII map would never work, the city is too large).


Never underestimate the power of ASCII maps! Some examples:

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Ashtan

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Shallam

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Cyrene
Unknown2009-07-03 21:32:38
QUOTE (Richter @ Jul 3 2009, 05:31 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I would only be so bold to ask for such a thing if the city were completed. I'm a bit chagrined at the state it's currently in.

Include a tempting offer of your credit card. biggrin.gif
Richter2009-07-03 21:36:25
QUOTE (Estarra @ Jul 3 2009, 02:32 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Never underestimate the power of ASCII maps! Some examples:

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Ashtan

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Shallam

Achaea ASCII Map of City of Cyrene


I'm impressed! However, it would seem to me that an ASCII map would take quite a bit of time to create, and I don't think I'd feel compelled to create on until it's quite finished. Justin Lauzet's wonderful Argon MUD mapper is what I'm using right now, and it lets me quickly edit, export, and then host to imageshack. Thanks for the suggestion though, it's something I may need to look into.
Estarra2009-07-03 21:40:16
QUOTE (Richter @ Jul 3 2009, 02:36 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
I'm impressed! However, it would seem to me that an ASCII map would take quite a bit of time to create, and I don't think I'd feel compelled to create on until it's quite finished. Justin Lauzet's wonderful Argon MUD mapper is what I'm using right now, and it lets me quickly edit, export, and then host to imageshack. Thanks for the suggestion though, it's something I may need to look into.


I recall being a volunteer in Achaea when these maps were donated by an enterprising player and we were all gaga over them. I'm pretty sure we gave a credit award to the player who made these--*hint*hint*!
Rika2009-07-03 21:56:58
Yay something to kill time with over these cold winter holidays. (sad.gif) smile.gif

That said, can you not just export the in game maps and put them on the website?
Richter2009-07-03 23:11:18
Though the question of how appropriate it would be to post a hyperlink is largely unanswered, it is interesting to note that the maps above are 72 characters across, while Deepnight is 33. It would seem that it is do-able.
Eventru2009-07-04 00:18:28
There was a mapper I used to use when I was building on a MUSH aeons ago, Mud Magick Mapper or something like that - you had the option to output the map to an ascii format. It worked fine back then, since I seem to remember one of the immortals couldn't receive picture files for a while, and we needed to abuse that function.
Estarra2009-07-04 00:25:55
Oh, if we're talking about the in-game maps, you can see them from the map page under "Maps generated using in-game mapping".
Richter2009-07-04 00:32:48
Rough draft, minus some of the major locations that will be notated, but here's something kind of like what you linked (it looks better in game, but there's that damned More option in the middle):

CODE
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                                   #                                  
                                  /|\\                                  
                                 / # \\                                
                                / / \\ \\                                
                               # #   # #                              
                              /         \\                              
                         #   >           >                            
                            /             \\                            
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              /       / \\               \\  |/ /         \\              
         #   /       #   \\             #-#-# /           \\            
            /             \\                |/             \\            
           #               #   #-#         #               #          
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       #                       #       #               #       #      
      /                         \\     /|              /         \\      
     / #                         \\ # / #         #-#-#           \\    
    /  |                          \\>/           /    |            \\    
   #---#-#         #   #           #-#         #     #             #  
    \\  |            > /           />\\          |     |            /    
     \\ #             #           / # \\         # #   #           /    
      \\             / \\         /     \\        | >  /           /      
       #           #   #       # #-#>#-#       #-#-#         #-#      
        \\               \\     /  | |    \\        >            /        
         \\               #   /   # #     \\       #           /        
          \\               \\ /             \\                 /          
           #-#             #           P   #               #          
            \\             /             \\ /|\\             /            
             \\           /               # # \\           /            
              \\         /               / \\|  \\         /              
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                \\     / \\             /    |\\   \\     /                
                 \\   /   #-#   #     #     # N   \\   /                
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                   #           #>#>#             #-#                  
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                     \\       #   # #             /                    
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                           #-#-#           #                          
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                              \\         /                              
                               #       #                              
                                \\     /                                
                                 \\   /                                
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                                   #
Richter2009-07-04 00:34:44
QUOTE (Estarra @ Jul 3 2009, 05:25 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
Oh, if we're talking about the in-game maps, you can see them from the map page under "Maps generated using in-game mapping".


That's even nicer than the Argon mud mapper I was using. Wish there was some way to map in that.
Eventru2009-07-04 01:48:09
Memory serves we once considered letting players pay to have their manses mapped, but I want to say there was some problems relative to the way manses are coded and the way maps work (not to mention every time an addition is made to a manse or an exit is moved or what have you, the map needs to be manually updated - and only a handful of people are really familiar with the map system).

And while that looks sloppy on my screen, Richter, I dropped it into a wordpad with a block letter font and it looks mighty nice! smile.gif At a glance though, Deepnight is bigger than your average area. :weirdo: Man. You're crazy. Still only 1/4th the size of Celest or Magnagora, and 1/6th of that of Serenwilde... But that also includes Stockrooms.

I can't wait to see it when it's finished! I'll need to go poking around.
Richter2009-07-04 02:16:34
QUOTE (Eventru @ Jul 3 2009, 06:48 PM) <{POST_SNAPBACK}>
And while that looks sloppy on my screen, Richter, I dropped it into a wordpad with a block letter font and it looks mighty nice! smile.gif At a glance though, Deepnight is bigger than your average area. :weirdo: Man. You're crazy. Still only 1/4th the size of Celest or Magnagora, and 1/6th of that of Serenwilde... But that also includes Stockrooms.

I can't wait to see it when it's finished! I'll need to go poking around.


Thanks! I used Open Office Writer with Courier New, and it looks lovely.

I think I will continue to leave a hyperlink to my current map version in clanhelp map, but I see that ASCII could potentially be an option.
Unknown2009-07-04 05:08:14
Ta-da?

CODE
                                                                                                          
                                               / | \\                                                          
                                             /   |   \\                                                        
                                                                                                    
                                     %%     /   \\     %%                                                  
                                  \\   %%             %%                                                
                                                                                                        
                                 %%                          /  %%                                            
                               %%                          /      %%                                          
                                              %%                                           
                       \\   /                                           \\                                      
                             %                                  \\                                    
                       /   \\   /                                                                          
                                               %   /   \\                                
               \\   /       /   \\                           \\     | /   /       \\                              
                           \\                      -_                                    
               /                                              | /               \\                          
             /                   /   \\          -                           \\                        
                                 \\         |             /                                          
         /                            \\                /                           \\                    
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    ---------           /                    / |                     /                        
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                                      / %                     \\       /                              
                                 \\      %         /         | \\       \\   /                                
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Esano2009-07-04 05:15:07
Too wide, that's 100 characters across at the widest point whereas Richter's is 71.
Eventru2009-07-04 07:30:28
Also, when you're making ASCII maps, it's always good to remember that the average wrapwidth (and I think our default wrapwidth) is 80. Always a good maximum to work with, imho.
Lendren2009-07-04 12:49:31
Since the editor hard-wraps at 72 (and does worse, compresses lines when they hit that point) regardless of anyone's wrapwidth, the wrapwidth doesn't really affect it. Even if everyone had 160 as a wrapwidth you'd still have to do clanhelps at 72. (Someone with a wrapwidth at 50, however, is in for a world of hurt either way.)