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Vlad
Acolyte

14 Posts

Posted - 14 Aug 2005 :  10:55:46  Show Profile  Visit Vlad's Homepage Send Vlad a Private Message  Reply with Quote  Delete Topic
I was wondering if there is somewhere a database will all references in FR products.. (Like, 'Drizzt' shows up in the following products: XXXX, pXX, etc) I was thinking of creating one myself, but if it already exits, I'll go for that one.

Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 14 Aug 2005 :  16:10:52  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Vlad

I was wondering if there is somewhere a database will all references in FR products.. (Like, 'Drizzt' shows up in the following products: XXXX, pXX, etc) I was thinking of creating one myself, but if it already exits, I'll go for that one.




So far as I know, there is no such database. Steven Schend, I believe, mentioned once that TSR had considered creating one, but decided against it because it would have taken years to create and involved a lot of manhours of work.

If you're ambitious enough to try it, then more power to you. Just know that with the huge volume of already published Realmslore, it's an incredibly massive undertaking.

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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 14 Aug 2005 :  17:59:29  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

quote:
Originally posted by Vlad

I was wondering if there is somewhere a database will all references in FR products.. (Like, 'Drizzt' shows up in the following products: XXXX, pXX, etc) I was thinking of creating one myself, but if it already exits, I'll go for that one.




So far as I know, there is no such database. Steven Schend, I believe, mentioned once that TSR had considered creating one, but decided against it because it would have taken years to create and involved a lot of manhours of work.

If you're ambitious enough to try it, then more power to you. Just know that with the huge volume of already published Realmslore, it's an incredibly massive undertaking.



Well there is kind of, with my NPC file. If it has stats in the old lore, then it's in that file. Of course, if it didn't have stat's then it's not. :)

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6638 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  01:50:10  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I've often dreamed of (and then after pausing and considering the magnitude of the task, shuddered and cast such thoughts aside) doing a 'people and places' glossary with references. A short description and where their info can be found in the published products. Kuje's brilliant NPC database comes closest to that intent.

Another project that I've toyed with is a Realms Glossary with definitions and references for terms specific to the Realms. Faraer has previously cobbled together something like this but it remains incomplete - not through any fault of Faraer's of course!

My last (and most advanced) project is a consolidated timeline for the Realms. Brian James has provided a recent timeline which approximates my project, but mine hasn't seen the light of day yet - it's far too incomplete - at the moment.

I sometimes think that the best time to do all of the above in a definitive fashion will be when the Realms is axed as a product line and I'm in my dotage with nothing else to do but Realms - all day long. Until that day, I'll just keep plugging along with all the other scribes here at Candlekeep.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  01:57:42  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

So far as I know, there is no such database. Steven Schend, I believe, mentioned once that TSR had considered creating one, but decided against it because it would have taken years to create and involved a lot of manhours of work.
Yes, it was proposed around the same time a database for Dragonlance was put together -- which ultimately never went ahead either.

quote:
If you're ambitious enough to try it, then more power to you. Just know that with the huge volume of already published Realmslore, it's an incredibly massive undertaking.
Indeed.

You might also consider asking Ed his thoughts on this. He may have a few non-NDA protected ideas that he can pass along to help with your initial efforts.

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"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
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warlockco
Master of Realmslore

USA
1695 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  02:14:16  Show Profile  Visit warlockco's Homepage Send warlockco a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

I've often dreamed of (and then after pausing and considering the magnitude of the task, shuddered and cast such thoughts aside) doing a 'people and places' glossary with references. A short description and where their info can be found in the published products. Kuje's brilliant NPC database comes closest to that intent.

Another project that I've toyed with is a Realms Glossary with definitions and references for terms specific to the Realms. Faraer has previously cobbled together something like this but it remains incomplete - not through any fault of Faraer's of course!

My last (and most advanced) project is a consolidated timeline for the Realms. Brian James has provided a recent timeline which approximates my project, but mine hasn't seen the light of day yet - it's far too incomplete - at the moment.

I sometimes think that the best time to do all of the above in a definitive fashion will be when the Realms is axed as a product line and I'm in my dotage with nothing else to do but Realms - all day long. Until that day, I'll just keep plugging along with all the other scribes here at Candlekeep.

-- George Krashos




It's that you are such a perfectionist, and every new product throws the plans back onto the burner.



Feel for ya though Krash, don't give up the fight.

News of the Weird

D20 System Reference Document
D20 Modern System Reference Document
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief
Moderator

USA
36779 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  04:04:29  Show Profile Send Wooly Rupert a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by The Sage

quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

So far as I know, there is no such database. Steven Schend, I believe, mentioned once that TSR had considered creating one, but decided against it because it would have taken years to create and involved a lot of manhours of work.
Yes, it was proposed around the same time a database for Dragonlance was put together -- which ultimately never went ahead either.


The Dragginglance one would be more difficult. They've got time travel and alternate timelines to factor in, plus various writers ignoring continuity...

One of the many things I've considered doing after I win the lottery is to hire some people to put together a FR database.

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  06:38:01  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Wooly Rupert

The Dragginglance one would be more difficult. They've got time travel and alternate timelines to factor in, plus various writers ignoring continuity...
The "writers ignoring continuity" would be a definite problem. However the time-travel issues were more or less solved by the proposition of having two divergent timelines running through the database -- one which would remain solely canon while the other elaborated on details that focused outside the tradition follow of time on Krynn.

I've seen the basic mock-up for the database online. It actually worked rather well since the hyperlinks can allow divergent references to be collected together with ease.

quote:
One of the many things I've considered doing after I win the lottery is to hire some people to put together a FR database.

I'd like to see the list of people you'd like to hire .

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6638 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  08:19:03  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by warlockco
It's that you are such a perfectionist, and every new product throws the plans back onto the burner.






Guilty as charged - when it comes to the Realms I am a bit of a perfectionist although as I become more curmudgeonly in my advancing years, I often find myself thinking "Have to get lore on X, Y, Z in print so it can be done 'properly' ...". You'll have to excuse me for the hubris, but I can't be less than honest with my fellow scribes about what I think.

The above is especially the case when you've done the hard work and come up with some solid realmslore and then find it invalidated by someone else's FR design work. That's not to say your stuff is better, it's just ... well ... your stuff, and you get emotionally attached to it to the point that it seems 'right'. I know that personally I would have been shattered if the history of the North showcased in LEoF had differed substantially from the work I'd done in my 'unofficial' North Timeline ( It's mostly all official: now). Again, that's not because what I'd done was better than anyone else's work, but more that all my labors would have been in vain.

So basically, if anyone else comes up with a lineage of Amnian or Impilturian monarchs and gets them in print, Georgy will be a very tearful boy.

quote:

Feel for ya though Krash, don't give up the fight.



Oh, I won't - and no need to feel bad: the Realms has always been an exercise in masochism, but every once in a while the pay-off is awesome.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  15:11:50  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have thought about how one could compile a listing that would create an index for the FR books. I have tried a few schemes on several pages but the work involved would be horrendous and time consuming.

The idea was read each page and write a list of simple one line subjects for the page:

SB "Waterdeep" -SB = 'Subject'
SH "Blackstaff" "Waterdeep" -SH = 'Subheading' Blackstaff under Waterdeep
etc

Then use some kind of computer script to compile a proper index. I had a few other line entries that I thought about but I have not reviewed it in awhile.

EvilKnight
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Xysma
Master of Realmslore

USA
1089 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  18:13:56  Show Profile  Visit Xysma's Homepage Send Xysma a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have been working on a database that contains all of the novels, short stories from anthologies (not Dragon magazine yet) and the comics. For each novel I am listing the dates, locations, and major characters. I still have a long way to go yet before completing this, but I will certainly make it available to Alaundo once it is complete.

War to slay, not to fight long and glorious.
Aermhar of the Tangletrees
Year of the Hooded Falcon

Xysma's Gallery
Guide to the Tomes and Tales of the Realms download from Candlekeep
Anthologies and Tales Overviews

Check out my custom action figures, hand-painted miniatures, gaming products, and other stuff on eBay.


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Xysma
Master of Realmslore

USA
1089 Posts

Posted - 15 Aug 2005 :  21:04:02  Show Profile  Visit Xysma's Homepage Send Xysma a Private Message  Reply with Quote
By the way, if anyone wants to compile the dates and list of characters and locations for any of their favorite novels, you can post it under this thread:
http://www.candlekeep.com/forum/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=4493

War to slay, not to fight long and glorious.
Aermhar of the Tangletrees
Year of the Hooded Falcon

Xysma's Gallery
Guide to the Tomes and Tales of the Realms download from Candlekeep
Anthologies and Tales Overviews

Check out my custom action figures, hand-painted miniatures, gaming products, and other stuff on eBay.


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Lady Kazandra
Senior Scribe

Australia
921 Posts

Posted - 16 Aug 2005 :  05:26:01  Show Profile  Visit Lady Kazandra's Homepage Send Lady Kazandra a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

I know that personally I would have been shattered if the history of the North showcased in LEoF had differed substantially from the work I'd done in my 'unofficial' North Timeline ( It's mostly all official: now). Again, that's not because what I'd done was better than anyone else's work, but more that all my labors would have been in vain.
Any updates on when it'll be finished George?

"Once upon a time the plural of 'wizard' was 'war'." -- The Last Continent, by Terry Pratchett
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George Krashos
Master of Realmslore

Australia
6638 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2005 :  01:49:34  Show Profile Send George Krashos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
My "North Timeline" (on reflection should be a "Sword Coast North Timeline") is in hiatus for a while - maybe forever. I don't expect any lore anytime soon that will have to be added to it. There are updates required due to CoR and LEoF, but the latter is simply to give a product/page reference to already existing entries. The Old North and High Forest timelines borrowed considerably from mine.

Currently I'm working more to the East and trying to shape up a DRAGON submission on matters of magic.

-- George Krashos

"Because only we, contrary to the barbarians, never count the enemy in battle." -- Aeschylus
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author

USA
1705 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2005 :  13:35:03  Show Profile  Visit Steven Schend's Homepage Send Steven Schend a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by George Krashos

quote:
Originally posted by warlockco
It's that you are such a perfectionist, and every new product throws the plans back onto the burner.






Guilty as charged - when it comes to the Realms I am a bit of a perfectionist although as I become more curmudgeonly in my advancing years, I often find myself thinking "Have to get lore on X, Y, Z in print so it can be done 'properly' ...". You'll have to excuse me for the hubris, but I can't be less than honest with my fellow scribes about what I think.

The above is especially the case when you've done the hard work and come up with some solid realmslore and then find it invalidated by someone else's FR design work. That's not to say your stuff is better, it's just ... well ... your stuff, and you get emotionally attached to it to the point that it seems 'right'. I know that personally I would have been shattered if the history of the North showcased in LEoF had differed substantially from the work I'd done in my 'unofficial' North Timeline ( It's mostly all official: now). Again, that's not because what I'd done was better than anyone else's work, but more that all my labors would have been in vain.

So basically, if anyone else comes up with a lineage of Amnian or Impilturian monarchs and gets them in print, Georgy will be a very tearful boy.



Um, George, old bean? Didn't I tell you..... ?

Steven
Who really should sit down with George (when he can afford to travel down under or vice-versa) and hash out a better detailed history of Amn....after he press-gangs George into helping him out with Shoon, which will dovetail into the same thing....

For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Steven Schend
Forgotten Realms Designer & Author

USA
1705 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2005 :  13:39:54  Show Profile  Visit Steven Schend's Homepage Send Steven Schend a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Re: a database on all FR lore....

THERE LIES MADNESS!

First person to try it was Halaster, and look what happened to him.....

I, along with Julia Martin and Phil Athans, looked into doing a Realms Encyclopedia and complete timeline et al way back in 1998. We did quite a few months of preliminary research (and, alas, most of those files were lost with a hard drive crash, of which I've had 4 since the data gathering). We realized it would take the three of us in-house full-time on this 3 volume work and at least 15 people freelancing off-site...more than 3 years to do it right. As the budget would have clocked in at a mid- to high-six figures, it was deemed too expensive both time and cost wise. Alas. I really wanted to do (and have) the Codex Toriliana and the 2 volume Cyclopedia Historica.

For current projects and general natter, see www.steveneschend.com
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Faramicos
Senior Scribe

Denmark
468 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2005 :  17:31:38  Show Profile  Visit Faramicos's Homepage Send Faramicos a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I am getting chills down my spine just thinking about it... It could be awesome to have such a tool...

"When dragons make war, worlds can only tremble in the shadow of angry wings"
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
Admin

United Kingdom
5692 Posts

Posted - 17 Aug 2005 :  17:47:35  Show Profile  Visit Alaundo's Homepage Send Alaundo a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by Steven Schend

Re: a database on all FR lore....

THERE LIES MADNESS!

First person to try it was Halaster, and look what happened to him.....

I, along with Julia Martin and Phil Athans, looked into doing a Realms Encyclopedia and complete timeline et al way back in 1998. We did quite a few months of preliminary research (and, alas, most of those files were lost with a hard drive crash, of which I've had 4 since the data gathering). We realized it would take the three of us in-house full-time on this 3 volume work and at least 15 people freelancing off-site...more than 3 years to do it right. As the budget would have clocked in at a mid- to high-six figures, it was deemed too expensive both time and cost wise. Alas. I really wanted to do (and have) the Codex Toriliana and the 2 volume Cyclopedia Historica.



Well met

Aye, I recall many hours I spent working on this collation. I was sad to see it shelved and the dreams of multiple leather-bound tomes of lores taking pride of place on my shelves

Alaundo
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Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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Kuje
Great Reader

USA
7915 Posts

Posted - 21 Aug 2005 :  01:03:08  Show Profile Send Kuje a Private Message  Reply with Quote
This was sorta asked at Gencon:

Q: Forgotten Realms master index of all locations?
A: Sounds great web project, probably wouldn't sell that well as a book. Need to find someone to do that for us. Anything to make a DMs life easier

http://www.gamingreport.com/article.php?sid=18299&mode=thread&order=0

For some of us, books are as important as almost anything else on earth. What a miracle it is that out of these small, flat, rigid squares of paper unfolds world after world, worlds that sing to you, comfort and quiet and excite you... Books are full of the things that you don't get in real life - wonderful, lyrical language, for instance, right off the bat. - Anne Lamott, Bird by Bird

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium

Edited by - Kuje on 21 Aug 2005 01:03:43
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timid kobold
Acolyte

USA
7 Posts

Posted - 22 Aug 2005 :  01:21:18  Show Profile  Visit timid kobold's Homepage Send timid kobold a Private Message  Reply with Quote
If you were able to scan all the FR materials and run them through OCR software you could use something like Google's Desktop Search tool to easily find all references you are looking for across the scanned documents.

Then you could easily build an index based on a list of keyword searches.

It might take time to actually check the output of the OCR, but it might be more advanced than the last time I used it. All you need is patience!

Perhaps I am missing something obvious, but with a small group of people running OCR on their books you should be able to whip something up in a few months time. Have users supply a list of names/places/etc they would like to see indexed and away you go.
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 06 Sep 2005 :  04:47:24  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello fellow scribes,

The subject of indexes for the FR books got me digging into the ideas I had months ago. As such, I spent a few weeks working out my ideas and actually implementing them on a small scale as a proof of concept. I ended up spending a couple of all-niters over the labor day weekend to make it workable and I'm ready to share and get feedback from you.

I think this scheme or something similar makes the possibility of creating a FR Lore index do-able for a group of volunteers.

Please take a look at http://home.att.net/~evilknight. Let me know your thoughts.

You may try creating an SB and AH file from a few pages picked a random from your favorite FR books to see if it is understandable and give you ideas pro and con. Maybe some ideas for additions or changes to aspects of the process.

Thanks,
EvilKnight

Edited by - EvilKnight on 06 Sep 2005 04:51:34
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Brian R. James
Forgotten Realms Game Designer

USA
1098 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2005 :  01:11:43  Show Profile  Visit Brian R. James's Homepage Send Brian R. James a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Impressive work EvilKnight!

Brian R. James - Freelance Game Designer

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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2005 :  14:52:27  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Thanks Brian. I consider that high praise from someone who has compiled wonderful realmslore.

BTW, should I move this announcement out to a new topic? My fear is that it will not get enough eyes if this scroll is considered dead.

EvilKnight

Edited by - EvilKnight on 07 Sep 2005 14:55:15
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Alaundo
Head Moderator
Admin

United Kingdom
5692 Posts

Posted - 07 Sep 2005 :  16:06:41  Show Profile  Visit Alaundo's Homepage Send Alaundo a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by EvilKnight

Thanks Brian. I consider that high praise from someone who has compiled wonderful realmslore.

BTW, should I move this announcement out to a new topic? My fear is that it will not get enough eyes if this scroll is considered dead.

EvilKnight



Well met, EvilKnight

Splendid work. Worry not, i'll happily include thy link on a forthcoming "important links" page here at Candlekeep

Alaundo
Candlekeep Forums Head Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

Australia
31701 Posts

Posted - 08 Sep 2005 :  02:36:47  Show Profile Send The Sage a Private Message  Reply with Quote
quote:
Originally posted by EvilKnight

Hello fellow scribes,

The subject of indexes for the FR books got me digging into the ideas I had months ago. As such, I spent a few weeks working out my ideas and actually implementing them on a small scale as a proof of concept. I ended up spending a couple of all-niters over the labor day weekend to make it workable and I'm ready to share and get feedback from you.

I think this scheme or something similar makes the possibility of creating a FR Lore index do-able for a group of volunteers.

Please take a look at http://home.att.net/~evilknight. Let me know your thoughts.

You may try creating an SB and AH file from a few pages picked a random from your favorite FR books to see if it is understandable and give you ideas pro and con. Maybe some ideas for additions or changes to aspects of the process.

Thanks,
EvilKnight

I missed this earlier... but let me just say that this is an intriguing idea EvilKnight . I'm even tempted to try my hand at a few of my favorite FR sourcebooks myself.

I've got a few suggestions that I'd like to offer, but I'll discuss them with you in private (via PM).

Candlekeep Forums Moderator

Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore
http://www.candlekeep.com
-- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct

Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)

"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood

Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 23 Sep 2005 :  15:18:20  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello scribes,

As an update, I have made a few changes to the Indexing project(http://home.att.net/~evilknight/index.htm).

One change is that you do not need separate files for the various entries. For indexing maps, I decided to let the folds of the map deliniate what I would call a page. I also started a test layout under FRCS Construction (http://home.att.net/~evilknight/HTML_Index/index.htm). It is a functional example now based on pages from FRCS and map, just a test layout. It looks good under IE (blah) and mostly scrunched up under Safari and Firefox (now working good - had a poorly formed CSS file). I've been trying to put as much formatting and layout as possible into a CSS file for easy update for different web sites (I'm thinkng of you Alaundo). If there is one of you that knows CSS and HTML, I would welcome someone redoing the test pages and sending me the example to code into the indexing software. As soon as I have the software outputting the HTML version of the index I'll be putting up an updated FRCS index with a handful of more pages put in and the Map of Faerun from the FRCS indexed also (which it is now doing).

For those of you that tried to look before Sat, I apologize for the messed up links.


Sage, I look forward to hearing your suggestions.

EvilKnight

Edited by - EvilKnight on 25 Sep 2005 18:54:34
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Talinthonis
Acolyte

Canada
6 Posts

Posted - 26 Sep 2005 :  21:41:47  Show Profile  Visit Talinthonis's Homepage Send Talinthonis a Private Message  Reply with Quote
There is only one word that comes to my mind when I see such great work : AMAZING! Thumbs up, don't give up! Should I have any free time on my hands, I'll see if I can help you with a file or two! :)

Edited by - Talinthonis on 26 Sep 2005 21:46:55
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 28 Sep 2005 :  17:37:02  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
I have put up an Index for Sons of Gruumsh for review.

http://evilknight.home.att.net/HTML_Index/SoG

EvilKnight
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 28 Nov 2005 :  16:19:47  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello,

Another update to http://home.att.net/~evilknight/index.htm.

I've made a few changes but found it only looks good in Firefox and Safari at a higher than norm monitor resolution. Other than that, Have an index covering the Vampires of Waterdeep trilogy from Dungeon. And removed the special accent characters for now. and added a few more pages from the FRCS (MAN - talk about densely packed lore!).

EvilKnight
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martynq
Seeker

United Kingdom
90 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2005 :  09:12:33  Show Profile  Visit martynq's Homepage Send martynq a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Looks nice so far, EvilKnight.

I may have missed it... but how are you producing the initial data for entering into your database?

I've sort of been doing a similar thing for many years now, but the amount of FR books I have means it is far from complete. I've been trying to do a similar thing, but I suspect my data is incompatible with yours - I've worked my way through many of my FR books and made notes of each capitalized name occurring on the pages. I now have a massive text file, but still have vast numbers of FR pages to go.

This is a massive undertaking - I guess my trying indicates I am truly crazy - and I think you need volunteers to help you complete it.

Martyn
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EvilKnight
Learned Scribe

USA
162 Posts

Posted - 29 Nov 2005 :  14:44:08  Show Profile  Visit EvilKnight's Homepage Send EvilKnight a Private Message  Reply with Quote
Hello Martyn,

quote:
I may have missed it... but how are you producing the initial data for entering into your database?


I think much the same way as you. I follow a specific formating to the text files so they can be parsed by a java program. The program reads in the files and creates sorted treemaps of the data then prints out all the web pages. The format explaination can be found on the site: http://evilknight.home.att.net/File_Format_Description.htm

I'm still coming up with a few more rules for what to capture in the text files and the example below does not show some of them (like inserting SA "Divine" "Gift of the Divine" and changing names to list as # SB "Last, First" # followed by SA "First" "Last, First")



Example page from http://evilknight.home.att.net/FRCS/FRCS_Chap1
quote:
'Subject entries
49 SB "Maximize Spell" 1 'format: Page Subject_Designation Entry Importance
"hierophant" 2 'this is still a SB for page 49
"Gift of the Divine" 3
"Mastery of Energy" 3
"Metamagic Feat" 2
"Power of Nature" 3
"Spell Power" 3
"Spell-Like Ability" 3
"Lonafin" 2
"Velsharoon" 1
"Purple Dragon knight" 3
"Purple Dragon knight, illus" 3
"Cormyr" 2
"Faerun" 1
"War Wizards" 2

'Subheading entries
SH "feats" "Maximize Spell" 'under the heading 'feats' put 'Maximize Spell'
"prestige classes" "hierophant" 'this is another SH entry
"deities" "Velsharoon"
"hierophant" "Lonafin"
"prestige classes" "Purple Dragon knight"
"Cormyr" "Purple Dragon knight"
"Cormyr" "War Wizards"

'See Also entries
SA "Purple Dragon knight" "Cormyr"
"Purple Dragon knight" "Cormyr"



So far the best work procedure I've found is to work on every other page so I have enough disconnect to list what's on the page and not think I already got a certain subject because I just listed it on a previous page I read. I list SB entries without assigning an importance to them and make CNs, SAs, SHs as I see fit while doing this. Then I go back and put importance ratings on the SBs. So far that seems to work well. I am going back and revising the files for capturing other information like cross references I think are needed and different formatting of names. I need to write down these little rules and put them on the site also.

quote:
This is a massive undertaking - I guess my trying indicates I am truly crazy - and I think you need volunteers to help you complete it.



It is. I'm hoping to generate some interest. I figure I need to get the FRCS done and ask Alaundo for a shelf in the library to put the scrolls on. I've been pounding out smaller new sources to try and spread the idea around (Sons of Gruumsh, Vampires of Waterdeep). As Steven said:
quote:
Re: a database on all FR lore....

THERE LIES MADNESS!

First person to try it was Halaster, and look what happened to him.....


My dream is to get a core group of scribes like yourself (say 10) where we could divide up a source, pound out the text files compile them and post them in a week. I've been toying with incentives like giving a free zip file of the completed index to volunteer contributers or even compiling a special set that would match only one's library for dedicated contributers.

EvilKnight
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