It would be good if we could start improving the content of the pedia. You don't need any modding skills at all to post better text descriptions and flavour text in this thread.

Quotes

I have found that some kind person has created a website with every single pre-chapter quote from all six Frank Herbert Dune books.

Link for All Pre-Chapter Quotes:
http://nightsolo.net/dune/

Even just going through the first three books we should be able to find an appropriate quote for a lot of techs. Some of the quotes we have now are a bit generic and don't always feel relevant to the techs so we can move things around. It would be good to go through an exercise of matching quotes from the first three books to techs.

Strategy Text

It would be good to start collating some brief strategy text for specific units and buildings from those such as Ahriman and Slvynn who have played the mod a lot. There has been quite a bit of discussion on what particular units are good for in the succession game (http://forums.civfanatics.com/showthread.php?t=340372).

Leaders and Civs

Some can be filled in from Wikipedia:

Liet-Kynes (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Liet-Kynes)
The Executrix (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/House_Ordos) - might need some editing/padding.

Archduke Ecaz probably needs to be written by someone familiar with the prequels - I couldn't find any overview quickly. Same goes for House Ecaz itself.

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There is a lot of pedia to flesh out, but if helpful people contribute we should be able to fill it.

Excellent idea.

Please keep in mind that a tech quote must be *short*, 10 words. The space available is small. It must also be signed by a person, or what book it comes from. I did go through all the chapter lead quotes; perhaps I was only looking for perfect matches, but very few of them describe about technologies.

It may be worthwhile to mine the Dune Encyclopedia (http://www.thedune.ru/duneenc/download/DUNE_ENCYCLOPEDIA.pdf). Deliverator has mentioned it before. The entries are long, but we can cut paragraphs.

For strategies, vanilla has one sentence, or occasionally two sentences, for each unit or building. Even though all the passive effects are now documented in hover help, it will help beginning players if the passive effects are also listed in the strategy.

To make it easier to contribute unit and building strategies, I have created a spreadsheet which lists all the units, and another sheet which lists all the buildings. Somebody who feels like writing could just bring up the sheet and type in one sentence per building/unit. I used to work as a proofreader / copy editor, so if your information is good but English is not your native language, don't worry. Please do keep it to one or two sentences max.

I will try and look into this a bit. I know next to nothing (and that is a bit of an overstatement) about development. But I do think of myself as a bit of a quasi Dune expert. On top of that, I do have a copy of the DE in very excellent condition. Oh, and a degree in English Lit. So just point me in a direction, and I will do what I can. One caveat, as I hate the prequels and that hack writer with the intensity of a thousand suns, I will not be posting anything from them. So I would suggest shooting any assignments of that nature somewhere else.

I will try and look into this a bit ... So just point me in a direction, and I will do what I can.

Great! Please look at the technologies first. A lot of the pedia entries say, "Stub entry for <tech name> pedia". For each such tech, type in, or cut/paste, a paragraph of background. You can post it here, along with the name of the tech, or put it into some file, like a Word document, then zip the document and attach it to a post here. That will be a great help!

Absolutely; idahopotato, contributions on pedia entries from a Dune expert such as yourself will be fantastic. Find the entries that suit you best, and feel free to leave out some of our non-canon stuff to others.

I understand how strong personal preferences can influence interest. For me, I disliked books 4-6 (especially 5 and 6), and I'm strongly in favor of books >> movies.
I didn't hate the House X prequels, because I had pretty low expectations, so managed to enjoy them. Paul of Dune managed to undercut even my low expectations; I'm never getting those hours of my life back.

I actually like CoD and GEoD (espessially)
all those Idaho gholas are amusing, and i kinda sympathize to Leto II in GEoD. He is very interesting character, espessially Ruler character. I also like CoD because it countain many philosophical ideas, that have place and uses in real world, and i like Leto II in both of them.

I'll may also add some Ordos stuff, and perhaps Ixian.
(with david's edition)

Great! Please look at the technologies first. A lot of the pedia entries say, "Stub entry for <tech name> pedia". For each such tech, type in, or cut/paste, a paragraph of background. You can post it here, along with the name of the tech, or put it into some file, like a Word document, then zip the document and attach it to a post here. That will be a great help!

Is there a list of the Tech's like the excel spreadsheets of the units and buildings? It would be nice to have something to start with first. Thanks

There is this design document: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8350659&postcount=7

(Excel file in attachment)
But some techs have been eliminated since then, and several others have had name changes.
And many techs in the game already have some quotes added.
Still, this should be better than starting from nothing.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

Not very many techs have quotes, maybe 20%. Attached is a list of all the techs as of 1.6.1. About 6 techs are renamed since then, but if you use the old names, I will convert to the new names.

Cool. Got it. I don't have the game in front of me at the moment so I can't reference it. Do you have a few examples of the strategy text you already have? I am not sure the format you are looking for e.g. a brief description or a useful strategy on employing the tech, or both.

There is this design document: http://forums.civfanatics.com/showpost.php?p=8350659&postcount=7

(Excel file in attachment)
But some techs have been eliminated since then, and several others have had name changes.
And many techs in the game already have some quotes added.
Still, this should be better than starting from nothing.

Looking forward to seeing what you come up with!

I can't open the doc. Well I can, but it is just garbled symbols.

Are you able to open my attachment with the list of techs? It is a zipfile containing a plain text file. I hope you can access it.

Please find attached the raw text of the current civilopedia section for techs. You requested examples of the writing. You will see that 90% of it is "stub". Do not worry about the formatting; as long as it is clear which paragraphs go to what tech, I will put it in. It may be better to reference the vanilla game tech text, when you have that available; the current tech descriptions are in several different styles. Basically, we want an "in-character" description of what the technology is. Strategy is different, we do not need to worry about that yet.

David's file has a complete list, so you should probably just use that directly.

Are you able to open my attachment with the list of techs? It is a zipfile containing a plain text file. I hope you can access it.

Please find attached the raw text of the current civilopedia section for techs. You requested examples of the writing. You will see that 90% of it is "stub". Do not worry about the formatting; as long as it is clear which paragraphs go to what tech, I will put it in. It may be better to reference the vanilla game tech text, when you have that available; the current tech descriptions are in several different styles. Basically, we want an "in-character" description of what the technology is. Strategy is different, we do not need to worry about that yet.

Yeah I got all of yours just fine. So you are not looking for quotes, just something to fill the "Stub text for ___________ pedia" for each tech?

So you are not looking for quotes, just something to fill the "Stub text for ___________ pedia" for each tech?

Quotes are appreciated too.

There are always more releases, but I will be putting out the next patch release on Tuesday, about 48 + 8 hours from now. (Your time zone may vary). Any pedia entries arriving before then will go into the release.

I was hoping to get some done this weekend, but that didn't happen. The wife and I will be out of town for the holidays, so it looks like I won't have anything for you by tomorrow's release. I did get all of your information and put it in a spreadsheet and will add to it next week for future updates. It may need some revising, as I had to remove semicolons in the text file you gave me so I could delineate into a workable excel file. Sorry I wasn't able to get to this sooner.

No worries; have a great holiday!

First of all - Great Awesome Mod - it rekindled my interest in Civ4! Now since I noticed a lot of stub texts I have started to fill in the entries and then I stumbled upon this thread. If you don't mind I will post what I have here and update it when I find a new one:


TXT_KEY_TECH_LASGUN_WEAPONRY_PEDIA
Lasgun: continuous-wave laser projector. Its use as a weapon is limited in a field-generator-shield culture because of the explosive pyrotechnics (technically, subatomic fusion) created when its beam intersects a shield.

The weapon is available in a variety of sizes, ranging from hand-held to ship-mounted. Lasguns have enormous destructive potential; using an arc ray consisting of some sort of subatomic energy, the lasgun is capable of decimating large areas and structures.

If the ray from a lasgun meets a Holtzman shield, a pseudo-atomic explosion may occur due to the high energy levels disrupting the stability of the shield creating the Holtzman effect. This effect was predicted by Norma Cenva during the Butlerian Jihad, where the shield was first developed by Tio Holtzman; Norma, a woman possessing extraordinary mental abilities at the cost of a stunted growth, noticed it in Holtzman's calculations despite Holtzman's insistence against it. A test upon a shielded asteroid proved him wrong, and, ironically enough, the same effect ultimately caused his death when Aliid, a Zenshiite rebel leader, fired a lasgun at him while he was shielded during a slave uprising, destroying Holtzman's entire estate and much of the surrounding countryside and the city of Starda on Poritrin.

TXT_KEY_TECH_LASGUN_WEAPONRY_QUOTE
"The lasgun cannot make him fee; he turneth the stunners into stubble."
- Unknown


TXT_KEY_TECH_ATOMICS_PEDIA
Ecaz became the only planet ever to suffer a general atomic attack before the Jihad.

The "Slagging of Ecaz'' — an Imperial answer to a burgeoning rebellion — resulted in the complete destruction of all human artifacts. The weapons used were "diggers" intended to blast out deep strongpoints, causing radioactive byproducts so substantial as to render the entire planet uninhabitable.

But more important than the radiation was the breaching of the formerly sealed botanical research and development stations, releasing the mutagenic bacteria, viruses, and chemicals into the atmosphere. For centuries, only the taller mountain peaks and the polar ice caps could be safely visited. In the lowlands, and especially around the former population centers, the residual radiation was deadly and the planet was left uninhabited for thousands of years.

TXT_KEY_TECH_ATOMICS_QUOTE
"You do not beg the sun for mercy."
- Muad'dib's Travail from The Stilgar Commentary


TXT_KEY_TECH_ARRAKIS_HABITATION_PEDIA
A sandstorm is a meteorological feature of the planet Arrakis. Sandstorms were violent, consisting of electrically charged wind, sand and dust, flying at speeds of up to 500km/h.

Anyone cought in a sandstorm was almost guarranteed to die. The speeds at which the sand and dust were thrown would typically rip flesh from bone.

The Fremen of Arrakis typically did not traverse the desert when a sandstorm was approaching. However, they did possess some technology which could help them survive, if they found themselves in such a situation. This included stiltents, and the fremkit.

TXT_KEY_TECH_ARRAKIS_HABITATION_QUOTE
"Is it true, that the sand can blow at seven hundred kilometers per hour?"
- Paul Atreides


TXT_KEY_TECH_ARTIFICIAL_SPICE_PEDIA
Due to the monopoly of the spice, finding a viable alternative gradually became the focus of certain groups - most notably the Tleilaxu. Control of the spice during the Corrino Empire was later eclipsed in scope by the God-Emperor Leto Atreides II. This led to protracted attempts to synthesize the spice, which eventually yielded positive results for the Bene Tleilax, some 1500 years after Leto II's death. As a result, the Tleilaxu became spice merchants and funded many of their endeavours through sales revenue.

TXT_KEY_TECH_ARTIFICIAL_SPICE_QUOTE
"He who controls the Spice controls the universe."
- Baron Harkonnen


TXT_KEY_TECH_CLIMATE_CONTROLS_PEDIA
Climate classification systems organize Arrakis' climate on the basis of meteorological patterns. These patterns result from factors that drive atmospheric processes and can be distilled to six climate controls:
Latitude
Land vs. Sand
Geographic Position
Mountains
Sandstorms
Pressure and Winds

TXT_KEY_TECH_CLIMATE_CONTROLS_QUOTE
"The climate over most of the planet was best described as hot and dry."
- Unknown


TXT_KEY_TECH_COMBAT_ORNITHOPTERS_PEDIA
Ornithopter: The basic method of airborne travel in the Imperium. The common ornithopter was a very late development in the history of atmospheric flight.

The first ornithopters, that is, vehicles that fly like birds rather than powered gliders or helicopters, were built by a team of scientists being held as political prisoners (as a result of the abortive Thinkers' Rebellion of 7600 B.G.) by Emperor Neweh in 7585 B.G.

Their head was Jehane Golitle, who was placed in charge of an understaffed, underfunded, and discouraged team of scientists, and told to earn her team's continued well-being by inventing useful devices which would make a profit for the emperor.

TXT_KEY_TECH_COMBAT_ORNITHOPTERS_QUOTE
"The efficiency of the ornithopter's "engine" is difficult to surpass."
- Unknown

Thanks for the contributions WhiteRabbit82. They're appreciated.

BTW I am in the process of writing some pedia content for the wonders.

Anytime. Another:

TXT_KEY_TECH_MYSTICISM_PEDIA
If you are numbered among "the heartfelt pilgrims," you will cross the last thousand meters of this approach to the Temple of Alia on your knees. Those thousand meters fall well within the sweeping curves leading your eyes up to the transcendent symbols dedicating this Temple to St. Alia of the Knife. The famed "Sun-Sweep Window" incorporates every solar calendar known to human history in the one translucent display whose brilliant colors, driven by the sun of Dune, thread through the interior on prismatic pathways.

TXT_KEY_TECH_MYSTICISM_QUOTE
"There exists no separation between gods and men; one blends softly casual to the other."
- Proverbs of Muad'Dib

Bump. There is a lot of empty pedia following the recent tech tree reworking.

Feeling lazy so I'll enter these into the XML some other time. New and replacement quotes from the Frank Herbert books:

Research Labs:
Technology, in common with many other activities, tends toward avoidance of risks by investors. Uncertainty is ruled out if possible. Capital investment follows this rule, since people generally prefer the predictable. Few recognize how destructive this can be, how it imposes severe limits on variability and thus makes whole populations fatally vulnerable to the shocking ways our universe can throw the dice.
-Assessment of Ix,
Bene Gesserit Archives

Solaris Economy:
The failure of CHOAM? Quite simple: They ignore the fact that larger commercial powers wait at the edges of their activities, powers that could swallow them the way a slig swallows garbage.
-Bene Gesserit Council notes,
Archives #SXX9OCH

Jihad:
O Paul, thou Muad'Dib,
Mahdi of all men,
Thy breath exhaled
Sent forth the hurricane.
-Songs of Muad'Dib

Law of Arrakis:
The one-eyed view of our universe says you must not look far afield for problems. Such problems may never arrive. Instead, tend to the wolf within your fences. The packs ranging outside may not even exist.
-The Azhar Book; Shamra I:4

Galactic Religion:
In this age when the means of human transport include devices which can span the deeps of space in transtime, and other devices which can carry men swiftly over virtually impassable planetary surfaces, it seems odd to think of attempting long journeys afoot. yet this remains a primary means of travel on Arrakis, a fact attributed partly to preference and partly to the brutal treatment which this planet reserves for anything mechanical. In the strictures of Arrakis, human flesh remains the most durable and reliable resource for the Hajj. Perhaps it is the implicit awareness of this fact which makes Arrakis the ultimate mirror of the soul.
-Handbook of the Hajj

Arrakis Habitation:
The sietch at the desert's rim
Was Liet's, was Kynes's,
Was Stilgar's, was Muad'Dib's
And once more, was Stilgar's.
The Naibs one by one sleep in the sand,
But the sietch endures.
-from a Fremen song

Spice Industry:
melange (me'-lange also ma,lanj) n-s, origin uncertain (thought to derive from ancient Terran Franzh): a. mixture of spices; b. spice of Arrakis (Dune) with geriatric properties first noted by Yanshuph Ashkoko, royal chemist in reign of Shakkad the Wise; Arrakeen melange, found only in deepest desert sands of Arrakis, linked to prophetic visions of Paul Muad'Dib (Atreides), first Fremen Mahdi; also employed by Spacing Guild Navigators and the Bene Gesserit.
-Dictionary Royal
fifth edition

High Council:
Good government never depends upon laws, but upon the personal qualities of those who govern. The machinery of government is always subordinate to the will of those who administer that machinery. The most important element of government, therefore, is the method of choosing leaders.
-Law and Governance
The Spacing Guild Manual

Feudalism:
Governments, if they endure, always tend increasingly toward aristocratic forms. No government in history has been known to evade this pattern. And as the aristocracy develops, government tends more and more to act exclusively in the interests of the ruling class—whether that class be hereditary royalty, oligarchs of financial empires, or entrenched bureaucracy.
-Politics as Repeat Phenomenon:
Bene Gesserit Training Manual

Planetary Ecology:
Beyond a critical point within a finite space, freedom diminishes as numbers increase. This is as true of humans in the finite space of a planetary ecosystem as it is of gas molecules in a sealed flask. The human question is not how many can possibly survive within the system, but what kind of existence is possible for those who do survive.
-Pardot Kynes, First Planetologist of Arrakis

Caste Systems:
Humans live best when each has his place to stand, when each knows where he belongs in the scheme of things and what he may achieve. Destroy the place and you destroy the person.
-Bene Gesserit Teaching

Benevolence:
Life cannot find reasons to sustain it, cannot be a source of decent mutual regard, unless each of us resolves to breathe such qualities into it.
-Chenoeh: "Conversations with Leto II"

Defense Tactics:
Any power must always meet a greater power. Paul Muad'Dib taught this lesson to the Sardaukar on the Plains of Arrakeen. His descendants have yet to learn the lesson for themselves.
-The Preacher at Arrakeen

Defensive Armaments:
The basic rule is this: Never support weakness; always support strength.
-The Bene Gesserit Coda

Mind Training:
Nothing surpasses the complexity of the human mind.
-Leto II: Dar-es-Balat Records

Great Houses:
The long table on the right is set for a banquet of roast desert hare in sauce cepeda. The other dishes, clockwise to the right from the far end of the table, are aplomage sirian, chukka under glass, coffee with melange (note the hawk crest of the Atreides on the urn), pot-a-oie and, in the Balut crystal bottle, sparkling Caladan wine. Note the ancient poison detector concealed in the chandelier.
-Dar-es-Balat, Description at a Museum Display

Energy Sources:
I am the supreme energy-eater of this domain, and will remain so, alive or dead. My Government is the economy.
-Order in Concil
The Emperor Paul Muad'dib

Water Conservation:
There was this drylander who was asked which was more important, a literjon of water or a vast pool of water? The drylander thought a moment and then said: "The literjon is more important. No single person could own a great pool of water. But a literjon you could hide under your cloak and run away with it. No one would know."
-The Jokes of Ancient Dune,
Bene Gesserit Archives

Spice Extraction:
The sandcrawler directly in front of you dates from the Atreides times. Grouped around it, moving clockwise from your left, are a small harvester, a carryall, a primitive spice factory and the other support equipment. All are explained at each station. Note the illuminated quotation above the display: "FOR THEY SHALL SUCK OF THE ABUNDANCE OF THE SEAS AND OF THE TREASURE IN THE SAND." This ancient religious quotation was oft repeated by the famous Gurney Halleck.
-Guide Announcement, Museum of Dar-es-Balat

Desert Survival:
Limits of survival are set by climate, those long drifts of change which a generation may fail to notice. And it is the extremes of climate which set the pattern. Lonely, finite humans may observe climatic provinces, fluctuations of annual weather and, occasionally may observe such things as "This is a colder year than I've ever known." Such things are sensible. But humans are seldom alerted to the shifting average through a great span of years. And it is precisely in this alerting that humans learn how to survive on any planet. They must learn climate.
-Arrakis, the Transformation
After Harq al-Ada

Weirding Way:
The advent of the Field Process shield and the lasgun with their explosive interaction, deadly to attacker and attacked, placed the current determinatives on weapons technology. We need not go into the special role of atomics. The fact that any Family in my Empire could so deploy its atomics as to destroy the planetary bases of fifty or more other Families causes some nervousness, true. But all of us possess precautionary plans for devastating retaliation. Guild and Landsraad contain the keys which hold this force in check. No, my concern goes to the development of humans as special weapons. Here is a virtually unlimited field which a few powers are developing.
-Muad'dib: Lecture to the War College
from The Stilgar Chronicle

Culture of Dune:
"Once more the drama begins."
-The Emperor Paul Muad'dib
on his ascension to the Lion Throne
(Move Stilgar Eden quote to Way of Liet?)

Air Power:
"I must rule with eye and claw—as the hawk among lesser birds."
-Atreides assertion

Imperialism:
No matter how exotic human civilization becomes, no matter the developments of life and society nor the complexity of the machine/human interface, there always come interludes of lonely power when the course of humankind, the very future of humankind, depends on the relatively simple actions of single individuals.
-from The Tleilaxu Godbuk

Offworld Trade:
You have loved Caladan
And lamented its lost host—
But pain discovers
New lovers cannot erase
Those forever ghost
-Refrain from The Habbanya Lament

Prescience:
Either we abandon the long-horned Theory of Relativity, or we cease to believe that we can engage in continued accurate prediction of the future. Indeed, knowing the future raises a host of questions which cannot be answered under conventional assumptions unless one first projects an Observer outside of Time and, second, nullifies all movement. If you accept the Theory of Relativity, it can be shown that Time and the Observer must stand still in relationship to each or inaccuracies will intervene. This would seem to say that it is impossible to engage in accurate prediction of the future. How, then, do we explain the continued seeking after this visionary goal by respected scientists? How, then do we explain Muad'Dib?
-Lectures on Prescience
By Harq al-Ada

Vendettas:
We tend to become like the worst in those we oppose.
-Bene Gesserit Coda

Supertensile Materials:
To know a thing well, know it limits. Only when pushed beyond its tolerances will true nature be seen.
-The Amtal Rule

Military Industrial Complex:
When I am weaker than you, I ask for freedom because that is according to your principles; when I am stronger than you, I take away your freedom because that is according to my principles.
-Words of an ancient philosopher
(Attributed by Harq al-Ada to one Louis Veuillot)

Wow! Fantastic set of stuff here.

If you're still lazy about it, I will put it in tomorrow with my unit pedia texts and put files here.

If someone would like to compose some Strategy text for Units and Buildings that don't have any then they'd be very welcome. If you post it in this thread I can copy and paste it into the pedia text very easily.

If people want to write Background text too then that is great, but I think Strategy text explaining the use of Units and Buildings is probably more important.

I think strategy text is a good place to start. I wrote some a long time back, which has been in the game for a while. Since then, some units have been added or renamed. But, I took whatever is currently in the game, and stripped it into the attached spreadsheet. There are about 230 entries which are "stub" and about 80 with values filled in. It should be possible to cut and paste some text from the filled in ones, or quickly write some. It does not need to be very pretty. If we get a lot of values filled in, I can write another program to paste it back in.