Love that manual

[Potatish]

Regarding the original Civ manual referenced above. . .

That was back in the Microprose era. Microprose manuals were the best. You bought M1 Tank Platoon and you got a long, detailed manual where at least one third of it was context and detailed explanations of doctrine and real-world specs. Followed by twenty pages of "designer notes" where you could read about how and why things worked the way they did. . . and what their hopes, goals, and dreams for the game were. . . and how they made it (or didn't) into the final product.

Silent Service. . . same thing. . . wonderful historical information, etc.

Perhaps the only company that rivaled Microsoft where game manuals were concerned was Lucasarts. Their "Their Finest Hour: The Battle of Britain" game had the best manual I've ever seen. Chapter after chapter on the history of the battle and day-by-day accounts even. With photos. It put my Time-Life book on the subject (and some real history texts I've since seen) to shame.

Origin also did nice manuals for the Ultima series. Especially Ultima IV. Seperate spell book and book of lore. All done in full prose. And they didn't break suspension of disbelief.

H

LucasArts made the best manuals, period. I still have my complete TIE Fighter game box, 3.5" disks, reference card, registration card, and the Pilot's Manual.

The manual is outstanding --- I've read it several times over. Not only does it include detailed analysis of the game itself, it also includes in-depth info on all of the spacecraft, and after that, it includes are novel. A novel.

And a damn good novel, at that. I've read it three times over, and I still love it.

 

[civzombie]

Yes, the manual is terrible. I was especially off put by the repeated references to the civlopedia. It reminded me of those bloke's in grade school who finished their research report with the sentence, "for more information on X, consult your local library." It was arguably cute the first time, but after that it was just a lame excuse for an incomplete report.

Who is responsible for this portion of the product? The developer or the publisher?

 

[utberguy]

I must say this edition of manual feels like windows operating system:
the REAL manual doesn't come with the software; you must pay another 25$ to get one written by some company...

 

[Lucky The Fox]

Clearly, you've never purchased anything by EA. EA console games are even worse about it - an 8 page manual, including the safety warnings and cover. They're about as thick as a toenail.

So you're saying that EA console games have enough substance to warrant a big manual?

 

[Slavakovich]

I found a typo!

Religion in one part is spelled eligion

I think it's under the Apolstic Palace.

 

[Zetetic Apparat]

The First Class Complementary Magazine that came with (Douglas Adams'/The Digital Village's) Starship Titanic was really nice touch. (Shame I practically destroyed mine with lemonade... Wonder if scans or better are available...)

Anyway, BtS appears a bit of a rush job altogether. Not a massive shame that the patches won't be able to fix the manual of all things, though...

 

[Lucky The Fox]

The First Class Complementary Magazine that came with (Douglas Adams'/The Digital Village's) Starship Titanic was really nice touch. (Shame I practically destroyed mine with lemonade... Wonder if scans or better are available...)

My second-hand copy lacks it altogether. No wonder the box felt so empty.

 

[Zetetic Apparat]

It had a few funny bits in it; Adams himself or Terry Jones might have had a hand in it. Don't think it helped you with the game, as far as I can remember...