Matrix Games Forums

I've just tried to print the manual and I can only find an ebook version. This is no use to me as I have no way of stapling ebooks together. Can a normal pdf version be supply pleased.

Further can you not put backgrounds on the manuals it may look pretty but costs a lot to print not to mean the time it takes to do the printing.  Plain white paper please.

I really have to agree with Chris H's suggestion to include a manual file with a white background...printing these manuals is very expensive on my laser toner!  And they are hard to read in b/w or grayscale with all that background stuff going on.  A change would be very much appreciated!

ORIGINAL: Chris H

I've just tried to print the manual and I can only find an ebook version. This is no use to me as I have no way of stapling ebooks together. Can a normal pdf version be supply pleased.

I'm not sure what problem you are having with page setup and what you mean by "ebook" version. With my printer I chose "Booklet Printing" under Page Setup. It printed fine in full color. It did use much color ink; oh well. I folded the pages in groups and put four staples in the middle of the booklet.

What do you mean put it on PDF? When I want to read the manual it is on PDF. What am I missing here? Also someone said they printed out the pages and there was no background to it. Pick a page in the middle and to a test run. Print a page in the middle of the manual and see if the back ground was printed or not.

All the pages I printed have a very light gray background. I'm not bothered by it. If it used a substantial amount of ink it's okay to me. I like the way it looks.

You PRINT pages? On PAPER? How barbaric.

Yes. I did for this game.
Yes.... on paper. There's plenty of tree farming and recycling. Reexamine old cliches.
That's opinion.
 
Come one Fishman. Forums are for... discussions and you can attempt to keep them going on but your above comments are obvious jokes, lightly ambiguous. :/
 
I printed for this game. I wanted to sometimes lay back in on the sofa or bed to check some things in the manual if I'm bored and tired. I also buy books sometimes for similiar reasons. I don't yet care to buy an electronic book pad thingy and downloading titles. Though, I can see that trend growing soon. I do have an ebook program on my phone but I haven't bothered to register it and try it.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

Yes. I did for this game.
Yes.... on paper. There's plenty of tree farming and recycling. Reexamine old cliches.
That's opinion.

It's not about the ecological value of tree farming and recycling. I'm fully aware that tree-products are pretty much environmentally friendly at this point. My issue is more with the fact that you're printing them on PAPER. How do you SEARCH a PAPER DOCUMENT? Are you seriously suggesting that it is somehow a good thing to have a completely ungreppable document that you have to manually flip through to find anything? THAT is what is barbaric.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

I don't yet care to buy an electronic book pad thingy and downloading titles.

Pssh, electronic book pad things. Those things are stupid. How the heck do you type in your search request without a keyboard? They're like the worst of both worlds when it comes to reading-things-on-computer vs. dead tree editions. At least you actually OWN the dead tree edition.

I printed for this game. I wanted to sometimes lay back in on the sofa or bed to check some things in the manual if I'm bored and tired. I also buy books sometimes for similiar reasons.

I don't want a notebook/laptop PC for reading right now. Maybe later I'll get a very small one, with great capabilities, at a low price.

You're funny for thinking paper is obsolete or that trying to continue to jokingly argue about it is interesting.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

I don't want a notebook/laptop PC for reading right now. Maybe later I'll get a very small one, with great capabilities, at a low price.

That would seem to be gambling on a product does not actually exist, as a combination of "very small" and "great capabilities" tends to mean "new and shiny", which conflicts with "low price". Consider, instead, "old and crappy", if you merely wish it to function as a reading device, which is quite compatible with "low price" and indeed, can often be acquired for "cheap as free", given that someone is probably trying to throw something like this out, and you may even already have one.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

You're funny for thinking paper is obsolete or that trying to continue to jokingly argue about it is interesting.

I never used the "obsolete" word in regards to this. Obsolete implies that a thing has been or can be superceded by an available categorically superior method or has become ineffectual as a result of advances. I said "barbaric", which implies that such a thing is uncultured, backward, and often distasteful, often sharing similar attributes with "obsolete", but not necessarily so. Eating with one's hands or gladiatorial combat to the death is considered to be barbaric, but there is no real sense of "obsolete" attached to it.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

You're funny for thinking paper is obsolete or that trying to continue to jokingly argue about it is interesting.

You say this, yet we continue to argue, so apparently it is.

Books in hands of readers relaxing somewhere, books in the shelves of doctors' and lawyers' and scientists' and teachers' and other proffesionals' offices, books in libraries,... these are not barbaric things. Electronic readers and portable computers are fine also. That is my opinion in response to your opinion.

You say this, yet we continue to argue, so apparently it is.

It's not interesting but I'm multi tasking and willing to indulge you. I, and maybe many people, sometimes choose to temporarily try things that are not interesting.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

Books in hands of readers relaxing somewhere, books in the shelves of doctors' and lawyers' and scientists' and teachers' other proffesionals' offices, books in libraries,... these are not barbaric things. Electronic readers and portable computers are fine also. That is my opinion in response to your opinion.

Yes, but manuals are reference materials, in which the ability to find what you are actually LOOKING for is of critical importance. Books do not offer effective functionality in this regard.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

It's not interesting but I'm multi tasking and willing to indulge you. I, and maybe many people, sometimes choose to temporarily try things that are not interesting.

Well, people are willing to try things that they believe MAY be interesting at some point, but turn out not to be. You seem to believe this discussion is uninteresting, and yet you continue it. Either you believe this line of discussion may become interesting, or you are atypical, as people normally do not voluntarily continue uninteresting activities in which there is no expectation of future interestingness or some sort of gain or loss avoidance. As you are not being coerced in any way to continue this discussion and there is no stigma associated with withdrawal from it, either you believe this discussion will somehow become interesting despite your belief that it is presently not, or you actually enjoy uninteresting activities, which is oxymoronic as an activity you are apparently enjoying is by definition interesting.

I printed the PDF Manual out on 8 1/2" by 11" paper, added dividers and tabs for each section of the table of contents, and put it in a plastic binder. I added the Customization Guide, as well. I think this is the best for me. I need a larger print and there is a lot of room to write notes. I can refer to it away for the computer at my leisure. It would be helpful to printout the Galactopedia, as well, but this would be quite large. I could turn it into a strategy guide of sorts. I will think about it after the last of the game fixes and upgrades have taken place and the Galactopedia is updated as well.

FoM

Kinko's used to - and probably still does, afaik - print PDF and  spiral bind them for a reasonable price. I don't know prices any more though and whether the manual is necessarily worth the extra $$$. Dominions 3 has a great manual but that came with the game. Anyhoo...

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

ORIGINAL: Chris H

I've just tried to print the manual and I can only find an ebook version. This is no use to me as I have no way of stapling ebooks together. Can a normal pdf version be supply pleased.

I'm not sure what problem you are having with page setup and what you mean by "ebook" version. With my printer I chose "Booklet Printing" under Page Setup. It printed fine in full color. It did use much color ink; oh well. I folded the pages in groups and put four staples in the middle of the booklet.

Forget that, it was finger trouble. I was printing out in booklet format, you know first page and back page thus requiring a stpler that reached the middle.

ORIGINAL: Wade1000

I printed for this game. I wanted to sometimes lay back in on the sofa or bed to check some things in the manual if I'm bored and tired. I also buy books sometimes for similiar reasons.

I don't want a notebook/laptop PC for reading right now. Maybe later I'll get a very small one, with great capabilities, at a low price.

You're funny for thinking paper is obsolete or that trying to continue to jokingly argue about it is interesting.

Computers were supposed to make paper obsolete. They didn't.

Paper can easily by recycled were as electonic cannot.

I like to read while sitting or lying down comfortably, not staring at a screen as I find that extremely difficult to do. You can call me old fashioned if you want but I am 65 and I have been working woth computers since , if I can remember that far back, oh yes, 1970 and I still hate reading from a screen.

Please supply a plain background manual, it's not so much the waste of ink but each double sided, 2 pages per side takes approx 5 min to process and print.

I thought that there was supposed to be a printed manual for this game and was very surprised when I opened up the box and one wasn't there.
 
I always get a CD of a game just in case...
 

ORIGINAL: Chris H


I like to read while sitting or lying down comfortably, not staring at a screen as I find that extremely difficult to do. You can call me old fashioned if you want but I am 65 and I have been working woth computers since , if I can remember that far back, oh yes, 1970 and I still hate reading from a screen.

Oh I call you old fashioned. I am only 40 as well, and I am old fashioned too. [:D] Reading a book from a computer or screen like the ipad or what ever that new gizmo is called just dosn't replace a good old fashioned book in my hand when I read. I kept reading about how paper is going to be obsolete and the new medium would be PDF books, but it's just not the same. I hope paper books never become obsolete, since I will not be doing much reading then. It's just not the same.

Nothing wrong in being old fashioned.

ORIGINAL: Chris H

Further can you not put backgrounds on the manuals it may look pretty but costs a lot to print not to mean the time it takes to do the printing.  Plain white paper please.

I agree. However, you can fade out the background by changing printing setting. For example increase brightness, and gray background will dissappear. It worked for me.

Books will still be around long after the current media formats are museum pieces. Just go to a Rare Book Library and touch the old pre Guttenberg books, feel the quality of the paper employed (none of this cheap wood fibre based paper) and marvel at the craftsmanship. Those are books 700-900 years old and still readable. How long before the Apple ebook becomes unusuable, 20-30 years perhaps?

Alfred