Currently, the only "efficient" way to write a non-trivial book is using an external program, then cut & paste each page separately, doing it all in one go. Trying to write a book in the game itself is torturous, especially if you make a typo and don't notice it immediately, or if you try to use a Book & Quill as a journal that you append new pages every so often you play. This is because the book starts at page 1 everytime you open it and after a while it becomes a bore clicking next page a lot to get back to where you were, and you can delete only the last character of a page.
When writing a book, it would be very useful to have these features:
- A cursor: Close the book, reopen it, and it "remembers" where you last were. Signing the book would remove the cursor.
- Mouse selection: Click to move the cursor to where you clicked, drag to make a selection of some text (for Deletion or Copy/Cut/Paste to replace text).
- A way to "push" the current page one page further, getting a new blank page. Ideal for adding new text between pages already typed.
- Automatic cleanup: "Completely empty" pages and unnecessary spaces are automatically removed upon closing the book. (Exception: the first page, if it's the only page in the book, will stay there). If the cursor is on an empty page when the book is closed, the cursor will move to the last character of the first available previous non-empty page, or, if there is none, move instead the first character of the 1st page.
- An index: Some way to move quickly from page to page. Clicking "next page" 50 times can be a real bore. Ideally I'd see it like this: {} with a number between; Ctrl-Click to go straight to that page. The number dynamically adjusts: if pages are removed or inserted, the number changes accordingly to still point to the same text.
Yeah, some form of "bookmarking" is way preferable to only having page numbers. So you'd have one way to "define" as string of text, and another way to "link to" that string of text.
Maybe something like this:
{Chapter 1} to define a bookmark, and {>Chapter 1} to link to it? It would move noyt only to that page, but would also move the cursor to right after the bookmark string in thta page.
If the same bookmark is defined more than once, either the first or the last definition simply takes priority, nothing complex.
Or it could just be another pair of the special codes (see wiki).
As for the poster who wondered about coding, it would actually all be relatively simple to code (did it myself years ago -- programming a simple editor is not complex stuff), and no problem considering that the player is locked in a dedicated screen, thus no impact with the rest of the game.
The only important thing to add in order to keep the programming very simple, using a Book & Quill should be possible *only* from the player's inventory, not from a chest or other container. This would prevent 2 different players being simultaneously in the same book, with all the nightmarish conflicts that could occur. Maybe accessing a Book & Quill from another inventory (or Item Frame is that capability is ever added) would open the Book & Quill in "read only" mode, thus allowing several players to read the same book.
I suspect most players have experienced the quite primitive interface for the book and quill, resulting in few making use of the item for any but the most cursory purposes.
[Beyond one early experiment, I think the only use I normally make of it is to produce the written book Emeralds v.#worldseed# which is then sold in volume to various Librarians.
It would be interesting to hear what uses besides producing trade goods (and leaving longer-than-sign-length messages) are being attempted.]
GOTO #PageNumber# and the ability to edit text within a page might be attainable without extensive coding, but the closer to making the book and quill a text editor one gets, the less likely the result will be seen as worth the effort.
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WARNING: I have an extemely "grindy" playstyle; YMMV — if this doesn't seem fun to you, mine what you can from it & bin the rest.
I suspect most players have experienced the quite primitive interface for the book and quill, resulting in few making use of the item for any but the most cursory purposes.
[Beyond one early experiment, I think the only use I normally make of it is to produce the written book Emeralds v.#worldseed# which is then sold in volume to various Librarians.
It would be interesting to hear what uses besides producing trade goods (and leaving longer-than-sign-length messages) are being attempted.]
GOTO #PageNumber# and the ability to edit text within a page might be attainable without extensive coding, but the closer to making the book and quill a text editor one gets, the less likely the result will be seen as worth the effort.
Honestly I like how Bibliocraft did it, though making it one full textbox like vanilla would be awesome instead of line by line, thus allowing text wrapping (i.e. auto moves the cursor to the next line after filling the current line, like how Microsoft Word does it.
Rollback Post to RevisionRollBack
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When writing a book, it would be very useful to have these features:
- A cursor: Close the book, reopen it, and it "remembers" where you last were. Signing the book would remove the cursor.
- Mouse selection: Click to move the cursor to where you clicked, drag to make a selection of some text (for Deletion or Copy/Cut/Paste to replace text).
- A way to "push" the current page one page further, getting a new blank page. Ideal for adding new text between pages already typed.
- Automatic cleanup: "Completely empty" pages and unnecessary spaces are automatically removed upon closing the book. (Exception: the first page, if it's the only page in the book, will stay there). If the cursor is on an empty page when the book is closed, the cursor will move to the last character of the first available previous non-empty page, or, if there is none, move instead the first character of the 1st page.
- An index: Some way to move quickly from page to page. Clicking "next page" 50 times can be a real bore. Ideally I'd see it like this: {} with a number between; Ctrl-Click to go straight to that page. The number dynamically adjusts: if pages are removed or inserted, the number changes accordingly to still point to the same text.
Click to support!
Maybe something like this:
{Chapter 1} to define a bookmark, and {>Chapter 1} to link to it? It would move noyt only to that page, but would also move the cursor to right after the bookmark string in thta page.
If the same bookmark is defined more than once, either the first or the last definition simply takes priority, nothing complex.
Or it could just be another pair of the special codes (see wiki).
As for the poster who wondered about coding, it would actually all be relatively simple to code (did it myself years ago -- programming a simple editor is not complex stuff), and no problem considering that the player is locked in a dedicated screen, thus no impact with the rest of the game.
The only important thing to add in order to keep the programming very simple, using a Book & Quill should be possible *only* from the player's inventory, not from a chest or other container. This would prevent 2 different players being simultaneously in the same book, with all the nightmarish conflicts that could occur. Maybe accessing a Book & Quill from another inventory (or Item Frame is that capability is ever added) would open the Book & Quill in "read only" mode, thus allowing several players to read the same book.
I suspect most players have experienced the quite primitive interface for the book and quill, resulting in few making use of the item for any but the most cursory purposes.
[Beyond one early experiment, I think the only use I normally make of it is to produce the written book Emeralds v.#worldseed# which is then sold in volume to various Librarians.
It would be interesting to hear what uses besides producing trade goods (and leaving longer-than-sign-length messages) are being attempted.]
GOTO #PageNumber# and the ability to edit text within a page might be attainable without extensive coding, but the closer to making the book and quill a text editor one gets, the less likely the result will be seen as worth the effort.
Honestly I like how Bibliocraft did it, though making it one full textbox like vanilla would be awesome instead of line by line, thus allowing text wrapping (i.e. auto moves the cursor to the next line after filling the current line, like how Microsoft Word does it.
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