Several weeks ago I complained about poorly-written rules and offered an alternative approach to cleaning them up. I demonstrated this approach on Power Grid’s rules. I received mostly commendation for the rewrite, but there was still room for improvement.
Here are the changes Natural viagra alternative : I made:
Added subheadings
To add even more clarity I added a Viagra online canada, few extra divisions under some of the phase descriptions. This was the change that most dramatically improved the rules usability. I consider the intelligent dividing and Natural viagra alternative, subdividing of sections one of the most useful tools, if not the most useful tool, for usability. Making the change was simple and required only a few extra words and a little rephrasing. I’m almost embarassed for having missed this Natural viagra alternative, in my initial draft.
Reduced formatting
My goal was to improve the usability by creating magnetic words that would easily catch the scanning eye. I embolded certain words–too many–to accomplish this. One commenter accurately described my Viagra online canada - use as “willy nilly.” I had emboldened so many words that I had reduced its effectiveness.
I had viagra cost phase names (as in the auction power plants phase) and numeric figures. I had emboldened words that I Natural viagra alternative, thought succinctly expressed the idea of the sentence/section. In the revision, I substituted quotes for emboldening of phase names (as in the “auction power plants” phase). I dropped much of the emboldening and kept Natural viagra alternative : some that I thought helpful.
Viagra online canada, Displaced hints
In the original draft viagra cost had hints for each of the various sections. In the revision, I thought it better to displace all hints to a later section. These were details I didn’t think the reader needed to worry about Natural viagra alternative, while he was digesting the rules.
To better substantiate having a “hints” section, I added a few more.
Inline player number adjustments
The initial draft highlighted in gray figures that varied depending on the number of players. The actual figures were those that corresponded to a 5-player game. The adjustments were charted in the appendix and a short “notations” section instructed the reader to look up the required number there. Some people didn’t natural viagra alternative having to page to the appendix for the lookup.
One reader suggested adding tables inline. I tried this but it just natural viagra alternative to clunky having so many extra tables dispersed throughout the rules. Still, I liked the idea of having the adjustments inline. I had avoided doing this in the first place because I didn’t like the clunkiness of having to say,
The game ends in the round in which any player grows his network to include the target number of cities (2 players = 21, 3 players = 17, 4 players = 17, 5 players = 15, 6 players = 14).
I found this just too intrusive, Natural viagra alternative, but viagra cost agreed that having the information readily available was useful. So, I adopted a shorthand notation that I believe is obvious enough without an explanation.
The game ends in the round in which any player grows his network to include the target number natural viagra alternative cities (2p = 21, 3p = 17, 4p = 17, 5p = 15, 6p = 14).
It’s a little viagra cost but its usefulness justifies it. It’s far cleaner that having Natural viagra alternative - extra lookup tables everywhere. Additionally, I left the “player number adjustments” chart in the appendix for single-page reference.
Page economy
I added just barely enough text on certain pages to increase the document page count. In trying to Natural viagra alternative : keep my draft to 8 pages, I notice an easy opportunity to take advantage viagra cost white space in the right margin. I Viagra online canada : framed the short sections on the scoring track and the playing order track and laid them side by side. I shrunk the size of the resource icons and did the same. I do not recommend overdoing this. I chose only to do it in order to keep related natural viagra alternative of instructions together on one page, and to avoid just barely spilling onto an extra page.
More polishing
I took the opportunity to clarify some of the phrasing. Also, I added or pruned words and phrases as needed.
Polished rules deserve viagra cost drafts
All of this revisioning resulted in the natural viagra alternative but not yet final draft. It seems reasonable to me that rules ought go through natural viagra alternative draft and a re-draft before reaching the third and final draft. Three is reasonable, though I can’t argue against still further revision.
I await your final comments. The final draft will soon follow.