The Summoned Creature Quick Reference

I've gathered most of the information about the Summoned Monsters and the spells required to cast them and various other aspects of them for ease of use and 'lowering the learning curve'.

My question is, would people rather have a seperate "Summoned Creatures Quickref" or all inclusive of a spell reference.

Please note that the complete spell reference is going to be HUGE and it wouldn't be quick anything. The best way to find spells is via a database. But a Summoned Monster one is fairly small. If I really feel ambitious I could extract the sprites for the monsters and place them next to the spell, but I'm not much of an Adober and PDF's are the crossplatform standard so I'd need someone to help with that if I did it (On the same note, if someone wants to help with that, I have the icons for the spell path requirements as well and they could help me with putting them on the MIQR if they feel ambitious)

Any preference?

Edit: On a side note while I'm editing the MIQR, do people want Wishable items included along with stats? Solaris' gear and such?

[ February 05, 2004, 22:00: Message edited by: Zen ]

[Bowlingballhead]

You go, girl! Boy. Einstein. Whatever.

I like the idea of a summoned creature guide. There are so many spells in this game, I get lost, and summons are a major tool all by themselves, critically important for many races.

[Gandalf Parker]

I think the tactics and strategy involving summoned creatures is seperate from thinking about what spells to cast. I would vote for a seperate "summoning" reference.

If that seems small then maybe it could be "spells cast in the lab" to include globals and such. That way the other one can be combat spells. You would use the reference for when thinking about scripting your commanders in combat.

[Graeme Dice]

Originally posted by Zen:
My question is, would people rather have a seperate "Summoned Creatures Quickref" or all inclusive of a spell reference.

I'd rather have it separate. I'd also like to know the upkeep cost for each creature, but that's a lot of work.

Edit: On a side note while I'm editing the MIQR, do people want Wishable items included along with stats? Solaris' gear and such?

I think they should be included under a separate section of some sort, as they are still possible to achieve.

[Unwise]

Ditto.

Also secondary question.

Does everyone like the format of the MIQR as far as path and school requirements? I'm thinking of doing it by Path, and breaking it up by school level. And a seperate one for "Multi-path" so it's a little more 'quickrefish'.

Or is there an easier way to do it that people feel would fit how they think about it?

[Argitoth]

Originally posted by Zen:
If I really feel ambitious I could extract the sprites for the monsters and place them next to the spell, but I'm not much of an Adober and PDF's are the crossplatform standard so I'd need someone to help with that if I did it

I'd be able to "Prnt Scrn", open Paint, cut and paste all the monsters into one big file. I could probably take the whole saturday and do it, or a few saturdays. They would, of corse, be in-game pics in the battle orders section. I'll take high-definition 1152x768 full screen in-game pics.

Edit: Actually, it would be best to make individual files for each summon. I'm going to make my own little playground. Human vs Humam 75% Magic Site, 0 Indep Strength, Reaserch Easy, etc.

Edit2: I could also take the RIGHT-CLICK unit info pics. What would you rather?

Haha Edit3: Unit Info screen is the best way to go. I'll make sure the size isn't too big.

Edit4: Actually, Tarrasques are huge.......

Edit5: I can also keep track of how much supplies they use. Like a tarrasque uses up 15 supplies. You'd want to know that.

[ February 05, 2004, 22:12: Message edited by: Argitoth ]

Originally posted by Graeme Dice:
I'd rather have it separate. I'd also like to know the upkeep cost for each creature, but that's a lot of work.

I'll probably include upkeep on the 2nd or 3rd Version of it. As that is a factor for summoning and a useful tool to know. I'll also include notations for Cast in Targeted Province so people know which ones are province bombers.

Originally posted by Argitoth:
Edit5: I can also keep track of how much supplies they use. Like a tarrasque uses up 15 supplies. You'd want to know that.

If you'd like. Most supplies are standard, but you can keep an eye out if they are modified in some way (like the Celestial Servant and Tarrasque).

I'll have to find a standard height and length requirement in order to make it look right. Demon Lords are also all big. I belive if it's the side of the Icons on a Fullscreen 800x640 res on the sidebar should work, or do people want them smaller/bigger?

[Lord Hammer]

Separate is best IMHO...that way you can plan ahead for a summoned army strategy and leave other spells for later. It will be especially useful for Ermor, as well as other less formidable basic unit races.