Board Thread:Lore Texts/@comment-25101089-20170528012756/@comment-28813058-20170528112448

LOTRMod wrote: I have now finished the code that allows us to convert text files into written book items, and have them generate randomly in structures.

https://www.facebook.com/LOTRMC/posts/1451042588267440

Exciting!

Now, for something like this, it's a case where the more lore we can include, the better. More books means more variety, more interest, less chance of seeing the same book twice, and overall a better and more immersive play experience.

So we are openly inviting the community to help us with this. If you've ever wanted to write something and have it included in the mod - now's your chance!

What do we want?
Any writings that could generate as a book and be found in the world.

This includes, for example: but really, feel free to write anything that you feel is fitting, and will improve the world.
 * histories and descriptions; information on regions, peoples, events...
 * journals of adventurers and explorers
 * poems and songs
 * references to mod features written from an in-world perspective
 * fragments of longer texts

We cannot include direct quotes from Tolkien's writings, nor from anyone else's. What you write must be your own work.

Obviously, we will only be looking to include writings of the highest quality. This means no spelling mistakes; no grammatical errors; and good formatting. It includes accents on Elvish words, and correct hyphenation: Middle-earth, not Middle-Earth or Middle Earth; Lothlórien, not Lothlorien. Other community members can help correct such mistakes.

Texts must be consistent with the mod, and with Tolkien's canon. It may be helpful to adopt the view that the mod is an incomplete presentation of Middle-earth; these lore texts can show elements of the world that mod features can't, or don't yet.

Longer isn't necessarily better! We are hoping for short texts as well as longer ones. Texts of varied length.

What's the file format?
To make our lives easier, we will need you to follow the correct file format for your texts. We want to be able to drag and drop the text straight into the mod, not spend time making sure it

Lore texts are plain .txt files.

Paragraphs and line breaks are accounted for, so be careful with that, and make the text look nice.

Lines beginning with # are comments which are not included in the book text. You can use this to add author credits, commentary, and so on.

To define the name of the book item, use a line beginning with #title:

To define the book author, use a line beginning with #author:

Note that you don't have to include an author if the text doesn't call for one. Also, you should use an authorship name that makes sense in-world; do not use your name, or username. You can place those in the text file as #-commentary.

To define the types of structures in which the lore book should generate, use a line beginning with #types: followed by a comma-separated list of type names.

The current list of type names is:

These must be spelled exactly as they are in the list!
 * all
 * ruins
 * shire
 * blue_mountains
 * lindon
 * eriador
 * rivendell
 * eregion
 * dunland
 * gundabad
 * angmar
 * woodland_realm
 * dol_guldur
 * dale
 * durins_folk
 * lothlorien
 * rohan
 * isengard
 * gondor
 * mordor
 * dorwinion
 * rhun
 * near_harad
 * far_harad
 * far_harad_jungle
 * half_troll

all will add the lore as a possibility for all structures. This should be used sparingly, if at all. ruins will be used for generic 'ruins' structures without any specific factional or regional association, such as the ruined houses and small stone ruins. The other types pertain to factions and/or regions, as expected.

Here are some examples of the correct format to follow:

Example 1 (in-game 1 2 3)

Example 2 (in-game 1 2)

Example 3 (in-game 1 2 3 4)

Posting guidelines
Posts on this board must be related to lore texts with the intention of having them included in the mod. If you just want to write something, but don't want it included in the mod as a lore book - this is not the right place!

If you have an idea for a lore text, you can start a thread to discuss the idea. Maybe you want to hear what other people think of it before you write it. Maybe you have a good idea, but you think someone else would do a better job of writing it.

If you have written something, you can start a thread to share it with others. Then, people can discuss it in the replies, and offer feedback, criticism, and suggestions for improvement. You need to be open to feedback and criticism - remember, things need to be as good as they possibly can be, to maintain the mod's high quality.

If you have written multiple related texts, consider posting them together in a single post. This reduces clutter and helps focus feedback.

You are invited to hand out kudos to writings which you like. Similar guidelines apply as on the Suggestions Forum - but here, kudos will be given more consideration by the mod team, since it's much easier to add in a popular text than to spend time working on a popular suggestion idea.

IMPORTANT - Wikia / Fandom Contribution Guidelines

By submitting any lore texts to this board, you give unlimited permission for others - including the mod team - to modify your original writings however they see fit - and permission for those modified writings to be included in the mod.

Now that you've read that - get writing! Would they spawn in Rohirric structures, given that they don't read or write? Or are we overlooking that sort of technicality?