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Buddy World
About Truespace Archives
These pages are a copy of the official truespace forums prior to their removal somewhere around 2011.
They are retained here for archive purposes only.
Buddy World // Roundtable
Post by splinters // Jul 24, 2008, 5:54am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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My other thread was getting lost in a sea of technical talk so here is a nice clean thread to announce that Buddy World is now live.
If you are new and don't know what it is, I have spent over 8 years writing and illustrating books which are not yet published so I decided to do it myself and start a website with activities, colourful character and, most importantly, 3D books to read.
I hope you can take time to visit and maybe recommend it to a friend who has children and who perhaps want something a little different.
Lots of new stuff to come and a great introductory rate so you can watch the site grow as you explore.
www.buddyworldbooks.com
I realise there is much bigger news but this is the culmination of a lot of hard work by one individual and one BIG advert for tS. |
Post by 3dfrog // Jul 24, 2008, 6:29am
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3dfrog
Total Posts: 1225
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Congratulations Splinters! Great luck with the site. I will recommend it to people. |
Post by splinters // Jul 24, 2008, 6:35am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Thanks Dennis, as I said: lots to add but plenty there already...:D
Sorry I have to charge anything at all but 8 years is a long time to work on this and it is unlikely these will ever be published once they have been available online to read so I have to make a living somehow...a years subscription is less than the cost of one hardback book! |
Post by DanRoberts // Jul 24, 2008, 7:35am
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DanRoberts
Total Posts: 2
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My other thread was getting lost in a sea of technical talk so here is a nice clean thread to announce that Buddy World is now live.
If you are new and don't know what it is, I have spent over 8 years writing and illustrating books which are not yet published so I decided to do it myself and start a website with activities, colourful character and, most importantly, 3D books to read.
I hope you can take time to visit and maybe recommend it to a friend who has children and who perhaps want something a little different.
Lots of new stuff to come and a great introductory rate so you can watch the site grow as you explore.
www.buddyworldbooks.com
I realise there is much bigger news but this is the culmination of a lot of hard work by one individual and one BIG advert for tS.
Hey Splinters .... pretty neat stuff, you can tell you put a lot of work into the content :). |
Post by splinters // Jul 24, 2008, 8:53am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Hey Splinters .... pretty neat stuff, you can tell you put a lot of work into the content :).
Cheers Dan, and I have only just scratched the surface. 14 more books to go up as well as three 'new' concepts to develop: DSD, Bob and Blob, and Limbo!
And that is without developing the existing stuff.
Early adopters will indeed get a good deal over the coming year...:D |
Post by splinters // Jul 24, 2008, 1:01pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Good to see that the site already has subscribers...:D
I set the prices as follows:
Corporate membership (Year) 150 Pounds
Individual membership (year) 20 Pounds
Individual membership (6 months) 12 pounds
Individual membership (2 days) 2.5 pounds
They have increased noticably but I can do a lot in a year and would soon think that 11 pounds for the whole year was not a great deal.
I will see how uptake goes then review them, but I think they are fair given that a single book on lulu would cost about 5 pounds+ to download...:o |
Post by splinters // Jul 26, 2008, 3:37am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I just set up a Blog on my server so feel free to head on over:
http://blog.buddyworldbooks.com
Bear with me as I'm new to this.
Cheers |
Post by jamesmc // Jul 26, 2008, 3:48am
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jamesmc
Total Posts: 2566
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It appears that you have properly bloginated. :) |
Post by splinters // Jul 26, 2008, 4:20am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Sounds painful...will I like it? |
Post by splinters // Jul 26, 2008, 7:41am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I don't know why, but this is my favourite page so far:
http://www.buddyworldbooks.com/sample/village/harold.html
Just something very 'cute' about it-like a Wallace and Grommit set...:D But if you view in Firefox, the tv screen may be off slightly!!
EDIT: I just spent a couple of hours uncovering lots of typos in the page descriptors and fixing them. I spot one major typo in a book and have on image to replace. iBrent is doing an amazing jpb of making some flash new graphics for me to use....:jumpy: |
Post by stan // Jul 26, 2008, 8:08am
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stan
Total Posts: 1240
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Good luck Splinters.. off to a good start. :banana::banana: |
Post by splinters // Jul 26, 2008, 10:09am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Cheers Stan, I am very optimistic...:jumpy: |
Post by iBrent // Jul 26, 2008, 1:20pm
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iBrent
Total Posts: 102
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Hi Splinters,
I'm happy I can contribute to this project. With such great graphics to work with it's a lot of fun to program.
Exciting times!
iBrent |
Post by splinters // Jul 27, 2008, 7:37am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Just to let everyone know that ibrent has worked so hard these last few days making a file that I can adapt myself to provide a flip book experience for my books; like this one;
http://www.flipviewer.com/
Now I can make all my books flip this way without having to employ a programmer. I am going to credit him on my site but wanted to say a public thank you to him and heartily recommend anyone who wants multimedia programming to drop him a line. His rates are very reasonable and he takes a very professional approach....:D |
Post by Steinie // Jul 29, 2008, 12:48pm
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Steinie
Total Posts: 3667
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I know iBrent was gone for awhile. It is great to have him back, now stick around this time ok?:) |
Post by Stem // Jul 29, 2008, 1:07pm
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Stem
Total Posts: 199
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to announce that Buddy World is now live.
Hi Splinters, looks very good, I will certainly let others know of the site.
- Stem
PS
A broken link on http://www.buddyworldbooks.com/sample/town/town.html (Bobhouse not found on server) |
Post by Breech Block // Jul 29, 2008, 1:17pm
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Breech Block
Total Posts: 844
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I don't know why, but this is my favourite page so far:
http://www.buddyworldbooks.com/sample/village/harold.html
Just something very 'cute' about it-like a Wallace and Grommit set...:D But if you view in Firefox, the tv screen may be off slightly!!
Hi Splinters. I just love your W & G esque pictures. The attention to detail is phenomenal and a real inspiration from an artistic POV. It just makes me wish my kids were 20 years younger. Best of luck with the site; I think your onto a real winner. |
Post by splinters // Jul 29, 2008, 1:26pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Let's hope so eh? Subscriptions are available and heartily recommended for those with kids (or big kids). To give you an idea of my level of commitment to this. Since going live a few days ago, I have added 5 flipbooks, one game and spruced up graphics all over the place including nice new navigation buttons. Imagine what could appear in the next year!
Thanks for the support guys, just suprised Microsoft haven't bought 200 corporate licenses yet....:D |
Post by TheLion36 // Jul 30, 2008, 5:38am
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TheLion36
Total Posts: 36
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Give Microsoft some time... Many layers in their corporation the link has to go through! ;)
Very nice work Splinters!!! :) Looks very polished and very cute! :)
Ever thought about making a dynamic book? (So you can choose a path on every page changing the story slightly) |
Post by roman // Jul 30, 2008, 10:34am
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roman
Total Posts: 320
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Just to let everyone know that ibrent has worked so hard these last few days making a file that I can adapt myself to provide a flip book experience for my books; Great book and great collaboration guys, my heart always rejoices seeing trueSpace comunity members working together. |
Post by splinters // Jul 30, 2008, 11:48am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Give Microsoft some time... Many layers in their corporation the link has to go through! ;)
Very nice work Splinters!!! :) Looks very polished and very cute! :)
Ever thought about making a dynamic book? (So you can choose a path on every page changing the story slightly)
Whooah! one thing at a time...:p
I have 25 books to put on the site; 11 are up now with 14 to follow over the next year. Some of these are being revamped as we speak while others are OK for a few years. Plenty of new stuff also being developed.
I want to get the books content up before developing new features but I have to admit that putting these up online has caused me to re-evaluate their potential now that they are not 'fixed' like a real book.
I want plenty of choice for readers which is why I am using the flipbook version (courtesy of ibrent) alongside the normal book.
My wife is a learning support assistant and feels quite strongly that there should be a simple (big buttons to navigate) version and a more tactile (turn the pages yourself) version for more confident users. |
Post by splinters // Jul 30, 2008, 11:53am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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A few days ago I added this simple game based on simple 'dollmaker' code.
My kids love it and it is strangely addictive; like cloud spotting where you get control...:D |
Post by splinters // Jul 31, 2008, 1:35pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I am feeling rather proud of myself after making my first flash based game. Rather apt really as you have to choose to pop balloons or watch clouds which is pretty much the theme of the Little Cloud book!
A racing game next for Barn Buddies as well as a range of jigsaws, then a survival horror game for Creepy Castle. After that a board game for Jungle Woods.
I am feeling very satisfied...:D |
Post by Jack Edwards // Jul 31, 2008, 1:39pm
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Jack Edwards
Total Posts: 4062
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Nice work Splinters! After you get some funding a fully integrated Silverlight Buddy World 2.0 is going to be awesome. :D |
Post by splinters // Jul 31, 2008, 2:09pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Cheers Jack, it plays nicely too. Indeed, once the site is up and running, I would love to see it move to the next level. I am already looking at Virtual Earth portals for the Buddy World shop as well as a realtime version of the site for shared space.
Exciting times, I cannot sleep for thinking about things to do...which is why i am not getting to bed until 4AM most evenings (mornings?)
Feel like a big kid again, and people are subscribing to the site just through word of mouth...I haven't even advertised or emailed about it yet...:jumpy: |
Post by splinters // Aug 4, 2008, 9:31pm
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Well, the member section of the site is now almost complete for the initial stage. Several games have been added and several are on the way. There is a shoot em up, balloon burst, cloudspotting and even a board game as well as a quiz. All books now exist in a 'flipbook' format so you get a choice of how to read them.
A two day pass is available on the site for anyone curious who wants to see the full range of books (but doesn't want a full subscription) so that is one way to go although I have moved even more of the stuff over to the sample side so you can view bits of most stuff for free.
Pop on over and have a look if you have'nt already....:D
http://www.buddyworldbooks.com |
Post by splinters // Aug 7, 2008, 6:43am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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I finally got around to making the jigsaw puzzles which are in the Barn Buddies section for now. I will add one to the sample section later tonight.
iBrent is helping me with a rather snazzy flash based dress up game for a few characters and I am making a Buddy World quiz that will cover the whol experience.
I found a few books that were not in the 'flip' format as well as a few 'dead links' but they are sorted now so please take some time to have a look.
Just one question, as many of the members here are in the US, would I be better making the subscriptions in dollars or would you simply 'double' the current sterling price to get a rough dollar equivalent?
I seem to have only UK subscribers at the moment...none from the US...:o |
Post by brotherx // Aug 7, 2008, 8:21pm
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brotherx
Total Posts: 538
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I finally got around to making the jigsaw puzzles which are in the Barn Buddies section for now. I will add one to the sample section later tonight.
iBrent is helping me with a rather snazzy flash based dress up game for a few characters and I am making a Buddy World quiz that will cover the whol experience.
I found a few books that were not in the 'flip' format as well as a few 'dead links' but they are sorted now so please take some time to have a look.
Just one question, as many of the members here are in the US, would I be better making the subscriptions in dollars or would you simply 'double' the current sterling price to get a rough dollar equivalent?
I seem to have only UK subscribers at the moment...none from the US...:o
Hey, Splinters, check out my website for some games. I have a pairs game and slide-a-square (got it from siteexperts) which are html based....may be of use to you. |
Post by splinters // Aug 8, 2008, 12:02am
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splinters
Total Posts: 4148
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Mmmm, I cannot get those games to work BrotherX. However, the jigsaw puzzle I put up is excellent (I bought the program) although the sample version only allows 4 pieces and 1 picture. The full version gives you a choice of images and you can have up to 144 pieces as well as rotation!
http://www.buddyworldbooks.com/sample/buddies/games/puzzlesimple.html |
Post by brotherx // Aug 8, 2008, 2:01am
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brotherx
Total Posts: 538
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aaah, games work in IE. dunno about other browsers. think firefox is ok....and actually pairs works in opera as well. |
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