Thought some people might be interested in an article up at Wizards site about how they had to basically retype the whole set of books and some other stuff that went into getting them print ready.

http://wizards.com/dnd/Article.aspx?x=dnd/4dreye/20120704

neat to read about the whole process, thanks for sharing

That was pretty cool. I can't imagine just how many man-hours were sunk into this. Likely more than a lot of the current supplements.

Ok for the first time since hearing about this project, I'm getting a bit worried. Trouble finding the font, really?

The WOTC crew retyping everything? The editing on WOTC rulebooks makes me cringe. I have these pre-ordered and I hope not to end up regretting it.

I was just looking through my original copy, and I think I may make a new TOC just so I can organize the information in a way that makes sense to me.

Um -- is that interior photo of a final copy?  Because they seem to have forgotten to turn on hyphenation, which leads to extra space between words and makes it harder to read.  The most obvious example is in the upper left corner, line ending with WATERBORNE.

Quote from: molofaha;556651Um -- is that interior photo of a final copy?  Because they seem to have forgotten to turn on hyphenation, which leads to extra space between words and makes it harder to read.  The most obvious example is in the upper left corner, line ending with WATERBORNE.

And checking the original DMG confirms: Unlike the other samples they've shown to date, that page is not adhering to the original layout. And it also looks like it has a serious case of "text lost in the binding" going on.

Not a good sign.

Quote from: Justin Alexander;556712Not a good sign.

Guys, don't make me reconsider ordering these!

Quote from: Exploderwizard;556623Ok for the first time since hearing about this project, I'm getting a bit worried. Trouble finding the font, really?

Yeah, between this and the initial delay (jumping from April 17th to July 17th) is starting to make me wonder.

QuoteThe WOTC crew retyping everything? The editing on WOTC rulebooks makes me cringe. I have these pre-ordered and I hope not to end up regretting it.

Equally worrisome here.

Quote from: Rum Cove;556715Guys, don't make me reconsider ordering these!

It's an excellent trap they've created.  "You ingrate grognards don't appreciate anything we try to do for you!  Goodbye forever!"

etc. if it doesn't succeed in part due to complaints about the quality, or if it does "Tee hee, they'll eat anything we put on the table!  lol."

All kidding aside, I'll wait until I have the product in-hand to pass judgement.  Hell, maybe that pic is from the batch that caused the delay.  I mean, the "true first alpha omega print run" of the DMG has the P and Q section from the Monster Manual printed upside down in the middle, and another run had a ruinous groove gouged in the cover due to a machining error.

Still the "can't find the font" is VERY troubling.  It's 20th Century Modern, it comes free with MSWord!  I can crank out letter-perfect copies of TSR stuff with Word and some formatting tricks and that font!

Quote from: thedungeondelver;556719Still the "can't find the font" is VERY troubling.  It's 20th Century Modern, it comes free with MSWord!  I can crank out letter-perfect copies of TSR stuff with Word and some formatting tricks and that font!

This has been discussed at length before. AFAIK, the B, i, j and the quotation marks are different in 20th Century Modern to what is in the AD&D books. It's probably a 'Futura' variant, which is not widely available font.

Edit: Comparison Link here (Warning pdf).

Quote from: jadrax;556783This has been discussed at length before. AFAIK, the B, i, j and the quotation marks are different in 20th Century Modern to what is in the AD&D books. It's probably a 'Futura' variant, which is not widely available font.

Edit: Comparison Link here (Warning pdf).

Interesting, do you have any idea when it changed and why?

Quote from: Marleycat;556792Interesting, do you have any idea when it changed and why?

I have no real idea as to the why, you would have to ask someone who knows about 20th century printing techniques.

Theres a summer of the when that can be solved by going wayback.

I still think (As someone who has never played AD&D) they look utterly ace, and I kinda want to get them.

The preview photo does look very worrying in regard to the text obscured in the center of the page. I'm going to wait until they're out in the wild.