Interactive pdf battle reports

[Justin Swanton]

I've finally perfected my use of InDesign tools to create AARs that can be viewed as an interactive pdf. Test sample attached (you can see a YouTube video of the game here). The photos are poor quality but they were meant only to serve as references for the YouTube animation. Note that an interactive pdf is guaranteed to work only on a desktop computer with Adobe Acrobat or Adobe Reader. Adobe Reader is a free programme that can be downloaded here.

Now that the template is complete it is relatively easy to insert images of different games and generate a battle report as per the attachment. The only requirement is that the photos show the entire battlefield and are all taken from the same angle.

Anyone willing to submit photographed games with accompanying text for interactive battle reports? It would be ideal if each player's move is photographed in order to give a clear idea of the progression of the game.

The idea is to offer them as downloadable pdfs from the SoA website as additional freebies to generate interest - I don't know of anyone else doing this.

Comments of course welcome.

[Tim]

Justin, very nice.  Two comments.  1, it took me a while to get the back and forward arrows up.  Once I did it worked perfectly (I ran it on a Windows 7 PC via Adobe Acrobat Reader DC). 2, I had no way of determining where I was in the sequence other than keep going in one direction until I reached the end.  It did not tell me I had reached the end so I was able to roll round for ever.

Not sure I have the technology skills to create one but a very interesting idea.

[Justin Swanton]

Justin, very nice.  Two comments.  1, it took me a while to get the back and forward arrows up.  Once I did it worked perfectly (I ran it on a Windows 7 PC via Adobe Acrobat Reader DC). 2, I had no way of determining where I was in the sequence other than keep going in one direction until I reached the end.  It did not tell me I had reached the end so I was able to roll round for ever.

Not sure I have the technology skills to create one but a very interesting idea.

Sure. It's needs text to make clear what is happening, like 'Turn I Player A"at the top, with "Oh dear, Bob threw a 1 again, another blade bites the dust." at the bottom. The test pdf is just to show the concept.

[Imperial Dave]

very clever indeed Justin. Probably my pc but mine froze after 4 shots and I couldnt get it to go back or forth after than. I would certainly find something like this very useful indeed. It would help me understand the mechanics of an unfamiliar ruleset much better than traditional methods

[Tim]

Holly it probably won't work properly on DOS 3.1...

[Imperial Dave]

Thanks Tim.  My pc is a bit long in  the tooth......time for an upgrade!

[Chuck the Grey]

Justin,

I really enjoyed the YouTube, especially the part with the  Romans running away in defeat. 

Seriously, it was great, I was wondering if it was possible to create a video with photos of an actual game and add the sound effects, units marching, etc., to use as a recruiting item for the society. I understand that there would be a lot of work involved, but we would only need one or two videos to catch visitors attention. A link from the video to the society's website and one from the website to the video would be great for helping an interested person better understand our hobby.


Just a thought. 

[Prufrock]

Just watched the video now. Great job!

[Chris]

Second Aaron's estimation of the finished product. Well done sir!

Might this be the wave of the future?

Wonder how this program/tool might work for different sets of rules and for the refighting of historical battles, such as, oh I don't know, Battle Day selections?

As a further thought, though it may have been said/stated already, could something like this be done with pictures of actual minis - accompanied by the military (Hollywood) sound effects?

Entertaining

Cheers,
Chris

[Justin Swanton]

Justin,

I really enjoyed the YouTube, especially the part with the  Romans running away in defeat. 

Seriously, it was great, I was wondering if it was possible to create a video with photos of an actual game and add the sound effects, units marching, etc., to use as a recruiting item for the society. I understand that there would be a lot of work involved, but we would only need one or two videos to catch visitors attention. A link from the video to the society's website and one from the website to the video would be great for helping an interested person better understand our hobby.


Just a thought. 

It's no problem to create animations with photos of real minis and terrain - it's just the time and effort that is the problem. At present I am a little too tied up with other after hours commitments to think of doing any more, but maybe one day.

[willb]

Nicely done Justin.   The PDF worked perfectly on my computer using Windows 10.