So I have solved all most of the issues I wrote you about last week.
Links show in blue, now; and not in an awful reddish pink that for some reason, somebody thought it should be the standard for LaTeX. It is not so hard, once you know how to do it. They tricky part about LaTeX and LyX is to find precisely the information you need.
Text seems alright now. I have even included drop caps at the first paragraph of every chapter. Not that it was truly necessary, but it just looks smart. In LyX you need to download a module called lettrine. You do that through MikTeX, which is a separate program from LyX. Then you add a line of code to your LyX preamble, and then you have to add one line of code on each instance of your dropcap. —I tell you, at times I wonder why I did not stick to MS Word.
The font issue is solved; again a line of code in the LaTex preamble solved that. Besides, after experimenting on a smaller screen, I have chosen a slightly less elegant but more readable font for the main text. As it is, the text it’s a joy to read.
A few improvements
The first few pages have a slightly more professional look now, even showing roman numerals and the usual perks you expect in a book, except for the ISBN number, which should be no problem, well, I hope.
The Table of Contents has been improved, becoming much more readable. On the pdf, it will also display a link. However, that’s mostly an extra, as the pdf is fully bookmarked, which is one of the good things LyX does for you perfectly.
(This is the great part of LyX and LaTeX: once you know how to do it, LyX will do it smooth and perfectly)
Illustrations
I’m still struggling with these. I’m almost there, but they are still a pain. LyX was designed to meet the needs of professors, not game designers and it shows in a few things that are not wrong, it’s more like… well… the final result looks like as if you were reading from a science book. I hope to be able to find a way to tweak it a bit, but it will be tomorrow, because it has been a long day of typesetting.
If everything fails, I will stick with the simple layout that I used for the N&B primer and move on. I really want to get this game finally done.
And this is, I hope, the final step. (Covers, maps and character sheet work great)
A promise
When the pdf is ready, I will share my LaTeX preamble, for the benefit of the next brave soul who dares to publish a game book using LyX or LaTeX. The reason I’m not doing it right now, it’s that I’m pretty sure I will have to add a few lines to get the illustrations the way I want them.
A tip
If you ever dream of publishing a game, gather a few friends. You’ll need every bit of help you can find.
Exhaustedly yours, Miguel