Frootloop Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Know your graphics - Use photobucket to manage your photos, but turn off the 'Rename files on upload' setting, or whatever it's called. You may need to dig through the settings to find it. Work out what photos you want to use, copy them to a separate folder, rename them as simply as possible, and then upload them to a single dedicated folder on your PB account. That way you can have an easy template in something like Word for linking to your photos. In my SWF diary, I kept all my workers' photos as simple as possible - Faith.jpg, McFly.jpg and so on. If I had family together, then I used first names - Zimmy.jpg and Randy.jpg, for example. That made adding photos to my diary so, so, so much easier than hunting through PB's pages to find the right photo, selecting the link to it, pasting it into my diary, then trying to find the next link. I found this approach, while a bit time-heavy to set up, so much easier to use in the long run because I could use use my preset links to add in all the photos I needed, a lot quicker than hunting through my photobucket folder. I did that in the past, and barely used photos because of the difficulty in doing so. If I remember, I'll try and throw up a screenshot of how my Word documents are set up for quick and easy formatting of shows and pictures. I found using Word 2003 easiest because the formatting is pretty well compatible with the formatting on the forum. Later MS Office programs, or OpenOffice which I tried as an alternative, seem not to use the same formatting and gave me problems on the forum when I tried to use them. Saying that, I just cut and pasted this post into whatever version of Word I have at work (2010?) and it seemed to work fine. I'm just far more used to 2003 than the later versions, I guess. I want to second this part, especially. Though I write up my shows in-browser (I think I'm about the only one) it makes it much easier when I can copy an IMG code and just change the name for each worker when I post it. Changing http://rs1004.pbsrc.com/albums/af162/frootloop18/WWE%202009/Batista.jpg~c100 to http://rs1004.pbsrc.com/albums/af162/frootloop18/WWE%202009/EvanBourne.jpg~c100 takes seconds, compared to hunting down the images indiviually. It's also helpful if, like me, you enjoy having your champions' pictures include the title to name them appropriately. Same with any modifications/gimmick changes you may make to them. For example, I have ShawnMichaelsDX as one picture, ShawnMichaels as another and ShawnMichaelsWorld as a third, so I have him covered under whatever situation he's currently in. (also, can I just say that I really appreciate this thread and suggest it be stickied/at least turn into a sort of FAQ/Mod Tips thread?) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yeah I write-up in browser and I simply do my entire write-up without pics, copy and paste into the forums , then put stuff into quotes and what not. THEN go to Photobucket and get the direct link for each photo, click the image button on the forum and it uploads the image automatically. And regarding pics I downloaded your NPR 2009 mod and it has basically every worker with every belt so I will probably import some photos from that mod. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frootloop Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Yeah I write-up in browser and I simply do my entire write-up without pics, copy and paste into the forums , then put stuff into quotes and what not. THEN go to Photobucket and get the direct link for each photo, click the image button on the forum and it uploads the image automatically. And regarding pics I downloaded your NPR 2009 mod and it has basically every worker with every belt so I will probably import some photos from that mod. Not my mod, but thanks. I wish I could mod to that level. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Well kudos to whoever made it .Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 By the way does anyone know who to post youtube videos , without having to click the links. I want to include theme songs in my dynasty and the songs just pop up as links. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Nection Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 When your on the youtube video there is a share tab below. There is a tab that says Embeded click on that and copy the highlighted code. Just paste the code in between what ever your planning on putting it I'll do one for example.... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2IrqVVcIVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> or you could even place it in a quote by just texting it in between the quote code... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2IrqVVcIVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> you could also hit the center alignment button to place it in the middle like so... <iframe width="420" height="315" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2IrqVVcIVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> you can even change the size of the video like you want to display songs but the graphics dont matter as much you can change the width and the height of the video by adjusting acordingly most are displayed width="420" height-="315" so lets turn them to width="150 and height="150 and see how that looks.... <iframe width="150" height="150" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/m2IrqVVcIVg" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen></iframe> Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Thanks K-Nection . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Nection Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I really wish this thread was around when I was originally attempting my first dynasty....I'm going to do everyone a service and link this thread in the hall of records because as I scroll through the pages this is a great resource. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Cool , I'm happy I made this thread because it could honestly help so much people who have no clue or very little of a clue on how to make a dynasty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPnutz Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have to ask this, maybe i missed the answer but i want to start writing a story in TEW. I have an idea but i want to know, do you NEED to put pictures in them or can you do this in a completely text based format? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest TomTEWFAN Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 That's entirely up to you . Though I can say pictures make your dynasty look cleaner. Go back a few pages where we discuss Photobucket. You can use that for pictures ( upload them from a pic pac). But pics will attract more viewers, but if you are one of those people that can tell a story without pics go for it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frootloop Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have to ask this, maybe i missed the answer but i want to start writing a story in TEW. I have an idea but i want to know, do you NEED to put pictures in them or can you do this in a completely text based format? You don't NEED pictures, but speaking for myself alone, if I just see a big wall of text, I'm going to be much less likely to read through all of it than if there's pictures and graphics involved. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Nection Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 You don't NEED pictures, but speaking for myself alone, if I just see a big wall of text, I'm going to be much less likely to read through all of it than if there's pictures and graphics involved. I second this...I need pretty pictures or I'm not engaged...I was one of those kids that never read books without pictures Ha Ha! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPnutz Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Looks like I need to read through this again a couple of times then to digest how to do everything, thanks for the responses guys! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
K-Nection Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 The first page should describe it but if your still confused go and ahead and fire away...That's pretty much what this thread is for now! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
James Casey Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have to ask this, maybe i missed the answer but i want to start writing a story in TEW. I have an idea but i want to know, do you NEED to put pictures in them or can you do this in a completely text based format? They help, I think, but my MAW diary only used pictures when debuting workers (and not always then). Possibly folks had lower expectations back in 2007 I did use pictures for the last few big shows, I think, and it does seem to help people get into the story, especially if you've got some backstory to plough through before you get to the shows proper. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pipers Pit Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Thank you for keeping this thread going. Been invaluable as I plan this WCW project. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Roguey Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I have to ask this, maybe i missed the answer but i want to start writing a story in TEW. I have an idea but i want to know, do you NEED to put pictures in them or can you do this in a completely text based format? I find pictures to help telling the reader who is who, especially if it's something like a real world mod that has people debut under new names or such. Pictures are also easy to get gimmicks across at a glance as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonmack Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 One other thing that can save a lot of time when posting is to create a separate document either word ( or even notepad works) where you copy the links from Photobucket ( or whatever imaging site you store pictures online) and then they are already formatted for you and you just have to copy and paste the link from your document to the word document or as you are posting. This way you don't need to go to Photobucket, or search there for the picture you need to link. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Beejus Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 This is a very good thread, and most people have already given the advice that I preach to people who ask for it. But I will add what I can think of. 1. Get a feel for your time period. Obviously if you're doing a current day game, this isn't a huge deal, because we are in that time period. But if you're doing a historical mod, people can get turned off by immediately booking as if it were modern times. You have to ease into things like that. Much as others said about "if you want to book Chavo to beat Lesnar" the best way to do something like that is to build it organically for best results. Likewise, if you are playing an 80s or early 90s game, you may want to start the game with throwing out a lot of squash matches, whereas an Attitude era game would feature big main events on TV. As I say, start the game that way. Once you've eased your readership into your new era, then you can do whatever you please. This also runs in time with knowing your pictures, because I don't know about anyone else, but (within reason) the wrong picture for the time period of a person can really take me out of a game sometimes. It's all about that immersion, baby. 2A. Plan ahead. One of the easiest ways to keep a game going long-term is to have plans for where you are heading. You need to be flexible, because if your next World champion gets injured or dies in-game, you have to roll with the punches; but your best bet is to have a vague description in your mind of where you want to end up by your "season finale" event. If you have a story, make sure it's one that you would want to read yourself, and that helps to make it a labor of love, as others said. 2B. Have an exit strategy. I feel like this goes hand-in-hand with plan ahead. I know that we all love games that can seemingly run forever, but sometimes real life can happen and you won't be able to continue that game forever. It isn't a bad idea to supply yourself some big occurrences that could serve as the "season finale" of the dynasty itself. Just as I said about having a story, sometimes your best stuff can happen when you are wrapping that story up. 3. Listen to your readership. This is not to say don't book how you want, but just like in real wrestling, you have to please your fanbase. If you don't listen to comments that you get about this person or that person and their push, they can become jaded and leave your diary behind. D. If I could be serious for a moment... Do not, I repeat, do not be afraid of inviting a little bit of camp into your dynasty. I actually was just talking about this with Mootinie the other day, that (depending on your fed, of course) sometimes you just need some midcard campyness to lighten the mood up from your super-serious main event picture. Look up the in-game definition of the "gimmicky" gimmick style, and apply it to your game. People want to be entertained, and sometimes I'll go ahead and write a really lame comedy segment, not caring if it rated well in the game or not, just to get a laugh out of my readers. 5. Have fun! This one should go without saying. If the game you are writing feels like a chore, then do something to change it. I've changed my format in War of the Thrones probably five times now, just because I didn't feel like it was working for me personally anymore. Eventually, if you do a long running game, you're bound to have months where you are in between big feuds, and you feel like you're running on empty. Don't worry about it! Just plug along and find a way to make it fun for yourself again so that you can push through. Or maybe step away from it for a week to recharge your own batteries. Your readers will be forgiving of a little bit away if you need it. 6. Understand how to work TEW. This one is something I have struggled with in the past, because when I started my main dynasty, I didn't have a lot of time in with TEW 2013. But I have learned so much since then about the game, my best play style, and the best way to insert my stories into it. There are a lot of nuances to the game that you can utilize to your own ends. One thing that taught me a lot about playing the game itself was actually reading Derek B's Mod-Making Guide over in the mods forum. It doesn't talk too much about playing the game, but learning how things are crafted gave me a ton of insight into how better to get better grades in the game while also telling the stories that I wanted to tell. I wouldn't say this one is required reading, but if Well, that's all I can think of at the moment, and if I come up with anything else, I'll be posting it for everyone to study up on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dragonmack Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 I never got the whole "write for yourself" way of thinking. I mean obviously the people who post on here want people to read what they write or they would not post. I post because I want people to read and maybe have a laugh at some of the stuff I write or for my multiple typos and my bad match write-ups. I do not care about the awards on here because they mean nothing to me. I even do not care if I get feedback, because I feel feedback is a two way street. In order to get it, you have to give it to others and that is something I stopped doing long ago. Basically my feedback is my picks and the occasional comment I may make. The thing I do care if I have a decent view count. If I am not getting a decent view count then I feel that it is a waste of my time. The write for yourself idea is basically to help the writer keep motivated and to keep posting in the absence of feedback or comments, as even the more popular dynasties will tend to only get a few comments. It can be disheartening to a writer, especially a new one, when they put all this effort into and idea or a show , they post it, and then nothing. Number of views are nice, but its very impersonal and hard to get really excited over. It takes time to build an audience, time to hone your skills and presentation, especially if new to creative writing, and it takes the writers own interest in what they are creating for that to translate to the readers. If you don't care about what you are writing, why should others is the basic thought. Not everyone can be a J-Silver or Monkeypox and hit a homerun off their very first dynasty. For most of us, to quote Methos 'we have to start small , then build'. I know that was the case for me. My very first NYCW dynasty got maybe 1000 views total when I did it. whereas NYCW Homecoming, my 3rd time with NYCW and 5th dynasty of length, did well over 70k views. But that was only because I persevered in writing and gradually built an audience and kept getting new members interested to replace those who have moved on from the boards. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KPnutz Posted June 23, 2015 Share Posted June 23, 2015 Well i think I've got it, I've just finished typing up my teaser for when i'm ready to get things rolling, thanks guys for helping me get started Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ritchardo Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 Really like this thread and want to contribute some of my thoughts too - no intention to offend anyone so if I end up describing something you're doing and refer to it as a 'mistake' then it's only my opinion Most advice that I'd give has already been given - but there's a few points I'd suggest too: 1. Logic: There's nothing more jarring and off-putting than reading about two wrestlers who you've had feuding for months, suddenly putting their differences aside and working together. It annoys me when they do it in real life, and it really drags me out of the diary when I see it happen. There's nothing wrong with the odd shock turn, and there's nothing wrong with putting two old enemies together, but you should at least try to justify why. Try to explain where possible why exactly things are happening. Why do two tag teams hate each other enough to interfere in matches and attack them in the back when neither are holding the belts - what's sparked the animosity? It doesn't have to be war and peace, but throw in a few lines about jealousy or injustice or madness, whatever it takes. If you can't work out why someone would act in the way you're getting them to act, you can't translate that to an audience and, if this was real life you'd get zero buys... 2. Try to Be Organic: If you're coming in to a diary as the new head booker for TNA and deciding to clear out the deadwood? That's fine. If you decide to play WWE as Vince McMahon... or if Vince is still employed there, don't be going into his locker room and firing half the jobbers and lower midcarders in the first couple of days - let a few go at a time and naturally turn them over. Likewise, I would strongly recommend against pulling in all of the talent from your competitors on Day 1 - it leaves you with dozens of debuts to make and is highly unrealistic UNLESS you make a storyline invasion etc. Obviously if you can make the scenario fit and you want to do it then go for it, but it can really turn some readers off if you slash and burn rosters only to re-populate them with the hottest and brightest stars of the future. If you're hiring Chris Jericho in 1991 as one of the big two, you'd better be bringing him in as a jobber! Be patient is all I'm saying! 3. Don't Over Complicate: Wrestling is fundamentally a simple business - Wrestler A doesn't like Wrestler B, Wrestler B doesn't like Wrestler A, they fight, one of them wins - they move on to fight Wrestlers C & D respectively. That's it. Yes, you can (and should) have intricate storylines with twists and turns and subtle little hints as to what could be in store down the line and some of those storylines should weave and bob with each other... but it takes a lot of time, effort and forethought to be able to pull a massive promotion wide storyline off and can be extremely confusing unless you keep the simple formula above - when you pull everything apart, you should still be able to see the separate storylines and not be left trying to work out how one feud depends on another. 4. Plan: This has been covered already but I'll add my tuppence worth too - have at least two plans in place - your end of season / mid-season finales and your next big show. When booking your TV or your smaller shows, everything should be pushing towards the next big show (until you start to close in on the Finales when some of your segments will be about building the next again show). When you go into a storyline, have a clear idea of where you want both sides to go next - even if it's out the door or into the Jobber pool for one of them - have it in mind what they're next step is so that you reduce the number of guys just treading water waiting for the next feud to start - speak from experience there - I was bad for having it in mind who I wanted to be the next challenger and would inevitably finish up the Challenger's story before I'd finished the Champion's... so I'd have my number two guy just floating around for a month or so until the Champ was ready. 5. Experiment: Above all else, experiment and have fun. This is a friendly community, I can count on the fingers of one hand how many times I've seen open flaming in the dynasty section. Only in (very) rare circumstances will you hit gold with your first diary. It might take two, three, four or more attempts before you finally hit your stride and pick up an audience - but each show you post, each new bit of formatting you try or twist/turn that you put in your storylines is experience - good and bad - that you can build on for your next run. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Russelrules44 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 This is a really good thread for those who want to get into dynasties. Now I have a question; what if the TEW 2013 you own is only the trial? (the one that only lets you through a month.) And what if you have another TEW, but you don't want to use it? And what if you don't have the time or money to get the full edition of TEW 2013? What do you do then? Also; I don't think people would read my diaries. After all; I might as well be the worst diary writer in the forums today; Let's take a look at my arsenal: In My Minds, Winds of Changes, Random WWE diaries that went nowhere, Random SWF diary that went nowhere, The World According the Jacob and that one where I say i'd play every promotion in the one month I had. In other words: I absolutely suck when it comes to diaries. So, tell me; how could I possibly make a successful diary when you figure all of this out? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BHK1978 Posted June 24, 2015 Share Posted June 24, 2015 This is a really good thread for those who want to get into dynasties. Now I have a question; what if the TEW 2013 you own is only the trial? (the one that only lets you through a month.) And what if you have another TEW, but you don't want to use it? And what if you don't have the time or money to get the full edition of TEW 2013? What do you do then? Also; I don't think people would read my diaries. After all; I might as well be the worst diary writer in the forums today; Let's take a look at my arsenal: In My Minds, Winds of Changes, Random WWE diaries that went nowhere, Random SWF diary that went nowhere, The World According the Jacob and that one where I say i'd play every promotion in the one month I had. In other words: I absolutely suck when it comes to diaries. So, tell me; how could I possibly make a successful diary when you figure all of this out? Well you are out of luck then if you cannot afford the full edition of the game. I know you said you have another version of the game but you do not want to use it. If you think people will hold it against you for writing a diary on say TEW10, they really will not. Both my old SWF diary and James Casey's recently finished SWF diary were run on TEW10 and nobody seemed to mind. We both even had our diaries run up here. As for the second question I am not sure I can answer that for you. I will tell you this though, I was watching an interview where Robert Rodriguez interviewed Francis Ford Coppola and Coppola said that he always viewed himself as a failure during the height of his career. This is a guy who directed the Godfather part I and II, Apocalypse Now, and The Conversation at the height of his career. Most directors would kill to just direct one of those movies and he felt like he was a failure during that time period. My point being you may think what you are doing is not that great but I assure you there is an audience out there for it. So keep on writing if that is what you really want to do. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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