Writing Lore Texts

Lore texts are a way the community can contribute to the mod, by writing and submitting texts for players to find in the game. However, these texts can't just be a paragraph you put on the forum. There is a certain format which texts must follow, and also many nifty tricks one can use to add variety and flavour to one's submissions. The first thing you must know about to write a lore text is text format.

## Text Formatting

Following the format for lore texts makes it much easier for the mod team to add your text to the game. All they have to do is copy and paste it in!

The first thing to know is that you should not use rich text editors to write your lore texts. A rich text editor is something like Microsoft Word, a program which adds extra 'invisible' information which formats your writing. Plain text does none of this, it only includes line breaks and spaces. To write plain text, you either want to use a text editor like Notepad and copy the text to the forum, or if you type directly into the forum, use wiki tags to prevent formatting. The easiest way to do this is to use the '`<pre style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;">`' tag, which will make your text plain text. To use the `<pre style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;">` tag, you want to use the source editor for your comment.

Switch to the source editor by clicking the button that looks like this: [] at the bottom left of the comment box. Once you do so, type '`<pre style="white-space:pre-wrap; word-wrap:break-word;">`' at the very beginning of the lore text, and at the end, type '`</pre>`'.

**IT IS VERY IMPORTANT YOU TYPE '</pre>' AT THE END OF YOUR TEXT!**

Not doing so will cause issues with the way your post is displayed. To be specific, your title will not appear and any additional text you may write after the lore text will be included with the lore text.

## **Required Information**

The next thing you need to know is what the mod requires in order to properly use your lore text. There are three pieces of information the mod needs to know to use your text: the author, the title, and where the text will spawn.
In order to give this information, at the beginning of your lore text, in the order given, you write:

```
#author:[your author here]
#title:[your title here]
#types:[the regions the book will spawn]

```

This will inform the mod as to what to display for the book author, what the title will be, and where to generate the lore text. The 'title' and 'types' fields need to be filled, but the 'author' field can be left blank. Also, notice there is no space between the colon and the information you are putting into the 3 fields.

The first two fields, 'author' and 'title', can be whatever you want, but the 'types' field must be something from the list below. Take note, you can have multiple types in the 'types' field, separated by a comma, without any spaces between the comma and the next region type.

Types

* all
* ruins
* amonRudh
* angband
* blue\_mountains
* brethil
* dorLomin
* doriath
* dorthonion
* falas
* gardhBoren
* gondolin
* hithlum
* marchMaedhros
* nanGuruthos
* nargothrond
* ossiriand
* taurdru
* tolInGaurhoth
* eastBeleriand
* westBeleriand

Now that you've entered all the required information, you can go on to writing your lore text! Here's an example so you can see what yours should look like:

```
#lines with a pound symbol at the beginning are not displayed in the book,
#and can be used to write notes, credit people, or add commentary
#author:Bilbo Baggins
#title:The Song of Earendil
#types:rivendell,eriador,shire
Eärendil was a mariner
that tarried in Arvernien;
he built a boat of timber felled
in Nimbrethil to journey in;
her sails he wove of silver fair,
of silver were her lanterns made,
her prow was fashioned like a swan,
and light upon her banners laid.

```

## **Randomisation Features**

Randomisation features are beyond the basics of writing lore texts, but allow you to add elements of randomisation and variety to your lore texts. The current randomisation features are:

* Random numbers
* Random names
* Random text

#### Random Numbers

Random numbers is a feature which allows you to add random numbers, within a specified range, to your lore texts. It is used like so:

```
{num:1,10}
```

This will choose any number between one and ten, including one and ten. You can substitute any two numbers for one and ten, and place the randomisation anywhere in your text.

#### Random Names

The random names feature allows you to randomly select any name from the mod's name banks, be it the first names of female Gondorians, to the suffix of Hobbit Taverns. The random names feature is used like so:

```
{name:gondor_female}
```

This will choose one of the many first names for female Gondorians. 'gondor\_female' can be replaced with any name bank in the mod, which can be found by opening the mod files and looking in assets/lotr/names.

#### Random Text

This feature allows you to choose a random sentence, word, or whatever you want to be displayed. Each choice is separated by a '/'. It is used like so:

```
{choose:This is random text 1!/This is random text 2!/This is random text 3!}
```

With these features you can randomise things like dates, names, or even whole sentences of your lore text! It is recommended that you use these features sparingly, as it is preferable to have multiple, separate lore text than one extremely randomized text.

### **Final Notes**

It goes without saying that only well made and thought-out texts will be added to the game. One of the reasons the community is allowed to contribute lore texts is to reduce the workload for the mod team, and this means it's easier for them to pass up a badly written text than to go and fix all the mistakes in it and then add it. Some things to keep in mind when writing:

* 'Earth' in 'Middle-earth' is not capitalized, this is a common mistake.
* Properly accent your letters. For instance, 'Lothlorien' is not correct, the proper punctuation is 'Lothlórien'.
* Keep your works suitable for Middle-earth. A story of how your fanfiction character saves Gondor is not appropriate.
* Do **NOT** copy and paste Tolkien's works, or anyone else's work for a lore text. This is copyright infringement, and can get you in lots of trouble. Lawyers are merciless, don't tempt them.
* Keep in mind that by suggesting a lore text, you are giving permission for your submission to be modified by anyone, including the mod team, as they see fit, and permission for using the modified text in the mod. Don't submit your Magnum Opus of 10 years of research and study of lore unless you want it to be free for everyone to read.

With all this in mind, you are now ready to write lore texts and contribute to the Lord of the Rings Mod.