I'm currently at the point where I'd like to start making a readme/instruction book for JA. Problem is, I haven't a clue how to format such a thing, or even where to begin. Any good examples, or maybe a readme for a game that helped you?

Speaking of which, why are readmes always in the txt file type? For universal application?

I did my game manuals with Notepad. You could also use Wordpad (same thing, but it supports a larger file size). Make it an ordinary text file with default formatting (no word wrap), and 79 characters across. Set the window length to match that. Every time you get to the end of a line while typing, press Enter to continue to the next line of text and then continue typing. This is so that when the file is viewed by someone the text won't continue far to the right and the viewer will have to scroll right to read it and then scroll back left to continue reading the next line.

This is the GameFAQs standard for FAQ composition. They put these rules into effect so that anyone can comfortably view the material with any browser.

An example:
http://www.gamefaqs.com/gamegear/586822 ... faqs/61253

For our purposes of having a game manual, the file is in a universally viewable font (plain text) with formatting that's easily viewable with Notepad or Wordpad. All the viewer has to do is stretch the window length to match the 79-character length of the file, and he's good to go.

An example, attached.

I made a mini-website for Return to Exia:

http://rpgmmag.com/game_display.php?id=180

I think the best thing you could do (as Xix mentioned) is go over to Gamefaqs and look at the guides that people have already written for some good old SNES RPGs. Just format a guide for your game the same way they do... which is always in .txt.

It always helps to pretty it up with ascii art because text documents are fairly bland by nature. I'd throw up the one I'm writing for Arc Arath, but I'd prefer not to spoil the game just yet. So here's some screen shots of the title, a text based section, and a dungeon:



Might not be the best, but it's what I prefer.

Thank you guys. I have some good ideas about how I'm going to do this now.

Yeah, that's a good example, Lantis. Has a nice overall style to it, some good presentation, and is easy to read. The map is easy to follow, although I imagine quite a bit of work went into portraying just that small section with ASCII text.