Warship Spreadsheet Recommendations?

[marcussmythe]

Ill admit, Ive tried (and failed) at doing warship math by hand.

Ive found two sheets here - one MS Excel, super detailed and slow but awesome for the detail - and one on Google Docs which is quick and efficient and gives different numers than the other - and it looks like a lot of people are still useing the licensed software that doesnt often update?

Whats the gold standard here?

[Alsadius]

The Google Docs one (I assume you're referring to CryHavoc's sheet) has always given me correct-looking numbers, and seems pretty usable. It's what I use. That said, I haven't tried that Excel sheet, so I'm not sure how they compare. If it's that slow, though, I'd probably shy away - there's too many things that you need to add to a WS for slow sheets to feel usable.

IDK about any gold standards. If there's a difference between the two, I'd track it down and see what they're doing differently, and then check against the rulebook. Like all fan projects, they may well have unnoticed bugs.

[marcussmythe]

After running them side by side, I'm getting numbers close enough (other than BV2, about which I do not care) so as to not make any difference - in a setting where we have a lot of warship designs done under Battlespace rules, or no rules at all, I'll call 1% here or there differences in production shipyards. 

Ill probably keep using the Excel Spreadsheet, cause I like the extra detail and ability to fiddle with fluffy stuff, data areas for manufacturers, etc.  I was unclear when I said 'slow'... What I suppose I should have said is 'lots of places to fill stuff in/options', so while it doesnt update slow, it was a little hard to manage at first.

[Tyrchon]

I've been using the Excel Spreadsheet, though I do have Cryhavoc's Google Doc that I sometimes use for comparison.  The only real problem with the Excel Spreadsheet is that it is pretty old; the version I have is from Dec 2013 and I think that is the last time it was updated.  Because of that a number of the canon designs listed in the Design Comparison section have not been updated to the more recent printings or with more recent errata (notably is that the Avalon listed in the section is from the old TRO 3067 Fanpro printing and not the Catalyst Game Labs printing).  It also means that there are some designs that are not included.  I've tried to update it myself to include these changes, but have had mixed results so I kind of just ignore it and use it instead for custom design work instead.

I will say that the nice thing about the Excel Spreadsheet versus the Google Doc is that the Excel Spreadsheet is not limited to just designing Warships.  You can also use it for Dropships, Jumpships, and Space Stations which is quite handy.

[Alsadius]

The Google version can do JumpShips and stations, though not dropships. You just change the K-F drive type to the appropriate option, and it'll update the formulas accordingly.

[Tyrchon]

The Google version can do JumpShips and stations, though not dropships. You just change the K-F drive type to the appropriate option, and it'll update the formulas accordingly.

Ah, I wasn't aware of that.  Thanks for letting me know.  :thumbsup: