Author Topic: AToW programs? (Read 19568 times)

Black_Knyght · « **on:** 07 October 2017, 16:44:44 »

For CBT there exists MegaMekLab, HeavyMetalPro, and Solaris Skunk Works to make creating mechs and vehicles and such easier. Any chance there's some program or tool out there that makes creating AToW role-playing characters easier?

Daryk · « **Reply #1 on:** 07 October 2017, 17:09:19 »

A few of us have posted spreadsheets in this very sub-forum...

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #2 on:** 07 October 2017, 17:39:58 »

Are there any in particular you'd recommend?

I've played MW3 a lot, but am completely new to AToW so I was hoping a program existed that might give me a little better understanding of things.

Restemayer · « **Reply #3 on:** 07 October 2017, 17:58:19 »

Working on it... I'm currently about a quarter of the way through stage 4. Give me a couple of weeks to finish up character creation and implement PDF export.
EDIT: Sorry... didn't expect images to show up so massive. Replaced with links and thumbnails instead.

Daryk · « **Reply #4 on:** 07 October 2017, 18:00:20 »

I am of course biased toward my own, but I understand a number of people find Monbvol's easier to use. Mine is more of an accounting aid for the creation process, and requires some familiarity with the rules.

monbvol · « **Reply #5 on:** 12 October 2017, 22:09:23 »

I don't pimp mine out too much anymore because I've stopped supporting it and there are some flaws as well as it still requires some knowledge of the rules and how to sort stuff in spreadsheets as well as defining print ranges for best effect.

CoreWatch · « **Reply #6 on:** 07 November 2017, 03:50:14 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 07 October 2017, 17:58:19

Working on it... I'm currently about a quarter of the way through stage 4. Give me a couple of weeks to finish up character creation and implement PDF export.
EDIT: Sorry... didn't expect images to show up so massive. Replaced with links and thumbnails instead.

Hey Restemayer!

I was just checking to see how your mechwarrior character generation program was coming along?

-CoreWatch

Restemayer · « **Reply #7 on:** 22 November 2017, 18:32:37 »

Quote from: CoreWatch on 07 November 2017, 03:50:14

Hey Restemayer!

I was just checking to see how your mechwarrior character generation program was coming along?

-CoreWatch

I seemed to have jynxed myself (why I hadn't mentioned that I was writing a program until I was that far in). Right after posting that I got slammed by life... or school, to be precise. So I'm far behind where I wanted to be. Right now I'm looking at the end of the semester and once finals are done, I should have time to hammer out some of the final things that I need to implement. It will get done, and as soon as it's functional, I'll post it on here. I think I've learned my lesson on trying to give estimated release times though.

Lamont-Cranston · « **Reply #8 on:** 23 November 2017, 10:08:32 »

That looks like it'll be good when finished Restemayer.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #9 on:** 23 November 2017, 12:58:56 »

Certainly seems worth the wait to me. 8)

Restemayer · « **Reply #10 on:** 23 November 2017, 19:47:49 »

Thanks! So you know where I'm at right now, all the stages are done-ish. I'm in the middle of hammering out character optimization, which has been a little tougher to get through than I originally thought it would, but I should knock that out fairly quick once I get back to it.

After that it'll be doing saving/loading of created characters and putting in character/GM utilities to add XP, change equipment, etc.

The one screenshot of the popup for doing flexible XP: I'm going to add a search/filter function to that, so it'll change. Just putting everything on one popup screen worked when the skills were relatively short. Getting through all the modules made me realize how many skills there are just explicitly or implicitly referenced in the book... and some of those are almost infinitely expandable (see "Interest" skill).

Speaking of modules... I wrote it to be, well, modular. The modules are treated as just that... separate module files that are loaded on runtime, so, with the exception of ComStar and WOB affiliation, none of the modules are hardcoded, so they can be added, altered, customized, expanded... whatever... quickly and without significant changes to the program. So I'll be able to release expansions and fixes if/when Catalyst puts out a companion book with more background options or FAQ's something... or if someone just wants to custom build a module for a homebrew campaign, they can do that too.

Same with rank files, fields... probably equipment too once I get that stuff in, so it should be very customizable

I'll also be integrating PDF utilities to export printable character sheets.

That's what I'm hoping to have completely done by the time I post it on here.

Eventually I'm looking at possibly seeing if I can integrate it into MegaMek, if the teams working on those projects are open to it. Its the reason I'm writing it in Java.

Anyway, that's kind of where I'm at and where I'm looking at going with it at the moment.

monbvol · « **Reply #11 on:** 23 November 2017, 21:37:13 »

The only thing I'd change is to go ahead and not hard code Comstar/WoB or any other affiliations. Will probably make it easier to handle some of the era adjustments to those affiliations.

There is a surprising amount of additional information for AToW in the various Era Reports.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #12 on:** 26 November 2017, 17:26:04 »

I agree with Monbvol, but otherwise sounds great! 8)

Hammer · « **Reply #13 on:** 29 November 2017, 00:05:15 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 23 November 2017, 19:47:49

Eventually I'm looking at possibly seeing if I can integrate it into MegaMek, if the teams working on those projects are open to it. Its the reason I'm writing it in Java.

As one of the Megamek Devs, we would love to have an AToW Editor able to work with MegaMek/MekHQ. It’s something we've had requests for and MekHQ as some basic ideas taken from Mechwarrior and AToW coded.

When you are ready let us know.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #14 on:** 29 November 2017, 00:08:53 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 23 November 2017, 19:47:49

Eventually I'm looking at possibly seeing if I can integrate it into MegaMek, if the teams working on those projects are open to it. Its the reason I'm writing it in Java.

Oh HELL Yeah !!! 8) 8) 8)

CoreWatch · « **Reply #15 on:** 30 November 2017, 21:43:02 »

Thanks for the update Restemayer!

It seems like quite the project to undertake and I can' even imagine the coding and time commitment needed to go into it but I'm sure its not a walk in the park. So take your time and get your life and school stuff accomplished first bud. Whatever you get done in time I'm sure folks here and across the world whom play this beloved game will appreciate your effort in the end.

Thanks again!
<salute>
-Chris

Restemayer · « **Reply #16 on:** 02 December 2017, 23:19:18 »

Quote from: Hammer on 29 November 2017, 00:05:15

As one of the Megamek Devs, we would love to have an AToW Editor able to work with MegaMek/MekHQ. It’s something we've had requests for and MekHQ as some basic ideas taken from Mechwarrior and AToW coded.

When you are ready let us know.

Thanks! That would be awesome. I put together a GIT repository for it .. or at least, I think I have it put together right... if you want to take a look at where I'm at so far. I'm a law student; not a programmer, so everything I have right now is from research/trial and error over the last couple of months. Probably pretty messy.

Hammer · « **Reply #17 on:** 10 December 2017, 16:00:57 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 02 December 2017, 23:19:18

Thanks! That would be awesome. I put together a GIT repository for it .. or at least, I think I have it put together right... if you want to take a look at where I'm at so far. I'm a law student; not a programmer, so everything I have right now is from research/trial and error over the last couple of months. Probably pretty messy.

Do you have a link to the GIT Repo?

anastrace · « **Reply #18 on:** 19 December 2017, 18:06:05 »

Quote from: monbvol on 12 October 2017, 22:09:23

I don't pimp mine out too much anymore because I've stopped supporting it and there are some flaws as well as it still requires some knowledge of the rules and how to sort stuff in spreadsheets as well as defining print ranges for best effect.

What were the odds I'd see a post on the very spreadsheet I'm using at the moment when I had a question! I was trying to design a v(s)tol pilot, and I see in AToW that piloting/aircraft covers what I'm looking for, but I also see in the sheet piloting/vtol. I can't find a reference to that skill anywhere in the book though.

Thanks!

Daryk · « **Reply #19 on:** 19 December 2017, 18:12:52 »

That issue is exactly why I implemented mine to support piloting/"anything you can dream up" (among all the other skills with potentially undefined sub-skills)...

monbvol · « **Reply #20 on:** 19 December 2017, 18:54:30 »

Likely a mental goof on my part.

anastrace · « **Reply #21 on:** 21 December 2017, 09:59:55 »

No worries! It's really, really helpful to have a spreadsheet for AToW because character creation is pretty dang involved. (Especially for a system that seems downright lethal)

Restemayer · « **Reply #22 on:** 23 December 2017, 12:36:47 »

Sorry it took me so long to get back. Done with the semester, so I'm good for at least the next month to work on it.

Here's the link: https://bitbucket.org/Restemayer/atowutility

So, I've already found one problem. I was building it on my desktop. While on vacation I'm on my laptop and everything is... huge. Like three times my screen size in every direction. I guess my next issue to solve in the short term is scaling so its actually usable.

mycroft000 · « **Reply #23 on:** 03 January 2018, 14:00:47 »

I can't seem to access the utility.

Restemayer · « **Reply #24 on:** 12 January 2018, 06:32:11 »

Quote from: mycroft000 on 03 January 2018, 14:00:47

I can't seem to access the utility.

Had security settings set to private instead of public access. That's fixed. Sorry!

CoreWatch · « **Reply #25 on:** 19 March 2018, 01:16:48 »

Hey Rest...

Was there any further progress on this programs that you were making?

Thanks in advance!

Kilderkin · « **Reply #26 on:** 19 March 2018, 06:34:11 »

Also eagerly waiting to hear any news! Planning a campaign but the character creator is such a turn off, and I like battletech, getting players who are unfamiliar with it has caused some issues already.

CoreWatch · « **Reply #27 on:** 02 June 2018, 22:50:09 »

Hey Restemayer!

I was just checking in to see if you had ever continued /completed whatever program you were working on for a character generator for AOTW.

Same question I guess to anyone else whose reading this perhaps... had made any sort of character generator for ATOW?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

Hythos · « **Reply #28 on:** 03 June 2018, 10:25:51 »

I have been working on a couple that have been in a constant state of work-in-peogress :/
Though - as soon as I complete my current major project, I intend on getting back to finishing a basic AToW creator... Likely around August.

However!
I'd imagine if anyone needed characters, just post requirements and myself or others could 'generate' some with the final touches to be done by the player (like deciding on flexible XP assignments.)

Basic details that help: (more info helps, but none is neecessary for a purely random character)

Name (or can be randomized)
Age (when starting play)
Starting region and/or affiliation.
Era
Min/Max/Power-gaming?
Desired Archtype (MechWarrior, Tanker, Tech, .....)
Hook (brief description of the character in mind, or, leave this up to random generation)
Background (part of the Hook, backworlds survivor, military officer, Special Operating Forces, etc.; Include desired LifePath modules, if known - though none are necessary.)
List of desired traits, attributes, (if either are known), skills and focus of strengths.

Depending on what I'm up to, it might take me a day to respond.

CoreWatch · « **Reply #29 on:** 04 June 2018, 00:21:59 »

Hello there Hythos!

That sounds cool that your working on some sort of program as well and I appreciate the response as well. I actually know how to make a character for the game. It just takes some time as you said and it gets a little easier once you've made a few characters. But it's still a PITA just in general to make one. I've seen a few folks XML spreadsheets with some calculation functionality on them and I'm sure many folks around here would most definitely be interested in something that could help cut the time down to make them for us.

Thanks for an update time frame though... look forward to it bud!

And thanks as well for the offer to help make some characters. Perhaps a good idea would be to start a thread with some pre-gens GM's could use for NPC's, Starter Characters, or perhaps even veterans. I'm sure if people build it, other people will probably use the characters in their game worlds somehow.

Cheers!
-Chris

Galenthor · « **Reply #30 on:** 08 July 2018, 20:23:03 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 12 January 2018, 06:32:11

Had security settings set to private instead of public access. That's fixed. Sorry!

for some reason, I have a couple of problems... one, the site is going on about something called clonetree, and b, it's in a zip file, which I thought was a dead mode... is there a way to get it utility that doesn't involve going through multiple sites and the outdated zip ?

Galenthor · « **Reply #31 on:** 08 July 2018, 20:28:44 »

I have been playing the game since it originally came out back when I was just out of high school, and I have taken multiple reads of the book, but still find it to be extremely confusing on making a character... I look forward to the completion of your program, and hte opportunity to test it...

Kitsune413 · « **Reply #32 on:** 22 July 2018, 17:47:42 »

I wish Megamek would put in ATOW features. :)

Phicksur · « **Reply #33 on:** 31 July 2018, 10:31:19 »

I removed the whole 'life path' section and gave my 11-year-old the rules on Traits, Attributes, and Skills and explained doing the Traits first (trying not to spend more than 1000 on that), then Attributes (with the understanding of leaving herself at least around 1000XP after that), and then the remaining points on Skills. Gave her 5000 points to spend.

Took her a half hour doing it that way, which isn't bad when she kept asking things like, "What's Ambidexterity mean?" and "Can I have a pet fox?" and "Can I have a tail?"

BiggRigg42 · « **Reply #34 on:** 31 July 2018, 11:54:29 »

Quote from: Phicksur on 31 July 2018, 10:31:19

I removed the whole 'life path' section and gave my 11-year-old the rules on Traits, Attributes, and Skills and explained doing the Traits first (trying not to spend more than 1000 on that), then Attributes (with the understanding of leaving herself at least around 1000XP after that), and then the remaining points on Skills. Gave her 5000 points to spend.

Took her a half hour doing it that way, which isn't bad when she kept asking things like, "What's Ambidexterity mean?" and "Can I have a pet fox?" and "Can I have a tail?"

Yeah, point-buy isn't complicated at all. The problem may be that the life-module approach is presented as the main way to do character creation, and the point-buy option is at the end of the character creation section. Readers may often become blind to things at the end.

The_Livewire · « **Reply #35 on:** 08 August 2018, 09:32:51 »

Quote from: BiggRigg42 on 31 July 2018, 11:54:29

Yeah, point-buy isn't complicated at all. The problem may be that the life-module approach is presented as the main way to do character creation, and the point-buy option is at the end of the character creation section. Readers may often become blind to things at the end.

Just diving into AToW again for reference, and I'll agree with this. The life path is good to provide flavour and immersion for someone new to the universe, but the point based system is so much easier.

Robroy · « **Reply #36 on:** 08 August 2018, 12:14:39 »

Guess I am weird, I like the life path system. Yes there was a learning curve the first time, but once I figured how to organize everything I was writing down it really grew on me.

monbvol · « **Reply #37 on:** 08 August 2018, 14:49:54 »

And really that is the key about the life module system. It isn't difficult or complicated, but if can be a bit daunting, especially if keeping things organized isn't your thing.

Daryk · « **Reply #38 on:** 08 August 2018, 17:48:15 »

And that's why we made our spreadsheets, eh? :)

monbvol · « **Reply #39 on:** 08 August 2018, 17:53:17 »

Indeed. ;D

CoreWatch · « **Reply #40 on:** 09 August 2018, 17:14:20 »

Hey folks!

I know a few of you have spreadsheet style ATOW character sheets. And I know there were a few folks that were possible trying to create some programs perhaps.

But does anyone have a simple PDF editable character sheet for ATOW?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

guardiandashi · « **Reply #41 on:** 09 August 2018, 23:57:22 »

Quote from: CoreWatch on 09 August 2018, 17:14:20

Hey folks!

I know a few of you have spreadsheet style ATOW character sheets. And I know there were a few folks that were possible trying to create some programs perhaps.

But does anyone have a simple PDF editable character sheet for ATOW?

Thanks in advance!
-Chris

not that I am aware of, but to be honest I would love to take a crack at figuring out how to create one, (I have an editable D&D 3.5 sheet I use but the version I use has fields that don't work (aren't editable) that I would love to fix

Restemayer · « **Reply #42 on:** 02 January 2019, 08:46:39 »

Quote from: Galenthor on 08 July 2018, 20:28:44

I have been playing the game since it originally came out back when I was just out of high school, and I have taken multiple reads of the book, but still find it to be extremely confusing on making a character... I look forward to the completion of your program, and hte opportunity to test it...

Ok. So, the reason it didn't work is because by July I had scrapped that git repo and transferred it to gitlab. I was rebuilding the program's GUI. Apparently putting it together haphazardly with a gui builder on my 4k desktop monitor made the program completely unusable on anything other than my desktop (the UI was huuuuge). So, I rebuilt it and, IIRC, got it back up to through stage four.... and then school started again and it got put on the backburner again. Seems that my plan of working on this during grad school was a little unrealistic. Anyway, I'm on winter break now and a friend of mine mentioned giving it a play through, which reminded me to pull the program out of storage. I'll check things over, see where I'm at with it (I, honestly, don't quite remember where I left it) and get back to you all on here. So, yes, this is not a completely abandoned project. I'm still around (kinda). Since I'm a one man team it's been tough squeezing it in among everything else. It's coming along though. Slowly.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #43 on:** 03 January 2019, 14:35:00 »

A player friend of mine recently mentioned that he thinks he may have an old Mechwarrior creator program named something like "BattleTech Character Creator" (turns out it's BTCC 0.5.38) on an old laptop he has in his garage. He's going to try to dig it up this weekend.

Has anyone here heard of this, or know what version of the game it's associated with? I'd never heard of this one before.

monbvol · « **Reply #44 on:** 03 January 2019, 15:31:23 »

There was a rather incomplete Third Edition character creator with a name along those lines. That could be it.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #45 on:** 03 January 2019, 16:24:29 »

Good to know!

Any other details you might know? Like "rather incomplete" in what way? Is it something manageable, or too broken to work with?

monbvol · « **Reply #46 on:** 03 January 2019, 16:27:13 »

From what I remember it was missing a lot of life path options at the very least. It has been years since I had it and used it so I'm certain I'm forgetting other important drawbacks.

Daryk · « **Reply #47 on:** 03 January 2019, 16:35:28 »

I also recall it was hosted on a Russian website that threw all kinds of malware warnings. I'm not saying the guy that wrote it was doing that, but his choice of hosting service wasn't stellar.

Black_Knyght · « **Reply #48 on:** 03 January 2019, 17:44:09 »

Won't be downloading it from any website, that's for sure!!!

I know my friend said he used it for a few years then moved on from the game and forgot about it. Came up in a conversation in our last game and he remembered having it and having used to use it.

Hammer · « **Reply #49 on:** 08 January 2019, 22:38:07 »

The code is sitting on GitHub and looks is abandoned, but could be forked and worked on by someone with C++ skills.

Althalus · « **Reply #50 on:** 09 January 2019, 13:40:20 »

Would be great if someone could do this... I can`t because of my bad english skills. -.-

Daryk · « **Reply #51 on:** 09 January 2019, 17:51:43 »

After I retire (in about 6 more years), I'll take a crack at it if no one else has by then. My programming skills are over 20 years old, but it shouldn't take me too long to get back up to speed once I don't have to work for a living.

hunter_gathers · « **Reply #52 on:** 18 January 2019, 13:30:31 »

Quote from: Restemayer on 02 January 2019, 08:46:39

Ok. So, the reason it didn't work is because by July I had scrapped that git repo and transferred it to gitlab. I was rebuilding the program's GUI. Apparently putting it together haphazardly with a gui builder on my 4k desktop monitor made the program completely unusable on anything other than my desktop (the UI was huuuuge). So, I rebuilt it and, IIRC, got it back up to through stage four.... and then school started again and it got put on the backburner again. Seems that my plan of working on this during grad school was a little unrealistic. Anyway, I'm on winter break now and a friend of mine mentioned giving it a play through, which reminded me to pull the program out of storage. I'll check things over, see where I'm at with it (I, honestly, don't quite remember where I left it) and get back to you all on here. So, yes, this is not a completely abandoned project. I'm still around (kinda). Since I'm a one man team it's been tough squeezing it in among everything else. It's coming along though. Slowly.

Looking forward to this program. This looks like it could really facilitate new players

Zinmar · « **Reply #53 on:** 13 February 2019, 19:07:09 »

I'm really looking forward to this getting completed. I'm just getting into this from the 3rd edition rule set. I hope it's smooth sailing and he can get it up and running.

Giorgio76 · « **Reply #54 on:** 07 February 2020, 07:19:24 »

I just finished reading this thread, is Restemayer’s program still under construction and usable, or is it no longer being supported and thus unusable?
.
I lack the time and programing skills to embark on such a program myself unfortunately.

Daryk · « **Reply #55 on:** 07 February 2020, 16:00:41 »

Last heard from Restemayer was January of 2019, unfortunately... Nothing since then.

Giorgio76 · « **Reply #56 on:** 08 February 2020, 06:28:55 »

Quote from: Daryk on 07 February 2020, 16:00:41

Last heard from Restemayer was January of 2019, unfortunately... Nothing since then.

:-[

CharlieAscende · « **Reply #57 on:** 10 February 2020, 08:26:36 »

Quote from: Daryk on 07 October 2017, 18:00:20

I am of course biased toward my own, but I understand a number of people find Monbvol's easier to use. Mine is more of an accounting aid for the creation process, and requires some familiarity with the rules.

That's a neat generator concept. Is there a link to play with the character creation software for the ToW?

Daryk · « **Reply #58 on:** 10 February 2020, 20:51:11 »

I think the mods removed it due to the malware warnings...

CharlieAscende · « **Reply #59 on:** 11 February 2020, 01:44:11 »

Quote from: Daryk on 10 February 2020, 20:51:11

I think the mods removed it due the malware warnings...

Well that sucks then.

On the brightside, I'm using the sheet through Google Spreadsheet that kinda helped me a lot with my character creation process.

Daryk · « **Reply #60 on:** 11 February 2020, 04:37:19 »

Glad you found something that's helpful!

CharlieAscende · « **Reply #61 on:** 11 February 2020, 07:29:00 »

Blank of Battletech Character Sheet Aa1* 10/21/2014:

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1H6PSsVQxrfIENAmjwK-r8touivKCUVxhSrpdrqV17PA/edit#gid=0

Daryk · « **Reply #62 on:** 11 February 2020, 18:33:24 »

That looks OK for point buy, at least...

CharlieAscende · « **Reply #63 on:** 15 February 2020, 13:12:24 »

Well when I first took a peak at it it was somehow set to 600 in each attributes in default- wasn't really expecting it to be like that though. 100 each would be enough for every character in life module 0 phase at least.

Daryk · « **Reply #64 on:** 15 February 2020, 13:52:29 »

I set mine up to automate optimization with life modules. It's still pretty manual, but I don't see any optimization formulas in this one.

pfarland · « **Reply #65 on:** 03 May 2020, 16:02:25 »

I currently am trying to work on a "cheap" automated program to provide random characters and background to MegaMek (MekHQ). Anyone have any Excel work for it?

Daryk · « **Reply #66 on:** 03 May 2020, 16:53:41 »

Just for AToW, sorry. More will have to wait until I retire (only four years and a bit to go at this point).

pfarland · « **Reply #67 on:** 03 May 2020, 17:58:40 »

Well the idea is to make AToW characters that will be trimmed down and adapted. Certain traits and such will have game effects.

Daryk · « **Reply #68 on:** 03 May 2020, 18:21:27 »

Oh! I thought you had committed to 3rd Edition... My spreadsheet has a lot of the optimization math figured out, and I suppose you could punch in the module data easily enough, and randomize it. The reason I didn't enter all the module data is that Herb himself asked me to "minimize verbatim content" back when I was first building it.

pfarland · « **Reply #69 on:** 03 May 2020, 21:27:31 »

I somewhat have. What I like about 3rd if those random life path events. The Companion has a version for that. I need something where I can plug in those changes as well.

Draven0019 · « **Reply #70 on:** 04 May 2020, 00:43:01 »

Don't suppose we have any updates on that program, can imagine being a law student at the time of writing would have been taking its toll of free time, if he has become a practicing lawyer may not have had free time to continue.