I’ve downloaded and attempted to figure out PCGen for the 4th time this week. I think I finally figured out how to work the @%#$ thing, but there are still a few things about it that really bug me. The user interface is terrible. I understand that it’s being revamped, but as it is right now, it’s nearly incomprehensible. Also, I tried creating a simple character I’m playing. It went fairly well (took forever though, since I was trying to figure out the interface J) until I got to the Inventory screen. If this is the revamped screen (Version 2.4.4) I’d hate to see what the previous version looked like. The character I tried inputting was a simple core rules character. I wanted to equip it with a masterwork rapier, only to find no MW Rapier in the ridiculously convoluted inventory list. NOT a good sign in my eyes.
Here are my suggestions for improving the interface –
1) The most important concept in any design like this… keep all like items grouped together. This rule is broken in the very first screen (The stats screen) and is exactly what makes the learning curve so huge. Using the Stats screen as an example, it seems to be divided into 3 sections. The upper left is the stats themselves, the upper right is a seemingly random assortment of buttons and numbers and the bottom half is the list of races.
Anything in the upper right section that deals at all with the rolling of stats should be moved to the upper left section. That section should have the stats themselves at the top. Right under that should be the stat min and stat max fields, side by side with each other. Under that should be the Purchase method button with a field next to it showing how many points the character is currently worth. Beside that, but noticeably separate should be the Unlimited Stat Pool button. The button should be ON by default. Beside the button should be a field that allows the user to enter the Dice pool after they click the button OFF. Under this should be a large ROLL button. Easy to see and prominent.
Alignment choice should be moved to a different screen altogether. I’d suggest the Description screen, but don’t know how hard-coded alignment is in any of the earlier screens.
Race choice should be a separate screen altogether. I’d combine it with the template screen, making the top 2/3 of the screen race choices and the bottom 1/3 template choices.
2) Too much of the program looks like a spreadsheet. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not very visually attractive and the loooong fields make reading across difficult. A fix on the Stats screen to make it look more attractive would be to remove the stat name from the white portion of the screen and instead abbreviate the stat name in the gray portion of the screen. Instead of looking like this:
Strength (I can't get this to show up here... imagine a loooong space between the Strength and the first 18) 18 0 18 +4
It will look more together, like this:
Str 18 0 18 +4
It’s much easier to read, without the huge amount of white space, which tends to cause the eye to wander, making it difficult to see which number goes with which stat.
3) In the lists that are so prevalent, try to find some way to keep all the Player’s Handbook options at the top. These are the choices that will be used most often, and it gets very frustrating when you have to scroll through a ton of options to find what you want.
4) On the classes screen, label the buttons in a better way. Make it more clear what you have to do to give your character levels, make it clear that the HP button is to change your characters hit points AFTER YOU’VE ASSIGNED LEVELS.
5) On the Skills screen, move the Rank, Modifier, and Total to either the far left or the far right, so they’re more visible.
6) The Inventory screen is a mess. Try to sort items in the categories used in the Players Handbook. There are so many arbitrary categories, I have no idea where I’d find what I need. I don’t know if it’s possible in this program, but a menu based method of building magic weapons and armor would be wonderful for the average user. Let us choose, for example, a rapier, then give us the option to make it masterwork, +1, +2, etc, then give us the option to give it a special ability; Keen, of wounding, defending, etc. That way, you won’t have to individually code in every single possible combination. The new magic weapon system is meant to be modular, take advantage of it.
7) The final character sheet could use some better separations between the various sections. Use a bigger or bolder font for the headings, use thicker lines to separate different sections, etc.
This is just a cursory run-through, after about an hour of playing around with the program. Now that I know how it works, I think I can get a lot of use out of it, especially if a better way of creating weapons and armor is made. I’d send out drawings of how I’d set up the various parts of the interface, to help you better visualize what I’m describing, but… no scanner. J If anything I said here confuses anyone, I’ll be more than happy to try to explain better. I hope I was able to help.
Tracy Boarder
TracyBoarder@AOL.com
Here are my suggestions for improving the interface –
1) The most important concept in any design like this… keep all like items grouped together. This rule is broken in the very first screen (The stats screen) and is exactly what makes the learning curve so huge. Using the Stats screen as an example, it seems to be divided into 3 sections. The upper left is the stats themselves, the upper right is a seemingly random assortment of buttons and numbers and the bottom half is the list of races.
Anything in the upper right section that deals at all with the rolling of stats should be moved to the upper left section. That section should have the stats themselves at the top. Right under that should be the stat min and stat max fields, side by side with each other. Under that should be the Purchase method button with a field next to it showing how many points the character is currently worth. Beside that, but noticeably separate should be the Unlimited Stat Pool button. The button should be ON by default. Beside the button should be a field that allows the user to enter the Dice pool after they click the button OFF. Under this should be a large ROLL button. Easy to see and prominent.
Alignment choice should be moved to a different screen altogether. I’d suggest the Description screen, but don’t know how hard-coded alignment is in any of the earlier screens.
Race choice should be a separate screen altogether. I’d combine it with the template screen, making the top 2/3 of the screen race choices and the bottom 1/3 template choices.
2) Too much of the program looks like a spreadsheet. It’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not very visually attractive and the loooong fields make reading across difficult. A fix on the Stats screen to make it look more attractive would be to remove the stat name from the white portion of the screen and instead abbreviate the stat name in the gray portion of the screen. Instead of looking like this:
Strength (I can't get this to show up here... imagine a loooong space between the Strength and the first 18) 18 0 18 +4
It will look more together, like this:
Str 18 0 18 +4
It’s much easier to read, without the huge amount of white space, which tends to cause the eye to wander, making it difficult to see which number goes with which stat.
3) In the lists that are so prevalent, try to find some way to keep all the Player’s Handbook options at the top. These are the choices that will be used most often, and it gets very frustrating when you have to scroll through a ton of options to find what you want.
4) On the classes screen, label the buttons in a better way. Make it more clear what you have to do to give your character levels, make it clear that the HP button is to change your characters hit points AFTER YOU’VE ASSIGNED LEVELS.
5) On the Skills screen, move the Rank, Modifier, and Total to either the far left or the far right, so they’re more visible.
6) The Inventory screen is a mess. Try to sort items in the categories used in the Players Handbook. There are so many arbitrary categories, I have no idea where I’d find what I need. I don’t know if it’s possible in this program, but a menu based method of building magic weapons and armor would be wonderful for the average user. Let us choose, for example, a rapier, then give us the option to make it masterwork, +1, +2, etc, then give us the option to give it a special ability; Keen, of wounding, defending, etc. That way, you won’t have to individually code in every single possible combination. The new magic weapon system is meant to be modular, take advantage of it.
7) The final character sheet could use some better separations between the various sections. Use a bigger or bolder font for the headings, use thicker lines to separate different sections, etc.
This is just a cursory run-through, after about an hour of playing around with the program. Now that I know how it works, I think I can get a lot of use out of it, especially if a better way of creating weapons and armor is made. I’d send out drawings of how I’d set up the various parts of the interface, to help you better visualize what I’m describing, but… no scanner. J If anything I said here confuses anyone, I’ll be more than happy to try to explain better. I hope I was able to help.
Tracy Boarder
TracyBoarder@AOL.com
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