Character Generator Software Concept

[theoremtank]

I'm sure the idea that will follow is not original, so please forgive me if this is redundant or if it has already been implemented, better yet, point me to any links related with the idea.

Here goes...
It seems people want a character generator that is customizable. That is, we want to be able to add our custom classes and prestige classes, feats, spells, as well as information appearing in Wizards of the Coast splat books. Problem is, the spalt books are not part of the OGL; and realistically we will never see a legal program that implements these books.

So I suggest a generic customizablable character generator which is fully OGL legal. Yet people may input custom data or data from the splat books that may be saved and easily imported and exported into the program in some file format. Thus people may find these files somewhere on the internet and load them into their generator. This way the character generator itself is still legal, while the files floating around the internet may not be. (Please no discussion of whether or not this is moral. What WotC dumped on its eTools customers was legal, but I personnaly would not call it moral.)
I see this as what eTools should have been, and lets face it, there is downloadable data from other companies books that may be imported into eTools limited database and I don't see WotC putting a halt on this functionality. So what I am suggesting is a non-WotC OGL legal customizable robust character generator where costom content may be easily saved then imported or exported to other instances of the program.

Now I doubt I'm the one to build this, although I am currently attempting this as a longterm hobby using C# and XML. In anycase I would like to see peoples thoughts on the subject.

Thanks

 

[Klintus Fang]

It looks like you can already do that with a program like PCGen if you are familiar with PCGen's .lst file format. But I've never tried it before.


I for one, am looking at the problem by going back one step further then you are suggesting. I don't just want the classes, feats, items, etc. In the (presumably XML) configuration files.

I want ALL the game mechanics to be in the XML configuration files. I'm currently working at it from that angle. Trying to cook up an XML format that enables one to encode the rule system.

I'll consider it successfull if this XML rule configuration file format is capable of encoding both 3E DnD AND something like, say, RoleMaster. I don't play RoleMaster, but the point is that the game mechanics in RoleMaster are so radically different that I know I've succeeded if one program can handle both with equal ease.

It's a big task though and I don't know if it'll ever achieve fruition.

 

[Twin Rose]

I'm sure the idea that will follow is not original, so please forgive me if this is redundant or if it has already been implemented, better yet, point me to any links related with the idea.

Here goes...
It seems people want a character generator that is customizable. That is, we want to be able to add our custom classes and prestige classes, feats, spells, as well as information appearing in Wizards of the Coast splat books. Problem is, the spalt books are not part of the OGL; and realistically we will never see a legal program that implements these books.

So I suggest a generic customizablable character generator which is fully OGL legal. Yet people may input custom data or data from the splat books that may be saved and easily imported and exported into the program in some file format. Thus people may find these files somewhere on the internet and load them into their generator. This way the character generator itself is still legal, while the files floating around the internet may not be. (Please no discussion of whether or not this is moral. What WotC dumped on its eTools customers was legal, but I personnaly would not call it moral.)
I see this as what eTools should have been, and lets face it, there is downloadable data from other companies books that may be imported into eTools limited database and I don't see WotC putting a halt on this functionality. So what I am suggesting is a non-WotC OGL legal customizable robust character generator where costom content may be easily saved then imported or exported to other instances of the program.

Now I doubt I'm the one to build this, although I am currently attempting this as a longterm hobby using C# and XML. In anycase I would like to see peoples thoughts on the subject.

Thanks

Campaign Suite does the things that you mention here, and many - many - 3rd party publications are already available both officially and unofficially. it has editors for the classes/races/etc so you don't need to do any file editting.

You can find CS at www.twinrose.net

Thanks

 

[Bacrof]

Something else that I'd like to see that oftentimes gets overlooked...

I would like to have the ability to modify the data that's already in the software. I'd also like to be able to DELETE the data that's already in there without jumping through hoops to do so. If I don't want a fireball spell in my campaign, I want to be able to remove it with a simple delete command.

I've never heard anyone else complain about this, so I might be the only one.

 

[dvvega]

Bacrof: Delete is good, however I'd much prefer to see the option to delete, make (in)visible.

That way you can choose whether to remove it entirely or just to make it not appear in lists, and anything that grabs the item.

Of course it would be good if this was conditional so you saved your set up on a per campaign basis (every campaign has its own configuration etc). And the big winner here would be WITHOUT DUPLICATION OF DATA.

So you'd have one large database which stores all your campaigns and has the (in)visible flag for each campaign for each item, without replication the data into seperate directories etc.

 

[Twin Rose]

Bacrof: Delete is good, however I'd much prefer to see the option to delete, make (in)visible.

That way you can choose whether to remove it entirely or just to make it not appear in lists, and anything that grabs the item.

Of course it would be good if this was conditional so you saved your set up on a per campaign basis (every campaign has its own configuration etc). And the big winner here would be WITHOUT DUPLICATION OF DATA.

So you'd have one large database which stores all your campaigns and has the (in)visible flag for each campaign for each item, without replication the data into seperate directories etc.

With CS we do it so that people can delete whatever they want, but to ensure it 'stays' deleted when they update to a newer version they just need to save their file as a seperate file.

 

[dvvega]

That was the point I was trying to get across ...

deleting something makes it irrevocably DEAD.

I run 3 groups through my personal campaign world and play in 2 other games.

If I were to use a system that handled "everything" about my campaigns, I would want to be able to switch between Campaign World and Game 1 and Game 2 without having to have to store multiple copies of my data files.

I'm just a crazy software developer who believes that the user should get everything they desire without any hassles.

 

[Janik]

With my program, DM Genie ( http://www.dmgenie.com/download.shtml ) you can create several campaigns and switch between them from within the program. Within each campaign you can delete/create new spells, feats, etc... without changing the other campaigns.

Each campaign has its own data files, yes, but since it is less than 4 megabytes for all the data, is that much of a concern? Five different campaigns would hardly make a dent in a 20-gig hard drive, and you don't have to fumble with moving/renaming files...

 

[dvvega]

Janik: the point isn't about space ... of course 4 Megs is nothing compare to the 20gig drive, especially since it's access times are so high with SCSI ...

The point is that ... I feel that nowadays ... programmers are lazy. They just go and create data redundancy because people have the space. I'm a developer ... but I still believe in avoiding data redundancy unless its absolutely necessary (precalculated fields in a massive statistical system is a good example).

Of course most people (and developers) will disagree with me and that's their choice, however it's a choice based on a couple of notes - the main one ...

In DM Genie ... if I have 3 seperate systems ... I have created 3 seperate data file sets ... then I invent a new spell that is to go into all 3 ... do I have to enter its data into all 3? Or can I enter it once and VOILA!!

 

[Janik]

I actually did consider sharing the data between campaigns but decided against it for a few reasons:

1. Each time the user creates a new spell/feat/etc., there would need to be a prompt asking "Do you wish for this spell to be visible in Campaign A, B, C..." which would be slow and annoying. The alternative is - you add a spell in Campaign A and it is automatically in all the campaigns, which is just as annoying if you only wanted the spell in Campaign A.

2. What if in Campaign A you use the regular Fireball spell, but in Campaign B you want to change the Fireball description to add something about wild magic for example (let's say Campaign B has wild magic but not A)? You'd have to create two spells, call them both Fireball, and set the correct one visible for each campaign - again, annoying to the user.

3. Odds are that there won't be much overlap between different gaming worlds, and none at all if you use a different d20 game in a different campaign. If you're running more than one group in a single campaign world, it would perhaps be easier to keep all the PC's groups in the same campaign rather than make 3 campaigns.

4. If you do want to copy the spell from campaign A to campaign B, the import/export functions make it pretty easy. It's an extra step, but automatically including the spell in all campaigns also requires an extra step when you don't want it.

So that's why the data is redundant in DM Genie. Its not really from laziness, as it wouldn't have been too hard to implement, but I think it would make the program harder to use and/or more confusing to the end user.