Evolution (Project Cancelled)

[Vascant]

I've been using (and enjoying) NPC Generator for awhile now, and I have one question:

Does this mean NPC Generator is dying/dead?

I never said I was or would stop supporting NPC Designer, in fact in alot of ways NPC Designer is different then Evolution. Right now I have no plan to stop or cease supporting NPC Designer. A couple of people every day purchase it so there is an obvious need for it.

 

[Vascant]

I've been watching the development of D&D software for six years now and I'm astonished that no one seems to understand this.

I can't talk, it took me doing NPC Designer to really grasp some things myself. I will say it isn't as easy as people think, I have been playing this game and coding for 30 years and yet still learning

My goal right now is to wrap up the racial aspects of the system and begin alpha testing. From there things will move at a smooth pace because of the foundation code being complete. With some decent feedback from users helping me catch things that I miss or do not consider in the design I should be happy with the results.

 

[karianna]

Actually.. this is what I asked for.. and got it
LST Format Data: Yes, there is a seperate tool that converts the data over to something Evolution can use. At present the conversion process is at 100%, meaning I have not had to go in by hand to clean anything up before or after.
Thanks

Hi there, I'm not sure if you've contacted us about the conversion of the LST data or not, if you did I apologies in advance for losing that communication. You'd probably best drop us a line as there are some legalities that you may need to be aware of, especially around the OGL/d20 side of things...

 

[Mustrum_Ridcully]

Mustrum_Ridcully:
.Net, yea have notices a few things I do not like. I am not worried about what MS does or doesn't do personally. This is not a paycheck for me as I am already retired.

Correct LST Format is not in XML so all I did was create a conversion process that creates source code from it.

Plugin: Some of that is already done and some isn't, really depends on the system and how far along I am in coding and answering some design questions. I learned some valuable lessons with NPC Designer concerning giving control over to users, mostly they don't do much with it and just ask for me to make the changes. So while giving users the ability to make changes is present I am also trying not to teach people how to code either. Case in point if you see in the Skill UI; Favored, Favored Ranks, Skill Limits and Rank Limits, those are details that in NPC Designer are available to be changed but in the script files. Now users have a cleaner appoach to making such changes to the NPC.

A Plugin system doesn't have to be used by other users, it can also be helpful for your own development.
You will always be faced with the problem of expanding functionality, and going back to the basics is time-consuming and sometimes even frustrating. But that said, even a Plugin architecture cannot guarantee to make it easy - there is always a risk of unforseen, fundamental changes, and than you are forced to go back to the roots.
I think that in "real-life" software development, predicting the likely changes and extensions - and how to design for something you might or might not have - is one of the big challenges, but might also enable you to build a long-lasting and succesful product-line.

 

[Vascant]

Hi there, I'm not sure if you've contacted us about the conversion of the LST data or not, if you did I apologies in advance for losing that communication. You'd probably best drop us a line as there are some legalities that you may need to be aware of, especially around the OGL/d20 side of things...

I checked your site and PCGen a while back and there was no email to contact. Anyway if you wish to contact me I am a little easier to find, djjones@rpgattitude.com.

 

[Vascant]

A Plugin system doesn't have to be used by other users, it can also be helpful for your own development.
You will always be faced with the problem of expanding functionality, and going back to the basics is time-consuming and sometimes even frustrating. But that said, even a Plugin architecture cannot guarantee to make it easy - there is always a risk of unforseen, fundamental changes, and than you are forced to go back to the roots.
I think that in "real-life" software development, predicting the likely changes and extensions - and how to design for something you might or might not have - is one of the big challenges, but might also enable you to build a long-lasting and succesful product-line.

ahh, I think we use same terms for different things. For me a Plugin System which I am looking at to handle the ability to create Addins, either by users or myself. The internal system is in a sense following the design I am just not coming even close to attempt to extact it. Each system has data requirements, a job to do and an output. This allows me to do what I think you are speaking of now, coming back later and changing the actual job or modifying it. I commonly refer to this as a design flaw in NPC Designer, where I designed a rule based system when I should have been creating an exception based system. Next question is, will it work?

 

[mattcolville]

Here's what I'm looking for. Let me know if this software will do this.

1) Create high level (12th+) PCs and NPCs complete with PrCs.
2) Allow me to add new spells, new feats, new gods, new domains, new Prcs.

The interface already looks better than most interfaces I've seen for this kind of thing.

 

[Vascant]

Here's what I'm looking for. Let me know if this software will do this.

1) Create high level (12th+) PCs and NPCs complete with PrCs.
2) Allow me to add new spells, new feats, new gods, new domains, new Prcs.

The interface already looks better than most interfaces I've seen for this kind of thing.

As with NPC Designer, I agree it needs to be able to handle that functionality as well. Editors to allow the addition and changing of the data will come later but going in yourself and adding new information or changing current is available from the start. They are just in normal text so even note pad can do it.

Expect the racial code to be in Alpha testing this month and then the rest will follow very quickly.

 

[pogre]

As usual, I'm impressed. [pogre stands in line to buy the finished product]

 

[Vascant]

For the next interface I decided to step further away from how normal things are done perhaps and put together everything I need on a single screen to handle Arms and Armor. This area could be one of the biggest failures of any d20 software product because they normal have you still looking in books or flipping to other screens, so the goal here is to stop that. It will allow you to see your the modifiers effecting Armor, Melee and Ranged while making selections without having to move. Though these lists are static, I do intend for them to be more dynamic as you make selections. So that if you select heavy armor, it will change your dex adjustment accordingly to the Max Dex allowed or if you select a weapon you are not proficient with, that adjustment will come up.

The only 2 items not handled yet are the Builders and Default weapons, which is waiting for the builders. The builders will allow you to create the magic weapon and armor aspects along with special abilities.

So whats next?
I have some NPC Designer work to do and still trying to design a way for NPC Designer to use Item Designer output. After I finished the update I will be moving on to Feats and redesigning the Stats UI for Evolution. I also need to double check the Weapons Data, I found a few errors already which makes me want to go thru each one by hand.