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<blockquote data-quote="DethStryke" data-source="post: 3263480" data-attributes="member: 1309"><p>I was not trying to insinuate what the program was trying to accomplish is trivial or the work you are doing to harness the system was easy. Regardless, the bottom line is that if you want to have a successful product there are certain markers/goals you have to meet/accomplish/overcome. Those are the items I was pointing out. I'm not saying that it isn't something that would take a huge amount of time, brilliant programming and very reliable people. Perhaps this is why some have brought up the question as to whether what would need to be done could be accomplished in a Open-Source manner.</p><p></p><p>I have used 5.10. The UI changes and improvements you mentioned are a noted improvement from 5.8 and previous versions. I was dismayed that the WotC sourcebook would only work with 5.8 and that the contract problems they had with WotC would mean that no other sets would be forthcoming. I even tried manually adding just the feats and such for what I needed, but you could only make custom magical items per the DMG with the official sourcebooks... so I was stuck with the older version. That's just my experience. If I'm being limited to an older version, what does it matter if the new version is all new and shiny?</p><p></p><p>That being said, both versions still ran sluggish with a huge amount of available memory allocated to it. It is a resource hog in the extreme. You point out that PCGen's "intended market" is not the basic SRD / Corebook crowd. Well, that's great. When you load more than 1-2 sources it sucks up so much memory and processor resource that you can't do anything in less than thirty seconds per click. Gods help you if you want to work on more than one character at a time, or have followers/familiars/companions/etc. I would say that this is a show-stopper for your intended audience. If you have show-stoppers like that in existence, then you have not fulfilled your intended goal for the project. To say otherwise is marketing and blowing smoke. I would recommend polishing that stone A LOT more before it is a viable product that should see wide-spread use.</p><p></p><p>You use the term "clues" as to what to do in the GUI; that is a troublesome thing. I should not have to decipher the code of your GUI like a scavenger hunt, never knowing where I should step next to arrive at my destination.</p><p></p><p>While this sounds harsh, please consider that the original question was "what is a simple PC Generator program for D&D?" Since PCGen is free (yay!) and fairly well known having been around for a few years, it of course came up.... but not as a very widely backed suggestion. The above, and I'm sure a few others, are the reasons for that. Now you can say all that you did to justify why these problems exist in the program, or you can take control of them and work towards a better tomorrow for us all, but the end result will still be that a majority of people have this view of the program - a view that will not change until the program does on those points. You can even write off those of us who think this, claiming that we're not your intended customer... but that won't change my view on it.</p><p></p><p>I, for one, wish you great luck and speed in making the program better. I think you and your co-monekys have the best chance in the market today of making it happen! However, sugar-coating the truth of the matter and cooing over flash in the pan when there are these 800-lb gorillas in the way doesn't strike me as something that helps anyone here. The point of the thread was asking for suggestions and critique of available generators for D&D. I kept all of my points to things that are specific, accurate and personally experienced - I'm not trying to make things up just to slander or belittle the product and team here. As I've said before, I actually do like and have used the program... the mentioned cons simply outweighed the pros.</p><p></p><p>Edit- outweighed the pros.... for now. I'm always willing to check out future releases and changes. Hopefully these benefits and changes you've mentioned do see the full light of day in all their glory, and then I will praise PCGen for overcoming those hurdles and use it all the time. <img src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/joypixels/assets/8.0/png/unicode/64/1f642.png" class="smilie smilie--emoji" loading="lazy" width="64" height="64" alt=":)" title="Smile :)" data-smilie="1"data-shortname=":)" /></p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DethStryke, post: 3263480, member: 1309"] I was not trying to insinuate what the program was trying to accomplish is trivial or the work you are doing to harness the system was easy. Regardless, the bottom line is that if you want to have a successful product there are certain markers/goals you have to meet/accomplish/overcome. Those are the items I was pointing out. I'm not saying that it isn't something that would take a huge amount of time, brilliant programming and very reliable people. Perhaps this is why some have brought up the question as to whether what would need to be done could be accomplished in a Open-Source manner. I have used 5.10. The UI changes and improvements you mentioned are a noted improvement from 5.8 and previous versions. I was dismayed that the WotC sourcebook would only work with 5.8 and that the contract problems they had with WotC would mean that no other sets would be forthcoming. I even tried manually adding just the feats and such for what I needed, but you could only make custom magical items per the DMG with the official sourcebooks... so I was stuck with the older version. That's just my experience. If I'm being limited to an older version, what does it matter if the new version is all new and shiny? That being said, both versions still ran sluggish with a huge amount of available memory allocated to it. It is a resource hog in the extreme. You point out that PCGen's "intended market" is not the basic SRD / Corebook crowd. Well, that's great. When you load more than 1-2 sources it sucks up so much memory and processor resource that you can't do anything in less than thirty seconds per click. Gods help you if you want to work on more than one character at a time, or have followers/familiars/companions/etc. I would say that this is a show-stopper for your intended audience. If you have show-stoppers like that in existence, then you have not fulfilled your intended goal for the project. To say otherwise is marketing and blowing smoke. I would recommend polishing that stone A LOT more before it is a viable product that should see wide-spread use. You use the term "clues" as to what to do in the GUI; that is a troublesome thing. I should not have to decipher the code of your GUI like a scavenger hunt, never knowing where I should step next to arrive at my destination. While this sounds harsh, please consider that the original question was "what is a simple PC Generator program for D&D?" Since PCGen is free (yay!) and fairly well known having been around for a few years, it of course came up.... but not as a very widely backed suggestion. The above, and I'm sure a few others, are the reasons for that. Now you can say all that you did to justify why these problems exist in the program, or you can take control of them and work towards a better tomorrow for us all, but the end result will still be that a majority of people have this view of the program - a view that will not change until the program does on those points. You can even write off those of us who think this, claiming that we're not your intended customer... but that won't change my view on it. I, for one, wish you great luck and speed in making the program better. I think you and your co-monekys have the best chance in the market today of making it happen! However, sugar-coating the truth of the matter and cooing over flash in the pan when there are these 800-lb gorillas in the way doesn't strike me as something that helps anyone here. The point of the thread was asking for suggestions and critique of available generators for D&D. I kept all of my points to things that are specific, accurate and personally experienced - I'm not trying to make things up just to slander or belittle the product and team here. As I've said before, I actually do like and have used the program... the mentioned cons simply outweighed the pros. Edit- outweighed the pros.... for now. I'm always willing to check out future releases and changes. Hopefully these benefits and changes you've mentioned do see the full light of day in all their glory, and then I will praise PCGen for overcoming those hurdles and use it all the time. :) [/QUOTE]
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