O.G.R.E. is here!

[Morrus]

OGRE (Online Generic Randomization Engine) v1.0 is now live!

OGRE: Online Generic Randomizer Engine

That is all. Hopefully you'll all use and enjoy! More features are already being worked on. We've been working on this since May this year, and we finally have a basic but fairly stable version running. We're adding scripts (as described in the wiki help page) next for advanced/power users.

The more people creating content for this, the more useful it becomes. I've made a start with a selection of tables and generators, but we need hundreds if not thousands of times the content to make this really something quite powerful. But it really needs to be crowdsourced to hit critical mass. Like a messageboard, it needs that intertia to get it going!

Eventually I intend to have a mobile app (iPhone and Android) designed for it to randomly create content on the fly.

 

[slobster]

This is a fantastic idea, I look forward to it becoming quite the resource for RPG random generators! I'm playing around with a Pirate Name Generator right now just for fun, so far so good!

 

[slobster]

One observation. When filling in the "range" fields for tables, it would be a lot simpler if I could just enter a number representing the frequency with which the result comes up, instead of having to type in an actual range for the dice roller.

So if I wanted there to be an equal chance of rolling any of 3 options on a d12, I'd just type in "4" for each.

If I wanted one option to be twice as likely as the other 2, I'd type in "6" for it and "3" for the other two. And so on for any possibility in between.

The advantage is that I don't have to sit there typing in dozens or hundreds of individual ranges for large numbers, like d10000's. Instead I can just decide how likely it should be, enter a number that represents that, and move on.

I don't know how much trouble that would be, but it's just a suggestion.

 

[slobster]

Having problems with subtracting numbers from the dice roller script, but not adding.

Is {3d6-2} the proper syntax?

 

[Morrus]

Having problems with subtracting numbers from the dice roller script, but not adding.

Is {3d6-2} the proper syntax?

That's correct; we're aware of that issue. Leave the {3d6-2} there, and it'll start working as soon as we fix that.

 

[Asmor]

Great to hear, but...

Eventually I intend to have a mobile app (iPhone and Android) designed for it to randomly create content on the fly.

Please, for the love of Pelor, NO.

There's no reason that has to be an app. There's no advantage in this case to making it a native app over a plain old web page. With HTML5 (which both Android and iOS support very well), it can look and behave just as nicely as a native app. You can even set it up so that if someone bookmarks it to their device, it'll have a customized icon like a regular app.

Hell, if you wanted to make it available offline, you can do that too.

Also, just as a note, I'm not just talking out my ass here. I have created a web app for Thunderstone, called Thundermaster, specifically designed to work well on any device. I use it myself on my computer, Kindle, phone and tablet (both running Android), and I've seen it used on iOS devices as well. And it works offline as long as you've loaded it once.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Oh, man ... I saw the title and thought it was a return of the classic wargame OGRE! Color me disappointed ...

 

[Scott DeWar]

checked out the random room descriptor. nice.

 

[Evenglare]

I think the app would be great. There is no reason that this can't be an app as well as a regular page.

 

[Nikosandros]

Oh, man ... I saw the title and thought it was a return of the classic wargame OGRE! Color me disappointed ...

Well, the classic boardgame OGRE actually is returning. There was a hugely successful Kickstarter and SJ Games is restarting the line.