RPM, PCGen, DM Genie Which should I go with?

[MaxKaladin]

I've used PCGen but I hesitate to recommend it. It seems fairly flexible and you can get the datasets from codemonkey, but it's not really user friendly and the interface seems painfully slow and clunky at times. It really needs to have its front end redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up.

 

[Morrus]

I've just purchased and downloaded DM Genie to see what it's like. I'll let you know after I've gotten my registration code (it's telling me my 60 day trial period is already up, for some reason - I wonder if I tried it out before and forgot?)

 

[kingpaul]

I've used PCGen but I hesitate to recommend it. It seems fairly flexible and you can get the datasets from codemonkey, but it's not really user friendly and the interface seems painfully slow and clunky at times. It really needs to have its front end redesigned and rebuilt from the ground up.

Which version of PCGen did you use? There has been substantial work done on speeding up the response time of the program as of late.

 

[MaxKaladin]

Hmmm, I think it was something like 5.2. It was whatever was current around November-December 2004.

Edit: It isn't so much response time that I recall having a problem with most recently, but rather the interface being awkward to work with in some respects and not terribly intuitive. One thing that sticks in mind -- and I know this isn't the primary focus of PCGen -- was that trying to add anything like a feat or a PrC was like pulling teeth. I've heard a number of people say that they prefer to just edit data files because its easier. That may be true if you're familiar with the files and what goes in them, but if you aren't, it's a real pain.

I suppose I could go into detail about what I remember but I'll let it suffice to say that my impression of the interface was that it was like exploring some kind of labrynth trying to find the right way to do various things.

 

[kingpaul]

Hmmm, I think it was something like 5.2. It was whatever was current around November-December 2004.

Hmmm. 5.7.9 came out on 11/15/2004. 5.2 came out on 6/28/2003. I know that the code monkey have been working on stripping out unnecessary code to speed up PCGen's performance even since 5.7.9.

 

[kingpaul]

Edit: It isn't so much response time that I recall having a problem with most recently, but rather the interface being awkward to work with in some respects and not terribly intuitive. One thing that sticks in mind -- and I know this isn't the primary focus of PCGen -- was that trying to add anything like a feat or a PrC was like pulling teeth. I've heard a number of people say that they prefer to just edit data files because its easier. That may be true if you're familiar with the files and what goes in them, but if you aren't, it's a real pain.

I suppose I could go into detail about what I remember but I'll let it suffice to say that my impression of the interface was that it was like exploring some kind of labrynth trying to find the right way to do various things.

I see you edited your response just as I made my initial response.

But yes, there have been many complaints about the editors and how to create your own items.

 

[sjmiller]

My problem with almost all of these character creation programs is none of them will do what I want. I've added races, feats, classes, spells, and equipment from a multitude of sources*. None of these allow me to easily add in this information. They guys at Code Monkey even told me that some of them are flat out impossible to do with the current software. So, that leaves me with the good old trust pencil and paper. They've worked for countless game systems over my 25 years of gaming, and they will continue to work in the future too.

* For the record, I am using races, equipment, and feats from Arcana Unearthed, Monte Cook's revised Ranger, a race from Throwing Dice Games, equipment from Dragon magazine, feats from Ronin Arts, and spells from the WotC website.