RunCreator III Options

[Tommycore]

Hey Chummers!

Some of you might have heard of the RunCreator II. It's a tool that let's you generate random runs. Now we just got the ok from Pegasus to write the next installment.

That's why I wanna ask u guys what you'd like to see. We (that's a friend of mine and myself) are in very early and conceptional phase, so at this point every idea, no matter how far-fetched, is additional input and therefor useful.

Set in stone is up to now only that we'll use Java, and that there will be a german as well as an english version, and that it'll be easy to write your own language files.



Cheers!
Tommy

[Stahlseele]

Yay!
Basically, something like the RCII, which ws flash based and thus largely plattform independent.
Keep the snarky Humor, do a Translation in english, put in some stuff from 4th Ed but largely keep mechanics out of it.
Then we have a tool that can, more or less, be used for any of the 4 SR Versions.

[Nebular]

Wish I could offer more suggestions based on the previous version but my German is terrible, so having this something in English that I could read and use would be a real plus for me! (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

[Tommycore]

As I said, the RC III will be multilingual, coming in german and english (other translations may be added by anyone who would like to), and we'll use Java, thus making it largely platform independent (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wink.gif)

Which features would you like to see in a tool that helps you create Runs, Campaigns, NSCs, etc.?

[ggodo]

A wide variety of things to steal/hack/extract. Nabbing the paydata is always nice, but it's more fun to be hunting Jiffy Pop or Bubba the Love Troll's first film than the generic specs to some weapon. although, if it is a weapon, making it something interesting is always good.

Actually a sliding scale of danger would be nice. GMs could input some threat level so the street gangers aren't seeing Zero Zones and vice versa. Some way to sort by theme would be nice too. Goofy stuff not mixing with the serious. other than that All I have are more ideas for settings and locations and things than I feel like writing now, but if you want some, I'll write later.

[Wizard_Thoarin]

I haven't seen RunCreator II and if its in German only Its of no use to me.

I suppose I'd want to see more then just a tool to do quick runs and to me a tool to flesh out the encounters in a run would be more useful. I suppose what I'd want to see the following for fleshing out an encounter in the run.

• "Tell it like it is" text box
• Threat Rating system to check to see if the encounter matches a desired difficulty against a given number of PC's and their experience
• Stat blocks on NPC's (import from Nebular's Chummer Character Generator would be great also, especially for Prime Runners)
• Pertinent Skills and their target threshold or opposing dice for those pesky skill tests.
• Motivational information for the GM (why the NPC's are there and what they are up to)
• Save the encounter

For the overall Run I'd like to see:

• Timeline of events for Encounters (especially useful when the players have a limited amount of time to successfully complete the run)
• Import of saved encounters detailed above
• Printed output that could look like a published Shadowrun adventure with all the encounters linked.

For the quick off the cuff run maybe a series of nested drop down boxes to narrow an encounter. Something like:

Robbery
-> leads to Robbing or Foiling the Robbery
-> leads to -> Stuffer Shack, Bank, Auto Mall, Trid Theater, some other business
-> leads to -> How soon do the cops show up.

Each of these drop down selections should lead to another until the scope is narrow enough to flesh out the encounter with the GM's aid using the above list.

[Nebular]

I have no idea how I missed the bit of you already saying it would also be in English. My bad. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)

Some of the stuff mentioned by the others got me thinking.

• XML data and allow for custom data files! This would let users add in their own wild and wacky scenarios/scenes and let them share it with others.
• Pick a set of Skills (Active or Knowledge) that some scenes in the mission are geared towards. This would let some players step into the spotlight and show off their various talents. Everyone likes to be the guy that gets to show off and save the team from time-to-time. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/smile.gif)
• Ability to specify a level of difficulty, from a cakewalk to give the runners a bit of a break, to bone-crushingly hard to push 'em to their limits. I could see this adjusting the number of fights, their difficulty (as far as number of opponents and their competence), difficulty of hacking tasks, etc. Having the ability to adjust this on the fly would be really neat too, in the event you're finding things too easy or too hard and need to tweak things.
• Maps! Not generating (that would probably be way outside of the scope of this), but being able to create links to map files (not limiting to just standard image file extensions so we can use external mapping applications)
• This may sound self-serving, but I like Wizard_Thoarin's idea of importing NPC info from a Chummer save (or even just linking to a Chummer save or other external character like an Excel file) so you can view the NPC either in the run information or by clicking on a link. I think linking to the file would allow for greater flexibility so people can use whatever sort of file they'd like. (with any luck though, Mono will put out their next release which should let Chummer work on multiple platforms as well)
• Legwork section (these are really useful in the Shadowrun Missions that Catalyst does).
• Ability to specify a sequence of events. Presumably the app would have a list of events that can happen that it would put together. This would instead give you the ability to specify how the mission itself flows, the app would just fill in the details for you. So you could specify something like Kidnapping -> leads to car chase -> leads to drop off at mall -> leads to gun battle -> end. It would fill in the details for the kidnapping, car chase, mall drop off, and gun battles.

[Crazy Ivan]

I love the sound of this program and the expected layout of it. Any idea when its going to be ready?