Me and my friends play Sr3 because a few of them prefer it over SR4. One of them is working on building a new deck and wants to design it custom. I have always used CCOC to do the calculations for me, but they were trying to do it based off the book and then got confused on them. So, I'm trying to help figure out a few things for them and wanted to see if anyone else could help.

Basically, the example they gave me was this. Let's say I want to build a MPCP-7. Without factoring in anything else, CCOC gives me a price of 34,692 ny. If I use the 'Build it yourself' costs, I get 39,200 just for the software cost (MPCP is 8 points, times 7^2, time 100 for the software cost. Since the only hardware cost is 8*7^2=392, the final cost is 39,592.

I could give more examples, or even use the prices it would take to buy the software yourself, which comes to 392,000 even before SI, but nothing I've tried gets out to anything like what CCOC gives me, So, am I missing something obvious, perhaps?

Of course a custom piece of software costs more. The commercial version has been legitimately copied and sold thousands of times, so the seller can afford to charge a lower price. The custom cost you're trying to work out is what happens if you pay some other coder to put together custom software with the features you want. Its like the difference between buying a computer from a store, and paying some guy to write an entire operating system from scratch for you. Unless you are in the character creation phase, the solution is to pirate the software you want, to code it yourself, or to get together a group of coders to create and share the software.

Recreating the CMT Avatar (MPCP-7 4 700 1,400 300 1 250K Y) in CCOC gave a price of 252000 NY which is pretty close.
I'd have to (re)familiarise myself with deck construction in Matrix to see what it would yield.

Oh, I don't disagree with your take on things, but if they are going to do the coding, they are going to be busy for basically the next year creating the software which is not something they want to do. Pirating the doftware is a possibility, but they would either have to do it piece by piece which would take a large number of hacks or runs to get the pieces they need, and then it raises the question of 'How much does that cost?'

If the program costs 390k, like if they were to buy it using the program costs in the core book, then this program would be so secure and locked away that it would be quite the blow to the company's bottom line if it went missing. If it costs 39k, like it looks like in the Matrix deckmeister purchase, it's not as much of a loss.

I can work something out that way, but basically I was just trying to figure out how to read the details in Matrix to make sure I wasn't missing something or misreading it since I was getting one figure and CCOC was getting something else.

Just happened on this, the code is the killer, go with the hardware rules in the Matrix for deckmeisters.

I have had a programer PC specced for code writing. It took about 10 months to get up to speed via return, first programing a programing suite and then a high end utility. He had to because he did not start with a deck.

I also have a PC who wants to retire as a Deckmiester, so I have investigated what is needed for deck construction jobs and again its the code which is the killer. Coding yourself is not cheap, because you have to eat. Firmware once you have it is great but making it or better yet steal/buyinig it, is what makes or breaks a Deckmiester. And its down to contacts again. Forget cracking it takes longer than writing the bloody thing.

Think of it this way, you want to do some land scape gardening. Its cheaper to hire the professional than to buy all the tools and kit yourself. Same thing with custom jobs. Programing is insanely long winded to prohibit deckers from getting tough too quick and so need to run. Utilites are insanely expensive for the same reason.

This knock on effect to decks, means it far easier to get a pro get the parts, the code and burn the lot than for you take your skilled hoop of the job to do it yourself.

And yes you have to like math to work out the costs and you seem to being doing everything right there. I managed to get my inner geek on IC, just so I could wade through the math of deck pimping for my players. My tax retunrs had less calculations.

Goodluck and i hope one day I can sweet talk a techy with time to rig a priece of code to take the pain out of deck construction.