Hey all,

I am currently working on a new Character Generator Program because the current Daegann's that seems to be the only one is as he said "not great."

The first version will be pretty simple, and later versions will try to add more such as auto doing modifications to stats based on cyberware/bioware etc.

New things you will notice:

-Multiple Windows can be opened for easy comparison.
-Cyberware and Bioware are individual windows for comparison.
-Notes show up when you click on your owned items.
-Lists such as Qualities have been alphabetized for easy finding and still have the Source book in case you aren't allowed to use a certain book.
-When looking at the main window you can click on items you have added and a tooltip will appear reminding you what that thing did/cost/dmg/availability/etc
-Drones/Vehicles will be a new window.
-Programs will be a new window.
-NEW Martial Arts Window that checks if you have the Martial Arts Quality and only allows the max amount of Advantages and Maneuvers based on your Quality level.
-New Weapon tab that has weapons organized by type aka Pistols: Light, Pistols: Holdout, Pistols: Heavy etc.

Thats all I can think of for now. I am hoping to have a beta out before the end of the year. I will be posting it on Dumpshock and hope you all will give some feedback. I will keep up on this as best I can.

QUICK QUESTION?

Does this sound useful to any of you?

-Thanks

Most decidedly so. I was considering doing something similar. How are you designing it? Using what tools/frameworks/languages? I'd like to help, and will if I'm competent in the technology you're using.

This sounds great!
Thanks for putting in the effort...

I am doing this in Visual Studios 2005 I am writing it in C#.

Well, if you need a beta tester who can understand the underlying structure, let me know. I'm not a C# programmer, but know C/C++/Obj-C from college.

Sounds awesome. When you get it ready, just post it in the Community Projects section so we keep it in the appropriate place. Looking forward to it.

Also, if you need someone to Beta and break it, feel free to count me in as well. I'm stupid-good at discovering odd bugs for some reason.

Verrrrry interested. Will immediately get to work trying it out as soon as you post it. Thanks in advance for the effort.

my 2 cents.
Learn version control (use git) , share code someplace like github, so people can join in (much more easily than using SVN). If you are student then check if you can get something newer from https://www.dreamspark.com/default.aspx , but im not 100% can you share code.
From my own experience i can say that vs2008->vs2010 is improvement, even more if you change to .net 4.0 at same time (assuming that you want to learn new stuff)

I'm always interested in new Shadowrun programs. I wouldnt mind seeing a beta version of the generator.

There must be some problem on me understanding your use of the term "Character Generator Program" or you haven't checked the community projeck sub forum at all, as ther are at least half a dozen character generators there.

The one from DamienKnight that I'm currently used has almost everythink possible implemented.

I think he's meaning specifically standalone programs. DK's sheet is fantastic, but it doesn't work without Excel (not all of my players can use it) and opening 5-8 Excel spreadsheets at once can slow down my laptop.

A standalone program, especially one with user modifiable databases for custom gear and community collaboration, would be amazing, especially with some of the features you mention here. Something closer to the good ol' NSRCG...

That is awesome, because that means if I hate the interface I can build my own using Expression Blend.

(Not that I expect to, but I like having options!)

This is a fully standalone program. I'm not making this to be super secret about my code. Once beta testing is done I will gladly also have a link to my code if you wish to change anything have at it (P.S. it is about 8,000 lines of code that isn't the best, but I did put a quick comment for each method, I will work on cleaning it up once beta testing begins). I'll keep it in Visual Studios 2005 for now in case people want to edit it and don't have 2008 or 2010. When it is done I'll post in the Community Projects and link it to this thread. Thanks all for your replies.

Well, you can use Open Office pretty well to view them. It's free and the data is considerably easier to handle, memory-wise. Like 8 sheets only takes 140mbs of memory or so to keep open when you convert them to .ods format.


Oh, and I'm looking forward to your program Buddha.

Haven't used Daegann's since i found that Excel sheet. I'd definitely consider switching to this new program if you support it regularly(-ish) with updates and fixes. If you're in need of inspiration, you should check out DnD's 4th ed generator(the old one,before they went online only). If you can replicate( or improve on) the way they handle info from multiple source books that would be awesome.

From what he has shown me so far, it works quite well. He's only got a few things left to code... At least for the beta version. Right now the biggest time sink is looking to be the databases. But, so far everything is looking beautiful! Though, I will admit I haven't REALLY tried to break it yet!