Inventory option for AB?

[JMichael]

Is there a way I can simply have my whole miniature inventory, and then have AB draw form that list?

Or even just have a full inventory?
Building a massive 'no max points' list doesn't work as I have different characters and units options that don't fit well in that fashion.
It would be great to have something like:

Tactical Space Marines = 87
Lascannon Marines = 5
etc, etc.

[Cypher-WB]

Not sure if this is what you mean...

But I normally just build a wysiwyg apoc list

[JMichael]

I do have a 'total army' list (just shy of 8k Eldar). But that forces me to form them into actual units.
I primarily play 40k Eldar, and have several different Exarch choices for each squad (for example enough troops for 1-2 squads. But 3-4 Exarchs with different gear).

It would be great to have a running Database of just my actual inventory that AB then pulls from when creating lists. I know this is not something that is easy, just more wondering if it already has something similar that I missed?

[Colen]

Army Builder 3.3 does not include an inventory manager; there are some major issues with adding full-blown inventory management.

For the hardcore player, we would need to track everything at the SKU level, down to the individual model. Then we would have to map each model to the (many) specifically equipped units that it could be fielded within. This is a detail that the data file authors would need to adjudicate and maintain, which would add a *lot* of work to their plate.

More than likely, the classifications made by authors would become a source of disagreement due to the subjective nature of how some models can be classified in some games (e.g. 40K). At that point, we'd have to provide a complex interface that allows users to override the default classifications with their own preferences. Now the simplicity of using AB disappears.

Then there is the question of how to handle conversions, for which there are no SKUs. However, the player is absolutely going to want to track those models within his inventory.

Now look at the casual players. For the casual player, lots of models can readily fill in for other models. While they generally strive to be WYSIWYG, there is a fair amount of "fudging" that goes on. And that's perfectly reasonable for their play needs. One model could potentially be valid for use in multiple different unit types for a casual player, but a hardcore player might limit it to only a single unit because of its paint scheme.

The complexity of having something that works appropriately for all these different player needs is staggering. Not only would it be lots of work to implement, it would also make the product very complex to *use*. At that point, inventory management would only be truly useful to a very small subset of our users. Until we can figure out a way to handle all of the above competing requirements with a simple interface that makes it readily accessible to that vast majority of our users, a "complete" inventory mechanism just isn't practical. So we're still working out how best to solve this issue.

Sorry I can't give you better news

[JMichael]

np. I fully understand the complexities with creating and maintaining working database.
I was just wondering if AB3.3 had some similar feature in it.

Have a great new year!

[Tielc]

I was thinking about this the other day when I listened to an older episode of Podhammer that you guys were on and were dicussing future releases / enhancements. The squad thing had me intersted and got me thinking.

It would be really nice to be able to have Army Builder "store" a "database" of models that I own. For example, I have 55 generic Space Marines models with Bolters, 5 with Missile Launchers, 4 with Las Cannons, 3 with Plasma Cannons, etc. etc. It would be great if there was a notificiation or some sort of status that let me know if I actually had enough models to field an army. So everytime I added a missile launcher to a unit, it subtracted one from the "pool" of models. I think the challenge would be to offer more than just a, whoops, you exceeded you model count light, and offered more of an interactive, let me look and see what I have left to work with type of interface.

[CCotD]

I want to say +1 to adding a feature like this to AB.

Since a certain gaming company would sh*! cease and desist orders all over the place for using their IP for this type of feature, allowing users to import their own pictures would be a huge benefit and allow for any miniature from any game/army to be used.

As far as the complexity, it could either be 1) a separate product, 2) separate product purchased as an addon, 3) turn on "advanced" settings to get this functionality. Casual gamer's would not be an issue.

The force creation tool that was created for AT-43/Confrontation had an inventory feature, but Rackham allowed the IP to be used and since they were pre-painted plastic, the units didn't vary much unless the player modified them. The cool part about it though, if you used the inventory section, the force creation section showed the number of models available for creating that type of unit and if you didn't have that model (or enough models) it would show it red, but you would still be able to add it to the force list (I proxy a lot before laying down my hard earned $$ on an expensive model).

Since I mod most of my mini's, even the base troops, I would want to be able to use pictures of the actual mini's to be able to show which unit is which, other than paint scheme, insignia, etc.

Just some food for thought on what might make this type of feature work for AB.