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... and I have no idea what the heck I'm doing.
I bought Army Builder at the bequest of several of my players, wishing for me to make an AB version of my unit rules for Shattered Sphere, a Battletech-theme game. I'm not really a database person and to be honest, the PDF documents accompanying the software left me more confused that I was when I started this. I can see the potential use of the software but I'm absolutely stymied as to where to start. Is there anyone who could give me so help in getting my feet wet? Thanks in advance, Terminax To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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The most important part to ANY database is to first have a plan for how you
want to implement the database. The key is a solid understanding of your ruleset. Here are some questions you want to consider: - How complex do you want the file to be? AB can be "simple", with very few validation rules, points calculations, custom options, etc. It can also be very complex, as can be seen in some of the larger files like the 40k files. - What are your ruleset limitations? In many games, there are "races" that have their own army lists. Do any of the lists have common characteristics, mechs, etc, that could be implemented into a common file? - How much time do you want to spend building the file, and updating it as new rules become available? This isn't a small job, even infrequently used files can require quite a bit of management if the ruleset they encompass has frequent updates. - Are there features that you could "delay" to a later date, in order to get the file available quickly? Here is what I think you want to do...in a semi-particular order. 1) Look at existing files for games that you are familiar with--warhammer 40k, or whatever other game you may play, even remotely. It helps quite a bit to look at the end-structure of a game system that you are familiar with. 2) Think about how complex you want your file to be. Think about how you are going to divide your races/armies up into separate selections. Think about how you want to render "optional" features--adding weapons to mechs, adding veteran drivers, etc. 3) Think about what statistics you want to display and print for users. The 3 big keys of army builder are a) statistics; b) cost; c) configurability. The main reason folks use AB extensively is that it allows them to configure armies together, in different formations, until they get something that meets a cost requirement. Then, when they print it, they receive all of the relevant statistics and "on the fly" game rules necessary to play the game. So how are you going to deliver these 3 features to your end-user? Once you've thought through these things, you want to move to your "implementation" phase. 1) You have to create a "datadef.xxx" file. Using the PDF's as a guide, you will create a datadef.txt file in notepad or something similar. Follow the specifications of the PDF files, or use "abundef" to "deconvert" a datadef file into text format, so that you can look at an example. For example, you can deconvert the datadef.inq file (it is not protected--some datadef files are). Look at the structure of the file, compare it to the specs in the PDF, and you will begin to understand what you need to do. - to use abundef, go to a command line (start-->run-->"cmd" then enter). At your c:/ prompt, go to your c:/armybuilder folder (type cd/armybuilder). >From c:/armybuilder, type "abundef c:\armybuilder\data\datadef.xxx c:\armybuilder\data\datadefxxx.txt (then hit enter) (where xxx is the file you are trying to deconvert--datadef.inq for example). This will deconvert a data file into a text file, into the location you specified (c:\armybuilder\data\datadefxxx.txt in this case). 2) Once you have created a datadefxxx.txt file, you will want to "convert" it into ab format. you'll use abdef instead of abundef, but the format is the same. c:\armybuilder> abdef c:\armybuilder\data\datadefxxx.txt c:\armybuilder\data\datadef.xxx (where xxx is the name of the "file extension" that you want your file set to have. I used INQ for inquisitor--they used 40k for warhammer 40k). 3) Now you can launch ABCreator. Simply do "File-->New", and then select your game system from the list. 4) Create a race/army. Every file has to start here, as units are related to races. Race is the top of the food chain after the datadef file. For simplicity sake, just key in the main fields, and don't worry about any complex restrictions. 5) Once you can successfully save your race, move on to creating a single unit. Create a unit, and again keep it simple--don't worry about special unit options or such--just get their main statistics, category, group entered in. Save your work. You should now be able to launch army builder and open your fileset from the list of available file sets (I think--you may need to import...? can't remember, it's been a while ). Voila--your unit! >From there, everything gets more complex. Just take it one step at a time. Create all of your units. Then go back and implement the first option for the first unit. Take a look at it in AB, etc. One at a time, files get done. >... and I have no idea what the heck I'm doing. >I bought Army Builder at the bequest of several of my players, >wishing for me to make an AB version of my unit rules for Shattered >Sphere, a Battletech-theme game. > >I'm not really a database person and to be honest, the PDF documents >accompanying the software left me more confused that I was when I >started this. I can see the potential use of the software but I'm >absolutely stymied as to where to start. > >Is there anyone who could give me so help in getting my feet wet? > >Thanks in advance, > >Terminax To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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Okay, I took a crack at things last night and still am finding it
problemic at just creating the datadef.txt file. Meh. Any chance somone could give me a shout on AIM or ICQ and walk me through this key step? At 27 years of age I feel so stupid for asking but I'm getting frustrated at getting stuck in the first stage like I am. David Nowell aka Terminax EM: mad_dog_of_michigan@cogeco.ca AIM: Terminax01 ICQ: 6434166 PS. I'm around online usually from 8am-10pm and 5pm to 10pm weekdays and more on weekends. To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
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