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Ok--here is my stats section from a file I recently helped a friend
create: Stats Edge | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~27 EMB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~28 MOV | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~29 WV | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~30 AV | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 3 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~31 WVB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~32 AVB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~33 TUB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~34 ETB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~35 EUB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~36 TWT | 2 | 1 | 20.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~37 X2 | 0 | 0 | 0.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &TUB-&ETB-&EUB~38 DX1 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &WV+&WVB+&EUB~39 HX1 | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &AV+&AVB+&EUB~40 Att | 2 | 1 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &TWT-&WVB~41 Def | 2 | 1 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &TWT-&AVB-&X2~42 Mor | 2 | 1 | 3.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &TWT-&EMB-&X2~43 MP | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | &MOV+&TUB+&EUB~44 Dam | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~DX1*# 45 Hits | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~HX1*# 46 The problem is with the last 2 stats--right now I have them commented out so I cna keep using the file. But when I try the formula DX1*# where the calculation is to take teh stat DX1 and multiply it by the unti count, it doesn't work--it says "Invalid Arithmetic Stat Expression". Any clues what I'm doing wrong? I wrote the formula exactly as it appears in the Construction Kit manual. To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#1 |
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The friend he's helping is me :-)
If one needs to see the original unit stats/formulae, they can be found here http://home.cogeco.ca/~shattered-sph...ules/military/ Some adjustments have had to be made to accomodate ABCreator. As an aside, as a completely new entrant to this program I must say that the Manual to ABCreator is incredibly hard to use if not virtually useless without a guiding hand. If it wasn't for Mike E's help so far on this, I'd be completely lost intead of the just supremely confused the way I am right now. While I never had an illusion it'd be easy... I didn't think it'd be this hard either. Maybe somebody at the company might want to look at creating a slightly more user friendly version of the manual. One that uses a bit more plain english than engineer-ese. To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#2 |
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At 08:00 PM 2/19/2003 +0000, you wrote:
>Ok--here is my stats section from a file I recently helped a friend >create: > >Stats > Edge | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~27 > EMB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | .~28 <snip snip snip> > MP | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >&MOV+&TUB+&EUB~44 > Dam | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >.~DX1*# 45 > Hits | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >.~HX1*# 46 > >The problem is with the last 2 stats--right now I have them commented >out so I cna keep using the file. But when I try the formula > >DX1*# > >where the calculation is to take teh stat DX1 and multiply it by the >unti count, it doesn't work--it says "Invalid Arithmetic Stat >Expression". > >Any clues what I'm doing wrong? I wrote the formula exactly as it >appears in the Construction Kit manual. When you're using 'DX1' and 'HX1' in the last two expressions, you need to prefix them with either $ or &. As you've used the & prefix above, it means 'adjusted value of the stat' - $ prefix means 'base value of the stat'. So for example, your last two rules might look like: $DX1*# $HX1*# (this is on page 21 of the construction kit .rtf manual, by the way). -- Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com) Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#3 |
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At 10:38 PM 2/19/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>The friend he's helping is me :-) > >If one needs to see the original unit stats/formulae, they can be found here >http://home.cogeco.ca/~shattered-sph...ules/military/ Some adjustments >have had to be made to accomodate ABCreator. > >As an aside, as a completely new entrant to this program I must say that the >Manual to ABCreator is incredibly hard to use if not virtually useless >without a guiding hand. If it wasn't for Mike E's help so far on this, I'd >be completely lost intead of the just supremely confused the way I am right >now. While I never had an illusion it'd be easy... I didn't think it'd be >this hard either. Maybe somebody at the company might want to look at >creating a slightly more user friendly version of the manual. One that uses >a bit more plain english than engineer-ese. If you're a beginner at writing datafiles, we recommend you take an existing file and just adapt it for your needs, rather than starting 'from scratch'. I wrote datafiles for AB for years, and every time I needed to create a new game system, I just took an existing one and modified it. The manual as it stands is 84 pages long; if you have any specific suggestions for improvements we'll take them into consideration, but for some reason we really don't feel like going through and rewriting the whole thing right now. If you have any further questions, feel free to post them here for advice. -- Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com) Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#4 |
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Well, color me stupid. I hate it when I miss something obvious like that.
>-----Original Message----- >From: Colen McAlister [mailto:colen@wolflair.com] >Sent: Thursday, February 20, 2003 10:10 PM >To: armybuilder@yahoogroups.com >Subject: Re: [AB] Problem with stat formula calculation > > >At 08:00 PM 2/19/2003 +0000, you wrote: >>Ok--here is my stats section from a file I recently helped a friend >>create: >> >>Stats >> Edge | 1 | 1 | 0.0 | 1.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | >. | . | .~27 >> EMB | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 2 | 0 | 0 | 0 | >. | . | .~28 ><snip snip snip> >> MP | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 20.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >>&MOV+&TUB+&EUB~44 >> Dam | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >>.~DX1*# 45 >> Hits | 2 | 1 | 1.0 | 99.0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | . | . | >>.~HX1*# 46 >> >>The problem is with the last 2 stats--right now I have them commented >>out so I cna keep using the file. But when I try the formula >> >>DX1*# >> >>where the calculation is to take teh stat DX1 and multiply it by the >>unti count, it doesn't work--it says "Invalid Arithmetic Stat >>Expression". >> >>Any clues what I'm doing wrong? I wrote the formula exactly as it >>appears in the Construction Kit manual. > >When you're using 'DX1' and 'HX1' in the last two expressions, >you need to >prefix them with either $ or &. As you've used the & prefix >above, it means >'adjusted value of the stat' - $ prefix means 'base value of >the stat'. So >for example, your last two rules might look like: > >$DX1*# >$HX1*# > >(this is on page 21 of the construction kit .rtf manual, by the way). > > >-- >Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com) >Lone Wolf Development >www.wolflair.com > > >To unsubscribe from this group, email > > >armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com > >Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to >http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ > To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#5 |
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Colen McAlister wrote:
If you're a beginner at writing datafiles, we recommend you take an existing file and just adapt it for your needs, rather than starting 'from scratch'. I wrote datafiles for AB for years, and every time I needed to create a new game system, I just took an existing one and modified it. The manual as it stands is 84 pages long; if you have any specific suggestions for improvements we'll take them into consideration, but for some reason we really don't feel like going through and rewriting the whole thing right now. If you have any further questions, feel free to post them here for advice. -- Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com) Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- -------------------------- Considering that the Army Builder cost me about a weeks worth of groceries, or about $60 Dollars (I'm Canadian, so the exchange is a factor.) and so that's a fair chunk of change. I certainly haven't felt I've gotten my worth out of the product yet. I'm not a WH40K player nor am I a player of most of the games that existing files cover. Modifying existing files doesn't do me much good when one still needs to understand how the game you're modifying works, which I don't. Even the sole Battletech file wasn't much help because it's far more complicated than anything I understand from the manual. The Construction Kit Manual isn't much good. You can toss me allot of "It's right here in the manual" comments, but while the information maybe there it isn't that readily apparent to a newbie like me. It's technogabble for the most part. Sure to someone who may understand already the in's and out's of the program and programming in general might not have a problem with it but they're not the ones who absolutely need a manual. I've picked up on most of what's been taught to me so far quite readily but that doesn't mean the manual doesn't have it's gaps. It really needs to simplify it's language or have a section added in with such language, explaining the process better. It's like where I have my game's statistics and the game rules. The statistics are straightforward but they still require an english explanation and without one, the overall game isn't much good. The same applies to Army Builder in this case. Regardless, you've heard the gripe and it's up to the company to decide if it's worth acting upon. I won't press the issue any further. - TMX Email: mad_dog_of_michigan@cogeco.ca ICQ: 6434166 AIM: Terminax01 [Non-text portions of this message have been removed] To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#6 |
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At 09:39 AM 2/21/2003 -0500, you wrote:
>Considering that the Army Builder cost me about a weeks worth of groceries, >or about $60 Dollars (I'm Canadian, so the exchange is a factor.) and so >that's a fair chunk of change. I certainly haven't felt I've gotten my worth >out of the product yet. I'm not a WH40K player nor am I a player of most of >the games that existing files cover. Modifying existing files doesn't do me >much good when one still needs to understand how the game you're modifying >works, which I don't. Even the sole Battletech file wasn't much help because >it's far more complicated than anything I understand from the manual. > >The Construction Kit Manual isn't much good. You can toss me allot of "It's >right here in the manual" comments, but while the information maybe there it >isn't that readily apparent to a newbie like me. It's technogabble for the >most part. Sure to someone who may understand already the in's and out's of >the program and programming in general might not have a problem with it but >they're not the ones who absolutely need a manual. I've picked up on most of >what's been taught to me so far quite readily but that doesn't mean the >manual doesn't have it's gaps. It really needs to simplify it's language or >have a section added in with such language, explaining the process better. >It's like where I have my game's statistics and the game rules. The >statistics are straightforward but they still require an english explanation >and without one, the overall game isn't much good. The same applies to Army >Builder in this case. We understand your concerns regarding the quality of the documentation, but unfortunately we're heavily engaged in other projects right now; there simply aren't enough hours in the day to get everything done that we'd like to. The next time we revise the documentation, we'll do our best to improve it and incorporate your suggestions. Incidentally, my apologies if I came over as uncaring and flippant in my original post, but we're coming up to a major release date here and things are (as always) a bit hectic. And again, if you have queries feel free to post them here and I or someone else will do our best to help out. Thanks, -- Colen McAlister (colen@wolflair.com) Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com To unsubscribe from this group, email armybuilder-unsubscribe@yahoogroups.com Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/ |
#7 |
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Greetings,
I'm the one who has to make the decisions around here about what does/doesn't get done and when, so I thought I should share my thoughts on this one. :-) First of all, I'm sorry the Construction Kit documentation hasn't been overly useful to you. I'm the one who wrote it, so you can point the finger at me. There's a LOT of sophistication within Army Builder, and that translates into a lot of potential complexity if you want to utilize all the power. I'm a techie, and all of the early data file authors were also techies, so the documentation is written to that target audience. That unfortunately makes for a very steep learning curve for non-techies (and even a moderately steep one for techies). To offset that, we do our best to provide helpful suggestions on this forum, answering specific questions that users submit. The current manual is a reference manual, with very little in the way of "walkthroughs". A tutorial is present, but that only covers the basics to get someone started. I'm assuming you've gone through that already. If not, it's definitely worth a look, as it answers many of the basic questions that come up. Here's the problem on this end. We're a TINY company. As of 6 months ago, our staff consisted of only TWO people. We've thankfully grown a little bit since then, adding a marketing consultant and Colen as a developer. Please realize that this staff has to cover sales, marketing, finance, development, support, the website, blah, blah, blah. We also have TWO products now, so both need to be serviced. Since we don't have a huge staff around here, it is a constant juggle to decide what we work on. We have users clamoring for new features, plus we have authors asking for better tools and/or better documentation. There are not enough resources around here to do everything we'd like, so we have to take our best guess as to what's going to be the optimal course. Regardless of what we choose, someone is going to be unhappy with the result, and that includes us, since we honestly would like the product to be a great experience for everyone. The reality is that that's just not possible, so we do the best we can and strive to fill in the holes with good technical support (that's the goal, at least). Writing good documentation is VERY time-consuming. Writing good tutorials is even more time-consuming. I'm not sure if you've done either task before, but it's a huge drain of resources - the same resources that add new features to the products. Lots of users would argue we should spend more time adding features. Authors like yourself contend we should improve the documentation. So it's a juggling act. When we next update AB, we will definitely work to enhance the documentation. But we can't do that overnight. In the meantime, please post your questions to this forum and we'll do our best to answer them. The more information you can provide about your game, the better we can assist you. You're welcome to ask open-ended questions, such as "here's the game mechanic, how should I best model this within AB?". The folks here (which includes many other data file authors) can usually offer good guidance, pointing you at the features within AB that you need to utilize for your game. From there, you can focus in on those features, learn how they work, ask additional questions as necessary, and ignore all the other stuff that you don't need. That makes your time with AB as efficient and productive as possible. :-) Hope this helps, Rob At 09:39 AM 2/21/2003 -0500, you wrote: >Considering that the Army Builder cost me about a weeks worth of groceries, >or about $60 Dollars (I'm Canadian, so the exchange is a factor.) and so >that's a fair chunk of change. I certainly haven't felt I've gotten my worth >out of the product yet. I'm not a WH40K player nor am I a player of most of >the games that existing files cover. Modifying existing files doesn't do me >much good when one still needs to understand how the game you're modifying >works, which I don't. Even the sole Battletech file wasn't much help because >it's far more complicated than anything I understand from the manual. > >The Construction Kit Manual isn't much good. You can toss me allot of "It's >right here in the manual" comments, but while the information maybe there it >isn't that readily apparent to a newbie like me. It's technogabble for the >most part. Sure to someone who may understand already the in's and out's of >the program and programming in general might not have a problem with it but >they're not the ones who absolutely need a manual. I've picked up on most of >what's been taught to me so far quite readily but that doesn't mean the >manual doesn't have it's gaps. It really needs to simplify it's language or >have a section added in with such language, explaining the process better. >It's like where I have my game's statistics and the game rules. The >statistics are straightforward but they still require an english explanation >and without one, the overall game isn't much good. The same applies to Army >Builder in this case. > >Regardless, you've heard the gripe and it's up to the company to decide if >it's worth acting upon. I won't press the issue any further. --------------------------------------------------------------------------- Rob Bowes (rob@wolflair.com) (559) 658-6995 Lone Wolf Development www.wolflair.com 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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