Newbie Questions

[mattmcd31]

I'll start off with that fact that I am not a data base person. I am really having a ahrd time geting a grip on creating a new game in this. Its a rather simple game not many rules and not many abbilities that effect stats. I was able to go throught he tutorial that showed how to add units to an existing Game file. BUt I can't seem to find where is shows how to create a whole new game systems or at least modify that demo game system. Any help woudl be appreciated.

[toddp]

You read the tutorial. That is great.

I would highly recommend that you copy the minimal directory and use that as your basic starting point. This is the quickest way to get started. You will likely end up with some extra stuff that you don't want, but it will get you started the most quickly.

The first thing is the .def file. This gives you the basis for the army. I will admit that the ruleset specification is still a bit of a mystery but it is required, use the minimal file definitions to get started.

You will need to add definitions for the unit statistics. You should update the game definitions. Do you have separate races? add these now as well.

Now add a data file and add units. Each unit should belong to a specific race.

I would recommend you look at the documentation regarding data file creation within the ABC creator documentation. This level of help is in there. I will also recommend that you look at the data files for the example army builder file. This has a lot of examples in it but they are in the code, just view the files within army builder and ABC creator. Also, don't hesitate to download some other army builder files and take a look at how they are constructed. If you are building for a simple system, much will not apply but much will apply.

I support the Warmaster Ancients AB files. You may want to take a look at those files as a starting point. They are for a very simple ruleset.

Best regards and good luck,

Todd

[mattmcd31]

So here is the structure I am looking for:

6 Army types - each with its own set of units (ie no common units)

Several stats in the stat line for each unit

There are no options for any of the units

Each unit has Special Abilites, some of these modify Sats in the Stat line.

Only 2 Army build rules:
- Must have 1 and ony 1 unit that has the "general" Special ability
- Must not exceed the build total set

I woudl like to add the option to add the spell summery at the bottom of th page

[rob]

This description helps us understand the overall structure of what you're looking to achieve, and it sounds like it should be relatively easy to setup. The game system lacks some of the convoluted inter-relationships that typify many of current games.

Unfortunately, I'm not sure what specific questions you have that we can answer for you. The suggestions from toddp sound like an excellent game plan. When you run into specific issues with that process, post them here and we'll do our best to help. If you post the question(s) in a different thread, be sure to reference this one so that we know to look here for the details you've provided below.

-Rob

At 09:40 PM 1/16/2006, you wrote:

So here is the structure I am looking for:

6 Army types - each with its own set of units (ie no common units)

Several stats in the stat line for each unit

There are no options for any of the units

Each unit has Special Abilites, some of these modify Sats in the Stat line.

Only 2 Army build rules:
- Must have 1 and ony 1 unit that has the "general" Special ability
- Must not exceed the build total set

I woudl like to add the option to add the spell summery at the bottom of th page

[mattmcd31]

I guess I am still totally lost. Much of the reg guide is aobut writing a new game from scratch not using the tool. Am i wrong is assuming you can do all of that with the tool?

[Russell]

Everything you described is relatively easily accomplished within ABCreator. It is all covered in great detail in the Kit Documentation.

toddp gave an excellent response to your original post (as mentioned by Rob too) on how to set yourself up for a new game, so there's really not much any of us can add in a general sense. If you have specific questions, or something is confusing we're more than happy to help out, but we need to know what it is you dont understand.

If you can tell us exactly what it is you need help with, you might get better help from us :-)

Cheers,
Russell.