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Character Sheets

The cheaper programs have a much larger learning curve just to use the program so please explain how they are better then Hero Labs? Just using a program like PCGen and customizing most of the character crunch in the PCGen is dang near impossible...
Be glad this is not PCgen or another "free" character generator as they are still trying to catch up with how far Hero Labs has come AND have as good an interface as Hero Labs too. Not to mention you WILL need to know programming to do any custom input.
What a line of BS! PC-Gen uses text files, so if you can type in a text editor, you can code pretty much anything you want. Also, PC-Gen has third party content which I don't see much of here on these boards. WOW! PC-Gen has been using XSLT for quite a long time, so the hurdle is the same. Please refrain from spewing falsehoods.
 
Whoa! I can wholly understand that you take exception to some of the assertions made by Nikmal. However, there's absolutely no reason to get confrontational and potentially start a flame war.

I need everyone to take a deep breath before posting about the relative pros and cons of different products, whether in this thread or any other. Disagreements are fine, personal opinions are fine, but polite discourse must be the order of the day here. Thank you in advance for everyone's compliance with this simple rule.

We now return you to your regularly scheduled discussions....
 
A brief description of XSLT can be found here.

You don't need programming skills to figure out how to write an XSLT, and if the XML to be processed is available outside of HeroLab, there are a number of free applications that exist to make writing XSLTs more accessible to the non-technical.

I'm a code guy but like short cuts. Recommendations of editors? I've poked around some and there is a variety out there. Please name a good one or two so I can narrow my searches. :) I'm running Linux FWIW. Thanks!
 
I'm a code guy but like short cuts. Recommendations of editors? I've poked around some and there is a variety out there. Please name a good one or two so I can narrow my searches. :) I'm running Linux FWIW. Thanks!

Been poking about with EditiX http://www.editix.com which has a perfectly adequate free version which works on Win, Mac and Linux. - it has the advantage that you can test your xslt up against the original xml - plus i've been looking at creating an XSL Formatting Object transformer which would give a degree of page control and allow more options for output formats such as pdf et al.
 
I'm a professional Microsoft .NET C# developer, so I really only know tools for the Windows platform. I've used XML Notepad 2007, XmlPad, and of course Visual Studio 2005/2008/2010.

Altova makes some really great products, but I'm pretty sure they cost $$$$.
 
I'm a code guy but like short cuts. Recommendations of editors? I've poked around some and there is a variety out there. Please name a good one or two so I can narrow my searches. :) I'm running Linux FWIW. Thanks!

I recommend Notepad++ using WINE if you are fine with a text editor. If you want a GUI, you can use Serna Syntext I think is what it is called.
 
If we're wrong about the custom output mechanism and nobody puts something together over the summer, we'll make it a high priority to get this done ourselves after GenCon. Does that sound reasonable?

It was great seeing the Lone Wolf folks at Gen Con and I had a pretty good conversation concerning Realm Works which I'm really looking forward to. That said, I just wanted to make a quick gentle yet mildly insistent poke about the above quote. While a few folks have been experimenting with custom Pathfinder sheets I'd really love to see something along the lines of the official sheet from Lone Wolf. At the very least it would give those with the inclination the ability to start their customizations with something more along the official lines.

For being such a pain about this, I should probably volunteer to help out at their booth next year. :)
 
I pretty much only want the current character sheet WITHOUT the 3 line limit... Anyone who can do that will have my gratitude! :D
 
Just a soft poke to bring this to the forefront of potential attention once again. I'm not looking for anything instantly, just an acknowledgement from the fine folks at Lone Wolf that this being worked on. In a Pathfinder session last night there was some discussion of the... shortcomings of the existing printed character sheet and that reminded me of this so I figured I'd be a pest again. :)
 
Just a soft poke to bring this to the forefront of potential attention once again. I'm not looking for anything instantly, just an acknowledgement from the fine folks at Lone Wolf that this being worked on. In a Pathfinder session last night there was some discussion of the... shortcomings of the existing printed character sheet and that reminded me of this so I figured I'd be a pest again. :)
Not sure what your poking as the custom sheets are in 3.7. :)

Plus several custom sheets done by the community are available right now. Check out Post Links to your Custom Sheets here for more info. Both of the new custom sheets give FULL text for abilities currently.
 
I would respectfully suggest that you go back and reread the entire thread. From there you'll be able to get a better idea of the original complaint, the promise delivered by Lone Wolf, and you'll have a better idea of the reason behind my poking.

In a nutshell, I do not believe that there is a complete and working (within reason of course, sans bugs) custom character sheet available that provides all the functionality of the official Pathfinder sheet. Lone Wolf had previously stated that the creation of one that mimics the official Pathfinder character sheet would be a priority if one wasn't created by Gen Con.

If the attempts at sheets that exist presently count as that, then that should be clarified. I personally don't believe they do as those sheets are not complete and there is of course no time frame for when they will be, though I in no way mean to diminish the work the creators have put into them. I know that Lone Wolf will also need to take a reasonable amount of time to create a custom sheet that meets the above requirements, but at least when it comes from Lone Wolf I know it will eventually be done, done well, and supported continuously. The problem with relying on others outside of the company to create them is the fact that life tends to get in the way more often than not. Heck, I'd work on creating it myself if it weren't for the fact that I've got twins coming in addition to the three goobers I already have. Completely my own fault I admit, but I think most folks would agree that they would take priority to anything relating to any game.

That all said, I also believe strongly that the addition of an official Pathfinder character sheet created by Lone Wolf for the program that supports Pathfinder so well just provides another fantastic selling point for the software in general. To be honest, that likely extends to all the games that Hero Lab supports. We use Hero Lab for characters in several Pathfinder games and while it works wonderfully when you can run the character from the laptop directly, as I do, one must admit that there are certain... shortcomings... to the built-in character sheet.
 
- The character sheet output is creepy. Why does Lone Wolf not just provide sheets following the rulesystem standards? Otherwise it would be great to just have a simple editor to move things around and customize sheets.
First post in thread is about NO custom sheets. This thread is about getting Custom character sheets and the sheets not being easy to make using just a mouse.

Hence why I was politely letting you know that the custom sheets are in the system and several are available from the community. Not liking the options available is a different issue. :(

If we're wrong about the custom output mechanism and nobody puts something together over the summer, we'll make it a high priority to get this done ourselves after GenCon. Does that sound reasonable?
Rob is not saying that you get a LW sheet right after Gen Con. He is saying if nobody does it over the summer (a google search shows that Summer ends all over the place depending on where he was talking). So summer is not actually over yet. If I am wrong here I am sure Rob will jump in to correct me about. Being that Rob and them live in California and summer never really ends in that sunny place they could be saying never. :) :p
 
I ask again that you please read the entire thread. I know that the original post didn't ask for a specific set of options or character sheet, but that reading the entire thread will give you the whole backstory and would hopefully supply the context for my request.

I know Rob is not saying that we get one right after Gen Con, but that it would become a priority. Notice even in the quote you have, he says "after GenCon". GenCon ended August 7th, 2011. I even spoke with the fine folks at the Lone Wolf booth during GenCon and warned them that I'd be providing this "poke" shortly after returning from GenCon myself. They took this request very graciously and even thanked me for the feedback. The sign of a very professional company.

At this point all I've asked is that Rob, Colen, or another official Lone Wolf staffer confirm that the creation of a Pathfinder character sheet that looks like the standard one is a priority now, not even the top priority, simply a priority. I've not asked for it immediately. I've not asked for an ETA. I've not demanded anything. I am well aware of the difficulties that Lone Wolf runs across as a small company with ambitious projects and I support them a great deal both by word of mouth and the products that I've purchased, and will continue to purchase from them.

I've even downloaded the adjustments file that you created sirrah as well as looking at the custom sheet that you have created and I enjoy and appreciate the effort that you've put into extending the capabilities of Hero Lab.

That all being said, and realizing the joys of internet communication, I respectfully ask that you do not belittle my request or my arguments and I will attempt to do the same. This forum is one of the few that generally have a very high level of mutual respect between forum-goers and I'd like to see that standard maintained.
 
Like I said, all I really want is a custom sheet that looks exactly like the default HL one but has full text for the feats and abilities...
 
That all being said, and realizing the joys of internet communication, I respectfully ask that you do not belittle my request or my arguments and I will attempt to do the same. This forum is one of the few that generally have a very high level of mutual respect between forum-goers and I'd like to see that standard maintained.
If some how I came across as belittling your request I am very very sorry. Nothing I thought I wrote did that but I do often write very fast as I am very busy. So please don't take anything I say as belittle. I was just trying to make sure everyone was on the same page is all.

I am not sure I do agree with what this thread is for but what ever not a big deal. I also have no control of what LW does at all. I just wanted to make sure everyone was aware that we have custom sheets from LW and that there is several that are available from the community.

Do I wish we had MORE from the community yes absolutely. Sendric was doing a really good job but I have to assume real life got in his way. I just have too many projects to focus on the sheets right now. So wish I could....

I know I read from others that seemed that they knew XSLT really good so I had hopes that they would jump in with some different versions. The main issue is that a single sheet WILL NOT make everyone happy. In example I have no desire of wanting to use the Pathfinder Sheet actually. I asked my gaming group and they don't want it either (NOT saying others would not) but the reason/hope of LW was that the community would create a dozen or two dozen different versions and then everyone would be pretty happy.

To sum up I am NOT belittling your request and if it came across that way very sorry as I had no intent of doing that. My bad. :(
 
No worries, I just wanted to make my point clear. Again, the joys of internet communication. Bah I say. :)

I agree though, there's no way that you could ever provide everyone the sheet that they wanted. In fact, I do not myself find the official Pathfinder sheet from Paizo the ideal sheet, however, a custom output sheet that duplicated that sheet from Paizo would provide many other users, myself potentially included depending on time, a fantastic starting point for further customization as well as an additional selling point for the program/dataset.

I will likely continue to prod on the official Pathfinder sheet issue as I believe it's important that if you promise something you need to deliver on that promise, or at the very worst explain why you cannot. You've all been warned!! BWAAAHAHAHA *ahem*. Sorry about that. Long day. :)
 
I will say that the current sheet does a good job of adding attached characters as stat blocks. Up to the point of included equipment or treasure which it leaves out.

Does any of the community character sheets do followers (hirelings) as part of the character?
 
Cullyn, please remember that there are still critical to-do lists for Pathfinder:
http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=13772 (1st post, paragraph 3), and for Shadowrun:
http://forums.wolflair.com/showthread.php?t=13725 (1st post)

Once I can get past the critical priorities, I can start thinking about the high priorities. Until then, I'd rather not spend a large block of time organizing all the character sheet ideas that are floating around in my head, in my to-do list, and in a great many threads on this forum.

Until I've had a chance to map out what I'll be working on, all I could give you is a vague "coming soon", and Rob's already said that character sheet work is a high priority for after Gen Con, so that wouldn't provide you with any information you didn't already have.

Also, please remember that even while concentrating on all the things that needed to get done in time for Gen Con, we still squeezed in character sheet work - the new spell output sheets.
 
No worries Mathias, as I said, I'm not looking for it now or even an ETA when it will be done, just a statement of fact that it *will* be done. You have provided me such a statement with your reply and I'm grateful for it.

Rob's statement was before Gen Con and my poking was simply meant as a friendly reminder and a bump to the thread which was on the 5th page in the forum. As an individual with the general memory ability of swiss cheese the poke was as much for me as anyone else. Now that I have your reply though I'll try my best to be patient and not pester all that often. :)
 
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