Where do I put the code?

[ernestopresto]

Hey all, first time posting here.

I've been reading up for a few days now on the forums and the wiki. I've followed the Savage Worlds tutorial in the help file and the standard tutorial in the base Hero Lab help file.

I haven't found a good starting point for adding feature rich content, however. To clarify - I can make a new race, add new skills and even make pre-requisites for new edges.

I can't, however, find out where to input the code I've found in the Common Code Examples post. For example, I want to make a race that gives you 1 edge and 2 hinderances but still leaves the ability to add hinderances. I found this but I don't know where to put the code.

From Caped Crusader, a note about how to make sure someone can take a normal amount of Hindrances if their racial template already gives them one:

#resmax[resHinder] += 1 (or 2 if it's Major)

I'm trying to just plod along and figure it out as I go but it's really not that simple. Am I missing some step by step walkthrough that goes into more depth than the help file tutorial? Is there anything more easy to follow than the wiki?

 

[zarlor]

It depends a little on what you want to do, but you want to put it with the thing you're modifying. In this case I'm guessing your using it to modify a Race, so on the Race tab in the editor select the race you created for this. I see Paragon didn't really say but these are almost always Eval Scripts, so just put it in there. The trickier part can sometimes be figuring out the right timing. At a guess you might try Phase: Final, Priority: 5010. Sometimes you can just play around with the timing and the program itself will give you and error if it's not in a good place, other times it may take more guess work but reviewing the help files stuff on timing could be useful.

As for other tutorials... not that I know of. It is a bit of a daunting prospect looking at the learning curve to get into HL coding, I'll admit, but at least these days there are several of us regularly on the forum that can help figure it out if you give us the details on what it its you are trying to do.

 

[Paragon]

Yeah, that was sloppy of me; most of the time anything complicated goes in an eval script. That particular one went on a racial property, so it was going to land pretty early without my needing to fiddle with timing on it (it comes before you're choosing much of anything else), but if you put it on, say, an Extra you'd need to be more careful.

 

[SeeleyOne]

I can remember how daunting it was to start making modifications or my own things in the editor. The documentation is rather lacking. What I found was the best practice, and I still do it, is to find something that already does what I want it to do. Look at it and figure out how it is doing it, and then copy that.

It can be tricky to find examples for some things, though. And sometimes you find something that SHOULD do something, but does not. My guess is that in those cases whomever wrote the data either a) did not know how to do it, or b) forgot to finish it.

There are many, MANY things that I could not figure out when I started but when I looked at them later on they were easy to figure out. While knowing how to code is not necessary, I have to admit that my skills increased dramatically while I was going to school to obtain my BS in Computer Science.

 

[Paragon]

I can remember how daunting it was to start making modifications or my own things in the editor. The documentation is rather lacking. What I found was the best practice, and I still do it, is to find something that already does what I want it to do. Look at it and figure out how it is doing it, and then copy that.

Yeah, that's my general approach too. Its why working on 4e has been much more frustrating than SW; there's a far better range of exemplars to work with in the latter.

It can be tricky to find examples for some things, though. And sometimes you find something that SHOULD do something, but does not. My guess is that in those cases whomever wrote the data either a) did not know how to do it, or b) forgot to finish it.

Or, see this.

You do also hit cases where something that seems like it should do the job (because it works in one place) won't because of timing issues, or some other, more arcane reason. I never automatically assume something I've taken off an Edge will work on a piece of equipment or vice versa, for example, but its usually still my first attempt.

There are many, MANY things that I could not figure out when I started but when I looked at them later on they were easy to figure out. While knowing how to code is not necessary, I have to admit that my skills increased dramatically while I was going to school to obtain my BS in Computer Science.

And notably, why Zarlor and I often go "Maybe SeeleyOne can tell you."

(I learned a bit of coding in skill many decades ago, but all that really did is meant I understood things like if/then statements and other basic principals).

 

[zarlor]

[snip]

And notably, why Zarlor and I often go "Maybe SeeleyOne can tell you."

This. A thousand times this.

 

[ernestopresto]

Thank you all for some really good responses! The sense of community I get from the forums here really helps.

What I found was the best practice, and I still do it, is to find something that already does what I want it to do. Look at it and figure out how it is doing it, and then copy that.

^ I've spent a few days doing just that and I've got the majority of the things I was hoping to do. After sluething things out in the data files, I got a good feel for where things get put and the code examples post has helped me with just about everything else.

To close out this inquiry, I'd like to say that you all have answered my question exactly as I needed.