Character Builder Lite

[EllisDee37]

Oh I didn't realise that would stop feats from displaying. I've got to admit, I'd much prefer it if completing a section wasn't required.

Some choices are subjective and I'd prefer to leave people to make those decisions for themselves. Skills, favored enemies, spells are good examples where personal choice can be a deciding factor.

I'd like to be able to use it to output a basic skill outline (eg. with umd and heal), basic feats (eg not taking favored enemies) and basic spells. Leaving the end user a good guide line but not a fully completed build.

Yep, totally agreed. I've changed my opinion so fully that I don't even really understand what I was thinking with the original design. The "always output everything" version is just about ready for release.

[EllisDee37]

0.9.4 is up, details in OP.

Other than new bug reports going forward, this is what 1.0 will be. There are only two planned changes for 1.0 yet to be implemented, and they are both behind-the-scenes changes:

First, when you start the program, there is a two-step process to load the data files:
1) Physically load the data into the internal data structures in memory ("Load")
2) Resolve all "pointers", including all/one/none reqs and shared/exclusive selector lists ("Process")
The "process" code has a spiffy error log that tracks any issues and gracefully makes note of any errors in an error log you can refer to. This helped me quite a bit in development to ensure that all "pointers" in all data files are valid. (They are.) By contrast, the "load" code has no error log, or error handling of any kind. The smallest formatting error will either cause the line to be ignored completely, or (more likely) will crash the entire program. I plan to add the graceful error log functionality from the process code to the load code.

Second, when data files inevitably change -- like with the upcoming rogue tree pass -- right now the program would crash at any point it tries to refer to an ability (or feat or spell) that no longer exists. This isn't an issue yet because no datafiles have changed in any meaningful way. I plan to add an automatic check on loading a build to gracefully degrade the build data if the data changes. As an example, if you set up a rogue now, after the rogue pass it's fairly likely that when you load an old rogue build, the program will tell you something like "It appears the Mechanic tree has changed, and will be reset for this build." At least that's the concept.

Neither of these changes will impact the normal use of the program, so what you see in 0.9.4 is basically what you'll get with 1.0.

As always, bug reports, comments and suggestions welcome.

[UurlockYgmeov]

excellent Mr. Smithers!

[EllisDee37]

Grr, already found a bug in the point totaling logic in the enhancements section. As I put together a Count of Monte Cristo build, after entering the swashbuckler tree it says:

Enhancements (215 of 80 AP) - Errors

Swashbuckler (43 AP)

• Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge, Panache, Roll with the Punches, Evasive Maneuvers
  
  1. On Your Toes III, Tavern Shanties I
  2. Fast Movement, Double Strike Boost III
  3. Skirmisher, Resonant Arms III, Smooth Flourishes, Charisma
  4. Low Blow, Charisma
  5. Thread the Needle, Second Skin III, Exploit Weakness, Coup de Grace: Melee

That's clearly not right. heh. (EDIT: It seemed to resolve itself once I spent all 80 AP, but still, I'll get that fixed for 1.0.)

[Behoram]

Fantastic!!

[UurlockYgmeov]

Grr, already found a bug in the point totaling logic in the enhancements section. As I put together a Count of Monte Cristo build, after entering the swashbuckler tree it says:

Enhancements (215 of 80 AP) - Errors

Swashbuckler (43 AP)

• Confidence, Swashbuckling, Uncanny Dodge, Panache, Roll with the Punches, Evasive Maneuvers
  
  1. On Your Toes III, Tavern Shanties I
  2. Fast Movement, Double Strike Boost III
  3. Skirmisher, Resonant Arms III, Smooth Flourishes, Charisma
  4. Low Blow, Charisma
  5. Thread the Needle, Second Skin III, Exploit Weakness, Coup de Grace: Melee

That's clearly not right. heh. (EDIT: It seemed to resolve itself once I spent all 80 AP, but still, I'll get that fixed for 1.0.)

Don't feel bad - often the actual game seems to misplace 4 action points until you hit level 20.

Any way to build in an import feature? Ron's planner allowed easy sharing of build because the save file was just plain text. Now I wouldn't want you to change the .bld format - just a simple way to import .bld from forum posts.

Yes, Kobold still challenge you. :P

[EllisDee37]

Ideally I'd like to add an import feature that imports the format actually sent to the forums, so you could theoretically just copy & paste a posted build (the displayed text, not the BBCodes version you get if you click the Reply button) into an import screen and have the build ready to go. It shouldn't be too difficult; the biggest challenge would be the dots, which may or may not be there depending on which forum you're importing from.

Also that there's no clear delimiter saying "the build starts here." One possibility is to use the "Stats" section header as the key term to search for, then work backwards to get the build name, alignment, race and classes. Best I can figure, every build will always have a stats section.


On a semi-related note, I'm wondering if a "build pack" would be a worthwhile download, assembling many of the name builds from the forums into a zip people could download: Count of Monte Cristo, Dubbel O'Seven, Shuricannon (original + 2.0), possibly Cetus' original centered kensei, Andoris' pale master, shirardi sorc, Unbongwah's builds, my new player builds, etc... Maybe even add in some common but never officially solidified builds, like monkcher, plus some older builds for flavor like a clonk.

My biggest concern with a build pack would be crediting people. There's no "author" field in the build files, and there's also no link to easily open the build thread on the forums. So I'm not sure what my thoughts are on this. The only thing I do know is that creating the various forum builds in the planner is an excellent way to test the planner and its data files for bugs, so I'm likely to end up with a bunch of these build files regardless.

[UurlockYgmeov]

Ideally I'd like to add an import feature that imports the format actually sent to the forums, so you could theoretically just copy & paste a posted build (the displayed text, not the BBCodes version you get if you click the Reply button) into an import screen and have the build ready to go. It shouldn't be too difficult; the biggest challenge would be the dots, which may or may not be there depending on which forum you're importing from.

Also that there's no clear delimiter saying "the build starts here." One possibility is to use the "Stats" section header as the key term to search for, then work backwards to get the build name, alignment, race and classes. Best I can figure, every build will always have a stats section.


On a semi-related note, I'm wondering if a "build pack" would be a worthwhile download, assembling many of the name builds from the forums into a zip people could download: Count of Monte Cristo, Dubbel O'Seven, Shuricannon (original + 2.0), possibly Cetus' original centered kensei, Andoris' pale master, shirardi sorc, Unbongwah's builds, my new player builds, etc... Maybe even add in some common but never officially solidified builds, like monkcher, plus some older builds for flavor like a clonk.

My biggest concern with a build pack would be crediting people. There's no "author" field in the build files, and there's also no link to easily open the build thread on the forums. So I'm not sure what my thoughts are on this. The only thing I do know is that creating the various forum builds in the planner is an excellent way to test the planner and its data files for bugs, so I'm likely to end up with a bunch of these build files regardless.

Yes.

Yes.

And Yes there is - just name the build ... XXXX by YYYY.

(eg "Bard - The Count of Monte Cristo by CThruTheEgo.bld")

but yes, in the FUTURE would be nice to include brief description/goals - author - link space (link to forum post)

[Vargouille]

Yep, totally agreed. I've changed my opinion so fully that I don't even really understand what I was thinking with the original design.

This is just one example, but I feel like you're getting a great experience of what it's really like to design games in some ways. =)

[UurlockYgmeov]

This is just one example, but I feel like you're getting a great experience of what it's really like to design games in some ways. =)

;p

[LordTigerDawn]

Ideally I'd like to add an import feature that imports the format actually sent to the forums, so you could theoretically just copy & paste a posted build (the displayed text, not the BBCodes version you get if you click the Reply button) into an import screen and have the build ready to go. It shouldn't be too difficult; the biggest challenge would be the dots, which may or may not be there depending on which forum you're importing from.

Also that there's no clear delimiter saying "the build starts here." One possibility is to use the "Stats" section header as the key term to search for, then work backwards to get the build name, alignment, race and classes. Best I can figure, every build will always have a stats section.


On a semi-related note, I'm wondering if a "build pack" would be a worthwhile download, assembling many of the name builds from the forums into a zip people could download: Count of Monte Cristo, Dubbel O'Seven, Shuricannon (original + 2.0), possibly Cetus' original centered kensei, Andoris' pale master, shirardi sorc, Unbongwah's builds, my new player builds, etc... Maybe even add in some common but never officially solidified builds, like monkcher, plus some older builds for flavor like a clonk.

My biggest concern with a build pack would be crediting people. There's no "author" field in the build files, and there's also no link to easily open the build thread on the forums. So I'm not sure what my thoughts are on this. The only thing I do know is that creating the various forum builds in the planner is an excellent way to test the planner and its data files for bugs, so I'm likely to end up with a bunch of these build files regardless.

One of the issues that newer developers have is separating what is in the current version and what should be out in the next version. Your build files are a great idea, and correct citations for the builds should be implemented but I would concentrate on main functionality right now and keep in mind a generic way to create and cite builds to make the user world implement their builds and submit them themselves...

If you try and micro-manage everything you will eventually get bogged down and not have enough resources to just update the software for the amount of changes Turbine developers are giving us each update.

If it is more for education than management, go full throttle in whatever direction you want... Learning gets you a career in the end.

Thanks for making this a reality...

[Seikojin]

Ideally I'd like to add an import feature that imports the format actually sent to the forums, so you could theoretically just copy & paste a posted build (the displayed text, not the BBCodes version you get if you click the Reply button) into an import screen and have the build ready to go. It shouldn't be too difficult; the biggest challenge would be the dots, which may or may not be there depending on which forum you're importing from.

Also that there's no clear delimiter saying "the build starts here." One possibility is to use the "Stats" section header as the key term to search for, then work backwards to get the build name, alignment, race and classes. Best I can figure, every build will always have a stats section.


On a semi-related note, I'm wondering if a "build pack" would be a worthwhile download, assembling many of the name builds from the forums into a zip people could download: Count of Monte Cristo, Dubbel O'Seven, Shuricannon (original + 2.0), possibly Cetus' original centered kensei, Andoris' pale master, shirardi sorc, Unbongwah's builds, my new player builds, etc... Maybe even add in some common but never officially solidified builds, like monkcher, plus some older builds for flavor like a clonk.

My biggest concern with a build pack would be crediting people. There's no "author" field in the build files, and there's also no link to easily open the build thread on the forums. So I'm not sure what my thoughts are on this. The only thing I do know is that creating the various forum builds in the planner is an excellent way to test the planner and its data files for bugs, so I'm likely to end up with a bunch of these build files regardless.

It would be difficult to scan a body of text for keywords (like str or strength) because they will be used multiple times in the body of text. You can do some tricks like looking for a keyword and accepting it for that value or slot if and only if it is trailed by a space and up to 3 numbers (just in case we get triple digits). However if the body of text contains more, it will get confused. You could have it do that and prompt the user to select which they want.

Actually, you could make a import feature that begins a table preview that allows the user to move data from one cell to the next. Then you compress that table into keyword, value formats and pipe it into your programs format and render to the UI.

I think including a pack of builds is fine too. You could even turn them into templates.

[Ancient]

A planner for the game city-of-heroes included a block of text at the end of a build post that could be cut/paste into the planner as an import. It wasn't human readable, but it did the job just fine.

[mna]

A planner for the game city-of-heroes included a block of text at the end of a build post that could be cut/paste into the planner as an import. It wasn't human readable, but it did the job just fine.

Hm, does uuencode work cleanly in a "code" block in here?

Let's see... is that actually allowed in the forum usage terms?

[Ancient]

Just in case there was any interest, I dug up an example build post (took some effort considering it was a community support program for a now-dead MMORPG).

Please note, this is not a DDO build... the point is to provide an example of how a code block can be included at the bottom.

Hero Plan by Mids' Hero Designer 1.621
http://www.cohplanner.com/

Smorgasborg: Level 50 Technology Blaster
Primary Power Set: Dual Pistols
Secondary Power Set: Mental Manipulation
Power Pool: Fitness
Ancillary Pool: Electrical Mastery

Hero Profile:
------------
Level 1:    Pistols                Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(5), EndRdx-I(5), Dmg-I(21), Dmg-I(21)
Level 1:    Subdual                Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(3), EndRdx-I(3), EndRdx-I(7), Dmg-I(23), Dmg-I(23)
Level 2:    Dual Wield            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(7), EndRdx-I(9), Dmg-I(27), Dmg-I(27)
Level 4:    Mind Probe            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(9), EndRdx-I(11), EndRdx-I(13), Dmg-I(33), Dmg-I(33)
Level 6:    Swap Ammo    
Level 8:    Telekinetic Thrust        Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(11), EndRdx-I(13), Dmg-I(46), Dmg-I(46)
Level 10:    Empty Clips            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(15), EndRdx-I(15), Dmg-I(43), Dmg-I(43)
Level 12:    Psychic Scream            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(17), EndRdx-I(17), Dmg-I(37), Dmg-I(37)
Level 14:    Swift                Run-I(A)
Level 16:    Bullet Rain            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(19), EndRdx-I(19), Dmg-I(40), Dmg-I(40)
Level 18:    Health                Heal-I(A), Heal-I(37), Heal-I(39)
Level 20:    Stamina                EndMod-I(A), EndMod-I(39), EndMod-I(40)
Level 22:    Concentration            RechRdx-I(A)
Level 24:    Executioner's Shot        Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(25), EndRdx-I(25), Dmg-I(29), Dmg-I(31)
Level 26:    Drain Psyche            Acc-I(A)
Level 28:    Suppressive Fire        Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(29), Dmg-I(48), Dmg-I(48)
Level 30:    Piercing Rounds            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(31), EndRdx-I(31), Dmg-I(36), Dmg-I(36)
Level 32:    Hail of Bullets            Acc-I(A), RechRdx-I(33), RechRdx-I(34), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(34), Dmg-I(36)
Level 35:    World of Confusion        Acc-I(A)
Level 38:    Scare                Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(39)
Level 41:    Psychic Shockwave        Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(42), Dmg-I(42), Dmg-I(42), RechRdx-I(43)
Level 44:    Shocking Bolt            Acc-I(A), EndRdx-I(45), EndRdx-I(45), Dmg-I(45), Dmg-I(46)
Level 47:    Charged Armor            ResDam-I(A), ResDam-I(48)
Level 49:    Surge of Power            RechRdx-I(A), ResDam-I(50), ResDam-I(50), RechRdx-I(50)
------------
Level 1:    Brawl                Empty(A)
Level 1:    Sprint                Empty(A)
Level 2:    Rest                Empty(A)
Level 1:    Defiance    
Level 2:    Ninja Run    
Level 6:    Chemical Ammunition    
Level 6:    Cryo Ammunition    
Level 6:    Incendiary Ammunition    



|              Do not modify anything below this line!              |
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|
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|1A2BFA70157A8|
|-------------------------------------------------------------------|

[HungarianRhapsody]

This is just one example, but I feel like you're getting a great experience of what it's really like to design games in some ways. =)

To follow up, I'd like to point out that the Character Builder Lite is made of poo and the person who designed it should be ashamed of themselves.

(Now you *really* have the experience of what it's like to design games! )

...in all seriousness, thanks EllisDee37. It's awesome to have add ons like this to help with more complicated parts of the game.

[mna]

Hm, does uuencode work cleanly in a "code" block in here?

Let's see... is that actually allowed in the forum usage terms?

I looked (I suppose the "Forum Guidelines" from 2006 are still current?) and looks like it'd be allowed, as long as it's my own stuff I'm posting and not someone else's...

And Base64 is certainly forum-safe even if "traditional" uuencode isn't.

So. This build:

Tempest Warpriest trapper
12/7/1 Ranger/Cleric/Rogue
Human


Level Order

1. Rogue. . . . . .6. Cleric. . . . .11. Ranger . . . . 16. Ranger
2. Cleric . . . . .7. Ranger. . . . .12. Cleric . . . . 17. Ranger
3. Ranger . . . . .8. Cleric. . . . .13. Ranger . . . . 18. Ranger
4. Cleric . . . . .9. Ranger. . . . .14. Cleric . . . . 19. Ranger
5. Ranger . . . . 10. Cleric. . . . .15. Ranger . . . . 20. Ranger


Stats
. . . . . . . .28pt. . .32pt . . 34pt. . .36pt . . Level Up
. . . . . . . .----. . .---- . . ----. . .---- . . --------
Strength. . . . 16 . . . 16. . . .16 . . . 16. . . .4: STR
Dexterity . . . 11 . . . 12. . . .13 . . . 12. . . .8: STR
Constitution. . 14 . . . 14. . . .15 . . . 16. . . 12: STR
Intelligence. . 14 . . . 14. . . .14 . . . 14. . . 16: STR
Wisdom. . . . . .8 . . . .8. . . . 8 . . . .8. . . 20: STR
Charisma. . . . 11 . . . 14. . . .13 . . . 14. . . 24: STR
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28: STR

Skills
. . . . .Rg Cl Rn Cl Rn Cl Rn Cl Rn Cl Rn Cl Rn Cl Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn Rn
. . . . . 1 .2. 3 .4. 5 .6. 7 .8. 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
Concent . 2 .1. 3 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 23
Disable . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 23
Search. . 4 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 23
Spot. . . 4 . . . . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 . . 2 .3. 1 .1. 1 .1. 23
UMD . . . 4 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 1 .1. 23
Balance . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1 .1. 1 .1. .8
Open Lo . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Bluff . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Jump. . . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Move Si . 4 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .4
Hide. . . 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .2
Tumble. . 1 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .1
Perform . ½ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .½
. . . . .------------------------------------------------------------
. . . . .44 .5. 9 .5. 9 .5. 9 .5. 9 .5. 9 .5. 9 .5. 9 .9. 9 .9. 9 .9


Feats

.1. . . . : Power Attack
.1. . . . : Least Dragonmark: Passage
.2 Deity. : Follower of: Sovereign Host
.3. . . . : Cleave
.3 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Undead
.6. . . . : Great Cleave
.9. . . . : Empower Healing Spell
11 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Construct
12. . . . : Improved Critical: Slashing
12 Deity. : Unyielding Sovereignty
15. . . . : Improved Critical: Ranged
18. . . . : Point Blank Shot
18 Ranger : Favored Enemy: Evil Outsider
21 Epic . : Overwhelming Critical
24 Epic . : Quicken Spell
26 Destiny: Perfect Two Weapon Fighting
27 Epic . : Blinding Speed
28 Destiny: Doubleshot


Spells

Ranger
Ram's Might, Jump
Barkskin, Protection from Energy
Neutralize Poison, Wild Instincts
Cleric
Cure Light Wounds, Nightshield, Protection From Evil, Divine Favor, Shield of Faith, Remove Fear
Cure Moderate Wounds, Find Traps, Lesser Restoration, Remove Paralysis, Resist Energy
Cure Serious Wounds, Remove Curse, Remove Disease, Prayer
Cure Critical Wounds, Death Ward, Freedom of Movement

Enhancements (80 AP)

Human (7 AP)
Damage Boost
Dragonmark Focus: Orien I, Skill Focus: Nimble Fingers I, Improved Recovery
Lesser Dragonmark: Dimension Door
Tempest (39 AP)
Shield of Whirling Steel, Tempest, Graceful Death, Deflect Arrows
Improved Reaction III, Improved Defense III, Whirling Blades
Bleed Them Out III, Whirling Blades, Haste Boost III
<none>
Elaborate Parry III, The Growing Storm I
Evasive Dance III, Dance of Death III
Warpriest (22 AP)
Smite Foe, Resilience of Battle
Divine Might III, Toughness III, Awareness III
Smite Weakness, Wall of Steel III, Inflame II, Inflame: Saving Throws II
<none>
Ameliorating Strike
Deepwood Stalker (12 AP)
Far Shot, Sneak Attack, Sniper Shot
Increased Empathy III, Versatile Empathy II
Skill Boost II
Destiny (24 AP)

Fury of the Wild
Tunnel Vision I, Primal Scream III, Strength
Unstoppable Fury III, Acute Instincts III
<none>
Gird Against Demons I, Sense Weakness III, Overwhelming Force III
Fury Eternal
Unbridled Fury
Twists of Fate (3 fate points)
Rejuvenation Cocoon (Tier 1 Primal)
Technician (Tier 1 Shadowdancer)

... the ENTIRE .bld file Base64-encodes to:

begin-base64 664 Tempest Warpriest trapper.bld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====

The Base64-encoded .bld is less than a third of the size of the export with bbcodes, heh. Though, the straight .bld is even smaller.

[Failedlegend]

Yep, totally agreed. I've changed my opinion so fully that I don't even really understand what I was thinking with the original design. The "always output everything" version is just about ready for release.

This is just one example, but I feel like you're getting a great experience of what it's really like to design games in some ways. =)

It's not quite the same but I've made several RPG Maker games (of varying quality, mostly for friends) and the final product is never the same as the original idea w/ stuff you wanted to do not just working out, the game being much longer or shorter than originally planned, a cool random idea popping in your head whilst coding, or even just a happy accident that does a cool thing and of course the "WHY DOESN'T THIS WORK!!!!" moments.

[EllisDee37]

I'm unhappy with the current bugs. I was hoping the next version released would be 1.0, but now with the current bugs ("Human" doesn't show up as the source for human bonus feats, enhancement totals are way screwy, an extra blank line is needed before the destiny output) I think I might do a 0.9.5 before 1.0. At this point in development I'm not thrilled with spamming you guys with so many updates before getting to a stable version, but I'd really like 1.0 to be a stable release I don't need to update with 1.0.1 three days later.

So reluctantly I'll say expect 0.9.5 some time this weekend.

The Base64-encoded .bld is less than a third of the size of the export with bbcodes, heh. Though, the straight .bld is even smaller.

I kind of went a little nuts in terms of keeping the build files small. The very first original design, back when the planner only included classes, stats, skills and feats, was around 10k per build file. Using the same techniques I estimated a final build file with spells, enhancements and destinies could approach 100k, and that felt way too big to me. As a clear overreaction I went the other way to the nth degree. The Count of Monte Cristo build (which I put together a couple days ago for testing purposes) ended up being 2128 bytes. heh.

It would be difficult to scan a body of text for keywords (like str or strength) because they will be used multiple times in the body of text. You can do some tricks like looking for a keyword and accepting it for that value or slot if and only if it is trailed by a space and up to 3 numbers (just in case we get triple digits). However if the body of text contains more, it will get confused. You could have it do that and prompt the user to select which they want.

The builder output is predictable, and as such should not be particularly difficult to parse.

[Rhysem]

I'm unhappy with the current bugs.

One more if you don't have it; deselecting base stat categories doesn't auto-kick the preferred build points off of them. (forex: deselect adventurer, but pbp stays adventruer and now 'skills >' doesn't work, telling you to allocate the hidden stat.)