Howdy folks!
As I mentioned, I went to GenCon this year. It was my first, and at the last moment I would have refunded everything if I could have as I *really* didn't think I'd enjoy it. However, I think I ended up having fun, and for me being the grumpy old man I am, was a pleasant surprise.
First, some things I learned at GenCon:
#1. If you fly in that day, put your crap somewhere and do NOT try to walk around with it all day. It'll deplete your energy faster.
#2. Get one hell of a great pair of shoes, just for this event. Your feet and back will thank you (I'm a disabled veteran, this convention hurt!)
#3. Take various snacks and drinks in a backpack. The gouge you with prices, and often you'll be in the middle of a game and not be able to step away.
#4. Get a hotel as close as you can, even if it sucks (you won't be in it much anyway), and use a cab to get to/from. Buses are annoying and unreliable, and I've hard parking is a nightmare.
#5. Make a plan, and stick to it. Its a freaking HUGE convention, and I missed all sorts of things because I didn't even know they existed or where they were.
#6. Take some Ricola for your throat, it will thank you. You scream the whole time, and your throat is killing you even on day 2.
Now, all the stuff I did:
- I walked around to every exhibit in the, umm... sales part. Some impressed me like Hawk wargames and Dropzone Command, Star Trek Armada, and the Dwarven Forge Kickstarter (which blew me away it looked so good, glad I ordered like 10 painted sets!). This took a day basically, minus stops. Lots to see.
- I spoke with the DP9 folks about my unhappiness as to the direction their game is turning. I don't think they really cared, nor should they. I was however told to post stuff on their forums and that DP9 would put their "canon" sorta official stamp on it if it was a good product. That was cool, though I still don't like any Heavy Gear since 2nd edition :(
- I bought 2 of the new Ad Hoc Alpha Strike Card sets, which are great. I presume folks have done a review out there, if not let me know and I'll do one. I also got a mousepad for battletech, which like most mousepads, is too small for me to use (but its still cool!). I also bought the Scapa 9 tank box, a couple Leviathan 2 miniatures (which suck for quality btw), and an old school Charger I used for scale pictures.
- I took some Robotech RPG Tactics 1/285 miniatures with me and gave them to the Palladium booth. I ended up speaking with them for a long time, got permission to take scale pictures of everything, and had some unprecedented access to them. In the end, I ended up getting one of the 3 boxed sets that exist in the US for *FREE*. I did an unboxing video as quick as I could, and have been struggling through the miniatures for the last few days. There is a lot more on it out there if your interested, but this is a Battletech blog.
And finally, to Battletech!
I signed up for all sorts of things. I ended up playing 1 alpha strike game (that was fun, I still don't care for the all-or-nothing damage system, but the game is great as an *alternative* to battletech) but most of my time was spent on the Grinder. The grinder let me pop in, take horrible designs, die gloriously teaching somebody new the game, and it was quite fun. I got lots of pins, which I gave away to newer folks. I ended up with a couple left.
I will say all the Catalyst demo folks I dealt with, as well as the other players (both new and old), were all in the greatest of moods and we all continually had a great time, even after 12+ hours of play in some cases. It was great to have a place I could show up to at any point, and start playing (having a good place to sit helped!).
It was a very positive experience overall. People were all very nice, police, and I didn't notice body oder at all (I was actually worried about that!). I was quite surprised just how positive of a place it was. Its a great experience, even if you do it only once.
I doubt I'll ever go back again, but maybe.
I did speak with Randall for 30 seconds about getting re-instated on the forums. I figure its worth a shot as I'm the only one actively producing new software for Battletech, and can save them and their volunteers many of hours of work by some of my automated processes. He told me to email him about it after some other game convention this week. I know what getting back can be like after being gone, so I'll probably wait till next week.
If I get denied, I will probably try very hard to back away from Battletech though, maybe to focus on Robotech, or more likely just go back to playing computer games to pass the time. I kinda need the community feedback to feel like I'm not wasting my time. The blog helps, and honestly is the only reason I'm still into BT at all, but I don't get a lot of views.
Till next time!
Monday, August 25, 2014
Friday, August 8, 2014
Off track, or am I?
Just a really quick update.
- I wouldn't plan on the Alpha Strike Utility being done, even in Alpha, before Gencon (which is next week!). Just been too busy, and too side tracked. Sorry.
- I have too many miniatures... seriously, I think something is wrong with me.
- I created a Cyberboard module for the Reunification war, specifically the invasion of the Taurian Concordat. Each hex is 5 LY, and I have all systems on it. I will probably post it once I get a bit more done. My biggest goal ever with BT had been a game that lets you model things like the Reunification War, Succession Wars, Age of War, etc. I want to model at least down to company level (meaning a company has a counter) though most units will be regimental and sometimes brigades. This was so I could start working on the prototype rules I did up a while back. Expect more at some point in the future.
- I've also always had an idea for a real time, top down (megamek graphics) battletech game, that is online, allowing hundreds if not thousands of players at once. I've tinkered with this in the past on and off, but never really had anything to show for it. I kinda wanna just use GDI (what draws the windows on your screen) but DirectX (what 3D games use) has a lot of potential too. Anyway, over the last 2 days I used GDI to create a real time system to draw mechs running around shooting at each other:
The warhammer has the Marauder targeted, and has fired a couple weapons (the grey # is the 10 second countdown to fire them again). Damage on the right is the target. Still little bugs here and there to work out, but 1 more day's worth of work I should have them done, and criticals implemented. At that point I'll make it a bit easier for users to edit and will release it for folks to play with. The neat thing is it requires no 3D hardware to run (though I think it may help). I can even play it on a remote desktop window! Once I release the single player version hopefully with some rudimentary AI, I'll create a network version. It is really only 3025 now, but most other tech could be easily implemented. This is just a concept I guess though. I'll go farther as its not fully fleshed out as a concept, and will work on it lots of interest is there, but it may fall by the wayside to something else more interesting if interest isn't overwhelming. Oh, and I'm trying to keep it 100% as faithful to the board game as possible, with 10 second "turns", turning slowing you down, using piloting skill rolls, etc, etc, though some things will have to be tweaked to work in real time.
Oh, and finally, since I'll be prepping for GenCon and going/recovering over the next 2-3 weeks, I doubt I'll have an update or much progress for a while. Anybody who wants to meet up at GenCon feel free to email me (Bad_Syntax at yahoo.com).
Saturday, July 26, 2014
Hard at work!
Ok, quick update, minimal rants.
#1. I worked on those counters, and worked on them a LOT. I eventually created like 2500 counters (individual files) probably 100 times. I am not happy with them, and created a re-design, but haven't implemented yet (these counters will have more symbols/colors, and less letters/numbers). Then I started working on the map, and made a bit of progress, then remembered this whole path was off track, so I stopped. However, thanks to one persistent user I did create a pretty darned neato HTML5 Canvas map of the Inner Sphere in 3140. I can make these very quickly for most eras, and can do a LOT more with it. This was a proof of concept, feel free to use the code.
#2. MASSIVE updates to my BattletechEngineer database. Aside from some infantry and buildings, I can go through all 6500 or so units and generate their alpha strike stats, based on the new rules in the alpha strike companion. I am still tweaking things, but the database is a lot more consistent now and I have fixed many errors folks had noticed. Once I make a bit more progress, I'll create a PDF for every record sheet book made real quick and move on.
#3. Kinda off topic, as this is Robotech, but as a HUGE investor (over 300 regults incoming!) in the project I'm happy to see progress being made. However, as a big fan of the other generations I didn't want to wait, and am having my own models done. Take a looksie at my 3D printed prototypes, all in perfect 6mm or 1/285 scale:
#4. I'm going to GenCon, woot! I *really* hope I enjoy myself. Unfortunately while I LOVE Battletech and games with lots of numbers and statistics, I haven't had a lot of fun playing them in the last few years. Its only ok and hasn't recreated the fun I've had with WW2 and moden micro armor from the early 90s.
#5. An Alpha Strike Freebie! Hand-Held Weapons in alpha strike, here is a PDF you should be able to use pretty easily for now, though you'll need to know what mechs have 2 hands as it isn't denoted on cards (yet!). I envisioned counters for the hand-held weapons, as they can be dropped/moved around easily, though I haven't made any yet. Download the PDF here.
NEXT:
Next I'll focus on finishing up the Alpha Strike cleanup, updating the point values, and tweaking some values to work. I'll also finish up and test all the designs with all the "Bad_Syntax Optimizations" turned on (things like RL #/#/# for a 1 strike rocket launcher attack, TUR(#/#/#) for mechs that can flip arms, STR # for fighter strafing, average rounding, and all sorts of other things). Once this is done I'll hope back into my Alpha Strike Utility as I *really* want to get it working by GenCon.
May you pass your piloting skill rolls!
#1. I worked on those counters, and worked on them a LOT. I eventually created like 2500 counters (individual files) probably 100 times. I am not happy with them, and created a re-design, but haven't implemented yet (these counters will have more symbols/colors, and less letters/numbers). Then I started working on the map, and made a bit of progress, then remembered this whole path was off track, so I stopped. However, thanks to one persistent user I did create a pretty darned neato HTML5 Canvas map of the Inner Sphere in 3140. I can make these very quickly for most eras, and can do a LOT more with it. This was a proof of concept, feel free to use the code.
#2. MASSIVE updates to my BattletechEngineer database. Aside from some infantry and buildings, I can go through all 6500 or so units and generate their alpha strike stats, based on the new rules in the alpha strike companion. I am still tweaking things, but the database is a lot more consistent now and I have fixed many errors folks had noticed. Once I make a bit more progress, I'll create a PDF for every record sheet book made real quick and move on.
#3. Kinda off topic, as this is Robotech, but as a HUGE investor (over 300 regults incoming!) in the project I'm happy to see progress being made. However, as a big fan of the other generations I didn't want to wait, and am having my own models done. Take a looksie at my 3D printed prototypes, all in perfect 6mm or 1/285 scale:
#4. I'm going to GenCon, woot! I *really* hope I enjoy myself. Unfortunately while I LOVE Battletech and games with lots of numbers and statistics, I haven't had a lot of fun playing them in the last few years. Its only ok and hasn't recreated the fun I've had with WW2 and moden micro armor from the early 90s.
#5. An Alpha Strike Freebie! Hand-Held Weapons in alpha strike, here is a PDF you should be able to use pretty easily for now, though you'll need to know what mechs have 2 hands as it isn't denoted on cards (yet!). I envisioned counters for the hand-held weapons, as they can be dropped/moved around easily, though I haven't made any yet. Download the PDF here.
NEXT:
Next I'll focus on finishing up the Alpha Strike cleanup, updating the point values, and tweaking some values to work. I'll also finish up and test all the designs with all the "Bad_Syntax Optimizations" turned on (things like RL #/#/# for a 1 strike rocket launcher attack, TUR(#/#/#) for mechs that can flip arms, STR # for fighter strafing, average rounding, and all sorts of other things). Once this is done I'll hope back into my Alpha Strike Utility as I *really* want to get it working by GenCon.
May you pass your piloting skill rolls!
Tuesday, July 1, 2014
Worst Blogger EVER!
Ok, first, like I so often do, let me apologize for being so late between my updates! No excuses, just laziness and distractions on my part, with a touch of procrastination. I suck, now lets get moving.
I'll keep this update brief, as at this point I have probably lost half my short reader list anyway ;)
New Releases!
Alpha Strike Companion - GREAT book if you are into Alpha Strike at all, a "must have". It was nice to see some of my ideas make the rules, like RearX/X/X, HtX/X/X, and some versions of variable damage (my favorite version is just use a missile hit table for the damage amount, start at 7, and add/remove the margin of success/failure on the attack to determine damage done). Anyway, buy it, I did!
LCAF 2765 - Woot, I *love* these books. We finally get to see all the units in the 2765 era. Hopefully we'll get a periphery version soon (or multiple), and I'd still die for a new SLDF version with a listing of all the divisions and their quality/morale (broken into regiments would be awesome, but not very likely).
Alpha Strike Utility
It took me a really long time to figure out how to deal with generating/storing units. However, I finally got it, and an interface to manipulate them. I haven't finished it, but the only hold up now is sitting down to knock out chunks of code. I can now generate any sized unit (well, galaxy/division/regiment level) with random units from XOTL's tables for now (soon many more). Clicking on each unit will show you my AS card, or the MUL AS card. Beta not ready yet, but soon as it will be those of you who emailed me wanting to be a part of it will get a copy. I also need to implement new rules/formulas from the Alpha Strike Companion in there. This is my #1 focus, though I still get sidetracked (see next entry) as I want to have it finished and working by GenCon.
Succession Wars
Thanks to the 2765 LCAF book, I made counters for every regiment in 2765. I have also created a 278x235 hex map with all the planets (1 hex with 4 systems, 1 with 3, and 13 with 2, but all other hexes have just 1 system!) on it. Each hex is 5 LY, so you can jump 6 hexes. I did all this in Cyberboard, which is a great utility to play counter based games online. I also imported all 500 or so of the counters into it, though it is 100% non-functional now, it was just me playing. Here are the counters for you, though I may end up redoing them entirely:
Basically I was thinking of having these counters on the map, and each held a counter for each battalion (which could even be broken up into companies, though not very often). Counters would have steps of damage, representing lances destroyed. I have pages and pages of this stuff, one day I'll finish it.
Battletech Engineer Website
I have been making updates as people pointed out errors, and a few other things I've caught, as well as adding new megamek icons Dreadborder puts out, but I haven't yet updated the site yet. I think I may completely redo it, as I'm not real happy with the format (I made it to complicated!). I did find a new method to do the PDFs though, which will be MUCH faster I think.
GenCon
I have always kinda wanted to go to GenCon, and this year I will be going, all 4 days. I am going mostly to see the Robotech RPG Tactics stuff, but as they are all sold out I signed up for like 15 battletech games of various types. I *really* hope I don't think it blows, like I did with BGGCon last winter here in Dallas, but at least I can say I went one day. If anybody wants to meet shoot me an email and we can coordinate something.
Other things I'm working on:
I'll keep this update brief, as at this point I have probably lost half my short reader list anyway ;)
New Releases!
Alpha Strike Companion - GREAT book if you are into Alpha Strike at all, a "must have". It was nice to see some of my ideas make the rules, like RearX/X/X, HtX/X/X, and some versions of variable damage (my favorite version is just use a missile hit table for the damage amount, start at 7, and add/remove the margin of success/failure on the attack to determine damage done). Anyway, buy it, I did!
LCAF 2765 - Woot, I *love* these books. We finally get to see all the units in the 2765 era. Hopefully we'll get a periphery version soon (or multiple), and I'd still die for a new SLDF version with a listing of all the divisions and their quality/morale (broken into regiments would be awesome, but not very likely).
Alpha Strike Utility
It took me a really long time to figure out how to deal with generating/storing units. However, I finally got it, and an interface to manipulate them. I haven't finished it, but the only hold up now is sitting down to knock out chunks of code. I can now generate any sized unit (well, galaxy/division/regiment level) with random units from XOTL's tables for now (soon many more). Clicking on each unit will show you my AS card, or the MUL AS card. Beta not ready yet, but soon as it will be those of you who emailed me wanting to be a part of it will get a copy. I also need to implement new rules/formulas from the Alpha Strike Companion in there. This is my #1 focus, though I still get sidetracked (see next entry) as I want to have it finished and working by GenCon.
Succession Wars
Thanks to the 2765 LCAF book, I made counters for every regiment in 2765. I have also created a 278x235 hex map with all the planets (1 hex with 4 systems, 1 with 3, and 13 with 2, but all other hexes have just 1 system!) on it. Each hex is 5 LY, so you can jump 6 hexes. I did all this in Cyberboard, which is a great utility to play counter based games online. I also imported all 500 or so of the counters into it, though it is 100% non-functional now, it was just me playing. Here are the counters for you, though I may end up redoing them entirely:
Basically I was thinking of having these counters on the map, and each held a counter for each battalion (which could even be broken up into companies, though not very often). Counters would have steps of damage, representing lances destroyed. I have pages and pages of this stuff, one day I'll finish it.
Battletech Engineer Website
I have been making updates as people pointed out errors, and a few other things I've caught, as well as adding new megamek icons Dreadborder puts out, but I haven't yet updated the site yet. I think I may completely redo it, as I'm not real happy with the format (I made it to complicated!). I did find a new method to do the PDFs though, which will be MUCH faster I think.
GenCon
I have always kinda wanted to go to GenCon, and this year I will be going, all 4 days. I am going mostly to see the Robotech RPG Tactics stuff, but as they are all sold out I signed up for like 15 battletech games of various types. I *really* hope I don't think it blows, like I did with BGGCon last winter here in Dallas, but at least I can say I went one day. If anybody wants to meet shoot me an email and we can coordinate something.
Other things I'm working on:
- Once I get my AS data updated, or maybe even before using MUL data, I'll generate a PDF with record sheets for each TRO and Record Sheet book released for folks to download.
- I want to create new AS cards that look great, but I'm no artist. I can copy the beautiful ones CGL made, but I also wanted some colors in there for each faction. I like the new designs with criticals, but not the way they are implemented and there are situations where those criticals will become problematic. If anybody wants to make some great card templates, I can quickly write the code to make an AS Card out of them.
- I have entered in over 4400 random tables from various products. These will all be included in the Alpha Strike Utility though I need to figure out some standardization for them, as some of the newer tables have quite a few results that break the whole 2d6 thing. Not that its a bad thing, its actually great, but it'll take some coding to do.
- I entered in all the data from the Clan Wolf book, and merged it with Alpha Strike. First, something interesting, not a single name of a warrior was ever duplicated, not in like a thousand units. Some had blood names, but the first name was always unique! Next, want to know what each galaxy would look like if the galaxy was a single Alpha Strike card (Armor=Armor+Structure divided by some divisor, attack=Medium Range but divided by some divisor, PV beta and not skill modified, I think they all move 3)?
- Alpha Galaxy, 662 PV, Medium Mech, Elite, 21 Attack, 38 Armor
- Cumulative abilities:
- CASE180,OMNI224, ARTAC-40, AMS17, PRB37, RCN37, ECM7, TAG2,VSTOL66,SPC66,BOMB202,PNT15,IF70,MEC69,AM69,CAR345,SNARC2,FLK19/41/32,LRM28/28/48,SRM57/57 (obviously these would be modified for a galaxy level battle)
- Beta Galaxy, 529 PV, Medium Mech, Elite, 17 Attack, 31 Armor
- Gamma Galaxy, 555 PV, Medium Mech, Elite, 19 Attack, 32 Armor
- Delta Galaxy, 616 PV, Medium Mech, Elite, 20 Attack, 34 Armor
- Epsilon Galaxy, 453 PV, Medium Mech, Regular, 15 attack, 46 Armor
Or would you prefer each cluster?
- Trinary Clan Command, 40 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 4 Attack, 7 Armor
- 13th Wolf Guards Cluster, 106 PV, Veteran, Medium Mech, 10 Attack, 18 Armor
- 328th Assault Cluster, 183 PV, Elite, Heavy Mech, 17 Attack, 32 Armor
- 4th Wolf Guards Cluster, 179 PV, Elite, Heavy Mech, 17 Attack, 33 Armor
- 279th Battle Cluster, 154 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 15 Attack, 25 Armor
- Galaxy Command, 82 PV, Elite, Heavy Mech, 7 Attack, 14 Armor
- 341st Assault Cluster, 133 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 13 Attack, 25 Armor
- 352nd Assault Cluster, 149 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 14 Attack, 26 Armor
- 3rd Battle Cluster, 164 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 16 Attack, 27 Armor
- 7th Battle Cluster, 159 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 16 Attack, 26 Armor
- 16th Battle Cluster, 141 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 15 Attack, 25 Armor
- 11th Battle Cluster, 181 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 18 Attack, 30 Armor
- 11th Wolf Guards Cluster, 167 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 16 Attack, 27 Armor
- 37th Striker Cluster, 161 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 16 Attack, 26 Armor
- 4th Striker Cluster, 177 PV, Elite, Medium Mech, 18 Attack, 31 Armor
- Nega Garrison Cluster, 101 PV, Regular, Medium Mech, 11 Attack, 31 Armor
- Choyer Garrison Cluster, 96 PV, Regular, Medium Mech, 10 Attack, 30 Armor
- Gurbeng Garrison Cluster, 99 PV, Regular, Medium Mech, 10 Attack, 31 Armor
- Dorbeng Garrison Cluster, 103 PV, Regular, Medium Mech, 11 Attack, 32 Armor
Eventually I'll get Clan Jade Falcon done too, then the other clans inputted and RATs fixed for them, but for now this was an interesting side project.
Forum
I made a forum but its hardly used, I will respond to stuff on it very quickly compared to the blog. Oh well, if it stays dead in a few more months I'll probably just end up removing it as supporting it is a lot of work.
Wednesday, April 16, 2014
Major Update
It has been a REALLY long time since I did an update, and for that I apologize. My focus has been off since December, but I'm working on getting back on track now.
To avoid a REALLY long posting with all the updates, I'll do a quick nice and simple one:
- I bought 4 copies of the new introductory boxed set. The new miniatures are awesome, and to not see a clan version, a 3067 version, a 3075 version, 3085 version, 3145 version, and so forth, of these wonder miniatures is a crime against humanity. Hopefully we do see other sets get printed, as I'd MUCH rather have them than the garbage coming out of IWM these days.
- Field Report 2765: FWLM. Awesome book, like the rest. Soon as I get the LCAF one, I'll start working on the 1st succession war game.
- XTRO Royal Fantasy April Fools PDF. Not your usual joke, the units are completely usable. Fine designs, only beef with it is no artwork.
- XTRO Gunslingers. Woot, some nifty new units, a bit munchy on some. Didn't seem like many were gunslinger pilots though but I didn't read much. Anyway, great purchase.
- Era Report 3145. This looks like a good transition book through the dark age, and I kinda hope it is the last book of the dark age. It goes through the various MWDA factions and such. I have very little interest there, and didn't really read it.
- I finally got my 4 mats from Hotzmatz.com. The only way the guy would write me back was to send money first, then modify my order. I got 4 mats, a blue, tan, green, and white. They are much thinner than they used to be, and are basically just felt you could get at a hobby store with a silkscreen hex grid on it (not dots, but lines). Meh quality, but all I know of right now. GripMats should have something soon to beat them though.
- Kickstarter is a curse, I have been spending too much time, and WAY too much money there. I am starting to step away from the pre-order system, and trying to avoid spending as much money. I have been disappointed a few times with non-games, and games seem way overpriced in most cases.
- Windows 8.1 blows donkeys, and Office 2013 blows the product that blows donkeys. I've tried for months, but they are just too slow, too buggy, and too much of an impact on my productivity to keep using. Back to 2008 at work, and soon 2008 on my desktop at home.
- I have now spent way too much money on Heroscape terrain on ebay, but have enough to do whatever I want and can easily fill a table with anything. Sure wish somebody would make a similar system, perhaps that didn't interlock so difficultly, and kickstart that sucker.
- My forum is pretty dead, but its my own fault for not posting on it much :(
- Nobody in my 10+ person battletech gaming group wants to even touch alpha strike, go figure.
- I have been trying to get a 3D modeler on contract to knock out all the robotech/macross/rifts mecha, and then battletech stuff. Basically somebody i can give a few hundred bucks a month to for 2-3 models of stuff. I want to get some 3D printing going and have a 3D printer due at the house this year to play with.
And the good stuff:
- I have done database updates on my bte.battletechengineer.com site. It has everything, even the units from the newest PDFs, though I need another refresh for that last batch of books. Many bug fixes, including the new beta PV system, have been implemented. Still needs work though!
- The next version of my alpha strike tool will support the German language, and any other that somebody wants to translate for me.
Ok, now the great stuff!
Even though I haven't been very active here, nor my forum, I do still watch the forums I'll always be banned from. Pathetic, I know, probably even stupid since they said they don't want me, but have zero problem taking my orders. Anyway, that has kept me somewhat involved. I even email lots of errata and issues with the MUL and various books to the couple people I have emails too over there. I think above all that is the #1 worst, is that I find all these issues but can't let anybody know (Anybody have Xotl's email?) :( Anyway, this activity has kept me "in the game" so to speak, plus my gaming on weekends.
Ok, anyway, I have now spent about 20 hours on the new Alpha Strike Utility. Yeah, it has a rename, but it is no longer just a simple card maker. It is that, plus a force tracker, a unit browser (pulls from the canon MUL, my own, and my own "tweaked" as options), a PDF output generator, card comparer, card generator, random unit generator, and best of all, a tool that you can use to track your alpha strike units in game. Click a button, take a hit, optionally it'll even resolve critical hits for you. I have a LOT of work to do yet, and as of today I just have an extensive search/filtering system with support the cards for my site, and the MUL site, but more will come very soon. I've already written all the back end code to support alpha strike in game for example. Now its really just all about the interface and application design, the hard code has been done.
Now, hopefully within the next few days, I'll be ready enough to get it tested. This will NEED to be tested by other people, especially people that can really point out the flaws in my interface and recommend any fixes. You don't need to know programming or be technical, but do need to understand the various types of windows controls and how to build a fluid application. As an example, right now, my filters have a checkbox for things like "MR damage", then a number box where you can go up or down for the minimum and maximum value you want to search on. It works, but its far from elegant. Any ideas on how to make it more intuitive would be greatly appreciated.
Beta testers shoot me an email at bad_syntax@ yahoo.com. There will be goodies for those that can provide some great feedback.
To avoid a REALLY long posting with all the updates, I'll do a quick nice and simple one:
- I bought 4 copies of the new introductory boxed set. The new miniatures are awesome, and to not see a clan version, a 3067 version, a 3075 version, 3085 version, 3145 version, and so forth, of these wonder miniatures is a crime against humanity. Hopefully we do see other sets get printed, as I'd MUCH rather have them than the garbage coming out of IWM these days.
- Field Report 2765: FWLM. Awesome book, like the rest. Soon as I get the LCAF one, I'll start working on the 1st succession war game.
- XTRO Royal Fantasy April Fools PDF. Not your usual joke, the units are completely usable. Fine designs, only beef with it is no artwork.
- XTRO Gunslingers. Woot, some nifty new units, a bit munchy on some. Didn't seem like many were gunslinger pilots though but I didn't read much. Anyway, great purchase.
- Era Report 3145. This looks like a good transition book through the dark age, and I kinda hope it is the last book of the dark age. It goes through the various MWDA factions and such. I have very little interest there, and didn't really read it.
- I finally got my 4 mats from Hotzmatz.com. The only way the guy would write me back was to send money first, then modify my order. I got 4 mats, a blue, tan, green, and white. They are much thinner than they used to be, and are basically just felt you could get at a hobby store with a silkscreen hex grid on it (not dots, but lines). Meh quality, but all I know of right now. GripMats should have something soon to beat them though.
- Kickstarter is a curse, I have been spending too much time, and WAY too much money there. I am starting to step away from the pre-order system, and trying to avoid spending as much money. I have been disappointed a few times with non-games, and games seem way overpriced in most cases.
- Windows 8.1 blows donkeys, and Office 2013 blows the product that blows donkeys. I've tried for months, but they are just too slow, too buggy, and too much of an impact on my productivity to keep using. Back to 2008 at work, and soon 2008 on my desktop at home.
- I have now spent way too much money on Heroscape terrain on ebay, but have enough to do whatever I want and can easily fill a table with anything. Sure wish somebody would make a similar system, perhaps that didn't interlock so difficultly, and kickstart that sucker.
- My forum is pretty dead, but its my own fault for not posting on it much :(
- Nobody in my 10+ person battletech gaming group wants to even touch alpha strike, go figure.
- I have been trying to get a 3D modeler on contract to knock out all the robotech/macross/rifts mecha, and then battletech stuff. Basically somebody i can give a few hundred bucks a month to for 2-3 models of stuff. I want to get some 3D printing going and have a 3D printer due at the house this year to play with.
And the good stuff:
- I have done database updates on my bte.battletechengineer.com site. It has everything, even the units from the newest PDFs, though I need another refresh for that last batch of books. Many bug fixes, including the new beta PV system, have been implemented. Still needs work though!
- The next version of my alpha strike tool will support the German language, and any other that somebody wants to translate for me.
Ok, now the great stuff!
Even though I haven't been very active here, nor my forum, I do still watch the forums I'll always be banned from. Pathetic, I know, probably even stupid since they said they don't want me, but have zero problem taking my orders. Anyway, that has kept me somewhat involved. I even email lots of errata and issues with the MUL and various books to the couple people I have emails too over there. I think above all that is the #1 worst, is that I find all these issues but can't let anybody know (Anybody have Xotl's email?) :( Anyway, this activity has kept me "in the game" so to speak, plus my gaming on weekends.
Ok, anyway, I have now spent about 20 hours on the new Alpha Strike Utility. Yeah, it has a rename, but it is no longer just a simple card maker. It is that, plus a force tracker, a unit browser (pulls from the canon MUL, my own, and my own "tweaked" as options), a PDF output generator, card comparer, card generator, random unit generator, and best of all, a tool that you can use to track your alpha strike units in game. Click a button, take a hit, optionally it'll even resolve critical hits for you. I have a LOT of work to do yet, and as of today I just have an extensive search/filtering system with support the cards for my site, and the MUL site, but more will come very soon. I've already written all the back end code to support alpha strike in game for example. Now its really just all about the interface and application design, the hard code has been done.
Now, hopefully within the next few days, I'll be ready enough to get it tested. This will NEED to be tested by other people, especially people that can really point out the flaws in my interface and recommend any fixes. You don't need to know programming or be technical, but do need to understand the various types of windows controls and how to build a fluid application. As an example, right now, my filters have a checkbox for things like "MR damage", then a number box where you can go up or down for the minimum and maximum value you want to search on. It works, but its far from elegant. Any ideas on how to make it more intuitive would be greatly appreciated.
Beta testers shoot me an email at bad_syntax@ yahoo.com. There will be goodies for those that can provide some great feedback.
Thursday, February 27, 2014
Good News + Historical - Wars of the Republic Era
Woot, finally, after nearly 3 months, some goodies!
First, the Field Report 2765 AFFS. This is like the others, so if you liked the others get it. You get 2 new warships (one is a Congress mod, so kind of a cheat, but the other cool) and all the usual goodies. I love these books, and once all of them come out I'll be starting up a long dead project :)
Second, the Historical - Wars of the Republic Era. I bought this thinking it was the age of war era, so kinda disappointed as the whole dark age simply hasn't captured me. That may be my fault, I hardly read the books anymore :( Anyway, its a pretty decent book it appears. It felt a LOT like the Brush Wars historical, which is a good thing. Lots of various little operations with their maps. It has random unit tables, some personalities, a new mech and dropship, some deployment tables, and no new rules. Pick it up to support the IP!
So I got these, read through them, entered the units into my database (not yet updated for ya'll, sorry), and then just a couple days later, we get the pre-order of the new boxed set! If you buy 2 for $120 (Plus shipping) you get a 3rd set of miniatures! Woot! I bought 2, well, 4 boxed sets, and I have no idea why, as I had like 6 of the previous boxed sets. I'll start giving away the miniatures at games I think.
I got Field Manual 3145 as well, which is a very hefty book and a must purchase IMO. I won't review it, as its like every other Field Manual out there, but it does have some new equipment and rules for superheavies that make it a must-have.
And yet MORE good news. Since everybody knew the Alpha Strike point system was completely useless, we now have a beta copy of some new rules with a well put together PDF for calculating point values! They *seem* pretty decent up front, and I have started implementing them into my site. Once I finish the implementation I'll remove all references to the old point values. Even a buggy version of this system is better than a solid conversion of the old!
And it must be a great day, as there is even MORE good news. This is actually TERRIFIC news, at least to me. The "coming soon" page now has Interstellar Operations! Now, this doesn't mean it'll be out soon, maybe not even this year (HBHK has been on there some time), but at least we have it in writing that it *IS* coming out. I really can't wait for this product, and really hope it doesn't disappoint me. This was the key rulebook I needed in order to move forward on my Succession Wars PC game.
And the bad news, I haven't done much on the site since the last update. Been working on a Rifts tabletop game, slammed with work, and going through many of my games deciding which simply aren't worth keeping anymore. I hope to get back on track very soon. Soon as I implement the new Alpha Strike Point Values I'll start updating the Alpha Strike Card Maker, which will have a LOT of new features. If any of ya'll have a windows surface tablet you may *love* the new version!
First, the Field Report 2765 AFFS. This is like the others, so if you liked the others get it. You get 2 new warships (one is a Congress mod, so kind of a cheat, but the other cool) and all the usual goodies. I love these books, and once all of them come out I'll be starting up a long dead project :)
Second, the Historical - Wars of the Republic Era. I bought this thinking it was the age of war era, so kinda disappointed as the whole dark age simply hasn't captured me. That may be my fault, I hardly read the books anymore :( Anyway, its a pretty decent book it appears. It felt a LOT like the Brush Wars historical, which is a good thing. Lots of various little operations with their maps. It has random unit tables, some personalities, a new mech and dropship, some deployment tables, and no new rules. Pick it up to support the IP!
So I got these, read through them, entered the units into my database (not yet updated for ya'll, sorry), and then just a couple days later, we get the pre-order of the new boxed set! If you buy 2 for $120 (Plus shipping) you get a 3rd set of miniatures! Woot! I bought 2, well, 4 boxed sets, and I have no idea why, as I had like 6 of the previous boxed sets. I'll start giving away the miniatures at games I think.
I got Field Manual 3145 as well, which is a very hefty book and a must purchase IMO. I won't review it, as its like every other Field Manual out there, but it does have some new equipment and rules for superheavies that make it a must-have.
And yet MORE good news. Since everybody knew the Alpha Strike point system was completely useless, we now have a beta copy of some new rules with a well put together PDF for calculating point values! They *seem* pretty decent up front, and I have started implementing them into my site. Once I finish the implementation I'll remove all references to the old point values. Even a buggy version of this system is better than a solid conversion of the old!
And it must be a great day, as there is even MORE good news. This is actually TERRIFIC news, at least to me. The "coming soon" page now has Interstellar Operations! Now, this doesn't mean it'll be out soon, maybe not even this year (HBHK has been on there some time), but at least we have it in writing that it *IS* coming out. I really can't wait for this product, and really hope it doesn't disappoint me. This was the key rulebook I needed in order to move forward on my Succession Wars PC game.
And the bad news, I haven't done much on the site since the last update. Been working on a Rifts tabletop game, slammed with work, and going through many of my games deciding which simply aren't worth keeping anymore. I hope to get back on track very soon. Soon as I implement the new Alpha Strike Point Values I'll start updating the Alpha Strike Card Maker, which will have a LOT of new features. If any of ya'll have a windows surface tablet you may *love* the new version!
Thursday, February 13, 2014
Alpha Strike Search & Other New Features!
Ok, I'm on a roll, though I only spent a couple hours on updates, I figured I would post this one as its *very* useful for the Battletech Encyclopedia.
Basically, you can search for Alpha Strike abilities! The downside is I am using the data from the MasterUnitList, so there are quite a few units missing. However, you can at least search using alpha strike abilities.
PLUS, by default, you can view the alpha strike stat line in search results! Not sure why I never had a bit more detail on the search results, oh well.
Eventually I'll have my algorithms good enough to create my own Alpha Strike stats and be confident in their numbers. When that happens I'll start using my own data instead of piggy backing off of the MasterUnitList.
I am about done with textual updates, and will soon start fixing my cost/BV/weight calculation algorithms. This is a pretty slow and painful process hampered by errata and issues :(
The new Point Value system for Alpha Strike should be released to the public soon! When it comes out I'll instantly go implement it. I'll run it first against the MasterUnitList data, which would only take a few minutes once I get the data inputted. I'll then send the data to TPTB and hope they accept it, so they can update their PV on the website for Alpha Strike cards.
I want to figure out how to get image scrolling working for units (the top image on the details page, often I have multiple, just not on the website) as well as a skill changer for the Alpha Strike Cards... lots of updates :)
And no, I haven't forgotten about the update to the Alpha Strike Card Maker nor the hex/square counter maker using megamek icons, nor the Alpha Strike Game Helper application to let you basically have Alpha Strike cards on your tablet/phone instead of needing to print them.
But I'm at least updating the site again, hopefully we see some new products soon.
Here is what I've done since that last update to the Battletech Encyclopedia site:
13 FEB 2014
- Fixed fusilade, so the Sprite 1 works (though it kinda stinks compared to the 2 and 3)
- Fixed Protomech Standard & Extended Jump Jets
- Buildings & mobile structures come up and calculate kinda ok, they need a LOT of work, and in fact will need multiple Alpha Strike cards to show!
- Fixed infantry W&E listing
- A few more database updates
- Added ability to search by Alpha Strike ability. I use the canon MasterUnitList.Info data for this, as I generate it on the fly (once perfect, I'll cache it, till then we'll use MUL data). This means there could be issues, often with units that *should* have an ability but don't as the MUL isn't complete. Still, its as good as what they have, mostly.
- Formatted output for both textual return types to include Alpha Strike data. Again, this if from masterunitlist (as of 25 JAN 2014) and if the numbers are wrong they aren't mine. I'll update this periodically, or if somebody lets me know the MUL was updated.
12 FEB 2014
- Fixed Protomech display and armor rounding
- Added text box by error report to put in a brief description of error. Emails could go here and I'd reply to them with fixes.
- Fixed infantry chassis so they show up with no errors
- Updated production database & copied new files
Basically, you can search for Alpha Strike abilities! The downside is I am using the data from the MasterUnitList, so there are quite a few units missing. However, you can at least search using alpha strike abilities.
PLUS, by default, you can view the alpha strike stat line in search results! Not sure why I never had a bit more detail on the search results, oh well.
Eventually I'll have my algorithms good enough to create my own Alpha Strike stats and be confident in their numbers. When that happens I'll start using my own data instead of piggy backing off of the MasterUnitList.
I am about done with textual updates, and will soon start fixing my cost/BV/weight calculation algorithms. This is a pretty slow and painful process hampered by errata and issues :(
The new Point Value system for Alpha Strike should be released to the public soon! When it comes out I'll instantly go implement it. I'll run it first against the MasterUnitList data, which would only take a few minutes once I get the data inputted. I'll then send the data to TPTB and hope they accept it, so they can update their PV on the website for Alpha Strike cards.
I want to figure out how to get image scrolling working for units (the top image on the details page, often I have multiple, just not on the website) as well as a skill changer for the Alpha Strike Cards... lots of updates :)
And no, I haven't forgotten about the update to the Alpha Strike Card Maker nor the hex/square counter maker using megamek icons, nor the Alpha Strike Game Helper application to let you basically have Alpha Strike cards on your tablet/phone instead of needing to print them.
But I'm at least updating the site again, hopefully we see some new products soon.
Here is what I've done since that last update to the Battletech Encyclopedia site:
13 FEB 2014
- Fixed fusilade, so the Sprite 1 works (though it kinda stinks compared to the 2 and 3)
- Fixed Protomech Standard & Extended Jump Jets
- Buildings & mobile structures come up and calculate kinda ok, they need a LOT of work, and in fact will need multiple Alpha Strike cards to show!
- Fixed infantry W&E listing
- A few more database updates
- Added ability to search by Alpha Strike ability. I use the canon MasterUnitList.Info data for this, as I generate it on the fly (once perfect, I'll cache it, till then we'll use MUL data). This means there could be issues, often with units that *should* have an ability but don't as the MUL isn't complete. Still, its as good as what they have, mostly.
- Formatted output for both textual return types to include Alpha Strike data. Again, this if from masterunitlist (as of 25 JAN 2014) and if the numbers are wrong they aren't mine. I'll update this periodically, or if somebody lets me know the MUL was updated.
12 FEB 2014
- Fixed Protomech display and armor rounding
- Added text box by error report to put in a brief description of error. Emails could go here and I'd reply to them with fixes.
- Fixed infantry chassis so they show up with no errors
- Updated production database & copied new files
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