Topic: Excel sheet for builder?

I FINALLY purchased Defiance. Among other things I intend to convert my extensive AT-43 collection to Defiance. I just looked over the various construction tables and all of this BEGS for a construction program or at least an Excel spreadsheet. I asked the question two years ago so I'm asking again: is there ANYTHING out there? Thanks!

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

AFAIK there is no fully functional version of such a tool. It's not quite straightforward to build one either, which is why I haven't bothered with completing mine (I did start with an Access version once). I figured my time was better spend with actually producing results i.e. force lists. Actually it isn't all that difficult for human to do once the said human gets the hang of the process. Obviously minor errors can and do creep in which would be eliminated by a computerized tool but it's not like somebody's gonna croack if that happens...

All that said, Demian should have a "demo/beta" of an Excell sheet that does some of the work. Last I saw it it wasn't complete and IIRC had some minor errors but you could spot them easily enough and correct by hand.

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

I'm 60% done with such a sheet and believe I can make it to 100%, but have concerns about sharing it as it contains non-free data from the rulebook. I have a hard time imagining anyone making sense of the army builder without the rules, but some might think otherwise.

What's the thoughts on that at mj12games or in the community in general?

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

I think you should try to get in contact with Demian and possibly Dan also before publishing it. I'm pretty sure they'd be willing to officially allow for public release as long as the sheet functions properly. Not sure if Demian comes around much any more tho, maybe Dan knowns his contact info?

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

I'm pretty sure similar projects have gotten the go-ahead in the past. I'd recommend proceeding to completion, but seeking permission to publish.

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

cosworth wrote:

I'm 60% done with such a sheet and believe I can make it to 100%, but have concerns about sharing it as it contains non-free data from the rulebook. I have a hard time imagining anyone making sense of the army builder without the rules, but some might think otherwise.

What's the thoughts on that at mj12games or in the community in general?

Cosworth would you be willing to PM it to me?  I just picked up the PDF (still waiting for my download link!)
I've been working with a couple of the Starmada xls files and I'd like to give this a try too.  If you've got some of the work done then that would be a huge help.

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

Trent wrote:

I just picked up the PDF (still waiting for my download link!)

It's possible that during our server migration, the download link got lost in the ether...

PM me with your email address, and I'll make sure it gets to you.

Daniel Kast
Majestic Twelve Games
cricket@mj12games.com

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

Daniel, the forum software is preventing me from sending a PM.  Neither the Compose function nor your Member profile allows me to send you a PM.  I used the Contact Us function on the website to send a message instead.

Thanks,
-Trent

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

Cosworth, thanks for the PM.  I still can't PM respond (probably because I'm a newly registered user).  You can reach me at trent dot mccaffrey at gmail dot calm.  Looking forward to your response.

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

Trent I sent you a PM

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

cosworth, I am comfortable with you building this tool.  I would want to see it before it is officially published, but am okay with publishing if it seems to work - the last builder was nice but had a good amount of errors.  As you say, the builder itself is not very useful without the rules.

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

That's great news!

I concur that the builder would have little use without the rules.  You certainly couldn't "figure out" the rules going backwards!

Re: Excel sheet for builder?

Any progress?  Our group is leaning towards using Defiance in a campaign.  This would sure make things a lot easier!