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mj12games.com/forum → Starmada → Drydock pre-release
If you're interested in trying your hand at starship design before tomorrow's release, the Starmada Drydock construction tool is now available for download:
http://www.mj12games.com/starmada/drydock.zip
Link is broken, keep getting a 404 error.
Oops. Fixed.
Looks great! Only slightly hard things to deal with:
1) Unusual way of formatting the weapon/alternate weapon modes. I couldn't quite figure it out, but I only messed with it cursorily.
2) The formatting of the data sheets is a bit hard to follow and balky. The test ones you posted as previews benefitted from more commonsesne box placement and such, the one the drydock creates is hard to follow for some reason (multiple tracks labeled ENG, for example).
Still, I appreciate how much effort providing a tool like that at launch is! Here's the test ship I make every time I try a new game that allows ship building, albeit with a reformatted data sheet....
The "multiple boxes labeled ENG" problem is only there because you haven't hidden the unused rows. Click on the arrow in cell S1 and use the Auto-Filter to hide all the rows with a "0" showing in column S.
Basically, if any of the cells showing in that column are red, you aren't done yet. 
Also, I get a combat rating of 230.
RANGER II-class Light Patrol Cruiser (230)
-Fwd: 5-4-3-2-1
-Port: 4-3-2-1
-Stbd: 4-3-2-1
-Aft: 2-1
Hull: 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Engines: 5-4-3-2-1
Weapons: 11-9-7-5-3
Shields: 8-7-5-4-2
-Fwd: 2-1
-Port: 2-1
-Stbd: 2-1
-Aft: 2-1
Laser Cannon (3-6-12) 2×4+/1/1
AC []| BD []| HJ []| IK []| CE []| DF [] // (3)
Guided Torpedo (MA 9) 1×2+/2/4 (Slw)
GHI [][] // (1)
Heavy Railgun (4-8-16) 1×4+/2/3 (Pr1)
GHI [] // (1)
Equipment: Hyperdrive []| Long Range Sensors [] // (1)
Ooooh, the sort tool on the final display sheet is a really nice touch, I didn't see how it worked before. Not sure why the divergence in CR, though, and no time to look for the rest of today, alas. Maybe it has something to do with my using the Forward-Port, Forward-Starboard style weapon arcs?
I like how the sheets look now, totally my inattention to that neat detail that caused any problem. Note: I futzed with the ship design itself a little bit before posting this.
Are you using the spreadsheet from the above link? Those little circles following the firing arcs should be squares... 
Well, it doesn't seem to work at all for me in Open Office 4.
Sorry... I could only test it in MS Excel.
That's okay. Works fine on a computer that has Excel. Only issue is that I can't ID what each of the three letter codes stand for in the Unity sheet, so I can't *quite* accurately rebuilt my test ships here. But this is what I have for one:
Archadean IFREET-class Cruiser (225)
Hull: 8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
Engines: 6-5-3-2
Weapons: 10-8-5-3
Shields: 3-3-2-1
Hellfire (1-2-3) 1×3+/5/1
A ⚪| B ⚪ // (1)
Magicite Cannons (4-8-12) 2×4+/1/1
AB ⚪⚪| AC ⚪⚪| BD ⚪⚪| C ⚪| D ⚪ // (4)
Traits: Cargo (3); Carrier (1)
Marines : 10-9-8-7-6-5-4-3-2-1
# MOVE [x] NOTES
1 _______________ [ ] ____________________
2 _______________ [ ] ____________________
3 _______________ [ ] ____________________
4 _______________ [ ] ____________________
5 _______________ [ ] ____________________
6 _______________ [ ] ____________________
7 _______________ [ ] ____________________
8 _______________ [ ] ____________________
9 _______________ [ ] ____________________Based on my old design found here http://forum.mj12games.com/viewtopic.php?p=17260#p17260
- Hellfire lacks Carronade, Area of Effect, and Continuing Damage. (Adding the following doesn't make the space overflow, and makes the CRAT 233: Bls - Ballistic from Nova, I suspect. Fills Minimum Range that it should have had. Crn - Carronade? Seems to be right. Should drop the max range. Prx - Proximity? The Area of Effect renamed. Cts - Continuous, or Catastrophic? Was aiming for Continuous.) There might be a Unity specific version of this fleet coming once I get Unity.
- Carrier is set to 1, which seems to indicate a single flight of a standard (50 pt Admiralty) fighter.
- Cargo, I have no clue on. Seriously. I kept adjusting to what seemed to be an appropriate reduction in space remaining.
- I have no idea how to translate Armor Plating over. Screens?
That said, saying that you can use Admiralty ships in Unity without too much hassle is an understatement. Seems like most conversions will be slight tweaks more than anything else.
Hmm, really not sure what happened. I had things running well enough, and then, without warning, the ranges on the display sheet got wonky.
edit and removed: after another few minutes, realized it was a result of Long Range Sensors, which I assume is described in more detail in the rulebook proper. Solved!
One minor problem has popped up: although the instructions state that the greater-than sign (>) is used to indicate a secondary weapon mode, the spreadsheet is still coded to recognize the exclamation point (!) for this purpose.
Update: The sheet *does* seem to work with Google Spreadsheet, albeit a little on the slow side. That said. It works.
Also, when do we get a new Bourbaki Basin for Unity? 
I've been having a few minor problems with the drydock. Dual-Mode weapons seem to be broken for me--either the > or ! doesn't seem to work. That won't be a problem for my first setting, which I intend to be a light version, but will be for future settings (and might be for a potential revamped SNE setting). It might be because I'm used to KDL's/OldNGrey's shipyard, so I'm hoping for a Shipyard Unity Edition that will (to me) be more intuitive.
Note: This has been resolved because I actually read through Appendix Z instead of skim-reading, and also because my cold has mainly gone.
Which version of Drydock are you using? The original was 0.7 and the current is 1.0. 1.0 seems to work fine.
Yes, please re-download the current version and try again.
Also, remember the weapons list must be alphabetized to work properly.
Also also, when creating a dual-mode weapon, do NOT put a space before the ">"; e.g. "Weapon >Secondary Mode" is not valid.
Yes, please re-download the current version and try again.
Also, remember the weapons list must be alphabetized to work properly.
Also also, when creating a dual-mode weapon, do NOT put a space before the ">"; e.g. "Weapon >Secondary Mode" is not valid.
I have done all that. I'll be doing it again soon, hopefully without this [deleted expletive] cold, where hopefully I'll be able to explain what it is I did.
Note: what I did is FUBAR. Never assume you know something before you actually do, kids, and more importantly, don't try to learn something when you've got a [expletive] of a cold.
Question: Why does Drydock round to the nearest multiple of 5? I ask because it doesn't state that in the rules.
I did a quick test of drydock v1.0. I had two weapons, in alphabetical order, both dual-mode. On at least the first two ships, each weapon's secondary mode, even without a primary mode, had the first weapon's secondary mode. Even when switching to the second weapon, it retained the first weapon's secondary mode. It doesn't matter at the moment because I intend to do a small-scale setting with single-mode only weapons first.
Question: Why does Drydock round to the nearest multiple of 5? I ask because it doesn't state that in the rules.
Because I wanted to round to the nearest multiple of 5 for all the published ships, and forgot to put it back in the public release.
If you want to round to the nearest integer, unprotect the "Display" tab, select cell Q2, and alter the formula to read:
=MROUND(INDIRECT(T1&"!M5"),1)
Don't forget to protect the tab again when you're finished.
EDIT: I AM A THICKO. A THICKY THICKO, KING OF THICKONIA.
/sighs
For some reason, I thought you had to enter the greater-than sign in front of the whole weapon name, not just the secondary mode 'name'. I can only blame it on the cold, my blithely skimming over the important part of the instructions and being used to the Shipyard.
Now without a gonging head, I've noticed a couple of minor issues with Drydock. I had a look at the Tables sheet and discovered two 'typos':
1) the dual weapon mount modifier is listed as 1.7, when it should be 1.8 (according to the rulebook)
2) the TR arc is listed as having an arc modifier (number of arcs+1) of 7, when it should be 6.
What that means is that my King Thicko-class battleship is incorrectly pointed. Argghhh...
Updated Drydock to v1.01 to fix errors identified by murtalianconfederacy.
I had sent mj12games a PM about this, but as he hasn't been on for a week (thanks KDLadage for pointing it out), I'll post this up.
I found another couple mistakes. Two are easy fixes, one not so much (for my limited Excel-fu)
Slow weapon modifier is 0.7, should be 0.6
Guided+Telescopic shows as red--due to the range-based weapon trait column having a figure of 82, when it should be 80.
Selecting Piercing 1/2 and Proximity reads as an invalid combination.
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