From: Jerome Darmont [jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 2:32 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs At 23:34 22/04/01 -0400, Ml10@aol.com wrote: >Well, I still need a format for the NPCs..... What about adopting the NPC format from the game books? -- Jérôme Darmont, mailto:darmont@free.fr, http://fly.to/bleue.planete *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Atti2dboy@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 12:05 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) In a message dated 4/23/01 4:18:57 AM, chalz@earthlink.net writes: >I like the post-it tabs. That is a good remedy for the books previously published. My two problems with it is that first one has to find the entry, and all those post-its tend to bend in my game bag. What good is having a hardcopy book if it has dozens of post -it tabs sticking out of it? > ... , and it's probably a subcategory not in any indexes. Ah, subcategories are a whole 'nother kettle of krill. But, if you know what category the term belongs in, you have a head start. A glossary of terms is also a good idea. Check out The Sholari Guide for Skyrealms of Jorune. That has a good glossary of game related material. > Indexes? Indices? *shrugs* Indicies is the correct spelling. Thanks. :) Rich *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Megan C. Robertson [mcrobertson@phoenix.co.uk] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 3:04 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) Greetings dear hearts. Fortunately I have a good memory, so reading the books once is sufficient for normal useage. Over time, I transcribe all game materials to HTML - don't worry, they never leave my own hard drive! - as it makes for easier reference when writing. While doing that I establish comprehensive indexing. One day when rich enough, I shall acquire a laptop - this will spell the end of having to lug all the books to games :-) Hugs and kisses, Mexal. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Alan Broad [abroad@appsmart.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 4:15 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - Pantheon - Synergy Character Generator I'm not trying to tread on Mike Z's toes here ... but I too am developing a character generator, this time a generic Synergy character generator for Windows called Pantheon. Unlike Mike's program Pantheon is *not* going to be finished in June, not by a long shot, but anyone interested can have a look at www.pantheon.ukf.net There's nothing to download just yet, but anyone interested can get an early look at the program and I hope to have a *very* early version available for download sometime in May - it won't really do anything at that point but it should give a fair idea of where the program is going. Any comments are welcome and I'll let you know when there's something to download. Alan Broad From: Jerome Darmont [jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 5:54 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: [BLUE PLANET] - New scenario on line "The greater white whisperer" at http://www.multimania.com/bpfr/english/ -- Jérôme Darmont, mailto:darmont@free.fr, http://fly.to/bleue.planete *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 7:08 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Pantheon - Synergy Character Generator In a message dated 4/23/01 4:25:17 AM Central Daylight Time, abroad@appsmart.com writes: << I'm not trying to tread on Mike Z's toes here ... but I too am developing a character generator, this time a generic Synergy character generator for Windows called Pantheon. >> I love competition. It always makes for better products in the end. << Unlike Mike's program Pantheon is *not* going to be finished in June, not by a long shot, but anyone interested can have a look at www.pantheon.ukf.net>> Version 1 of mine will be done by the end of June, but I already have penty of plans for Version 2. << There's nothing to download just yet, but anyone interested can get an early look at the program and I hope to have a *very* early version available for download sometime in May - it won't really do anything at that point but it should give a fair idea of where the program is going.>> Well, from your screen shots, it sure looks good. Mine is much more utilitarian (and ugly). I guess that I will have to start working on its visual appeal. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 7:13 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs In a message dated 4/23/01 2:36:05 AM Central Daylight Time, jdarmont@dionysos.univ-lyon2.fr writes: << >Well, I still need a format for the NPCs..... What about adopting the NPC format from the game books? >> Here is the thing.... I will be including a number of output templates along with the instructs to create new ones. One of the templates will be the format from the books, but I want to have more options for the end users as options are good. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: William Timmins [wtimmins@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 7:44 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs >From: "chalz@earthlink.net" >equipment, other than biomods, will have to be added in by hand (until >version 2.0 of the program) but space can be left for it. It occurs to me that someone _could_ do this in something simple, like Javascript, and make it very platform independant. (Granted, java would be 'better', but javascript is light) Hmm. -=Will _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Adam Lewis [adamswork@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 8:43 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience --- Dom Twist wrote: .....at the > moment ChIP's can be spent on anything......but > linking them to how they > were earned seems more realistic. Good point. I thought I would mention that although the rules say you can spend ChIPs on anything, our GM only allows us to spend them on the skills we have used or trained in during scenarios. AdamL (and our GM is Jeff Barber, creator of BP, so tell your players that if you need to justify tweaking this rule) __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Alan Broad [abroad@appsmart.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 9:00 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Pantheon - Synergy Character Generator f> From: Ml10@aol.com [ mailto:Ml10@aol.com] > Sent: 23 April 2001 13:08 > > > I'm not trying to tread on Mike Z's toes here ... but I > > too am developing a character generator, this time a generic > > Synergy character generator for Windows called Pantheon. > > I love competition. It always makes for better products in the end. > > > Unlike Mike's program Pantheon is *not* going to be > > finished in June, not by a long shot, but anyone interested > > can have a look at www.pantheon.ukf.net > > Version 1 of mine will be done by the end of June, but I already > have plenty of plans for Version 2. Well, at the rate I'm going (or at least, the rate that it feels like I'm going) you'll be onto version three before I've finished one :-) > > There's nothing to download just yet, but anyone interested can > > get an early look at the program and I hope to have a *very* > > early version available for download sometime in May - it won't > > really do anything at that point but it should give a fair idea > > of where the program is going. > > Well, from your screen shots, it sure looks good. Mine is much > more utilitarian (and ugly). I guess that I will have to start > working on its visual appeal. I've worked on projects in the past where I've been tasked with tagging a nice interface onto someone elses badly written code and it never really works out, which is why these days I always like to get good UI design (including the UI to backend interaction ) in from an early stage. Makes things nice and maintainable later on and has the added bonus of looking nice whenever your boss comes round and you've not really got anything new to show him :-) Alan From: necrobob [necrobob@mail.compfxnet.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 8:52 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience ---------- Original Message ---------------------------------- From: Adam Lewis Reply-To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2001 06:42:54 -0700 (PDT) >I thought I would mention that although the rules say >you can spend ChIPs on anything, our GM only allows us >to spend them on the skills we have used or trained in >during scenarios. That's generally the way I run xp in most games (or, well, would if I had a group to run with, but that's another matter). I don't really like it being a hard & fast rule that it "has" to be on some skill that was used in the last adventure, but I've strongly recommended to my players that xp be used mostly in that way. -Necromancer Bob, not making a whole lotta sense this morning... *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:08 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience > -----Original Message----- > From: Dom Twist [mailto:thazar@globalnet.co.uk] > Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience > > AdamL:- > > There is a system in place that awards exp. You earn > > ChIPs (Character Improvement Points) that you use to > > increase your skills or your base attributes. > > > Thanks for the page ref.......it must be said the 1 page on > ChIP's tucked into the profiles section is a bit sketch and > easy to miss. > Well, if one page is what it takes to talk about a topic then spending more pages on it will often make it sound tedious or make the material look poorly written. > Especially given the poor indexing. > > >Will Timms > >powerful, strong, etc. > > I think Adam and William have covered that one nicely. I > White Wolfette call their points system) basicaly stink. > We've always said it's your game. If you don't like something, gin up a house rule everyone can live with and go for it. Personally I find that point systems work as well as anything else. However in all the games I've played I (and often the GM) handle it a bit differently. > PC zap around the game world earning points by rescuing > experts in stardrive technology/microbiology or whatever > they choose. > Ah, but that's not what I've seen (or rather I should say that's not what we do). We spend our points on skills we've used during the previous sessions. In general we get between 6 and 12 points for an "adventure" (which usually consists of between three and five or six sessions). So if you want to increase an attribute (IIRC 25 ChIPs) you need to save. And since it costs the next level in points to increase, you'll probably only increase two or three skills a couple of points. > Of course a GM can make them train for a while before > does solving a particularly intricate peice of incorperate > politics make you stronger or a better shot if you never > flexed a muscle or drew a gun on the last scenario. > It doesn't. The skills used might be computer hacking, electronics, surveillance, or simply incorporate culture. Those are the ones I would improve unless I could somehow justify something else - say I spent all my off-duty time on the pistol range. Or I studied a HIST course via CommCore. > are good....my experiance with Traveller has shown that this > can only go so far. Sooner or later the players have either > fulfilled their goals or become rich. > I've played a *lot* of Traveller (I have the original TLBBs as well as nearly everything published up until the MegaTraveller) and it *really* doesn't compare well to BP. Our parties were *always* too mobile to make the depth we have on Poseidon feasible for any of the worlds we visited. I don't recall that I ever saw any "experience" rules for Traveller. And there's something about a character creation system where you can die even before you finishing creating your character. As far as goals are concerned, Andrew Latimer from the Red Sky Charters campaign on the website, has a very simple goal. Do anything he can to prevent the bank from taking the boat and closing the business. Oh, and find Uncle Carl whose been missing for eight years. Obviously accomplishing the first is a never ending process. And accomplishing the second would result in a *MAJOR* plot turn in the campaign. Of course it would probably result in only more questions and thus, creation of another major goal. But my point is that major goals can be dynamic. Yea, if your goal was to become rich and you did fine. But now what about that other incorporate that's trying to buy you out. How do you *hang on* to your money? What about sudden, unexpected expenses? Your mining facility was seriously damaged by an attack from Blue Water Circle, now you have to repair it. > Its also rather unrealistic. If you make a habit of > getting into hand to hand combat and live through > 10-20 mortal combats in a year, you're going to pick > up a LOT of experiance quickly..... > True. However it's a *major* accomplishment surviving that many combats given the lethality of the game system. If you have a combat oriented campaign though, it's possible. Although I would think there are enough different skills of use during combat operations that you wouldn't have to put all of them into shooting skills. > I think the best system I've used in reflecting skills > were earned seems more realistic. > That's sort of what we do. We now (a recent idea) put 'tick marks' next to the skills we use (especially when we get a particularly good or bad roll) so we can remember which ones we can realistically spend our ChIPs on. But that's just our groups and not an official rule in any way. > I'd even do away with 'points for Role-Playing' > As a player these points encourage me to play my character and remain in character more during the game (rather than go off on tangents about movies I saw last week or adventures we had or other games). I like them and I try to behave like my characters would so I can get a few more of these. Fortunately Jeff only gives them out when we do *particularly* well. All of the above is my perspective as a player (in Jeff's games) and not any sort of official response. Jim *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:56 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs **** << Blast you Mike! Every time I start working on something, I find out you already have or are working on the same thing There go my chances to get my 'name in lights' ;) Hehe. Looking towards your new tools! >> Well, I still need a format for the NPCs..... ** Yeah, but that's not something that interests me so much at the present time ;) However, I am working on a program (well, script, using REBOL) that takes the intersettlement distances chart (I think it's from v1 Access Denied?) and finds a route from Point A to Point B. It's mostly complete, except for a little hangup I've got, so don't be anticipating it too hard yet ;) --Charles -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:59 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) I think it's a pretty wacky idea. Course, first you have to be able to afford to give away so many books ;) It's definitely a good idea, though. A dynamic, volatile index created and moderated by the players - the very people who know just what they want when and where in the book. Nothing against the BHG folks, but when you already know the contents well enough yourself, you tend not to build a very comprehensive index. People who have to actually search and look for the golden nuggets usually have the best page refs. I've noticed this far too many times in programming guides. Speaking of which, Mike, are you a CS major or something? ;) --Charles **** << You're scaring me now... :) -- ChrisTheS >> I'm scaring myself. I can hardly wait to see the bandwidth bill if this thing flys. Mike Z ** -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:04 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) **** Over time, I transcribe all game materials to HTML - don't worry, they never leave my own hard drive! - as it makes for easier reference when writing. While doing that I establish comprehensive indexing. One day when rich enough, I shall acquire a laptop - this will spell the end of having to lug all the books to games :-) ** A laptop... Hey, that's a good idea! Re-release all of the books (so far to date) as searchable cross-referenced multi-indexed HTML-style documents on CD ROM. Ooooo... Anyways, yeah, I've noticed that when I type something out, I tend to learn it better than just reading it. When I read things, sometimes I have a tendancy for my brain to kind of go in standby mode - I'm still reading the words, I can be reciting them even, but I'm not absorbing anything. When I type, it usually goes through at least one more layer of gray strata (usually..) and sticks better ;) -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Alan Broad [abroad@appsmart.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:15 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) > -----Original Message----- > From: chalz@earthlink.net [ mailto:chalz@earthlink.net] > > A laptop... Hey, that's a good idea! Re-release all of > the books (so far to date) as searchable cross-referenced > multi-indexed HTML-style documents on CD ROM. Ooooo... Gotta watch that one - done badly (Anyone remember the AD&D Core Rules CD? Or anyone used Microsoft's MSDN Library?) on-line documentation can we worse than useless. At least with a book you can always just flick ... But done well it could be very cool :-) Al From: Heivilin, Jim [banzai@missouri.edu] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:29 AM To: 'blue_planet@lists.ient.com' Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) > -----Original Message----- > From: chalz@earthlink.net [mailto:chalz@earthlink.net] > Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) > A laptop... Hey, that's a good idea! Re-release all of > the books (so far to date) as searchable cross-referenced > multi-indexed HTML-style documents on CD ROM. Ooooo... > Awhile ago (several years at this point) I had tried to sell Jeff on this idea. The major problem is that the format the files exist in to be published is nothing like html format. I know Jeff used Adobe Illustrator to do the page layout although I don't know if Greg is still using that format for the new books. And while it is possible to convert adobe files into pdfs with several intermediate steps, making them searchable, multi-indexing and cross referencing would (in my uneducated guess) be a *major* project. My guess is you guys would rather have new books. Jim Jim Heivilin, Webmaster Biohazard Games http://www.biohazardgames.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:31 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) writes: << Speaking of which, Mike, are you a CS major or something? ;)>> I have a BS in Math, but I took a bucket load of computer courses in college. I am a Software Engineer. I work on avionic equipment. I've worked on everything from attack helicopters to military cargo planes. I've done some work in the civilian area as well, but it is not as much fun to talk about. The one thing that I learned from my Math studies is that the more varied the tools and techniques that you have to work with, the better you will be able to solve a problem as you can attack it from multiple directions. (I think that this is why so many CS majors suck at programming in the real world. They are not exposed to the variety of problem solving tools in their studies.) I do stuff like character creators and web CGI as to keep my skills broad based. I find that learning new things is easier if you have a project to apply the new knowledge to. I hope the index thing works. It took only a couple of hours to set up the scripts (I'm testing them now) and I can easily afford the books to give away. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:34 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs In a message dated Mon, 23 Apr 2001 12:03:35 PM Eastern Daylight Time, "chalz@earthlink.net" writes: << **** << However, I am working on a program (well, script, using REBOL) that takes the intersettlement distances chart (I think it's from v1 Access Denied?) and finds a route from Point A to Point B. It's mostly complete, except for a little hangup I've got, so don't be anticipating it too hard yet ;)>> Cool! Is it able to accept new locations? It would be great to start mapping various things like fuel deposts. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: William Timmins [wtimmins@hotmail.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:51 AM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) >From: "Heivilin, Jim" >The major problem is that the format the files exist in to be published is >nothing like html format. I know Jeff used Adobe Illustrator to do the >page >layout although I don't know if Greg is still using that format for the new >books. > >And while it is possible to convert adobe files into pdfs with several >intermediate steps, making them searchable, multi-indexing and cross >referencing would (in my uneducated guess) be a *major* project. My guess >is you guys would rather have new books. > >Jim > >Jim Heivilin, Webmaster >Biohazard Games >http://www.biohazardgames.com XML seems to be ideal for something along these lines. Stuff in XML can be used as normal HTML, or exported to pdf files in a fairly easy way... XML allows a lot of information about presentation and layout to be declared, so that one set of definitions turns the page into HTML, and another set of definitions turns it into pdf or other print formats. The idea is that by setting up 'chapterheader' as a tag, you can then define what it means in different contexts. For example, in HTML, 'chapterheader' may mean font+1, bold text. In pdf, it could mean a specific font, size, and, say, a graphic just before it. Or a transparency effect. Or whatever. This is all based on what I've read _about_ XML... haven't read a manual on it yet. So take with some sodium. :) Any XML users care to comment? -=Will _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Megan C. Robertson [mcrobertson@phoenix.co.uk] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 12:42 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) Greetings dear hearts. Well - if the powers-that-be at Biohazard would like a CD-ROM version of BLUE PLANET I would be willing to talk about doing it for them (webheadery, particularly content and knowledge management just happens to be my trade!). However, unless they are interested, it won't be available to anyone else however much they can prove that they possess the books! I know about the dreadful AD&D Core Rules - I had already done my own version and so avoided them. The 3ed. D&D html version is growing nicely on my system.... Hugs and kisses, Mexal. *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Troy Gustavel [troy_nevermore@yahoo.com] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 2:04 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) --- Alan Broad wrote: > Gotta watch that one - done badly (Anyone remember the AD&D Core > Rules CD? Actually, I found the core rules CD very useful, I just ignored their interface and loaded the books alone as a windows help file ===== Troy Gustavel 5825 Bolender Rd. Akron, OH 44319 (330)882 5468 Troy_Nevermore@Yahoo.com "Once upon a midnight dreary..." __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Auctions - buy the things you want at great prices http://auctions.yahoo.com/ *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Gareth Hanrahan [hanrahag@iol.ie] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 2:45 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs > As was mentioned a few months ago, I am working on a character generation > program (for Windows) for BP. It is currently in testing and will be done > by the end of June. One of the things that I want to do is have an option to > output characters in a "NPC format" so that GM can easily create a variety of > stock NPCs for their games. So the questions are : What information should be > on an NPC sheet? And what should the format be like? Mind you that > equipment, other than biomods, will have to be added in by hand (until > version 2.0 of the program) but space can be left for it. Ideally, I'd like the ability to print a full character sheet, a compressed NPC sheet, and a combat sheet which just lists stats relevant to, well, combat. Somethiing to keep track of the dozen thugs guarding the research facility... > Mike Z Gar http://www.mytholder.f2s.com *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: David R. Crowell [gpfarm-dave@northnet.org] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 4:56 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs And no more ChIPs for your character until it's finished! Actually this project has exposed some flaws in the intersettlement distance chart nad caused me to look at the maps a lot more closely than I other wise would have. Now if we could just get some navigational charts with depth soundings, channels etc marked on them.... ----- Original Message ----- From: To: Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:56 AM Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs > **** > << Blast you Mike! Every time I start working on something, I find out > you already have or are working on the same thing There go my chances to get my 'name in lights' ;) Hehe. Looking towards your new tools! >> > > Well, I still need a format for the NPCs..... > ** > Yeah, but that's not something that interests me so much at the present time ;) However, I am working on a program (well, script, using REBOL) that takes the intersettlement distances chart (I think it's from v1 Access Denied?) and finds a route from Point A to Point B. It's mostly complete, except for a little hangup I've got, so don't be anticipating it too hard yet ;) > > --Charles > > -------------------------------------------------------------------- > Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at > http://www.mail2web.com/ . > > *************************************************************************** > To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com > with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: David R. Crowell [gpfarm-dave@northnet.org] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 4:53 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience ----- Original Message ----- From: Heivilin, Jim > > > Ah, but that's not what I've seen (or rather I should say that's not what we > do). We spend our points on skills we've used during the previous sessions. > In general we get between 6 and 12 points for an "adventure" (which usually > consists of between three and five or six sessions). So if you want to > increase an attribute (IIRC 25 ChIPs) you need to save. And since it costs > the next level in points to increase, you'll probably only increase two or > three skills a couple of points. Oh dear I have been far to generous with my players....right Charles? ;) > > > That's sort of what we do. We now (a recent idea) put 'tick marks' next to > the skills we use (especially when we get a particularly good or bad roll) > so we can remember which ones we can realistically spend our ChIPs on. But > that's just our groups and not an official rule in any way. I think I'll implement this one, I like it! > > > I'd even do away with 'points for Role-Playing' > > > As a player these points encourage me to play my character and remain in > character more during the game (rather than go off on tangents about movies > I saw last week or adventures we had or other games). I like them and I try > to behave like my characters would so I can get a few more of these. > Fortunately Jeff only gives them out when we do *particularly* well. As a former White Wolf Player I found, like Jim, that "Playing in Character" points definitely helped keep me focused on my character and not on chit chat and beer. Especially since our GM only awarded them to the best roleplayer of the session. I also liked what we came to call "Learning Curve" points, this was a point awarded if you could articulate something your character learned during the session. It had to be something significant to the character, not "combat hurts" unless this was a new concept to your character, say a bully who just got his very first whuppin' ever. Often these points came from learning about and interacting with the world, so they too promoted better roleplaying. > > All of the above is my perspective as a player (in Jeff's games) and not any > sort of official response. > > Jim > *************************************************************************** > To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com > with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. > > *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:01 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) **** Awhile ago (several years at this point) I had tried to sell Jeff on this idea. ** I was afraid of a post that'd start this way... ;) **** The major problem is that the format the files exist in to be published is nothing like html format. I know Jeff used Adobe Illustrator to do the page layout although I don't know if Greg is still using that format for the new books. ** There MIGHT be converters out there - but considering it's Adobe, chances are slim :/ **** And while it is possible to convert adobe files into pdfs with several intermediate steps, making them searchable, multi-indexing and cross referencing would (in my uneducated guess) be a *major* project. My guess is you guys would rather have new books. ** Heh, true. Still, if one were so inclined, one could enter all of this data in manually (or through OCR) and do the hyperlinking manually. Doable, but long and painful. Do you know how long it took me to enter the intersettlement distances chart? a 36x36 square, each intersection being 4 digits each. I'll let someone else proof it for accuracy ;) Anyways, someone with practically unlimited free time and endless boredom (*looks around for someone else to fit the bill besides self*) could perhaps do this. My major problem is typing out of books; turning pages, holding the book flat, etc. Otherwise, it'd be a breeze for me. *shrugs* Hire me to transcribe your books into HTML? heh. -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:09 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: RE: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs **** It occurs to me that someone _could_ do this in something simple, like Javascript, and make it very platform independant. (Granted, java would be 'better', but javascript is light) ** True, but you also have to consider what's required to execute such languages, such as additional software etc. The 'language' I toy with the most is more of an interpreted scripting language called REBOL, which means it doesn't get compiled, so you need to download the interpreter to run it. Course, the interpreter is only about 230KB or so, and it's built for *X, Windows, Be, Mac, even Amiga. But I enjoy using it. I know it's not very popular or well-known quite yet, but it has a pretty decent way of doing GUI in teensy bits of code. And besides, most of my projects are meant for my personal use anyways, and to help teach me how to better use REBOL, so perhaps I can enter in a professional field with it some day ;) Ultimately, I'd likely write my material for conversion to CGI interface (which is usually WAY easy with REBOL) and do it there - no software but the browser, and it's light to use, and can even make use of text browsers ;) Heh. --Charls -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:14 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: OT: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) **** I have a BS in Math, but I took a bucket load of computer courses in college. ** That's pretty nifty :) **** I am a Software Engineer. I work on avionic equipment. I've worked on everything from attack helicopters to military cargo planes. I've done some work in the civilian area as well, but it is not as much fun to talk about. ** *dribble* Military apps. Coders' secret dreams... Impressive, I must say! **** I do stuff like character creators and web CGI as to keep my skills broad based. I find that learning new things is easier if you have a project to apply the new knowledge to. ** You usually can't read a programming text like you do a novel. Unless you're highly demented. Usually I learn by having a base concept to toy with, reading the basics, then looking at related samples to get some ideas. This is not always the best way to learn, but it works for some. **** I hope the index thing works. It took only a couple of hours to set up the scripts (I'm testing them now) and ** What language(s) do you use, btw? **** I can easily afford the books to give away. ** *emits jealousy* I need better income ;) -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:24 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs **** << However, I am working on a program (well, script, using REBOL) that takes the intersettlement distances chart (I think it's from v1 Access Denied?) and finds a route from Point A to Point B. It's mostly complete, except for a little hangup I've got, so don't be anticipating it too hard yet ;)>> Cool! Is it able to accept new locations? It would be great to start mapping various things like fuel deposts. ** *grins* Not yet. I'm having some problems with the way REBOL handles the scope of variables, so my stack of test routes is ... well, causes quick and nasty memory overflows. Fortunately it's only interpreted, so it doesn't do any harm to the overall system. At the current time, it runs off of a hard-coded data file. Two files, actually. One stores each location's name, population, affiliation (GEO, Native, GenDiver, etc) and 'zone' in the Archipelago, along with the data file containing the distances chart. The chart, in brief, looks something like this: 0000 8492 4230 8090 ... 8492 0000 7302 8391 ... 8301 7302 0000 8930 ... You *could* add new settlements, but you'd have to make a new entry at the bottom of the settlements list, and then add a new column and row at the end of the distances chart representing associated distances. All done manually. It references each location as a 1-based index element; it looks up the location in the settlements list, gets the index value, and uses that to access the distances chart. First for version 0.1.0.. then we can work on 0.2.0 ... ;) It *is* set up not to rely on just those specific data files - only the format. If one were to map another area of the planet, they could write new data files and change the variable at the beginning of the script to load the new data file. Again, this isn't compiled, so changing variables is a simple matter. *shrugs* My own utilitarian needs come first ;) Once I'm sufficiently pleased with its look and operation, I'll announce and post it. Except for the fact that it's currently text-based and menu-driven, I'd prefer to set it up for access through CGI. That'll require me learning about HTML forms. :/ -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:38 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Questions fro the GMs **** And no more ChIPs for your character until it's finished! ** That's something that's always confuzzled me from day 1 about BP - my nickname is 'Chip' :/ **** Actually this project has exposed some flaws in the intersettlement distance chart nad caused me to look at the maps a lot more closely than I other wise ** Of course, you also have to realize the amount of mutation created by turning a curved 3D surface into a flat 2D surface. While it looks nice, it really, REALLY can mess with your measurements if you've got (like I do) a compass set to the current map's scale of what your plane's max range is and are plotting routes via arcs of reach. On the whole map of the Pacifica Archipelago, the distance 'bug' gets worse as you leave the equator. Props to Mercator! :P **** would have. Now if we could just get some navigational charts with depth soundings, channels etc marked on them.... ** As I recall, the maps have .. what's the term... Isotherms, isobars... along that vein of thought.. anyways, curved lines representing change of depth and land elevation in rough approximations. Prevailing currents are also given. Speaking of, being not a meteorologist or cartographist(?), how can I tell between air currents and sea currents on the BP maps? -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: chalz@earthlink.net Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:43 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: RE: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience **** > the next level in points to increase, you'll probably only increase two or > three skills a couple of points. Oh dear I have been far to generous with my players....right Charles? ;) ** We're all still so new to BP that... um... Oh! Our 'spots' have yet to fade! Yeah ;) **** > that's just our groups and not an official rule in any way. I think I'll implement this one, I like it! ** Implement... what? I don't see anything..... **** points definitely helped keep me focused on my character and not on chit chat and beer. Especially since our GM only awarded them to the best roleplayer of the session. ** How about when you have a GM who spends the first 2hrs of a 4hr game talking solely about movies? :P **** I also liked what we came to call "Learning Curve" points, this was a point awarded if you could articulate something your character learned during the session. It had to be something significant to the character, not "combat ** How about remembering significant NPCs' names? Course, this only counts if the GM can remember their names, too... *cough* -C -------------------------------------------------------------------- Mail2Web - Check your email from the web at http://www.mail2web.com/ . *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: ChrisTheS [stormsurge@stormsurge.org] Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 10:58 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Experience > ** > How about remembering significant NPCs' names? Course, this only counts if the GM can remember their names, too... *cough* RE: My players can't even PRONOUNCE the names I give my NPCs... amazing, since they aren't really all that difficult (I mean, how hard can it be to pronounce 'Guri Annala'? I mean, honestly... after I already said it for them, too. :) -- ChrisTheS *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message. From: Ml10@aol.com Sent: Monday, April 23, 2001 11:22 PM To: blue_planet@lists.ient.com Subject: Re: OT: Re: [BLUE PLANET] - Indexes (was Experience) In a message dated 4/23/01 10:19:49 PM Central Daylight Time, chalz@earthlink.net writes: << **** I hope the index thing works. It took only a couple of hours to set up the scripts (I'm testing them now) and ** What language(s) do you use, btw? >> I am using PERL for the index project. For the character creator, I am using Ada. Mike Z *************************************************************************** To unsubscribe from this list send mail to majordomo@lists.ient.com with the line 'unsubscribe blue_planet' as the body of the message.