Re: Progress update.

["Robert J. Hansen" <rjhansen@xxxxxxxx>]

First--are the numbers I'm getting from the back-end accurate?  Is anyone 
checking these?

> I can't remember, but isn't TL26 the instant death,
> not TL25? Prolly wrong though!

Yeah, anything past TL 25 is Deadville.  TL 25 is not necessarily dead, but 
everybody who's dead gets all their TLs set to 25.

There are two ways the program signals death--the boolean isDead() (and its 
brother, isAlive() ).  

But if you're not paying attention to the deadflag, the calculator sets all 
your TLs for every region of your body to 25, as its way of giving a 
pointed reminder that you're no longer among the living.

> Anyway. GREAT work. This is possibly the most useful
> toll I've ever seen. You can plug in mass factor, yes?

Actually, it's done for you automagically.  :)

===== (Sidebar) 

The character generator has several stock NPCs built-in -- if you're 
interested in their stats, I took them straight from the ME rulebook. 

Using the damage calculator is a five-step process.

a.  Create a new character.  (This takes about 30 seconds for a PC; about 
two seconds for a stock NPC.)

b.  Select the proper body region using a little spinbox

c.  Select the proper TL using a little spinbox

d.  Select the proper damage type using a combobox

e.  Click "Apply" and see the damage readout update itself.

The UI mock-up I'm working on right now is pretty quick.  Step (a) takes 
about 30 seconds for a PC, about two seconds for an NPC.  (b) takes no 
more than three or four seconds, likewise with (c) and (d).  Figure 
fifteen seconds, max, from the time you start it up to the time you've got 
your first gunshot, stab, whatever, applied.  Successive attacks will take 
even less time, since you only need to do Step A once.

===== (End sidebar)

You never need to enter mass factor.  Never, never, never.  The way I see 
it, mass factor can easily be calculated from information the damage 
calculator already has--so why should I force you to re-enter it?  The 
less numbers you have to enter, the quicker and more convenient it'll be.

Isn't 10-15 seconds to calculate damage sweet when compared with 10 
minutes?  :)

> Any chance of an optional 'damage randomiser' option
> (I'd sujest +1-6 and then minus 1-6 to give a good
> spread, but open to sugestions).

Not in the back-end, no.  I want to keep the back-end as faithful to the ME 
rules as possible, so that anyone who wants to use it can do so without 
needing to worry about my own special house rules.

The damage randomizer can be introduced in the front-end easily, though.  
When you click "Apply", it would just add a fudge factor the TL you 
entered before passing it on to the back-end for processing.

I think a d2 spread on either side is better, by the by.  A .40 S&W is 
what, TL 18?  Let's say you roll a six; suddenly that becomes a TL 24 
injury, which is plenty enough to sever your thigh even after the 0.8 
trauma multiple is taken into account.  Giving a range of 16-20 for a .40 
S&W seems a little better than a 12-24 range.

Although, honestly, the randomizer I'm most in favor of is a 50/50 chance 
for upper torso shots of striking a rib, providing you with five points of 
incidental armor.  

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