Weaponsmith Archive
Thread: resorce evaluator for weapon schematics
Version 0.5.2 is now ready, still a lot of features on the wish list, still some issues to be resolved.
And if I ever get some time write up better usage documentation it would be great.
DL site has been change a bit, and can be accessed from home.online.no/~zirk
Now also including some screenies if you just want to check out what it looks like.
Enjoy.
the program looks like it works well zirk, too well actually. There are only 2 advantages a smith has over any other smith. 1 is his resources and 2 is his understanding of the schematics. A lot of people take the second one for grantit and often only ever focus on OQ of a resource when using it. This, ofcourse, is insane if your making any melee weapon. Your program is going to enable people who should fall victim to darwinism to produce good items providing he has the resources. This ofcourse is a compliment to the code writer even though its bad for the profession. I know that the first couple responses I get are going to be from those that think I am exxagerating the issue and that everyone is equally capable of understanding scematics, consider this:
About a week ago I got a message from a master weaponsmith that I recognized as having trained a few times. The name stuck with me because he never tipped for training despite the fact he was saving some 30k in training fees. Apparently he wasa "i'll use my rich fighter to finance a 2 week grind to master weaponsmith instead of doing it self-supporting" type grinders who ground straight to master before even looking at schematics. The message I got from him was
"Hey how do you get your scout blasters to have a max damage greater than 64?"
let me repeat that ---
"Hey how do you get your scout blasters to have a max damage greater than 64?"
Even with REALLY bad resources, experimentation should get you better than 64. I dont think he even understood that he had to be near a crafting station to get the experimentation options. This also means he has never read the crafting guides on the website. At the time I just replied that he needed to find the best resources called for by the schematic. It wasnt till later I realized he probably didnt know how to experiment - a concept even engineering3 should have understood.
So, I digress back to the topic, your program is top notch yet detrimental to those who actually RTFM'd how to be good at their profession. 
EEMAN wrote:Even with REALLY bad resources, experimentation should get you better than 64. I dont think he even understood that he had to be near a crafting station to get the experimentation options.
I completely agree with your belief that people who aren't interested in dedicating their time and energy to weaponsmithing shouldn't bother with the profession. If you're not about finding the best resources and specials, then do something else with your time.
But I need to point out two things:
1/ In order to craft a scout blaster, you have to be near a crafting station, so he must know about those.
2/ He was asking for information on how to get better, so there must be at least a LITTLE bit of the drive that you and I have got in him.
You can see it at http://www.biggs.dk/swg/swgcrafterstool.zip (just a beta) and I've been working on the for a while. I first start with an online version, but after I saw your program I think I better make it an offline version
The tool is a good idea, but the best weaponsmith is he who can make a gun by hand and know what to change instead of using the program
EEMAN wrote:
Your program is going to enable people who should fall victim to darwinism to produce good items providing he has the resources.
About a week ago I got a message from a master weaponsmith that I recognized as having trained a few times.
"Hey how do you get your scout blasters to have a max damage greater than 64?"
let me repeat that ---
"Hey how do you get your scout blasters to have a max damage greater than 64?"
So, I digress back to the topic, your program is top notch yet detrimental to those who actually RTFM'd how to be good at their profession.
Hehe, I've gotten a few of those also.
Let me offer some small consolation to you in the hope of restoring your faith in natural selection. As it turns out, all whom I've run into that fit this pattern are no longer WS's. If they're too lazyto read the manual, what makes you think they're reading these boards and DLing tools.
Moreover, if they're too lazy to do any of these things, what makes you think they are going to be checking spawns daily and doing the daily resource-collecting song and dance.
Have no fear. All will be well.
Looks like a really neat program! One huge request would be to add some sort of import option. I keep all my resource data in an Excel spreadsheet, and of course swgcraft.com has a resource database of their own. It would be great to be able to import this stuff, and not have to type it all in by hand.
Still, a neat program! Thanks for putting it together!
Hia all. Been a bussy weekend, so I dont get too much time with continuance. I made but one change, now you can resize the 'alternate resource' window. Should help out some (not on the DL page yet, though)
As for the import thing, it is something I have considered. Actually, I have about 20 neat ideas lined up, and I'l be very happy if I manage to implement a few of them at least. Amongst the priorities is a sort functionality for the alternate resources. And a few odd things I have noticed, small glitches here and there witch manifests itself every now and then.
Anyway
"Even with REALLY bad resources, experimentation should get you better than 64. I dont think he even understood that he had to be near a crafting station to get the experimentation options."
I agree that it does take some of the 'mystical aspects' out of the craft, for those who are not able to grasp the concept of smithing. But you still need some working knowlengde, and the application only crunches some numbers for you Besides, most people who would not have a clue would never read these boards or DL anyway. And its very,very handy for differencing between the 'factory run' schematics and that few special you make for real good friend using some of that last 200 special uberiron that went in in a bugged shift and lasted 5 hours and lying in the bottom of a bag in your bank.
Just for those last extra points.
Have a splendind week all