Castle Keeper Tool at AltoBanor.com

Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:23 am

Hello fellow C&C'ers!

I have uploaded a very simple site that allows you to run an e-version of the CKScreen from Traveller. It will one day grow up to be more but for now it is in the alpha stage.

There is a question that I have: The spell descriptions in SRD and the C&C Players handbook 2nd Printing are different. Can I use the spell description from the C&C 2nd edition Player handbook or should I use the SRD descriptions?

Thanks!!

Brian
http://www.Altobanor.com

{edit by Fiff: Stickied.}

P.S. If there is any problem let me know in this thread or email me.

PeelSeel2 · Post by **PeelSeel2** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 12:59 pm

Whoa! That is NICE!!
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Maliki · Post by **Maliki** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 1:09 pm

Sites off to a good start, it looks really cool.
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Omote · Post by **Omote** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 2:52 pm

Very nice, AB! I mean, very nice.

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Inkpot · Post by **Inkpot** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 3:54 pm

Very cool! Thanks for making this great program even MORE accessible to the masses!

Ink
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:27 pm

I can't tell from the OGL statement in the PH if the spells are still part of open content or not. For now the SRD is your safe bet.

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 5:31 pm

BTW, that set up is pretty darn cool! I hope the Trolls actually support you in doing this site. IT would be another cool way to make C&C stand out compared to others.

Make sure, if you get more done, to submit your site for the ENnies. Or wait until next year. A real neat tool for internet users.

irda ranger · Post by **irda ranger** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:16 pm

Looks great!

Where's the map on your site's header from?
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gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:36 pm

irda ranger wrote:
Looks great!

Where's the map on your site's header from?

That section of map is from an earlier design of Outremere (Erde) that Clayton Bunce did a few years ago. Same map which is used as the background design on the C&C books.
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phantos · Post by **phantos** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 6:59 pm

wow. that is really, really nice.

bravo.

Nifelhein · Post by **Nifelhein** » Mon Feb 12, 2007 10:40 pm

The descriptions as they are would probably not be OGC per see (the spell is, but the particular way of writing them might not be) but given that you are not making the book itself obsolete you are on the safe side.

But a response from the trolls before you post and they ask you to take out would be better, I know.
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Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:17 am

Thanks for the compliments!

The biggest problem with the spell description is not so much that I would rather put in the spells from the C&C PHB but that the first one I entered from the SRD was different from the PHB.

SRD:

Arcane Mark

Universal

Level: Sor/Wiz 0

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1 standard action

Range: 0 ft.

Effect: One personal rune or mark, all of which must fit within 1 sq. ft.

Duration: Permanent

Saving Throw: None

Spell Resistance: No

C&C PHB 2nd Printing

Arcane Mark

Level: Wiz/Illus 0

Components: V, S

Casting Time: 1

Range: Touch

Effect: A rune or mark which can be no taller than six inches and no

more than 6 characters

Duration: Permanent

Saving Throw: Charisma negates (h)

Spell Resistance: Yes

This is the first spell I entered.... see my dilemma....
Alto

Tadhg · Post by **Tadhg** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:26 am

Nice program, well done! 8)
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:26 am

Yes, and there are a lot of such differences throughout the PH. So Troll permission would be a good idea.

Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:44 am

Treebore wrote:
Yes, and there are a lot of such differences throughout the PH. So Troll permission would be a good idea.

I will be guided by you Treebore.... No sense in upsetting the Troll Gods!
Who should I contact?

Alto

gideon_thorne · Post by **gideon_thorne** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 1:50 am

Alto Banor wrote:
Who should I contact?

Alto

Steve Chenault.
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Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 6:28 am

gideon_thorne wrote:
Steve Chenault.

Who can be a pain to get hold of. PM me and I'll give you the e-mail he gave me. I don't know if it is different than what others have, I just know I haven't had problems getting him to respond others seem to have. Maybe its because my e-mails have always been about giving him money.

Actually, the best way to get hold of him is calling. If you have a calling plan that gives you "minutes" every month just get the number from the trolllord.com website and call. It wouldn't hurt to place an order for the new CK screen and the last couple of modules while your at it.

Troll Lord · Post by **Troll Lord** » Tue Feb 13, 2007 9:50 pm

I've replied to this PM.

Basically permission is granted so long as he meets a few legal requirements and puts links back to our various products. This type of support is always warmly welcomed by Davis, Peter and I and only helps to build toward teh family of gamers that is TLG. But we do have to balance that with revenue concerns and not give away the house so to speak. I think this is a nice compromise.

Steve
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Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:02 am

Thanks for replying so soon Steve! I will thankfully comply with the requirements so that I can move ahead.
One of the thoughts I had about the tool is that it can be made to only run from a website. That website can be anywhere. It also can be packaged to run stand alone on an Mac or PC. For the time being I would like to run it from a website so that I can have a tighter fist with version control.
I will continue with the addition of spells and move on from there.

Brian "Alto Banor" Caldwell

irda ranger · Post by **irda ranger** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 3:12 am

Alto Banor wrote:
It also can be packaged to run stand alone on an Mac or PC.

This would be great - especially if you had the text in text files that users could edit for house rule purposes. I have zero idea how flash works, so I don't know if that's possible.
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Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:02 am

irda ranger wrote:
This would be great - especially if you had the text in text files that users could edit for house rule purposes. I have zero idea how flash works, so I don't know if that's possible.

The best way would be to use XML files so a user could modify and add to them. This first version (when finished) will not have that functionality. It will definitely be in the next version (2.0).

Brian

irda ranger · Post by **irda ranger** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 5:09 am

Alto Banor wrote:
The best way would be to use XML files so a user could modify and add to them. This first version (when finished) will not have that functionality. It will definitely be in the next version (2.0).

Brian

Excellent! I await it (im)patiently.
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Zudrak · Post by **Zudrak** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:25 pm

Alto Banor wrote:
The best way would be to use XML files so a user could modify and add to them. This first version (when finished) will not have that functionality. It will definitely be in the next version (2.0).

Brian

Sometimes when I read computer-programmer/user speak, I swear I am reading Elvish.
Brian, that is one cool tool you've created. It reminds me of the e-tools for 3e D&D, except better. Nice work!

I'd love to see it available as a standalone. I'll be keeping an eye on this thread and your site.

Happy gaming,

Zudrak
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Metathiax · Post by **Metathiax** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:36 pm

Alto Banor, you are off to a great start with that CK e-tool of yours!
Your web page should be added to this forum's links thread and on CnCplayer's site.

Oh, btw, beautiful banner you've got there!
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magehammer · Post by **magehammer** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 1:41 pm

Awesome. Very cool. What program did you use to create your banner?
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irda ranger · Post by **irda ranger** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 2:37 pm

Zudrak wrote:
Sometimes when I read computer-programmer/user speak, I swear I am reading Elvish.
Zudrak

That's 'cause those programmer types are like the French - they speak their language in front of you while pretending them can't speak english.
j/k, j/k

An XML file is just a file you could open in any text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit). You can adjust values like "Cost_of_Chainmail=" so that the program would display the cost of chainmail in your campaign world, instead of the default cost in the PHB.

At least, I'm pretty sure it is. It's been almost 10 years since I've done any coding, so I pretty much missed the whole XML revolution.
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Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:44 pm

irda ranger wrote:
An XML file is just a file you could open in any text editor (like Notepad or TextEdit). You can adjust values like "Cost_of_Chainmail=" so that the program would display the cost of chainmail in your campaign world, instead of the default cost in the PHB.

At least, I'm pretty sure it is. It's been almost 10 years since I've done any coding, so I pretty much missed the whole XML revolution.

You are pretty much correct. XML is a lot like HTML ............. and I will leave it at that.
What I hope to be able to do is have a screen that will enable you to change such stuff from inside the program without any knowledge of XML. (At least that is the plan... )

Brian

Alto Banor · Post by **Alto Banor** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 7:57 pm

magehammer wrote:
Awesome. Very cool. What program did you use to create your banner?

Adobe Photoshop.

Take two images and place them on two seperate layers. The top layer will hide the bottom layer. Select the top layer and add a layer mask to it. In this case I used a gradient fill (Black to Alpha "0") to make the top layer fade out thus showing the bottom layer. (This is not a very detailed explaination without creating a "How To" lesson.) You can use another software package like Paintshop Pro, a much more affordable program.

Brian

Treebore · Post by **Treebore** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:01 pm

I have, use, and like Open Office, so XML should work fine for me as well.

Looking forward to seeing how this grows.

irda ranger · Post by **irda ranger** » Wed Feb 14, 2007 8:09 pm

Whoops, typo. I don't have my PHB in front of me, but I'm pretty sure a Tavern Meal, Common does not cost 15 gold pieces.
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