A Character keeps crashing GCA and other requests

[DreadDomain]

My main question here is what do I do if a character keeps crashing GCA (beyond starting it from scratch)?

A bit of context:

I have been building Iron Man with a mix of Ultra-Tech and Powers and things have been running quite smoothly (over many days). The character is about 95% complete, both the spring bandit sheets and the official sheets are setup and I am now thinking of tweaking further. I click on an ability (don't know which one) and GCA crashes.

I start it again, can open another character I have done, can create a new character but everytime I try to open Iron Man, it crashes. What do I need to do to save my work? I have taken a screenshot of the crash message.

Side questions:

1) Is there a variant/option to limit the per die bonus of some abilities? I believe an optional rule (I can't find in which book it was now) is to limit the +1 per die bonus at +7 and the +2 per die bonus at +14.
2) Is there a way to change swing damage to just being thr+2?

Cheers!

[Armin]

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

My main question here is what do I do if a character keeps crashing GCA (beyond starting it from scratch)?

A bit of context:

I have been building Iron Man with a mix of Ultra-Tech and Powers and things have been running quite smoothly (over many days). The character is about 95% complete, both the spring bandit sheets and the official sheets are setup and I am now thinking of tweaking further. I click on an ability (don't know which one) and GCA crashes.

I start it again, can open another character I have done, can create a new character but everytime I try to open Iron Man, it crashes. What do I need to do to save my work? I have taken a screenshot of the crash message.

Sounds like you may have entered some kind of data that's invalid but isn't trapped for yet and therefore crashes GCA. Or maybe there's bad data in a book file that got added to the character, and that now crashes things. Either way, that can be hard to figure out.

Email the character to me at gca5@misersoft.com and I will do my best to figure out what the problem is and get it back to you in working order. And maybe add a way to trap for the problem in GCA so it doesn't happen in the future.

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

Side questions:

1) Is there a variant/option to limit the per die bonus of some abilities? I believe an optional rule (I can't find in which book it was now) is to limit the +1 per die bonus at +7 and the +2 per die bonus at +14.
2) Is there a way to change swing damage to just being thr+2?

1) I'm not familiar with that, so no, there's no built in way. It might need to be built into the way they grant bonuses. For example, the way Weapon Master's damage bonus is constructed could include a maximum value of some kind, but doesn't.

2) You'd need to create a data file with the custom [BASICDAMAGE] rules. Someone may have done that already, but I don't seem to have a Variant file for it, so I'm not sure. (I should probably just make one and include it.)

[Armin]

Originally Posted by Armin

2) You'd need to create a data file with the custom [BASICDAMAGE] rules. Someone may have done that already, but I don't seem to have a Variant file for it, so I'm not sure. (I should probably just make one and include it.)

Question: I'm not sure I've ever read where the idea of this progression comes from. Does it continue to use Xd+1 = Yd-1 and Xd+2 = Yd? or does it eschew that to use Xd+1 = Yd+3 and Xd+2 = Yd+4?

If the first, how does this look?

[BASICDAMAGE]
*******************************************************************************************************\[START]
//   Starting this section will clear any existing 
//   basic damage items.
//  
//   You must list the following items in order, because
//   GCA will not sort them, but it does search through
//   them in order.
//  
//   st() is the score that Damage Base must be <= 
//   thr() is the basic thrust damage
//   sw() is the basic swing damage

st(1), thr(1d-6), sw(1d-4)
st(2), thr(1d-6), sw(1d-4)
st(3), thr(1d-5), sw(1d-3)
st(4), thr(1d-5), sw(1d-3)
st(5), thr(1d-4), sw(1d-2)

st(6), thr(1d-4), sw(1d-2)
st(7), thr(1d-3), sw(1d-1)
st(8), thr(1d-3), sw(1d-1)
st(9), thr(1d-2), sw(1d)
st(10), thr(1d-2), sw(1d)

st(11), thr(1d-1), sw(1d+1)
st(12), thr(1d-1), sw(1d+1)
st(13), thr(1d), sw(1d+2)
st(14), thr(1d), sw(1d+2)
st(15), thr(1d+1), sw(2d-1)

st(16), thr(1d+1), sw(2d-1)
st(17), thr(1d+2), sw(2d)
st(18), thr(1d+2), sw(2d)
st(19), thr(2d-1), sw(2d+1)
st(20), thr(2d-1), sw(2d+1)

st(21), thr(2d), sw(2d+2)
st(22), thr(2d), sw(2d+2)
st(23), thr(2d+1), sw(3d-1)
st(24), thr(2d+1), sw(3d-1)
st(25), thr(2d+2), sw(3d)

st(26), thr(2d+2), sw(3d)
st(27), thr(3d-1), sw(3d+1)
st(28), thr(3d-1), sw(3d+1)
st(29), thr(3d), sw(3d+2)
st(30), thr(3d), sw(3d+2)

st(31), thr(3d+1), sw(4d-1)
st(32), thr(3d+1), sw(4d-1)
st(33), thr(3d+2), sw(4d)
st(34), thr(3d+2), sw(4d)
st(35), thr(4d-1), sw(4d+1)

st(36), thr(4d-1), sw(4d+1)
st(37), thr(4d), sw(4d+2)
st(38), thr(4d), sw(4d+2)
st(39), thr(4d+1), sw(5d-1)

st(40), thr(4d+1), sw(5d-1)
st(45), thr(5d), sw(5d+2)
st(50), thr(5d+2), sw(6d)
st(55), thr(6d), sw(6d+2)
st(60), thr(7d-1), sw(7d+1)
st(65), thr(7d+1), sw(8d-1)
st(70), thr(8d), sw(8d+2)
st(75), thr(8d+2), sw(9d)
st(80), thr(9d), sw(9d+2)
st(85), thr(9d+2), sw(10d)
st(90), thr(10d), sw(10d+2)
st(95), thr(10d+2), sw(11d)

st(100), thr(11d), sw(11d+2)

//   The LAST item in the list is always the item that is to be used
//   for anything that didn't fall under the preceding items.

st(0), thr((@int(ST:Striking ST/10)+1)d), sw((@int(ST:Striking ST/10)+1)d+2)

//   you must use the extra set of parens to separate the math part
//   from the 'd' for the dice.

If that's right, I've now got a Variant file for it that I can include in future updates.

[DreadDomain]

Originally Posted by Armin

Question: I'm not sure I've ever read where the idea of this progression comes from. Does it continue to use Xd+1 = Yd-1 and Xd+2 = Yd? or does it eschew that to use Xd+1 = Yd+3 and Xd+2 = Yd+4?

If the first, how does this look?

[BASICDAMAGE]
*******************************************************************************************************\[START]
//   Starting this section will clear any existing 
//   basic damage items.
//  
//   You must list the following items in order, because
//   GCA will not sort them, but it does search through
//   them in order.
//  
//   st() is the score that Damage Base must be <= 
//   thr() is the basic thrust damage
//   sw() is the basic swing damage

st(1), thr(1d-6), sw(1d-4)
st(2), thr(1d-6), sw(1d-4)
st(3), thr(1d-5), sw(1d-3)
st(4), thr(1d-5), sw(1d-3)
st(5), thr(1d-4), sw(1d-2)

st(6), thr(1d-4), sw(1d-2)
st(7), thr(1d-3), sw(1d-1)
st(8), thr(1d-3), sw(1d-1)
st(9), thr(1d-2), sw(1d)
st(10), thr(1d-2), sw(1d)

st(11), thr(1d-1), sw(1d+1)
st(12), thr(1d-1), sw(1d+1)
st(13), thr(1d), sw(1d+2)
st(14), thr(1d), sw(1d+2)
st(15), thr(1d+1), sw(2d-1)

st(16), thr(1d+1), sw(2d-1)
st(17), thr(1d+2), sw(2d)
st(18), thr(1d+2), sw(2d)
st(19), thr(2d-1), sw(2d+1)
st(20), thr(2d-1), sw(2d+1)

st(21), thr(2d), sw(2d+2)
st(22), thr(2d), sw(2d+2)
st(23), thr(2d+1), sw(3d-1)
st(24), thr(2d+1), sw(3d-1)
st(25), thr(2d+2), sw(3d)

st(26), thr(2d+2), sw(3d)
st(27), thr(3d-1), sw(3d+1)
st(28), thr(3d-1), sw(3d+1)
st(29), thr(3d), sw(3d+2)
st(30), thr(3d), sw(3d+2)

st(31), thr(3d+1), sw(4d-1)
st(32), thr(3d+1), sw(4d-1)
st(33), thr(3d+2), sw(4d)
st(34), thr(3d+2), sw(4d)
st(35), thr(4d-1), sw(4d+1)

st(36), thr(4d-1), sw(4d+1)
st(37), thr(4d), sw(4d+2)
st(38), thr(4d), sw(4d+2)
st(39), thr(4d+1), sw(5d-1)

st(40), thr(4d+1), sw(5d-1)
st(45), thr(5d), sw(5d+2)
st(50), thr(5d+2), sw(6d)
st(55), thr(6d), sw(6d+2)
st(60), thr(7d-1), sw(7d+1)
st(65), thr(7d+1), sw(8d-1)
st(70), thr(8d), sw(8d+2)
st(75), thr(8d+2), sw(9d)
st(80), thr(9d), sw(9d+2)
st(85), thr(9d+2), sw(10d)
st(90), thr(10d), sw(10d+2)
st(95), thr(10d+2), sw(11d)

st(100), thr(11d), sw(11d+2)

//   The LAST item in the list is always the item that is to be used
//   for anything that didn't fall under the preceding items.

st(0), thr((@int(ST:Striking ST/10)+1)d), sw((@int(ST:Striking ST/10)+1)d+2)

//   you must use the extra set of parens to separate the math part
//   from the 'd' for the dice.

If that's right, I've now got a Variant file for it that I can include in future updates.

The variant appeared in the "Knowing your own Strength" rule in Pyramid 3/83. The table is on page 17. Your code above seems to be spot on. Thank you very much

It brings two more questions.

1) Would it be possible to fill the gaps in the damage table (not only this one but the standard one as well). The progression in GCA strictly follows the damage table in the Basic Set (damage increase every +1 ST up to 40, then every +5 ST up to 100, then every +10 ST). Rightly or wrongly, I always inferred that the table was a short hand but the progression was continuous and therefore ST 63 would provide thr 7d, Sw 9d+1. I think (I could be wrong) it should be the base case and not a variant. Otherwise, I guess I could create a data file for it based on your example above.

2) Looking at your code above, it made realize I could create a variant to follow the KYOS damage table but I am wondering how to create a variant to change the Basic Lift progression.

[Armin]

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

1) Would it be possible to fill the gaps in the damage table (not only this one but the standard one as well). The progression in GCA strictly follows the damage table in the Basic Set (damage increase every +1 ST up to 40, then every +5 ST up to 100, then every +10 ST). Rightly or wrongly, I always inferred that the table was a short hand but the progression was continuous and therefore ST 63 would provide thr 7d, Sw 9d+1. I think (I could be wrong) it should be the base case and not a variant. Otherwise, I guess I could create a data file for it based on your example above.

I try to recreate what's actually RAW as best I can. If it doesn't say it, I try not to assume anything other than what's there.

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

The variant appeared in the "Knowing your own Strength" rule in Pyramid 3/83. The table is on page 17. Your code above seems to be spot on. Thank you very much

2) Looking at your code above, it made realize I could create a variant to follow the KYOS damage table but I am wondering how to create a variant to change the Basic Lift progression.

Well, shucks, KYOS is 3/38? I don't have that issue, but I have helped tons of folks with KYOS over the years, and I kept thinking that nobody ever sent me a file back to include! But I was just poking around in my folders, and found *two* possibilities, one of which even references Pyramid 3/83.

They seem to have similar damage tables to start with, but the two files aren't the same over all. So I'm not sure that I can actually include either one with GCA until I have a better idea of which of them is correct, or which parts of each are needed to make a correct whole.

I'll paste them in following messages, for folks to peep.

[Armin]

Variant - Revised Strength Table.GDF:

Version=3
* The version information above MUST be the first line of the data file
Description=User created data file containing custom traits saved from within GCA.
Program=4.0.320
Incomplete=Yes
Requires="GURPS Basic Set 4th Ed.--Characters.gdf"
LoadAfter="GURPS Basic Set 4th Ed.--Characters.gdf"

[AUTHOR]
************************************************************************************************************************
*
* GURPS(R) Character Assistant Data File
* Created: 21-09-2015
* Requires GCA v4 or later!
* Created by Pierre Waldfried
* This data file contains information taken from Pyramid 3 #83 Alternate GURPS IV
*
************************************************************************************************************************

************************************************************************************************************************
[BASICDAMAGE]
************************************************************************************************************************

* Starting this section will clear any existing 
* basic damage items.
*
* You must list the following items in order, because
* GCA will not sort them, but it does search through
* them in order.
*
* st() is the score that Damage Base must be <= 
* thr() is the basic thrust damage
* sw() is the basic swing damage

st(1), thr(1d-11), sw(1d-9)
st(2), thr(1d-10), sw(1d-8)
st(3), thr(1d-9), sw(1d-7)
st(4), thr(1d-8), sw(1d-6)
st(5), thr(1d-7), sw(1d-5)

st(6), thr(1d-6), sw(1d-4)
st(7), thr(1d-5), sw(1d-3)
st(8), thr(1d-4), sw(1d-2)
st(9), thr(1d-3), sw(1d-1)
st(10), thr(1d-2), sw(1d)

st(11), thr(1d-1), sw(1d+1)
st(12), thr(1d), sw(1d+2)
st(13), thr(1d+1), sw(2d-1)
st(14), thr(1d+2), sw(2d)
st(15), thr(2d-1), sw(2d+1)

st(16), thr(2d), sw(2d+2)
st(17), thr(2d+1), sw(3d-1)
st(18), thr(2d+2), sw(3d)
st(19), thr(3d-1), sw(3d+1)
st(20), thr(3d), sw(3d+2)

st(21), thr(3d+1), sw(4d-1)
st(22), thr(3d+2), sw(4d)
st(23), thr(4d-1), sw(4d+1)
st(24), thr(4d), sw(4d+2)
st(25), thr(4d+1), sw(5d-1)

st(26), thr(4d+2), sw(5d)
st(27), thr(5d-1), sw(5d+1)
st(28), thr(5d-1), sw(5d+1)
st(29), thr(5d), sw(5d+2)
st(30), thr(5d), sw(5d+2)

st(31), thr(5d+1), sw(6d-1)
st(32), thr(5d+1), sw(6d-1)
st(33), thr(5d+2), sw(6d)
st(34), thr(5d+2), sw(6d)
st(35), thr(6d-1), sw(6d+1)

st(36), thr(6d-1), sw(6d+1)
st(37), thr(6d), sw(6d+2)
st(38), thr(6d), sw(6d+2)
st(39), thr(6d+1), sw(7d-1)

st(40), thr(6d+1), sw(7d-1)
st(45), thr(7d-1), sw(7d+1)
st(50), thr(7d+2), sw(8d-1)
st(55), thr(8d-1), sw(8d+1)
st(60), thr(8d+2), sw(9d)
st(65), thr(9d), sw(9d+2)
st(70), thr(9d+2), sw(10d)
st(75), thr(10d), sw(10d+2)
st(80), thr(10d+2), sw(11d)
st(85), thr(11d), sw(11d+2)
st(90), thr(11d+2), sw(12d)
st(95), thr(12d), sw(12d+2)

st(100), thr(12d+2), sw(13d)

* The LAST item in the list is always the item that is to be used
* for anything that didn't fall under the preceding items.

st(0), thr((@int("ST:Striking ST"/10)+2)d+2), sw((@int("ST:Striking ST"/10)+3)d)

* you must use the extra set of parens to separate the math part
* from the 'd' for the dice.

[ATTRIBUTES]
* Basic Attributes
************************************************************************************************************************
#Delete "ST:ST"

ST, symbol(ST), basevalue(10), step(1), maxscore(1000000), minscore(0 - me::syslevels), 
	up(10), down(-10), mainwin(1), mods(), 
	disadat(-1), display(no)


* Secondary Characteristics
************************************************************************************************************************
#Delete "ST:Basic Lift"
#Delete "ST:Hit Points"
#Delete "ST:Striking ST"
#Delete "ST:Lifting ST"

Basic Lift, basevalue(@int(@if(ST:Metric = 1 THEN 1 ELSE 2))* @power(10 , ST:Lifting ST/10)), maxscore(1000000), minscore(0), symbol(BL), round(@if(ST:Lifting ST::score <= 7 then 0 else 1))
Hit Points, basevalue(ST:ST), step(1), maxscore(1000000), minscore(0 - me::syslevels), 
	up(2), down(-2), symbol(HP), mods(), mainwin(5),
	display(no), disadat(-1)
Striking ST, basevalue(ST:ST), step(1), maxscore(1000000), minscore(ST:ST), up(1), down(0), round(-1), display(No)
Lifting ST, basevalue(ST:ST), step(1), maxscore(1000000), minscore(ST:ST), up(7), down(0), round(-1), display(No)

[ADVANTAGES]
************************************************************************************************************************
#Delete "AD:Striking ST"
#Delete "AD:Lifting ST"

Striking ST, 1/2, gives(+1 to ST:Striking ST), mods(Striking ST), page(B89), cat(Exotic, Physical), conditional(+1 to ST:ST)
Lifting ST, 7/14, gives(+1 to ST:Lifting ST), conditional(+1 to ST:ST), mods(Lifting ST), page(B65), cat(Exotic, Physical)

[DreadDomain]

Originally Posted by Armin

I try to recreate what's actually RAW as best I can. If it doesn't say it, I try not to assume anything other than what's there.

Quite sensible and probably safer for sanity.

By the way, thanks for sending me back the character. It works now. Funnily enough Damage Resistance is something I wanted to rework anyway. As you may have guessed, by putting advantages in equipment and assigning them a $ and weight value, I was recreating the results of the Metatronics Generator.

I'll make sure not to include DR in a parent trait that is an equipment!

[DreadDomain]

Originally Posted by Armin

Sounds like you may have entered some kind of data that's invalid but isn't trapped for yet and therefore crashes GCA. Or maybe there's bad data in a book file that got added to the character, and that now crashes things. Either way, that can be hard to figure out.

Email the character to me at gca5@misersoft.com and I will do my best to figure out what the problem is and get it back to you in working order. And maybe add a way to trap for the problem in GCA so it doesn't happen in the future.

Thanks, I sent the file.

Originally Posted by Armin

1) I'm not familiar with that, so no, there's no built in way. It might need to be built into the way they grant bonuses. For example, the way Weapon Master's damage bonus is constructed could include a maximum value of some kind, but doesn't.

I finally found where it comes from. Pyramid 3/34 p.24 Extreme Damage.

"... the per-die damage bonuses for Brawling (+1/die) and Karate [and Boxing] (+2/die) can be overpowering. To mitigate this, consider capping them at +7 for Brawling or +14 for Karate [and Boxing]."

While I am not using extreme damage, I find this useful in a super game to call +1/die and +2/die bonuses at +7 and +14.

[Armin]

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

Thanks, I sent the file.

I found the problem in GCA, and sent back the character with Damage Resistance excised, and instructions on how to avoid the crashiness until the next version of GCA gets released.

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

I finally found where it comes from. Pyramid 3/34 p.24 Extreme Damage.

"... the per-die damage bonuses for Brawling (+1/die) and Karate [and Boxing] (+2/die) can be overpowering. To mitigate this, consider capping them at +7 for Brawling or +14 for Karate [and Boxing]."

While I am not using extreme damage, I find this useful in a super game to call +1/die and +2/die bonuses at +7 and +14.

Let me add it to my To Do list, and give it some thought. I may be able to implement a setting to turn that kind of capping on and off.

If you want to know how to cap it on existing traits right now, give me an example trait and the file it's in, and I'll show you what has to be done to implement a limit on it in the data itself. Basically it's probably just going to be wrapping an @max() function around the current function returning the dice to count.

[Armin]

Originally Posted by DreadDomain

I finally found where it comes from. Pyramid 3/34 p.24 Extreme Damage.

"... the per-die damage bonuses for Brawling (+1/die) and Karate [and Boxing] (+2/die) can be overpowering. To mitigate this, consider capping them at +7 for Brawling or +14 for Karate [and Boxing]."

While I am not using extreme damage, I find this useful in a super game to call +1/die and +2/die bonuses at +7 and +14.

I just hunted down this thread to say that I've added an option for this, kind of. What I did is include an option to cap the dice value returned from the functions that return base dice, with a default cap of 7 (but you can set it yourself). Since the Brawling, Boxing, and Karate bonuses all use that function, this effectively allows for that. However, it would also affect Weapon Master bonuses or anything else that uses those functions.

Anyway, it'll be available when the next release comes out.