Gca

[Mgellis]

I've been very pleased with GCA. It does crash sometimes, but it also often saves whatever I was working on. It was slow until I got my new computer (i.e., it is a resource hog) but my new computer has whipped it into shape. :)

I do like GCS, too...not as many bells and whistles as GCA, but pretty impressive for freeware.

By the way, are there any data files yet for some of the new books like Low-Tech, Vorkosigan, Abydos, etc.? I've checked the "depositories" listed on the GCA forum, but maybe I'm just missing them somehow?

Mark

[ericbsmith]

Originally Posted by Mgellis

By the way, are there any data files yet for some of the new books like Low-Tech, Vorkosigan, Abydos, etc.? I've checked the "depositories" listed on the GCA forum, but maybe I'm just missing them somehow?

There's a couple different Armor varient files for Low-Tech at the GCA File Repository. Haven't touched Vorksogian (and does Abydos even have any character stuff to add? I only browsed that file quickly, since I had the old playtest file from years ago).

[RobKamm]

There are a couple of new spells, one proper template, and a couple of pseudo-templates for city guards and members of various orders. Those could be worked into proper templates without too much trouble, in skimming them it looks like there wouldn't be any choicelists or selects -- actually it might be a great first project for someone who wanted to "break into" writing .gdf files.

[ClayDowling]

Sadly, I wish there was a program with the features of both. I like the speed and stability of GCS, but GCA is a beautiful program which supports complex templates and generates really beautiful character sheets.

In my ideal world, GCA would be re-written in C++ with a cross-platform library (there's a single windows machine in my house, and not commonly used). But Armin has suggested he'd rather eat his own feet than work with C++.

[panton41]

Originally Posted by ClayDowling

In my ideal world, GCA would be re-written in C++ with a cross-platform library (there's a single windows machine in my house, and not commonly used). But Armin has suggested he'd rather eat his own feet than work with C++.

As I've said before, I'd go with VB.NET, build versus what Mono can support and get the best of both worlds. Mono and .NET are plenty fast (the XBox 360 runs games in it) and the learning curve from VB6 to VB.NET wouldn't be as steep.

For what it's worth it's hard to find a programmer who truly likes programming in C++, it's just what many of them use. It's a dog of a language that requires an anal retentive attention to detail to program well in.

[Randalthor66]

Originally Posted by lachimba

And the datafiles cover pretty much all the 4E books right? Including templates?

Is there a data file for BioTech? If so, where may I find it?

[Langy]

Originally Posted by lachimba

With the $AUS being worth more than the $US for the moment I was finally thinking of picking up GCA.

Is it particulary useful versus picking up another supplement?

I think I remember someone posting somehting along the lines 'that it made them make a lot more characters because they were so easy/quick to write up'

I'd say no. It runs way too slow to be significantly useful. It's quicker and easier to write up a character without using GCA at all. In my opinion, GCS is a better program - much, much much faster, easier to use, and free. GCA's more powerful, in that you can do more stuff with it, but it's also a lot more complicated and it suffers from too many lists o' stuff and it being too complicated to add new traits/modifiers/etc, which is super-easy in GCS (and even easier if you don't use a program at all).

[panton41]

Originally Posted by Langy

I'd say no. It runs way too slow to be significantly useful. It's quicker and easier to write up a character without using GCA at all. In my opinion, GCS is a better program - much, much much faster, easier to use, and free. GCA's more powerful, in that you can do more stuff with it, but it's also a lot more complicated and it suffers from too many lists o' stuff and it being too complicated to add new traits/modifiers/etc, which is super-easy in GCS (and even easier if you don't use a program at all).

Considering even on my netbook using GCA is faster than a pencil and paper I don't see how it can be "too slow to be significantly useful". And if you have even a halfway decent computer that problem effectively goes away.

What I've used of GCS I've seen little to no support in the form of data files, which alone is a nail in the coffin. Considering how many items have to cross reference each other (like (Dis)Advantages that affect Skills, modifiers that changes how the underlying (Dis)Advantage affects other traits) I don't see how it would be useful at all without that basic level of support. Some of the most basic, and popular, GURPS books simply don't have a GCS data file to support them.

Now I think the internals of GCA are overly complex and it needs to be rewritten into a language that was written in the past decade (VB6 is from the 1990s) but it's not useless. 99% of GCA's problems are squarely Visual Basic 6.

[lachimba]

Originally Posted by Randalthor66

Is there a data file for BioTech? If so, where may I find it?

It was included when I downloaded the update and patch.

[Randalthor66]

Originally Posted by lachimba

It was included when I downloaded the update and patch.

Well, mine doesn't have it and I just purchased it about a month ago. Where can I get the udate & patch?