iPad/iOS GURPS Character Sheet releasing soon - request for weird test characters !!

[_Civ_]

If you haven't already, you should see if they will give you a licence for a percentage of the sales. That way there is no upfront cost to you, and they get to make money for doing nothing.

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed to see them putting the chill on community development unless they have a damn good reason.

[Graham]

Originally Posted by _Civ_

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed to see them putting the chill on community development unless they have a damn good reason.

I'm sure there's an excellent reason. These things happen sometimes, and it's a pain but you just have to move on.

The same thing happened to me back in 2003 when I created a fully interactive character sheet for GURPS for what was then a very popular Virtual Tabletop (GRiP). At the time there was still much thought about GURPS Online, and although my sheet contained no copyright rules text, it did have macros to calculate skill rolls and damage, so I drifted into that territory. When I checked whether it was OK to release it, I had it turned down.

That was about 6 months of spare time work and testing. But hey, it was fun, and I got to use it with my own group.

Now, I look round and others have done things as complex with other VTs but SJG focus has moved away from GURPS Online and things are more relaxed.

SJG regularly go out of their way to accommodate fans of their products, and with all the evidence of their general goodwill I'm happy to believe that when things like this happen there's an excellent reason (which may have to remain undisclosed) and there's been thoughtful discussion behind the scenes.

Graham

[Onkl]

Originally Posted by _Civ_

I have to say I'm pretty disappointed to see them putting the chill on community development unless they have a damn good reason.

I second that. I can understand that SJG wants to closely watch what happens to their intellectual property. I would really love to hear some official statement though how releasing this app would be detrimental to the development of GURPS?

After all, there are a lot of GURPS PDFs and to read them on a tablet seems natural.

[Dan_McCurdy]

Originally Posted by Onkl

After all, there are a lot of GURPS PDFs and to read them on a tablet seems natural.

Pretty much exactly what I originally thought when making the app, but unfortunately no, there is a destination between platforms. I really don't want to go into the discussions I had with Steve, since I doubt he would want them aired in a public forum, but I feel that from my end I've exhausted all of my options.

Thanks for the support - its good to know that there was support for the app in some form, hopefully it will encourage an official app.

I really wish I could open-source (Sourceforge) what I have already done, but I imagine that would be against copyright also and end up with me in hot water - to be honest I don't know enough about copyright etc...and really don't want to cause any issue with SJG, since they clearly have good reasons for their decision. If they supported open sourcing it I would. Heck I'd probably even consider giving it to SJG to continue with if they really wanted it.

At the end of the day their online policy does state "if you think we wouldn't like it, don't do it", which is pretty clear to me ;-)

Cheers, Dan

[Dan_McCurdy]

@Graham - pretty much the same deal - so that really good to hear. Mine doesn't do any calculations at all yet but I'm guessing parsing the XML is still considered a no-no. Still, good to know that there's definitely precedence and my case isn't isolated - make me slightly less deflated :-)

One feature it has which I imagine would have caused problems was automatic PDF page lookup for any trait or modifier, assuming the user owned the pyramid PDFs and uploaded them to the app. That was heading in a very grey area, (although it's still just a very fancy PDF reader), so I suspect it was good it was shutdown before it hit the AppStore to be honest.

But it's awesome in game with really complicated abilities!!! "Why yes, I CAN tell you the exact wording of that power off the top of my head!"

Dan

[johndallman]

One reason why iOS may be ticklish: Apple's guidelines for what they'll accept in the App Store require documentation that you have rights for any third party material used in an app. That might well involve SJG in work to produce said documentation.

[Phantasm]

If you're still looking for weird characters in order to stress-test this app, feel free to plunge headlong into my Marvel Reboot thread. Particular entries that might stress it (and can use a little cleaning up to boot): Ancient One, Abomination, Hulk, Doctor Strange, Bainsidhe, Beetle, Black Queen, Black King (using an RPK house rule!), Scarlet Witch, and Loki.

[Wraithe]

Originally Posted by Dan_McCurdy

Hi all
On a sad note - I've just been told by Steve Jackson that I am not allowed to release this app - they will soon be changing their policy to make it so that mobile apps can't be produced. I respect this decision, as it is their right as a copyright holder.

I'm curious what's meant by "mobile apps can't be produced".

That's pretty much impossible, barring completely banning third-party apps. I mean, a MacBook Air is about the same size as an iPad, just with a keyboard. The OS is in some fundamental ways, the same. Or making a GURPS app that's web-based and using HTML 5, it can be run "like an app" on iOS.

So, that kind of puzzles me, and I would hate to think that SJG is going to crack down on third party apps, since there is a third-party app for my OS of choice, but GCA doesnt work on it.

Did they give you any kind of a timeframe when they were going to be making this change of policy clear?

[Dan_McCurdy]

Originally Posted by Wraithe

I'm curious what's meant by "mobile apps can't be produced". That's pretty much impossible, barring completely banning third-party apps. I mean, a MacBook Air is about the same size as an iPad, just with a keyboard.

That was pretty much exactly how I saw it - a phone or tablet is a computer (they seem to be accepted to be computers legally pretty much everywhere now, with regards to laws affecting computer information).

And the Online Policy currently SPECIFICALLY encourages it, rather than prevents it :

"[Can I] Create a character generator or other game aid?
Yes, as long as you include the appropriate notices. We want to ENCOURAGE our fans to create these programs, share them with the community, and have fun doing it."

But really, if SJG decides they don't want one specific app to be produced, on one specific platform, it's really not worth the hassle of producing it, and also totally against my own feelings about copyright (I firmly believe copyright holders SHOULD have legal protections for their works and how they are used). So I would never want to irritate SJG more than I already have...

But certainly the online policy could do with some work to avoid others making the same app as mine, releasing it, and then regretting it when they get it taken down.

Dan

[Onkl]

Originally Posted by Dan_McCurdy

One feature it has which I imagine would have caused problems was automatic PDF page lookup for any trait or modifier, assuming the user owned the pyramid PDFs and uploaded them to the app. That was heading in a very grey area, (although it's still just a very fancy PDF reader), so I suspect it was good it was shutdown before it hit the AppStore to be honest.

*cry* this makes it even more awesome!

I'm so disappointed by what I have read... I just don't get what would be sooooo bad about having a Character Viewer for iOS?