PA Bcalc ?
 

When will PA have its own integrated Bcalc ?
With links on Unit/Advanced unit scans auto-filling the defense or attack parts like: add this fleet to attack | add this fleet to defense

Can't PA team find an agreement with one of the current Bcalc if they don't have the time/resource to developp their own ?

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

That'd be nice, but PA team is less likely to have the time to code a battlecalc to the extent that outside sources do. Third party coders do a much better job because they've only got that to focus on, they have more funcationality and they're now pretty easy to copy/paste data into. The presentation, with various skins, makes them look nice too.

And they're kept updated.

Indeed, outsourcing the code to a third party who can then stuff it into the actual game would be nice, but there are legal issues and other reasons for it (if there was just the one in-game, then external sources wouldnt be used as much).

Perhaps.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Planetarion relies far too heavily on external tools to play the game. In the past it was fairly viable to just quickly calculate stuff in your head given the low number of ships with a single race, you knew that loads of a particular ship would be enough to kill a planet. These days we're dealing with multiple races, lots of init levels, ships with guns, energy resist, multiple targeting with different effectiveness for 2nd/3rd targets, ship stealing/suiciding, etc.

What if one of these external tools suddenly closed? Although we see lots of bcalc clones, I prefer to use Thrud's bcalc, same thing with Sandmans for searching. The number of competitors is dropping as well as the quality of them. Expecting users to rely on third party tools to use your own product is not a good idea in the long term.

I think Makhil's suggestions are what I expect a in decent Planetarion UI. If I've done a scan or just received a link to one, why can't I click a link for the game to bring up a battle calc with all my ships and my opponents ships added?


Whilst I entirely agree that it should be a standard part of the game, I highly recommend not adding it. Some of you might be thinking "why?".

Nearly everything PA Team touches turns to shit. They wouldn't bother implementing the full feature set, it would probably have an awkward to use UI and most people wouldn't use it. The efforts of random volunteers online is far superior than the efforts of PA Team.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

If it was all simple, people would get bored and not play it.

There are not many games out there, that dont have a strong community behind it, whether it be making tools/websites dedicated to making life easier.

I think Multi targetting (T1-T3) is still a good idea, I also liked the weaponspeed+agility of old.

I'm not sure if EMP resist is good or not, or whether its better to go for normal armor damage before its blocked.

I still think that bigger ships need to higher in price, to make them look special. But the days of fearing 200 BS seem to be behind us.

I also miss the 100 gun FI/CO killing BS :( but that just makes me an old fart.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

I agree completly with Greaper.
PA relies waaaay too much on external tools.

Would it not be easier if they just hosted the most frequently used tools (sandmans, thruds bcalc, ...) themself and possibly integrate them into the portal & ingame?
If I'm not mistaken aren't both sandmans & thruds source code availible?

2 links in a scan would be cool:
- Place fleet in calc.
- Place fleet + my own fleet in calc.

Imo something like this should have been done years ago.

Ask yourself what you think is most important:
- Making the game easier for newcomers by putting all the tools they need to play at their fingertips.

OR

- being able to change the location of the galaxy banner to Top, Bottom or none.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Interestingly enough newt informed me today that none of the current bcalcs are accurate.

<newt|afk> killing:
<newt|afk> http://bcalc.thrud.co.uk/index.php?loadfile=game38999a0
<newt|afk> http://bcalc.lch-hq.org/index.php?id...87841226801623
<newt|afk> http://bcalc.xvx-hq.net/?id=580213778
<newt|afk> http://beta.planetarion.com/show_news.pl?id=2 <-- agrees with lch's
<newt|afk> emping:
<newt|afk> http://bcalc.thrud.co.uk/index.php?loadfile=game80625a0
<newt|afk> http://bcalc.lch-hq.org/index.php?id...15671226843463
<newt|afk> xvx agrees with lch's for emp
<newt|afk> http://beta.planetarion.com/show_news.pl?id=3 <-- closest to thrud

(apologies for logs)

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Thruds hasn't been accurate for rounds.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

agreed

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Thread necromancy in action!

One thing I did suggest a while ago was a javascript bcalc, which might be an easier replacement than all the server side PHP versions. It would obviously use far fewer resources than typical bcalcs and could be hosted anywhere - possibly even by Planetarion itself.

The need for an official bcalc is shown rather badly here, people are using inaccurate bcalcs to analyse their attacks.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

How about making a front-end to the already existing and perfectly accurate bcalc that PA already has? Yes, you know, that wonderful piece of code that makes up part of the thing we call the ticker. It really shouldn't be that hard.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Probably the best suggestion I've seen in this forum ever.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

I assume there is a (stupid) reason somewhere, otherwise it could've been added years ago.

If it's just a case of CPU usage, restrict it to upgraded accounts. It's a case of a decent pay feature which doesn't modify the core game in any way.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Every time someone says "hey, lets make this really useful feature available to paid planets only", I die a little on the inside. Appocomaster has clearly and repeated stated that OMAC don't want there to be a necessity to pay to be able to do well.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

I doubt the CPU usage would be alot, the server can handle the ticker which most likely does alot more calculations in 2-3 minutes than random calc usage during the tick.
If it causes problems during the tick it can always be disabled while the universe is ticking.

I would make it free for everybody though.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

i doubt that they would come up with this one. too much change and work needs to be done.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Asides from the one that's already been implemented you mean?

Muppet.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

kenny that was pretty mean man :( :( :( he probably just didnt notice the new calc as it was just introduced this round.

its alright vincejebsen, im sure it was an honest mistake and i hope you have an awesome round :up:

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

tbh, even though I know its there, I still find myself using thruds or lch every time

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

I'm actually suprised to see people still using external bcalc. You cant get more accurate that a calc using the games own combat engine.

I still use sandmans for everything else, PA hasnt replaced enough of that yet.

PA still need to autocalc the bcalc when both sides have ships. Currently have to click calc even though you just add a fleet.

EDIT: Well just checked the bcalc and it seems its now doing the calc after adding the fleet, so joy to me :)

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

the 2 reasons I dont use the PA calc:

1) I cant copy/paste ships from the missions page, because when running 20 defcalls, its important to have every shortcut available.

2) I have to put in each type of asteroid individually. Sure I realize its more accurate, but in this case, id rather lose some accuracy for speed.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

1) already added
2) you can just put the total count into one of the roid fields

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

When trying to paste your asteroids from the overview; the PA calc doesn't put them in the asteroid field like other ones do. Would be pretty nice if you implemented that too.

Other than that, it's pretty great and I use it instead of the external ones.

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

it needs a proper salvage calculator, though i do like spending a minute to calc salvage manually..

Re: PA Bcalc ?
 

Ive been officially pwned...

ty Cincinnatus

:salute: