Skills (v 0.9.1): A skill and attribute calculator.

Copyright (c) 2003 by David A. Down (Merlyn of Harvestion), 2/23/2003.

Contributions: I am currently unemployed. If you find Skills useful, I would greatly appreciate any donations to help me keep improving Skills. The easiest way is with to dadown@cox.net, thanks.

Copying code: If you use code from my program, please give me credit for it in the comments.

Features of Skills:

• Displays the cost of advancing attributes and skills.
• Shows what skills will benefit from advancing an attribute and by how much.
• Shows what attributes contribute to a skill and the relative cost.
• Analyses attributes for xp savings by attribute point transfer.

How to use Skills:

Setup:

Skills uses commands in JScript version 5.5 (comes with MS IE 5.5) and will get a compile error if you try to use it with an earlier version. It also needs the Decal plugin Skunkworks, version 2.0 or later.

 

Put the Skills files in the library folder under the folder where Skunkworks is installed. There is no need to preconfigure anything as Skills will dynamicly read you skills and attributes.

 

Starting:

Log on your character and then start Skills from the Skunkworks script menu window. Skills will build a list of your current skills and create a drop-down menu where you can select the skill to examine.

Running:

Skills will run as long as your current character is signed on. If your current character signs off, Skills will automatically quit and need to be restarted after you have logged in again. You can also stop Skills by pressing the Quit button.

 

Most commands to Skills can be given just by clicking on the desired comand button or making menu selection. Some comands can only be given as typed text, either in the Skunkworks command window or in the AC chat window (preceeded by '/sw ').

Text Commands to Skills:

check

Check attributes for xp savings through a point transfer. (See Xfer Check below.)

deb

Toggle sending TaskMaster output as debug messages.

eval <expression>

Evaluate the JScript expression and display the result.

log

Toggle detailed logging.

one

Toggle one-step. Pauses after each task step when on.

pause or poz

Pause the current task or resume if already paused.

poa

Toggle pause-on-attack. Pauses after an attack when on.

quit

Stop running TaskMaster.

Skills Usage:

Use the Skills panel to request actions through menu selection or pushbutton:

Attribute menu

Select an attribute to display the cost to raise an attribute. If it is a base attribute, it will llist the skills that will benefit from raising it. The number in parenthesis after a skill is how many times the base attribute must be raised before the next base increase in the skill. The total benefit is a comparison of the xp cost of raising the affected skills directly instead of through raising the selected attribute.

Secondary attributes (vitals) will list the base attribute(s) that it depends on and the cost of raising it indirectly.

Repeat Attr.

Repeats the calculation for the currently selected attribute. Use after raising an attribute to see the effect.

List Attrs.

Lists all the attributes, their base level and the cost to increase them by one level.

Skills menu

Select a skill to display the cost to raise a skill and list the attribute(s) that can be used to raise it indirectly. The most effecient combination of base attributes will be listed, so a dependant attribute will not be listed if increasing it would be less cost-effective.

Repeat Skills

Repeats the calculation for the currently selected skill. Use after raising an skill to see the effect.

List Skills

Lists all the usable skills, their base level and the cost to increase them by one level.

Xfer Check

Compares the xp cost of raising all the base attributes by 10 levels. If there would be an xp savings by transfering points between innate attributes, the xp savings and attribute pair that would be most effective to adjust will be displayed.

The attribute point quest must be done to change innate attributes. Innate attributes are listed on the Chactacter Information window.

Quit

Stops the script and closes the panel.

Notes on usage:

Comparing benefits:

When trying to decide the most effective way to use unassigned XP, start by looking at the skills that are lost important. Note the attributes than can be used to improve these skills and the % cost for raising them by raising attributes. Unless the % is significantly above 100%, you will probably benefit more overall by increasing attributes.

Then go to the dependant attributes and see which ones have the smallest base %. These will produce the greatest derived benefit. If the % is over 100, it will be better to raise the skills directly. When increasing an attribute, note how many increments will be needed for the next increase in the desired skills.

Calculations: All calculations are done using unbuffed attribute and skill values.

Known limitation:

If less than 10 attribute points can be transfered for a given attribute when doing the Xfer Check, it is possible that another attribute pair could have a slightly higher xp savings.

If you have comments, suggestions or find program bugs, you can send email to dadown@cox.net