Noob needs help with MoreCore tab graphics

[groovyclam]

Hi all - I've been hacking around in the MoreCore Trail of Cthulhu extension to get the char sheet to look more like I want it. I've got to grips with frames and the graphics involved with them but I'm a bit lost with the graphics for the tabs at the side of the char sheet.

I've altered the existing xml to rename the tabs to what I want and reduce the number to 4 so I amended the existing xml to this:

<!--   Add tabs to Character Sheet -->
			<subwindow name="statistics">
				<bounds>19,105,-1,-21</bounds>
				<class>charsheet_mainstats</class>
			</subwindow> 
			
			<subwindow name="personal">
				<bounds>19,105,-1,-21</bounds>
				<class>charsheet_personal</class>
			</subwindow>
			
			<subwindow name="mythos">
				<bounds>19,105,-1,-21</bounds>
				<class>charsheet_mythos</class>
			</subwindow>
		
			<subwindow name="investigation">
				<bounds>19,105,-1,-21</bounds>
				<class>charsheet_investigation</class>
			</subwindow>
			

			<tabs_charsheet>
<!--   Create transparent PNGs with text for the Tabs. Files lives under \graphics\tabs -->
				<tab>
					<icon>tab_statistics</icon>
					<subwindow>statistics</subwindow>
				</tab>
				<tab>
					<icon>tab_personal</icon>
					<subwindow>personal</subwindow>
				</tab>
				<tab>
					<icon>tab_mythos</icon>
					<subwindow>mythos</subwindow>
				</tab>
				<tab>
					<icon>tab_investigation</icon>
					<subwindow>investigation</subwindow>
				</tab>

The tabs appear ok but there is no icon ( text on them ).
I have made some relevant icons and put them in the graphics/tabs subfolder but I don't know what xml to include to define these pngs to the extension and where to put it. And what xml to use to tell the tab definitions to use those png definitions.

Anyone offer any help ?

[groovyclam]

By stating my problem I saw that I probably needed an <icon> definition for those <icon>'s mentioned in the <tab> definitions and lo and behold that is what was missing - so my main problem is solved.

I do have a second question though - the background for the tabs is grey - is there a way of defining a specific colour for the tab background ?

[damned]

By stating my problem I saw that I probably needed an <icon> definition for those <icon>'s mentioned in the <tab> definitions and lo and behold that is what was missing - so my main problem is solved.

I do have a second question though - the background for the tabs is grey - is there a way of defining a specific colour for the tab background ?

The tabs are indeed icons. The text is a graphic.
You would need to replace the tab image with one of lighter color.

[damned]

Please do share your extension too.

[groovyclam]

I'm glad you've replied damned as it is your extension I'm hacking to bits, so I was worried I would be reinventing the wheel and possibly p-ing you off too.

What I am aiming to do is get the extension looking a lot like the Pelgrane rulebook. Also I think the Libraries need changing dramatically for GUMSHOE. Now that I have the charsheet looking like I think a player needs it to, I was going to try to make the Library like a GUMSHOE GM needs it to be, which I think is this:

CLUES - should have a name ( both a "Keeper" NAME and a "Player visible" NAME ) and the ability to have have TEXT and/or GRAPHICS attached . These should be draggable like "NOTES" are. Need to specify if this clue requires a specific GUMSHOE ability(s), or is a simple-search clue ( no ability ), or is an "inconspicuous clue" ( automatically found by player ). It requires a "Core Clue" tick box. If it requires a point spend it requires a "Special Benefit" tick box with the amount of points spend required in which ability. It might also need a field saying where it leads out to ( an NPC, a LOCATION, possibly another CLUE? )

LOCATIONS - should have a name ( both a "Keeper" NAME and a "Player visible" NAME ) and the ability to have have TEXT and/or GRAPHICS attached . These should be draggable like "NOTES" are. It should be able to hold a CLUE if required.

NPCs - Needs a simplified sheet showing name, description, motivation, portrait and just the gumshoe abilities they have that are non-zero rating. Also need a Keeper NAME and Player Facing NAME. It should be able to hold a CLUE if required

SCENES - this would have a NAME ( again KEEPER and PLAYER FACING ) and would be made up of some or all of the following; LOCATION, NPC(s), CLUE(s). If the LOCATION(s) or NPC(s) in the SCENE hold CLUE(s) themselves they should repeat in the CLUE(s) tab with any CLUE(s) the SCENE owns itself.
SCENE(s) will also need a TYPE ( as GUMSHOE can class them as FLOATING, FLASHBACK and other types ).

SCENARIO - would be a list of SCENES in rough order the PCs will tackle them. Need to be able to strike through the title if the Players exhaust a SCENE ( or some other indicator ).

---

Other possible Library; ORGANISATIONS ( to group NPCs into CULTs, PLAYER INVESTIGATING GROUPs or just general INSTITUTIONs )
MYTHOS SPELLS ( with Keeper and Player facing NAMES )
MYTHOS TOMES ( with Keeper and Player facing NAMES ) - with ability to hold MYTHOS SPELLS
MYTHOS ARTEFACTS ( with Keeper and Player facing NAMES ) - with ability to hold MYTHOS SPELLS

If the above were achieved it would be very simple to reskin the extension for "Fear Itself" and "The Esoterrorists". The other GUMSHOE games have extra rules/twiddles that would need extra thinky-code than just graphics changing.

Maybe we should take this to chat or messaging ?

[groovyclam]

Here's pics of my attempt at "Pelgraning" the charsheet and making it more player friendly:

Annotation 2020-05-01 124644.jpg

Annotation 2020-05-01 163716.jpg

Annotation 2020-05-01 131532.jpg

Annotation 2020-05-01 131727.jpg

[damned]

that character sheet layout requires you to have at least a 1920x1080 screen - what will happen if someone has a smaller screen?
you sound like you know the rules far better than I and i have too many other things on my plate at this time.

but please continue.

[groovyclam]

I did design it to be shrinkable to 940 pixels high, pic below...

Annotation 2020-05-01 163755.jpg

So anyone with a 1280x960 res desktop or above could use it OK. If they have a desktop lower than 960 vertical then they would be moving it around the screen a bit I suppose. It's a trade off between getting all the most accessed stats a GUMSHOE player needs on to the front tab of the character sheet vs. char sheet size.

I'll soldier on with my hacking but could you point me to a start page somewhere about defining new library elements e.g. the CLUES element I mentioned above.



Some things I noticed about your .ext are that you don't call "Technical Abilities" that ( I think you call them "Investigative" or something similar ). Also GUMSHOE calls skills "Abilities" and each ability has a "Rating" ( its top value decided at character creation which rarely changes ) and "Pool Points" ( its current value which fluctuates as players use up points in the adventure ). If you revisit your .ext it is probably wise to check terminology.

GUMSHOE combat is really pretty simple and all the work put into the combat tracker is probably over-egging the pudding.
All a GUMSHOE keeper needs for a fight is:
the attacker, the defender.
The defender's Hit Threshold ( i.e. Armour class ). There can be an adjustment of plus/minus 1 here for cover if against a firearms attack.
Any penalties the attacker is under ( e.g. if HURT ( below 0 hit points ) a penalty of -1 applies on die rolls ). There are other penalty states too e.g. SHAKEN.
Roll the die, add the penalties, add any ability points put into the roll by the player -> did it equal or exceed the defender's Hit Threshold ?
Roll damage for the particular weapon used ( if it was a firearm then a range adjustment must be added/subtracted too ) and take it off the defender's Health pool points.

I opened the combat tracker and was overwhelmed. It's probably great for really statty combat in the various D&D-like games but it looks like an exam paper to a GUMSHOE GM. I am tempted to abandon the CT for this extension ( or if I get good enough at extension coding I'll atttempt to make a simpler GUMSHOE combat tracker ).

If you want all the Trail of Cthulhu rules boiled down to just 7 pages then download this PDF from the Pelgrane Press website:
https://site.pelgranepress.com/trail..._Annotated.pdf
I just happen to be the author.

[damned]

Kenneth or Robin?

So you know your system well (and it is a system I like). When moving a game to a different medium you will want to also be aware of how the platform works so you can make the most of its features, just like you have taken the cool things from call of cthulhu and made it more fun and easier to play by using Gumshoes investigative strengths.

The most common screen sizes are 1920x1080, 3840x2160 and 1366x768 - the latter will make using a tall Charsheet difficult for easy use.

Have you tried clicking the checkbox to the right of the Abilities? It will hide those that are not in use meaning that the charsheet does not need to be as long.

The Combat Tracker is one of the most powerful features of Fantasy Grounds.
Actors can target their opponent and roll their Attack and it will declare a hit or a miss straight away.
Then they can roll damage and it will check for Armour and then apply the correct damage.
I think you will find that the Combat works quite well. Could it be better? Probably but this handles most stuff pretty well.

To create new Sidebar tools I suggest that you look at one of the included tools in MoreCore and set about duplicating and then modifying.
Alternatively you might find the Investigator and World Builder tools do most or all of what you want already.

There is no Tool as such for Spines but this can easily be managed in Story using links.

[groovyclam]

Kenneth or Robin?

Blimey! No...I'm the author of that particular PDF and also a "Condensed" version of the rulebook that was used as the basis for the Spanish version of ToC rules included in their version of Eternal Lies ( which was a lovely boxed set including a Keeper screen - sort of like a complete "game-in-a-box" ).

I'm not criticising the CT - it's probably magnificent for stat-heavy games, no doubt ( that is its raison d'etre - to simplify all the stat-handling of mega-crunch rolly games ), but it "looks" extremely intimidating to a GUMSHOE player - far too many things to press, tick, drag etc. and far too many column headings ( even though they probably don't need to be touched ).
A GUMSHOE CT should be just ->
1) Pick your target from a list
2) Choose your attack form from Scuffle, (Hand) Weapons or Firearms and if Firearms then tick the cover the target has ( none, soft, hard )
3) State how many pool points you want to use on the attack, if any.
4) Click "GO"

At its most user-friendly that GUMSHOE CT UI should translate to:
A box that opens with a list of baddies in the Scene
Click on the baddie you are attacking
Click on a dropdown ( or 3-way tick choice ) of "Scuffle|Weapons|Firearms"
If you click on "Firearms" then a new dropdown or 3-way ticker of "No Cover|Soft|Hard" should appear to be ticked on
Enter a number (if desired) in a box for pool point spend ( and ideally have a +/- set of buttons next to it for clickableness too )
Click an "Attack" button.

Could the current CT be skinned to that ? Or would it have to be newly coded ?

Thanks for the pointers. I have another daft question - I'm skinning the sidebar but the text on my buttons is at the top of the button. Is there a tag for telling the font to be vertically centred ? It seems to have horizontally centred automatically.

I'll have a go at seeing if I can make the first tab on the char-sheet manageable at 740 pixels high ( the other tabs already cope with that ). I used the function code where frame height and width is recalculated when frames change but it seems to only do this the first time the tab is opened ( OnInit() ? ) - is there a way to recall this recalculation if the whole char-sheet is resized by the player and then the tab returned to ?