The Inside Scoop on Gaming

So... SJ Games published Character Builder for their GURPS system.

First little about me. I'm software engineer student and I have made character builder program for Conspiracy X. I'm still working on it and maybe I release it in future. So I can tell something about GURPS Character Builder's interface and so on. Now on review..

I bought this a few months ago and I have tested this program many many times. You can find many other character builder programs from Internet, others are free, others not. I have made characters with Makechar, Character Generator, Character Maker and Character Assistant.

1. Interface

Character Builder looks too much like Microsoft Excel. Not too much graphics, only grey. It's quite easy add skills, equipment etc. because program opens new window for every category. One thing which really pisses me off is that there is info button, but when you click it, you get message "no information available". So you still have to look descriptions from books. Character Assistant and Character Generator have a lot of better interfaces.

2. Adding and Editing

One of the best things in Character Builder is that now I need only one program when I want add new stuff or add new genre. You can make macro data sheet or data sheet. Macro data sheets are easier, but I don't know how to add some stuff, so I have to use also data sheets. Data sheets are little too complicated because you have to understand macros. Adding stuff takes quite much time. I have made templates from Cops to Builder and it took a lot of time. Copy-paste is the only way to make it little easier. Adding equipment, new skills, new advantages etc. are easy, but when you have to add templates or martial arts trainings it is too much time consuming. If you want to do character generator for, say, D20 system you can do it, but you should know little about programming. Good feature but too hard.

3. Conclusion

I don't want make too long review, so I recommend first to try out demo and make your own conclusion do you need this or not. I have found this program very handy and it's only program what I use. I give 3 for style because interface is not the best one and 3 for substance because editing is too complicated and there is no information about skills, advantages etc.

GURPS Character Builder
GURPS Character Builder Playtest Review by Janne Halmetoja on 14/05/02 Style: 3 (Average) Substance: 3 (Average) GURPS Character Builder is handy, but little complicated program. Product: GURPS Character Builder Author: Bruce Kvam Category: Software Company/Publisher: Steve Jackson Games Line: GURPS Cost: 24.95 Page count: N/A Year published: 2001 ISBN: SKU: Comp copy?: no Playtest Review by Janne Halmetoja on 14/05/02 Genre tags: Other	So... SJ Games published Character Builder for their GURPS system. First little about me. I'm software engineer student and I have made character builder program for Conspiracy X. I'm still working on it and maybe I release it in future. So I can tell something about GURPS Character Builder's interface and so on. Now on review.. I bought this a few months ago and I have tested this program many many times. You can find many other character builder programs from Internet, others are free, others not. I have made characters with Makechar, Character Generator, Character Maker and Character Assistant. 1. Interface Character Builder looks too much like Microsoft Excel. Not too much graphics, only grey. It's quite easy add skills, equipment etc. because program opens new window for every category. One thing which really pisses me off is that there is info button, but when you click it, you get message "no information available". So you still have to look descriptions from books. Character Assistant and Character Generator have a lot of better interfaces. 2. Adding and Editing One of the best things in Character Builder is that now I need only one program when I want add new stuff or add new genre. You can make macro data sheet or data sheet. Macro data sheets are easier, but I don't know how to add some stuff, so I have to use also data sheets. Data sheets are little too complicated because you have to understand macros. Adding stuff takes quite much time. I have made templates from Cops to Builder and it took a lot of time. Copy-paste is the only way to make it little easier. Adding equipment, new skills, new advantages etc. are easy, but when you have to add templates or martial arts trainings it is too much time consuming. If you want to do character generator for, say, D20 system you can do it, but you should know little about programming. Good feature but too hard. 3. Conclusion I don't want make too long review, so I recommend first to try out demo and make your own conclusion do you need this or not. I have found this program very handy and it's only program what I use. I give 3 for style because interface is not the best one and 3 for substance because editing is too complicated and there is no information about skills, advantages etc.