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Nightmoss
01-06-2014, 19:25
Has there been any discussion of a very basic Android or Apple app for Sails of Glory? I'm not looking for a replacement of face to face play, but a simple app that would let one trial ship movement, wind direction changes, etc. in relation to an opposite ship, islands or the fatal edge of the board. I did a search here and nothing showed. Playing with the ships, cards and mats is fun, but sitting in an arm chair and trying stuff out is a bit faster. Just curious?

The Royal Hajj
01-07-2014, 07:02
Ares was going to do one for WGS, but it never came out. Not sure what happened to it really. Based on that, I think it is unlikely.

Cool Breeze
01-07-2014, 12:55
I'd personally love an iPad App that took the place of the ship boards. The original Zombicide has one for the first 9 character boards. Very easy to track damage and status. Privateer Press has one for their Warmachine/Hordes games cards. Done properly, it's awesome.

The Royal Hajj
01-07-2014, 13:00
I'd personally love an iPad App that took the place of the ship boards. The original Zombicide has one for the first 9 character boards. Very easy to track damage and status. Privateer Press has one for their Warmachine/Hordes games cards. Done properly, it's awesome.

Ares has done some type of App for their new Galaxy Defenders game as well, but I don't know what it is.

Nightmoss
01-07-2014, 16:35
I'd personally love an iPad App that took the place of the ship boards. The original Zombicide has one for the first 9 character boards. Very easy to track damage and status. Privateer Press has one for their Warmachine/Hordes games cards. Done properly, it's awesome.

I hadn't even thought about that, but it certainly has possibilities!

Cool Breeze
01-08-2014, 00:20
Ares has done some type of App for their new Galaxy Defenders game as well, but I don't know what it is.

Yeah, it's exactly what I mean, sort of a game tracker. I forgot they did that.

I now change my mind about wanting a SoG App, as they wrote the GD one to require iOS 7+, which my poor 1st gen iPad can't run. I backed GD as well, and am very disappointed there's a great little app out there I can't use. Having two of them would likely cost me $700-900 replacement iPad, lol.

The Royal Hajj
01-08-2014, 08:13
Just put in a requisition for a Tech Refresh Curtis :girlieangry:

Cool Breeze
01-09-2014, 08:40
Just put in a requisition for a Tech Refresh Curtis :girlieangry:

I wonder if I, "accidentally" spill coffee on it during a meeting like the guy in the commercial... :sly:

DeRuyter
01-09-2014, 09:10
I know that you can get money for older gen phones, I wonder if you can get cash for an old i-pad?

The Royal Hajj
01-09-2014, 10:09
My wife was thinking about selling her old iPad 1 and I think she said the going rate was like $100-$150. She ended up selling it to our oldest daughter for much less though.

Cool Breeze
01-09-2014, 15:13
Yeah, pretty sad exchange rate, plus I need to make sure I'm grandfathered in on my data plan - unlimited. So that narrows down where I can upgrade.

KeithS
02-21-2014, 03:06
I'm gradually getting to grips with Android programming, it's quite a steep learning curve despite being a fairly experienced PC programmer in Visual Basic. However, I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that it would be quite possible to write an app to handle the admin side of SoG (ship mats, and possibly chit draws). I wondered if any one else was contemplating doing anything similar. In my case it is still at the planning, thinking about stage, and even a basic working program is still a few months away. I would also need to get Ares permission to use it as anything other than a personal project, even though I am not thinking about anything other than freeware. Does anyone know how best to approach them?

JonathanE
02-21-2014, 10:29
I'm gradually getting to grips with Android programming, it's quite a steep learning curve despite being a fairly experienced PC programmer in Visual Basic. However, I am increasingly coming to the conclusion that it would be quite possible to write an app to handle the admin side of SoG (ship mats, and possibly chit draws). I wondered if any one else was contemplating doing anything similar. In my case it is still at the planning, thinking about stage, and even a basic working program is still a few months away. I would also need to get Ares permission to use it as anything other than a personal project, even though I am not thinking about anything other than freeware. Does anyone know how best to approach them?

Hi Keith,
I was contemplating an app for damage tracking, but still in the thinking stage.
Was intending to develope in Unity 3D, as a 2D application, so it could work on most devices.
Basically it would allow the user to choose if damage chits are replaced immediately or kept out until manually put back (based on discussions about D30 verses chit drawing probabilities).
Need to get some free time to think it through and test some concepts for it first. :beer:

7eat51
02-21-2014, 12:05
I wondered if any one else was contemplating doing anything similar.

I was, but my punch card reader is not working properly.

KeithS
02-21-2014, 12:28
I was, but my punch card reader is not working properly.

Ah yes! I remember the good old days too.:salute::Arrrr::happy:

KeithS
02-21-2014, 12:38
Hi Keith,
I was contemplating an app for damage tracking, but still in the thinking stage.
Was intending to develope in Unity 3D, as a 2D application, so it could work on most devices.
Basically it would allow the user to choose if damage chits are replaced immediately or kept out until manually put back (based on discussions about D30 verses chit drawing probabilities).
Need to get some free time to think it through and test some concepts for it first. :beer:

Good on you, :salute: My initial thought was to emulate the damage tracks numerically at first, then maybe add a more visually appealing interface, and finally simulate chit drawing as an option if required. I would also set up a small SQLite database to hold the starting information for each ship, so that the users could choose the ships that they were tracking.

I will probably just develop for Android though.

Beowulf03809
02-24-2014, 13:07
I can see using a tablet-sized device for something like this, but I think it will be more challenging ( in a good way! ) to get the interface right on something that can be used on a phone. And whichever platform / device is targeted I think it would be great if you could manage multiple ships at a time in the running instance. Like tabs or a swipe to move between them. I really wish I had the free time to mess around with this myself...

:rum:

KeithS
02-24-2014, 14:22
I can see using a tablet-sized device for something like this, but I think it will be more challenging ( in a good way! ) to get the interface right on something that can be used on a phone. And whichever platform / device is targeted I think it would be great if you could manage multiple ships at a time in the running instance. Like tabs or a swipe to move between them. I really wish I had the free time to mess around with this myself...

:rum:

I plan to aim for tablet initially, and then see if I can fit it to a smaller app phone, although there is often only a small difference between low end tablets and the larger app phones nowadays. However this is a little moot if I am only allowed personal use/distribution as I may as well just develop for Nexus 7, my own platform of choice. My intention is to create it for use with multiple ships, although again I will probably initially develop for one ship and build support for number of ships next. It is difficult to find time for this project ATM, as well as a thing in itself I see it as an opportunity to learn Android development in general so I am trying to give it some priority.

JonR
03-08-2014, 17:16
Look for "Ace Patrol" for a Wings of glory type game. (Ok except for the female pilots) I suspect it will be only a matter of time before someone does a Sails version.

Diamondback
03-08-2014, 18:33
What's with all the hate for us PC guys? Why not a Windows/x86 version too? I mean, for GM'ing, a full-function management program on a 17" screen could be a formidable advantage...

csadn
03-09-2014, 16:17
What's with all the hate for us PC guys? Why not a Windows/x86 version too? I mean, for GM'ing, a full-function management program on a 17" screen could be a formidable advantage...

Most of them still remember Bill Gates....

Diamondback
03-09-2014, 16:39
Yeah, but Windows is STILL one of the Top Two Most Used OS'es, and it's kind of foolish to push such a huge market away...

bakblast
03-09-2014, 21:59
An app to replace the ship board would be great.

Have a home screen with an icon for each ship on the table or just your own fleet, tap one and the coresponding board appears.

At the bottom of the ship board screen is a row of the various damage chits, after drawing an actual chit you drag the matching virtual chit to the damage box, when the box is full it automaticaly flips to the full symbol.

Sail state, ammo, crew actions special damage would all be handled in the same way.

This way the actual chits would go back into the bag, and the probabilities would not change, while the bump factor would not effect the game.

On the table itself you would only need an I.D. card for the each ship for purposes of planning.

mr7q
03-10-2014, 12:01
This would be awesome. If it included a way to take pictures of cards and define your own Ships Logs to avoid any game content being included with the app, it would avoid any potential strife with Ares.

Parallel to this could be a "chitbag" app, which would allow you to draw a specific number of chits out of one of the damage bags. You could then easily modify the number of sets per bag, and whether you remove the token from the pool or replace it.

The latter actually sounds pretty easy, and might prove to be a decent start to get me into Android programming, despite my dislike of Java.

Diamondback
03-10-2014, 12:04
Martin, the best way to do that might be to have Ares host the Log and Deck files for each ship, and maybe have a question that you'd have to have bought the physical ship to have the answer to to "unlock" the file and have it sent to you.

Then the problem would be registering us Doubletappers...

Beowulf03809
03-12-2014, 09:13
Anything that's based on using some 'key work' off of the purchased products to verify ownership is going to be open to easy compromise. Already much of the ship data for the Starter / Wave 1 ships is available online. I'm not so sure having the ship data in the app database would be that big of a deal from an IP perspective because it is publicly available. This would be simplified even more if the app had no charge for use. If you are making money from it I'm sure there's a whole different realm of legality to worry about.

BattleFront makes the stats, special rules and some army lists fully available online via PDFs for their Flames of War WWII game. By comparison, Games Workshop is draconian about their IP and has even closed down forums if people post too specific of details about profiles or points. This leads to some pretty funny (and frustrating) talking around but the information is still there.

Graphics...now there's a different story. Again, if you're not making money from it but rather just providing an electronic way of tracking, may be safe from challenge if you ask to use any official graphics first. Otherwise, just go with a nautical theme or use graphics under a creative commons license (remember...not making money).

fredmiracle
03-12-2014, 10:30
#1 is not making money, and #2 is that it's a play aid, not a replacement for the game itself. As a play aid, arguably it's a benefit to Ares in making their game more fun and their ecosystem richer.

Of course they might worry that you won't buy ship X, Y or Z if you can proxy it with the help of the app. So it depends on how Ares perceives this. But it might very well be that they expect to sell more stuff mostly on the merits of the models, and in that case anything that makes the game "go down more smoothly" and helps attract even more players might be AOK with them