Drop Calculator on Google Docs - Final Edition

[Snyp3r]

thEClaw and Az are continuing to update the calculator. The new thread can be found here: http://forum.mechlivinglegends.net/index.php/topic,17371.msg302022.html

FINAL UPDATE: With Diablo 3, Mechwarrior: Online, moving to a new apartment and going back to school all coming up, I can't see myself keeping this updated anymore. I've attached a .zip to this post containing the master .xlsx file I used, along with a few pages of documentation I wrote up to try to explain the functions and formulas. Feel free to modify it and use it in your own project if you want to.

VictorMorson came up with the idea of having a drop calculator spreadsheet on Google Documents. The reasoning was that it would be an easy way to save drop lists and share/edit them with the entire unit. So with that in mind, we set about making one which you can find right here:

0.5.5b calculators
0.5.5b reference sheets
The Excel 2007 versions of the spreadsheets are also available in the file attached to this post.

All data is now read via script directly from the game files. Everything should hopefully be accurate now, but let me know if you spot any errors.

5/12/2011 - v0.1: Initial version for 0.4.9.
5/18/2011 - v0.2: Added ammo calculators.
5/19/2011 - v0.2.1: Added "Full (Mini)" calculator with tiny fonts and full features (great for netbooks!)
5/30/2011 - v0.3: Updated all information for MWLL v0.5.1, various changes to calculator formatting.
7/1/2011 - v0.3.1: Fixed Thor A loadout data missing CDSRM6.
7/19/2011 - v0.4.0: Added tonnage calculators, added equipment lookups to calculators, improved formatting on all sheets.
1/26/2012 - v0.5.4 BETA: Overhauled and updated for MWLL 0.5.4. Thanks Az, thEClaw! Following MWLL version numbers now.
1/30/2012 - v0.5.4c: Advanced version number to non-beta.
2/8/2012 - v0.5.5a: Updated for MWLL 0.5.5.
2/8/2012 - v0.5.5b: Fixed small reference error in Excel spreadsheets. Google Docs sheets were not affected.
3/17/2012 - v0.5.5 FINAL: Identical to v0.5.5b. The master spreadsheet with all sheets included is now available in a .zip attachment, along with documentation about how it works.

[Cygma]

Always good to have alternatives - just FYI, FCL has a drop deck for which you can send links to your setups around and includes ammo and BA:
http://www.fcleagues.com/fcmwll/dropdeck.php

[Snyp3r]

Nice! I don't think any of us knew that existed, actually. Google Docs is still nice for some things though, especially since you can have multiple people editing it in real time.

[GB-72AT Talon]

very nice!

[VictorMorson]

Always good to have alternatives - just FYI, FCL has a drop deck for which you can send links to your setups around and includes ammo and BA:
http://www.fcleagues.com/fcmwll/dropdeck.php

The main advantages to the Google Doc one if anyone wants to use it:

• Can easily be accessed in the Steam Overlay
• Adjustable by anyone, including non-programmers
• Can be edited by multiple parties on the same server
• Drop Commanders can easily add a tab to track available forces in League games, to do everything from the same window

The FCL one sounds pretty neat.  The main reason we were interested in doing this one, however, was specifically so you could do C-Bill drops in practice games, without a huge amount of headache on the part of the DC and without leaving the game window. 

I hope it helps some of you out there!

As i said, always good to have alternatives like yours
I was just pointing out the FCL one in case people hadn't noticed it.

Oh sure thing!  Glad to have it linked in the thread.  I was just listing reasons one might use one over the other, given the situation.  The one we put up was designed with the thought of practices in mind - the FCL one works great for other situations too.  Very useful to have!

[Cygma]

As i said, always good to have alternatives like yours
I was just pointing out the FCL one in case people hadn't noticed it.

[~SJ~ Lobo]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

[SquareSphere }12thVR{]

Last time i check FCL was out of date, Could you add ammo cost to yours well?

[~SJ~ Lobo]

Last time i check FCL was out of date, Could you add ammo cost to yours well?

Maus uploaded one you can find here, that has ammo costs

https://spreadsheets.google.com/ccc?key=0Ap2gzwgmMVPQdC13MWtCaWwwZlBodzREWGNmVjBaUWc&hl=en_GB#gid=1

[Snyp3r]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

You can make your copy of the sheet private and choose to only share it with specific people.

[~SJ~ Lobo]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

You can make your copy of the sheet private and choose to only share it with specific people.

Basically it would be best just use the link as a place for you to update it and everyone else to save local copies on their own PCs. That's really the only way since google does not open a new instance of the document for each user, and if you are making a list, I have to wait until your done, etc.

[VictorMorson]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

The sheet is View Only.  What you want to do is Make A Copy of the view only doc, then edit that one - that way you can edit it personally or share it to selected Drop Commanders, as that option will make a 2nd copy in your personal Google Docs.   Without that option it'd definitely be a problem!

[=Outlaw=]

Very nice. I wish we had this back in the day. Having DCs discuss and figure out a good dropdec with mechs availabe..and still do it in time for the next drop was always a challenge. This streamlines it considerably

[~SJ~ Lobo]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

The sheet is View Only.  What you want to do is Make A Copy of the view only doc, then edit that one - that way you can edit it personally or share it to selected Drop Commanders, as that option will make a 2nd copy in your personal Google Docs.   Without that option it'd definitely be a problem!

Indeed I was really excited to make ours online and viewable to the community until I realized that simple failure of google docs.

[VictorMorson]

We already tried this, the problem with a public sheet on google docs is: multiple people editing it at once. I can hop in and completely fapp up what you are doing. Not to mention do you really want random people screwing up the formulas and constantly forcing you to reload the sheet? Much safer to download it.

The sheet is View Only.  What you want to do is Make A Copy of the view only doc, then edit that one - that way you can edit it personally or share it to selected Drop Commanders, as that option will make a 2nd copy in your personal Google Docs.   Without that option it'd definitely be a problem!

Indeed I was really excited to make ours online and viewable to the community until I realized that simple failure of google docs.

If you use the Make a Copy feature, not the Save feature, it saves it not to your own PC but rather your own Google Docs account.  This allows you to copy the master sheet, make changes and immediately share it with all other Drop Commanders or indeed, the public at large really easily.  It's a far better idea than saving it to your local PC for that very reason.