Digital Energy Allocation Form

Volvernon · Post by **Volvernon** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:31 pm

Greetings,
I am looking to dig out my old SFB stuff to begin playing again with friends. Since it has been so long since I have played, I'm hoping that someone out there may have been smart enough to figure out how to digitize the energy allocation form. Is there something that can be used on a phone or tablet for updating the energy allocation form, or am I stuck using the wax pencil or dry erase marker?

Thanks!
Volvernon

Bolo_MK_XL · Post by **Bolo_MK_XL** » Tue Nov 19, 2019 9:59 pm

Spreadsheet programs like Excel work, it will do the math for you...
Once you learn the formulas....
Sure there are some for Tablets, don't know about phones.....

Sgt_G · Post by **Sgt_G** » Sun Nov 24, 2019 6:32 pm

At one point in time, I started to create just such a spreadsheet, but then ADB / SVC said: DO NOT PUBLISH THAT! DO NOT SHARE THAT!

I would have been allowed to use it for my own games, but I couldn't even give my opponent a copy. That's one of those items that would do serious damage to ADB sales if they allowed it out in the wild.

That said, the basic form was super easy to make in (at the time) LOTUS 1-2-3. It was when I started to put in the error-checking that the IF-THEN strings got a little messy. It'd be a cool PERSONAL project if you want to learn EXCEL.

Post by **Steve Cole** » Sun Nov 24, 2019 8:37 pm

It's not just that, but Paramount would be really annoyed and would claim we were sneaking it out the back door without approvals or royalties.

Itharus · Post by **Itharus** » Sun Apr 26, 2020 8:54 am

Many PDF readers/editors and other pieces of software allow you to markup PDF's directly now. If you've got a touchscreen with a stylus you can literally just write on the thing and erase to your heart's content as if it were a laminated sheet and a dry erase marker.

It's what I do with SSD's and the like. You can copy and paste and have as many of the lil blighters loaded on screen as you'd like. The last 8 years or so have been really good to electronic forms. Also really handy if you have any visual deficiencies, since you can change so much. ST:TNG tech made good, lol

I am curious, how can a little spreadsheet or program a player made and distributed be held against you, ADB?

Good to know though... yikes.

Hargert · Post by **Hargert** » Tue Jun 22, 2021 10:24 pm

That has to be one of the worst decisions I have heard of. That would only help sell more copies and make more players.

Post by **Steve Cole** » Wed Jun 23, 2021 5:39 pm

Because Paramount will hold it against us. They will claim we are trying to sneak it out without their permission, without their approval, and without paying them royalties. It's not my decision.

We could publish & sell such a thing if somebody wanted to do it and make a deal with us. But we cannot just say "go ahead" because it would get us in a whole lot of trouble. Intellectual property licenses are like that.

Hargert · Post by **Hargert** » Sat Jun 26, 2021 8:03 pm

I don't hold it against you but just don't see how an energy allocation sheet would fall under Intellectual property as it is just a part of the game. That said I do know that the paramount folks can be a pain in the backside on very small details.

Post by **Steve Cole** » Tue Jun 29, 2021 2:24 pm

I am sure if you pay an IP lawyer what I paid mine he will explain it to you.

That sounds snaky but I am sincere.

A thing that is "for use with any starship game" is one thing. A thing that can only be used for SFB requires consent from the owners of SFB. It's a concept called derivative copyright.

For example, there is a series of doomsday/apocolypse novels I really enjoyed, but the author has a business model of doing exactly three books on a given subject and then moving on to other subjects. (her choice there.) I wrote most of a novel that would be part of that universe but I cannot publish it without her permission. I could post it free somewhere as fan fiction and she might smile and ignore it, but she could also legally demand that I remove it from anything public access. After I retire from SFB I plan to contact her and see if we can reach a deal to print it. But "reach a deal with her" is the key part.

pixelgeek · Post by **pixelgeek** » Tue Jun 29, 2021 4:49 pm

Hargert wrote:I don't hold it against you but just don't see how an energy allocation sheet would fall under Intellectual property as it is just a part of the game. That said I do know that the paramount folks can be a pain in the backside on very small details.

The issue ultimately isn't what a company like Paramount can do legally, it is what they can get their lawyers to do. If you want to try to find out if an energy allocation sheet actually is covered by a licensing agreement then it would require a trial to settle the issues of law. No-one has that kind of money.

Hargert · Post by **Hargert** » Wed Jul 07, 2021 4:30 am

Oh, I get it completely and when it comes to lawsuits the only ones who win are the lawyers.

Post by **Steve Cole** » Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:45 pm

Like I said, if someone has play aid software we will make a deal to market it. However, APs have to be both Android and iPhone, and iPhone has a problem that you have $100 a year for a store to sell it, and we're not going to do that for something that sells five copies for $3 each.

pixelgeek · Post by **pixelgeek** » Wed Jul 07, 2021 3:50 pm

Given that you can create this with a spreadsheet in a few minutes I don't see how there would be a market for it at all.

HappyDaze · Post by **HappyDaze** » Wed Jul 07, 2021 6:41 pm

pixelgeek wrote:Given that you can create this with a spreadsheet in a few minutes I don't see how there would be a market for it at all.

You might be surprised at how many people are unable/umwilling to spend a few extra minutes of their own time when they can pay others to do it for them. Of course, there are still some dinosaurs that can't seem to grasp basic Excel sheet, so there's them too.