I made up a https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OV1gzl52HvYYMvd3MJ9-nPEnKHsaSYi6_crWwvHJRGk/edit?usp=sharing as a tool to help me plan character designs. Thought you guys might find it useful. Appreciate any corrections or comments.

I'm thinking about writing a character planning application using either Java or C++. I prefer C++ but I'm guessing it will be easier to make it web-based using Java? I haven't worked with C# at all.

The idea to do this just dawned on me as I was compiling this perk data and I realized it would be a pretty good exercise for me at my stage of programming skill. I haven't thought through the logic or started writing any pseudocode or flowcharts, but I'm guessing it will be a pretty complicated application depending on what functionality it has.

What functionality should it have?

Would this be of interest to any other users?

If you have no idea what I"m talking about (and I'm not entirely sure myself) . . . what I have in mind is something like one of the many tools that exist for planning character skill progression in https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/3rd_party_tools. It has been a long time since I've used any of those tools, so my memory is a bit fuzzy, but I seem to recall that applications like https://wiki.eveonline.com/en/wiki/3rd_party_tools#EVE_Fitting_Tool_.28EFT.29 were tremendously helpful in planning out character builds. The need for such applications is obviously greater for a game like EVE Online but might still be useful for FO4 Characters.

The most basic functionality this would offer is:

1. Special Assignment Planning Page (SAPP): A screen similar to the SPECIAL assignment screen in game, in which a player can assign points (with the vanilla constraint of 28 points), followed by

2. Perk Assignment Planning Page (PAPP): An interactive set of progressing screens that outline open perks at each level, and which the player can edit. The PAPP would include linked documentation describing each of the Perk levels and ideally would be highly user-friendly (think "Civilopedia" or even better).

Basically the player plugs in a set of SPECIAL numbers and then the app highlights what Perks will be available at level 2.

Player assigns a perk for level 2 and then the app highlights what Perks will be available at level 3, etc.

At a more advanced level the app might include functions like:

3. In the SAPP, a hover menu that lists the perk categories that are unlocked at any given level.

4. In the PAPP Aggregate hp, ap, to-hit modifiers, VATs modifiers at each level, etc.

5. A side-panel to the PAPP with functionality to "plug-in" each of the Bobblehead bonuses to model getting a particular bobble head at any given level (I anticipate that as we all play the game more, we might just remember where these babies live )

6. Similar option to plug in companion perks and magazine perks.

7. An optional page, immediately before the SAPP: complete list of all the level-locked abilities (e.g., Chemist 1 requisite to brew UltraJet, etc.) in which the player can select one or more and put them in order of priority. Once the player enters the perk assignment planner, it would remind the player of what Perks and/or SPECIALs he/she needs to unlock prioritized abilities.

I'd be interested, but know that there are already a lot of sites that do this. Just google "Fallout 4 calculator" and behold - but what you've outlined looks more robust than anything else I've seen. My only requests, that are missing in all of the calculators I've seen so far:

- Along with the bobblehead bonuses to SPECIAL, don't forget the one free point we get from the magazine in Shaun's room, in post-war Sanctuary.

- A "randomize!" button for SPECIAL and even perks. This is really more for novelty, and I can do without it, but it would be fun.

Thanks Box Maan! Is this the one you saw?

https://fallout4calculator.com/

That seems well done, amazing what you can achieve with JavaScript, functions well anyway, though the js code looks messy by my understanding and poorly commented. That will definitely help me. More or less what I was wishing for in basic form!

Beyond the more complicated functions I listed in 3 through 7, the only thing I find slightly deficient with that site is that it doesn't show SPECIAL points decrementing as you assign them. Quite a few keywords I haven't used that I'll have to figure out, but one thing I'm a bit puzzled by in the JS source code; it seems to be a hack of an application owned by Facebook?? Maybe someone adapted a Facebook app from some other game and plugged in Fallout content? Strange that it is so poorly commented and no head providing author info.

Out of the half-dozen I found from a Google search, that is the only one that actually seems to be a character planner. Were you aware of other ones?

Always good to learn from others.

Ah good point! You know I didn't notice that in my first couple playthroughs. Was that something that got added or turned on in a patch?

It was always there, it's just more out of reach. Most other magazines are out in the open for anyone just looking everywhere, this one asks you to be a bit more thorough.

Anyway, that's one of the calculators. There's one http://www.rpg-gaming.com/fo4.html that I don't like using because the formatting is totally screwed up on my browser (might be the font I use? Wasn't like this before the perks were added), but since I haven't used it I couldn't recommend it. My personal favorite is http://www.nukahub.com/tools/special, which increments the "Required level for this build" rather intelligently - any SPECIAL point added past the initial 21 adds 1 level, and it automatically switches between the number of perk points you've spent and the level requirement on the highest rank you've taken of a perk based on which is higher.

Ah thanks Box Maan. Seems it is a bit of a "reinventing the wheel" already. Sheeze people move fast on these apps and mods!

That Anuiran guy is a true Fallout fan . . .