PSU: Material Converter Program

[Eliash]

Phantasy Star Universe - Convert

This program is designed to help determine the best price to buy lower level synthesis materials with the purpose of converting them into higher level materials.

Java Program
NEW: Java version (http://www.geocities.com/link7887/PSUConvert.html)

Version 1.01 - Plans
- Add support for wood conversions.
- Add support for metal conversions.
- Add Documentation to website.

Version 1.00 - Current Version
- Initial Launch
- Simplistic Graphic User Interface (GUI) support.
- Similar capabilites as previous C++ program.
- Introduces new information for each materials:
* Board Cost
* Board Production
* Board Consumption
* Material Price
* Star Rating
------------------------------
C++ Program
NOTE:If a file other than 'PhantasyStarUniverseConvert.zip' attempts to download simply cancle and retry again. For some odd reason it promted me to randomly download a music file.

Click here to download. (http://files.filefront.com/6804357)

Future Update Plan: Version 1.06
- No plans made.

Version 1.05 - Current Version
- Bug Fix: The program should now calculate each board charge with respect to the amount of materials used divided by the amount of materials required. For example: A board that has 10 charges and requires 5 materials per charge should now calculate as 1 board for 50 materials rather than 5 boards like it previously was. This change applies to rounding calculations.
- New Feature: Added additional support for the user to freely switch between rounded board costs (rounds price to the next board) and exact board cost (calculates price depending on the percentage of the board used.) Rounding is good for calculation when converting will not be used often, whereas, those who convert frequently may find more use for fractional board cost.

Version 1.04
- Bug Fix: The program should now correctly calculate the prices of all the boards required to to reach the desired conversion. This should allow for the use of materials that are several ranks below to be correctly priced.

Version 1.03
- Bug Fix: Metal conversion recipies should work properly. Previously the price for boards wasn't be calculated correctly and no board cost was included in the result.

Version 1.02
- New Feature: Added support for wood conversion recipies. All users should now be able to generate a list for all woods.
- New Feature: Added support for metal conversion recipies. All users should now be able to generate a list for all metals. [Metal conversion is not working properly
- New Feature: Added multipul conversion option. Previously users would have to restart the program after a list had been generated.

Version 1.01
- Bug Fix: Fixed fractional board cost. Now all values returned should take into account the amount of boards needed while calculating the price.
For example: It will now calculate the price of 3 boards when converting 25 materials. Previously it calculated 2.5 boards making the maximum price a bit off.
- New Feature: Added additional information in the list generated. Previously users were forced to calculate the total amount of materials needed in order to properly convert into a higher material. This has been fixed by adding a "(Nx)" [Replace the 'N' with the required amount] by the max price of each material.
- New Feature: Added additional information in the list generated. Previously users were shown a list of max prices, however, the program should now generate the cost of that option in regards to other options to allow the user to save a bit more money.

If you have any suggestions please let me know.

Instructions

Step 1:
When the program is opened you will be prompted to "Enter the name of the desired material."

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Shadow_Echo/PSU%20Convert/1.gif

Simply enter the material name that you want to synthesis. DO NOT enter the name of the material you want to synthesis from.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Shadow_Echo/PSU%20Convert/2.gif

NOTE: If you enter an invalid name (anything that doesn't end in 'line') you will be notified that the requested material is not in the database. You will then be prompted to retry, type "yes" to retry and anything else to exit the program.

Step 2:
After you enter the name of the material, you will be prompted to enter the price you are willing to pay for the material.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Shadow_Echo/PSU%20Convert/3.gif

Simply enter the amount you want to pay and hit enter.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Shadow_Echo/PSU%20Convert/4.gif

NOTE: If the price you entered is greater than or equal to the NPC price, an error message will appear notifying you of this. You will be asked if you want to retry and enter another number. Type "yes" to retry, and anything else to exit the program.

Step 3:
After finishing Step 1 and Step 2 a list will show up with all the possible conversions yield the conversion upto the material you specified and within the bugdet provided. The numbers next to the material name is the maximum price you could buy those materials at without exceeding your budget.

http://i14.photobucket.com/albums/a315/Shadow_Echo/PSU%20Convert/5.gif

Anything with the "Cost exceeds desired price" message means that in order to fit the budget provided you get the material for free and/or get paid to take the material.

As is the case with all programs, there are going to be bugs. Please let me know of any bugs and/or suggestions you could think of to include in future versions. I will do what I can to see to it that they are addressed within a reasonable timeframe.

Known Bugs:

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Eliash on 2008-04-05 18:42 ]</font>

[SabZero]

Hey, that sounds *very* handy, thanks http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/anime1.gif

[Eliash]

Updated instructions, please test out the program (including the math used) and let me know of any bugs. Feel free to leave feedback on anything that I could improve on.

[kevington]

One small programming step on your inevtiable way to running Sonic Team!

[Eliash]

rofl http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Eliash]

Update: Version 1.01 is now available for download.

Check the main post for a list of what was added and fixed.

As always please submit bug reports and anything else that may improve the program. I will do my best to update this program on a regular basis.

Enjoy. http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif

[Eliash]

Update: Version 1.02 is now available for download.
Main post updated with a list of what was added.

If anyone has any feedback, suggestions, and/or bug reports please let me know. I'm currently out of ideas to improve the program further.

Hope this program helps.

[funnymatt]

Very cool- one suggestion for you. It seems to use the entire cost of the board as part of the conversion cost. You may want to adjust this to use a pro-rated cost of the board. For example, I entered a value of 3500 for Neu Ebon. It comes up with Neu Ash at a cost of 300. This means that 5 Neu Ash are 1500, plus the board that costs 2000, which is 3500. But since the board can be used 10 times, the cost per use is really 200, meaning you can spend 3300 on the materials, which is 660 per Neu Ebon.

Perhaps you may want to make it ask how many of the materials you want to make, and then it can use the cost of the board(s) as part of that calculation based on how many will be needed.

I can see this program being VERY useful. Thanks for creating it!



<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: funnymatt on 2007-02-23 14:42 ]</font>

[Eliash]

Update: Version 1.03 is now available for download.

As for the full use of the board, I did that on purpose. I'm actually thinking of allowing the player to choose between full cost and partial cost for the board. Perhaps I'll include that with Version 1.04.

EDIT: You should once again be able to download the file.

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Eliash on 2007-02-23 15:23 ]</font>

[Dhylec]

Keep it up, this looks like a helpful program.

[Rizen]

Wow...man Its like someone read my mind! I was thinking that making a program like this would be interesting and BAM! Here it is! Good job!

*goes to download* I hope it works on a mac...

Edit: No love for mac http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_frown.gif

<font size=-1>[ This Message was edited by: Rizen on 2007-02-23 16:49 ]</font>

[Sychosis]

Eliash! You fixed the bug! No more "d" meseta loops! :O

I knew you could program better!

[Eliash]

Update: Version 1.04 is now available for download.
Notes have be posted up top.

The option to change between fractional board cost and rounded board cost has been delayed due to problems and is currently scheduled for Version 1.05. BTW: I didn't actually fix the letter in the meseta loop, it was more of a side effect fix. When I get Version 1.05 to work and update all the math equations I'll send them to you, Rizen, so that you can try and get a working program.

Thanks for all the comments and suggestsion.

[Sychosis]

You let me down Eliash...

[Eliash]

Update: Version 1.05 is now available for download.
This version includes a equasion fix and a new feature, you can find more out in the orignal post.

Important: If for some reason when trying to download the file you see something like "Jeremy.wmv" downloading instead cancel the download and attempt it again. Apparently there is some mix up with the files that it downloads sometimes.

BTW Sychosis does it matter? http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_razz.gif Meseta loop gone either way! http://www.pso-world.com/images/phpbb/icons/smiles/icon_biggrin.gif

Please tell me of all bugs, anything small and large will do nicely. The math equasion seems to be off by roughly 2 meseta, but I'm going to attribute that to fractions.

[jayster]

did you make that using java?

[Eliash]

No, it's all programmed using C++

[Jesus_christ]

what is the main purpose for the program?

[Eliash]

It gives the max price for which to buy lower grade materials in order to convert them to higher grade materials without exceeding the price you want to pay for the high grade materials.

In short, it helps the user get a more effective option of getting high grade materials.

[omegapirate2k]

Now if only I synthed my own things. Still, it will be useful to see how much I should charge for my old weapons and such.

[Eliash]

I just finished work on a new program, this time in Java. While this program probably isn't used much, especially now when it's not as important to buy/make your own synthing materials, I still wanted to update the previous console version to something much easier to use and much more friendly.

So, if you used the previous one and find it useful then hopefully you'll like the changes made with this one. It's much easier to use then the C++ consol version and provides an easier time switching between rounded board costs and fractional board costs. I need to still add support for metals/woods but that should be easier to do now that I have the basic program up.

Hope this update is useful to some people, if not it was still a good practice on my part to learn NetBeans IDE and Java. Since I don't visit these forums/play much these days if you need to get in contact with me for any reason (bug, request, ect...) my email is:
Link7887 (AT) Yahoo (DOT) com...please send the email with a subject like: "PSUConvert - Request" or "PSUConvert - Bug" so that I don't mistake it for spam.

Enjoy.