Character Sheet Creation for New Rulesets

[Neopagan]

I am new to FG although I wish I had heard about it sooner as I would have invested sooner!

I am currently developing my own and original ruleset and therefore need to create a new character sheet for the game. Now I do not have any problem with digital art as I have been doing it for many years however I am very unfamiliar with XML. I have experience with HTML so I think I will pick it up without too much of a problem however I have one overriding question.

How do I figure out the coordinates for the numbering within the character sheet? obviously when writing the XML positions it requires 4 numeric coordinates so the text goes in the right place. Can anyone suggest an easy way to calculate this or a graphics package?

Thanks in advance.

[Crusader]

It's actually not hard at all. I use both GIMP and Photoshop and they both have the tools you need, and I guess other image editors have as well. The first two numbers are the X/Y coordinates where the field begin, and the last two numbers are the width and the height of the field. Use the selection tool of your image editor of choice and select the space of the image where you want your number- or stringcontrol, make note of the X/Y coordinates where you begin and the width and height of the selection. Enter the values in the xml-file, unselect and take the next one.

[Neopagan]

Thats excellent Crusader thankyou very much I have photoshop so I will have a look.

In the long term I would like to create a new ruleset but have little experience of that - I think the character sheet is the first step as all the rules can be used 'offline' so to speak.

[Cantstanzya]

What ruleset were you looking to make?

[Crusader]

No problems, I'm glad I could be of help. I actually like Photoshop better for this purpose because when you make the selection the size of the selected area is displayed in the little information window. GIMP only displays the size of the selection while you are in the process of selecting an area. Maybe there's a setting to keep the information visible once you let go of the mousebutton but I haven't made an effort to find out yet.

And I agree that the character sheet is the first step to go. I'm on that path myself. It's not hard actually, the xml-code in the existing ruleset example is overwhelming at first but once you get to it you'll work it out I'm sure. And this forum is of course a constant source of tips and new ideas. Good luck!