fenomas

Gamedev question for indies. How do folks handle their raw clumps of tabular data (e.g. big tables of monster or item stats)?

I'm currently using plain CSV files, but they're a pain to edit (openoffice is clunky, no good vscode plugins). It'd be neat to store such data in, say, google sheets or a Notion db - but those apps mostly don't work offline, and it would mean extra ad-hoc build steps to pull the data out into the game.

Any better options?

Jul 5, 2023 at 6:06amWeb
Show threadKojack 🦎Jul 5, 2023

@fenomas One option would be SQLite. Pretty easy to pull the data into most languages (I've done it with C++, C#, Ruby).
But it depends on whether you find the free user interfaces to it like SQLiteStudio to be more or less clunky than openoffice.

(Plus SQL is annoying in general, at least to me)

Show threadfenomasJul 5, 2023
@kojack Hmm, thanks for the thought. Not being particularly a DB person I suspect I'd find sqlite apps less convenient, but I'll give it a look!
Show threadRenJul 5, 2023
@fenomas We use LibreOffice .ods files (with colors, comments, etc.) that convert to .csv with a macro. I can give you the macros if you're interested.
Show threadfenomasJul 5, 2023
@Mephisto Interesting - I tried libreoffice back in the day but no longer remember why I didn't go with it. Can the macro export step be done as a build step when LibreOffice isn't running, as opposed to doing it manually after edits?
Show threadRenJul 5, 2023
@fenomas It automatically exports a .csv file on saving. I doubt it could be made to work when Libre isn't running but who knows.
Show threadfenomasJul 5, 2023
@Mephisto Trying this out, and it seems like a good solution, thanks! Can you point me at the macro?
Show threadRenJul 5, 2023
I'm not sure how to upload a .txt file, it's a bit long.
Show threadRenJul 5, 2023

@fenomas So this is horrible but I don't understand macros (or coding) and I can't find the exact same macro online, so I didn't wanna link to what I did find. Hopefully you can comprehend these and you won't have to manually type everything out..

The bottom one generates with commas, while the top with semicolons. (Unity localization imports use commas so we needed that one as well)

Show threadRenJul 5, 2023

@fenomas And to save you some time searching, you add them in Tools > Macros > Edit Macros > My Macros & Dialogues / Standard / Module1 / Generate_CSV > Paste the text.

And then on each .ods file you go to Tools > Customize > Events > Save Document and add Macro Generate_CSV or Generate_CSV_Comma.

Show threadfenomasJul 5, 2023
@Mephisto Hi, could I impose on you to post that as a pastebin? Go to https://pastebin.com/ and copy the script into the field at the top, and then click "Create New Paste" at the bottom and link me the resulting URL. No need to login or register etc.
Pastebin.com - #1 paste tool since 2002!

Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time.

Pastebin
Show threadRenJul 5, 2023
@fenomas Sure, here
https://pastebin.com/fCRP4gBS
Public Sub Generate_CSV()Dim sURL$ As String ' URL of current workbookDim Fi - Pastebin.com

Pastebin.com is the number one paste tool since 2002. Pastebin is a website where you can store text online for a set period of time.

Pastebin