I am also finishing an automated map plotting app.
It will have two text area inputs that will take something like this;
ISDI Deaths Head <E-A1>
VSDII Viceroy <E-B2>
TIEF 36 <E-B2>
TIEB 12 <E-C2>
(Note: <E-C2> means heading east, grid C2. Also, unit abbreviations will be fomalized and in the specs)
This should work for the ground grid as well, but first i want to get it working for space.
And plot them visually on the map for you, and you can hover over icons to see a popup with details. The first version will be rough but eventually I willa dd more features. I am close to having this tdone.. just need time and all my free time has been in the docs this last 10 days.
A simple spreadsheet "hack" is to simply tab everything out in any word processing program, and set the font to Courier.
Courier uses an equidistant spacing scheme so that each letter and empty space physically occupies the same amount of space.
I attached a file to this post "System Grid Template - Notepad Edition" if you want a down and dirty version.
For example, here is how it looks in Arial.
PLANET GRID
A B C D E
1 ( )( )( )( )( )
2 ( )(X)(X)( )( )
3 ( )(X) O ( )( )
4 ( )( )( )( )( )
5 ( )( )( )( )( )
(#) UNIT LOCATION
(1) Orbital Space Dock-III B-2
(4) Corellian Corvettes B-2
(4) Corellian Corvettes B-3
(4) Corellian Corvettes C-2
Here is how it looks in Courier.
PLANET GRID
A B C D E
1 ( )( )( )( )( )
2 ( )(X)(X)( )( )
3 ( )(X) O ( )( )
4 ( )( )( )( )( )
5 ( )( )( )( )( )
(#) UNIT LOCATION
(1) Orbital Space Dock-III B-2
(4) Corellian Corvettes B-2
(4) Corellian Corvettes B-3
(4) Corellian Corvettes C-2
Aesthetically, a huge difference. Might be easier to adapt when writing posts too.
