ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ
1
WBC GM assistant 2017 version 1.0
2
Copyright Andrew Latto 2014, 2015
3
4
Final 2017 version: contains up-to-date 2017 registration info
5
6
If you plan to use this spreadsheet at WBC 2017, please try it out before the event! If you have any questions or run into any problems, I'm much more likely to be able to help you before WBC. During WBC I will be busy playing games and GM'ing tournaments!
7
8
If you are planning to use this spreadsheet, please email me at andy.latto@pobox.com, and let me kow what event you're using it for. That way, if I find any errors in the spreadsheet, I have a way to contact you and let you know how to fix things (usually just by getting a new copy of the spreadsheet)
9
10
There are two uses for the GM assistant. The first and most important is to assist at registration time by speeding registration and detecting registrations by players not registered for the appropriate day. The second is to assist with recording results and computing the qualifying order for Final, Semifinal, or QuarterFinal rounds. Using it for the first purpose only is fine, and should be useful for tournament formats such as HWO where the second use is not necessary. The advantage of using the same spreadsheet for both uses is that when the spreadsheet is used for registration, it can automatically compute whether a win is in the first heat entered, making the qualifying order computation easier. If you want to use this software for the second use without using it for all registration, you'll have to enter all players into the "resuts" sheets, even if they came in third or fourth and scored no points, so that the spreadsheet will know they played, and can record a win in a subsequent heat as "not in first heat entered"
11
12
Send any questions, comments, or requests for enhancements to andy.latto@pobox.com.
13
14
Instructions for use. Note that you should do steps 1-4 BEFORE going to Seven Springs, while you still have good internet connectivity. I hope that internet connectivity will be better at Seven Springs than it was at the Host, but better safe than sorry!
15
16
1. Go to the provided URL, and click File/Copy to make your own copy of the spreadsheet. If you plan to make any local modifications to the spreadsheet, realize that you will have to make them again if you copy a later version, so keep track of what you've changed!
17
18
You should only use a version that includes the words "contains 2017 Registration info" at the top of this documentation. Feel free to copy and experiment with earlier versions, but do not use them at WBC!
19
20
2. You need to make sure your spreadsheet will work when not connected to the internet. I don't want to count on internet connectivity being available in all gaming areas at Seven Springs, and the spreadsheet seems to operate a bit faster when not connected to the internet. This feature of Google sheets only works with the Chrome browser, so if you don't have Chrome installed, go to https://www.google.com/intl/en/chrome/browser/ to install Chrome.
21
22
3. Follow the instructions at https://support.google.com/docs/answer/2375012 to enable offline access to Google sheets.
23
24
4. Use File/Rename to give your spreadsheet a more appropriate name, including the game name and year.
25
26
If you're only using the spreadsheet to record results, not to check people in, skip to step 7. If you are using the spreadsheet to sign people in:
27
28
5. At registration time for a heat, have the spreadhsheet open to the "Heat <n>" signin page. Put the day in the appropriate box at the top. If the day is the frist Saturday or Sunday of con, use "First Saturday" or "First Sunday"; otherwise, just use the day name.
29
30
 To register someone, check their badge, then enter the badge number in the next available space in the "Badge Number" column.
31
32
If their name appears in the "Name" column, and "PAID" appears in the "Paid?" column, great! They are registered.
33
34
If the wrong name appears in the "Name" column, you mis-entered the badge number; erase it and try again
35
36
If their name appears in the "Name" column, but "CHECK BADGE" appears in the "Paid?" column, then they have preregistered for the convention, but not for this day. They may have changed their registration on-site; check their badge, and only allow registration if it indicates that it is valid for today.
37
38
If no name appears, they have not preregistered for WBC. Check their badge to make sure they have registered for this day, and then enter their name manually in the "Name" column. You will need to update the master list later.
39
40
Feel free to use the remaining columns for whatever you like: I generally use them to record who I've asked to set up a game, and their table number, so I can make sure the right number of games are set up.
41
42
Note that the entrant rows do not start with row 1, so the row number of the final entrant does *not* give the number of entrants.
43
44
6. After registration is complete (or during registration if you have time) add the name and badge number of any new players to the Master List. If not all players have been entered, the red text at the top will indicate that this needs to be done. You can find the entrants on the signin sheet not in the master list by looking for TRUE entries in the "Add to Master?" column. Sorting by this column makes them easy to find.
45
46
7. Go to the "Tiebreak Formulas" page and adjust the formulas as desired. If you're using HSW rather than HMW, you should change the point value for win in first heat entered to something more than twice the value for a win in a later heat. If you're using the spreadsheet for entering results, but not for signing in, set the value after "use signin sheets to determine if first heat entered" to FALSE. Note that if you do this, you must enter all players into the results spreadsheets, even those who don't score any qualification points.
47
48
8. After the heat is concluded (or as results come in during the heat), Enter ther results on the appropriate results sheet for the the heat. If you are using the same tiebreak as I use for Thurn and Taxis (described on the "Tiebreak" sheet, and in the Thurn and Taxis preview on the WBC web site), you only need to enter the badge number and score of the first and second place player in each game, since no tiebreak points are awarded for a below-average finish. However, it is important to enter something in the "fourth badge number" column, so the scoring formula knows that it should use the 4-player game formula. I generally just put 9999 in for the badge number in the first row, drag this down to cover all the rows, then blank it out for the few 3-player games.
49
50
9. The points scored by each player are now on the "Master" sheet. Sorting this by the "total points" row gives the qualification order for the semifinals. I generally cut and paste the first 32 rows or so to a text file, edit it a bit so it looks nice, and print it out and put it on the kiosk.
51
52
Thanks to Andrew Emirick for his assistance and helpful suggestions.
53
54
FAQ:
55
56
Q. If I save this spreadsheet, and try to load it in Excel, will that work?
57
A. I've never tried and don't plan to. Feel free to try, but at your own risk; I'm only supporting the Google Sheets version.
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69
70
71
72
73
74
75
76
77
78
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100