Last November, we announced the availability of a new JavaScript API in Excel. This new API allows developers to create their own custom data types containing images, entities, arrays, and formatted number values – backed by their own custom data sources, in addition to allowing for the creation of custom functions which can make use of these new Excel Data Types, both as inputs and outputs.
We were excited for the possibilities and the unique solutions that would be created using this new API.
Today, we’re even more excited to share with you some of the work CCP Games has been doing using the API, to bring their data right to your fingertips as Excel data types.
CCP Games, a Pearl Abyss company since 2019, was founded in 1997 in Reykjavik, Iceland. With the launch of EVE Online in May 2003, CCP Games established itself as one of the most innovative companies in interactive entertainment, winning numerous awards and receiving critical acclaim worldwide.
Eve Online is a space-based, persistent world massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG), wherein players can participate in a number of in-game professions and activities, including mining, piracy, manufacturing, trading, exploration, and combat. The game is renowned for its scale and complexity with regards to player interactions – in its single, shared game world, players engage in unscripted economic competition, warfare, and political schemes with other players.
EVE Online players frequently use Excel to work with in-game data to model and calculate everything from trading profit margins to battle strategy. It has even been fondly nicknamed “Spreadsheets in Space.” Now, by utilizing the new JavaScript API in Excel, CCP Games hopes to make this in-game data even easier for players to access, work with, and quickly refresh.
Here are some examples of the kinds of new Data Types we have been thinking about making available within the Eve Online add-in:
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Data Type |
Example |
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Ships – Ships are instrumental in the Eve Online universe. They can be used to travel, ferry materials and of course battle your opponents. |
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Materials – Materials are the backbone of any universe and Eve Online is no different. These data types contain pricing and other information to aid in market and building decision making. |
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Blueprints – Blueprints and materials are like bread and butter. These two things in concert allow players to create items in the universe. Plan out your resource gathering requirements for your next move |
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Star Systems – Eve Online has a vast array of Star Systems to explore in the universe. These data types aid in decision making on how to manipulate these systems best to the players advantage. |
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Eve Online Item Search
Custom Functions are also being thought about. In this example, it’s possible to easily get at the data players are looking for. This function searches the vast array of in-game items to return results quickly and efficiently.
This is just a glimpse of the vast set of data that makes up the Eve Online universe.
The hope is that with this add-in CCP Games can
- Allow open and easy access for curious minds
- Support small and mid-size player corporations with organizing activities that don’t have access to infrastructure
- Facilitate advanced and hardcore gameplay and optimization strategies
We look forward to seeing this work evolve over the course of the project!
Learn More
You can learn more about CCP Games’ partnership with the Excel team at link coming soon, and we’re thrilled to be featured at EVE Fanfest 2022, May 6-7 in Reykjavik, Iceland.
To learn more about the data types JavaScript API in Excel, you can check out these resources:
- M365 Dev Blog
- Office: The universal interactive canvas for all creators
- Ignite skilling session for some demos and a deeper dive
- Technical documentation for developer specifics
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