Attn: DMs with iPhones/iPod Touch - Need help and feedback.

[balth]

Hmm that might be possible with the row at the top (item that always wins initiative).. still not sure how to tell it that it's at the end of the list to add one to the row counter per se, especially with allowing fluid ordering due to holding of actions/delaying/etc. But I will see what my proggie thinks about that. He's 6 hours ahead of me, so I won't get to talk to him till tomorrow. Hmm that's also going to cause a problem with our alert routines, in that it's going to pop up a window that says 'It's Row Counter's turn!' LOL.

I might have to see if we can do something graphical instead. The main problem is how we coded the list (no lie, because it was easier to move the list than move the screen down through the list statically). Because of that, I'm not even sure we could have a 'Round' row at the top that stays up there, because as you can see whenever the highest item is done, it gets cycled to the bottom, and so would that row counter. I'm going to have to think about that one. It may not be doable, but I'll look into it.

Amy do you know of an app that uses this feature? I haven't seen it yet and would like to check it out.

Resistor, I actually felt the same way when I bought mine last year; I just don't think Apple does a good job of saying loudly enough 'iPod users have to pay to upgrade their OS for every commercial release.' It should be a sticker on the box or something, honestly. Just so folks know what they're getting into; but I definitely see your accounting point (I'm a finance guy believe it or not LOL). I'm about to plunge in for the monster 3G-S. Any chance you can give a guy a hint how long til other carriers can have iPhones? I'm looking at August-September *grin*.

Trevalon, nice Domo-Kun (かれ　は　とても　かわいいですよ＾＿＾）and I look forward to your feedback

 

[Timeboxer]

Amy do you know of an app that uses this feature? I haven't seen it yet and would like to check it out.

Not besides simply playing music on the iPhone. Give it a shot and try scraping around -- sliding up and down affects the speed of the scrape.

 

[balth]

Just spoke with my coder, .2 should be in the can and up for approval on Sunday, with hopefully a 2-3 day turnaround. I'll post a full changelog when it's approved.

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

Okay, I'll preface my comments with the fact that I have not had a chance to really use this in the field--just a bit of experimentation.

1. The pop-up warning is a nice cue for who's turn it is, and the red outline works as a pretty good indication of the starting of a new round.

2. My biggest issue with the app as is, is that it removes initiative rolling from the players entirely--I don't think any of my "regular" (we hardly play enough to call it a regular group) players would particularly care for that.

3. Entering encounter information is fine--it's hard to improve it much beyond what it is, really.

4. A way to save encounter set-ups is a must--this app is simply too slow to speed up the game if a DM has to set up the encounter within the app at the table.

5. A possible solution to issue 2 would be to allow drag-and-drop sorting of the list. What this does is allow the DM to account for things like delaying, holding, etc. Given that it mostly works as a "this is the order determined by the encounter dice rolls, here's who's up" list right now, this might require quite a bit of work, but I think it would be marvelous if that were possible.

An example: Bill, Bob, Bobert and 3 Goblins are in a fight. You enter all their modifiers and have the app roll the initiatives and they're sorted. Things go in order for 2 rounds, but then Bob decides to delay his action. You tap an edit button, and drag icons appear on the sides of each line/combatant, letting you drag him to a different spot in the order. (or all the way at the bottom to a "hold/delay/etc" portion of the screen perhaps)

For an example of this sort of drag and drop, the only app I can think of is the $20 dollar (or is it 40?) task manager OmniFocus, which might have videos online somewhere of it in action.

Another possible solution to the "what to do about holds etc." would be to add a "delay/hold etc." status check box that would exclude the player from the normal order of initiative if checked.

This probably requires quite a bit more code, or a lot of rewriting of what you already have, and may not even be technically feasible but that's my biggest suggestion--a user drag-sortable list. That sort of implementation would definitely make me use this app at the table, but for now, I'm probably still happier with a dry erase board or cards.

 

[Hadrian the Builder]

2. My biggest issue with the app as is, is that it removes initiative rolling from the players entirely--I don't think any of my "regular" (we hardly play enough to call it a regular group) players would particularly care for that.

I made this mistake as well, but you actually can edit the initiaive for each player to match their roll.

 

[Moon_Goddess]

Larinza: I asked about Android. My coder said "Sure! But tell them they need to send me an Android phone so I can program/debug on it, and I'll get right on it."

I"m not Larinza out here

As for sending him an Android phone to code and test on,
Android Emulator | Android Developers is the best I'm gonna be able to do for him, sorry It's fully functional though

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

I made this mistake as well, but you actually can edit the initiaive for each player to match their roll.

Well that makes it better. Still takes a bit of time to edit it, but perhaps not all that different from a pen and paper list.

My feature request and suggestion still stands though--a user-draggable list. You could even have (I have no idea of what's actually code-able) something along the side with the initiative counts so that as you drag, you're actually dragging to the correct number initiative.

On another note, from the "entering info" perspective...is it possible to just use a number keypad for fields with only numbers--like hit points and initiative? That would make for a bit quicker editing, but I don't know if you can mix and match text entry fields with different kinds of keyboards.

 

[balth]

My feature request and suggestion still stands though--a user-draggable list. You could even have (I have no idea of what's actually code-able) something along the side with the initiative counts so that as you drag, you're actually dragging to the correct number initiative.

This is actually the request that we got from Jerry/Tycho. My coder is supposed to be on it; but I'm in management school at the moment with no way to contact him atm, I'll have to check on that when I get back.

On another note, from the "entering info" perspective...is it possible to just use a number keypad for fields with only numbers--like hit points and initiative? That would make for a bit quicker editing, but I don't know if you can mix and match text entry fields with different kinds of keyboards.

Funny part is; that's how v1.0 was; and the problem is that the numeric keypad has no 'done' button, or any way to get it off the screen, so it would cover the items below so you couldn't see them without dragging/being a hassle. It was *quite* annoying.

Also, DarwinofMind, sorry!!!! Habit LOL. Do I still get my +2 to init from you here? I hope so

I'll pass the info along to him, thanks for the link!

Thanks again for all the stellar contact, I'm still reading it (although it's a bear to post right now, my mgmt school is like boot camp) but please keep the thoughts coming! I really appreciate the help!

Mark

 

[Trevalon Moonleirion]

This is actually the request that we got from Jerry/Tycho. My coder is supposed to be on it; but I'm in management school at the moment with no way to contact him atm, I'll have to check on that when I get back.


Mark

Well I guess the PA guys share my taste in feature requests--awesome!

The number pad thing was just a thought--I hadn't realized that there was a problem with the number pad itself. Perhaps that's why I've almost never seen it in apps!

 

[balth]

version 1.2 submitted today (look for it in 1-3 days on iTunes as an update)

- DRAG AND DROP initiative reordering while in edit mode
- Changed UI appearance
- Fixed a bug that made two characters with the same init value loop forever
- Added reset button
- Now supports Max HP and Current HP (bloodied players will have a red HP value)
- Fixed a bug in which some entries would roll an initiative of 0. (die parameters changed from 0-20 to 1-20)

All of these items are suggestions by the communities at Penny Arcade, ENWorld.org and the D&D Official Forums. Thank YOU for helping us keep this a living, breathing project!

I hope you all leave feedback once the release goes live!


--Mark

http://forums.gleemax.com/editpost.php?do=editpost&p=19030182