Drums of War HD for iPad now available

[Septimus]

I apologize if announcing a commercial product in the forums is frowned upon, but I thought this might be of general interest. (I'm also pretty excited that this version is finally done!)

The latest release of Drums of War (Drums of War and Drums of War HD for iPhone, iPad, and iPod Touch.) is a revamped version built from the ground up to take advantage of the iPad's features. "Drums of War HD" includes the new iPad version and the old iPhone/iPod Touch version as well in a universal app.

- completely redesigned UI for the iPad
- in-app dice roller
- round tracking
- apply short/extended rests to clear tracked powers
- can use camera on iPad2 to take photos of monsters/PCs

...plus everything the old iPhone/iPod Touch version had, including Character Builder file import, integration with the D&D Compendium, and more.

Back when the iPad first came out, someone on the enworld forums said, "if an app that could track initiative and characters existed, I'd buy an iPad." That was pretty much my feeling, too, which is why I wrote the app. It was always intended to run on the iPad...hope you enjoy this new version!

iTunes Store link:
Drums of War HD for iPhone, iPod touch, and iPad on the iTunes App Store

-dave

 

[Jack99]

Looks interesting. Anyone has any experience with this app?

 

[Markn]

I bought the app today. From what I can tell, there is no way to pull monsters from DDI. If it could do that, I'd be happy with it. Without that feature, it may never see much use. I want automation as much as possible. I don't want to have to populate monsters for every encounter.

Maybe the developer can let me know if I am missing anything or if that option is coming.

 

[Septimus]

You're not missing anything: DDI currently doesn't support export of monsters. As soon as it does, I'll be adding the ability to import. It's something I've been waiting for for a while! You can customize and save monsters using the Adventure Tools but unfortunately there's no way to export.

Of course, you can create monsters from scratch and save them (and reuse them) without importing. As a DM I add monsters and encounters to the app before a session so I have everything ready to go when the group sits down at the table. As a player I track all my characters in the app and mostly use it during a game to track power usage and other resources at the table.

One idea I had re: monsters was to throw up a web site that people could use to create monsters for import by the app...but it seems like WotC is going to add that to the Monster Builder any day now so I've been concentrating on other features (like the getting the iPad version done).

I have a bunch of other new features in the works, including: better tracking of APs, milestones, and power points. Dice rolling will be added to the iPhone UI (it's currently only available when running on iPad). I also want to revamp the UI for resource tracking in general.

I really appreciate any feedback! Send any suggestions to support @Drum sofwarapp.com.

 

[blalien]

It is possible to data mine from the D&DI Compendium. Sylloge, an Android app, does it. It requires that the user be logged into D&DI so it's legal.

 

[Kzach]

It is possible to data mine from the D&DI Compendium. Sylloge, an Android app, does it. It requires that the user be logged into D&DI so it's legal.

This would need to be a feature of Drums of War before I'd even consider buying it. The other thing would need to be the ability to import characters from the Character Builder export files... though how you'd manage that given the Character Builder can't be opened on the iPad, I don't know.

 

[Dannager]

You're not missing anything: DDI currently doesn't support export of monsters. As soon as it does, I'll be adding the ability to import. It's something I've been waiting for for a while! You can customize and save monsters using the Adventure Tools but unfortunately there's no way to export.

As others have said, being able to import from the Compendium (not Adventure Tools) is pretty much a must-have feature at this point. Apps have been doing that for years.

 

[ugotgot]

I made the mistake of buying this app before reading this whole thread. Unfortunately, it's useless.

I don't feel like typing in every. single. thing. about the monsters I'm using in my encounter. The buttons are too small for things like level, AC, etc. The UI used for character input is strange because I can easily upload the mere 5 player characters that I need for my game through iplay4e or dropbox or whatever.

the HUNDREDS of monsters, however? Nope. Got to punch in the stats, one by one, into an interface designed for player character input.

I'll just agree with everyone above. Don't bother with this app until it has monster integration, because without it, it's just a digital character sheet that costs 8 bucks.

My own damn fault for assuming it did what I thought it should do.

 

[Septimus]

As others have said, being able to import from the Compendium (not Adventure Tools) is pretty much a must-have feature at this point. Apps have been doing that for years.

The app does let you import .dnd4e files exported from the Character Builder. Currently the Character Builder is the only thing that exports these files (not the Monster Builder). If you're having difficulty importing, let me know.

The app is meant not just as something that can track your characters, though (which it can) but which can track all the elements of combat during play. Conditions, initiative order, damage, etc.

 

[Septimus]

It's true that it's possible to mine data from the Compendium (a la Sylioge). While Drums of War does not include a full Compendium search -- though I don't think that would be difficult to implement -- the Compendium urls imported as part of the character import process link back to the compendium and can be referenced during play. That means you don't have to go to your character sheet or open a book to get the latest rules for you character (assuming you're online; at the moment I don't cache downloaded Compendium data).

I find this feature tremendously useful in the games I play and DM.