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Character Sheet App for Android 3.0 Honeycomb - Input Wanted

JDragon

Explorer
A non-gamer friend and I are endeavoring to build a Character Sheet / character tracker for PFRPG to be used on Android devices running the new Honeycomb Tablet OS.

Our test device currently is my Moto Xoom.

I hope to post notes on our progress here as well as seek other gamers input and assistance as we go.

We are in the very beginning stages of work and have not even done a proof of concept yet, so I have no idea how long it will be till something usable results from this adventure.

We are planning for developing the app in two phases...

The first will be just a character sheet/tracker that will be designed to replace your paper character sheet at the table and allow you to make changes on the fly. I hope to have it able to do 90% of the math based on information the user enters.

The second will actually start developing a data base of race / class and other information that will auto complete the data for you based on what you choose. I honestly have no idea if we will get this far, but this is my goal. I also hope to set up the database that anyone can input their own data to use (if this is possible).

I'll be sharing more as I go, so please let me know what you think and what ideas you have.

Thanks

JD
 

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First Question

I need to make sure we have everything covered so I'll be occasionally asking for input on rules and other things to make sure I don't miss anything. If its missing it will be my fault since my friend is just doing the programming based on my input.

For Ability scores what can adjust them? Both in creation and during the game.
I have the following....
Race / Level / Enhancement (magic item) / size / damage / drain

What am I missing?

Same question for Saves
I have...
Ability / Feat / trait / Moral / Resistance (magic) / Racial

What am I missing?

One last one, Armor Class
I have...
Dex / armor / natural / shield / armor enhancement / shield enhancement / natural enhancement / size / Dodge / Wisdom / deflection

What am I missing?

Thanks

JD
 

First Image

This is a mock up of how I'm picturing the layout.

In this image you can see what I'm referring to as the Info Bar that will run across the top of every screen. The idea being that no mater what you are looking at you always have this basic information in view. So when the DM says make a Perception check you don't have to go to the Skills screen to see what it is, or if the orc just hit you with a AC 19.

The lower part is the beginning of the details for the characters ability scores, including how they are getting the current score they have.

The graphics are what I needed to get me started and give me some definition to the space I had to work with.



Uploaded with ImageShack.us
 



It looks like a good start. But it lacks flash. I would look at what other types of apps and what they use. Such as widgets, pop up boxes that scroll, page turning etc. Otherwise it is just a glorified sheet. Otherwise you will get people saying things like I can just load a pdf. Tablets can do so much more then just show a character sheet. For example for the weapons you could have a popup box thats scrolls so you can put in various weapons and various ways of using it. Such as mele and missle attacks of a dagger.
 



Thanks for the reply's everyone.

My friend and I have not had much time to work this yet, but are getting together tomorrow night so I hope to make some progress soon.

As I mentioned we are writing it for 3.0 (Honeycomb) but I know my friend had mentioned wanting to make it work for older versions as well.

[MENTION=4023]falcarrion[/MENTION] - I agree that tablets can do a lot more, than what my initial images are showing. I have several challenges that I'm working against with this project.

#1 my programmer is not a gamer so their is some disconnect there.

#2 I'm not sure how much he can do yet, and I don't want to overwhelm him.
I would rather get a simple looking app that works to start with and then go back and make improvements in the function and GUI later.

On the up side...
He has already mentioned the idea of setting it up for skins to change the look of to meet personal preference.


My initial images were more to help inspire me and give me some framework to work with.

Please keep the feedback / ideas coming and I will try to get an update up once we make some progress.

JD
 

Unlike Falcarrion, I don't want flash. At least, not too much flash.

When I eventually get a honeycomb (or sequil) device, I want something nicer than an excel spreadsheet but nothing that will overload the meager resources of these portable devices. Heck, I find PDF reading to be laggy on my smartphone, and it's fairly new.

Actually, make that two Apps:

1. A basic, decent looking, savable character sheet that can be easily edited on the fly for houseruled items. It does not need a PSRD database attached.

2. A good character generator App al la Pathguy's stuff, with different options for generating stats (several major dice generations, point buy, elite array, manual entry)

To be honest, I doubt I would pay for #1, but I would pay for #2 if #1 existed for free. Think of the sheet as the free demo with the generator being the upsale.
 

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