Initiative 0.8.1 released

[soulcatcher]

Download both at: http://www.evilsoft.org/Software

Initiative 0.8.1 (GPL, with some code that is covered under the OGL)

CHANGES:
1. made the combat console more useful - it reports the casting and end of spells, deaths, and other Misc.
2. Fixed the columns, so that if a user changes their column order, it doesn't screw the whole thing
3. you can now clear your preferences
4. Misc other changes

Initiative is a tool that tracks initiative for a party, and for NPCs.
We found that in our gaming group, none of the players wanted to abandon
rolling for most things (attacks, damage, etc), but we did all notice
that initiative was particularly annoying to track. People would get
missed, combat was harder to keep track of, and rolling it didn't really
add to anyone's enjoyment of the game. So, the program was born - along
with the most important goal - only do as much as the user wants, and no
more.

The program tracks initiative, allows refocusing, rerolling, or for
the user to just type in a new initiative. at any time, you can just
tap the space bar, and it will take you to the next initiative. It will
also allow you to 'kill' combatants (and it will keep them, but skip
their initiative), and track spells, as well as their durations. It
keeps a log of the combats that happened in a session, to make it easy
for the GM to determining XP. Finally, as mentioned before, it can
import characters/parties from PCGen using templates.

This is the first of an intended series of apps that I plan on writing
with 6 goals:

Easy import from PCGen
Eases the GM's job
Good UI design
Only does as much as you want it to, and nothing more.
Easy communication between apps (for example, a combat program may
expose the encounter to a treasure generator)
Open Source

note: I did say goals - the intention is to have all of these, but it's
up to the users to decide if I did it

Enjoy,
Devon Jones

P.S. I have started a mailing list for this at
rpg-tools-subscribe@legolas.org

 

[BeerSkunk]

You touch on a couple of issues in your post that I think a lot of current third party software seems to struggle with, and are issues that motivated me to create my own software.

One issue is trying to do too much. I have a similar situation where no one in my gaming group is willing to let a computer take over their dice rolls. I'm certainly not interested in letting it roll for me. Rolling the dice is part of the fun! I think all the combat management stuff in some of the programs out there is cool, but ultimately not functional at the gaming table. We're gamers. We LIKE to roll dice. The more dice the better for some of us. For many of us we also like our miniatures and battlemaps. We enjoy the strategies of combat. We like to get our hands on it. Pointing and clicking a program to do the work is...well, boring.

The second point is good UI design. My chief complaint with all third party software I've tried, besides the unnecessary complexity, is that the UI is usually very unintuitive. The interface should be as simple and clean as possible. One thing I do to test my UI is to sit my wife down in front of it and watch her go through all the steps of creating, leveling, and managing a character. She's never played any type of RPG before and literally knows nothing about it. If she gets through it easily, then I'm pretty confident a gamer will know exactly what to do.

I'll give your Initiative program a try and see if I can't make use of it at my next game session this weekend. Best of luck on your software and achieving your goals.

 

[DMFTodd]

no one in my gaming group is willing to let a computer take over their dice rolls.

You two seem to be implying that other combat manager programs don't allow the players or the DM to roll their own dice. That's certainly not true in DM's Familiar.

Is that what you mean?

 

[soulcatcher]

I can't speak for BeerSkunk, but for me - I know other programs LET players or GMs roll dice....but that's the key word....let.

Most programs make it cumbersom, in some cases because it's necessary - the player rolls, then the GM has to do data entry. all in all, it's irritating, and doesn't add to the game.

Players like to roll dice for things that matter - it's not trust in the computer (although there is one person in my gaming group who doesn't trust my program's initiative rolls - unless it rolls high for him), it's a desire to have a hand in your own fate (I think).

Just my 2c.

 

[BeerSkunk]

I can only speak for myself, but that is not what I meant. It isn't that you're not allowed to roll dice. That's silly. It's not like the program holds a gun to your head demanding you to 'press its buttons'...

I was simply using it to illustrate a point that, imo, the current group of software is trying to manage too much. It's kind of like the 10,000 things MS Word can do for you, but you only use 20 of those things. Does that mean those features are useless? No.

Some people want all of those features. I don't, and I think a considerable number of other people don't want them either. Granted, if I don't want to use a feature I don't have to. Again, I'm not being forced to take advantage of everything that's there.

The problem for me is that the extensive number of features often leads to a cluttered interface. I don't want to calculate the improbability of landing a nanobot on Mars during the month of winter under a full moon. But the button for it is cluttering the interface, along with the 10 other buttons, sliders, lists, etc that I don't want to use.

I think there's a valid argument in saying that 'less is more'.

 

[soulcatcher]

I think all the combat management stuff in some of the programs out there is cool, but ultimately not functional at the gaming table. We're gamers. We LIKE to roll dice. The more dice the better for some of us. For many of us we also like our miniatures and battlemaps. We enjoy the strategies of combat. We like to get our hands on it. Pointing and clicking a program to do the work is...well, boring.

Yes! Ultimatly, we got together to role play, not to lan game

I'll give your Initiative program a try and see if I can't make use of it at my next game session this weekend. Best of luck on your software and achieving your goals.

Thanks! and please - Interface design can ALWAYS use improvement - if you see anything that you feel can use changes, let me know and I will be happy to try and fix it asap.

I want this program to be an unobtrusive as possible - while still providing as much value as possible...

Soulcatcher
(Devon Jones)

 

[Raevynn]

Soulcatcher - Looks good so far. I will have a few "ideas" to throw your way. I will do so via the mailing list.


Beaver

 

[soulcatcher]

Soulcatcher - Looks good so far. I will have a few "ideas" to throw your way. I will do so via the mailing list.

Right on, thanks

Soulcatcher
(Devon Jones)