[UPDATED] CODENAME: MORNINGSTAR: Watch the UI Overview

Trapdoor Technologies, who are running the Codename: Morningstar Kickstarter for the electronic tools suite (launching with Pathfinder) has created a short User Interface Overview. This 2-minute silent video quickly shows you some of the functionality in the product, including character generation, party messaging, adventure browsing, product shelf, store, dice roller, and adventure creation and publishing.

The full Kickstarter is here. It has currently raised $19,000 of its $425,000 goal.

The below video has been updated with a new one which contains a soundtrack.

[video=youtube;QwHmy-J6l-0]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QwHmy-J6l-0&feature=youtu.be[/video]
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[Evenglare]

The problem is that the Dungeonscape product people saw accounted for probably 10-15% of their total efforts (that is an estimation on my part), as the bulk of their work was for iOS. So you don't know how well their product truly worked, because nobody really saw it.

Well what I did see did not deserve my money. If they wanted to make a better effort they should have done so. It's like when someone loses at a game and they say "I would have won if only I did ... " or "I would have won if you didn't...." It doesn't matter about what ifs, what matters is the actual product and effort shown to their audience, and I saw little to none on the PC or android. They might have the best product ever internally but it doesn't matter because I didn't see it. Perhaps they should have put their best foot forward, perhaps they should have shown off more, the what ifs could fill a book, but they didn't and thats what I base my opinion on.

 

[lyle.spade]

Well what I did see did not deserve my money. If they wanted to make a better effort they should have done so. It's like when someone loses at a game and they say "I would have won if only I did ... " or "I would have won if you didn't...." It doesn't matter about what ifs, what matters is the actual product and effort shown to their audience, and I saw little to none on the PC or android. They might have the best product ever internally but it doesn't matter because I didn't see it. Perhaps they should have put their best foot forward, perhaps they should have shown off more, the what ifs could fill a book, but they didn't and thats what I base my opinion on.

Well said - if they've got a great product, it's incumbent on them to show it. That's what the market demands, and that's what companies must deliver if they hope to convince consumers that their product is worth more to folks than the money in the folks' pockets.

I prefer that things work out well for people, but I'm going to put a stake in the ground and state that I do not believe that this KS will fund. It's a few days in and it's at something like 6%. Perhaps if Trapdoor revises its pitch (hey! add some sound so we know what we're looking at! I can do that on iMovie...can't you do that with your snazzy computers and programming skills??) they'll inject some life into what looks like a last gasp after losing the big contract with WOTC.

 

[jennywren]

I was thrilled to be in on the testing of this app, and as a very new gamer but techie person, I can say that the app really made the process of learning and playing the game great. I really appreciate the way the interface was set up, and I feel like it allowed me to concentrate on what was going on in the story more.

 

[Agglomérante]

I was thrilled to be in on the testing of this app, and as a very new gamer but techie person, I can say that the app really made the process of learning and playing the game great. I really appreciate the way the interface was set up, and I feel like it allowed me to concentrate on what was going on in the story more.

So thrilled it motivated you to write your first post to enworld? Welcome, stranger! Hope to see you around.

 

[jennywren]

So thrilled it motivated you to write your first post to enworld? Welcome, stranger! Hope to see you around.

Thanks! just learning my way around.

 

[fjw70]

I am really interested in the digital Ebook aspect of this. I was eagerly waiting on the 5e DungeonScape so I could get nicely designed ebooks for my 5e rulebooks and adventures. Obvioauly that didn't happen.

I hope if this KS doesn't fund that Trapdoor can still move forward with the publishing Ebook adventures with nice link to maps, text, stats, etc.

 

[Boarstorm]

I'm disappointed that they just added some music. I really think this would have been better sold if they'd had a voice-over telling us exactly what we're looking at.

Sure, I can extrapolate from what's going on on the screen, but sometimes I don't know where I'm supposed to be looking and so the video moves on to the next thing while I'm still distracted by another shiny, and then I have to rewind, and, ... well, you get it.

Direct my attention to the things you want to emphasize, please. Sell me on it. That would be so much more helpful than just adding some instrumental music.

 

[iwarrior-poet]

I wish them luck, but their Kickstarter goals (both $$$ and timeline), don't seem realistic. If they are successful---I will buy in.

 

[TDarien]

Well what I did see did not deserve my money.

They never tried to claim it did.

If they wanted to make a better effort they should have done so. It's like when someone loses at a game and they say "I would have won if only I did ... " or "I would have won if you didn't...." It doesn't matter about what ifs, what matters is the actual product and effort shown to their audience, and I saw little to none on the PC or android. They might have the best product ever internally but it doesn't matter because I didn't see it.

What exactly would you have them do? They had an iOS app that was, by all accounts, ready for submission to the App Store, yet couldn't reach an agreement on pricing. They showed if off at GenCon and to several podcasts, to rave reviews. They had thousands of people clamoring for access to the Web/Android versions, so they released them too early, before they were ready for consumption.

I'm quite sure they were counting on iOS revenue to fund the web and Android development (again, this is conjecture on my part), and when the iOS release was delayed that caused the web/android development to stall.

Yes, their Web product was substandard and not ready for release, but they never claimed it was.

Tell me please, what you would have done in their shoes.

Perhaps they should have put their best foot forward, perhaps they should have shown off more, the what ifs could fill a book, but they didn't and thats what I base my opinion on.

That's kind of my point. You can't objectively judge the project as a whole based on the small fraction of the effort you saw.

 

[iwarrior-poet]

If their iOS app was ready for submission, why do they need another $400k?