|
I honestly have not got around to testing the problem yet, I apologize for that.
I contacted the developer and he wasn't able to diagnose or fix the problem, so I would not recommend this program to any mac owner.
Kyle, thank you for getting back to me. He explored some options in the registry that I wouldn't have thought of, and sniffed out the problem.
So for those who might have an issue with fonts not displaying correctly in the program window and menus, contact Kyle, he has a solution. Simple and elegant!!
Great job!!
Now I can recommend this to all my contacts and associates as one of the best GM aids for Pathfinder out there (running on a Windows interface, whether directly or via a VMWare based Macintosh)
Robyn
I honestly have not got around to testing the problem yet, I apologize for that.
I contacted the developer and he wasn't able to diagnose or fix the problem, so I would not recommend this program to any mac owner.
Honestly you really do enough as is. I just thought I'd throw the Mac idea out there.
I honestly have not got around to testing the problem yet, I apologize for that.
I contacted the developer and he wasn't able to diagnose or fix the problem, so I would not recommend this program to any mac owner.Kyle, thank you for getting back to me. He explored some options in the registry that I wouldn't have thought of, and sniffed out the problem.
So for those who might have an issue with fonts not displaying correctly in the program window and menus, contact Kyle, he has a solution. Simple and elegant!!
Great job!!
Now I can recommend this to all my contacts and associates as one of the best GM aids for Pathfinder out there (running on a Windows interface, whether directly or via a VMWare based Macintosh)
Robyn
@Kyle: Any chance for you to post some sort of general fix howto or even correct this yourself in the next version? Or is this to specific to different systems?
@Kyle: Any chance for you to post some sort of general fix howto or even correct this yourself in the next version? Or is this to specific to different systems?
It is a single registry change. You may not need it to run on VMWare (I don't on the MacBook Pro I tested on). I'll post a reg key file in the near future.
If you want to manually make the change, here's the details from the .reg file:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Avalon.Graphics]
"DisableHWAcceleration"=dword:00000001
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Thanks for all your work on this software Kyle. I just found it and started messing with it and it looks like it will be an excellent tool that I'll be using at my table. :)
I'm new to Pathfinder and I'm starting DM'ing a group every Tuesday so I'm learning as I go.. Anyways my real question/confusion is that I think I read something about your program getting the monsters/feats/spells etc from the d20srd, but is that going to be the same as the monsters/spells/feats from the PF core/bestiary? Basically I'm asking if I can just "plug'n'play" with this or if I need to be aware of some variation?
Pandamonic -
It's the same thing. He's getting stuff from PFSRD.com, which is a direct transcription from the core rules.
This thing is pro. The downside is, you may never want to GM without it again.
Thanks Jeremiziah! Yea I kind of answered my own question when I went and checked out the d20pfsrd. I can't believe I didn't check that out sooner, it's got everything and now I'm looking at hooking up a monitor to my laptop so I can dual-screen when I'm GM'ing lol
I just donated. This program is exceptional, and we should support Kyle and his work financially. The dice roller is awesome.
I just donated. This program is exceptional, and we should support Kyle and his work financially. The dice roller is awesome.
As did I. This is a fantastic program. The attack roller saves buku amounts of time and energy during play. Any word on delay/ready automove feature Kyle mentioned a few posts back?
This delay/ready automove is a good idea. The other features I'll get in for certain at some point in the nearish future.
Thanks and keep up the great work!
Any word on delay/ready automove feature Kyle mentioned a few posts back?
Probably not the next release, as I've got a bunch of stuff to build for custom spells.
I need to follow this up with custom feats and importer/exporters for these things. The goal would be to get to a point where users can have some custom datasets to share, or maybe import custom datasets from some other sources.
But I'll certainly be dragging and dropping in some other features along the way.
One feature that would be really cool would be for the manage to be able to tell HOW someone missed a target.
Anyway, this is just one of those interesting bits of detail that a GM could provide to players to make combat a bit more visceral, as everyone is getting a very specific reason why the attack failed, rather than either requiring the GM to constantly narrate all the action, or slip into "hit" and "miss" statements.
This just strikes me as something that is purely up to the GM. I dont need the manager to tell me this information. This is flavor that the GM should be adding to combat anyways. If you're concerned about falling into a rut of "hit" and "miss" statements then you'd still have the problem of falling into "armor absorbs the hit" and "shield absorbs the hit" statements which are just as bland. Unless of course I completely misunderstood your idea. To me, the manager speeds up all the numbers game so that I should be able to devote more brainpower to being creative in my narration of the combat.
This just strikes me as something that is purely up to the GM. --snip --One feature that would be really cool would be for the manage to be able to tell HOW someone missed a target.
--snip for space --
Well, it's giving specific data, which a GM could work off of.
--snip --
Even still, if you just recite in a monotone voice the results...
THe problem, though, is that this hierarchy is all your house rule interpretation of the results. There's nothing in the rules to support it that I am aware of, and there can be a great deal of variation in the interpretation.
There's also precedent for certain Feats and Actions to lead to different interpretations. There *was* a rule in 3.x that if you missed a ranged attack into melee by 1-4, you might have hit any soft-cover (your allies, potentially).
I believe there are still rules that if you miss by 1 or 2 under certain circumstances, you might have hit the opponent's shield, or something like that.
In the end, the best way for a utility like this to lose broad support is to start implementing house rules as if they are core. Kyle started this utility for his own use and shared it; he is under no obligation to keep it "core only", but I would caution that unless any house-rules are easily disabled, the broad usefulness of the program will soon come to an end.
I'd like to add that there is actually now way to automatically determine if an attack did connect or not since the manager can roll attacks, but it doesn't compare it to any AC right now.
And I don't even think that would be wise. I have some basic values of the PCs in the manager (for secret rolls and the like) but I wouldn't want to keep full track of EVERYTHING the players do (like buffs that give a bonus to AC or new Items and the like). That would be far to much work for me as a DM, no matter how easy it might be to do in the editor,
What brings me to another thing:
@Kyle: I think there's a field for "Gear" missing in the monster editor. Haven't had the need before, but I just noticed that. Maybe you want to add taht at some point. Also the "HP Mods" field is centered, that seems wrong compared to the rest.
@Mok, Urath DM - Side discussion of Miss "fluff descriptors"
A Miss is a Miss, you wouldn't want to treat it as anything other.
Why?
Some attacks/effects/spells/items discharge when you simply touch your target. You have to be careful if you say, you missed, but grazed the opponent's shield because the power(s) might still trigger on that contact.
Obviously this would not happen every time, but i think it would occur in enough instances to be wary of and not include.
Am I really the only one who would love random encounters? I'm running a Kingmaker campaign and the ability to create random encounter tables and auto setup those encounters on the Manager itself would be amazing for the exploration part.
| 1 person marked this as a favorite. |
Am I really the only one who would love random encounters? I'm running a Kingmaker campaign and the ability to create random encounter tables and auto setup those encounters on the Manager itself would be amazing for the exploration part.
You're certainly not the only one. It's on the TODO list. I suspect I'll be doing this sooner rather than later, it probably won't be so complicated. I almost started once a couple of months back, but another feature took priority.
@Mok, Urath DM - Side discussion of Miss "fluff descriptors"
A Miss is a Miss, you wouldn't want to treat it as anything other.
Why?
Some attacks/effects/spells/items discharge when you simply touch your target. You have to be careful if you say, you missed, but grazed the opponent's shield because the power(s) might still trigger on that contact.
Obviously this would not happen every time, but i think it would occur in enough instances to be wary of and not include.
Sorry if I was not clear, but that's pretty close to what I was saying. To stay useful to the widest population, a utility application like this should stick to the mechanics and let the GMs make the final interpretations.
Am I really the only one who would love random encounters? I'm running a Kingmaker campaign and the ability to create random encounter tables and auto setup those encounters on the Manager itself would be amazing for the exploration part.You're certainly not the only one. It's on the TODO list. I suspect I'll be doing this sooner rather than later, it probably won't be so complicated. I almost started once a couple of months back, but another feature took priority.
Man, you're amazing. You have developed an absolute gem. It's astounding what you have done for the community.
I've just crashed the program several times, but I can't seem to locate the log files that I think are generated.
Regardless, the procedure to generate the crash:
Pick any monster from the db, or generate a treasure parcel and click the print button. Select the printer, crash.
I don't usually print stuff, but needed a treasure parcel to hand to players.
Thanks.
Thank you for creating this, my DM freaked out when I showed him. This'll make DMing soooo much easier. Keep up the good work.
Dot
I've just crashed the program several times, but I can't seem to locate the log files that I think are generated.
Regardless, the procedure to generate the crash:
Pick any monster from the db, or generate a treasure parcel and click the print button. Select the printer, crash.
I don't usually print stuff, but needed a treasure parcel to hand to players.
Thanks.
There should be files in C:\Users\<user>\AppData\Roaming\CombatManager named error<some number>.txt
If you can't find these files it's probably crashing in some native code instead of some .Net code. Send a screenshot to combatman@kyleolson.com and I can probably get a better idea of what's happening.
You might consider just copying and pasting the code to another app and printing it that way if you can't get around the crash. I've got saving this text to a file on my TODO list as well.
I had looked there, but there was no error log being generated.
I'll go down the path of copying now, but thought you should know.
Just out of curiosity do you have any issue with being able to print directly from your app?
I had looked there, but there was no error log being generated.
I'll go down the path of copying now, but thought you should know.
Just out of curiosity do you have any issue with being able to print directly from your app?
I've never see a problem with the printing functions, but I can't say I've tested them rigorously. The entire process of creating the feature took about 30 minutes, because I simply used built-in printing functionality of the WPF document controls. I would expect that to make it more reliable, but also it makes it tougher for me to fix specific problems.
I've never see a problem with the printing functions, but I can't say I've tested them rigorously. The entire process of creating the feature took about 30 minutes, because I simply used built-in printing functionality of the WPF document controls. I would expect that to make it more reliable, but also it makes it tougher for me to fix specific problems.I had looked there, but there was no error log being generated.
I'll go down the path of copying now, but thought you should know.
Just out of curiosity do you have any issue with being able to print directly from your app?
I'll try on my machines at home to see if I have the same issue. Work machine is a Win 7 Pro machine. I'll check back with you in a day or two when I have a few moments to test that functionality.
Thanks as always.
Ok, just got home and tested it on my XP machine and printing worked just fine. Will try the Win 7 Laptop later and post results on that test.
Amazing app!
One question though, I have a PC with BAB 1 and STR 18.
But the app calculates CMB =4 and CMD = 14. Will the BaB get added automatically in a future version?
Thanks again btw, great reference tool!
While working on a custom monster I too noticed that any changes I made to the CMB would get reset once I clicked out of that field:
Size Medium, BAB +3, Str 13, Dex 18, Agile Maneuvers.
On the edit screen CMB shows as 0.
In the stat block, CMB shows as 4.
When I try to correct it to 7, it gets reset to 0 the moment I click out of the CMB field. (CMD calculates correctly however.) Using v1.31.
While working on a custom monster I too noticed that any changes I made to the CMB would get reset once I clicked out of that field:
Size Medium, BAB +3, Str 13, Dex 18, Agile Maneuvers.
On the edit screen CMB shows as 0.
In the stat block, CMB shows as 4.When I try to correct it to 7, it gets reset to 0 the moment I click out of the CMB field. (CMD calculates correctly however.) Using v1.31.
I had that problem too. I found out that the monster I was editing was a custom monster I created in an early version (I think one where there wasn't a Monster Editor implemented). I somehow fixed it by going through the Database (via an SQL Editor) and altering that entry to match some other entries. That did the trick for me.
One question though, I have a PC with BAB 1 and STR 18.
But the app calculates CMB =4 and CMD = 14. Will the BaB get added automatically in a future version?
For some reason the BAB in the main window wasn't hooked up correctly so it wasn't changing the CMB/CMD/Attacks. I'll have that correct for the next version.
In theory, you can change all these stats manually now in the Monster Editor, unless you can't...
While working on a custom monster I too noticed that any changes I made to the CMB would get reset once I clicked out of that field:
Can you save this monster to a file and send a copy to me at combatman@kyleolson.com?
|
Kyle,
Downloaded the app to my Windows 7 laptop yesterday... made a BAB 1 STR 18 guy and CMB was correctly computed to +5...
Newbie question: can I select a PC or a monster and hit a button to have their full attack routine computed automatically? (i.e. attack results and associated damage results???)
If so, that would save SOOOOO much time at the table, especially for slow players with PCs that have TWF or lion/tiger animal companions....... :)
Can you save this monster to a file and send a copy to me at combatman@kyleolson.com?
Sent. It will be arriving from my alias at gmail.
|
|
follow up question: for lions / trolls --> is the rake / rend ability automated
(I'm guessing it kicks in depending on if you hit the enemy's AC with both claws, so while it would be calculated, a human conscious decision must subtract it from the total damage calculated IF the AC has not been reached by both claws... please confirm; thx)
Kyle,
Newbie question: can I select a PC or a monster and hit a button to have their full attack routine computed automatically? (i.e. attack results and associated damage results???)If so, that would save SOOOOO much time at the table, especially for slow players with PCs that have TWF or lion/tiger animal companions....... :)
Right click on the monster/character, select ROLL, select ATTACKS, and the routine you want to use.
And yes that feature saves a tonne of time!
follow up question: for lions / trolls --> is the rake / rend ability automated
(I'm guessing it kicks in depending on if you hit the enemy's AC with both claws, so while it would be calculated, a human conscious decision must subtract it from the total damage calculated IF the AC has not been reached by both claws... please confirm; thx)
Rolls in combat manager are automated but not calculated against a specific target. Hence the program will calculate total "to-hit" and damage rolls, but it is up to the DM to decide if they in fact hit a target. Special Attacks are not part of the automated rolls at this point.
I noticed two other things:
1/ The sling damage doesn't add STR bonus
2/ Playing around with creature size goes wrong sometimes. For example, for small creatures it says -1 (should be +1), and after changing to and fro the modifier doesn't always match the size.
|
Rolls in combat manager are automated but not calculated against a specific target. Hence the program will calculate total "to-hit" and damage rolls, but it is up to the DM to decide if they in fact hit a target. Special Attacks are not part of the automated rolls at this point.
They could be, though, right? So, Right Click ---> Roll ---> Select "Attack" ---> New Flyout "against" ---> Select from a list of monsters. That way it would actually fully resolve the attack and apply those Special Attacks as warranted. That could be a thing, it just isn't a thing yet.
They could be, though, right? So, Right Click ---> Roll ---> Select "Attack" ---> New Flyout "against" ---> Select from a list of monsters. That way it would actually fully resolve the attack and apply those Special Attacks as warranted. That could be a thing, it just isn't a thing yet.
Yes something like that is techncally possible, however when you start trying to automate the entire attack process and the associated math, things rapidly get both extremely complicated and unwieldly to use.
What you say is possible, but of course you need to start looking at all the external factors that affect whether you hit a specific target or not. Is the target flanked? Does it have cover? Higher ground? Someone using the "aid another" action to assist? etc. etc. etc. Each of those would need to be implemented (probably as a condition) and have to be checked for every attack. Like I said VERY unwieldly.
I think the way Kyle has things now is just about ideal from a usability perspective.
If you've ever used the old 3.5 DMGenie program you'll know what I mean. It tried to do all of that and somewhat succeeded, but there were so many options you had to check off and such for an attack, just trying to fit them all on the screen was a challenge.
I tried to do my own version of Combat Manger years back and it died a slow death of a thousand cuts due to things like this.
They could be, though, right? So, Right Click ---> Roll ---> Select "Attack" ---> New Flyout "against" ---> Select from a list of monsters. That way it would actually fully resolve the attack and apply those Special Attacks as warranted. That could be a thing, it just isn't a thing yet.Yes something like that is techncally possible, however when you start trying to automate the entire attack process and the associated math, things rapidly get both extremely complicated and unwieldly to use.
Already the Popup menus are getting really big. The roll-skill-profession menu is pretty stupid right now, as an example.
I certainly don't love what I've done with the roll-attacks option. I could add another layer for targets. Adding one more popout for targets is possible, but it's a pretty incomplete solution as well because it doesn't take into account situational modifiers - flanking, cover, range, concealment (not a mod, but close enough).
I feel like I need a different UI to make this work in a way that would be usable. I have a grasp on what that looks like, but not a firm one. Not enough to build it yet.
Combat Manager update to 1.3.2
Custom Spells
Drag and drop characters on player and monster lists
Drag and drop files onto player and monster lists
Add Ultimate Magic feats and missing APG feats
Add Idle and Hidden states for characters
Add links and coloring to initiative list
Remember recent die rolls
Fix condition crash
Minor monster editor improvements
Extend tooltip display time
Fix BAB adjustments in stats block
Fix monster CMB/CMD parsing and updating
Improve Spell Like Abilities parsing performance
Avoid crashes on invalid die entry
Hey Kyle, couldn't check out all new features, but this updates seems to rock... again ;)
BUT: I get a crash everytime I try to open the Monster Editor:
11:58:53
System.NullReferenceException: Der Objektverweis wurde nicht auf eine Objektinstanz festgelegt.
bei CombatManager.MonsterEditorWindow.<.ctor>b__0(Object , RoutedEventArgs )
bei System.Windows.EventRoute.InvokeHandlersImpl(Object source, RoutedEventArgs args, Boolean reRaised)
bei System.Windows.UIElement.RaiseEventImpl(DependencyObject sender, RoutedEventArgs args)
bei MS.Internal.FrameworkObject.OnLoaded(RoutedEventArgs args)
bei System.Windows.BroadcastEventHelper.BroadcastEvent(DependencyObject root, RoutedEvent routedEvent)
bei System.Windows.BroadcastEventHelper.BroadcastLoadedEvent(Object root)
bei System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.FireLoadedPendingCallbacks()
bei System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.FireInvokeOnRenderCallbacks()
bei System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.RenderMessageHandlerCore(Object resizedCompositionTarget)
bei System.Windows.Media.MediaContext.RenderMessageHandler(Object resizedCompositionTarget)
bei System.Windows.Interop.HwndTarget.OnResize()
bei System.Windows.Interop.HwndTarget.HandleMessage(WindowMessage msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
bei System.Windows.Interop.HwndSource.HwndTargetFilterMessage(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
bei MS.Win32.HwndWrapper.WndProc(IntPtr hwnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wParam, IntPtr lParam, Boolean& handled)
bei MS.Win32.HwndSubclass.DispatcherCallbackOperation(Object o)
bei System.Windows.Threading.ExceptionWrapper.InternalRealCall(Delegate callback, Object args, Int32 numArgs)
bei MS.Internal.Threading.ExceptionFilterHelper.TryCatchWhen(Object source, Delegate method, Object args, Int32 numArgs, Delegate catchHandler)
Just a quick question: I can't seem to figure out what you mean by "Add links and coloring to initiative list". ^^
I love the Idle-function! The Drag and Drop features could use some usability work though (some way of indicating where the draged item will end up by drawing a line between the other entries or something...)
And except for the Monster Editor crash this is a great update like alsways :)
Hey Kyle, couldn't check out all new features, but this updates seems to rock... again ;)
BUT: I get a crash everytime I try to open the Monster Editor:
Is this for all monsters, or only for certain monsters? Does it work when you customize a monster on the monster tab?
|
|
I certainly don't love what I've done with the roll-attacks option. I could add another layer for targets. Adding one more popout for targets is possible, but it's a pretty incomplete solution as well because it doesn't take into account situational modifiers - flanking, cover, range, concealment (not a mod, but close enough).
I feel like I need a different UI to make this work in a way that would be usable. I have a grasp on what that looks like, but not a firm one. Not enough to build it yet.
Yeah, the situational modifier bit, as mentioned by you and Cutter, actually totally convinces me that the tool may not be ready for this. Thanks as always for taking the time to respond.
|
The ranger archetype Skirmisher can take Hunter's Tricks. One of these, Surprise Shift, allows the following:
(cut and paste from page 129 of APG)
"Surprise Shift (Ex): The ranger can move 5 feet as a swift action. This movement does not provoke attacks of opportunity and does not count as a 5-foot step."
The description in both Combat Manager and Hero Lab shows this as a move action. I have posted the same bug report over on the HL forums, thought I should post it here as well.
The d20PFSRD shows the proper text of the ability here:
Skirmisher
By the way, this is one of the best gaming tools I have found in ages. Thanks for being awesome!