sentry0

I've been working on a status effect tracker for characters this weekend.  It's a simple system that currently tracks Aid, Drain, Entangle, and Flash effects for the currently selected character.

Here's a screenshot of what it looks like on the Combat screen, note the "Status Effects" heading:

There's UI elements to Add/Edit/Clear statuses en masse or individually.

Here's a screenshot of what the UI looks like when adding a drain status to a character:

Should be available in the 1.7.0 release.

I'm pushing the 1.6.3 build into production in order to address some stability issues I've been seeing in the app.

Patch notes:

• Fixed a crash with loading characters from the local device
• Fixed a crash which could occur when toggling off sounds under certain circumstances

In general, I have been analyzing the crash reports that are collected by the various app stores and am making an effort to track down and fix the issues.  For example, there have been reports of a crashing animation library which I happen to know is related to the drawer.  I am not able to reproduce the error but I did upgrade the library to the latest stable version in hopes it mitigates the crash... it's about as good as I can do without being able to locally reproduce it.

4 hours ago, Kaze9999 said:

Also it would be SO helpful if we could get a mobile app version and or browser based version of Hero Designer.

I get you want shiny tools like other systems have but they don't come from a vacuum.  Someone has to build them and HERO isn't exactly flush with cash to pay developers for their (expensive) time.  I can't speak for the other software devs who have products out there but I certainly don't make money off my project... and to be brutally honest if I wanted to make money off an app I would target a community much bigger and active than HERO.  I lose money on my hobby project because of things like Apple developer fees, my actual hourly rate,  and tool costs etc... but I never set out to make money of this endeavor.

That said I've been eyeballing this project which claims to be able to turn my app into a webapp with little effort on my part.  Could be a fun little side project but then there's additional costs on my part for things like domain registration and hosting fees.

I just pushed the 1.6.2 build into production.  This build adds a couple of new features for equipment and adds an over/under percentage field to the result screen.

Patch notes:

• The roll result screen now shows you how much you were over or under the average roll
• Added Quantity, Weight, and Cost fields to equipment
• Importing a character that is already loaded in the character viewer will now replace that character automatically
• Fixed an issue with the reset button on Endurance on the combat screen
• Fixed a display issue with Compound Powers which were composed of skills, talents, and/or perks
• Fixed AoE costs for 5th edition characters
• Fixed Forcewall dimensions for 5th edition characters

As usual, the build will be available in a couple of hours from now.

While I try to keep the need to import your characters to a minimum, this build will require you to re-import characters with equipment to fix the bug with Compound powers and skills/perks/talents.  I apologise for any inconvenience it may cause you.

1 minute ago, C-Note said:

 

Thank you.  If it isn't too much trouble, while you're adding Cost and Quantity, can you include the "Weight" field?

I added that in too while I was in there.

Quantity only shows up if there's more than one item... sound good? 

On 2/7/2020 at 2:39 AM, C-Note said:

Heroic Template support, please!  Specifically, Powers as "Equipment" support.  Currently, the app crashes when I try to open a piece of Equipment built as a Compound Power.  Also requesting that Equipment displays "Quantity" and "Cost" (currency, not points).

I fixed the bug with equipment in the 1.6.1 build (currently in review on the app stores).

Sorry but I totally forgot about your request for cost and quantity... I'll add that in now so I don't forget again  

I am pushing the 1.6.1 build into production for Android and iOS as I write this.  This build continues to add support for loading 5th edition characters directly from Hero Designer files and addresses a serious crash to desktop bug.

Patch notes:

• Added in support for 5th edition specific powers such as Find Weakness
• Added support for Elemental Controls
• Added support for 0 point characteristics with advantages
• A warning message now appears when importing an XML character
• Fixed a couple of display issues with Compound Powers
• Fixed a bug with equipment which were created as Compound Powers

Using the XML export template and loading that character into the app is officially deprecated at this point.  At some point in the future I will be removing support for it entirely.. the warning message will stay in place until that time.

The new build should start showing up on your devices later today or tonight depending on how fast they receive approval.

Due to how characters are imported now I would recommend you re-import your characters, especially for 5th edition characters or characters using equipment.

Finally found the issue after spending all night banging my head against the wall.  Very annoying bug to track down but it's been squashed.

I also fixed an unrelated display issue with compound powers while I was in there.

I'll see about pushing a build over the weekend.

15 hours ago, C-Note said:

My phone is encrypted, if that matters.

Good news, kinda.  I was able to reproduce it.

So basically, this is an issue with the production build but not the developer build I typically run.  There's a "warning" that pops up for me when opening a compound power in developer mode that I was ignoring, it's a minor one... at least I thought it was.  Warnings don't usually cause a crash to desktop like this but this one sure is

I'll get it fixed for the next release... probably sometime over the weekend as my work on supporting 5th edition characters is going faster than I thought it would,

1 hour ago, C-Note said:

My phone is encrypted, if that matters.

It may matter... I'll see if I can setup an emulator to use encryption.

25 minutes ago, C-Note said:

 

Same problem from Google Drive.

Haha... Ok, I'm legit out of ideas... I'll see what I can dig up in Android Studio this evening.

Just now, C-Note said:

 

I tried loading it from local directories.  Documents and Downloads.  Crashes whe opening Compound Power equipment.  Tried loading from microSD card.  Character doesn't load at all.  MicroSD card formatted as exFAT if that matters.

Can you try from Google Drive?  That seems to be the least problematic location to load from, that and iCloud.

51 minutes ago, C-Note said:

 

Nope.

Where are you loading the character from?  Drive or local?  Have you tried switching up the load location?

It's probably not related but I have had similar reports from people in the past with regards to issues with loading characters.

I will dig into this tonight with Android Studio and see what I can do.  All I can do there is try to emulate your Droid and see if it breaks.

OK, last thing I'll suggest: reboot your phone and try again.

It's the Hail Mary of troubleshooting but you may as well try it if you haven't yet.

It's really weird, it should work on phones going back to 4.4 or something like that according to the framework specs.

I'll look into it as much as I can on my side tonight, I can emulate an 8.1 device in Android Studio to see if I can reproduce it.

Also, try clearing all caches from the Settings screen.

2 minutes ago, C-Note said:

 

Thanks, but this was the first time loading this character.

Can you go into HEROSystemMobile->characters and verify that it's empty or at least missing the character?  That folder will persist across app installs/uninstalls/updates.

24 minutes ago, C-Note said:

 

1.6.0.  Most recent.  I make sure it is always updated.

One last thing to try:

• Remove the character from your loaded characters by long touching his slot icon (while another character is selected)
• Delete your character by touching the trashcan
• Verify he's really gone by going to HEROSystemMobile->characters on your local device filesystem
• Go to the "Characters" screen and touch the "Import" button
• Select your character again
• Load him into a slot in the Hero Designer character viewer

I created an on disk cache of characters recently to manage multiple characters, it's possible that you keep loading a stale version in.

Just now, C-Note said:

 

0 points of Resistant PD (applied to Primary Characteristic only) costs 3CP.  Same for Resistant ED as calculated in Hero Designer.  They show up in Resistant Defenses on the characteristics screen and in the PDF export.

Interesting, looks like I missed a source of resistant defense.  I think the point costs work out the same to buying a naked advantage so it would seem it is functionally equivalent.

I'll add it to my list of bugs   

3 minutes ago, C-Note said:

One other minor issue.  If you look at the hdc, you'll see I purchased Resistant PD and ED on the Primary Characteristics only (no Extra Resistant PD or ED), but the Resistant Defenses are not showing.

It's weird that the cost of the two powers is 0 as well... do they cost 0 in HD too?  Do they show up as part of your resistant defenses in HD on the characteristics screen?  I know if you buy them as a naked advantages it will work but it will cost you some fraction of the points for your PD/ED which seems fair to me.

I would check myself but I'm at work  

5 minutes ago, C-Note said:

 

Just tried all these steps including clearing cache and uninstalling/reinstalling app.  Same issue.  Android 8.1, Motorola Moto G4 Plus if that helps.

Can you tell me what version of the app you're running by going into (on your phone itself) Settings->App and notification find HSM, it should tell you the version under advanced.

1 hour ago, C-Note said:

 

Sent hdc file.  6th Edition Heroic template.  Thanks!

I imported your character and opened up all of the equipment on the "Equipment" tab without issue.

It's possible that it's a caching issue or file import issue, I would recommend you do the following:

• Remove the character from your loaded characters by long touching his slot icon (while another character is selected)
• Go to the "Characters" screen and touch the "Import" button
• Select your character again
• Load him into a slot in the Hero Designer character viewer

1 hour ago, C-Note said:

Hi sentry0.  Thanks for an awesome tool!  Currently, the app crashes when I try to open a piece of Equipment built as a Compound Power.  Also requesting that Equipment displays "Quantity" and "Cost" (currency, not points).  Hard to keep track of Gold Pieces!

I have tested equipment built as compound powers and it doesn't crash for me.  That was using a 6th edition character though, I'm not sure which edition you're using... it could make a difference right now. 

If it's not too much trouble could you either tell me how you built the power or send me the character so I can investigate.

I'll look into adding the quantity and cost Fields as well... it should be easy enough.

I've been working on supporting loading Fifth Edition characters directly from Hero Designer Files for the past couple of days.  I am going to release a build that I've been working on a bit earlier then I was intending because I found some nasty bugs that I want to see fixed sooner rather than later.  Although this is a minor point upgrade release (1.6.0) it's still considered to be under development with regards to fully supporting Fifth Edition characters and you should expect a few more patches in the next couple of days and/or weeks. 

Patch notes:

• Added in support for figured characteristics for Fifth Edition characters in the Hero Designer character viewer
• The "Combat" tab of the Hero Designer character viewer now supports Fifth Edition characters
• Fixed a rare bug that would prevent loading a character in the Hero Designer character viewer 
• Fixed a bug with Forcefield/Damage Resistance inflating characteristic values

The patch will probably go live late tonight or early tomorrow.

The 1.5.0 version of the app was pushed into review on the app Android/iOS app stores today.

Patch notes:

• Portraits now display when loading a  Hero Designer character
• It is now possible to load up to 5 characters at once
• All characters now have a "Notes" tab
• Combat State and notes will be preserved if importing a new version of your character

They should be hitting your devices later today.