Any news on new D20Pro version?

The major overhaul is to the Fog of War system. A new feature that allows you to hide and show a full room with a single click (after you create the FoW), and it's not only defined by the grid, you can make circles, ovals, squares, polygons, etc.

You can see an example over on d20Pro's google+ page: https://plus.google.com/108622074812635000672/posts

 

Since I've been using and testing the new Fog of War implementation, I can say that it is an upgrade from what we have in v3.1 and before. It does make it easier to define regions or multiple regions inside a room then one-click reveal each region. In addition, it does support a type of dynamic fog of war mode where if the creature goes into a region that has fog of war it can prompt the GM to auto reveal it by approving the action (this eliminates curious players to prematurely expose areas they shouldn't be yet). So it is a step in the right direction for what you are wanting d20Pro to accomplish.

One of the major things for me personally, when I GM games is GM-prep work and amount of time spent managing the game while it is in process. I would say that the v3.2 take on FoW does decrease GM's time spent managing an ongoing game to reveal FoW areas that the PCs explore. That said, I'm in the same camp you are regarding the spell/effects/abilities aspect of d20Pro. I would like to have the spell system actually keep track of effects, descriptions, and a formula for damage/healing/etc (such as % level of caster +/- any modifier) that each character using the spell will take account. I'd also like players to be able to change their spell list and have the new spell list reflected upon "rest." I would also like a library of abilities that I could just add predefined abilities to new creatures without having to reprogram the entire ability/effect each time - (thus, if a creature has "Power Attack" feat, I can just add the ability "Power Attack" and not have to edit or add any attacks or create an ability for it, OR, something like "Rage", I'd like it to auto-calculate based on barb level +/- any modifiers and have a toggle for it when the player stops using it). I'd also like secondary effects (where if the creature passes their save, the effect isn't just half'd, there's actually a different effect that happens). And many other things that falls into the spells/effects/abilities wheelhouse.

So, bottom line for how I view things (and I'm sure this goes for AEIOU also), the difference in the GM experience for FoW enhancements, and other new features and bug fixes that comes with v3.2 only decreases my prep and work time by roughly 5%. If however, there was the same effort put into enhancing the spells/effects/abilities feature set, it could have decreased my prep/work time by roughly 80%, especially when adding enemy casters with a complement of spells defined in abilities so combat is quick. Though, I do love the new features v3.2 brings to the table and I'm glad the developers are continuing to develop free improvements.

 

Yeah, lets ALL keep that in mind, as it is a wonderful aspect of this application.. Also one of the main reasons I picked it..
As we have all seen in other Apps, once the gate has been opened on 'Paid upgrades' the app starts to suffer, people get discouraged, and it become a pain to keep up with.
Not even mentioning the whole, 1/3 of your group can't or won't upgrade so even tho you and the rest of your group has, you can't use it scenario..

I am all for the 'It's done, when it's done' philosophy, since it is free...