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Allow players to edit character

Discussion in 'Feature Requests' started by Daeruin, Jan 16, 2011.

  1. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    The feature of editing a creature's character sheet is always available on the Judge. This is not something you can "enable" if you have a Judge license and are connected to another game, it's only available when you start up as the Judge. Many of my players have a Judge license and sends me their updated characters in d20Pro native format.

    d20Pro is not a character builder, it is a Virtual Table Top where you can play games remotely using an internet connection. If you want a character builder, you can use Hero Lab (paid) or PCGen (free) and import the character into d20Pro (using export/import). Simply have your players send the updated character sheet in either Hero Lab or PCGen format and put it into d20Pro. This is an easy and quick way to get stats, attacks, skills, saves, and spell list. Some of my players send me their character in Hero Lab format and I can simply update their quick stats.

    If you are looking at price per person, d20Pro (even with each person having a Judge license) is very competitive in the paid VTT world for what features are available. And, if you use complementary tools to do your character sheet editing (tools that work well with each other, like the ones listed above), you will notice that d20Pro is cheaper than the alternative paid-VTT's out there. And while I still would like players to be able to edit their own character sheets, there are many features that I want that are rated higher in priority.
     
  2. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    I would think that the best solution is:

    Give the players "edit" ability with the player license so they can modify their players before the game then upload them to the GM on session connect. Then the DM can import them to the session and it would help out a great deal. I would gladly pay for the players licenses just for the time it would save me.

    The only other current alternatives are as previously mentioned:

    Buy a Judge license then edit the object and upload on connection (and you can't use the other two guest slots which isn't very fair)
    Buy Herolab (Very expensive with all the resource plugin's but worth it) and edit your character there, export to D20pro format then upload to the GM.

    Maybe just giving the player license the ability to edit creatures outside the game will be enough for now and it would not require a lot of effort of the coding end? Even if it's just a temp solution? It takes care of both arguments no? It is a compromise but a good one at that I believe?

    I am trying to make the switch from FG to D20Pro but I am getting a ton of grief from my players for this very reason. It would also save me a ton of time in game prep. Otherwise I love the software.


    Thoughts?

    (P.S. the ultimate merge would be combining D20Pro with Herolab! I would lay down $300 for that functionality and interoperability! I know, I'm dreaming...)
     
  3. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    And the nutty option would be to txt edit the D20_ctr file and reupload it to the DM. Looks easy enough to do if you have time to kill. Most of the data in the file is the image data. Just thought I'd throw it out there as well.

    Would it be a copyright violation to make a GUI based d20_ctr file editor? (Would the software owners give it their blessing?) That would also mostly solve the issue and it looks easy to do for someone with more programming skill than I.
     
  4. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    Yes, you could edit the d20_ctr file, it's just a xml formatted text file with a graphic inside.
    There has already been one person who built a converter from RP Tools - MapTool into d20Pro character format (though it is not GUI).
    If someone wanted to, they could program a d20_ctr GUI file editor. I'm sure many of the community will use it if it works well.
    Another option would be to build a converter from FGII xml creature to d20Pro xml creature.
     
  5. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    I also just noticed the 3.2 BETA. Looks like there is PCGEN support in there now so that would make a good part of my suggestions moot. I haven't tried PCGEN in years but if it's come a long way that's another viable option. Too bad I just plunked down $150 for Herolab and all the Pathfinder plugins.
     
  6. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    You do get what you pay for with Hero Lab. The updates are often and regular. I own and use Hero Lab quite often and it's by far an easier application to use. That said, PCGen is still very good, and on the big huge plus, it's free. It does have updates with new content as long as you are patient or have the drive to program it in yourself. Also, it has a good following and frequently people asking for PCGen support. I'm glad d20Pro now has a way for supporting PCGen users.
     
  7. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    I installed PCGEN last night. It's excellent news for 3.5 users (Looks a little more polished than a few years ago) but the Pathfinder support beyond the core rulebook is still a bit spotty. (Was back then too) APG is still beta and none of the last two Ultimate books yet. (So the Magus in my campaign is still out of luck) I agree with you 100% on Herolab. Excellent product worth the price of admission. If there was a way to plug the HL license and interface into D20Pro, that would be the bomb and nothing else would come close.

    I'm installing the 3.2 BETA tonight to check it out and I'll use it for the next game session since it looks spiffy with the new toys. (And I'll report any bugs we come across)

    Do you know if there's any connection limits?
     
  8. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    Connection limits... like 16 Players?
     
  9. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    I should have rephrased it. Do you need a license to test the beta or does the beta's limit the total # of players for a demo user.
     
  10. edwardcd

    edwardcd Administrator
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    The Trial Account requires an internet connection to validate the Trial License. I believe the Trial License allows up to 5 other players (who do not own a Player or Judge License) to connect to you. You may also test as a Player by connecting to yourself on the same computer (simply open a new instance of d20Pro and enter in the IP as 127.0.0.1 and choose a new alias to login) The Trial License is valid for up to 30 days since the trial begins.

    After you purchase a Full Judge License, you no longer need to be connected to the internet to validate your license. Your license will be encrypted and downloaded to whichever directory you place your d20Pro application (this can be a local drive, or a thumb drive). If you have a home computer and a laptop, you may install your license on both your computers.

    To activate a Trial License, download d20Pro, and register an account. Then select you want to try the 30-day free trial and download the trial license. See the attached YouTube video.

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TGtCJfpxwqI
     
  11. Goncyn

    Goncyn New Member

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    I would like to add my voice to those saying this is the single biggest problem with d20Pro. I want my players to be in charge of their own characters, I can't ask them to buy expensive software like Hero Lab, and PCGen isn't a realistic alternative (the usability just isn't there).
     
  12. Undivided

    Undivided New Member

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    I'll be another voice. Please add this ASAP! I'm surprised this was overlooked.
     
  13. Tinyish

    Tinyish New Member

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    I own D20 Pro and don't use it for this one specific reason: the DM has to do every modification to every character sheet.

    If there were a kickstarter to add just this one feature all by itself with no other benefits at all, I would back it.
     
  14. Wesley Gorby

    Wesley Gorby Production/Community Manager
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    it isn't really over looked.. you need a judge license in order to edit characters .. this doesn't mean only the GM can edit characters for only his game.. in our groups, most all of our players have a judge license... I give them the dataset I am using for the game and they edit their own characters... It's is a fair trade off imho from a dev/money perspective...

    so, if you want to edit characters, you pay a little more.. but it is well worth it to support the software ...
     
  15. AEIOU

    AEIOU Member

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    Krilion_GD nails it I think. There really isn't any incentive and there are other aspects that are needing the developer's focus. They're a small company so every choice as to what to focus on is probably a major decision.

    On the other hand, creating another client that only gives players the ability to edit their characters but no other GM abilities might not be a bad idea. This could be a nice bit of low-hanging fruit if it's not a major timesink. A GM client that does everything ($$), a player client that can edit ($) and a player client that can just play (free). Add an upgrade path to GM client and voila, a viable revenue stream!
     
  16. Wesley Gorby

    Wesley Gorby Production/Community Manager
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    To further detail how this flows;

    (Tom & I both require a judge license)

    tom wants to level his character, he fires up d20p and uses the campaign for my game (only needs my classes.txt, skills.txt. feats.txt & spells.txt files and token picture for his character) .. he makes his changes to the character accordingly then saves the token and then exports it as a d20pro file..

    at game time, he connects to me.. then imports the newly edited token .. it pops up on my screen for approval.. this gives me the chance to look over the new token and compare it to the old one..

    if i spot no errors and everything looks fine to me. I just assign the new token to tom and delete the old token..

    all done ...

    in my mind this method is far better than a "real time" ability for a player to edit a token, which would raise a lot of issues (mostly either players changing things when they shouldn't, or annoying me with lots of approval prompts cuz players are editing their token when they should be playing) not to mention slow the game down considerably...
     
  17. NetherLord

    NetherLord New Member

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    Yes i'm bumping what is now an older thread but still an existing issue. I can edit creatures as a GM (As the judge owns all) in real time during the game. As far as adding the functionality to the players, (give a checkbox option that allows players to edit what they own) it does not look to be that much of a concern as the code is already there. I backed the kickstarter and have hundreds invested in this software license at this point. I would gladly pay hundreds more just to get this working, giving the players the ability to edit in real time their owned objects, just like the Judge can. Hopefully the mobile character sheet and other goodies from the kickstarter finally make this come to light. The ability to do so is already baked into the software, just give us the ability to use it and take the Achilles heel out of d20 Pro. (And of course the same for unlimited)
     
  18. ChrisRevocateur

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    I seem to remember them saying that this exact issue is going to be fixed in the Unlimited release.
     
  19. razorbit

    razorbit New Member

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    THIS!!!!!

    I literally just had 6 players walk out of a session after I told them they couldn't edit their character sheets. FIX THIS PLEASE!!!!!!!

    ""Virtual Gaming Table""

    I would like my players to be able to edit character sheets please.
     
  20. chopkins779

    chopkins779 New Member

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    So...4 years later. Have you gotten around to this yet?
     

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