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Ualaa
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Join Date: Sep 2013
Location: Vancouver, Canada.
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Old February 24th, 2017, 04:17 AM
For 3.x, I used DM Genie.

For Pathfinder, I was initially using HL to build characters and Combat Manager to run combats.

The Tactical Console allows for stacking conditions correctly, and I can use HL imports of monsters or characters, which is awesome.
Combat Manager allows applying damage to multiple targets at once, which is the main feature I'm really missing from the Tactical Console; a fireball goes off and three targets save while six fail... that is nine hit point adjustments with the TC but one (or two, if both enemies and allies are within the blast) for Combat Manager.

Allowing for bleed and fast heal to be applied directly would be very nice too.

Also having buff/debuff durations... being able to set a condition/spell and have it last for six rounds, applying it's effect for that duration, and then turning itself off after that time... that would be amazing too.

Awesome tool so far, with room to get even better.
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Valdacil
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Old April 2nd, 2017, 03:38 PM
I'll throw my 2 cp in here. The biggest thing I would love to see out of the Tactical Console is ability to track limited duration spells and abilities. I'm not so concerned about the issue of variable duration spells (like 1d4) because we don't use TC for rolls (even init) anyway... everyone wants to roll their dice. So if I wanted to add a marker for spell expiration, I would want to put in how many rounds anyway as the player would roll the die and I'd enter the value. I suppose it would be nice is static duration spells/ability effects automatically put in the values, but I would want the ability to override that (like I do with Init today).
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DeltaMasterMind
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Old April 3rd, 2017, 04:56 AM
I +1 this!
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Azhrei
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Old October 6th, 2017, 11:36 AM
I'm wondering what the Tactical Console will be like in Hero Lab Online. Will it even have a TC?

It could be a popup window in the web browser that overlays the main page, but more likely it would be a separate browser window so that it could be placed outside the boundaries of the main page.

How will it communicate with the HLO server? Will it be given raw information from the server (in JSON or XML?) and then be responsible for displaying it by itself? Or will the server pre-render HTML and send the result to the TC window for display?

If the former, then a little bit of monkey patching will be able to modify the way the window is displayed and how it functions if the TC is sufficiently modular. For example, I use GreaseMonkey with Firefox all the time to modify the page content on the fly. This lets me change how the HTML is displayed or how the JavaScript runs or how the CSS is used. I can add buttons, text fields, dropdown lists, and images to someone else's web page and I can then add my own functionality to those elements. I can place them within the <div>s that the original page already had, or I can create new div's and insert them where I want on the page.

I'm not likely to sign up for HLO (I don't like the idea of perpetual payments -- and yes, I know the whole world is going that route, but it doesn't mean I have to like it ). However, if the TC were sufficiently robust and, in places where it isn't, it were modular enough that I could add my own functionality, then it would be worth a look...

(Another thread discussing the TC is here, but this thread seemed more technical and included a "wish list" of features on the first page.)

Last edited by Azhrei; October 6th, 2017 at 11:38 AM.
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Ualaa
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Old October 6th, 2017, 02:24 PM
I'm using d20Pro for this functionality now.
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ShadowChemosh
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Old October 6th, 2017, 02:34 PM
What I would love is the ability to add CUSTOM TC's to HLO. Currently HLC can only handle a single TC configuration. HLO would be a great place to add the ability to have custom coded (using standard HL scripts) TCs that then the community could make. This means the community Pack could also have a Shadow TC version that does things differently.

That would be what I want.

Hero Lab Resources:
Pathfinder - d20pfsrd and Pathfinder Pack Setup
3.5 D&D (d20) - Community Server Setup
5E D&D - Community Server Setup
Hero Lab Help - Hero Lab FAQ, Editor Tutorials and Videos, Editor & Scripting Resources.
Created by the community for the community
- Realm Works kickstarter backer (Alpha Wolf) and Beta tester.
- d20 HL package volunteer editor.
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Azhrei
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Old October 7th, 2017, 08:36 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by ShadowChemosh View Post
[...] HLO would be a great place to add the ability to have custom coded (using standard HL scripts) TCs that then the community could make.
The scripts are the issue. I’m guessing that they execute on the server, not on the client. Which means the *result* of the script has to be sent to the client for display purposes, but that the client can’t influence the scripts at all.

For me, that means the HTML is simply displaying results and providing a UI (for buttons and checkboxes, for example) and not doing any calculations. That limits what the client side can achieve. (If you need a data field not provided by the server, you’re SOL — sorta outta luck.)

On the flip side, trying to run the HL scripts on the client would be almost impossible. It would require a lot of data to be kept on the client, too much data to be practical, me’thinks. (And there aren’t any good alternatives for long term storage of data in the client. If there were, maybe resources could be downloaded on-demand as needed and cached; lots of data still, but not everything.) Given advances in JavaScript JIT compilers, running code on the client and getting reasonable performance is doable.

But I really want to see the TC upgraded, so I’ll likely be keeping an eye on this aspect of HLO.
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ShadowChemosh
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Old October 7th, 2017, 08:51 AM
Quote:
Originally Posted by Azhrei View Post
The scripts are the issue. I’m guessing that they execute on the server, not on the client. Which means the *result* of the script has to be sent to the client for display purposes, but that the client can’t influence the scripts at all.

For me, that means the HTML is simply displaying results and providing a UI (for buttons and checkboxes, for example) and not doing any calculations. That limits what the client side can achieve. (If you need a data field not provided by the server, you’re SOL — sorta outta luck.)
This is how ALL of HL works both HLC and HLO. In the case of HLO the UI is html based. In HLC its Windows based. The concept is exactly the same. Every time you "change" something on the character HLO will 100% have to talk to the server to run the HL scripts. It literally can not work any other way.

I can already add NEW UI components to HLC except for the TC because it can only handle one TC. My suggestion is that LW increase the ability to support multiple TC's (ie when you start TC you get a check box to select which TC to start). Then I could easily create a new TC by the community which has a Totally Different UI. This would give a alternative choice for gamers.

I already have community created characters sheets. NOT the HTML versions I am talking about the exact same logic that LW uses. If you have a Path of War character and go to Print Character you have "TWO" new dossiers to choose from to print maneuvers. Allot of the logic in the character sheets is the same as the HL UI logic.

POW Characters.jpg

I am giving a suggestion that "maybe" easy for LW to provide by allowing the ability of having multiple TC's to be supported by HL. Just like how HL can already support multiple character sheets.

Hero Lab Resources:
Pathfinder - d20pfsrd and Pathfinder Pack Setup
3.5 D&D (d20) - Community Server Setup
5E D&D - Community Server Setup
Hero Lab Help - Hero Lab FAQ, Editor Tutorials and Videos, Editor & Scripting Resources.
Created by the community for the community
- Realm Works kickstarter backer (Alpha Wolf) and Beta tester.
- d20 HL package volunteer editor.
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Conandy
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Join Date: Apr 2017
Location: Denver, CO
Posts: 62

Old December 28th, 2017, 11:40 PM
Bumping this thread to indicate my whole hearted support for most of the ideas presented here to upgrade and improve the tactical console. Although some of Silveras' suggestions go against how I currently use the console (I use the 'next round' button quite a bit, for instance), I agree with most of the needs presented here.

And I love the idea of allowing support for 3rd party/user versions of the Tactical Console! Take some of the burden off of LWD and let those enthusiastic and talented end users contribute some upgrades and options to the community!
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