Hero Lab Status Update - March 15th

[Colen]

Hey everyone!

We've been quiet for quite a while recently, so I figured I'd take a few minutes to update you on our current state of affairs. We've finally cleared most of the major hurdles for the next release - it's closer than ever, even if it did take a bit longer than we expected...

To thank you all for waiting patiently, we're going to share some of our new functionality here before the release. Today I've got 3 things to show you - importing heroes, the dashboard and the tactical console. Read on to find out more!

(Please note - all the screenshots I'm showing off are from the d20 system, but similar functionality will be available for other games as well.)


The Dashboard



One of the big new things in this release is support for multiple heroes. Previously, Hero Lab has been limited to having one hero loaded at a time, but no more! When more than one hero is present, the Dashboard appears at the right-hand side of the form. Each hero has an entry displaying their name, hit points, armor class, and several info buttons.

The info buttons work just like those elsewhere - you can mouse over them to get a quick look at different facets of the hero. One button shows their special abilities, another their attributes and skills, another a list of their weapons, and so on. You should be able to find out anything you need simply by mousing over the appropriate button.

You can also click the crosshair button to switch to that hero immediately, or the bag button to grab gear from that hero and move it around. In this screenshot, we're showing a druid, her animal companion, and her donkey - you can also add hirelings and other, independent heroes.

(Don't worry if you're cramped for space - you can hide the dashboard any time you like, and switch between heroes from the new Portfolio menu.)


Tactical Console



Druids and Sorcerers aren't the only people who'll be happy about this release - GMs will as well. If you want to use Hero Lab to run a game, you can now use the Tactical Console to keep track of combat.

The Tactical Console shows you who has and hasn't acted, initiative scores, delayed and readied actions, and all the information you need at a glance - saving throws, armor class, weapon details, and more. The same buttons from the dashboard are present here, so you can use them to see all the same details.

Even if you're not in combat, the tactical console can be helpful - instead of showing a list of weapons, it displays skills - so you can use it in social and other encounters too.


Importing Heroes



Having a dashboard and tactical console is all well and good, but how do you get things into there in the first place? The answer is here - importing. You can import heroes from your own portfolios, and each game includes a list of "stock" heroes you can import easily. The screenshot above shows us importing a bunch of these stock heroes - we're adding three elven allies for the party, along with 6 goblins and a hill giant to oppose them.

Once you've imported allies and enemies, they appear in the dashboard and tactical console and are ready for use. Once the combat is done, you can delete them and they disappear.


Again, we're sorry for the delays in getting this release out - but we think it's going to be worth the wait.


Thanks guys!

[huntercc]

Wow - I definitely like what you've shown us here!! Can't wait to try it out for myself!!

[DaggerdaleDM]

These are some really useful features! Great job guys!

[FifthWanderer]

Shiny! I may crib some of this functionality for the SotC files. Tracking minions for example.

[lordrodd]

Very cool! I want mine now! :-)