Senior Member
Join Date: May 2010
Location: Maryland
Posts: 167
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Quote:
All of this is being explored, due to the limitations of HL itself. HL, as a character/monster builder, is a fantastic tool. However, its abilities outside of that realm are limited. Other tools either already exist, or could be created, to fill in the gaps that HL doesn't close, but unfortunately HL is not capable of reading its output files designed for external applications, and external applications are incapable of making meaningful use of HL's native file types. If Hero Lab were able to parse its own exported XML files, this issue would be resolved. I can't say this would increase HL's sales, but it certainly stands to reason that it could, as the user based of Combat Manager is separate from Hero Lab, and if CM edits could be reintegrated into HL, that seems like a pretty strong feature for both applications. Last edited by Adam.Ormond; July 22nd, 2011 at 10:33 AM. |
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#51 |
Spy
Join Date: Jan 2011
Location: Van Nuys, California
Posts: 1,220
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Correct, there is alot of the code that I could not access in HL, and I don't intend to. And I'm not entirely sure how I would ensure parsing order in all the scripting (though making something that can parse the HL scripting language is something I've done on far more complex languages before, getting it to work is another thing). What Mathias suggested is more in the vein of where I was heading, parsing the language into a format that can be read into an application I create, that then runs a tactical console. I don't intend to run a true representation of the characters in HL, as that product does a fine enough job for that, I just want to make certain combat related issues work as expected or intended.
Now, that brings up another point. I could make an application that works hand in hand with HLs tactical console, an effect tracker, a duration tracker, spells, but I would need to know alot more about what is going on under the hood. Since HL is a proprietary property, I don't expect that to happen, so I'm left dreaming up this possible 3rd party application. I haven't decided to do it just yet, because I'm not entirely sure how much I have bitten off, so to say, I'm just in the software planning stage. When and if I feel like I can accomplish this, I will, but until then, this is just a thought exercise for me. As for parsing the files themselves, it's not that difficult if you understand XML and XPath technology, however, I will still have to know what tags I am looking for. That will take some time to figure out, as I am sure there are many tags that are not in much use, and there are tags that are obsolete (but still hang around in legacy mode), and there are tags in some systems that are not in others (the difference in tags between PF and d20 along is an ever-widening one). And that's another issue altogether, because though there is much standardization in the XML structure, its 3rd party flexibility and efficiency are extremely limited the more it deviates from system to system. Which is why CM is strictly PF based. |
#52 |
Senior Member
Lone Wolf Staff
Join Date: Dec 2008
Posts: 4,690
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Thanks for everyone's feedback in this thread. I know some of this has been addressed by Mathias and others, but I'd like to address a few of the questions that have been asked.
A lot of the above are things we'd really like to do, but simply don't have the bandwidth for right now. This is something we're working on addressing in the future - everything above is on our long-term Hero Lab roadmap, and we want to incorporate as much as we can. Thanks for your comments and feedback, all! |
#53 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 104
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Thanks for the reply Colen. Looking forward to the updated Tactical Console being added to Herolab. Combat Manager is a less than optimal solution.
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#54 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2007
Posts: 103
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Just my two cents on the inclusion of monsters from the Adventure Path bestiaries: I don't know if this would make a difference, but I, for one, would gladly pay for an "AP Bestiary Package" that covers these creatures. I don't know if breaking it out like that would make sense for you, but it's an approach to consider.
Thanks! |
#55 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2010
Posts: 84
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Quote:
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#56 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2011
Posts: 104
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No one really knows that for sure.
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#57 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jul 2009
Location: Saratoga, CA
Posts: 257
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Not all of them though... for example, the Chupacabra from the Legacy of Fire AP is in Bestiary 2, but the Schir Demon from the same Adventure Path was not included. There are enough of these that it would be welcome, in my opinion.
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#58 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2010
Location: Twin Cities, MN
Posts: 677
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So in my opinion it MORE then makes sense for them to do so and I know of many and I mean many people that would buy the package should Wolflair do one for Hero Labs Pathfinder. |
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#59 |
Member
Join Date: Nov 2009
Posts: 80
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AFAIK not all of the monsters in the older APs are OGL and some were only licensed for that specific AP, so that's also an issue.
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#60 |
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