Reference Manual

For as long as I have been programming NPC Engineer, people have been asking for a reference manual generator. I have taken the first tentative steps to helping in this regard.

If you enable 'Reference Manual' in the project management interface, you will get a reference manual page for each of your NPCs. It will have a statblock, image, callout boxes..... oh, why don't I just show you? :)

This is a feature that I hope to improve and deepen, and for this to lay the foundations for a proper 'Reference Manual Engineer'. Let me know what you think, and what you'd care to see in this section of NPC Engineer!

Maasq

Room for another?

Today marks the start of a transition to a full suite of programs - inventively named The Engineer Suite - to put information into Fantasy Grounds. NPC Engineer has gotten very close to as polished as it is getting; there are a couple of fairly major projects I can tinker with, but they have been put off for now to allow Spell Engineer to take centre stage.

Spell Engineer has been fun to build so far (apart form the XML - who knew you needed so much XML for spell lists?) I applied all that I had learned in the making of its elder sibling, and so it is leaner and easier to maintain. I'll be working on the importing function next, and hopefully that won't be too difficult. But I've said that before, haven't I? :)

On the down side, my computer took 3 attempts to boot today, and there's no way I can afford a new one just now. I need to speak nicely to it and hope to hell it was just a glitch. On that note, I'm off to back up....

Maasq

It's been a long time since I rock n rolled

Well now, it has been a month since I posted here. I feel remiss, and ever so slightly grubby. I offer my heartfelt apologies! To make up for it, I have posted a new version of NPC Engineer (1.0.13 for those who are counting) and a trial version of Spell Engineer that doesn't import or parse yet, but it will save anything you type in. In addition, here is the link to the Twitch broadcast last month, in case you missed it and want to have a look: Fantasy Grounds College YouTube.

About Spell Engineer.... it was a relatively easy module to write, and I applied some of my newfound skills to it to make working with the information far easier. I wish I'd known what I do now when I started NPC Engineer! I have met a stumbling block, though, and again I am victim to this whole project growing up from nothing into something, with no planning along the way. The way projects are dealt with is too intertwined with NPC Engineer, and I need to unpick that before I can move forward with Spell Engineer. Boooo..... but it keeps me busy.

So onwards and upwards and thank you for reading!

Maasq

Twitch broadcast

I am going to be broadcasting live on Twitch on Saturday 10th February 2018 at 8pm GMT. I'd love it if you could join me. https://www.twitch.tv/abhoria

I am going to run through how to use the software, including some of the more hidden features. I am happy to answer questions, but because of the delay that Twitch puts in, I'll not be watching the chat live. If you have a question you'd like me to address email it to me beforehand, or send it to me via Discord.

I'll record the broadcast and add it to the site in due course in case you have things to do on a Saturday night that are more interesting than hobbyist software :)

Cheers

Maasq

Version 1.0 is live!

Yeah! Really!

After millions of versions leading up to this, I eventually got to the point that it was ready for proper release. Sure, there are things to fix and big features that can be added, but it is time to start adding other areas of the parsing process to the mix.

As a sign-off though, I had some fun with CSS and HTML. I added textures to the viewport, and I added a theme switching element too. Why are you reading this? Go download it and play with it :)

I am happy, and I am indebted to anyone who took the time to point out issues rather than just uninstall the software. Those of you who took the time to really work through a bug with me are diamonds; I'd not have done it without you. Really. I am lazy!

So onwards and upwards! Here comes Spell Engineer....

Maasq

Welcome back, HTML - my old friend.

Have I ever mentioned how much I hate RTF? Really? I'll try not to repeat myself too much then :)

I found a way to make the ActiveX control behave itself. The main reason I had had to use the evil RTF control was that the ActiveX one grabbed focus when clicked and didn't let go. This was a disaster for a program like NPC Engineer. So I made it completely unselectable, and built scroll routines to make up for this. It all works pretty well and I am very happy.

Today was all about fixing the final output to work with HTML, so all the slog with the RTF was binned. Well, that's not totally true - I still use it in the 'import' box. Anyway, I took the opportunity to play with css and HTML, and now the viewport (fancy name for the right hand box) is as pretty as a pretty thing. It has proper triangular section ends, it has wee pictures for 'image' and 'frame chat' tags, the frame chat gets boxed, and spells get listed in a decent looking table.

So after a hellish start, programming wise, this has been a decent week. I've had a couple of requests to rework the 'skills' tab, and this (if I do it now) is definitely the last major work on the NPC module for now. If not, it'll be the first revision after I get some work done on spells.

Cheers for the support

Maasq

Amazing healing properties of a decent sleep!

So in my last post, I was feeling a bit sorry for myself. Thankfully, I got past that and started chipping away again. There were several things at play, not all of them my coding, and they were building up to a 'perfect shitstorm'. With the stalwart help of Colin, though, I managed to track down what the issues were.

The solution was to start at the beginning, rather than trying to treat the symptoms. I changed the 'settings' dialogue and tightened up control of the starting directories, and the issues in the project data structure just melted away - that programming was fine after all.

The lessons to be learned? Grow up (no tantrums!), back off, have a decent night's sleep, and think about the problem while driving!

To those who offered support - thank you. That definitely helped!

Maasq

Sick fed up (again)

it looks like I have backed myself into a corner with the file system and directories. In an effort to please everyone, I offered too much choice and frankly fucked the whole thing up.

I am sick at the thought. I have no idea how to fix it short of telling people to use the directory structure I set as defaults.

It takes teams of many to get these things right at major companies, sometimes after years of trying, and I just feel daft for trying to match that. Nothing makes you feel burst quicker than overreaching your skill level.

I can't even face posting the recent bug fixes just now. Sorry.

Maasq

The semi-regular 'I'm almost finished now' post!

Yep, it is time to claim I am almost finished with NPC Engineer again. I'm sure someone will hit me with a great suggestion, or find a bug, and I'll be eating humble pie - but the goals for calling it a 1.0.0 release have all been met, and barring bug reports, I really am going to try to start another module next week.

So this update saw me dancing with RTF again. Did I mention that I hate RTF? Anyway, eventually I got to the point where you can add spells to the description (with decent tables even!) and you can format paragraphs as 'frame text' for Fantasy Grounds.

So where next for NPC Engineer? There are still plans for it - BB code output, a 'create-an-NPC' wizard, templates - and it is time to branch out. Spells next, then I think I should try to have a shot at reference manuals.

Thanks for the support, folks - the chat and feedback on Discord keeps me going!

OK - see you in the bug reports :)

Maasq

Future developments

This is where I see the project going in the near future. Longer term goals are to have all elements of Fantasy Grounds parsing covered, but there is no rush to completion on that front. Some of the items in the list are those suggested by viewers of the AMA on Twitch. If I missed any of the other excellent suggestions, let me know!
Nothing listed here is guaranteed to be written; don't be trying to sue me! It isn't an exhaustive list either, and I am very much open to suggestions - leave comments here or ping me on Discord. The list for NPC Engineer is getting shorter now...

NPC Module:

• 'Wizard' for NPC creation.
• Templates

Spells Module:

• Importing from a variety of sources.
• Exporting to text and HTML.

Other Modules:

• Items module
• Tables module
• PC module
• Races module
• Classes module
• Reference Manual module

Maasq

Twitch and an AMA!

Fantasy Grounds College wanted to host an AMA (interview for the internet age) with me for their organisation, as part of being a DM in FG may involve creating or importing NPCs.

This was a new experience for me! After years of being shy and retiring, here I had to do some shameless self-promotion. How would I cope?

Easily, it seems. Inside every introvert there's an extrovert screaming to get out, and 90 minutes of chat and demoing zoomed past in the blink of an eye. The viewers on my Twitch channel (and that makes me laugh - me with a Twitch channel!) were very complimentary about NPC Engineer and about my approach in general, and this validation was the best part of the whole experience. I'd recommend it :)  As a side benefit, my kids treated me like a rock star after it!

Many thanks to Laerun and FGC for setting this up. If you are new to Fantasy Grounds, look them up (link on the 'links' tab) and they will set you right on many aspects of the game.

Maasq


PS If you want to see the AMA, you can't - like a n00b I forgot to turn on the option to save the chat. Next time!