Thanks for checking out Adventure Portal. Let me know what you think! Here are a couple of points that I would like to know, but by all means post whatever you want.
What features did you like the most?
What features need to be added?
What was a pain in the ass?
How could that pain be improved?
Hows was the connection stability of the players?
Minor bugs?
Major game breakers?
Would you use this for your future campaigns, why or why not?
Once again thanks so much for checking out Adventure Portal. I look forward to hearing from you :)
Requesting additional support with regards to creating monster tokens. I like to copy/paste images so an editor and selection tool is needed to ensure everything is the right size. Can it automatically save to a designated folder as well?
On the subject of monster token size I realize most are going to be long (1x2) tall (2x1) or large (2x2) but can we also get a "custom" size for huge (3x3) a loooong snake (1x4) and so forth?
Sometimes people want to play from their phone. I don't think it needs mobile support but it would be nice if there was a button to copy a picture of the battle map for ease of sharing.
Moved the Load window up. Should be better for lower resolution now.
Thanks Jeff! I'm absorbing every word here. 1. I will address this in an upcoming version. I'm guess you're running a 1360 x 768 resolution or there abouts? I will look into the arrangements to make the game compatible with this resolution, but I don't think I will be able to go any lower. 2. For now, I can't do custom file transfers for images or sounds. Server bandwidth is too expensive for that feature as of now. That said I am always looking for a solution for this because it would be really cool if you could send your own stuff. What I am doing however is allowing players to to send URLs to each other to point to files that they can download/stream on the client side. This saves the game server from doing the transfer. So one solution I suppose would be to integrate the audio system with an outside audio source like soundcloud or whatever, so the dm can send URL pointers to sound streams somewhere on the net that everybody would stream client side. This would be one solution to get custom sounds working. This is on the table for sure.
3. I don't think I can have a file picker for the custom images if I understand correctly. AP doesn't send the actual image, just a URL to one -- the clients receive the URL and then download their own instance of the image.
4. Token Sizes? As it is now there are 5 size setting for tokens -- both player and Npc tokens. They are located and set on the info panel when a token is selected (for dm) and in the character sheet for players (character tab). I hope it's not broken for you, or did I not understand correctly?
5. Table mode would be pretty cool actually. Like an offline mode with everything geared toward a local group, good idea. I would note that players can spawn and move their own tokens on the battle map currently. The dm controls all the npcs (and players too if necessary). Players move their own by right clicking on a grid cell just like the dm.
6. The world map is being worked on right now! :) I am making special map tokens that will be placed on the map, hold basic info, and can load a specific encounter. I will have it out here within a week hopefully. I have already updated the game with the map switcher, just with no tokens yet. Thanks for the input Jeff, it's super valuable.
-Brian
AS a DM I am loving most of the functionality of this software. A couple things that I have noticed over the last week of using this product follow, along with an idea for further improvement.
1. When creating encounters - the token/FoW management tab that shows up covers the add/save/load encounter box and there does not seem to be a clear way to retract it. This makes it very difficult to move/load another encounter without closing the session and logging back in.
2. Adding custom sounds/BGM - There does not seem to be a way to load your own BGM or sound files at this time. I looked around in the system directories briefly but could not really find where these files are stored to try to add my own. This is a biggie, as my group (and I think many groups follow this same path) have their own 'theme' music that announces different things, whether its a certain piece for a location, or an intro for certain NPC, or maybe just that one rockin' battle track that was purchased from one of the many online RPG music producers like battle bards.
3. Have Pity on us poor DMs! Adding artwork to tokens is great, once you load the file into the program, but having to type in/copy/paste the full path to all artwork/maps is the long way around. Adding a simple file picker command box instead of just a line to type a full pathname would be so much simpler on an already over-taxed brain.
4. Token Sizes - Yes I know, on a hex map it's not really a thing. and yes we should all know that trolls and giants and dragons etc are much bigger than our players, BUT when you look at that little token standing in front of your charcater and they are the same size, you sort of forget scope and grandeur and it just becomes one more thing to poke with your sword instead of something to fear.
5. At the table mode - OK, enough with criticism. The idea that has been nagging our group is that each player had to log in on their own pc and have a copy of the software (Thanks for the Keys Brian!) which is great for playing long distance games. BUT my players still gather around a table, insist on having their sheets and scoff at the very idea of not using real dice. So my thoughts are thus...
As a DM I love this tool for campaign management, encounter building and layout and to use as a VTT. We need a 'Table' Mode that would allow DMs to continue to use this product as they would for any game, but allow just one other sign in (or even a second pop-up screen) to allow the players to move their tokens and thus keep their agency over where they go and what they run into.
Finally I would also love to see a world/region map that could be loaded where encounters that were built could be loaded onto it like waypoints or even just numbered tokens. That way as the party neared a certain encounter or area, the DM could click on that token/button and whoosh, the encounter would be loaded. Again, this is a wish list item that would just skyrocket the usefulness of this product.
All in all though, I want to say Kudos to you Brian for taking a great stab at this. For a first time go, you have done an amazing job at making a very solid product! Keep up the good work and we will keep testing!