NPC Engineer

[Ken L]

Is this going to remain windows only? I don't want to use an emulator to load a stat block. I bought a bunch of stuff on DnDBeyond (sorry FG, I need portability between platforms) and have a mighty need for an importer.

If not, I'll have to create my own.

[Maasq]

Hi Ken

This is very much going to remain Windows only, I'm afraid - the GUI and background calls are all part of Windows and so there's no possibility of porting it. Sorry, chief!

You can't access a Windows box to create the module? I'm not sure how well it would do under emulation anyway - it'd be interesting to know if anyone has it running under an emulator.

Maasq

[epithet]

Hi folks.
...
All of Epithet's issues above have been fixed, I believe. Discord is great
...
Maasq

Thay have indeed. I'm trying to find more!

[L. R. Ballard]

I'll have on a darling evening frock and some pearls. Don't judge me.

Dazzling! Though I'm not feeling any effects, so don't drop anything on me!

Seriously, excellent work on NPC Engineer. I'm tinkering with v.0.9.25 and continuing to convert FRE1. With any luck, I can hang out a bit beginning in June. Oh, and thanks for the credit. Again, congrats on an impressive program!

[Maasq]

I'm tinkering with v.0.9.25 and continuing to convert FRE1.

Hiya pal, long time no see! That version is pre-installer, so when you update (you should!) you'll probably want to move data files around. There's a post on the website that will be of use when you do update, as it tells you exactly what to move and when.

Other reasons to update:

• Export as HTML statblock (every bit as pretty as that Monster Maker program we both used - at least I think so, but I am biassed!)
• Export as RTF statblock (not quite as pretty, but if you use Word it gives a usable statblock for your 'paper' version of your module)
• You can add spells to the description and get a properly formatted table in Fantasy Grounds.
• You can designate a paragraph as 'frame text' so that it is marked with a speech bubble in FG, and goes directly to the chatbox when you click on it.
• Many bug fixes and improvements.
• A new icon (I think - it was around the installer version I added the new icon!)

The website will be new from when you last had a look, I think; the Github site has the source should you need to add your own tinkerings, and a lovely issue tracker for when you break my application!

Thank you for the compliments, as ever.

Maasq

[Doomskull]

I'm having an issue getting with the images. I might not be understanding this correctly but if I have the images in the NPC Engineer "image" folder, do I have to have them in FG also?
I have the images in the "image" project folder after parsing but when I try to open the image in FG I get the blank "new image" image.
What am I missing here?

[Maasq]

I'm having an issue getting with the images. I might not be understanding this correctly but if I have the images in the NPC Engineer "image" folder, do I have to have them in FG also?
I have the images in the "image" project folder after parsing but when I try to open the image in FG I get the blank "new image" image.
What am I missing here?

Hi Doomskull. There's certainly something going wrong; we'll have to mess around a bit here to see if it is a bug or something that you aren't doing properly. It will be a lot easier if you can catch me on Discord, as the conversation will be faster and we can screenshare to problem solve.

OK, having read your post it sounds like you might have copied or moved the images into a folder manually. The parser won't pick these up as it has no way of knowing about them. The image links are made in NPC Engineer when you add the NPC to a project, and the images are copied to the correct directory and renamed at this point. You never need to do anything manually.

The correct order of events is:

• Create (or load) a project. Make sure it has 'images' (and 'Tokens' too if required) checked as well as NPCs on the right hand side as you create it.
• Import or enter all the text for your NPC.
• Add an image on the 'Description' tab of NPC Engineer.
• Add a token (if required) on the 'Base Stats' tab.
• Click 'Add to Project'.
• Parse when ready to do so.

This will produce a mod file in your Fantasy Grounds directory, ready to be loaded in FG.
I hope this helps, or that I can work with you on Discord if not

Maasq

[Maasq]

Hey folks

It transpires that the file system stuff in NPCE is a total mess if you don't use the default {appdata} directories, or at least you can break it. It might be that many people are using it fine with other folders and I am worrying about nothing, but I literally have no idea how to fix the issue other than close down the option of changing directories.

This sort of thing makes me feel sick to my stomach. I tried to accommodate every directory request and I've backed myself into a corner. I'm going to take a break now and try hard not to look at it until next week, when I might decide either (a) it is finished as it is or (b) to hard code directories. I can't even face uploading the bugfixes from the last couple of days just now, sorry.

The other project, Spell Engineer, will have to wait unfortunately.


Speak later, folks

Maasq

[LordEntrails]

Hang in there. We appreciate all you've done.

[Doomskull]

Hi Doomskull. There's certainly something going wrong; we'll have to mess around a bit here to see if it is a bug or something that you aren't doing properly. It will be a lot easier if you can catch me on Discord, as the conversation will be faster and we can screenshare to problem solve.

OK, having read your post it sounds like you might have copied or moved the images into a folder manually. The parser won't pick these up as it has no way of knowing about them. The image links are made in NPC Engineer when you add the NPC to a project, and the images are copied to the correct directory and renamed at this point. You never need to do anything manually.

The correct order of events is:

• Create (or load) a project. Make sure it has 'images' (and 'Tokens' too if required) checked as well as NPCs on the right hand side as you create it.
• Import or enter all the text for your NPC.
• Add an image on the 'Description' tab of NPC Engineer.
• Add a token (if required) on the 'Base Stats' tab.
• Click 'Add to Project'.
• Parse when ready to do so.

This will produce a mod file in your Fantasy Grounds directory, ready to be loaded in FG.
I hope this helps, or that I can work with you on Discord if not

Maasq

Got it to work bud, user error. Your right, I was dropping the image files into the image folder. I missed the fact that it pulls images from wherever! No biggie, works like a charm now.
Sorry to hear about the directory issue, I use the default so I have no issues!
Keep up the great work my friend, we non-scripting/programming DMs really appreciate all you fellas do!