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Niles
March 8th, 2017, 18:44
Posted this in the Workshop but thought I'd try here. Can anyone here create a custom extension? If you can, of course I would compensate you. This kind of thing is a little out of my expertise. I'm looking to make the player's die roll what I want them to. Not the animated dice, just the die icon with the text number, it doesn't matter that it doesn't match the animated die. This would mainly be for attack rolls.


Thanks,
Mike

LordEntrails
March 8th, 2017, 19:29
Have you read the previous posts on this subject? The possibility of such has been discussed before (which is ok that you are bringing it up again).

The discussion usually comes down to how you could implement this type of thing without messing up the "workflow" or interrupting things so that they players don't know that their rolls are being changed. Plus, you would have to remove the visual die rolls, since they are done with a physics engine and can't be forced to show a specific number.

In short, if you don't want the players to know the rolls are tampered with, then you can't practically do it. If you don't mind that they know, then you effectively have to interrupt every roll and have it approved or altered by the GM. (Just having the GM enter the value for the next roll is dangerous, because players often roll out of order or before you are ready for them to roll).

Niles
March 8th, 2017, 20:44
Hi Lord Entrails, thanks for your reply. It's OK, that the visual die roll comes up on the animated die and does not match the die icon with the text number in it. There is already a small glitch in FG when the animated die occasionally does not match the die icon text number. My players are used to it and we've agreed to go with the text roll when they don't match up. I think I can be fast enough to input the number before they roll. I won't queue them to roll until I'm ready on my end. If they roll out of turn, I'll ask them to roll again.

I also don't want this for every single roll they make. Only for the occasional epic battle. It seems that 90% of what I'm needing is already done with the /openwindow manualattackroll extension. I can get the text number to come up with what I choose for the players. However, it only works if they roll in the tower, not on the monster token, but then they can't see their roll because it was in the tower. Also, the extension is only for 5E, not for the other 3.5, which is what I mainly play. Any other suggestions? Thanks in advance.


Mike

LordEntrails
March 8th, 2017, 20:50
I don't have the skills to code something. And I know you didn't want to derail the thread into a pro's/con's. (Nor do they really matter if you are aware of them.)

Not sure if anyone will take you up on it. My impression is that most of the community devs don't do what they do for money, but rather for things they want done themselves and have little enough free to time to work on those. Hopefully you'll find someone to help you out :)

Niles
March 8th, 2017, 22:47
I don't have the skills to code something. And I know you didn't want to derail the thread into a pro's/con's. (Nor do they really matter if you are aware of them.)

Not sure if anyone will take you up on it. My impression is that most of the community devs don't do what they do for money, but rather for things they want done themselves and have little enough free to time to work on those. Hopefully you'll find someone to help you out :)

Understood. Thanks, Lord Entrails!

Paul Pratt
March 9th, 2017, 04:30
What about the manual rolls option in FG already?

Trenloe
March 9th, 2017, 04:31
Déjà Vu.

Niles
March 9th, 2017, 05:43
What about the manual rolls option in FG already?

I'm looking to alter the players rolls without them knowing, so not quite what I'm looking for.

Niles
March 9th, 2017, 05:51
Déjà Vu.

Actually Trenloe, this is concerning your awesome /openwindow manualattackroll extension. I love the concept of it because you can alter rolls without the players knowing. But it only works if the players roll in the tower, which doesn't do any good, because they can't see the roll. Any way to get it to work when they drop on the monster token? I know that it won't alter the animated die, just the die icon with the text number, and I'm OK with that. And is there any way to get the extension to work with 3.5?

Trenloe
March 9th, 2017, 15:34
Actually Trenloe, this is concerning your awesome /openwindow manualattackroll extension
Yep, I realise that. I was saying "Déjà Vu" to "What about the manual rolls option in FG already " comment.


Any way to get it to work when they drop on the monster token? I know that it won't alter the animated die, just the die icon with the text number, and I'm OK with that. And is there any way to get the extension to work with 3.5?
There's actually quite a bit of work to get this working from the player side as it will be interrupting the roll, passing control to the GM to get the roll, passing control back, etc.. Plus there are all of the edge cases to cater for - critical confirmation, grapples, multiple attacks in one roll, etc. to make all of this work correctly.

Yes, it's possible to do, but it's not simple.

Niles
March 9th, 2017, 17:26
Yep, I realise that. I was saying "Déjà Vu" to "What about the manual rolls option in FG already " comment.


There's actually quite a bit of work to get this working from the player side as it will be interrupting the roll, passing control to the GM to get the roll, passing control back, etc.. Plus there are all of the edge cases to cater for - critical confirmation, grapples, multiple attacks in one roll, etc. to make all of this work correctly.

Yes, it's possible to do, but it's not simple.

Thanks, Trenloe! You guys do an awesome job on the all the extensions you come up with. I appreciate it...

Trenloe
March 9th, 2017, 18:18
OK, so I thought of a very quick (with loads of potential issues) version of this (attached).

This places a little dice icon on the bottom right of the desktop - click this to open the manual dice window, do not use the previous /openwindow command. You can right-click and unlock the icon to relocate it on the desktop.

The die result number you enter works as before - but it is stored in the database. When anyone rolls an attack roll the database field will be checked for a value greater than 0, and uses this value instead of the dice roll for the first d20 in the roll result set. The GM side is then signalled to reset the number to 0 - so it will only be used for the first roll.

There are obviously so many potential issues with this: not controlling which player it applied to - it will be applied to the next attack roll made by anyone, it doesn't adjust a critical confirm roll (but you can force a critical confirmation with a 20), it only applies to the first d20 dice in the roll result set, if there is slow comms to the player side you'll have to make sure you set the number with enough time to get to player instance, etc., etc..

I supply this as a proof of concept and a way of showing what can be done. And, Niles, as a very basic way of giving you what you're looking for.

Enjoy!

Niles
March 9th, 2017, 20:45
OK, so I thought of a very quick (with loads of potential issues) version of this (attached).

This places a little dice icon on the bottom right of the desktop - click this to open the manual dice window, do not use the previous /openwindow command. You can right-click and unlock the icon to relocate it on the desktop.

The die result number you enter works as before - but it is stored in the database. When anyone rolls an attack roll the database field will be checked for a value greater than 0, and uses this value instead of the dice roll for the first d20 in the roll result set. The GM side is then signalled to reset the number to 0 - so it will only be used for the first roll.

There are obviously so many potential issues with this: not controlling which player it applied to - it will be applied to the next attack roll made by anyone, it doesn't adjust a critical confirm roll (but you can force a critical confirmation with a 20), it only applies to the first d20 dice in the roll result set, if there is slow comms to the player side you'll have to make sure you set the number with enough time to get to player instance, etc., etc..

I supply this as a proof of concept and a way of showing what can be done. And, Niles, as a very basic way of giving you what you're looking for.

Enjoy!


Hi Trenloe, I'm getting your message at work, so I can't try it out until I get home. However, thank you so much that you would take the time to do this. You guys are awesome that work on this stuff for Fantasy Grounds, and I really appreciate this. Thank you again!


Mike

Niles
March 10th, 2017, 07:32
OK, so I thought of a very quick (with loads of potential issues) version of this (attached).

This places a little dice icon on the bottom right of the desktop - click this to open the manual dice window, do not use the previous /openwindow command. You can right-click and unlock the icon to relocate it on the desktop.

The die result number you enter works as before - but it is stored in the database. When anyone rolls an attack roll the database field will be checked for a value greater than 0, and uses this value instead of the dice roll for the first d20 in the roll result set. The GM side is then signalled to reset the number to 0 - so it will only be used for the first roll.

There are obviously so many potential issues with this: not controlling which player it applied to - it will be applied to the next attack roll made by anyone, it doesn't adjust a critical confirm roll (but you can force a critical confirmation with a 20), it only applies to the first d20 dice in the roll result set, if there is slow comms to the player side you'll have to make sure you set the number with enough time to get to player instance, etc., etc..

I supply this as a proof of concept and a way of showing what can be done. And, Niles, as a very basic way of giving you what you're looking for.





Enjoy!


Hi Trenloe, I opened this up but can't figure out which file to put in which folder. I assumed the extension.xml in the extension folder. But nothing happened. Thanks again!


Mike

Niles
March 10th, 2017, 08:12
Disregard my last message, Trenloe. I figured it out and it works perfectly. I don't mind the limitations. This is exactly what I was looking for! You've just given me a DM tool to better tell the stories I have planned for my group. Thank you again!


Mike

Trenloe
March 10th, 2017, 16:30
This is exactly what I was looking for! You've just given me a DM tool to better tell the stories I have planned for my group. Thank you again!
No worries. I've deliberately coded it to roll a 1 every 3-4 rolls. ;)

Enjoy!

Niles
March 22nd, 2017, 19:46
No worries. I've deliberately coded it to roll a 1 every 3-4 rolls. ;)

Enjoy!

Hi Trenloe,
I just wanted to write back and give you some feedback with that extension you created. Just so you know how I use it and the reaction from my group (even though they have no idea I'm using it!). The battles fly by now. That used to be the biggest slow down of my games, the time it takes to battle. Only now, instead of giving the monster fewer HP, I occasionally give my players 20's, so they can crit hit and do more damage. Very seldom, I give them a 1, just to make them feel they're not cutting through like a knife through butter. When I do reward 20's, the reaction on the other end is priceless. Only once have they noticed that the actual die roll does not match up with the die icon, but they're used to FG doing that occasionally. So again, thank you for what you created for me. I do have one question. I'm starting a 5E campaign soon. Any way to make that extension work in 5E?


Mike

Trenloe
March 22nd, 2017, 19:49
Glad it's working well for you Niles.


I do have one question. I'm starting a 5E campaign soon. Any way to make that extension work in 5E?
Yep. Find someone who's willing to do the coding for you in the 5E ruleset. :D

Niles
March 22nd, 2017, 20:35
Glad it's working well for you Niles.


Yep. Find someone who's willing to do the coding for you in the 5E ruleset. :D

Thank you for all you did, I want you to know it's appreciated!


Mike