No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Discussion of and support for D&D 4e.

Moderators: dorpond, Azhrei

User avatar
geekomancer
Kobold
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:31 am

No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by geekomancer »

Hi guys, I am brand new to Map Tools, and trying to figure out CharacterTools (v 1b11, Mac OS X, Java v 6se (64bit)). I am not a programmer, so please be patient in your replies.

When I created a character, and tried to add feats or powers, I got a blank pop-up message. The warning said nothing, and I couldn't add any feats or powers. I'm guessing this is because I don't have the dnd4e.rpgame file installed correctly.

I looked for a data file inside the program (read package contents???), but found nothing like a .rpgame file. I downloaded the data file "dnd4e.rpgame" (from the link in this thread), but wasn't sure how to load it so that CharacterTools could read it.

I am working my way through the video tutorials, but there doesn't seem to be anything specifically for Character Tools. Looks like a very powerful suite of programs.

A few other things (bugs?) I noticed: clicking on the empty portrait on the character sheet didn't do anything. Also, when I changed data in the "property table" view of the character sheet, it didn't change them in the character sheet view.

The source book feature (in character tools) sounds like a nice idea, especially with wiznerds prolific output.

Please help a noob, and keep up the good work.

Thanks!

Tinmanjr
Kobold
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:31 am
Location: [email protected]

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Tinmanjr »

The blank pop-ups when adding a feat or power is likely caused by you using the webstart function thing. DL the program and run it that way. Solved the problem for me.

Tinmanjr
Kobold
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:31 am
Location: [email protected]

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Tinmanjr »

As for the property table, I believe that you have to assign ownership and put the type as basic for it to work.

User avatar
geekomancer
Kobold
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:31 am

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by geekomancer »

Tinmanjr wrote:The blank pop-ups when adding a feat or power is likely caused by you using the webstart function thing. DL the program and run it that way. Solved the problem for me.
When I tried downloading the program directly, it wouldn't run at all. That's when I downloaded the webstart version. I tried the regular version again, and it seems to be working. I still don't understand where the source files are stored.
Tinmanjr wrote:As for the property table, I believe that you have to assign ownership and put the type as basic for it to work.
Thanks for the suggestion, but I have no idea what this means. Is this something I'm supposed to do within Character Tools?? Like I said, I'm not a programmer. Can you give more details?

Tinmanjr
Kobold
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:31 am
Location: [email protected]

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Tinmanjr »

Edit the token after it is placed on the map. To do this, right click the token icon, go down to edit. A window should pop up with some tabs on the top under the token name and all. I forget which one it is, but what I am talking about is in there.

User avatar
Azhrei
Site Admin
Posts: 12086
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:20 pm
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Azhrei »

Tinmanjr wrote:The blank pop-ups when adding a feat or power is likely caused by you using the webstart function thing. DL the program and run it that way. Solved the problem for me.
Since the code being executed is the same either way I find it unlikely that running the downloaded one would produce different results unless there's a problem with the user's Java configuration (such as WebStart being configured to use an older Java runtime).

User avatar
jay
RPTools Team
Posts: 1767
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Austin, Tx

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by jay »

geekomancer wrote:I still don't understand where the source files are stored.
The default game files are stored on the RPTools web site here. They get downloaded to your system into the .chartool directory when you load them.
Tinmanjr wrote:As for the property table, I believe that you have to assign ownership and put the type as basic for it to work.
This sounds like MT to me. CT & IT don't have any ownership since they are only run by one person.

User avatar
jay
RPTools Team
Posts: 1767
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Austin, Tx

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by jay »

Azhrei wrote:
Tinmanjr wrote:The blank pop-ups when adding a feat or power is likely caused by you using the webstart function thing. DL the program and run it that way. Solved the problem for me.
Since the code being executed is the same either way I find it unlikely that running the downloaded one would produce different results unless there's a problem with the user's Java configuration (such as WebStart being configured to use an older Java runtime).
You would think that would be the case. But I have ran with Webstart it will fail. Downloading the zip file would work. Then the version after that would work with Webstart. It is very weird.

User avatar
Azhrei
Site Admin
Posts: 12086
Joined: Mon Jun 12, 2006 1:20 pm
Location: Tampa, FL

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Azhrei »

jay wrote:You would think that would be the case. But I have ran with Webstart it will fail. Downloading the zip file would work. Then the version after that would work with Webstart. It is very weird.
Is that because the WebStart doesn't refer to all of the JAR files even though those JAR files are in the downloaded ZIP? I'll try to take a look at that next time I'm on the main site...

User avatar
jay
RPTools Team
Posts: 1767
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Austin, Tx

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by jay »

I never could figure out what the problem was. It would happen to some people but not others. When it did happen it always seemed to happen when the code was trying to read the .rpgame file from inside the jar file. Maybe it has something to do with a zip inside of a zip?

User avatar
geekomancer
Kobold
Posts: 8
Joined: Tue Aug 04, 2009 12:31 am

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by geekomancer »

Wow, I'm totally confused.

So, let's say I downloaded the full version of Character Tool. My campaign uses 1st level bonus feats. I want to add these feats to Character Tool, so that when my characters click on Add Feat, these new feats show up in the menu.

If I understand correctly, all the feats, powers, etc., are stored on a server, and the URL is referenced somewhere in the Character Tools file. So, if I wanted to customize, would I have to add a local address, with another database?

Better yet, could someone please give me a painfully step-by-step idea of how to a) add a custom feat (or power) to a character, and b) add a custom feat (or power) to Character Tools, to be usable by any character.

Thanks!

User avatar
jay
RPTools Team
Posts: 1767
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Austin, Tx

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by jay »

geekomancer wrote:If I understand correctly, all the feats, powers, etc., are stored on a server, and the URL is referenced somewhere in the Character Tools file. So, if I wanted to customize, would I have to add a local address, with another database?
Actually, the game settings files are stored on the server. When you load them into CT they are automatically downloaded and loaded into a database on your machine.
geekomancer wrote:Better yet, could someone please give me a painfully step-by-step idea of how to a) add a custom feat (or power) to a character, and b) add a custom feat (or power) to Character Tools, to be usable by any character.
The Adopters threads on the CT forum go into great details about editing the files. Here is a quick synopsis:
  1. Download the RPGame file.
  2. Unzip it. You might have to change the file type to zip.
  3. To add feats you edit the data file property/database/feat.rpdat. It should have enough examples in it to help you get started. Feats look like:

    Code: Select all

      <feat>
        <name>Armor of Bahamut [Divinity]</name>
        <benefit>You can invoke the power of your deity to use armor of Bahamut.</benefit>
        <prerequisiteText>Channel Divinity class feature, must worship Bahamut</prerequisiteText>
        <prerequisiteMet>and(or(eq(getIfExists("root.class.class.name", ""), "Cleric"), eq(getIfExists("root.class.class.name", ""), "Paladin")), eq(root.deity, "Bahamut"))</prerequisiteMet>
        <modifierSetName>feat.armorOfBahamut</modifierSetName>
      </feat>
    
  4. If your feats add modifiers that you would like CT to apply automatically add them in property/database/modifier.rpdat. Modifiers can add numeric bonuses to to many of the properties defined for 4e. They can also be used to add powers and damage die. The modifier for the above feat looks like this:

    Code: Select all

      <modifier>
        <name>feat.armorOfBahamut.0</name>
        <modifierSetName>feat.armorOfBahamut</modifierSetName>
        <source>Armor of Bahamut [Divinity]</source>
        <bonus>'Channel Divinity: Armor of Bahamut'</bonus>
        <type>feat</type>
        <appliedTo>powers</appliedTo>
      </modifier>
    
  5. To add powers you edit the data file property/database/powers.rpdat. All of the powers from the PHB are in this file so there should be a good example to help you. There are lots of different types of powers, but the basic attack power looks like this:

    Code: Select all

      <power>
        <name>Melee Basic Attack</name>
        <level>0</level>
        <source>Basic</source>
        <flavor>You resort to the simple attack you learned when you first picked up a melee weapon.</flavor>
        <type>At-Will</type> 
        <keywords>Weapon</keywords>
        <action>Standard</action>
        <attackTypeAndRange>'Melee weapon'</attackTypeAndRange>
        <requirementsMet>root.currentWeapon.melee</requirementsMet>
        <target>One creature</target>
        <attack>'Strength'</attack>
        <attackModifier>root.str.currentMod</attackModifier>
        <defense>AC</defense>
        <hit>1[W] + Strength modifier damage. Increase damage to 2[W] + Strength modifier at 21st level.</hit>
        <hitWeaponDamageMultiplier>if(gte(root.level, 21), 2, 1)</hitWeaponDamageMultiplier>
        <hitDamageModifier>root.str.currentMod</hitDamageModifier>
        <notes>You can use an unarmed attack as a weapon to make a melee basic attack.</notes>
      </power>
    
  6. When you are finished with your changes to the files, zip the entire .rpgame file back up.
  7. Load your file into CT. It's a good idea to download the zip file distribution and run the application using the shell script (bat file on windows). That should open a console for you to see any errors that appear during loading.
Feel free to ask me any questions either here, through email or on AIM. Whatever you do, don't edit the files in or save any files to the .chartool directory as CT can delete it.

Aetius
Kobold
Posts: 1
Joined: Tue Sep 01, 2009 3:11 pm

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Aetius »

Same problem here. The only thing I managed to do is blocking all the 4th ed sheet with a message "Unable to parse expression".

I can use some help...

User avatar
jay
RPTools Team
Posts: 1767
Joined: Tue Feb 07, 2006 1:07 am
Location: Austin, Tx

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by jay »

Did you try downloading the character tool zip file and running that?

Tinmanjr
Kobold
Posts: 24
Joined: Mon Aug 03, 2009 10:31 am
Location: [email protected]

Re: No feats or powers - blank pop-up message

Post by Tinmanjr »

jay wrote: [*]When you are finished with your changes to the files, zip the entire .rpgame file back up.
[*]Load your file into CT. It's a good idea to download the zip file distribution and run the application using the shell script (bat file on windows). That should open a console for you to see any errors that appear during loading.[/list]

Feel free to ask me any questions either here, through email or on AIM. Whatever you do, don't edit the files in or save any files to the .chartool directory as CT can delete it.
So where should the .rpgame edited file be saved to? I can never make the CharTool load a .rpgame file that is not in the .chartool directory.

Post Reply

Return to “Support: D&D 4e”