Things that confuse

Discussion of initiative tool.

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dorpond
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Things that confuse

Post by dorpond »

I love what you have done so far.

I didn't want you to think that nobody cared. I downloaded the update last night and gave it a quick test run. Love the double click features.

I will test today and give you my full dedication.

Thanks for the update!
Last edited by dorpond on Sun Jul 02, 2006 10:41 am, edited 1 time in total.

dorpond
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Quick thoughts

Post by dorpond »

I am going to start playing around with InitTool. When I try each feature, I am going to write what I think here.

1. When open Group Tool, I know what it is supposed to be used for but I find myself clicking stuff because it isn't straight forward how to use it. I think redeigning this interface might be useful. First thing I did when I opened it:
a. My eyes gravitated to the Name field so I clicked in that field and started typing in a character name.
b. I clicked on the + button only to find that nothing happened.
c. My third thought was that is was a bug or broken.
e. So then I thought perhaps I was using it wrong so I put a groupo name in there called Party and then I searched around for other buttons and gravitated to the pencil.
f. nothing worked so then I hunted and eventually found the little people icons on on the right side of the screen in the middle of nowhere.
g. "Ohhhh, that creates a new group"

Like I said, you may need to make it visually easier. People tend to gravitate towards + symbols for adding or creating. Perhaps if you make a button that is labeled "New Group", that would eliminate confusion. Moving it is a must for first timers since our eyes don't look where they currently are.

dorpond
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Post by dorpond »

Confusion:

I am uncertain how duplicate Initiatives are handled. I checked under the settings and we have:
1. Roll off
2. No Change
3. D&D Resolution

I quickly looked for a help button or something to explain these. Perhaps a little text description when switching between each of these?

In my mind, I want the ability to specify who won since I have played with many different people who play all different ways when determining who wins initiative ties. Some people use the Init bonus first, then Dex modifier second and roll-off third if they all tie. Others do a Dex roll to determine ties. What I think we will need is another window popup perhaps showing ties and a manual entery to determine who goes first? This way the GM has complete control over ties instead of being locked into the three options above.

Also, I have no clue what Properties is under Edit Items is for. I add something but it just seems to put labels in there. Whatever it is, it is confusing..

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jay
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Re: Quick thoughts

Post by jay »

dorpond wrote:I am going to start playing around with InitTool. When I try each feature, I am going to write what I think here.

1. When open Group Tool, I know what it is supposed to be used for but I find myself clicking stuff because it isn't straight forward how to use it. I think redeigning this interface might be useful. First thing I did when I opened it:
a. My eyes gravitated to the Name field so I clicked in that field and started typing in a character name.
b. I clicked on the + button only to find that nothing happened.
c. My third thought was that is was a bug or broken.
e. So then I thought perhaps I was using it wrong so I put a groupo name in there called Party and then I searched around for other buttons and gravitated to the pencil.
f. nothing worked so then I hunted and eventually found the little people icons on on the right side of the screen in the middle of nowhere.
g. "Ohhhh, that creates a new group"

Like I said, you may need to make it visually easier. People tend to gravitate towards + symbols for adding or creating. Perhaps if you make a button that is labeled "New Group", that would eliminate confusion. Moving it is a must for first timers since our eyes don't look where they currently are.
I could fix some of this problem by creating a default New Group that you could start editing right away. This would make allow all of the buttons on the bottom and the text field to work right away. The other thing I could do is to disable all of the bottom controls when there isn't a group to edit.

I have no problem totally redesigning the screen, but I want to be able to edit multiple groups at the same time. This provides a way for the groups to be kept together in a single file, and allows them to be edited as a set. I don't want to open a file for each group. That would make the panel simple, but it would be a pain to edit a lot of them. Do you have any ideas on how to make it easier and still meet that functionality? Do you want me to use the + & - icons for groups (top toolbar) and pick some other icons for adding the creatures?

I do have a "New Group" button in the "Edit" menu, and I have tool tips for all the buttons on the front panel. I didn't add the labels because I didn't think they would fit on the tool bar and would make the panel more confusing. I also thought the label in the menu's would be enough. I'd just as soon leave the labels off to reduce the clutter, but I do want their functionality to be clear.

First I'm going to try creating an empty group when you first open the tool. I think this will fix many of your startup concerns. If it doesn't we can get a bit more invasive.

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jay
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Post by jay »

dorpond wrote:Confusion:

I am uncertain how duplicate Initiatives are handled. I checked under the settings and we have:
1. Roll off
2. No Change
3. D&D Resolution

I quickly looked for a help button or something to explain these. Perhaps a little text description when switching between each of these?
That sounds like a good idea, but the only place to put stuff like this (especially on a dialog) is on the wiki. I'll add the info there and see if I can add a link to it on the dialog. I may also be able to add a tooltip description.
dorpond wrote: In my mind, I want the ability to specify who won since I have played with many different people who play all different ways when determining who wins initiative ties. Some people use the Init bonus first, then Dex modifier second and roll-off third if they all tie. Others do a Dex roll to determine ties. What I think we will need is another window popup perhaps showing ties and a manual entery to determine who goes first? This way the GM has complete control over ties instead of being locked into the three options above.
I can add as many specific options as you would like, if I have the data available. Since I don't have a "Dex" value available, I can't create a method that would use that value. I could add a method that would read from the custom values for the creatures, but that could get confusing.

The GM can always resolve ties manually by setting the option to 'No Change' and using move up & move down options in the edit menu after all of the items are assigned an initiative roll. If you think it is worth the effort, I can add a dialog to resolve the ties during startup.
dorpond wrote: Also, I have no clue what Properties is under Edit Items is for. I add something but it just seems to put labels in there. Whatever it is, it is confusing..
The Properties list shows the names of all the custom properties that are attached to items in the encounters and groups. I shortened the label so that it didn't mess the dialog up, but I'll fix it so it is a bit more descriptive.

Sorry it took me so long to get back to you dorpond, I've been out of town for the holiday.

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