The MacroPolicebox: Second Regeneration (D&D 4E Framework)

Framework(s) for D&D 4e, including Veggiesama's.

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StarMan
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SL 401/402/403

Post by StarMan »

Yeah, that's probably easiest. The reason I don't install every new version that comes along is for some stability in my user base. I don't want them or my own group to upgrade frequently as that can be annoying. Let's wait and see if it's fixed in the next version otherwise you can try .12 if you want. Thanks again for bringing this to my (and hopefully RPTools') attention.

As you pointed out, we are now up to SL 403. The vast majority of changes these days are very small tweaks that make the code a tiny bit shorter. The big fix in 401 was to finally eradicate the variable prompts you can sometimes get when running End My Turn or other macros that use a macro called Attached Effects. This bug wreaked so much havoc at our session 10 days ago that we had to stop playing which is an almost unheard of thing for us. Fortunately last Thursday was smooth sailing. Enjoy!
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404/405

Post by StarMan »

We are now at SL 405 which I will describe here keeping in mind the only significant fix for 404 is the crash that happens when trying to import a healing effect. Aside from greater enforcement of positive properties, the rest of 404 is more very minor tweaks.

405 fixes the ReactionAttack trigger being run twice during attacks, Begin Encounter needing to assert if no monsters have run Initiative, Save macros needing to pass STType to triggers, Reveal NVtP not giving proper choices, End My Turn needing to send Disengage to dead tokens in panel, List Intersect needing to convert List2 to list if submitted as JSON, Banner not expending Initiative trigger macros, dnd4e to Notes needlessly including Compendium references, Spend Action Point not naming effect properly and Run Power needing to remove double quotes. Enjoy!
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406/407/408

Post by StarMan »

The latest trio of SLs focuses on the PDF importer as the recent influx of new recruits in my group has prompted a flurry of token generation. There will always be more work to be done (i.e. I think the flavour text still bleeds into the keywords section of some powers) but the remaining details are relatively trivial. Just paste your PDF text into F4, make sure you watch the Arsenal video and configure accordingly.

For 406, Speak can now send messages by broadcast mode (click Deafen box), Shift was running triggers for invalid actions, Run Power now runs Toggle AFK when that feature is on, Remove Effect was giving Banner assert when recalling spell token and SPL Display was truncating key values at last dash.

SL 407 fixes Toggle Aura should use GRP in Silent Running effect, Status not showing Weapons refs, Handout to Chat wrongly setting all players as owners of PC tokens, Choose From List needs to be locally renamed to Menu, Dummy token and all associated references need to be renamed to Grave (this and the last are HUUUUGE changes!!!) and Skill Check needs to assert when none chosen.

SL 408 fixes Import dnd4e Powers not getting input source from Lib if player Notes blank, Import PC Power sometimes prompting for macro, Fall-ABOS on Pit needs to Prone victim and give better instructions, dnd4e to Notes not excluding standard attacks, onTokenMove prompting Libs for limit, Create RE Block appending extra @ in macros calls and End My Turn needing to clear power lock. Enjoy!
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409 to 412

Post by StarMan »

I have been so busy getting my brand new Friday group together (first session was last night) that I haven't had time to report progress here. Turns out we have a quartet of SLs to announce this time! The main focus over this past little while is to write code to handle dnd4e files from the "Detail Adder" program. Incredibly, this is an app that will shore up the deficiencies in the Offline CB output making its dnd4e files almost as good as the (now defunct) Online CB's. Its shortcomings are few and can be compensated for by some extra code in the importer. It is my hope SL 413 will be the final release for this particular development arc. Rejoice fellow MPBers! This is the day we have been waiting for this year! :lol:

Having said that, the PC PDF importer has come a long way too. As long as you print your Character Sheet to PDF with the "Show flavour text above power" option then you should get pretty good results. Using FL->Import Features from PDF thereafter produces adequate results but not as detailed as the above paragraph outlines. The main advantage of the PDF method is its very low memory footprint. Processing all the XML from CB dnd4e files will require you to bump up MT's heap size to (arguably) unsustainable levels.

Highlights from the last 4 SLs include addressing of the following issues: Restore Frames facility needed for reacquisition after closure, Import Description needs to make current map not player visible, SPL Display needs to reinstate removed "-", various Find Macro on Map failings, Equip Weapon not handling Off choice, Configure Targeting needs to take TRange parm instead of presenting A, Create Effect not setting proper Select and Range value to Configure Targeting, Attack Power needs to send Ranged variable to BasicAttack trigger, Import Description needs to use Set Search Vars for light source detection, Check for Level Up gives BigDecimal error if XP is not number, Effect Saving Throw prompting for Token, Run Power not displaying monster output and Rumble Eval not properly testing for corrupt Level. Enjoy!
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413 to 415

Post by StarMan »

The latest trio of SLs had the specific focus of finishing work on support for the "Detail Adder" program's dnd4e files. I tested last night using one of my new players' L18 druid and things went very smoothly indeed. Sure there will be some bolt-tightening ahead but the importer now does a good enough job in accounting for the important things. Another good thing is the HalfLevel problem (where it was being omitted in new token attacks) has been resolved so no action is required on the part of the user.

Other highlights of this SL trio include fixing Run Power giving "Cheater" warning for Silent Running, Tally Map NPC XP only giving singular choice, Grant Rest for PCs needlessly giving Quit option (413), Replace Token prompting during F4 update, Disengage giving XP==0 warning for HP-less tokens, Choose Targets needs to give "Grave" when none found (414), RACK including IncludeSelf for attacks, Find Macro on Map still prompting for MMHoF, Importer leaving "replaces {hex #}" in Feat names and falsely detecting Rousing Words as a Healing Word variant. Enjoy!
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416 to 422

Post by StarMan »

SLs have been cranked out like nobody's business but I have had time to blog about them given the urgency of my groups' situation. Lots of tokens are being built these days so I have been scrambling to fix any bugs in the importer. This has culminated in SL 422 which I am reasonably happy with. The main source of difficulty was getting the dnd4e to Notes macro (like not picking up resistances) to play nice with both versions of CB (off/online) and Detail Adder. It seems to be running nicely now and my groups are happy with the tokens being produced.

Other highlights since SL 416 include Banner now asserting for Beast Form run without an active Polymorph_AC effect, Create Effect now uses passed Mod for tier effects, onTokenMove gives fewer limit errors, various skill challenge improvements, elimination of most Silent Running problems, Validate Token Ownerships now seems to give proper token options, Run Splash no longer prompts for Parms, Choose Targets now detects NVtP tokens, Find Macro on Map now prompts for Skip All, Make Save List was not including effects linked to non-Save ones, Register Effect not treating system tokens as objects and Handout to Chat no longer alters tokens it shouldn't. Enjoy!
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423 to 426

Post by StarMan »

Not much to say about the latest quartet of SLs other than it largely ends the importer overhaul I have been wanting to achieve. I threw an MM3 monster at it yesterday and had good results. All of the Detail Adder eccentricities seem to be resolved too. A lot of work has also been done on Validate Token Ownerships so that it now gives more accurate lists of participants. Before running this macro, make sure you set InitBonus to 0 on tokens that will not be part of initiative. Combat interactions with Invisible (especially those which just have their Visible flag off) tokens. Handout to Chat also makes fewer ownership-setting mistakes and (here's a biggie) Implement bonuses were not being included for basic attacks. I didn't even know that was a problem until my players pointed it out to me! :oops:

Improvements include SPL Display now removing underscores from keys and Choose Targets notifying the DM of tokens it ignores due to high AC. A myriad of tiny performance and memory efficiency tweaks round out this series of releases. Enjoy!
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427 and 428

Post by StarMan »

Back to only talking about the latest two SLs! For this new chapter the goal is getting ready for the jump to v1.7 of MapTool. The demo campaign is still loadable in 1.5.10 but if all goes according to plan 428 will be the last one. I have been testing under 1.7 and saving in 1.5.10. The main problem is that the new MT version insists that JSON objects be created with the son.set function rather than be concatenated strings. MT versions before 1.5.12 were OK with the ad hoc method I was using but later versions have no such tolerance. Overall, the conversion is going rather well so far but this week's gaming sessions will tell the tale.

427 looks at Validate Token Ownerships' continue strange behaviour (new checking mechanisms will hopefully catch some of the fringe occurrences), End My Turn needs to remove Short Rest trigger, Begin Encounter was not setting Label Duration to "Encounter", Toggle Invisible Targeting was unable to run Toggle Targetability, Speak was not able to send message in interactive mode, Skill Check was sending incorrect macro for Skill Closing in SC mode, Short Rest needed to reset aura for PCs, Start My Turn needed to take over blanking Exploits from End My Turn and Summon NPC Lib Tokens needed to exclude door tokens from searches.

428 fixes Refresh States killing skill challenge and other unkillable tokens, Extended Rest needing to remove EndTurn trigger, Import dnd4e Powers not running Finish Import, and Run Power prompting for turn end at inappropriate times. Enjoy ...
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429 to 431/10 YEARS!!!!

Post by StarMan »

Quick everybody, download SL 431 before my site goes down again! :oops: {sigh} My hosting provider took it and its whole domain down on Friday without so much as a by-your-leave on their Facebook site. Yes, I'm in the IT biz myself and I do understand the need for periodic maintenance on a server farm. I just wish they would let us know, free subscribers notwithstanding (i.e. not very difficult to take 5 seconds out of your life to type a notification). :evil: Rant over!
Happy 10th Morgan ... whoever you are! Just thought I would steal this shot of your cake!
Happy 10th Morgan ... whoever you are! Just thought I would steal this shot of your cake!
6f874265d3da9a6f06e372960e58e7e1.jpg (42.39 KiB) Viewed 11031 times
In June 2010, I wrote my very first macro (i.e. Choose Targets) in what would eventually become the 4e powerhouse we know as The MacroPolicebox today. Its one DECADE birthday calls for some big announcements! The first major feature is MT 1.7 support. Starting with SL 430, you MUST be at this MapTool level or higher to use the MPB. I am very happy to report the conversion to 1.7 compatibility has gone very well and I was able to eliminate any lingering bugs during my Friday group's last session.

The second major addition is sound support. Yes, you read that correctly!!! It gives me great pleasure to announce that about a dozen macros (Attack, Begin/End Encounter, Equip Weapon etc) will now play a sound effect when run! Expansion of this feature is ongoing so stay tuned for improvements in future releases. You will also find a new button in your Quick group called Cedrics Jam. This is named in honour of the gent from my Thursday group who plays music for us using a bot in Discord. These features will be documented on my site soon.

Other highlights include lots of work in the menus for beginning and ending encounters to show only participating tokens. Also problems with Save Ends saves and initiative passing have been fixed as has a major bug in the GRP feature of the Register Effect macro. onTokenMove no longer gives irritating messages if you're on a non-MPB-present map and spell token generation is generally smoother. Here's to another 10 years! :lol:
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432/433

Post by StarMan »

Thanks very much, Wolph! I agree, it seems like yesterday but it wasn't until late 2011 that I released it on this forum. I never did end up including your dispersal code but thanks again anyway. If my players decided to say "Nah I didn't want to push that guy to the square the system decided." and I had to move the token anyway then there wasn't much point. Still remember your cool demo video though!

The main thing I have done in the past couple of SLs is expanded the new sound support. There are now roughly 2 dozen macros that play their own unique effect. In addition, these effects are now broadcast to other PC clients connected to the server. If you find them annoying then you can simply slide the volume bar at the top of the program. The easiest test is to click on the Door token and then run one of the compass point macros. If you choose, "Open" then you will hear "creeeeeak!". :P

432 fixes CT Without SM setting Select Mode incorrectly for non-MPB tokens and Write Macro prompting for group. Import Description has been improved to prompt for handout reveal round. 433 fixes Apply Functional Template failing due to invalid JSON construct and Choose Targets ignoring the State specifier. Enjoy!
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Re: The MacroPolicebox: Second Regeneration (D&D 4E Framework)

Post by wolph42 »

Nice features, I'll sure will check out those sound effects. Having problems getting them to work so curious how you flew that bird in

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Re: The MacroPolicebox: Second Regeneration (D&D 4E Framework)

Post by StarMan »

Yeah I couldn't get it to work with non-DropBox URL links. :? I keep all my effects in DropBox and reference them from there. Local URLs (i.e. "file://...") links work too but ones like "https://domain.com/MySong.mp3" didn't work for me. Look at the Play Clip macro in the Base UI group. I use Send Macro (in root group) in other macros to send Play Clip to PC tokens. Tomorrow night will be my first live test with my group so let's see how it goes.
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434/435

Post by StarMan »

It went very well and thanks for asking! Granted I got a few, "Whoa, WTF was THAT?" reactions the first 2 or 3 times from my players but overall the feature was well received. One guy suggested we randomize the effect for the End My Turn macro but we didn't flesh out the details yet. The mechanics are pretty straight forward as I use the Send Macro feature of the MPB (dressed up broadcast macrolink deal) to send the Play Clip macro to all PC tokens so the effect plays on each client.

The biggest change for the latest pair of SLs is the reworking of End My Turn's method for ending "Duration=Turn" effects. The original way was taking WAY too long. My group was complaining ... and rightly so. I have reworked things so only those tokens which have such effects will be looked at. Other 4e highlights include a few promotions to the MMHoF, Run Expended being smarter with the Protect Defenders prompt, Attack Power ABOS Blast message can be clearer, Finish Import now rings the round bell when finished, Handout to Chat won't set label on Libs and an onCampaignLoad has been added.

435 fixes RACK not adding Colour to aura parms when prompting is off, Handout to Chat needed to send Add to Notes to PCs, Refresh States needed to send to back for tokens larger than medium, Choose Macro not correctly repairing ranged basic names, Import PC Power not recognizing Healing Word powers efficiently and a few more sound effects have been added. Enjoy!
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