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Written by CrystalBallSoft Staff
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Jun 18, 2009 at 04:15 PM |
The new 4.0 CrystalBall development continues! The backend classes have been put in to their proper order which will really help speed up development. The new table editor is well under way with a snazzy new interface which will make it much more natural. Combined with the new class setup, the table editor is destined for some really cool things like editing weapons, skills, items, etc inline. AND! the table editor will make an awesome way to edit data on the character sheet. Of course, it won't look like a table editor when sitting on the character sheet, but it's the basis for that functionality and will be very cool. Also new is The Cloud!
CBLite's pronouncement of death (http://www.crystalballsoft.com/messageboard/index.php?topic=228.0) has been slurred. With people requesting new scripting features and a few found bugs and nescessary improvements, we've decided another release of CBLite is in order. It should have some cool fixes like coloring roll sections of templates. We'll also be adding a new cool Table and SubTable class for scripting that will add a ton of functionality for working with tables.
Also under way are some cool new Clouded featuers. The Cloud is the future! Well, maybe not the full future, but it should add some really cool abilities and make group gaming much easier. The Cloud sits on a CB server somewhere on the internet. We've set it up and it's running right now! You don't have to do a thing. Clouded features will then be able to send data to and from that server so that you can use your data from any computer.
The first Cloud feature is Chat. Right now the networked chat feature for chatting and sharing rolls fails if you are behind some sort of firewall/port blocking/ip hating/it enforced hassle. So, if you have people playing at your office and another guy is skypeing in from somewhere in Ohio and you are behind a firewall, the guy from Ohio won't be able to see your rolls. BUT NOT ANYMORE! Cloud Chat sends your chats and rolls to The Cloud. Your Ohio buddy connects to The Cloud and can see all your messages. PLUS! he can also post to The Cloud and you can see his messages.
Yes, it might sound complicated, but rest assured it's pretty freakin' cool and dead easy to use. You just tell chat to connect to the cloud and it does the rest.
Cloud chat allows you to send chats and rolls to anyone anywhere that can get on the internet. No more hassles with connectivity. Cloud Chat is an add-on to networked play so you don't have to use it and you can continue your games as is with no problems. This feature is already developed and just lacks final testing and PM approval before hitting the streets.
The second Cloud feature is Notes. You'll be able to make a note for your campaign or your party that everyone can view and edit at the same time. It's pretty much the current Notes system except linked through The Cloud so that everyone sees the same thing at the same time. This lets the party treasurer track loot in a note that everyone can see. Or maybe the DM wants to work on campaign ideas form several computers at different times of the day. You don't have to copy around note files, just add a Cloud Note and edit it from both locations. Or maybe you create a party note where one person is tracking the history, another is making mapping notes, and another is recording NPCs. They can all work in the same note and see each other's changes. VERY VERY exciting. This will really open some doors for a great RPG experience where everyone can see everything. This is in development now and is pretty close to entering Alpha.
Cloud Notes is an add-on feature to notes. Normal notes are left untouched so you still have your private notes. Clouded notes can be used concurrently with normal notes so you can have notes of each type open at the same time.
With all this Clouded talk, one begins to think of future possibilities. The big beefy one that rears its massive head is the whiteboard. There was a lot of work put in to making a whiteboard that worked through the cb network, but it got shelved because of time constraints and complexity of making it go through the cb network (not to mention the pains of making it work to a Graphical Designer's specs ;)). Converting it to a Cloud paradigm would make it uber powerful with much fewer limits on accessibility as well as allowing it be unshackled from the cb network.
We've also talked of allowing clouding characters and dice sets in the so you can access your stuff from anywhere. I know I'd find that extremely useful.
So, that's a bite from our current status: Lots of cloud stuff, CBLite getting updated, and CB getting a hammering of work done on it including an awesomely cool new table editor. GO FIGHT WIN!
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