Author Topic: ERA tutorial request  (Read 1901 times)

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Offline Pazuzu

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ERA tutorial request
« on: August 04, 2016, 12:34:47 PM »
Can we get a tutorial on the details of how to do things in ERA?

How is combat and spell casting processed in a step by step fashion?

I'm sure there are many facets of ERA that I'm missing out on, but as an XML illiterate, I have no idea of how things work when trying to use anything beyond character creation.

I'm sure it's probably something really simple that I'm missing, but without that key "aha!" moment, I'm stumped.

For ego's sake, I will blame it on old age and Rum. But mostly Rum.

Offline Voriig Kye

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Re: ERA tutorial request
« Reply #1 on: August 05, 2016, 08:18:59 AM »
Hi there! I just saw your other post as well.
ERA has a lot of features that I've added during years of using it for my group, and I am aware that a lot of things are yet confusing to use and more tutorials are needed.

There are two different approaches to this. First, I need to make some time to create a combat and a spell casting tutorial. I intend to do that in the short term, since there have been some requests for that recently.

On the other hand, the application should be more "user friendly", and for that I need the users to let me know what they think is lacking, or what is confusing to use, so that I can improve it for future versions. As I start work on the RMU version, I also know that this will be very important for everyone, since the ruleset is new and even veteran GMs will benefit from a good guidance from the application, always with the flexibility for house ruling.

I saw in the other post that you mention ACG. What does the character sheet there offer that you can't find in ERA? I would be interested in improving that aspect of the application as well.

About the use of XML files, this is because ERA lacks a visual interface to edit configuration files. Right now we are more focused on offering the different books with the professions, spells, races, etc. already created. I think it might be eventually possible to offer something like an "ERA Workshop" but so much needs to be done first... That is why I try to answer as fast and complete as possible all those XML customization questions. We could ask ICE to offer some sort of place (the vault?) so that those who have already created a customized file can share it with the rest (this would only be possible for out of print information I guess, as we can't allow people to share IP protected content).

And I know this won't be much and maybe you've seen them already, but there ARE tutorials showing combat (here) and spell casting (automatic casting can be seen here), although they are old and use a different ruleset. If you could let me know what is missing in them from your point of view, it would help me make sure the new ones have everything they need.

Offline Pazuzu

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Re: ERA tutorial request
« Reply #2 on: August 05, 2016, 01:59:52 PM »
Thanks for the reply Voriig.

Providing some detailed feedback will take me a few days to be comprehensive and address items effectively. I'll go over the video links you provided to see if I can follow them and use ERA more effectively first before I list items that may not be shortfalls in the program, but were missed by me initially.

For the comparison to the ACG character sheet print out, I can post a PDF of the sheet it generates if the moderators approve it.

I'll have some constructive feedback shortly.

Offline Pazuzu

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Re: ERA tutorial request
« Reply #3 on: August 10, 2016, 07:43:29 PM »
Having watched the videos, I think I have a little better idea of how to use the combat and spell casting functions.

I'm thinking that the icon layout and lack of guided process may be what is lacking in intuitiveness for players and GMs.

For example, the character creation process is fairly smooth. It starts you off at the first step, and then takes you through the rest of the process step by step. In addition, there is a text box for most things that tells the user what is what, and what goes where.

The combat section could benefit greatly from using some of this approach. If the action icons could include a small text box either as part of the icon or just beneath them, it would go a long way towards making it easier to identify what button the GM should be pushing to take an action.

When looking at the character icons, the red (HP) and blue (PP) circles around the character portraits could benefit from using a wider line thickness. Or using horizontal bars next to the character portrait. As it stands now, they are somewhat difficult to read for my old eyes. Depending on the size and type of computer monitor (or even TV), others may have difficulty seeing them clearly. I would also suggest, that arranging the character portraits vertically along the left, and then having text to the right of each character listing any penalties for PP use, low HP, or other penalties or bonuses would help immensely.

As I typically have 6 players at the table plus me as GM, having combat relevant information presented on the screen for everyone in the combat would be a lifesaver. It would be a chore to click on the character status for each combatant separately just to see how they are doing.

I'm not sure if the penalties are being tracked in the background with ERA, but I am currently unable to see any of the penalties for low HP, PP, EX, bleeding, stun, or critical effects. This is one of the things that we like about the ACG character sheet. It calculated and presents as a small table the penalties the character will be at when they reach the HP, PP, or EXH threshold.

For example, character X will be at -10 at 82 HP, -20 at 55 HP, and -30 at 28 HP. It then does the same for PP and EXH respectively. In addition, the ACG character sheet lists the movement rates and moving maneuver bonuses/penalties the character has at certain levels of encumberance. These are very handy to have for a printed character sheet.

When relying on the automated features of ERA, all the calculations and the bonuses and penalties that go into them can be kept in the background without any problems. But when a player wants to look at a printed character sheet, having these bonuses and penalties calculated and presented in a clear fashion at their fingertips is a real life saver. And even when using the automated combat function of ERA, listing the bonuses and penalties accumulated for each character (PC and NPC) up front would really help the GM.

One thing that I recently discovered in ERA was the maneuver function. It lets the GM select the maneuver based on the character's skills, select the difficulty, and then process the result. I like this. I think it would be perfect if the GM could also select the level of danger involved in the maneuver, and whether it was the first time performing the maneuver or if it was a routine, and then automatically calculate the Experience Points for the maneuver. Then I as GM could just go into the log at the end of the session and add up all the XP the character received for the session. If this could be coupled with automated combat XP tracking (hits, criticals, kills, etc.), I would throw money at you.

Another thing that would help a GM with several players would be to have character names appear next to each character portrait. I have so much going on during a combat with 6 players, that it is hard to keep things straight going just by the portrait. This problem gets compounded with multiple enemies of the same type.

In my estimation, ERA has almost everything needed in its bones. The only thing holding it back from being ideal is presentation of the information it already has. That and perhaps some automatic calculations of penalties and XP. I think that you are on to something good. But perhaps your intimate familiarity with your creation makes it much easier for you to utilize ERA to its fullest potential, whereas those of us who are just stepping up to using it aren't quite seeing all it can do.

Of course I must offer the caveat that I am using the RMFRP version, and that the RM2/RMC experience may be very different.

Offline Voriig Kye

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Re: ERA tutorial request
« Reply #4 on: August 12, 2016, 07:46:49 AM »
Wow! That is constructive feedback!

First of all, you are right in summing it up as "it has the stuff, but it is not clear how to use it".
The character creation module was specifically designed with ease of use in mind, and the "How to use" box was added to clear up doubts about the rules in place. I am really glad it worked as intended.
I realize that ERA is actually seen more as just a character creation program, and the complexity and lack of tutorials for the other modules might be the reason.

All of your comments are useful and I will have them in mind as I design the coming features, especially when considering future redesigns to the user interface. My next big challenge is creating a useful tool for RMU players, as that means making it easy for all of us since a lot of new rules will be in play. Help texts and a clearer interface are crucial to achieving it.

Some of your comments target the fact that the interface is compact and light on words. The reason for this is that it was created with a small screen in mind (less than 10'') to allow any computer to provide GM support. Also, a lot of texts would be irrelevant to advanced users, but I never got around to adding them for new users! This would obviously require an on/off switch somewhere to avoid being annoying to those who already learned about a feature.

So, I promise to consider all your points in future features, and to little by little add the option to have more comprehensive text about what is going on (character names and summary of damage next to the portraits, experience calculation information, etc.).

Since this might take some time, as ERA is a project I can only tackle on my free time, I wanted to detail some hints on "where to find / how to do" some of the things you mention. Maybe you've seen them and it's just that they were not useful in their current state, but just in case:

- The circle of options around a character have tooltips if you stay a second or two over them. That will indicate the action to execute (attack, maneuver, etc.).
- The attack dialog is supposed to present the attack on the left side, and the defense on the right side. So the attacker's percentage is on the top left, and the defender's parry is on the lower right.
- If you hover for a second or two over a character portrait, you get the character name, a percentage for remaining hits, bleeding status and stun rounds remaining. All of this information is also available to the players using the Character Status module, which is intended to be accessed using their smartphones/tables. There they can always get a more detailed view on penalties, stun, bleeding, movement, HP, PP, magical and physical encumbrance.  Exhaustion is not heavily considered in ERA, as I only added it after some requests, and only to the character information window for the GM.
- All of your comments on character status and the things missing from the GM interface in the Adventuring module and the character sheet, are about information currently shown in the Character Status module. I understand some groups do not allow phones during play, or prefer a printed sheet. After seeing the ACG character sheet, I see I could add some of this information to the printed character sheet offered currently by ERA.
- ERA keeps track of damage caused by criticals, and automatically considers it on every skill check. It does not offer the chance to say "this is a physical penalty and I'm rolling Math, ignore it", this must be adjusted manually on each scenario. It does consider hit point penalties, but only when making an attack, where you have the option to adjust it if necessary (and a check box to ignore it for situations like undead or golems attacking). PP and EXH penalties are not considered so far.
- The adjusted value for a skill (after considering critical penalties) is displayed every time the skill is used, in the form "Skill name [ranks] bonus (modified bonus after penalties)"
- I could add the level of danger and times done to the maneuver dialog, but it is tricky to design a window with parts that come and go depending on options that could be turned on/off. I promise to keep it in mind and try to add it.
- There IS an experience report available. I do not talk about it in general because it might not be useful to every play style, but you could check it out in the meantime. Every time you save and adventure, two files are updated. One is "adventure name.adventure.XML" and the other is "adventure name.summary.XML". The summary file can be opened with any Web Browser and has sections for spells, skills, damage received and combat involvement. The current version does not list repeated attempts of the same skill at the same difficulty, and does not repeat repeated spells cast. So it will tell you "Borat used Shock Bolt and Sudden Light, succeeded at a Very Hard Swimming and a Light Swimming maneuver" but not how many times. If I were to add your request for danger and first time/routine, I might offer a different experience report with the detailed number of times, danger, etc.

So, again, thanks for all the input. Thanks for all the ideas. I am sorry for all the lack of information in the user interface. Please remember that I promise to consider all the suggestions, and understand that I am working on ERA for RMU, more RMC and RMFRP packages, the character inventory and training package module, and making improvements to the creature template feature.

Offline Voriig Kye

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Re: ERA tutorial request
« Reply #5 on: August 15, 2016, 09:46:19 PM »
Just to prove that I'm dedicating some time to the tutorial part of the equation, I've added a new NPC tutorial, in order to set the ground for a combat tutorial.
https://youtu.be/be4vawtN_LQ