December Update
over 5 years ago – Fri, Dec 07, 2018 at 06:39:52 AM

In this video I am covering the winter survey, the new updates we brought to the servers and a few sneak-peeks to what's coming up before Christmas. 

Since this is a longer video, here are the time stamps if you want to jump to a specific section or read the TL;TR for this topic here: 

01:35 Winter survey results 

Over the past month we asked you, what you want us to focus on next. We are very grateful for your feedback and we listened closely to your requests, so the upcoming roadmap will be: Until Christmas/End of the year we will focus on improvements for the editor. Until end of the first quarter 2019 we will address the viewer Before we then continue adding new features to the editor, the gm-notes and the rest of the system. If you want to learn more about the survey, check the video above. 

03:57 December update - Blueprints 

Over the past week we introduced the new feature "Blueprints" to our editor. You are now able to take a scribble or an old map and upload it as a blueprint for your DUNGEONFOG maps. There will be an in depth tutorial released next week, but if you want to see a short introduction check out the video above.

08:57 December update - Autosave

We have also reworked our approach on maps in our architecture: Everything you do with a map is automatically saved as a local database in your browser. 

The good news: This introduces autosaves to your map making process. In case your laptop battery dies, your browser crashes or your RAM gets full, the current state of your map is stored locally and will be available once you re-open the map or refresh your browser. 

The bad news: Since our new scripts are a lot less forgiving when it comes to flawed map data, older maps might cause an error and can not be opened. Due to our new mechanic to autosave maps we have a rather unforgiving routine to check for errors. 

The result is, that some older maps now show an error. Actually that error was there all the time, but our old script was accepting it nonetheless... 

We now need to fix those maps manually to make them work with the new script, so if you encounter a map that can't be opened, please report this map and we will have it updated.

12:50 New prop set - "Mad Scientist's Laboratory"

Check our last dashboard update to learn more about the monthly prop pack from November.

14:55 Sneak-peek for upcoming prop set

Want to see what's coming for our December prop pack? Check out the video!

16:26 Christmas gift

Uhhh! Christmas gifts! We are going to release a special community prop pack for christmas - and YOU can vote on the props that are contained. So got to our Discord server and take part!

Recent Bug-Fixes 

• Over the past days we added some other features and addressed several bugs that came along this update: 
• You can now multi-select your maps and move, publish or delete them as a batch action.
• GM-Notes got a little brush over, so they should be more user friendly
• We fixed a bug in the GM-Notes that caused the cursor to jump to the top of the document.
• We added a lazy load to the asset library to speed up the process of browsing your assets
• We drastically improved the performance of your asset libraries and quick access bars
• We drastically improved the performance for browsing, copying and cloning maps
• We finally fixed the "report map" bug that caused maps to get stuck in "loading" when you tried to report them
• We improved undo/redo in the editor so that is is more stable
• We added some minor improvements to the general performance in preparation for our big performance / RAM update that is coming up

As always, make sure that you clear your cache and refresh your browser to make sure that all the changes are working for you!

Happy map making!
Till

Test-Area Access
over 5 years ago – Tue, Nov 20, 2018 at 03:41:52 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.

WINTER-SURVEY 2018
over 5 years ago – Tue, Nov 06, 2018 at 06:59:21 PM

Roadmap

Now that we are back from SPIEL it is time to continue our development on DUNGEONFOG. We have several work packages that are waiting to be addressed and I wanted to give you an outlook on what’s on our table. 

During the SPIEL and over the past weeks on Discord we had the opportunity to exchange with you about the progress so far, the most needed improvements and the general direction of the next updates. And we learned, that when you ask 100 people what they need most, you get 100 answers. 

Since we are still a small team (for now…) with Andi working on the web-applications, Herbert working on the APIs, Thomas working on the platform and me working on communications and artworks with Toni, we need to pay close attention to what is doable in what time frame. 

Here I have compiled a short overview of the work-packages we are currently looking at: 

Editor

There are currently around 100 open tickets waiting to be addressed, so I will not name them all, but highlight the ones that we think have highest priority: 

• Autosave & Advanced Versioning 
• Blueprints (add images as backdrops to used them as blueprints for drawing your maps)
• Hotkeys for sorting props 
• Multi-select
• Duplicate rooms
• Duplicate layers
• Room-templates
• Edit shapes (shape-points, rounded segments, cavification)
• Shift brushes to props
• General performance optimization for export

GM-Notes

Together with our Viewer the notes have been untouched for a long time now. Focusing on the editor to have it ready for launch was eating a lot of time that was initially dedicated to notes improvements: 

• Change edit toolbar to top and fixate it there 
• New approach to rooms list & content list for adding rooms, statblocks, images 
• Add images 
• Seperate storage of notes and map data 
• World Anvil Integration 

Viewer

We launched our viewer almost a year ago. And aside from hotfixes and minor improvements it is still the early ALPHA build it was when we started it. We have collected tons of feedback, learned a lot form testing over the past year and are confident, that we can bring our viewer to a solid next level once we address it. 

• General overhaul of viewer 
• Improved interface 
• Add tokens
• Add images
• Add spell-effect templates
• Stabilise performance & connection
• World Anvil Integration

Sounds

Our sound system is already in internal testing, and we were planning on making our first public testings with it soon. However, a new situation came up during SPIEL: Syrinscape came forward and showed high interest in collaborating with us. So before we might continue with our current sound system, I would like to wait until end of this month and see what possibilities might show up here. 

• Basic soundscape system 
• Syrinscape integration 

Platform & Servers

We still have a lot of things we want to improve regarding our platform and general infrastructure. A lot of this will happen parallel to our web-application development.

• Community Folders
• Multi-select and batch editing for maps & folders
• System-notifications
• Improved distribution through scalable CDNs
• Server Rendering-Queues
• Marketplace for free-accounts
• Marketplace for third-party assets
• Marketplace for free community assets

So as you see, we will not get bored in the next couple of months. But the big question is: Where to start? 

It has gotten incredibly hard to pick the next work package, since all of them are important, needed and will improve our tools a lot. 

We know that we can address the platform & APIs parallel to the web-applications, but where should we start in terms of editor, notes or viewer? 

This is where you come in: Give us your feedback! What do you want us to focus on? 

We are going to be at the ViennaComicCon from November 17-18 and we would like to announce the next big work-package there. So if you want to partake in this decision, take part in our survey here: https://www.dungeonfog.com/platform/winter-survey-2018/

That's all Fogs,
Happy Mapmaking!
Till

Come visit us at SPIEL'18 in Essen
over 5 years ago – Mon, Oct 22, 2018 at 01:17:51 PM

We're getting ready for SPIEL'18, where we will be celebrating our official launch! 

Celebrate with us!

We have prepared a little celebration gift for everyone who logs in during October 25th to 28th! All you need to do is log into DUNGEONFOG during that period and go to the achievements section to claim your special gift

 Say hello!

You can find us in Hall 6, Booth 6L106. 
So if you are around, come and say hello and claim your special badge.

Have fun & happy map making!
Till

Softlaunch has started
over 5 years ago – Mon, Oct 08, 2018 at 04:17:08 PM

This post is for backers only. Please visit Kickstarter.com and log in to read.