Looking back, I'm actually surprised it's been almost an entire year since the previous release, version 1.2.2. And unfortunately, this isn't the big 1.3 release that I've been excited to share with you. However, this release includes about a year's worth of improvements to the base program along with a couple of features.
(In fact, this is actually the latest code for 1.3, but I've hidden or disabled a lot of the features that aren't ready or that breaks compatibility with Mottokrosh's website. As mentioned in the 1.2.2 release notes (and on Twitter), version 1.3 will no longer feature 100% compatibility with Mottokrosh's website… instead, it'll be something more like 95% compatible. So these 1.2.x releases will still maintain that compatibility, while also featuring bug fixes and some nice stuff where I can add them.)
Version 1.3 is a lot closer to release now than it was a year ago. While I was definitely hopeful to get it out earlier than now, some personal issues came up that prevented me from being able to focus on programming for a while, and honestly, my eyes wandered to other projects like Solid Shine UI and my website (which will include an online version of PathfinderJson). Either way, I do want to show this project some love and get 1.3 out the door. I have a very short list of items left to implement or improve, and while these things aren't all super easy, I'm still hopeful to get 1.3 out before the end of 2022.
Anyway, that's the future. Let's take a look at what's in this release:
Changes
- PathfinderJson now is natively available for Arm64 devices, and runs on .NET 6. See notes below!
- Add "icon view" for the base ability scores, to display them as little banners with numbers, rather than a more boring/overwhelming table view
- You can switch between the two views as needed. The app will default to the table view at first, for the sake of backwards compatibility
- Add "temporary" display for base ability scores (for situations where a character's Strength stat, for instance, is temporarily reduced or increased)
- This is the only feature from Mottokrosh's website that I never implemented visually (although it could've been edited in the raw JSON view), but now it's here too!
- If there's recommendations about how to improve the appearance or experience with this, let me know! It could be implemented for 1.3!
- Add Sheet Settings dialog and made improvements to sheet settings data
- There's now UI options for disabling spell check in the Notes box, and changing the skill list used
- Enabling Markdown on a sheet will now cause PathfinderJson to remember it when you next open the file
- If you change calculation settings while a sheet is open (such as "Calculate Armor Class with Updates"), this setting is also saved in the sheet
- The Sheet Settings dialog provides a number of these options right in the UI
- Note that sheet settings data is not likely to survive round-trip conversion with Mottokrosh's site. Meaning that if you upload a sheet file to Mottokrosh's site, the sheet settings will not be present if you re-download that sheet from that site
- Added a "Change Color Scheme" dialog that makes it easier for you to change how PathfinderJson looks for you!
- This revamped experience includes a number of preset good-looking colors you can choose for a colored theme
- There's also a basic light theme and basic dark theme as well!
- You can also select a high contrast theme from this dialog as well, replacing the older, less user-friendly one
- Slight redesign of the Armor Class editor, including a shield-shaped glyph to make it stand out more!
- Includes a notice that the Armor and Shield bonuses are calculated automatically, if you have the calculation setting for that turned on
- This glyph can be hidden via a setting in the Options
- Smaller changes or bug fixes
- Fixed "Animal Handling" skill being misspelled
- Improved the User Data dialog to work better with different Windows text scalings
- Small improvements to stability and reliability
Development Change / new Arm64 version!
Unlike version 1.2.2, this version uses much later code from version 1.3, which included the transition over to using .NET 6, rather than .NET Core 3.1. Visually and functionally, there shouldn't be any differences between the two. However, the switch was needed as .NET Core 3.1 will soon be out of support, and .NET 6 is the new long-term support platform.
One positive change that also came with upgrading to .NET 6 is now PathfinderJson is available natively for Arm64 Windows devices! (Such as certain Surface computers, or Macs with the M1 chip running Windows as a guest OS.) If you're unsure if you have Arm64 or not, you can still continue to use the x64 version without any issues.
However, one negative thing that come with the upgrade is that the file size of the program is now considerably larger. This is due to limitations with .NET 6 and the WPF system that PathfinderJson uses. You win some, you lose some.
Download
If you're in the app, you can click on the "View/Download" button to open up the website and download the update. You can go to Help > About > Platform Info in the app to check if you need the x86 (32-bit) or x64 (64-bit) version. Check to see what the OS Architecture row says.
If you're not in the app, you can view this guide to get an idea of whether you need the x86 (32-bit), x64 (64-bit), or Arm64 version.
Once you download the zip file, you should be able to open it up and just run the PathfinderJson.exe file with no problem! If you're having troubles, try installing the Visual C++ redistributable included with the zip file, or follow the instructions listed on the readme file.