WhereAreGames Blog

This month I made a few changes with the help of the local gaming group. There was some cosmetic changes that makes the usability a bit better. The Share Target API should make it easier for newer users to load BattleScribe files.

- File Handler API. This only works for desktop operating systems(OS) because of limitations of the browsers. It basically tells the OS to allow the WhereAreGames PWA to be a File Handler for .ros and rosz files.

I added a couple Web API's to make loading army list files easier. One should work, but only seems to work with one browser on desktop, the other is completely experimental and seems to only be targeting desktop. The first is the Share Target API, which is supposed to be supported on all browsers, but seems to be hit or miss on support. I was able to get it to work with Edge on Windows and worked great. However, Chrome(which is supposed to be the same back end) doesn't seem to register on desktop or mobile. I did try Edge on mobile,but does not seem to register right there either.

I have updated the army list widget to be a bit more useful. I got rid of the drop down list of units, as it didn't allow for showing a list of units very well. Now by default it will list out all of your list in more of a condensed army list, to help pull out what you need for your army. In this list you will also see the points for the individual units as well as the number of models in the unit. If you have any previously stored lists in this app, it will output the list in alphabetical order.

Due to some changes to the new Warhammer 40k book to the way the primary objectives work, I made some changes to the scoreboard widget. You can now can have multiple line objectives for storing multiple scoring numbers. I added a progressive with end game, double progressive and double progressive with end game, which should cover most of the new objective scoring. I also fix a bug with the totals if you change the scorecard layout with values in it.

I also made some back end changes also to be more up to date on the server side. Made use of some update libraries also. 

Added a couple new widgets that should help in your games. They both have a icon of a list that will give you a better view of the data. The first is the Calc Counter with Receipt, which is another take on the Calculator Counter that keeps track of the entries that you enter and can be viewed by clicking on the icon in the center. You can also enter notes about every entry you put in.

Just a quick update. Made some adjustments to the List fonts and a more general font. It should make the list easier read on a tablet. The general font adjustment will make it easier to use on a phone sized screen.

Spring is near so the updates may be farther apart. I do plan to start another section for the site soon so keep an eye out.

Added a dark mode and a wake lock to the list of features to this application. So now if your system is set to dark mode or have it set in your browser, it will now show in a dark view. A feature that is pretty much only supported on Chrome-based browsers, wake lock will allow the device stay active while the page has focus and the battery life is good.

You are now able to connect to other players that you are playing with and share the widgets you have on your screen. The reason for this feature is so individual players can update their own scores and you don't need to share a device. Considering the current situation we are in, the second reason is nice. Shared widgets may shown in two ways, one is along side the widgets you have selected. You will not be able to move the other player's widgets around, but you can still arrange your own.

Reorganized some things that have been bothering me with the user interface. The biggest has to be the annoying popup that asked if you want to reset the widget values or load what you had before. I had it mainly because I needed a way to reset everything when a game was completed and also wanted to keep my current values for the game if the browser reloads. So in it's place, by default on reload it will reload the widgets to the values they had before the reload to avoid choosing the wrong option.

Well it isn't what I had in mind from the first post about 7 years ago, but might be more useful. What I have currently is a dash board for gamers. I have primarily used it for Warhammer 40k, but can be used by other games. The dash board will currently work offline so you only need to access the dashboard once and be able to use it in a store with no internet connection. Eventually I will be adding some features that will require an internet connection, but that will be the next feature.

The interface has counters, timer, and army list viewer.