Looking for app ideas

SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
edited November 2011 in Science & Tech
Hi, all -

My latest diversion is Android app development. I'm refamiliarizing myself with Java and toying around, and now I'm looking for more ideas I can toy around with.

I'm geared more towards utilities and further from games, so if you have any ideas of something you think would be neat and useful (and it's not time-sensitive or anything), I'd like to be given some kind of project to work on.

I'm not looking to steal ideas or anything; if you've got the next killer app idea, you don't have to give it away. Just looking for simple ideas I can try and stretch my legs on.

Thanks, everybody!

Comments

  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    The one thing that I'd really like to see on Android is a finance tracking app that can read/write in HomeBank format... dunno if that may be beyond what you're looking to do though ;)
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Try a tip calculator. :)
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    I did a random number generator this morning, and I'm working on a name creator (implementing Markov chains) now. I know the logic pretty well, it's just rough trying to figure out how to link everything up.

    I don't know what HomeBank format is, Ardi, so I think that's a little out of my range at the moment. :)

    Tip calculator sounds fun once I get the name generator out of the way.
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Snarkasm wrote:
    I don't know what HomeBank format is, Ardi, so I think that's a little out of my range at the moment. :)

    I didn't know what it was either, so I cracked my HomeBank file open today. It looks like standard XML. There's an open feature request on the HomeBank site for developing an Android app, but it doesn't seem to have anyone working on it.

    You should expand on the random number generator concept and make a D&D (or really a generic board game) dice roll app. Select number and type of dice, shake phone, receive roll.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    I would love a fantastic dice roller.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    I would love a fantastic dice roller.

    This. There are about a bazillion really crappy dice rollers out there. It would be cool to see one with some nice features. If you do this, get input from the DnD crowd for what features it should have.

    It would also be nice to have a good DnD character sheet app.
  • ButtersButters CA Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Thrax wrote:
    I would love a fantastic dice roller.

    This, but I need to have friends or an online mode where I can roll against other people and gain xp.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    If you guys can provide more details, I'll check it out.
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    A D&D dice roller.
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Snarkasm wrote:
    If you guys can provide more details, I'll check it out.

    A fantastic dice roller would have these features IMO:
    • Physics rolling with good randomize engine
    • All types of tabletop game dice (d2, d3, d4, d5, d6, d8, d10, d12, d20, d30, d100)
    • Customizable colors for polyhedrals and pips
    • Set and save any combination of dice and modifiers (with names) for a list of rolls - including the ability to save a sequence of rolls and to easily input DCs for the rolls (which changes frequently).
    • Names for individual dice in a rolling cluster for rolling multiple purposes simultaneously.
    • Conditional rolling sequences
    • When rolling multiple dice, the ability to freeze some and re-roll the rest
    • Statistics for past rolls

    I've seen a couple of these features in other dice rollers, but never more than one of them, and rarely well-implemented.

    I'm sure some of the other guys could come up with yet more cool features (and I'll likely think of more).
  • Gate28Gate28 Orlando, Florida Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    If this games made, I know of people who would drop money on this.
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Accelerometer: Shake to roll, or just press a UI button.

    Ability to configure a value for D20 rolls that will automatically get re-rolled as a critical threat.
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Pretend I'm dice-dumb, because I am. I always hear phrases like 6d20 and I have no concept of what it means. I think it's that you're rolling 6 20-sided dice, right?

    What are DCs, CB? What would conditional rolling sequences mean? What is the "outcome" of a roll of a particular set of dice?
  • ardichokeardichoke Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    You're correct, 6d20 = 6 20-sided die. I don't know about the rest of that :P
  • KwitkoKwitko Sheriff of Banning (Retired) By the thing near the stuff Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    DCs = dick controllers
  • ThraxThrax 🐌 Austin, TX Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Snarkasm wrote:
    Pretend I'm dice-dumb, because I am. I always hear phrases like 6d20 and I have no concept of what it means. I think it's that you're rolling 6 20-sided dice, right?

    What are DCs, CB? What would conditional rolling sequences mean? What is the "outcome" of a roll of a particular set of dice?

    A DC is a difficulty check, or a value you have to beat with the outcome of your roll. You beat a DC by rolling a d20 and adding your character's skill value to that roll.

    Example: I have a high skill of 17 in lockpicking, and I find a lock that I want to pick. The DM of the game knows the DC is 30, but he'll never tell me that. I roll a d20, which is the basis of every skill or combat-based action in the system. I get a 15. I add my skill of 17 to that number and pass the DC, popping the lock open.

    This is how the system adds a little bit of luck into the mix, even if a character is particularly skilled with something. Even on rolls the character can't fail at, rolling a 1 will still auto-fail the action, as nobody is perfect.
  • LazarusXeroLazarusXero Illinois Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    This is a definite purchase in my opinion... I play regularly and would love to incorporate this app into a new tablet to aid in my gaming!!! Keep us posted, Snarkasm!
  • SnarkasmSnarkasm Madison, WI Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    And say you roll a 6d20 and it comes back with 3, 7, 12, 14, 2, and 19. Do you need to see the individual roll outcome? The sum of all of them? Both?

    Will you need to have different dice available in one roll - i.e. a 2d20 and 4d12 or something?
  • LazarusXeroLazarusXero Illinois Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    I would recommend making the individual roll values visible, but also have the sum visible... in some of my games, I would roll 3d10 and discard the lowest of the values...

    I don't have a need of multiple combinations of dice (i.e. 1d10 and 2d6) at the same time, but I only play a couple games (Warhammer and D&D)... it may be useful for some other games though...
  • CBCB Ƹ̵̡Ӝ̵̨̄Ʒ Der Millionendorf- Icrontian
    edited November 2011
    Snarkasm wrote:
    And say you roll a 6d20 and it comes back with 3, 7, 12, 14, 2, and 19. Do you need to see the individual roll outcome? The sum of all of them? Both?

    Will you need to have different dice available in one roll - i.e. a 2d20 and 4d12 or something?

    Yeah, we would want to see each die result, and occasionally, there will be mixed dice. What I mean by conditional sequences is rolls that only get rolled on success or failure of other rolls, like the critical hit rolls Thrax mentioned above.

    For example, in the game I'm currently playing with Colgere as the DM, my Character is a two-weapon fighting ranger/fighter at 18th level, so his attacks are about as complex as the game gets. His current full attack can be notated this way:

    Melee 30/30/25/25/20/20/15 (1d8+1d6+4) (17-20 / x2)+d10

    This is essentially a standard notation for an attack (leaving out some tactical stuff that the app would ignore). You could make the app read it like programming.

    What it breaks down to is that his weapon is melee range (likely not important to the dice-rolling app, as that's a tactical consideration) and has 7 attacks at various bonuses between 15 and 30. For each roll that beats the DC (technically AC in this case), it deals damage equal to the role of an 8-sided die and a 6-sided die plus 4 (and I need to know the result of each die, in case the enemy has complex resistances). The critical threat range is 17-20, which means that if one of my 7 d20s comes up with a 'natural' (pre bonus) roll of 17 or higher, I have a chance to score a critical hit. I would need to roll the same die again, with the same bonus, and if that one also hits, then that hit was critical, and it deals damage twice and gets a d10 added to it. Some monsters can't be critical hit, and some can be, but the double damage doesn't occur (I'd still get the extra d10 in most cases), so those would need to be turned on and off with a radio button.

    With all this rolling and adding numbers in my head, my character's turn in combat can take upwards of five minutes, which is forever to watch someone roll dice. It would be amazing if that could be automated. Here's how I imagine it:

    I tap on the weapon I want to use and the app asks if I want a full or single attack (if the character does anything else on his turn, he only gets one swing). Then it rolls all of the attacks, re-rolling the critical threats automatically, and points them all out to me separately.

    Then, as I read off the totals to the DM, I can tell the app how many succeeded so that it can roll the damage. There could even be an option to tell the app what the AC is, if available, to automate that part.

    That kind of attack is probably the most complex and lengthy roll sequence, but there are similar sequences for throwing fireballs or backstabbing bitches.

    Now that I've written all that out, I can perhaps see why no one has made an app for this yet, but it's really all just math and radio buttons and 'if/then's.

    -

    On top of all this, you could include a way to keep track of buffs and hit points and stuff, and allow those to also effect the rolls.
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