CritDice Version 2.0 Released

Dan Chartrand ·

CritDice version 2.0 has been released and can be downloaded from Google Play. This version keeps the simple and intuitive interface that has made CritDice so popular, while at the same time adding some advanced capabilities that aren't found in most other dice roller apps.

Advanced Dice Bag

The biggest improvement in version 2.0 is the addition of an "advanced dice bag". This dice bag adds buttons to support the following features in the paid (Elite) version of CritDice:

  • Custom dice (any number of sides can be specified)
  • Fate/Fudge dice
  • Keep highest or lowest
  • Drop highest or lowest
  • Automatically re-roll specified values, any number of times or only once per die.
  • Exploding, compounding, and penetrating dice
  • Count total successes and optionally subtract failures

You might be thinking that list of improvements sounds complex, and that dice formula entry could become convoluted with difficult-to-remember modifiers and formula syntax. In other words, the simplicity and ease-of-use of CritDice could be lost. Well, I had exactly those same concerns.

I solved this by adding a "hint" line below the formula input. The hint will dynamically update as the formula is entered. Also, buttons will become disabled (and faded) when they aren't applicable based on the current formula input. The end result is an extremely intuitive mechanism for entering advanced formulas and seeing what will happen before the Roll button is ever pressed. If you make a mistake and press the wrong button while inputting the formula, you'll immediately see this in the hint text. Simply press the back button to delete the most recent input, and then press the desired button.

Here are some examples of formulas that can be input in the latest version, along with the exact hint text that will be displayed for the formula in CritDice:

  • 10dF: Roll 10 fate/fudge dice.
  • 2d20K+8: Roll 2 d20's (keep the highest roll) and add 8
  • 10d8x4: Roll 10 d8's (drop the 4 lowest rolls)
  • 4d6r+12: Roll 4 d6's (reroll once per die if a 2 or lower is rolled) and add 12
  • 6d10!≥8+6: Roll 6 d10's (explode every time a 8 or higher is rolled) and add 6.
  • 10d4!p: Roll 10 d4's (explode with a -1 modifier every time a 4 is rolled).
  • 20d6≥6: Roll 20 d6's (count one success for each roll of 6 or higher).
  • 8d12≥10f≤2: Roll 8 d12's (count one success for each roll of 10 or higher and one failure for each roll of 2 or lower).

Improved User Interface

Besides the advanced dice bag, many improvements have been made to the user interface/experience, including the following...

  • The full-screen ads have been removed from the free version. The only remaining ads are small banners at the bottom of the History and Favorites tabs. All ads can be removed by upgrading to the paid version.
  • Added the ability to re-order favorites via "Move up" and "Move down" menu options (drag-and-drop is planned for a future release, but significantly more complex to implement).
  • When dice are rolled, the results will instantly appear rather than taking a small amount of time to fade in. Tapping will instantly dismiss the result instead of fading out. This subtle change makes CritDice feel more responsive and faster.
  • Buttons on the dice bag that aren't applicable for appending to the current input will be dimmed. This makes it easier to find the button you want to tap next.
  • The details shown at the bottom of the result popup will show any values that are the maximum possible for a die (such as 20 when rolling a d20) in bold. When rolling multiple dice, this makes it easier to see when any of the rolled dice had the maximum value.
  • The items on the Favorites and History tabs more closely align to Google's Material Design guidelines. Each item will appear as a "card", with a shadow around its edge. This makes it easier to differentiate between items.
  • Improved performance of the History tab. There can now be thousands of roll results in the history, with no noticeable performance impact.
  • Improved the History tab when a new item is added. Previous items will slide down and the new item will slide into the top position, instead of the new item instantly appearing.
  • When running on a tablet in landscape mode, the layout has been slightly changed to provide more space for the basic and advanced dice bags. The history will be displayed on the left and the favorites on the right.

Bug Fixes

The previous version of CritDice didn't have many bugs, but the few bugs I was aware of have been fixed...

  • On some devices, attempting to select a folder containing custom sound effects would result in a crash.
  • When previewing sound effects in rapid succession, tapping a different sound would not stop the playback of the previous sound.

What's Next?

Version 2.0 added many of the feature requests I've received over the last year, but I'm not done yet! If you have ideas on things you'd like to see added, please let me know.

 

Dan Chartrand,
Founder of VueSoft LLC and creator of CritDice