Welcome to Erasersoft.com
This site is about software I have created or am involved in, currently I have made a D&D management application (originally named D&D Manager), which you can find out more about with the above links. My personal homepage is matthewhutton.com
Coding Improvements
Sunday 22nd June 2008
Over the past few weeks I have been working on D&D Manager to improve the source code as I mentioned in my last post. Those efforts have been successful and now the code can be downloaded from the source page. These improvements should make it easier to keep the program high-quality.
For developers only: Giving those changes in a more technical language. Basically I have added defined constants, continued to improve the source documentation and converted the .nib files to .xib files, which now have the advantage that they will behave better with SVN so translations and other modifications can be done easier. Unfortunately they now require Mac OS X Leopard to edit, but the program will run on Mac OS X Tiger and will do for the foreseeable future.
D&D 4th Edition
Thursday 12th June 2008
I've heard that D&D 4th Edition has been released in the past couple of weeks and I've recieved a couple of emails on the subject. Unfortunately I don't think I will personally be updating D&D Manager to 4th edition as I don't really have the time to update it and soon I'm going travelling for 6 months.
I am happy to work with anyone who wishes to update D&D Manager to 4th edition D&D and I will aim to respond to any questions you have on the source code promptly.
At the moment I have been tidying up the code for D&D Manager (a bit like what Apple is planning for Snow Leopard) and these changes should make it easier for others to contribute.
PS If you want to translate D&D Manager to another language I'm happy to provide assistence there too.
PPS As I'm going travelling any bug reports you have are definitely welcome.
D&D Manager 2.1.5 released
Tuesday 15th April 2008
Today I have made some further bugfixes to D&D Manager, as well as improving the way you add/remove characters from battle.
The new version can be downloaded here, or on the download page.
Thanks to Ace Jay for reporting issues that have been fixed in this release.
D&D Manager 2.1.4 released
Tuesday 1st April 2008
As I was sent a bug report with some bugs in D&D Manager by Wordman I have made a release today, I have improved the attack screen, as well as fixing some other issues, you can see more details on the release notes page.
The new version can be downloaded here, or on the download page.
Also today its one year since the first version was released, there has been a lot of progress in that time, and thanks to everyone who uses the application.
Data File Updated
Monday 31st March 2008
I have been sent some further spells by Wordman, these have now been added to the data file. This can now be downloaded from the data page and is only compatible with D&D Manager 2.1 or later.
Thanks for all the contributions so far from Patti Devlin, Go Endo, Eric Rahm and Wordman. If you have any further contributions, please send them to me so they can be included.
The Data File is now at version 2.1.3
Oops with D&D Manager 2.1.3
Saturday 1st March 2008
Sorry I seem to have screwed up that last update. If you have downloaded the new version from my site or a third party site none of the updated features added in version 2.1.3 will have been made.
Please use the built in upgrade function to upgrade to the newest version or re-download it.
Thanks to Michael Hall for finding this issue.
D&D Manager 2.1.3 Released
Wednesday 27th February 2008
I have just released D&D Manager 2.1.3, which includes bugfixes for bugs for cross-class skills and inventory issues in Tiger.
It can be downloaded from the download page.
Thanks to Larry Geyer and Nathan Peterson-Bunker for reporting these. Reporting bugs is always welcome to bugs@erasersoft.com. If you'd prefer to do so anonymously let be know in the email.
D&D Manager 2.1.2 Released
Friday 22nd February 2008
I have just released D&D Manager 2.1.2 which includes loads of bugfixes and a few improvements. It can be downloaded from the download page.
Thanks to Matthew Hanson, Stefano Parmesan and Heath Rezabek for suggestions and finding bugs that are fixed in this version.
D&D Manager Data File Updated
Saturday 9th February 2008
Patti Devlin has send me some more feats and a few weapons, these have been added to the data file. This can now be downloaded from the data page and is only compatible with D&D Manager 2.1 or later.
The data file is now at version 2.1.2
D&D Manager 2.1.1 Released
Sunday 27th January 2008
The first patch for version 2.1 has been released fixing a few minor issues, it can be downloaded from the download page.
D&D Manager Data File Updated
Sunday 27th January 2008
I have added weapons sent to me by Eric Rahm, and dug out a few of my weapons that were actually labelled correctly, these have now been added to the data file. This can now be downloaded from the data page and is only compatible with D&D Manager 2.1 or later.
Thanks for all the contributions so far from Patti Devlin, Go Endo and Eric Rahm. If you have any further contributions, please send them to me so they can be included.
The data file is now at version 2.1.1
D&D Manager Data File Updated
Wednesday 23rd January 2008
I have updated some feats sent to me by Patti Devlin to the data file, this can now be downloaded from the data page. This file is only compatible with D&D Manager 2.1 which was released last weekend.
If you can send me your data files with Feats Weapons and Spells that would be useful. Weapons would be especailly useful.
The data file is now at version 2.1.0
D&D Manager 2.1 released
Saturday 19th January 2008
D&D Manager 2.1 has been finally released today. The changes include printing support for the first time, global skills being configurable by class, a lot of tables have add/remove by double clicking on table entries, the global feats, skills and weapons screens have been tidied up. Also some memory leaks have been fixed, and loading times have been improved by 50% by removing unneeded error checking. More information on new features is available on the release notes page.
The new version can be downloaded from the download page.
D&D Manager 2.0.7 released
Tuesday 1st January 2008
I've had a few problems with the 2.1 update involving some stuff going missing, I'm carefully re-going over the code but its taking a while. I also found a bug in updating global skills so I've released another 2.0.x version, it can be downloaded now from the download page.
Spells List Updated
Friday 28th December 2007
Patti Devlin sent me some more spells which have been updated into the master list, this can be downloaded from the spells project page.
D&D Manager version 2.1 is nearly ready
Thursday 27th December 2007
As a late Christmas present I have nearly finished version 2.1. This version will have printing support (A4 and US Letter only), as well as a new items system for the inventory, as well as faster loading of documents, and a fair few ease of use improvements.
It will need some more testing before I release it, but if you'd like a copy for testing/curiousity send me an email to contact@erasersoft.com.
Sadly I don't feel that I can stick a beta on my website, as it'll get linked without a beta warning, but I will be happy to let you have a copy by email.
Spells List Updated
Saturday 15th December 2007
Patti Devlin sent me some more spells which have been updated into the master list, this can be downloaded from the spells project page.
I am interested in adding Weapons and Feats into the data file, if you have added any send me an email.
Save File Backup Location
Wednesday 12th December 2007
I'm still pretty sure that the data-loss bug is now fixed with version 2.0.6 and I haven't had any more reports of it, but due to the fact that some users seemed to be experiencing a crash (which I haven't been able to reproduce) at that point, they may have missed where the backups are stored.
The backups are in: [Home Directory]/Library/Application Support/D&D Manager/.
D&D Manager 2.0.6 is still creating these when saving (though not loading) in case the bug re-occurs elsewhere. Also in general they could still be useful!
At some point I'll add the option to clear these backup files in preferences.
D&D Manager 2.0.6 released
Wednesday 5th December 2007
I have been informed by Apple that the data loss bug occurs when saving a file with no changes. I have fixed my code to hopefully remove this problem, if it still occurs however please let me and/or Apple know (Apple Bug ID: 5575683) so this issue can be fixed. The new version can be downloaded from the download page.
Spells List Updated
Sunday 2nd December 2007
I've added Spells beginning with B from the spells compendium to the spells file. Thanks to Patti Devlin for adding them to D&D Manager.
All Data contributions are much appreciated, and you will be credited for your contributions (unless you'd prefer to remain anonymous).
D&D Manager 2.0.5 released
Saturday 1st December 2007
D&D Manager 2.0.5 has been released, bug fixes and a few minor changes have been made, see the release notes for more information. It can be downloaded now from the download page.
Spells List Updated
Wednesday 28th November 2007
The Spells List has been updated with Go Endo's Spells from A to Z, some minor changes have been made to other spells, so you may wish to overwrite your existing spells with the "Overwrite Spells" option on the Import Screen. This is available from the Spells page.
D&D Manager 2.0.4 released
Sunday 18th November 2007
I have released version 2.0.4 of D&D Manager which alleviates the data loss issue, and allows you to overwrite existing stuff when you import, as well as minor fixes to spells and feats, it can be downloaded from the download page.
Possible data corruption issue found under Leopard
Sunday 18th November 2007
Last night I found out that there seems to be a data loss issue with D&D Manager which involves the users data file being completely wiped. It appears to only occur under Mac OS X Leopard but it seems to occur on both Intel and PowerPC machines.
The next version will backup your data files before saving and loading them to help alleviate the issue, but in the mean time make sure you have created a manual backup of your data file.
If this has happpened to you, regardless of operating system, please send me an email to contact@erasersoft.com.
Spells List Updated (Updated)
Wednesday 14th November 2007
Go Endo has added some new spells for D&D Manager and I have added the first section of those, beginning with letters from A to L to the master list, as well as improving the descriptions of some of the existing spells, these are available to download from the spells project page.
In the next version of D&D Manager you'll be able to overwrite existing spells that have been imported with updated versions if you wish.
D&D Manager 2.0.3 released
Saturday 10th November 2007
I think that Metamagic feats are working well, and I have a couple of other fixes, including improvements to the ammunition system. So I am releasing version 2.0.3 today. It is available to download from the download page.
Testing for D&D Manager
Wednesday 7th November 2007
I am getting towards the point of releasing version the next of D&D Manager, which will include printing support as well as working metamagic feats (sorry for missing that before). It would be good to do some external testing of it, so if you are interested send me an email (contact@erasersoft.com). All that will be required is to tell me how well its working with your data file, and information that I can have is useful as I'd like to get this right first time.
If you only have a little time email me anyway, the more help I get the better!
D&D Manager 2.0.2 released
Saturday 3rd November 2007
D&D Manager 2.0.2 has been released which offers a collection of minor improvements and bug fixes, it is available to download from the download page.
Sourceforge Project
Thursday 1st November 2007
After finding that Google hard limited 100MB for file storage (and you can't delete existing files). I have created a Sourceforge account for D&D Manager.
The Google Code stuff will be moved over as and when I have time and then it will be closed.
D&D Manager 2.0.1 released
Saturday 27th October 2007
D&D Manager 2.0.1 is now available to download from the download page. Importing has been improved as well as other minor changes and it is fully Leopard Compatible.
Leopard Testing Complete
Saturday 27th October 2007
My copy of Leopard arrived this morning and I have tested version 2.0 and version 1.3.13 on Leopard, and both seem to be working fine. There was a minor Leopard only bug in version 2.0 which has been fixed, along with improving the importing system in version 2.0.1 which is now available to download.
Leopard Compatibility
Friday 26th October 2007
I haven't as yet tested D&D Manager with Leopard as I only have a free developers account with Apple (and I haven't been naughty and torrented it :p). Once I get my copy installed (which is hopefully arriving today), I'll report back on whether it is compatible, I will test version 1.3.13 as well as version 2.0 and if its easy I'll release an update for version 1.3.x as well as 2.0.x if its required.
D&D Manager 2.0 Released
Tuesday 23rd October 2007
I fixed another round of bugs in D&D Manager 2.0 beta 4, and felt that it was probably stable enough. So I've released D&D Manager 2.0 today. It includes a brand new and much prettier (though sadly art free as I have no drawing talent), toolbar, as well as globalised feats, weapons and skills so they can be shared with any character. The UI has also been improved in many cases. The new features are now on the features page.
As usual bug reports are always welcome, the more the merrier as far as I'm concerned. To send them my email address is bugs@erasersoft.com
Finally thanks to those external sites (Apple, CNet, MacGameFiles and Versiontracker) who followed my request and keep the beta off their download sites, I realise that you are keen to add new software, but the betas, except for possibly the last one, were really not ready for general use, I really only stuck it on my site so that users if they were curious and knew what they were doing could see what was coming.
The reason I felt I had to make the request is that the beta tag gets overused so people don't understand that it means unpolished software, maybe I'll have to use a different tag line in future.
D&D Manager 1.3.13 Released
Saturday 20th October 2007
I found a bug in the support for dexterity feats while testing the beta of D&D Manager 2.0, and it was also in the 1.3.x code so I've released an update to fix it, it is downloadable from the download page.
D&D Manager Beta Items Moved to Beta Feed
Saturday 20th October 2007
To avoid posting so many posts about the 2.0 Beta in the site news feed and on the home page, I have moved the beta feed information to a separate feed.
D&D Manager 2.0 Beta 1 Available for Download
Wednesday 17th October 2007
The version 2.0 beta is now avaible to download, more details are available on the beta page.
Please however refrain from adding the beta files to external websites, it is intended to only be available to download here so that users who aren't comfortable with probably buggy software do not use it.
Printing Support for D&D Manager
Wednesday 17th October 2007
I am just finishing off the first beta release of D&D Manager 2.0, and the most requested feature which it is missing is printing support. I haven't included this yet as I have been trying to generalise the program on the computer. I will be releasing a beta of D&D Manager very soon and after that I will have some bugs to fix, but Printing is the definitely the next feature on my radar.
RSS Feed added
Sunday 14th October 2007
Today I downloaded an application called Feeder for a 15 day trial. This application allows easy RSS feed creation. So along with manually creating one for new versions of D&D Manager. I have decided to create one for this news page.
The feed itself is available at http://www.erasersoft.com/rss/News.xml.
Icons required for D&D Manager
Sunday 7th October 2007
Version 2.0 of D&D Manager needs some icons for the toolbar, if you could contribute even one or two that would be brilliant if you want to send me an email to contact@erasersoft.com.
Currently I need icons for DM Notes, Character Tester, Character, Character Classes, Feats and Special Abilities, Skills, Spells, Weapons, Roll Dice, Grant XP, Import, Rest and File Options.
You will of course be credited for any icons you make that are used in the final version.
Version 1.3.12 of D&D Manager released
Friday 28th September 2007
I just got back from my extended trip to South East Asia today (it was amazing, but very badly timed from a D&D Manager perspective), and I have just fixed the program and released version 1.3.12 which actually loads and includes the fix of the Intel bug I was trying to fix in version 1.3.11.
I am still puzzled as to why version 1.3.11 doesn't load as I got someone else to compile it and the file they sent me works perfectly. However I had to make some changes to a text file in the program as well as the zip files under Windows on an Internet Cafe PC so somehow the program was screwed up by doing that. I certainly won't be doing that in future.
Finally I need to say thank you to Chris Redford for reporting the issue of the program not loading and to Patti Devlin for reporting the Intel crash in the first place and confirming the crash issue wasn't just an isolated case.
Apologies about version 1.3.11
Saturday 8th September 2007
Unfortunately version 1.3.11 of D&D Manager refuses to open so I've reverted to the previous version. Sorry about that, but as I'm on holiday I can't fix it now but I'll fix it when I return.
Version 1.3.10 Released
Saturday 25th August 2007
As the next major version of D&D Manager is going to take some time I backported some of the bug fixes to version 1.3.x (which also means they are available now), the fruit of which is version 1.3.10 which has several bug fixes and improvements, it is available to download now from the download page, email me at bugs@erasersoft.com if you find any bugs in it.
Site Redesigned
Saturday 18th August 2007
I have decided to kick iWeb habit for my site and write my website "properly" in html/css, which means that pages will load more quickly and look cleaner. I have also tried to improve the colour scheme, so I hope you like the new colour scheme.
Progress on the Next Version of D&D Manager
Wednesday 15th August 2007
I haven’t released any updates to D&D Manager for a while now, I think the existing version is fairly bug free and I am busy working on the next release, the artwork mostly isn’t in place yet, but here is a screenshot of the Character Classes Screen as it stands. Click on the image to see the full size version.
Of course any bugs and issues you find, please email me or update them on the Google Code page.
More Spells Online
Wednesday 25th July 2007
Thanks to Patti Delvin a fair few spells are now online, to download them see the spells project page.
