Heroscape Helper - Collection and Army Management (beta)

[rmac]

Hi all. I've been working on a tool to manage my own collection and help friends who are less familiar with the game to learn what units go well together. I'm calling it Heroscape Helper. It's an online webapp you can use to save the units you own and assign custom information to them for sorting, as well as create and view armies saved by yourself and other users (should there be any).

One feature that I have found helpful personally lately is viewing the synergies of each Hero/Squad rapidly:



Also useful to me (as I am the only target audience right now) is the ability to create custom fields, then assign data to each unit, and finally, to generate QR codes corresponding to a particular filter on my collection. In my case, I have many stacking boxes where I keep my figures, and it can be tedious to look through them all to find who I have drafted. So I created a custom field called "Storage" and assigned values to each unit ("Box 01", "Box 02", etc.). Then, I applied those filters and used the sharing function to create QR code labels for my boxes. Now I can either search my collection online for a particular unit to find out which box it's in, or scan the QR code to find which unit belongs in which box.


You are also able to use advanced search logic to winnow down what unit you may be looking for:


It does other things (), but those are some of the features I have been excited to utilize myself.
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I am next planning to tackle a real-time drafting/round tracking function, where players can create a "game room" and have friends join via their smartphones/tablets a lá Jackbox; this would allow for order markers/wounds to be handled from the website, as well as a time elapsed counter, round tracking, etc.

I am certain there are bugs to be discovered and areas for improvement (I am calling this a beta), so I would welcome any feedback or suggestions for features from you all!

 

[Myriadite]

This looks awesome! I definitely will be trying this out.

 

[Belk]

Hi rmac.

First of all: it's totally awesome what you've made and the webapp is thorough but user friendly

When searching through the units you can select to only look at classic and AOA. In the synergy section it includes everything. Is there a possibility to apply the same filters over there?

 

[rmac]

This looks awesome! I definitely will be trying this out.

Thank you! Please let me know any feedback you may have

Hi rmac.

First of all: it's totally awesome what you've made and the webapp is thorough but user friendly

When searching through the units you can select to only look at classic and AOA. In the synergy section it includes everything. Is there a possibility to apply the same filters over there?

Aha! That would be a good behavior. Definitely possible, and now I'm not sure why I didn't do it that way to begin with, haha. I'll make it happen.

 

[ryguy266]

This is really, really impressive. Two things I’ve noticed right off the bat:
-It would be nice to add fractional pieces of squads. Real life is messy! And I only have 1 and 2/3 squads of Deathstalkers, for example. It would be nice if the collection could somehow reflect that (without messing up the UI design too much).
-The dashboard shows the number of units and figures, but the figures is incorrect. It’s counting copies of units, which is fine. But it should either accurately label that or accurately count the figures. Not sure which I would prefer. Maybe an additional one for total copies of cards? So if I have 2x 10th and 1x 4th, it would read 2 Units, 3 Cards, and 12 Figures.

Following this project closely.

 

[rmac]

This is really, really impressive.

Thanks for the kind words, ryguy!

-It would be nice to add fractional pieces of squads. Real life is messy! And I only have 1 and 2/3 squads of Deathstalkers, for example. It would be nice if the collection could somehow reflect that (without messing up the UI design too much).

Woah, that is an awesome idea, and something I hadn't even considered! That would add some depth to the collection tracking aspect, and allow for you to view "incomplete" squads in an informative way. I will definitely have to ponder how to implement this, as all my extant logic is based around whole numbers. I will put this on the roadmap though.

-The dashboard shows the number of units and figures, but the figures is incorrect. It’s counting copies of units, which is fine. But it should either accurately label that or accurately count the figures. Not sure which I would prefer. Maybe an additional one for total copies of cards? So if I have 2x 10th and 1x 4th, it would read 2 Units, 3 Cards, and 12 Figures.

Good bug find! A little embarrassing that I didn't notice that before My thought is to go with your suggestion for "2 Units, 3 Cards, 12 Figures." I might change "Cards" to "Total Units" though, unless that proves a more confusing label.

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Also Belk, unit synergies should now be properly syncing with whatever filters you had previously selected on the main display page!

 

[itsbuzzi]

This looks sweet, there isn't anything that really spells out the synergy between units that's very up to date. Although I would double check it. The oathbound legionnaires are tricky but don't follow Vydar so they do not receive synergy from Agent Skahen.

 

[HolyDiver]

THis is incredible. SO excited to dig into it.

 

[rmac]

This looks sweet, there isn't anything that really spells out the synergy between units that's very up to date. Although I would double check it. The oathbound legionnaires are tricky but don't follow Vydar so they do not receive synergy from Agent Skahen.

Good catch! I forgot to include the Vydar condition for her cover fire ability.

There are likely a few synergies where I did not get all the conditions right; I may put together a sort of bug-report page where people can submit various issues to be corrected.

THis is incredible. SO excited to dig into it.

Looking forward to any feedback!

 

[ryguy266]

Woah, that is an awesome idea, and something I hadn't even considered! That would add some depth to the collection tracking aspect, and allow for you to view "incomplete" squads in an informative way. I will definitely have to ponder how to implement this, as all my extant logic is based around whole numbers. I will put this on the roadmap though.

I think the simplest way to keep the logic as-is would be to add an “Orphans”, “Orphan Figures”, or synonymous counter that only appears in the edit mode, and only appears in the view mode if the number of Orphans isn’t 0. So if I have, say, 11 10th and 4 4th Mass Figures, the collection view would look like:
10th
In Collection: 2
Orphans: 3

4th
In Collection: 1

This keeps the logic simple and the UI clean and uncluttered save for those orphaned figures.

Good bug find! A little embarrassing that I didn't notice that before My thought is to go with your suggestion for "2 Units, 3 Cards, 12 Figures." I might change "Cards" to "Total Units"

I think Total Units could also refer to the number of different units. Maybe “Units” and “Total Cards” is a clearer fit?

Also, in talking about the Units vs Cards, some sort of progress tracker or metadata page on the collection would be very cool. As in, how many out of the total classic units have I collected, how many with VC, how many with both, etc. Even a simple box with percentages might be nice, although you clearly have an eye for design so I’m sure you could present it in a more aesthetically pleasant way.

 

[rmac]

I think the simplest way to keep the logic as-is would be to add an “Orphans”, “Orphan Figures”, or synonymous counter that only appears in the edit mode, and only appears in the view mode if the number of Orphans isn’t 0. So if I have, say, 11 10th and 4 4th Mass Figures, the collection view would look like:
10th
In Collection: 2
Orphans: 3

4th
In Collection: 1

This keeps the logic simple and the UI clean and uncluttered save for those orphaned figures.

Ahh, that's a good suggestion, and easy enough to implement without breaking existing logic. I will play around with this.

Also, in talking about the Units vs Cards, some sort of progress tracker or metadata page on the collection would be very cool. As in, how many out of the total classic units have I collected, how many with VC, how many with both, etc. Even a simple box with percentages might be nice, although you clearly have an eye for design so I’m sure you could present it in a more aesthetically pleasant way.

Haha, I started thinking about this as I was redoing the collection info card! I do like a good set of charts, so I might try implementing some graphs and such to add a little flair to this. I can see myself getting very carried away with a suite of dataviz features...

 

[itsbuzzi]

Not sure you'd want to open the can of worms but you could also include 3d printed models, dnd sculpts and the like. A catch all would be to be able to include a comment type section per squad or even per individual figure. I know from my own collection I have some 3d prints, dnd sculpts, and the heavy outliers: one of my Death Knight squads one is the official figure one is the dnd sculpt. A lot of Death Chasers I have are also dnd sculpts but mainly the same sculpt

 

[rmac]

Not sure you'd want to open the can of worms but you could also include 3d printed models, dnd sculpts and the like. A catch all would be to be able to include a comment type section per squad or even per individual figure. I know from my own collection I have some 3d prints, dnd sculpts, and the heavy outliers: one of my Death Knight squads one is the official figure one is the dnd sculpt. A lot of Death Chasers I have are also dnd sculpts but mainly the same sculpt

Hmm, so by this do you mean just a way to document what proxies you use?
Currently I do have the "Custom Fields" feature, where you can create a field (say, "3D Printed") and then assign values to each hero/squad under that field name. I do not have just a freeform tagging system in place, but that might be something to consider.

Or am I completely misunderstanding you?

 

[RobertDD]

This is good stuff. REALLY good stuff. I'm in.

A few things:
1. "Dashboard" should be one of the headers on top to click on and go to (IMHO it should be the leftmost one). It's currently missing
2. I created some custom fields, but when I go to my collection I do not see a way to see the custom fields, or edit them. I am probably dim. Is this broken right now?
3. I would love a way to define type of a custom field, and define a set of valid values as one of the possible fillings. I.e. Integer, free text, currency (symbol + amount), drop down selection from defined set, etc.

My custom fields I want right of the bat are "Storage Location" and "# New" (I have 6 RotV, 3 are NIB, so quantity would be 6 and # New would be 3). In future, a market value would be super useful, either one I maintain, or one that is updated in the program itself (you may become the authority on Heroscape pricing! That would drive traffic for sure. I could even see you facilitate a marketplace!)

The other thing I would like to see: an automated draft system. The software already knows my collection, so let it draft X armies of Y points (Delta/original/renegade) for me, and try and create some synergy using some pre-defined synergy logic, like "no more than 2 units of the same common squads, but do draft 2 if you can", etc. The armies do not have to be tournament competitive (they won't be), they just have to be of roughly equal strength, and varied, and hopefully fun to play. Instant game night, with no effort in army building, and you get to play units you normally would not use.

 

[rmac]

This is good stuff. REALLY good stuff. I'm in.

Thank you! I feel like you will be a power user, haha

A few things:
1. "Dashboard" should be one of the headers on top to click on and go to (IMHO it should be the leftmost one). It's currently missing

Good eye; right now I have the "Account" page accessible from clicking your username, then selecting account in the dropdown, but it could be more prominent.

2. I created some custom fields, but when I go to my collection I do not see a way to see the custom fields, or edit them. I am probably dim. Is this broken right now?

I would not be surprised if they were broken haha, they were a pain to get working. But if you have made them, when you view your collection, the "Display Field" dropdown should give you a way to choose one of your defined fields. Then, if you are in edit mode, you can enter text and save per unit (this goes a little faster in Table view, as you can rapidly write -> save -> tab).


Alternatively, when you view a unit's detailed info (in the pop-up), you should find all the fields/values at the bottom beneath synergies.

I have thought about exposing them all simultaneously in the grid/table views as well for easier data entry, but have not implemented this yet.

3. I would love a way to define type of a custom field, and define a set of valid values as one of the possible fillings. I.e. Integer, free text, currency (symbol + amount), drop down selection from defined set, etc.

My first inclination for CFs was to do it this way as well. I decided against it for now simply because it would be more work but I will put it on the roadmap for an improvement!

The other thing I would like to see: an automated draft system. The software already knows my collection, so let it draft X armies of Y points (Delta/original/renegade) for me, and try and create some synergy using some pre-defined synergy logic, like "no more than 2 units of the same common squads, but do draft 2 if you can", etc. The armies do not have to be tournament competitive (they won't be), they just have to be of roughly equal strength, and varied, and hopefully fun to play. Instant game night, with no effort in army building, and you get to play units you normally would not use.

Wow, this would be very cool... I am already working on a real-time drafting function, but this would be a really cool integration especially for people who just want to start playing without half an hour of looking over every unit twice amidst chin scratching.
Love the ideas! Keep them coming! And let me know if you have more difficulty with the custom fields.

 

[RobertDD]

Custom fields just started working, and I've been filling the Storage Location field with data. It just took a while before I got access to the custom fields I created. Now that they are there, everything makes sense, but I am still entering "Utgar 1" (as an example) over and over again as storage location, and any mistake in spelling will make me not able to pull up the Utgar 1 box correctly with the search function.

I definitely would like the option to display more than one field at a time. As I am entering my collection I would like to check both Storage Location and Quantity at the same time, and make sure there are no discrepancies. This requires a lot of switching back and forth right now. I'd think this is one of the first things you should add.

When entering my collection, I would have appreciated a way to differentiate between common and unique packs. Maybe just draw yellow and blue boxes. But entry of my, admittedly large, collection was fast and easy by set. Very well done!

Pictures are very small. I would love to be able to click on a pic and have it be enlarged. I came across a few figs already that I really did not recognize (Kurrok the Elementalist, for one) as I was adding storage locations to my collection. Matching him up was tricky. I know that many here know every fi by heart, so maybe this is more of a "me" problem, lol.

Looks like the newest AoA set (the sets that haven't been released yet, from A0A Boiling Tension) are "missing".

I can't make a distinction between (officially, premium) painted and unpainted versions in my collection. I ideally don't want to lump them together.

I would like to filter fields by "Is Empty" and "Is not Empty". Example: as I am going through my storage, I want to filter "Utgar general' and "Storage Location is empty" to make lookup real quick, and quicker and quicker as I proceed as less and less units will have storage empty.

There is something weird going on when I have a custom field "Storage Location" and try and do an Advanced filter. Looks like text from the first box (Name) runs over into the second box (Contains). "Storage Location (Custom)" definitely runs out of the first box, but there is more going on that that. Like I said, it's weird. I am at 100% in Chrome.

The above remarks are by no means meant to be criticism, just reporting my experience with your software so far and highlighting where I would like to see changes/improvements. They are also not in any order, certainly not from most to least important. The software, as is, is very good and totally worth using right now. I especially appreciate the no-nonsense, no frills, interface. We do not need all the fanciness (hear that, Heroscapers?). We just need well working code and a clean looking interface, and that is what your webpage is.

 

[Phantom]

Is there a way to sort the figures by release date?

 

[rmac]

oCustom fields just started working, and I've been filling the Storage Location field with data. It just took a while before I got access to the custom fields I created.

Yikes, I know why this is happening. I'll work on harmonizing the logic here (I cache a lot of data locally and fetch after an interval so as to save egress from the DB; this whole thing is running on free plans right now and ideally I would keep it that way. Anyway, caching can lead to out-of-sync data if done wrong, as I implemented it here).

I definitely would like the option to display more than one field at a time. As I am entering my collection I would like to check both Storage Location and Quantity at the same time, and make sure there are no discrepancies. This requires a lot of switching back and forth right now. I'd think this is one of the first things you should add.

I agree this is a good feature. I will start working on it.

When entering my collection, I would have appreciated a way to differentiate between common and unique packs. Maybe just draw yellow and blue boxes. But entry of my, admittedly large, collection was fast and easy by set. Very well done!

Hmm, interesting. I don't have the common/unique data points in the DB, but if I could get a list of them I could add that along with some visual indicator.

Pictures are very small. I would love to be able to click on a pic and have it be enlarged. I came across a few figs already that I really did not recognize (Kurrok the Elementalist, for one) as I was adding storage locations to my collection. Matching him up was tricky. I know that many here know every fi by heart, so maybe this is more of a "me" problem, lol.

Ah, you mean in the add-by-set feature? They are; perhaps I'll add a click to expand detail view here.
Also, again, I'm keeping the images relatively low-res to save on bandwidth egress. In this first weekend of operation I've already used up 1/3 of my monthly allotment, lol. But I am aggressively caching images on the client, so hopefully this will not skyrocket as the month continues.

Looks like the newest AoA set (the sets that haven't been released yet, from A0A Boiling Tension) are "missing".

True, I've only added units you can actually get your mitts on right now. If there is demand I can add units early.

I can't make a distinction between (officially, premium) painted and unpainted versions in my collection. I ideally don't want to lump them together.

Hmm, I'll ponder this. In your ideal, would a unit be listed twice ("Queen Maladrix the Conqueror (Premium Panted)" and "Queen Maladrix the Conqueror" would be separate cards/rows)?

I would like to filter fields by "Is Empty" and "Is not Empty". Example: as I am going through my storage, I want to filter "Utgar general' and "Storage Location is empty" to make lookup real quick, and quicker and quicker as I proceed as less and less units will have storage empty.

Good feature, will add this.

There is something weird going on when I have a custom field "Storage Location" and try and do an Advanced filter. Looks like text from the first box (Name) runs over into the second box (Contains). "Storage Location (Custom)" definitely runs out of the first box, but there is more going on that that. Like I said, it's weird. I am at 100% in Chrome.

Yikes! I will take a look.

The above remarks are by no means meant to be criticism, just reporting my experience with your software so far and highlighting where I would like to see changes/improvements. They are also not in any order, certainly not from most to least important. The software, as is, is very good and totally worth using right now. I especially appreciate the no-nonsense, no frills, interface. We do not need all the fanciness (hear that, Heroscapers?). We just need well working code and a clean looking interface, and that is what your webpage is.

I appreciate your feedback, really! I want to make this as helpful as possible, and these are good ideas that will add utility.

---

Is there a way to sort the figures by release date?

Just added this! I am working on implementing ascending/descending sort to all fields, but for now it is just oldest -> newest.

 

[RobertDD]

Hmm, interesting. I don't have the common/unique data points in the DB, but if I could get a list of them I could add that along with some visual indicator.

I can get you that. Drop me an IM with an email address.
This should not have your focus though, lol. It's a really minor convenience thing.

Ah, you mean in the add-by-set feature? They are; perhaps I'll add a click to expand detail view here.
Also, again, I'm keeping the images relatively low-res to save on bandwidth egress. In this first weekend of operation I've already used up 1/3 of my monthly allotment, lol. But I am aggressively caching images on the client, so hopefully this will not skyrocket as the month continues.

Nope, I meant on the units themselves. Getting them in the collection is not hard, but ID-ing them when in the box without the card is when I sometimes like to click on an image. I wonder if you could make links to Renegade official site, and use them for pictures...

Hmm, I'll ponder this. In your ideal, would a unit be listed twice ("Queen Maladrix the Conqueror (Premium Panted)" and "Queen Maladrix the Conqueror" would be separate cards/rows)?

I think I'd like 2 quantity fields instead, as in 3 unpainted, 1 painted. But I am not 100% sure. I can make a case for 2 rows too. Maybe let this one stew for a bit, or see if others chime in with an opinion...
Figures that are available as painted and unpainted is a pretty small selection of Heroscape figures right now, but just about every release from here on out will have double versions (exception are the promos).

Good feature, will add this.

This is about the "Is Empty" filter. I noticed that I also can't select a field that contains just a space. The query manager considers it the same as an empty box, and removes that part from the entire query. You must be doing a trim somewhere. My need for this probably goes away when an "is empty" is implemented, though.


Adding to your list: I think you just broke custom fields. I was trying to enter storage locations for my collection and lost the ability after a refresh. The custom field is still configured (I checked, because I've been adding a lot of data and would really be devastated if I lost that!) but I can no longer select it for display, or in my filters.
EDIT: this just got fixed. Thank you!

I've also seen some odd things with alphabetic ordering, and from time to time it will not retrieve an entire list of units (I had this earlier when I selected all "Utgar" units with Storage Location does not contain "Utgar"

Do let me know how I can help with reporting an testing things. More than willing to help out (but I do not write web page code, I only write Object Pascal (Delphi) (that's my job, actually))

 

[rmac]

I can get you that. Drop me an IM with an email address.
This should not have your focus though, lol. It's a really minor convenience thing.

Will do! Or actually, you can just send it to support@heroscapehelper.com. I don't mind giving that out publicly.

Nope, I meant on the units themselves. Getting them in the collection is not hard, but ID-ing them when in the box without the card is when I sometimes like to click on an image. I wonder if you could make links to Renegade official site, and use them for pictures...

Ahh, ok. I do have a link to the Book page for each unit (when you open the detail view, it's the little box with an arrow icon next to the name) so you can view the card on the forum page. Though the entries for the new Renegade units don't always have the actual figure image..

I think I'd like 2 quantity fields instead, as in 3 unpainted, 1 painted. But I am not 100% sure. I can make a case for 2 rows too. Maybe let this one stew for a bit, or see if others chime in with an opinion...
Figures that are available as painted and unpainted is a pretty small selection of Heroscape figures right now, but just about every release from here on out will have double versions (exception are the promos).

This might tie in with your idea for custom field types. It might be possible to define more custom quantity fields (with +/- buttons), so you could have a true "total quantity", followed by quantities for painted/unpainted. Although then that's a lot of data to look at if you have them all visible... Will kick this around

This is about the "Is Empty" filter. I noticed that I also can't select a field that contains just a space. The query manager considers it the same as an empty box, and removes that part from the entire query. You must be doing a trim somewhere. My need for this probably goes away when an "is empty" is implemented, though.

Adding to your list: I think you just broke custom fields. I was trying to enter storage locations for my collection and lost the ability after a refresh. The custom field is still configured (I checked, because I've been adding a lot of data and would really be devastated if I lost that!) but I can no longer select it for display, or in my filters.
EDIT: this just got fixed. Thank you!
I've also seen some odd things with alphabetic ordering, and from time to time it will not retrieve an entire list of units (I had this earlier when I selected all "Utgar" units with Storage Location does not contain "Utgar"

I a line when adding sort by points/set release earlier and goofed up alphabetical search. That should be working again.
Although there is a separate bug where when you are in grid view, because I'm lazy rendering the cards, sometimes when you partially scroll down, then scroll back up, and make filtering changes, things will get jumbled or not display correctly. Still working on that one.

And yikes! I'm sorry for that scare. I am working piecemeal on updating how custom fields are handled, along with army filtering, and a few other features haha. I am actually using this entire project to learn some new web technologies, and to get more familiar with Git in general, so my hopping around branches and implementing new things is using up a good deal of my mental bandwidth but it's fun.

Do let me know how I can help with reporting an testing things. More than willing to help out (but I do not write web page code, I only write Object Pascal (Delphi) (that's my job, actually))

Wow, very cool! If you haven't joined yet, and you have a Discord account, I have set things up over there for people to create bug reports/feature requests. Otherwise you can feel free to PM me here. I may stand up a dedicated page on the site to allow for report/feature req. submissions; I've been thinking it would be cool to have a voting system for most requested features, to guide what I work on next.
Appreciate your thoughtful critiques!