Owlbear Rodeo 2.0 Beta Patch 10

Action Bubbles

We've seen some great extensions being developed since we released public extension support in March. In this patch we want to give you more freedom in how you organize your extensions. The main entry point of extensions is called an action. Each action gets a permanent spot in the top left of the Owlbear Rodeo UI. When you click on an action the extension can show a fully custom user interface that can interact with Owlbear Rodeo.

Having a single place in the UI for extensions means that when you add an extension you know where to look for it. This fixes the issue where each extension might add UI to different parts of the app and you can never find what you're looking for. The downside to this approach is that only one action can be shown at a time. This means you won't be able to show a dice roller at the same time as an initiative tracker.

To fix this issue we're introducing action bubbles. Each action can now be dragged out of the action bar in the top left and given its own bubble. These bubbles will snap to the edges of the screen and dynamically adjust to other UI elements.

Once an action is turned into a bubble it can be toggled on and off without affecting any other action. Action bubbles will be anchored to the closest corner of the screen so if you create a bubble in the top right of the screen the bubble will maintain its position when you resize your web browser. The bubbles will also adjust to UI already present in Owlbear Rodeo so if you create a bubble on the bottom of the screen the bubble will dynamically flow around the dock.

The layout of each bubble is saved locally so when you come back to the same room your interface will be how you left it.

We think giving the user the power to decide where their extensions are placed will allow for a lot greater flexibility, especially for those with larger screen real estate.

New Folder Design

In this patch we've redesigned how the folders look in the dock. We've made them wider so that they can fit a lot more text. This should help you distinguish between two folders with similar names at a glance.

New Real-Time Engine

In this patch we've rebuilt the real-time engine from scratch to be more efficient and robust.

We have a new novel compression method specifically for Owlbear Rodeo data that uses between 45-65% less network bandwidth when interacting with a scene. This should lead to faster response times and more reliable networking.

This new system will also fix a long-standing bug in 2.0 that would prevent the polygon drawing tool from working after one minute of use.

With this new system when sync view is enabled it will automatically sync the view without needing to move your viewport. To make further use of this we've split the sync view button into two parts. The left side of the button will now toggle sync view just like before. The right side of the button will now trigger a single sync view call that will animate all connected players to your view.

Cast Support

We want Owlbear Rodeo to be great whether you're playing in the same room or online. To further enhance the local Owlbear Rodeo experience we've added support for Chromecast and external monitors.

When clicking on the cast button you will be prompted to select any Chromecast or external monitor currently plugged into your computer. Once you've selected the device a full screen window of Owlbear Rodeo will automatically open on that device. This external view will act like a player (meaning it won't be able to see through fog). Before you begin the cast you can also select whether you would like to hide the Owlbear Rodeo interface. When ticked the external view won't include any of the UI elements such as the toolbar or dock.

Along with the improved sync view functionality we think that this update will greatly enhance the in-person experience of Owlbear Rodeo.

Cast support is only available on browsers that support the Presentation web API. At this time this includes Google Chrome and Microsoft Edge.

Thanks to conspicuousAbsence on our Discord for the inspiration for this feature.

Other Changes

• When attaching an image from the dock to a character it will now match the visibility of that character.
• The colored rings extension will now match the visibility of the character it is used on.
• The dice extension quick bar now scales better to smaller screens.
• Fixed a bug that would allow the movement ruler to ignore player permissions.
• A preview dock is now shown for anonymous players. This should help guide anonymous players on how to add images.
• Change email functionality has been implemented.
• Added support for decimal numbers in image filename grid detection.
• Added support for auto-incrementing image labels when using the duplicate shortcut.
• Fixed a bug that would cause the pointer to get stuck when using the right mouse button shortcut.
  

What's Next

There are a couple of other changes in the patch that we're not ready to talk about yet but we think will be great. So keep an eye out as we're sure to have more news soon!