The following changes have been made since the closed beta was released.
- Added the content from Martial Power except for beast master Ranger companions (which are in the full version).
- Added the content from November Dragon Magazine (such as the Barbarian and Gladiator articles).
- A new “Summary” page has been added which provides a text summary of your character so that you can easily post it on a forum or paste it into an email.
- Custom elements now have a text field associated with them so that you can make a note or type in a URL linking to a web page where someone has written more about the power.
- The power cards for action point and second wind have been redesigned.
- The options menu now includes a slider to allow the character builder use a larger or smaller font.
- Minor display improvement on character sheet (added some lines to write on in unused fields, footer with player name added to all pages)
- When you move the mouse over an editable field on the character sheet the mouse icon changes to indicate this.
- We made some minor changes to the start page.
Outside of these changes, the Open Beta is pretty much the same as what the closed Beta was. It is a Beta version of our Character Builder Demo, featuring levels 1 to 3.
The bugs and issues the subscribers have reported during the closed beta will still be around. We are fixing these bugs in our final release, but our main goal for this open beta was to provide more data (Martial Power powers and Dragon Magazine's data like the Barbarian or the Gladiator feats) that we could not add in time for our Closed Beta launch.
We hope you enjoy the Open Beta, while we are working on getting the full version finalized for early 2009. We are squarely in QA and bug fixing at that stage, so please keep your bug reports and feedback coming. The Feedbacks will help us evolve the application after we launch, as we plan to update the character builder on a monthly base, much like we already do for the Compendium.
You can download this file: http://www.wizards.com/download.asp?filename=700_DDI_CB-Beta.exe
Thanks,
Hdier
It looks like to me, though, that you can only re-install, is there anyway to merely update it so it doens't take quite so long?
Thanks,
Hdier
I would imagine that once the finished product is rolled out, we will see the updates/patches module. For now, AFAIK, you have to reinstall.
My experience with the installer wasn't bad. The long part of it was installing the .NET 3.5 SP1 framework. Although, admittedly, I hate uninstalling programs on a Windows machine, for good reason.
Did you have issues with the installer?
Thanks,
Hdier
No, but I spent a lot of money on my computer (well, actually it was a Christmas gift so my Dad spent a lot on it, but, I digress...), and so I find that a lot of times when I have little to no problems with installation time, other people do...plus, as they go on and build up more and more data to put into the CB (especially once they put in all 30 levels), it will take more and more time to install...but, if they have a patching system in place once the full version is out, it shouldn't be a problem. :D
Thanks,
Hdier
People will have to deal with the monster amount of patch data no matter what. i agree that the patch system will work best/easiest for the people who get it fro the get-go. The people who wait for some time will have to install the application, then all of the updates/patches that came out. So it will be a pain for some people regardless.
Problem is none of us have found the gladiator in there, not to mention the player version of the minotaur doesnt match the dragon mag release as it still contains the oversized weapon racial ability which they took out in the magazine.
I assumed the magazine was wrong, since it hasn't been errata'ed (that I've found, anyway). I was glad to see it still working the way it says in the MM, since that's how we've been playing it.
Problem is none of us have found the gladiator in there, not to mention the player version of the minotaur doesnt match the dragon mag release as it still contains the oversized weapon racial ability which they took out in the magazine.
NVM. Got confused with the Compendium thread. My bad. Though the feats from the gladiator article "We who are about to die" are in the Builder.
I assumed the magazine was wrong, since it hasn't been errata'ed (that I've found, anyway). I was glad to see it still working the way it says in the MM, since that's how we've been playing it.
Dragon magazine, being the latest "version" of the race, could - in a way - be seen as the Errata.
However, the thing to keep in mind, is that the MM version is specifically for DMs to use as a guideline for NPC races. While it's easy enough to use them for PC races as well, there are a few problems here and there.
In the case of the Minotaur - Oversized is a bit too powerful for PCs.
If you're homebrewing, m'eh - play what/how you want. But know that if you're participating (or plan to participate) in any RPGA games (such as Living Forgotten Realms) that a Minotaur with Oversized will quickly need to be corrected.
In other threads (I'll linky when I find it) we've been told that how races are handled (currently by originating source, soon to be by most recent source) is going to change, so the point may well be moot.
At that stage, we do not have any plans to support different versions of the same race/class/power... The compendium, as well as the character builder, will use the latest version published.
The fact that the Dragon Minotaur in the compendium had the Oversized feature for a while was a data bug, and not a feature. This has been solved, and the Minotaur now properly shows up with the reference to the Dragon Magazine it has been updated in.
People will have to deal with the monster amount of patch data no matter what. i agree that the patch system will work best/easiest for the people who get it fro the get-go. The people who wait for some time will have to install the application, then all of the updates/patches that came out. So it will be a pain for some people regardless.
So it's black-and-white? Either you do patches or you have a 'full installation' and have to re-instal? That line of thinking is extremely limiting. Here's a simple solution: when you go to download the Character Builder, have two options: go to the patches, or download the whole thing. The patches section will have every patch released, as well as the 'original' Character Builder. The other section will be a download of everything, all at once.
Actually, people within the same company have come up with a better solution: Neverwinter Nights did it. If you're not familiar with that games patching process, here's how it works:
1) Open the game. You'll see a menu.
2) Hit 'Updates'
3) A new window will open, and will compare your version number to the current version, obtained by going to the appropriate site (again, the computer is doing all of this; it takes a few moments for checking, depending on your internet speed).
4) If there is a more current version, then you will be asked if you wish to update. Once you confirm, the appropriate files are downloaded.
If you've just bought the game, then yes, you do have to download a lot.
But, something like this seems, to me at least, to be the best solution. That way, if you're new you don't have to bother monitoring your download (I usually just leave it running overnight), and if you are returning the computer will tell you if you have a new version to download, and if you do then it will instal the patches for you.
Thanks,
Hdier
Is there a beta for Apple users?
The Character Builder (and all of the D&DI products) only run on Windows PCs at this time. I don't believe there are plans for Apple-compatible versions.
The latest version is the "official" version. So in the case of the Minotaur, the Dragon version supercedes the MM version
How does one obtain updates to the MM without a subscription?