MtgHelper Features

The two most requested features I've heard for MtgHelper are:

1) An in-app card database / deck builder
2) Life total history

While I feel that a card database or deck building app is much more suited for a stand-alone app than something to tack onto MtgHelper, I have considered life total history.

The reason for this is that having a history of life total changes can be helpful at tournaments. If there is a dispute over the life totals, it allows you to back things up and recall how the current game state was reached. This is the reason many serious players use pen and paper instead of spindown life counters or apps.

The issue with such a feature in MtgHelper is that, like many apps, life is ticked down one at a time. It would be annoying to see a long string of +1's or -1's on your life history, so there has to be a way of eliminating this and consolidating them into a single +5, or -3, etc.

This could be implemented using a timer (slightly worse on your battery, I guess), or I could force the app to only allow long-presses to change life totals while in history mode. This would of course be an opt-in functionality and would not be the default.

I am very open to suggestions and/or feedback on this, so please let me know your opinion if you feel strongly about this!

Mtg Helper Ver 1.02 Released!

Mtg Helper is an application for Android phones designed to keep track of players' life while playing a game of Magic: The Gathering. You can find Mtg Helper by searching for it on the Android Market. The application has a host of features, including:

• Exclusive Head2Head Mode
• Support for 1-8 Players/Planeswalkers/Tokens
• Custom Themes
• Random "Who Goes First?" Utility
• Custom Player Name Settings (Just long-click the name!)
• Change Life Three Ways:

Long-click the +/- to add/subtract any amount
Click the +/- to add/subtract one
Long-click the life value to set it directly

Head2Head Mode


Custom Themes


Menu Options



Please leave comments with any feedback, requested features, or bug reports and I will do my best to accommodate you! Thank you very much for your interest in my application.

Acknowledgements:

• I owe all of the amazing artwork in the application to my girlfriend, Melissa Metheney. The app would not look as fun and exciting if it were not for her hard work on the background and icon.
• I also owe a big thanks to Daniel Cuevas and Chris Metheney for helping to test the application through a few gross beta phases, and for some debugging support!
• Last, but not least, I owe another big thanks to my boss, Dr. Rob Edwards, for supporting my crazy Android programming whims!
  

Blog Description

Hello, and welcome to Jhoffman Apps! This blog was originally created for my work with EdwardsLab at San Diego State University. Since creating the blog, I have begun working on Android apps for my own personal use. Here, you will be able to find release announcements not only of the EdwardsLab Bioinformatics apps, but also my personal projects. Please feel free to leave comments/suggestions/complaints below a post, or email me through the Android market with any issues.

Thank you very much for your interest in JHoffman Apps!


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