Developer Update: Chrome/Edge & parser updates inbound

Google Chrome extension status

The switch to Manifest v3 that Google designed required plenty of changes in the way the extension works in it's core, but most of the changes are good: Service workers only being used when needed will make that ressource hog Google Chrome a bit more lighter, at least when talking about the VTTA.io extension (it will still eat RAM like it's no tomorrow, I guess ;)).  

With the requirement to solve the "Let's reload the Foundry tab when connecting, that seems fun!"-bug, the switch to Manifest v3 was pretty obvious. Google pushes that new way to write extensions for over a year and investing more time in an outdated extension model just wasn't feasable. 

Microsoft Edge native extension: Incoming

Microsoft Edge is compatible to Google Chrome in that regards, but I decided to try to list the extension in Microsoft's Store, too - it's a learning process for both me and the MS review team when approving extension that are using different services (locally hosted FVTT and D&D Beyond) to evaluate an extension. The good news: They really look deeply in what an extension does, that's a safety measure and to be welcomed, even it if means that it will require additional steps of communicating to get the extension approved.  

Firefox extension: Not available till Q1/2022 at the earliest

The Firefox developers stated that they will accept Manifest v3 extensions somewhen around Q1/2022, so it will take quite a while to get something on the road in that regards. This has mainly to do with the switch from a background script to a service worker and they are still undecided how to address this change and if they even like that change.

We will see about that a bit down the road.

More News and Changes

UI revamp from both the extension's popup, the settings and the UI elements injected into D&D Beyond - Easier and more approachable way to switch parsing environments

Fixes, enhancements and rewrites for Monster parser, Sourcebook parser and Item/Spell parser

Increased stability by identifying a root cause of broken parses. It was the Kubernetes ingress all along! Well, right now a very reliable workaround is in place, but finding the cause of an issue is always a large step into solving an issue 

Looking forward to have a chat with an expert in organizing stuff! This will help us to find a good way to coordinate the scene adjustment submissions in the near future, so that's the second biggest news in this video (at least for me).  

Kickstarter: Dungeons of Drakkenheim

Unrelated to VTTA.io, but something that I love and want to talk about: I am backing an interesting Kickstarter campaign - The Dungeon Dudes are having their first (and very successful) Kickstarter for their Dungeons of Drakkenheim project. It has interesting mechanics and sounds like a real fun campaign and setting to run.

When I finally receive the content somewhen next year I will definitely try to create some custom Foundry VTT assets/ modules/ character sheet for it!