Fantasy Grounds Unity engine

[shadelon]

Most of the time I don't need more than 3 or 4 windows open at a time. Doesn't slow me down at all.

Agreed. You really shouldn't have more than maybe 5 or 6 open at a time. And you CAN minimize windows too. Something some people seem to forget or don't know. Again I say, you just need to know how to properly organise your windows. Just because you don't have any sort of organisational skills at all, is no fault of the program. It's yours.

[mac40k]

Agreed. You really shouldn't have more than maybe 5 or 6 open at a time. And you CAN minimize windows too. Something some people seem to forget or don't know. Again I say, you just need to know how to properly organise your windows. Just because you don't have any sort of organisational skills at all, is no fault of the program. It's yours.

This guy has it right. FG already has the ability to minimize windows. And you can move the minimized token to any part of the screen you want. And when you hover the mouse over the token a pop up tells you what window it is. When you click on the token, the window opens back up in the same place it was before you minimized it. And when you minimize it again, the token goes back to the same place you placed it when you moved it to begin with. People just need to get in the habit of minimizing stuff and tucking the icons in an area of the screen you "reserve" for this and then just don't allow a window to cover up the minimized icons.

[JohnQPublic]

Agreed. You really shouldn't have more than maybe 5 or 6 open at a time. And you CAN minimize windows too. Something some people seem to forget or don't know. Again I say, you just need to know how to properly organise your windows. Just because you don't have any sort of organisational skills at all, is no fault of the program. It's yours.

At a bare minimum I have the following windows open. Usually more. It's 2018, if your computer/software can't handle having more than 5 or 6 windows open then the fault is of the program, not mine. And who are you to tell me the 'correct' way to play and organize? Maybe I can easily keep track of many many windows at a time. If you can't, then the fault is with you. If your oganization is different than mine, does that make your way 'better'? Just because it's the way that works for you doesn't mean it works for everyone.

Windows that are always open:
combat tracker
party sheet
player version of the map
DM version of the map
Story note for the area in play
NPC stat block for each type of NPC/monster in the encounter
chat window

[notrealdan]

I don't think anyone's suggesting existing features or functionality be removed, only offering suggestions on improvements and new features/options. If you're happy with the way the FG UI works, I think you'll be able to continue operating in the future as you are today. I believe SmiteWorks has said a few times (paraphrasing from memory) that they want FGC's feature set to be the baseline for what is available in FGU upon launch.

But, the UI can certainly stand to have an update, and that will only become more important as time goes on. FG's current UI works well enough once you learn it and get used to it, but it's not intuitive to new users. Many common features are there, but are often hidden and/or don't operate like people are used to. In what other program do you need to find the minimize command in a right-click menu? It's very easy to lose windows behind other windows, so shouldn't there be a common location to manage all open windows (like a task bar)? FG has enough of a learning curve without the UI adding to that.

Personally, I'm most interested in FGU in the hopes the more modern engine will make the program more efficient. On my ~6 month old laptop, if I open more than a few windows in FG, it slows to a crawl and becomes quite hard to use. And that's with no clients connected, only a few modules open, minimal extensions, default theme, nothing exotic, etc. If that works better with FGU, any new features FGU opens the door to will be gravy!

And multi-monitor support! Just the ability to pop-out/undock individual windows from the main FG interface would solve that nicely.

For all it's worts, FG is still the best at what it does and I'm just looking forward to it getting even better! (happy FG user since 2007)

[LordEntrails]

IMO, it's not about which way(s) are correct or incorrect. It's about ways in which one can use the software to it's most useful for the user. Often times it is best to use software to the best capabilities of the software. Not to try to use it in a manner that you want or think would be best if the software is not capable of that way.

I have this same discussion on other software programs, ones that cost $20000 USD per person, and ones in a similar market to FG like Campaign Cartographer. You can chose to fight the software because it doesn't "work like you want it to", or you "can learn to use it to it's best."

To paraphrase (badly); 'an interface may be perfect for some, and may work all, but it can never be perfect for all.'

Also, remember that redesigning the interface is NOT one of the stated or hinted-at objectives for FGU. So while it is great to give Smiteworks ideas for how the interface could be improved, don't expect any changes in the near future. And, speaking from experience, when the UI is overhauled, it will most likely be done over many versions and many years. And there is good reason for taking years to do a UI overhaul, one part is simple that you have to allow the current users to learn the new UI in bits and pieces. (While a whole sale change might be welcomed by those new to an application, it always alienates a very large percentage of existing users. You know, those customers who helped make you successful.)

[LordEntrails]

...
Personally, I'm most interested in FGU in the hopes the more modern engine will make the program more efficient. On my ~6 month old laptop, if I open more than a few windows in FG, it slows to a crawl and becomes quite hard to use. And that's with no clients connected, only a few modules open, minimal extensions, default theme, nothing exotic, etc. If that works better with FGU, any new features FGU opens the door to will be gravy!
...

This is indicative of a underlying problem with either your install or your content. I would first suspect this happens when you open multiple images? If so, it's probably because your image resolution is much too high. If that's not the case, I would suggest starting a new thread in the house of healing and we can help troubleshoot this and find the root cause.

[celestian]

This may have been mentioned in the past, but I think I'd really like to have the option of having all of the relevant NPC records that I need open for an encouter in a single tabbed frame, similar to how Notepad++ and PuttyManager do things.

Just my $0.02 worth

That would be a wonderful start. I'd also like to be able to move windows outside of the FG "desktop". Once we do get FGU I'll be really interested in seeing what new(?) ways we can manipulate windows (hopefully). Unity has some really interesting assets and methods of displaying menus that I hope they end up utilizing we can in turn use.

but at this point it's all just wishful thinking...

[notrealdan]

This is indicative of a underlying problem with either your install or your content. I would first suspect this happens when you open multiple images? If so, it's probably because your image resolution is much too high. If that's not the case, I would suggest starting a new thread in the house of healing and we can help troubleshoot this and find the root cause.

Thanks. I am careful to keep my images small, as recommended, and get the same problem even with FG-store purchased content. In this case, I don't think images are to blame (but having some open may make it more noticeable at least). I've tried it with fresh install, fresh campaign, no extensions, etc. and get the same results. It seems to happen when I have large story entries with a lot of text open, even with no images opened. This laptop performs surprisingly well in graphics intensive games (within reason), far more intensive than anything FG throws at it. My feeling is that the Intel 620 graphics chip in this laptop just isn't optimized for whatever graphics system the older engine in FGC is using, which is why I'm hopeful that FGU will help. I've tested the same content on my desktop with an older nVidia card and it doesn't skip a beat, but that computer's a very different animal and may be hiding the same symptoms by virtue of it's overall more powerful components. But the laptop fits on the game table (in-person play).

[Trenloe]

My feeling is that the Intel 620 graphics chip in this laptop just isn't optimized for whatever graphics system the older engine in FGC is using...

A few people have mentioned lag/choppy dice etc. with this specific chip. I don't think it plays well with DirectX v9 - which is what FGC uses. Hopefully it will be fine in FGU.

[celestian]

Some more FGU features displayed.