New Member with Questions...

[Gamerprinter]

Hello, this is Michael Tumey, aka Gamerprinter, I am a graphic designer and a pro fantasy cartographer, who is currently working on his first adventure and setting publications. I've managed to recruit, MurghBpurn to help me setup my first module using Fantasy Grounds. In reality I am a pen & paper, non-VT gamer, but I know I can have more success with my first product if its Fantasy Grounds ready, so that's why I am here.

I've got a couple questions. MurghBpurn knows I have the graphic skills, so has suggested I look at the Screenshots, and offer customized graphics in FG for my publication, which I am willing to do, but...

1. I don't know required/preferred pixel dimensions of the various icons, objects and frames for FG, what are they? or what range of dimensions do I have to work with?

2. What are all the different graphics elements that can be customized?

3. Noticing the icons down the right side, since this is for a Pathfinder fantasy setting, what Icons do I need to include: spells, magic items, etc. to cover all my needs (again I don't have the program, but I am trying to customize content that MurghBpurn will metacode for me.)

OK, a quick overview of my upcoming product, Kaidan. Basically using Pathfinder rules, its a cross between "Oriental Adventures and Ravenloft" based in a feudal Japan-like world... here's my promotional blurb:

"The Gift - what begins as a simple escort of a gift to a powerful lord in a foreign land leads to a series of uncanny events that risk more than the lives of a party of adventurers, rather the fate of their eternal souls. Deceit, vengeance and dark revelations follow the party as they explore a dark fantasy world called Kaidan: a Japanese Ghost Story setting. Kaidan is a breathtaking empire of samurai, ninja and undead lords rich in legend, culture and nightmares.

"The Gift is a mini-campaign arc and an introduction to Kaidan, a dark fantasy setting of oriental myth and gothic horror. It is a world sure to make the bravest adventurer’s blood run cold."

Rather than being forced to play oriental characters (which will be available in a larger campaign starting in December 09) the initial arc focuses on a party of standard Pathfinder adventurers from a typical setting off on a short-term excursion to a dark fantasy Japan-like world called the Empire of Kaidan.

That's it!

GP

[Leonal]

Hi Gamerprinter,

I've been loosely following your Kaidan project at Cartographers' Guild and am eager to see it's release. :)

(I also see now why MurghBpurn asked which official FG ruleset that is closest to Pathfinder^^)

I'm afraid I cannot answer your questions, but will leave that to someone more knowledgeable.

You could, though, look at the files of some of the free community made rulesets at https://oberoten.dyndns.org/fgwiki/index.php/Category:Rulesets to check graphical files etc. there. (Some rulesets on the page are commercial, but it will say on the respective ruleset).

[Gamerprinter]

Thank you, Leonal. I've checked out the links you pointed to and hopefully I can figure this out. Anyone providing more information, however, would be greatly appreciated.

Oh, I see, I pointed to the wrong link to my Kaidan web page, so here's the correct one...

Kaidan website (https://www.gamer-printshop.com/kaidan-rpg/)

GP

[Tenian]

With the exception of the active token highlight, I'm not aware of any graphic that can not be changed. All of the menu radials, items on the desktop, even the desktop and fonts can be changed.

Most games make use of all the items on the right hand side of the screen. It's pretty typical to have Maps/Images, Personalities (NPCs/Monsters), Items (Magic/special stuff), Library (Reference materials), and Tokens. Of course if you use a system that has no special items and doesn't use map based combat you may not need items or tokens. But since Pathfinder is DnD based, I'm assuming it will have all those.

For maps and tokens, DMs usually make their choice based on personal preference and the bandwidth/screen resolution of their players. In my personal experience if the map tokens are always zoomed way out then there is no real point in spending the bandwidth to transfer the full sized versions. I'd say most players only have 700 x 700 to work with. The host can zoom in, and it's rare the players need to see the entire map at once but most map based action (combat I'm assuming) will be viewed in an area that size.

As for tokens there really is no standard answer. I can only speak to DnD but the tokens are usually based off the size of medium creatures. Typical values for medium creatures are 32x32, 50x50, 100x100. You might want to include a High Quality and a Low Quality option. The most important thing is to choose a scale and base everything off it. Do not make every medium creature fit in 50 x 50 except for the orcs which fit in 75 x 75...it will cause your DMs no end of grief. Tokens should contain transparent space to make them fill whatever you choose as a square.

Maps and images are the same thing as far as FGII is concerned. The main issue with maps is the amount of time they take to transfer. You can put them in reference items you distribute to players (such as a player's handbook). These can be distributed outside of FGII (email/ftp/etc) which allows you to make large and detailed images (such as a world/continent map) without slowing down the game. However anything distributed in that method will be visible to the player outside of FGII so you probably do not want to include dungeon maps/encounter maps etc.

For maps/images that are to be displayed dynamically (i.e. encounter maps) I find that a map size under 1-2M works best. You can use different formats/color depth/etc to fit large maps under this limit. If you design adventures with one large seamless map then you'll only need to transfer it once and it can be larger. If you do each room as a separate map, you'll be doing a lot of transfers so you will probably want to keep the images on the smaller side. Again I'd go with a high quality/low quality option.

It's also nice if you include tagged and untagged versions of each map. The untagged version is what is displayed to players. While the tagged version has all of the NPC/Trap/secret door/etc locations marked for the DM. Typically the tagged version can be significantly smaller in size and/or less detailed. Printed materials often include only a single version (tagged) which means the DM has to go through the hassle of editing the image and scraping off all the tags...which can be very frustrating.

[Spyke]

You do need to understand the difference between the graphics that are part of the ruleset used, though, and those that are part of your adventure or setting. Maps, portraits, pictures and tokens make up the graphic elements that you would load to tell your story or provide as background detail for your setting. The icons, windows, buttons and desktop background are the game graphics supplied with the ruleset that the game is using.

FG2 ships with the 3.5E ruleset and Smiteworks also provides a link to download the d20 ruleset. Both these use what we call the 'Foundation' graphics. There's also a 'Dungeon Theme' skin being supplied with the next patch version, currently available as a beta test.

If you want to create settings and adventures then these would be distributed as modules and would not affect the look and feel of the ruleset (by default they would inherit the standard tabletop fantasy skin). If you want to alter the look of the FG interface for your setting then you would need to develop either a custom ruleset or a skin extension that would replace the standard graphics. There are various threads on this forum explaining how this is done.

For examples of custom skins look at Obereton's wiki or the couple available on my website at www.spyke.me.

Spyke

[Valarian]

GP, welcome to the site. It's nice to see a familiar face :)
If you need some help with rulesets or modules, I'll be glad to help out. As you know from my maps, my artistic talent is pretty low but I'm getting more and more familiar with how the code behind the scenes works.

[Tenian]

'Dungeon Theme' went live in 2.5.* :)

2.6 just adds those silly hex things :)

[Spyke]

'Dungeon Theme' went live in 2.5.* :)

2.6 just adds those silly hex things :)Really?! For some unfathomable reason my attention was alerted with 2.6... ;)

Spyke

[Tenian]

It must be because you're so heavily involved with that BattleTech ruleset.

[Gamerprinter]

Yeah, I was more concerned with the graphics of FG itself, versus assets like Maps and Tokens. Though I don't use VT apps, I have had a thorough training regarding PPI, map dimensions as shared assets. map tokens, use of PNG transparency, and several ways of thought regarding presenting a module. RPMiller (who I haven't seen lately) who is a regular at RPTools forums and a community leader at the Cartographers' Guild - has beat all that into my head!

Hey, Valarian, I noticed your avatar in the members display on the FG home page, and knew that was you! Good seein' you - haven't seen you at the Guild recently.

I would like to create a custom skin, so I guess I need to understand the creation of an "extension" for that, that's my only specific question now.

I play Battletech, like once every ten years - too tactical of a game for my taste, but I play.

GP

[Valarian]

A skin extension is fairly easy (from a code point of view). The main work is graphics for all the icons and frames folder items. I've got character sheet extensions that update the graphics to use CyJack's ultra-modern theme.

[Gamerprinter]

Since the reality, is as far as metacoding anything goes, I may never get there, but since MurghBpurn has provided me the existing graphics that come with FG, so I can reference them as I create my own, I hope to be able to successfully customize the look of the FG build to greatly reflect my Kaidan setting.

If I can get a handle on doing this, I might be able to provide custom skins, icons and other graphics for other's FG builds - doing this for trade or other non-traditional compensation.

Perhaps I could become a custom skin and icon creator for other members who need such services - just a thought.

GP

[Gamerprinter]

I am currently working on a map needed both in my 2nd and 3rd adventure of The Gift, mini-campaign arc. This is noble palace of Lord Hachiwara, just beneath the main castle tower. The current map is at 50% scale of the final, so the dimensions here are really big.

https://www.gamer-printshop.com/kaidan/tsue-court-more-thumb.jpg

Link to larger (50% scale version)...
Hachiwara's Palace & Residence (https://www.gamer-printshop.com/kaidan/tsue-court-more.jpg)

???

GP

[Griogre]

Generally speaking you want to keep your maps a meg or so or less. They can be a big bigger if you have like the whole map of a level because it's a one time load vs. lots of smaller loads of areas.