ShadeRaven
June 22nd, 2010, 00:19
I am putting the cart before the horse, I am sure, considering some issues with tokens I have run into, but early indications in testing the next update and confidence in the developers here has me forward thinking.
So with that said, I am hoping to get some feedback from the other DMs/GMs out there, especially those who like to modulate all of their ruleset components (like myself).
Because I was having some troubles with tokens for a while, I stripped them out of the monster manual module I created to store creature. This module has grown up quite a bit over time and was up to 800 kbs. Nothing noteworthy, but still full of hundreds of creatures.
However, when I decided to give the new pre-release patch a test, I wanted to give tokens a good run at it to push the system again. While I have been pleased with the results, one significant aspect in the module creation process became apparent - a monster manual full of tokens is going to be humongous. I added just 232 tokens to start (a far cry from having all of the creatures "tokened") and the MM Mod grew from 800 to 3,525kb already! I can only imagine how large it would be if I populated the entire module with appropriate images. Heck, I've barely scratched any of the bigger creatures as is.
So the question I offer up is... how have other developers/designers dealt with token parsing? Do you not create a master Monster Manual? Have you broken it up into small pieces (by level? alphabetically?)? Do you just keep monster tokens separate and only add them individually later on for when you need them?
Would love to hear what's working and what to avoid from those who have dealt with monstrous modules.
So with that said, I am hoping to get some feedback from the other DMs/GMs out there, especially those who like to modulate all of their ruleset components (like myself).
Because I was having some troubles with tokens for a while, I stripped them out of the monster manual module I created to store creature. This module has grown up quite a bit over time and was up to 800 kbs. Nothing noteworthy, but still full of hundreds of creatures.
However, when I decided to give the new pre-release patch a test, I wanted to give tokens a good run at it to push the system again. While I have been pleased with the results, one significant aspect in the module creation process became apparent - a monster manual full of tokens is going to be humongous. I added just 232 tokens to start (a far cry from having all of the creatures "tokened") and the MM Mod grew from 800 to 3,525kb already! I can only imagine how large it would be if I populated the entire module with appropriate images. Heck, I've barely scratched any of the bigger creatures as is.
So the question I offer up is... how have other developers/designers dealt with token parsing? Do you not create a master Monster Manual? Have you broken it up into small pieces (by level? alphabetically?)? Do you just keep monster tokens separate and only add them individually later on for when you need them?
Would love to hear what's working and what to avoid from those who have dealt with monstrous modules.