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discinque
May 22nd, 2011, 00:35
Our group has purchased the software, and I've purchased several rulesets - but we had wanted to use Rolemaster...

But we've had LOTS of problems... from lag, (is it a problem having players connect from the same router?) to... just not being able to figure things out. We've found some documentation here... but it's searching through comments. Is there a repository of all the documentation. Combat in particular is not very intuitive - we figured out how to drag the name to "weapon vs ..." but - it's still not giving any kind of conflict-type response (it gives the roll totals - bonuses etc, but doesn't show the attack AGAINST armor/etc) not to mention the pop up crit tables we're supposed to be getting.

We had similar problems with D&D4e - I had spent hours creating a module - keeping images small, etc - only when players (only 2 others) log in they can't access anything. I zipped and sent the campaign folder for them to install on their end, but... didn't help.

I really love this concept - and I REALLY want it to work, but it's feeling like we've just blown about $100

Leonal
May 22nd, 2011, 03:23
If you want to give the players the data/cache beforehand you can't send your campaign folder.

What you must do is start a second client on your machine and connect to yourself by typing "localhost" (without "") in the address field. Then you can share images you suspect you'll be using in the next few sessions.
When you have done that, close both instances of FG (or just the one you connected with as a player).
Finally locate your campaign within the cache folder (same place as the campaigns folder) and send that folder and it's contents to your players, who should put it in the same location on their computer.

This will give them all the data locally without needing to transfer much after connection to you.

Note: Replacing the cache will remove their shortcuts on the hotkey bar, should they have them.

I have no experience with 4e or Rolemaster so I can't help you there, but 4e should have fairly extensive explanations in the library on this site. Is there no pdf guide or similar for the RM ruleset?

Moon Wizard
May 22nd, 2011, 08:55
Modules
How did you create your module?

Whether you use the /export command, used the 4E parser or made a module by editing XML directly; you need to be familiar with the different module types. The module type determines whether the data can be viewed by the client and whether it has to be installed on the client.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide4E/gm_library.xcp
(Check out all the sublinks on the left, especially the Module Types)

Quick summary:
Host module (db.xml) = Only visible by host

Client module (client.xml) = Can be made visible to client by host, but must be installed locally on client.

Common module (common.xml) = Can be made visible to client by host, will be downloaded by client from host.

The reason for client vs. common has to do with whether you want the module data to be downloaded / checked during the session, or handled separately.

Lag
The RM ruleset creates a large memory footprint due to the table lookup code, so you could be getting some lag from that (especially on machines with <= 2G memory).

If you are getting network lag on the 4E ruleset, I would check out some of the House of Healing threads on configuring your router. Like this one:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14288

Misc
Finally, I would suggest that you watch some of the tutorial videos that DrZ has created, and review the module creation tutorial PDF created by Xorne.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/downloads/ (Scroll to tutorials)
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/module.tutorial.v1.pdf

Feel free to keep posting questions.

Regards,
JPG

StuartW
May 22nd, 2011, 11:55
Rolemaster Combat

The Rolemaster ruleset comes with a PDF document on how to create characters, and there was also an explanation on how to run combats on the ICE web site, but since the business changed hands that combat posting has been lost :(

Stuart

discinque
May 22nd, 2011, 14:19
Thank you! Hmmm I created the module I THOUGHT by how the tutorial video showed... created it and typed "/export"... but not sure now.

We were trying lots of different things (7 hours!!!) yesterday. In one session with just me and one computer connected (the one with the worst of the lag) he was having 30 sec delay between rolling the dice, and it showing up on either of our chat windows.

He has 6gb ram - Win7 64bit



Modules
How did you create your module?

Whether you use the /export command, used the 4E parser or made a module by editing XML directly; you need to be familiar with the different module types. The module type determines whether the data can be viewed by the client and whether it has to be installed on the client.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide4E/gm_library.xcp
(Check out all the sublinks on the left, especially the Module Types)

Quick summary:
Host module (db.xml) = Only visible by host

Client module (client.xml) = Can be made visible to client by host, but must be installed locally on client.

Common module (common.xml) = Can be made visible to client by host, will be downloaded by client from host.

The reason for client vs. common has to do with whether you want the module data to be downloaded / checked during the session, or handled separately.

Lag
The RM ruleset creates a large memory footprint due to the table lookup code, so you could be getting some lag from that (especially on machines with <= 2G memory).

If you are getting network lag on the 4E ruleset, I would check out some of the House of Healing threads on configuring your router. Like this one:
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14288

Misc
Finally, I would suggest that you watch some of the tutorial videos that DrZ has created, and review the module creation tutorial PDF created by Xorne.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/downloads/ (Scroll to tutorials)
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/module.tutorial.v1.pdf

Feel free to keep posting questions.

Regards,
JPG

Moon Wizard
May 23rd, 2011, 08:54
Just to try and limit the issue on the lag situation.

* Are you only seeing the lag on the RM ruleset?
* Do you have any modules open? If so, can you try with the modules off?
* What windows do you have open when rolling?

Thanks,
JPG

discinque
May 24th, 2011, 00:22
Yes, we had tried with RM, C&C, SavageWorlds and D&D4e. All with the lag. These computers all run several MMO's too.

Who would we contact for a refund?

Moon Wizard
May 24th, 2011, 00:30
We are not seeing lag of that magnitude on other players' systems, so it seems like there may be some underlying issue on the machines or networking equipment you are using.

Can you run two instances of the application on the same box? You would use the first instance to host, and the second instance to join the game on 127.0.0.1. The lag in that situation should be minimal. Can you verify?

The other item that can cause large lag delays is if there are significant networking issues between the host and the client machines. We've seen several scenarios where certain network configurations can cause issues (such as QoS settings.

Regards,
JPG

discinque
May 24th, 2011, 00:35
Yes, I was able to host the game, and then join it - worked like a charm.

I'll check with the other users (they share a router) about the settings

Moon Wizard
May 24th, 2011, 06:15
There is a thread on the House of Healing forum that may be helpful. I linked it earlier, but just wanted to make sure you have it available for your users who share the connection.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?t=14288

Regards,
JPG