suggestions for 2.9

[inuroku842]

Hey all, trying to get the programmers to hear our suggestions for the next release or releases later on. Voice your suggestions!

I have been wanting to have multimedia capabilities on fantasy grounds, like being able to input videos for awesome cutscenes or put in music for epic boss battles.

[phantomwhale]

Given the networking problems that I've faced intermittently in FGII, along with the problems and complexities of streamed audio / video that we face with established solutions such as Skype and Mumble, I'd be highly surprised and a little worried to see that entering the v2.9 wishlist. I tried adding music one session, but getting it to any sufficient quality and without drowning out actual VOIP chat was too hard.

But, in the spirit of optimism, those things would be awesome.

[dr_venture]

I'd be happy with an audio system that played files locally, embedded them in a similar modular fashion as extensions, and was more geared to spot sfx than running soundtracks. That way the sounds could be downloaded & installed outside of game play, eliminating bandwidth issues other then simple control commands from the host. Sound calls to non-existent sound files would simply be silent.

More complex soundscapes - even background music, can be hard to mix right across different user's audio systems. However simple sound effects can add a lot to the game - additional cues that reinforce the action. This could also help somebody have a sense of what's going on if they are distracted and away from the computer for a few minutes.

Swinging sound for melee attack, arrow for missile attacks, clank or thud for miss, generic groan for hits... sound of body dropping for somebody going prone. Assigning an sound effect for a game effect being applied might be cool... along with a player option to disable all or some sound channels for those who think it's not very cool. Even more basic, simple sounds for new rounds, new combatants, things like that. Obviously you don't want to be assaulted by a barrage of little goofy sounds, but a few thoughtful options for groups of sfx could go a long way to mitigating.

Just my 2 cents... I'd love it. If you could choose to loop a sound and give it a volume... and better yet, send it to a 'channel' with it's own user-controllable level (like "FG sounds," "Environmental," "Combat," etc... well, then so much the better.

...but I ain't holding my breath. ;)

[DanLal]

I would love to have Line of sight and or fog of war implemented in FGII

[Trenloe]

I would love to have ... fog of war implemented in FGII

Something more than the mask mode available in FG now?

Are you talking about something similar to what Maptool does in terms of vision blocking?

[thrylax]

Something more than the mask mode available in FG now?

Are you talking about something similar to what Maptool does in terms of vision blocking?
Yes, that would be AWESOME!
Although I have no idea how tough that would be to implement. Still it would be great. In my opinion, its the ONLY feature Maptool has over FG2. If that were implemented, Maptool would be obselete compared to FG2.
Although as it currently is, I still like FG2 much better. Everything else is just heads and shoulders above anything else Maptool is capable of. IMHO

[primarch]

Yes, that would be AWESOME!
Although I have no idea how tough that would be to implement. Still it would be great. In my opinion, its the ONLY feature Maptool has over FG2. If that were implemented, Maptool would be obselete compared to FG2.
Although as it currently is, I still like FG2 much better. Everything else is just heads and shoulders above anything else Maptool is capable of. IMHO

Hi!

I have to echo this. Having tried most VT offerings over the years including Maptools, FG is head and shoulders above them all, with the only thing missing - vision blocking.

It's the only thing Maptools has that FG doesn't do better.

I also realize however that this may be hugely difficult to implement. However after 2.8 I can think of anything else FG really needs or hasn't done already, except for this feature.

Perhaps its time to try to tackle something big like vision blocking.

Primarch

[dr_venture]

I'd love some application-level support for token layers, much like DrZ's work. I wind up basically using tokens in my mapping programs to provide room contents & clutter, then burn the tokens into the map... like chairs & tables and such. God forbid somebody knock one over in the game, as they are permanently embedded in the battlemat. Using player tokens and item tokens together on the same layer is very problematic - it can get very hard to select tokens and/or ensure they're on top. So what I'd like is a layer for 'background tokens' to use for stuff like chairs & tables.

Also, I'd love support for grouping tokens in some way... to handle things like moving wagons or boats with people on them. It'd be nice to be able to move a large 'parent' token (like said cart or boat) and have the child tokens "riding" on it maintain their relative positions. Then you should be able to unlock the children from the parent and move them individually before locking them to the parent again... or if they're unlucky, removing the parent vehicle out from under them ;)

Finally, since I'm gleefully shoveling piles of work onto the developers with not thought of their well being, I'd love some relative layer/movement control for individual tokens. I'd like to be able to lock them in place and move their 'layer' position up or down, front or back... or to really to other layers (like the background or object layer).

And I'd like FG to make me a good latte when I want it... but before I have ask for it.

[inuroku842]

I'd love some application-level support for token layers, much like DrZ's work. I wind up basically using tokens in my mapping programs to provide room contents & clutter, then burn the tokens into the map... like chairs & tables and such. God forbid somebody knock one over in the game, as they are permanently embedded in the battlemat. Using player tokens and item tokens together on the same layer is very problematic - it can get very hard to select tokens and/or ensure they're on top. So what I'd like is a layer for 'background tokens' to use for stuff like chairs & tables.

Also, I'd love support for grouping tokens in some way... to handle things like moving wagons or boats with people on them. It'd be nice to be able to move a large 'parent' token (like said cart or boat) and have the child tokens "riding" on it maintain their relative positions. Then you should be able to unlock the children from the parent and move them individually before locking them to the parent again... or if they're unlucky, removing the parent vehicle out from under them ;)

Finally, since I'm gleefully shoveling piles of work onto the developers with not thought of their well being, I'd love some relative layer/movement control for individual tokens. I'd like to be able to lock them in place and move their 'layer' position up or down, front or back... or to really to other layers (like the background or object layer).

And I'd like FG to make me a good latte when I want it... but before I have ask for it.
lol, nice one venture bro. But i definitely agree, a layer mapping system would be nice. i could definitely make my dungeons and social encounters more interactive if i were able to add things to different layers and be able to move them about. I've never used maptools as a friend referred fg to me and now i'm HOOKED, but it sounds like this would be a good thing to have.
I think having a parent layer for "children" to ride in/on would be a lot of work and maybe slow down speeds. what i do is just keep a tally of who's riding on what and use one large token for vehicles. if this could be implemented without being too much of a fuss though, would use it all the time, definitely be able to make cavalry usage alot easier.
i usually just use the mask to solve my vision blocking problem. i'm not really a huge stickler on sight limitations but perhaps if that feature were there i would use it.

what i would like to see happen though, an easier way to manage and edit rulesets. i am by no means a programmer or a whiz with xml editor. i would like to have a user friendly version to be able to make libraries and rulesets.

[inuroku842]

I'd be happy with an audio system that played files locally, embedded them in a similar modular fashion as extensions, and was more geared to spot sfx than running soundtracks. That way the sounds could be downloaded & installed outside of game play, eliminating bandwidth issues other then simple control commands from the host. Sound calls to non-existent sound files would simply be silent.

More complex soundscapes - even background music, can be hard to mix right across different user's audio systems. However simple sound effects can add a lot to the game - additional cues that reinforce the action. This could also help somebody have a sense of what's going on if they are distracted and away from the computer for a few minutes.

Swinging sound for melee attack, arrow for missile attacks, clank or thud for miss, generic groan for hits... sound of body dropping for somebody going prone. Assigning an sound effect for a game effect being applied might be cool... along with a player option to disable all or some sound channels for those who think it's not very cool. Even more basic, simple sounds for new rounds, new combatants, things like that. Obviously you don't want to be assaulted by a barrage of little goofy sounds, but a few thoughtful options for groups of sfx could go a long way to mitigating.

Just my 2 cents... I'd love it. If you could choose to loop a sound and give it a volume... and better yet, send it to a 'channel' with it's own user-controllable level (like "FG sounds," "Environmental," "Combat," etc... well, then so much the better.

...but I ain't holding my breath. ;)
that's even better than what i was thinking of, good thoughts. i'm hopin that day will come sometime in the future, even if not the near future. sound effects would be nice, especially for those distracted players. could make for a bad *** bard, lol. biggest thing i want to do as a dm is be able to add battle music to the background.
i like your idea of music being done as extensions. if fg could be programmed to support his type of extension i would be in rpg heaven!

[SLB]

This just came to mind today and I'm not even sure how I would use it ... but I'm pretty sure it's kind of cool.

I'd like to see a way to add a variable to one's attack macros etc. So, for example let's say I play a monk (since that's what caused me to think of this). I would type v: Dancing Dragon in the chat window but not hit enter. Then I would attack with the weapon I named Blow - but likely typed in something like [V] Blow (with the [V] indicating the location that the variable should be included). So, now when the roll is made it says Dancing Dragon Blow in the chat window.

For my next attack I type in v: Quivering Palm since I'm clearly very powerful :) and it comes out Quivering Palm Blow.

I know there are ways to get these types of messages now, but having it as a variable would allow players to add some dynamics to the descriptions of their attacks.

Haven't thought this fully through, but I think it sounds kind of neat.

[DanLal]

Something more than the mask mode available in FG now?

Are you talking about something similar to what Maptool does in terms of vision blocking?

Mask mode is fine, I was thinking more about lights and visibility. Maybe a function like TORCH and a wide circle would appear around the point of origin and players would only see what's inside the circle. You could add multiple TORCH icons if you like and be able to change their size (Candle vs Sunrod) or intensity (Dim light vs Bright light) and everything outside the circle would be dark. Or a reverse selection, where the circle is darker for those Darkness spells.

[inuroku842]

Mask mode is fine, I was thinking more about lights and visibility. Maybe a function like TORCH and a wide circle would appear around the point of origin and players would only see what's inside the circle. You could add multiple TORCH icons if you like and be able to change their size (Candle vs Sunrod) or intensity (Dim light vs Bright light) and everything outside the circle would be dark. Or a reverse selection, where the circle is darker for those Darkness spells.
That would actually be amazing if they could make that work. I would love if that feature could become available, would make for some fun and user friendly night time encounters. Its always been a pain for me to do total darkness type things.

[joshuha]

That would actually be amazing if they could make that work. I would love if that feature could become available, would make for some fun and user friendly night time encounters. Its always been a pain for me to do total darkness type things.

With my token overlays, if masking functions were exposed in the API (including reapplying a mask by area) this could be doable.

[thrylax]

How about a built it customizable game calendar so players can keep track of the passage of game time. I know there are extensions that do a bit of this, but I'm talking about an integrated system that is always visible to everyone and could show such things as the times of day, the date, the month, the year and possibly even the phase(s) of the moon(s). That would be a pretty nice, not to mention useful feature.

[inuroku842]

With my token overlays, if masking functions were exposed in the API (including reapplying a mask by area) this could be doable.?.? do explain please.

[drvolk]

I would like to have a "skill challange tracker" or something like that (playing 4E ruleset).
Creating a skill challange should be easy as creating an encounter. And tracking an skill challange should be also so comforable as tracking an encounter.

It should be possible to share a sheet or map to an single character or a separated group of the party (the same for shouting text to the chat box).
To unmask a part of an map just for a single character would be even greater :)

A better editor for creating library modules.

[Trenloe]

I would like to have a "skill challange tracker" or something like that (playing 4E ruleset).

There's one there already - the "Skill Challenge" icon (top right) opens the "Skill Challenge Tracker".


It should be possible to share a sheet or map to an single character or a separated group of the party.

There already too. Drag the story, image, note, etc to the player/s portrait.

[drvolk]

Thanks, the way to share images or texts to an single player i did not kown !

I know the skill challenge tracker which allready exists, but in my opinion it is to simple. Is there a way to setup an skill challenge, like you can setup encounters for the combat tracker ?
There you should be able to describe the setup, the goal of the challenge, what happens if you fail, the level, the complexity, the primary and the secondary skills, the order of the skill checks, is it a group check or a check for a single character. This information then should be able to import into the skill tracker by clicking a button, like the way importing NSCs from encounters into the combat tracker.
The tracker should take care of whom is doing the challenge and the order of the skill checks and any effects if one check fails or succeeds.

[Trenloe]

There you should be able to describe the setup, the goal of the challenge, what happens if you fail, the level, the complexity, the primary and the secondary skills, the order of the skill checks, is it a group check or a check for a single character. This information then should be able to import into the skill tracker by clicking a button, like the way importing NSCs from encounters into the combat tracker.
The tracker should take care of whom is doing the challenge and the order of the skill checks and any effects if one check fails or succeeds.

That would be nice! :)

[Zeus]

On my list of things to do, once the 4E Fortune Cards extension is complete. On holiday at the moment, back at the end of the week.

[drvolk]

Embedded images or thumbnails for linked images in story texts or NSCs, items etc.

[GeneralChaos]

I use images in chat. I'd like the GM portrait to change to current speaker - if the current speaker is based on an NPC that has a token.

[Herodian]

I suggest having the "Mask" layer be independent of the three drawing layers, instead of part of the bottom layer. By my way of thinking, masking part of the map should hide everything on that part of the map, not just the background.

My apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere. My search fu is not so hot on here.

[inuroku842]

I suggest having the "Mask" layer be independent of the three drawing layers, instead of part of the bottom layer. By my way of thinking, masking part of the map should hide everything on that part of the map, not just the background.

My apologies if this has already been addressed elsewhere. My search fu is not so hot on here.
I 100% agree with this! It is kind of weird to have my players saying hey what's that scribble just floating over there, sometimes acts as a warning...

[Blackfoot]

Does the 'spell' type mean anything? I'm not really sure.

It seems like it would be cool if the 'spell' type for 'spell' actions could be modified for other abilities that you might want to build as spells that aren't actually spells.

The actions tab is really handy and I use it for all sorts of things from wands to potions to cavalier challenges to .. well whatever .. not just spells.

[Dracones]

Not mentioned yet: Headless dedicated server support, wine-compatible, allowing clients to connect in either player or GM-mode.

If FG had that then you could add in all the music/multimedia support you wanted since it all could be hosted on a proper high throughput server. This would also eliminate many "I'm behind a firewall, I can't host" issues, since they could either use a dedicated server or have the player with the fattest pipe run a server instance everyone(including the GM) connects to.

Content could either be pre-loaded onto the server instance in a directory or it'll stream first from the uploading client and then push off the server to the rest of the clients.

Don't make the setup fancy. Leave it CLI based with a simple executable to fire it up. As long as it works via wine so it can be hosted on Linux servers(cheapest solution). A working hack into the existing code is fine. If the option becomes popular it can be refined later on.

[Blackfoot]

Not mentioned yet: Headless dedicated server support, wine-compatible, allowing clients to connect in either player or GM-mode.

If FG had that then you could add in all the music/multimedia support you wanted since it all could be hosted on a proper high throughput server. This would also eliminate many "I'm behind a firewall, I can't host" issues, since they could either use a dedicated server or have the player with the fattest pipe run a server instance everyone(including the GM) connects to.

Content could either be pre-loaded onto the server instance in a directory or it'll stream first from the uploading client and then push off the server to the rest of the clients.

Don't make the setup fancy. Leave it CLI based with a simple executable to fire it up. As long as it works via wine so it can be hosted on Linux servers(cheapest solution). A working hack into the existing code is fine. If the option becomes popular it can be refined later on.Seems like this would change the entire concept of the model.

[Dracones]

Really depends on how the code is written. Something like that might be a complete PITA if the code is completely centered around "only 1 GM and he is the host".

In that case a first step would be to add multi-GM support in the first update. This would allow for the flexibility you need for a headless mode and would also help ease the current firewall issues. Any player could host the game and the main GM could then connect as a client and control things from there.

Past that, headless mode would just be a hack that allows you to run FG without the GUI and start up the hosting and load the campaign.

[Griogre]

I would like to see an update to the 4E ruleset where you can show only totals of GM attacks and damage in chat, similar to 3.5. IE The DM rolls an attack vs. AC with is 1d20 + 15 and rolls a 10. He then rolls damage 2d10 + 5 and rolls 5 and 5 on the d10's. I would like the option to just show the 35 vs. AC and 15 damage totals in chat without the players seeing the mods.

[VenomousFiligree]

I too would like to see a lessoning of the distinction between GM and Player, however this might easily be achieved.

[demonsbane]

I would like to see an update to the 4E ruleset where you can show only totals of GM attacks and damage in chat, similar to 3.5. IE The DM rolls an attack vs. AC with is 1d20 + 15 and rolls a 10. He then rolls damage 2d10 + 5 and rolls 5 and 5 on the d10's. I would like the option to just show the 35 vs. AC and 15 damage totals in chat without the players seeing the mods.

That would be welcomed for most rulesets too.

[PoisonAlchemist]

Feature request: a way to know the server alias or IP from inside the campaign. At the moment as DM I have to boot everyone from the server by leaving, looking at it, and coming back in because I have no idea how to do anything else.

[Winston]

Feature request: a way to know the server alias or IP from inside the campaign. At the moment as DM I have to boot everyone from the server by leaving, looking at it, and coming back in because I have no idea how to do anything else.

I just write mine down so I have it whenever I need it.

[Herodian]

Bookmark this. https://www.whatismyip.com/

Edit: Also, this is a good suggestion. A slash command, maybe? /alias?

[Griogre]

An easy work around to find your alias while running a game is just to start FG again and click the Load Campaign button. You will be able to see your alias. Then just close that instance with the X in the top right.

Feature request: a way to know the server alias or IP from inside the campaign. At the moment as DM I have to boot everyone from the server by leaving, looking at it, and coming back in because I have no idea how to do anything else.

[GunnarGreybeard]

Bookmark this. https://www.whatismyip.com/ That's what I do, just tab out to my browser and check it there.

[jagarbet]

A function to clear all the combat tracker list, now we have to erase each NPC or PC one by one. And if you make a mistake importing encounter list its uneasy to do it one by one.

[Callum]

A function to clear all the combat tracker list, now we have to erase each NPC or PC one by one. And if you make a mistake importing encounter list its uneasy to do it one by one.
You can delete all the NPCs in one go, in the 3.5E ruleset, by right-clicking on the CT Menu button:-

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide35E/gm_ct_35E.xcp

[Blackfoot]

In the PF/3.5 (not sure about how 3.5 deals with this though..)
Is there any way an option for setting skills that have no default roll to not roll or reflect a - instead of a value or something? Players who are unfamiliar with the rules find it confusing when they are represented with values.

[jagarbet]

You can delete all the NPCs in one go, in the 3.5E ruleset, by right-clicking on the CT Menu button:-

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/userguide35E/gm_ct_35E.xcp

Thank you so much for the information, i can do it now. Sorry I had not realized.

Bye!!

[Phystus]

In the PF/3.5 (not sure about how 3.5 deals with this though..)
Is there any way an option for setting skills that have no default roll to not roll or reflect a - instead of a value or something? Players who are unfamiliar with the rules find it confusing when they are represented with values.

Not being a PF player I'm not quite familiar with the term 'default roll'. In 3.5 there are a few skills that can't be used if you don't have training, like spellcraft or open lock. Is that what you mean?

~P

[Blackfoot]

Not being a PF player I'm not quite familiar with the term 'default roll'. In 3.5 there are a few skills that can't be used if you don't have training, like spellcraft or open lock. Is that what you mean?

~PYeah.. it's basically the same thing in PF.
You can't make knowledge rolls, spellcraft, UMD, disable device... a couple others.

[Phystus]

OK. I don't know of a way to shut those off in the 3.5 ruleset, so I'm guessing there probably isn't one in PF either.

I hadn't ever had much of a problem with players trying to use those skills without the training, but if it happened a lot it might be nice to be able to shut them off.

~P

[madman]

Did moon add ranged touch to the options in weapons? If not could we get that added so firearms will work correctly!

Please !

Chris

[Winston]

I am still down, however till the ruleset issues are fixed for SR I am not sure it can be done using that. I still suggest running in the GURPS ruleset, but I am still learning the finer details of the GURPS system.

[Leonal]

[PFRPG options] Suggest to have On/NPC/Off for "Attack: Critical confirmation" rolls. PCs are, in my experience, more likely to want to roll the confirmation themselves than the GM is for the NPCs.

[Insanity]

I believe effects that come from a power that has a keyword such as "Poison, Fear, etc..." the keyword is not tracked currently, but there are abilities such as the dwarf +5 on saving throws vs. poison. Just thinking it be nice to have support for saving throw bonuses vs, specific keywords.

[Moon Wizard]

I've added to the wish list.

https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/

Cheers,
JPG

[Dracones]

Don't see this in the list, so "Remote URLs as Shared Images/Maps".

Basically as a GM rather than hosting images myself I could upload them to a server or a service like imgur. Then in the Images tab in FG when I right clicked I'd have a "Add Image URL" radial option which would share the URL out to all the clients which would then download the image from the remote site and not my local PC.

With this image sharing isn't limited by the GM's connection speed and as I GM I could have a bunch of maps on a remote server and just share out the URL as needed. This would give me many maps "on hand" without putting them all in the module.

For modules sold in the Smiteworks store I'd recommend Smiteworks allow content creators to host images somewhere on their webserver. This would allow them to put image URLs in their modules, say for HQ versions of the maps, so a GM could use a low res self shared image or a HQ image pushed out from Smitework's webserver.

[arotter]

An idea similar to Dracones's suggestion: it would be great to have the option to have certain resources (e.g. tokens, maps, campaign.xml) be saved in a cloud storage (SkyDrive, Dropbox, GDrive) so that if your harddisk jumps the shark you don't lose everything (and providing those resources also wasn't limited by the GM's upload bandwidth).