From Scratch

[Deepgnome06]

Guys this is going to sound stupid but i have to ask. Is there a way using the drawing maps feature to insert tokens to represent Walls, rivers, caverns, statues etc. Its not in the token sections. So my question is how can i get ahold of theses objects nad use them in my map?

[Trenloe]

Yes you can use tokens as mapping pieces - but you'll need to either buy such tokens or search the internet and make a library of them yourself.

If you use the 3.5e or 4e ruleset you can use the layer extension to put mapping tokens on the bottom layers so that they don't interfere with player tokens. See a video on doing this here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showpost.php?p=114668&postcount=62

There are some free dungeon tiles available from Jonathan Robert's Fantastic Maps website: https://www.fantasticmaps.com/free-stuff/

Also keep an eye out for community member Shockbolt's Fantasy Art kit, which will be coming out shortly: https://www.rpgartkits.com/?page_id=401 Some of this, I'm not sure exactly what, will be available in Fantasy Grounds - a lot of the tokens already are.

There are also some dungeon tiles available here (some free, some not): https://www.rpgtableonline.com/market/store.php

Lots and lots of other mapping resources out there to download ready made maps and symbols. Search within these forums and the internet.

[Invictys]

I do this a lot to create maps on the fly, I load a base image of something generic like a sandy background then turn it into a map by adding object tokens like pools of water, cliff overlays, boulders, campfires, trees etc...

As Trenloe mentioned you will really need to be running an extension that allows the map to be split into layers with the tokens on a layer inaccessible to players otherwise token stacking issues arise.

I put together my rather extensive mapping object token library from three main sources.

1. A torrent called mapping_objects.zip (google it if you are comfortable with torrents it's amazing)

2. The Dundjinni CSUAC and the Dundjinni forums

3. Rpgmapshare.net

[Mgrancey]

Much as I'm not really a big participator of social media, this google+ group has a couple of really good resources, plus one guy giving good fast and simple methods to create nice maps

https://plus.google.com/u/0/communities/105897774940532146183

[Invictys]

Yeah that guy has a whole series of those quick and dirty photoshop/gimp tutorials over on the Cartographers Guild forums in the tutorials section.

Thanks for the google plus link some good stuff there that I haven't seen elsewhere.

[JohnD]

You could always go old school and make a hand drawn map and scan it.

[Deepgnome06]

Tysm. i do have one more question if you dont mind. where do i load these new objects and tokens into the program. The folder that mentions the tokens have them in mpeg format. The items im looking at dont have that file extension. :( Is there reason why all the png file extensions have been convereted to mpeg4 format?

[Invictys]

You probably have extensions hidden in Windows because the token files you purchase (or that come with the program initially) have the .mod extension usually which is a Fantasy Grounds module file. Windows mistakenly thinks this is some sort of movie file. If you go into Windows explorer and find the folder, click organize/folder and search options/view and uncheck the box that says "hide extensions for known file types" I think you will find that it is really a .mod file.

A .mod file is just a zip file you can actually rename it to .zip and unzip it to get at the actual token files themselves which are either .jpg or .png

In FG2 .mod files go in the modules directory in the Application Data Folder (see below for how to find that) then inside the program go to Library and click Activate Module. Find the module file you want to activate and left click on the closed book icon and drag it open. Now that module is loaded into your campaign and any tokens inside it will show up in your token bag.

In FG2 token files (.jpg or .png images) go in your Fantasy Grounds Application Data folder (best way to find this is to go to Start/Programs/FantasyGrounds2/Application Data Folder)

The files should be put into a folder called "tokens" (create it if it's not there) inside a subdirectory called "host" or "shared" depending on whether you want players to be able to place them or not (create those subdirectories also if they aren't there)

Note that anything inside the "shared" folder gets pushed to players when they load the game so it can slow their load times if too many are in there.

This is what the application data folder looks like: