Grid sizing

[Vishera]

Whenever I draw a grid over my existing maps (which already have a grid on them) FG is telling me that 1 grid = 208 or whatever. How do I set that so it thinks each square is only 5 feet without having to make the grid significantly smaller?

[Trenloe]

Whenever I draw a grid over my existing maps (which already have a grid on them) FG is telling me that 1 grid = 208 or whatever. How do I set that so it thinks each square is only 5 feet without having to make the grid significantly smaller?
Are you mentioning the green numbers that come up when you draw the grid? Or, are you referring to the number that comes up when you target or draw a line once the grid is drawn?

If it is the green number you're referring to, then that is just telling you how many image pixels (picture elements - each of the dots that make up the image) you have per square - it will generally be a different number for each image, unless the image has been sized for a specific number of pixels per square.

Once you draw a grid then the size shown on lines, circles, etc. will be based off the ruleset you are using. For example, 3.5e/PF based rulesets will show 5 feet per square - see the image below as an example, the blue line and circle show the distance in feet:

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/images/4/43/Image_example.jpg

So, just draw the grid so that each square is the size that the ruleset uses and ignore the green numbers while drawing the grid (unless you know how many pixels per square you need for the image in question) - which ruleset are you interested in?

[Vishera]

ah I gotcha, thanks! after making my maps I realized the pre-made grids are off and the FG grid doesn't line up right :( thankfully the pre-made grid is it's own layer so I can re-do it if need be.

[Vishera]

yeah I for the life of me can't get my grid floor to sync up with the FG grid.. is a grid really that important? I mean if I know each space is 5' do I really need the FG grid? I know I won't be able to use snapping but that isnt a game breaking issue right?

https://i.imgur.com/0LPLloXh.jpg

[Trenloe]

Once you've drawn your first, best-guess grid; click the tic-tac-toe/pound icon at the top of the image and you can nudge the grid left/right/up/down and increase/decrease the size one pixel at a time, so you can generally get it quite close. If it won't align exactly, this usually means the grid doesn't have a uniform size across the map. Get the center lined up and then there will be a close match that gets more offset as you move away from the center. You can then use the nudge buttons to align the grid as the party move around.

A grid isn't important if you don't want to have auto sizing tokens, measure: movement, range, burst effect radii, etc..

[Vishera]

Huzzah! Thanks friend, I wasn't aware you could nudge and bump up size etc. I'm still new at actually running an FG game so it's all new to me. :D

[jh79]

Also if you zoom in real far, you can see exactly what corner of the grid box your starting on and makes it much easier to match up I have found.

[damned]

i reckon that 70% of maps sourced of the web dont have accurate grids on them.
not much you can do about that.


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[Trenloe]

yeah I for the life of me can't get my grid floor to sync up with the FG grid.. is a grid really that important? I mean if I know each space is 5' do I really need the FG grid? I know I won't be able to use snapping but that isnt a game breaking issue right?
Try the attached - I've resized it to be 50 pixels per square. So, draw a 50 pixel square (use jh79's tip of zooming in with the mouse wheel first) and nudge if you need to.

Your original image was 30.56 pixels per square, so you were never going to get it to match 100% so it had to be resized. See Xorne's excellent video on resizing a map here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/tutorial/xorne-rescale-1a.wmv

I use GIMP, it's free and I use the measure tool to measure across a bunch of squares to work out the average pixels per square and then resize to 50 pixels per square based off the average pixel size per square. For example with your image of 30.56 pixels per square, you need to resize by 50 / 30.56 = 164%.

[valeros]

You can also use the utility I wrote to align a map to a grid. This issue is exactly why I wrote it. With this utility, I can scale a map within a minute to perfectly align to a grid. I use it all the time.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19813

[Gwaihir Scout]

You can also use the utility I wrote to align a map to a grid. This issue is exactly why I wrote it. With this utility, I can scale a map within a minute to perfectly align to a grid. I use it all the time.

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19813

I go with this too. Fast and easy. Only time I ever had trouble was when the map was several hundred feet across and I still needed 5' squares.

[Andraax]

Try the attached - I've resized it to be 50 pixels per square. So, draw a 50 pixel square (use jh79's tip of zooming in with the mouse wheel first) and nudge if you need to.

I prefer to use maps with no grids on them. This way I don't have to worry about aligning the grid and can use my preference of hex grids. The map doesn't need a grid on it.

[Vishera]

awesome. Yeah I found large grid floor tiles so they may not be 100% accurate I need to resize them. 9129 (see attached photo)

[Vishera]

I prefer to use maps with no grids on them. This way I don't have to worry about aligning the grid and can use my preference of hex grids. The map doesn't need a grid on it.

true but it looks so much better with a pre-grid floor like floor tiles etc.

[Andraax]

true but it looks so much better with a pre-grid floor like floor tiles etc.

I hate floor tiles. I prefer wood planks for interiors and natural (dirt) for most dungeons.

[Vishera]

I hate floor tiles. I prefer wood planks for interiors and natural (dirt) for most dungeons.

Sometimes it just looks better and floors used tiles back in medieval times. I think they add more depth than a basic flat surface. Obviously something like a cave or outside area won't use them.

[Andraax]

Sometimes it just looks better and floors used tiles back in medieval times.

Not really. Planks and dirt floors were the common flooring in medieval Europe. Tiles require a manufacturing infrastructure that didn't really exist in most parts of Europe at the time. When tiles were used, they were for decorative reasons, usually fashioned into artwork rather than being a plain grid.

[Vishera]

If I were going for historical accuracy I'd be playing GURPS.

[Andraax]

If I were going for historical accuracy I'd be playing GURPS.

Then don't make the claim that your viewpoint is more accurate historically.... :-)

[Trenloe]

Personally, I love grids. :)

[darrenan]

I prefer to use maps with no grids on them. This way I don't have to worry about aligning the grid and can use my preference of hex grids. The map doesn't need a grid on it.

That depends on what functionality you want. If you want to be able to lock tokens and let players lay out their moves with FG measuring for you, then yes, you do need a grid.

[Andraax]

That depends on what functionality you want. If you want to be able to lock tokens and let players lay out their moves with FG measuring for you, then yes, you do need a grid.

Why does having a grid imprinted on the image have to do with any of that? All of that is controlled by FG's grid, not the grid on the image.

[damned]

this is beter than edition warz! :)

i always use a FG grid.
i love good maps. some good maps have grids, some dont, some use tiles, some dont. most of the tools i use for making maps use tiles.

[darrenan]

Why does having a grid imprinted on the image have to do with any of that? All of that is controlled by FG's grid, not the grid on the image.

That's what I get for skimming. I totally misread that. At some point the conversation switched from FG's grid, to maps having grids as part of the image. My bad.