Players Downloading Files When Joining Campaign

[Hol]

Hi, I just purchased FG and I'm really liking it, but it seems like people are having a hard time downloading my files when first joining a campaign. It takes like 10 minutes for some people to finish downloading it, but for others it takes over 40 minutes without going past 25%.
It's going to be a hassle waiting that long every time a new person comes play, so my question is, is there a more viable option to sharing these files? What files are the ones getting downloaded? I think it would be easier for me to share those files via dropbox, is that possible?

[JohnD]

What are you sharing?

[Moon Wizard]

If you are using 5E content, make sure that you are only allowing PHB to be shared.

Also, check the size of the tokens directory in the FG data directory, and the images directory in your campaign directory located under the FG data directory. How many files are in each one, and how much file space do they take up? (All this information gets transferred on player connection to the host, and then cached.)

Additionally, network reliability and upload speed has a big impact on this, especially on the host. Consider connecting via wire to your router while you are hosting.

If you want to pre-download some content, you can also connect to your self using a second instance of FG as a player, make sure everything opens, then send a copy of the content.dat file located in the campaign directory of the cache directory located under the FG data directory. If the users put this in the same place, it will have a cached version of the files already.

Regards,
JPG

[Trenloe]

The main download is when the players first join the campaign. In future only new data will be downloaded.

"Stuff" that gets downloaded is the base RPG ruleset (will only download if the players don't have the same version on their computer), any modules the players open, any data already shared with the players (maps are the hog here), tokens in the tokens\shared directory. So try to keep image file sizes low (below 1MB for large maps, even smaller for images and smaller maps) and don't share a lot of tokens with the players. Also don't allow access to adventure modules in the module activation screen.

Moon Wizard has since replied and he mentions sending the cache directory to the players might be an option for you. Some info here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?27322-Looking-for-ways-to-send-fantasy-grounds-data-to-players&p=244327&viewfull=1#post244327 Check the size of the content.dat file, if it's very large (50MB+) then try to reduce the size of the "stuff" you're sharing.

[Hol]

If you are using 5E content, make sure that you are only allowing PHB to be shared.

Also, check the size of the tokens directory in the FG data directory, and the images directory in your campaign directory located under the FG data directory. How many files are in each one, and how much file space do they take up? (All this information gets transferred on player connection to the host, and then cached.)

Additionally, network reliability and upload speed has a big impact on this, especially on the host. Consider connecting via wire to your router while you are hosting.

If you want to pre-download some content, you can also connect to your self using a second instance of FG as a player, make sure everything opens, then send a copy of the content.dat file located in the campaign directory of the cache directory located under the FG data directory. If the users put this in the same place, it will have a cached version of the files already.

Regards,
JPG


Thanks for the reply! I had both the deluxe and normal PHB's loading. Now I only have the deluxe one loading. My shared token folder is empty. The .dat file is ~4mb. The images folder is ~8mb.
I tried sharing the .dat file with my friend but he says it starts over again and still takes forever.
https://puu.sh/mdatA/7b71265ee8.jpg

This is my module configuration.

[Hol]

Thanks for the quick reply! I had both the deluxe and normal PHB's loading. Now I only have the deluxe one loading. My shared token folder is empty. The .dat file is ~4mb. The images folder is ~8mb.
I tried sharing the .dat file with my friend but he says it starts over again and still takes forever.
https://puu.sh/mdatA/7b71265ee8.jpg

This is my module configuration.

[Hol]

Thanks for the replies. I solved it by using the files from someone who had already connected/downloaded the files. Using another instance didn't work because I already had the modules downloaded. If anything, I think you can use a second computer that doesn't have the modules downloaded to get the files and it'll all load inside the cache folder.

[Trenloe]

Yeah, use a second computer. I mentioned that in the thread I linked in my post above.

Glad you got a good copy from one of the other players.

[Vantier]

I'm facing a similar issue, and even running on the same pic with a separate file directory for fg client I am experiencing infinite download. Two main questions. One, is there a way to simply copy the data from the gm side? I think I'm misunderstanding how fg pulls the game content.
Second, what are some best practices to have a campaign laid out with changes and etc for a campaign without bogging incoming players down?

[damned]

If one of your players is really struggling to download the data these are the most likely culprits.
AntiVirus
Player is using WiFi connection and its not as reliable as they believe it is (this is way more common than you would expect). Move closer to the router or try a wired connection.
Player has a corrupted cache - use the Nuke function to delete the cache - note this will delete all cached campaigns on that PC - you will need to manually nuke the folder to do just the one campaign

If multiple players are experiencing this the most likely causes are:
The GM is on a WiFi connection and its not as reliable as they believe it is (this is way more common than you would expect). Move closer to the router or try a wired connection.
The cache is too big and you have too many players trying to sync at once for your bandwidth. Downsize pictures, unshare stuff that shouldnt be shared.
One of the items in your campaign folder (usually an image) is corrupted/damaged - delete that file.

[Judokas]

My issue was I was sharing the DMG. That really seems to bugger everything up so I am glad I found this thread :).

That being said the DMG contains the Aasimar and Eladrin Races as well as two classes my players were interested in. If they don't have it downloaded the slick auto leveling will not work - correct?

[damned]

You might have to add the levels on for them. You are correct - sharing the DMG is glitchy....

[spite]

Is it possible or likely that there is a way to make a player version of the DMG content for sharing in the same way the Sword Coast supplement works? It'd be good to have a way to share the races and the subclasses (Anti Paladin etc) with players without blowing up everyones stuff with the full DMG

[damned]

There is a possibility that Unity might be better able to handle the memory management/load and cause less issues having it loaded for players.... but Im reaching here...
That is a good suggestion and you should make it in the 5e bugs or a new post...

[Topdecker]

If you have DSL, your upload speed is probably less than 1/3 of your download speeds. I tend to open my game up 30 minutes in advance so more of the players can get the preloads completed. And there is just no getting around the initial first-time core ruleset load times.

Tim