Unity / FG enhancements

[DungeonMaster308]

New to FG, I've been reviewing and comparing features to other platforms. I'm liking FG so far, but have some Qs about what improvements are being implemented with Unity.That said it looks like I'm going this direction and have enjoyed exploring the product thus far even if it has room for improvement.

I understand some details can't or have not been disclosed, but seeing the active developers on these boards (which is fantastic btw) it can't hurt to ask!

Will these features be available in FG?
-create custom races and classes integration - Par5e is a fantastic community tool, however to be candid I'm very suprised considering the investment to use this software these features are not fully integrated already. The community doesn't seem to bothered by this which is fair I suppose - I AM just the new guy!!

-create custom deities (I actually see no implementation of deities which can be a big part of a custom campaign setting - can't even find extensions to facilitate this in modules)

-tracking Locations, custom shops, areas, defining cosmology. I see this as an extension it's great, I am using it. Will unity integrate this I wonder. It seems like a standard goto extension for documenting adventures and a campaign setting.


-ditto for sounds extension. Seems a valuable resource to leverage to simply include the feature

-avatar image in the NPC / monster statblocks would be nice minor touch

-map building tools this one is obviously a big one. Something like Inkarnate integrated for world maps and floor plan battle maps would really great. I cannot find an equivalent quality and easy to use layout builder.. Tried a few, but not happy with anything yet.

FG is already a pretty decent package today. IMO (although humble and noobish) these offerings with a new streamlined UI would set FG high above other VTTs and really force people to consider an investment into FG vs something like Roll20.

I can see fog of war is already being added and some network UI as well BTW. Looking forward to seeing what the new update brings :)

[gaara6666]

Well as far as I know...which I know a good deal using fg for 8 years, you can do all these features already. FG is open ended and customize-able with either extensions for every feature you have listed or the ability to create modules/extensions for every feature IF they do not already exist. I would hardly call anything noobish by any stretch of the imagination and I personally with no background in any programming have accomplished every single thing you are asking for myself. I am confused what it is in particular that you want FG to accomplish that parsing fields and using tokens creatively doesn't do.

[Zacchaeus]

Hi, Dungeonmaster308 welcome to FG and to he community.

As gaara6666 says most of the things on your list can be done already or there are extensions which will do it for you. Whether any of those things will be integrated is for the future. The initial Unity release is aimed at simply shifting everything that is currently do-able onto a new platform. After that's done then new stuff will be added.

I would say that it is very unlikely that you'll see a character builder a la HeroLab or PCGen and I doubt that there will be much in the way of integrated map tools. Those are huge projects and worthy of stand alone software and there are plenty on the market that do it anyway, so I don't think there's much point in reinventing the wheel in that respect.

[DungeonMaster308]

Hi, Dungeonmaster308 welcome to FG and to he community.

As gaara6666 says most of the things on your list can be done already or there are extensions which will do it for you. Whether any of those things will be integrated is for the future. The initial Unity release is aimed at simply shifting everything that is currently do-able onto a new platform. After that's done then new stuff will be added.

I would say that it is very unlikely that you'll see a character builder a la HeroLab or PCGen and I doubt that there will be much in the way of integrated map tools. Those are huge projects and worthy of stand alone software and there are plenty on the market that do it anyway, so I don't think there's much point in reinventing the wheel in that respect.

I probably wasn't clear in my original post, but I'm aware of par5e and extensions facilitating this stuff as 3rd workarounds to what is lacking in the base product. The 3rd party tools are fantastic community contributions to get the job done, but maybe not very efficient compared to say what exists now with creating monsters or spells from within FG.

This is mostly a question for the developer as I doubt anyone else could answer with certainty otherwise.

I'm not sure about any references to hero lab or pcgen, I never commented on the existing character builder. It seems fine and flexible.

I agree I would not expect FG to build mapping tools from scratch with only two developers, but there are other options to getting it in there. I probably shouldn't have mentioned it TBH but too late for that now! :)

[damned]

i have seen some early discussion on whether being able to build out more complex content (and classes really are complex content) within the app. I dont think a decision was reached and part of that is the complexity of the data structures - and hence the value of building that into the app - remembering especially that 5e is only one ruleset and stuff like that built for 5e doesnt add anything for other rulesets - and part of that was there was so much other stuff to do first... or something like that anyway!

At the moment Par5e is the best way to get custom classes into FG - if you want them as a library or a reusable resource. If you just want to play (referencing another thread here) a Sea Dwarf you can manually add all those features in. You can export it as an xml file and re-import to re-use but it is not the same experience as what you get in the source books.

You may have also noticed there are quite a few extensions about - from the tiny to the very involved. Some of these over time do get absorbed into the product. Many do not. Its never an easy decision as everyone uses the system differently because they game/master differently. I love the DOE extensions - I can see myself really getting stuck into them - but I dont have the time to do that much additional prep so I dont even use them for the most part.

Unity will initially be a more robust engine, native windows/mac/linux app, better network, possibly with the option to not have to configure firewalls and maybe a couple of more visible features and possibly not much else different - to the user at least. Once that is done and stable things like the dynamic line of sight, fog of war, lighting, 3d mapping and sounds will follow. With Carl joining and the acquisition of his Table Top Connect a lot of that stuff is partially done to almost ready(?) but need the game engine to be completed.

Oh - and many more dice rolling options will (I believe) be ready with the first version and dice skins wont be far behind...

These are only my opinions and beliefs based on what I have seen/heard/read about these parts and in no way anything remotely resembling official responses!