Some tech and dev questions about graphics.

[hagrid70]

HIYA lords and ladies. i have several questions and a couple of musings for some illumination please. here goes.

im creating a token effect set for FG, and testing them which has thrown up a bunch of issues and whatnot)

-im wondering: when tokens overlap what determines what your mouse pointer can "see"
most tokens are PNGs files which have an embedded alpha channel, and im wondering if theres some specific cutoff point for the selection to 'passthru' to the layer beneath.

-is there a method or process for importing tokens that will size them according to their native resolution, rather than by grid size? or can we resize ABOVE gargantuan?
( so if i have say a 70 by 70 file set to one square, a 140 by 140 res file will automatically import at twice the width and twice the height? , additionally what resolution would be best for this process, if it is possible please)

-is it possible to set up a 'call image' sort of function that could be linked to casting..... so (for example) if i cant ENTANGLE, in addition to the effect applying to selected targets, FB locates and loads an image into the map at that location?

(musing) -does the FG team have any plans to implement further catagories into the combat tracker, to include effects, movable objects etc.

(musing) -would there ever be the option for including other image filetypes.... im thinking GIF here, animated gif :D

id greatly appreciate feedback on this lot, and or anything anyone considers to be related content and processes...
thanks team for the product, and community for the read.
happy hunting.

[Trenloe]

Alpha channel essentially passes mouse control through to what is beneath - you can't click/select a token unless you click on non-alpha channel graphics.

If you want to have specific token sizes then you'll need to disable the auto grid resize - but then will need to have maps of roughly the same pixels-per-grid, or use the tried-and-tested method of resizing through zooming in/out and then locking the token scale for an individual image. This is what us old FG hands have been using for years to scale tokens. Info here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Tokens#Scaling As long as all of your tokens are the relative pixel size then this approach works well. Size of 50 - 100 (or 64-128) for one-square tokens are recommended.

It would be possible to load a specific token on the map as part of an event - but there would be quite a bit of coding and changes to the FG interface to allow this to occur. Applying effects would take more coding still. And then this wouldn't cater for exception (traits/feats that allow someone to escape entangle - like various druid abilities). Recommendation - don't try to automate everything as there are always exceptions!

An entry on the FG wishlist that might interest you:

https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=41008

Also search for "effect" at https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/ to see if there are requests relevant to further combat tracker categories, because I'm not sure what you're asking for there! :)

[hagrid70]

THANK YOU FOR YOUR QUICK REPLY.
so if i read you correctly, then something which is partly transparent like a dropshadow on a token, is completely opaque for the purposes of selection, and there is no 'threshhold' for FB to see or not see something. therefore effect tokens MUST have a significant area of clear space inherent in their design?

regarding token size: so if i scale everything at say 100 pix (so a 5x5 character sized effect would be 100x100, and a 20ft radius fireball would be 800x800), then scale and save the images in photoshop. the images should autoload at the correct size?

regarding loading tokens as events: i mean creating a 'load image spell effect' that players can key up in the actions menu, the same way that they key in or create any other character effects. so if i choose to associate an image with a spell i can maybe set up the effect to load the image when i cast it?

regarding combat tracker catagories, i know that the dm can grab everything, the players can move characters and (maybe npcs) im wondering if there might be catagories for things that can be placed and then 'locked' by the player.

[Trenloe]

If you don't use any of FGs auto scaling, then when you put a token on the map it will show at the correct size in relation to the map. Just be careful with the map size - keep your total file size below 1MB, or smaller, if you can to keep player load times down. But, you really don't need to resize all of your maps if you keep your tokens at the same relative size - as I mentioned above, you can zoom in/out on the map until the token scale is correct (with auto size to grid turned off) and then right-click on a token and lock the token scale for all tokens on the map.

Studio Wyldfurr do a spell effects token pack (free) that include instructions on how to scale these on maps with different 5' square pixel sizes (and there is a scaling aid token included): https://www.wyldfurr.com/index.php/product/persistent-spell-effect-templates/ He's just over the Tasman from you... :)

You might want to have a look at the layers extension: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?20231-Enhanced-Images-(layers)-for-FG-3-0-CoreRPG-(and-rulesets-based-on-CoreRPG) This was to get round token stacking issues. I've started toying with a modification to this - a 4th layer (just below the top layer) that the players can interact with, so they can use tokens for light, moving effects (like flaming sphere and cloudkill), etc. and move them around on this second layer and not have issues interacting with the main tokens (PCs and NPCs) on the top layer.

[darrenan]

I have found that 1% opacity in photoshop is sufficient to block the mouse.

[hagrid70]

15425 id be well keen on contributing to any RnD thats going to make getting animation and gorgeous art into the system.
heres an example of my current overkill :D

[LordEntrails]

Very nice Hagrid.

[Trenloe]

15425 id be well keen on contributing to any RnD thats going to make getting animation and gorgeous art into the system.
heres an example of my current overkill :D
Be careful what you offer, you might get someone else just over the Tasman asking you to do loads of graphics for them... :-o

[hagrid70]

'ELSE' makes me deeply suspicious :D who have you been talking to sir :D

[dulux-oz]

Studio Wyldfurr

Who are they on these boards, Tren?

[Mortar]

^ Tren has been talking to that guy or that other damned fella.

[hagrid70]

hes got skill and commitment, creating a spellset is a supprisingly large amount of work. and from what little hes posted it looks like he knows his effects :D

[Trenloe]

Who are they on these boards, Tren?
Awww man, minus points for that. Poor show, old chap. ;)

https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?22537-Dungeon-Map-Tiles
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?22953-New-Token-Sets-from-Studio-WyldFurr
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?22269-Modern-Starter-Token-Pack
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?30507-Modern-Day-Map-Tiles
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?25377-Cave-Map-Tiles
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?28513-Monster-Tokens-II
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?28700-The-Orc-Horde-Tokens

[hagrid70]

awesome orcs :D

[damned]

Who are they on these boards, Tren?

Taliz Silverpaws or something similar

[damned]

15425 id be well keen on contributing to any RnD thats going to make getting animation and gorgeous art into the system.
heres an example of my current overkill :D


Be careful what you offer, you might get someone else just over the Tasman asking you to do loads of graphics for them... :-o


'ELSE' makes me deeply suspicious :D who have you been talking to sir :D


Who are they on these boards, Tren?

dulux-oz is the one who is usually asking for Graphics - not me!
Im always after code!



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[LordEntrails]

I thought about asking, but didn't have any burning need at the moment and figured to let Hagrid ease his way into the community :)