How to force image / map display to player

[lattefiend]

Hi all,

I just DM'd my first session of LMoP yesterday. My players (my sons and a few of their friends - ages 11-13) and I are all new to FG and they are relatively new to RPGs. The session went really well. I had played around with the interface enough that I was able to walk them through the basics. Everybody had a blast!

I do have one question... Is there a way to force a map to show on the players screen. For example, if 2 maps are shared with them and I switch between the two, is it possible to force the map that I have switched to to come to the front of their display?

I found that I can go into Maps/Images and unshare the map in there (which causes the map to vanish from their screen), but I couldn't find a way to just bring one image forward.

Thanks!

-Will

[Myrdin Potter]

Right click the image, share, all players is what I do to pop the map I want into their foreground.

[Zacchaeus]

Hi, lattefiend. Welcome to FG and to the community.

I think if you right click on your map and select share and then 'Synch Client View' it will do what you desire.

[lattefiend]

Hi, lattefiend. Welcome to FG and to the community.

I think if you right click on your map and select share and then 'Synch Client View' it will do what you desire.

Hi Zacchaeus,

I was doing this yesterday and watching my sons computer and didn't see the image come to the foreground.

[Zacchaeus]

Hi Zacchaeus,

I was doing this yesterday and watching my sons computer and didn't see the image come to the foreground.

Now that I have tested my hypothesis (which obviously I should have done before replying) you are correct; resharing the sheet only pops up the image again if the player has closed or minimised it. So the answer you seek is no, you can't force a particular image to come to the front.

[lattefiend]

Now that I have tested my hypothesis (which obviously I should have done before replying) you are correct; resharing the sheet only pops up the image again if the player has closed or minimised it. So the answer you seek is no, you can't force a particular image to come to the front.

It looks like you can "unshare" a map from the images/maps list and that will force one to close. I guess you could force it in that manner. I guess this hasn't been a big headache for most DMs though? I was just hoping that there was a way to have a better grasp on what the players are seeing vs. what is up on my screen when they have access to multiple maps or images.

[Trenloe]

I was just hoping that there was a way to have a better grasp on what the players are seeing vs. what is up on my screen when they have access to multiple maps or images.
Start another instance of FG on the same computer as the GM instance. "Join Game" with a server address of localhost This will connect as a player and you can use this to view what the players see. It's invaluable when learning to GM with FG.

[Myrdin Potter]

Unsharing is the best way to control wandering player eyes to what you have already shared.

What I do when DMing is that I tell them to close or minimize their images that are open and then I reshare what I want them to focus on, and then I tell them what they should be seeing.

Otherwise, you really have no control over what they are looking at, they may be watching youtube videos of men dancing in kilts (Trenloe's ultimate fear) while you hope they are looking at the map you spent three hours on for the climatic battle.

If you are just curious to what the client looks like (what the players see), follow Trenloe"s advice above.

[Nickademus]

I ran into this my last game. I found the easiest solution was on the players' side. When you switch to the other map (after applying their tokens by dragging the green button on the Combat Tracker to the map) have the players double-click the token (not portrait) on their character sheet and it will bring the current map that their tokens are on to the foreground.

[lattefiend]

Thanks for the tips everybody. You have given me some options. It is really great to see such an active forum for FG!