Noob to FG Round 2

[Dwayne Squires]

So as I am starting to set things up the first thing I did was take my old world map (that is drawn by hand on graph paper) and scan in my World Overview map and then my first Continent Map. First thing I have noticed is that these two maps were drawn on 8 1/2 by 11 paper. When imported into FG they were huge.

1) How do I scale them down so that they will fit better in a window on the screen?

Then I started importing the 24 blow up maps I have that show more detail to my continent map. Even thought these were smaller about 2/3 of an 8 1/2 by 11 page and I cut them down in my scanner they too are large. However, as I have figured out certain things within the Images and Maps section such as how to create New Groups (folders) to put my maps in. At the same time I had my son install the demo version of FG so I could see if he could log into my campaign. That all worked well. However, I found that I wanted to share all my world maps with him (since the continent is a known world and mapped). The problem came in sharing these maps. I had a lot of them.

2) Is there a better way to "mass" share multiple maps then open them one at a time and mark each one as a shared map one at a time?

Finally, I decide to load my first adventure. I own a dozen of the old 2e Dungeon modules. Plus about 50 Old Dragon Magazines. So I decide to use one of the simpler adventures for my first set up. So I loaded the old Castle Caldwell map. Again, it was an 8 1/2 x 11 Map. I figured out how to change the window size to small but the entire map still does not fit within the window. You have to scroll using the weird button at the bottom left of the window. (I have zoomed all the way out with the mouse wheel).

[Andraax]

Make the window the size you want (hold ctrl, left click and drag to the left and up if the lower right corner is not on the screen). Then, when the window is the right size, spin your mouse wheel to change the zoom of the image.

[Dwayne Squires]

Andraax,

That does not work. No matter what size I make my window, the image just expands with it. So I only see like 80% of the map no matter what.

BTW, I am in FG TS if anyone wants to talk me through things. :)

[Andraax]

Did you spin the mouse wheel while hovering over the image to change the zoom?

[damned]

Hey Dwayne Squires

Firstly you will probably want to grab the scan and pull it into your favorite editing application.
The size of the image is not so much to do with the size of the paper it was printed on but the resolution it was scanned in at.

You will want to work out an appropriate scale - overland doesnt matter so much but battle maps do - work on 50px per square or whatever quality works for you.

Bear in mind that FG has some trouble with large images. For the most part keep your images at less than 2000x2000pixels. Certainly only very few images should be bigger than that.
You should also try and keep the size in kb/mb as low as possible too as this affects how long it takes to load up for players. Aim for 500kb or less for most of your images.

Easy ways to share all the images?
They all require some work.
Create an image module and share that.
Create a story entry and drag each image onto the story - creating links - and share the story entry to the players
Other variations of above...

Try right click on the map and choose resize horizontal/vertical
You can also drag the bottom right corner of the map to resize the frame
You can also hold ctrl and left click drag to increase frame size

[Dwayne Squires]

Yes, sir. Zoomed all the way out I can only see 80% of the map no matter what size I make my window. I have dual 24 in monitors and no matter how large I make the window the image will not fit 100% into it.

[Dwayne Squires]

Damned,

So resize Horizontal/Vertical worked. I do not do a lot of image manipulation so going to have to figure that out. But I can see what you mean. The Castle map has grids on it but they are 10x10. Trying to get the grid layer in FG to line up is not working well either. FG squares are 5x5 if I am not mistaken. I need to rewatch some videos guides now. LOL

[Andraax]

You probably had the window set to the wrong ratio. When zooming, it will stop when either the width or the height matches the window width. If part still looks "cut off", then you can drag *that* edge to expose the rest.

[damned]

Hey Dwayne,

Scanned maps and hand drawn maps vs the precision of a computer drawn grid will always highlight inconsistencies... :(
The 10' grid is ok you can make your 5' grid fit over the top you will just have 4x as many squares.
Dont sweat the inconsistency. Use the arrows to nudge your map every now and again if it is bothering you a lot.

[LordEntrails]

There is an utility discussed here to help you with scanned images, especially if they don't come in square/true; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?19813-Map-Align-Utility-to-scale-and-align-map-to-grid

There is a guide here about creating adventures; https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?33538-Adventure-Module-Creation-Best-Practices

You will want to make each of the old modules as it's own FG module. You may also want to make other modules for other parts of your campaign. i.e. one as a campaign guide, one for each chapter, etc.

[Trenloe]

A video showing resizing options here: https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/showthread.php?34902-Very-cool-map-Kiskstarter-finishing-soon-great-VTT-maps&p=304700&viewfull=1#post304700

[Dwayne Squires]

Ugh, so I am starting to get confused (and a little frustrated) because terminology does not seem consistent. Also all of the video guides appear to be old I have buttons that no one talks about in the videos or guides. So to me:

A "Campaign" is a series of adventures usually completed by a single group of adventurers.

An "Adventure Module" is a single adventure.

So logically thinking about this since I started with a New Campaign, I would then begin creating adventures within that campaign. However, within FG "modules" appear to be rule extensions or token extension within the library. Furthermore, there are "Story" and "Quest" buttons. From what I can make out the text boxes normally found in old written Adventure modules go into the Story section. Looking over the "5e Tutorial Campaign" it appears that each new area of my Adventure should get its own "story entry" (?? meaning it own link within a group under the Story list. So each "Group" under story is its own adventure? With the different parts of the adventure listed under that Group title. So within the included 5e Tutorial Campaign there is two adventures "Tutorial" and "Sample Adventure" (although one is just a tutorial explanation).

I can't find anything that says what the Quest button is for.

However, looking at the "Best Practices" thread it appears I am suppose to create the "Adventure Modules" outside of my campaign and then import them into my campaign through the library? How is this done? Am I supposed to set up another campaign and then build my "Adventure Modules" in there. Export them and then import them into my actual campaign?

Sorry if this seems a bit long but the logic of how things are being explained in the tutorials is all jumbled to me. It seems like they put the cart before the horse by trying to show all the cool playing features but do not really explain how to create your campaigns as if you were the GM/DM. Start with how to develop you campaign world and the adventures within them then explain how to use FG to play. But I guess, if you are just a player like my kids will be you don't need to know how to build the world or adventures.

So yet another nit-noid thing in the 5e tutorial where are the tokens for the PCs? I get to the torture room and I have the pogs/tokens for the NPCs but not the PCs.

[damned]

Hola Confuse-d One

Despite being 13years old FG is always under development - in fact the pace of development has increased significantly even. There are new features and new tools and new extensions and new rulesets etc being added all the time. Yes it can be confusing.

FG Terminology does differ somewhat from D&D/RPG terminology.

Campaign is the world in which your group of characters reside. Whether its a oneshot, a 1-20 adventure path, one that starts at level 6 or whatever. It is the container in which all your characters, monsters, places, events etc reside. You can add and subtract material from this campaign. The campaign is really about the Characters, about their journey.
Modules are distinct files (that end in a .mod extension) that contain a finite set of material - they could be reference books, spell lists, monster collections, image collections, token collections or an adventure. Modules can be activated and deactivated within a campaign making that material available and unavailable.

So as a GM you can dive in and build everything in your Campaign before you start and as you go.

For re-usability, for resource management, you can also create a separate Campaign and create your content in there, without the PCs, without the PCs interactions. You then /export that into a module that can be activated in your main campaign. When the players cleanse the forgotten temple and move to another part of the world you can close that module off and open the next one. Sometimes you might have two or three adventure modules open and other times you will only need the one. There is no requirement to do it this way. Many GMs will never do this. They build the world and play in it all in the same campaign. Others like to do lots of prep and export it all to modules for easier housekeeping and so they can reuse those modules easily again with another group of players.

I hope that answers some of your questions.

[Andraax]

I'll also add that using modules helps with the occasional "cleanup" process. If your campaign is long running, you'll need to cleanup stuff (delete old images, stories, etc). This process can be a bit of a pain, unless you use modules. If you close a module, all of the stuff associated with that module just goes away. Without using modules, you have to go through each section and delete the stuff one at a time.

[Dwayne Squires]

Ok, so I could do it either way. However, as a best practice keeping an Adventure Module separate from the main campaign allows it to be used in various campaigns and to keep material down to a minimum within the current campaign you are running.

I am aware that FG is underdevelopment. I am glad it is. This was one of the reasons I was willing to put so much money into it. $300 is not a small investment. I also realize that there was a steep learning curve. I did plenty of research prior. I am sure I will be extremely happy once I have it all figured out. Part of my frustration is that my kids want to start now but I have a ton of work to do before the game is ready to play.

Funny, thing is I haven't played D&D in so long I am having to learn the new 5e rules along with FG. I have always played 2e or 2.5e. Heck, I still have my old Greyhawk book.

[Nylanfs]

If they want to start tell them to learn and you be a player, that'll shut 'em up. :)

[JohnD]

Further you want to use modules because then your work can be reused on the next set of victims... er players.

[Nylanfs]

victims... er players.

Sacrificial lambs for the slaughter.

There fixed it for you. :)

[Dwayne Squires]

LOL

Nylanfs - Yea, I can't imagine them trying to learn the DM half. My 16 year old son was bugging me just trying to learn how to roll a character in FG.

[LordEntrails]

About groups and quests;

Quests allow you to create and share a simple explanation or objective so that the players know their current goals. It could be something like "Rescue the Kidnapped Girl" or "Destroy the One Ring in the Fires of Morador". You can also assign XP to them and then when the party completes the quest, you can drag the quest to the party sheet XP table and then award the XP.

Groups; These could be one per module, or not. For instance, I could do one module for my campaign setting ("Blue Hawk"). In there I can make a bunch of story entries (maybe one for each deity, each city, each kingdom, etc). Then since I now have 200 story entries, I can organize them into groups (such as "Gods", "Settlements" and "Politics"). But then again, if my module was just for a 5 room dungeon, I would only need one group (i.e. "Goloran's Cave").

[damned]

Dont forget the User Manual - also a work in progress - https://www.fantasygrounds.com/filelibrary/FantasyGroundsUserManual.pdf