Keyboard and other shortcuts?

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

Hey, it is the new noob here again =D

Are there any shortcut for quick approving movements when we lock the token positions? I use a Notebook and using the touchpad to click the path is kinda slow.

Are there any other useful key-shortcuts i should know?

if there is not, someone should create this extension if it is not too hard.

Thanks in advance.

[damned]

Buy a mouse.
You are being cruel to yourself.
FG is not all that fun with a touchpad.

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

Buy a mouse.
You are being cruel to yourself.
FG is not all that fun with a touchpad.

I have a mouse but my players use it, as i play live =(
Sometimes i take it when i need it more.

it would be cool if i would press ctrl+something to auto-aprove it, if that would be possible.


On the other topic. How fantasy grounds works with touchscreen devices? Does it help?

[Trenloe]

if there is not, someone should create this extension if it is not too hard.
I don't think this would be possible purely from a shortcut key standpoint - you're always going to have to use a mouse as there can be multiple tokens with paths created, and you'll need to click on a token to approve the move for that specific token.

Maybe left click to select one token and then a button on the window or a specific hotkey to select the move. Maybe it's possible... but this isn't much of a saving over the current process.

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

I don't think this would be possible purely from a shortcut key standpoint - you're always going to have to use a mouse as there can be multiple tokens with paths created, and you'll need to click on a token to approve the move for that specific token.

Maybe left click to select one token and then a button on the window or a specific hotkey to select the move. Maybe it's possible... but this isn't much of a saving over the current process.

I imagined it would be difficult.

What if after the player finished moving his token a popup screen would appear to the DM asking approval?
Hit enter to approve, Hit esc to not aprove - with Yes/No buttons -?

in that window, it would appear something like - character x is trying to move: [Yes] [No]
So if more than one character is trying to move, two or more of this windows would pop in the DM screen, saying exactly what character is trying to move.

would that be easier -possible?

[Trenloe]

I imagined it would be difficult.

What if after the player finished moving his token a popup screen would appear to the DM asking approval?
Hit enter to approve, Hit esc to not aprove - with Yes/No buttons -?

in that window, it would appear something like - character x is trying to move: [Yes] [No]
So if more than one character is trying to move, two or more of this windows would pop in the DM screen, saying exactly what character is trying to move.

would that be easier -possible?
I think there would be loads of issues with that. How do you actually know when the player has finished movement? If they are moving around something they need to create the move from a set of little moves.

Also, little pop-up windows don't work that well in FG. What happens if a few players are all moving at once? You get a bunch of popup windows - which one applies to which player? OK, you just put the PC token on it to aid indentification, but still you suddenly have a bunch of popup windows all over the place. We already have GMs complaining about too many windows - do you really want more?

Maybe a little icon could be added to the entry in the combat tracker? That might work and make things easier - and also aid in doing movement just on the PC's turn.

[Trenloe]

In the end, none of this can be done via an extension at this time. Because there is no API function to approve token movement (unless it's undocumented): https://www.fantasygrounds.com/refdoc/tokeninstance.xcp

Maybe add your request to the wishlist: https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

I think there would be loads of issues with that. How do you actually know when the player has finished movement? If they are moving around something they need to create the move from a set of little moves.

Also, little pop-up windows don't work that well in FG. What happens if a few players are all moving at once? You get a bunch of popup windows - which one applies to which player? OK, you just put the PC token on it to aid indentification, but still you suddenly have a bunch of popup windows all over the place. We already have GMs complaining about too many windows - do you really want more?

Maybe a little icon could be added to the entry in the combat tracker? That might work and make things easier - and also aid in doing movement just on the PC's turn.

well, i wouldnt mind lots of pop ups if they would disappear just by pressing enter or esc rapidly.
Also as i play face to face, players only move their tokens in their turn.

The indicator on the combat tracker wouldnt be bad either.

If the name of the player appeared at the pop up it would not be a problem with many screens, at least for me. Not different than the popup about dice rolls at the table.

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

In the end, none of this can be done via an extension at this time. Because there is no API function to approve token movement (unless it's undocumented): https://www.fantasygrounds.com/refdoc/tokeninstance.xcp

Maybe add your request to the wishlist: https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/

Added there, but i doubt anyone would want to do it.
It is too much specific, i guess.

[Trenloe]

Added there, but i doubt anyone would want to do it.
It is too much specific, i guess.
What's the link to it?

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

What's the link to it?

Here it is.

https://fg2app.idea.informer.com/proj/?ia=117922

[LordEntrails]

Not to be contrary, but since you are playing in person and it sounds like you are all sharing one computer, why require moves to be approved?

I know my style is to not worry about controlling everything and just trust the players to not move when they shouldn't be.

Maybe you already tried that and it didn't work for you. But if not, maybe it's worth considering?

[shadzar]

Not to be contrary, but since you are playing in person and it sounds like you are all sharing one computer, why require moves to be approved?

Why use FG at all at that point then, just use real minis?

If using FG at a table for face-to-face games, you can prevent people form playing with the toys as many modern gamers have habit with the boom in pre-painted minis market. They rever to 4 years old, and have to grab the nearest toy to play with to keep occupied. Locking the tokens is one of the features FG has, that only 1 other RPG playing surface has.

so either by projecting the map for players to be able to see on a surface, or using a TV to clone the desktop on to see the map, it offers the advantages of FG without unfurling some large grid map to show the sme thing, and hundreds of plastic-crack. Which gives you the advantages to play in most places that you would needing full 4'x8' table to sit around.

it is the very reason and only reason i own a laptop to be able to show maps and handouts on a large TV without having to print them or lug it all around. ye olde backpack for books, trunk full of accessories etc.... well that is the very definition of a VTT.. its a virtual tabletop.. it has everything in one easy to carry container... in this case a laptop. even allows players to roll their own dice, and use P&P character sheets, jsut the DM has a whole lot less setup work...

I think it was you that said FG reduces the amount of setup work required to play when I mentioned it increased it?

but that is just why I would lock the tokens with FG in in person games.

[damned]

In my experience new players - and especially new groups of new players - like to fidget with their tokens, spin them, move them back and forth, scribble on the map, etc
They settle down :)

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

Not to be contrary, but since you are playing in person and it sounds like you are all sharing one computer, why require moves to be approved?

I know my style is to not worry about controlling everything and just trust the players to not move when they shouldn't be.

Maybe you already tried that and it didn't work for you. But if not, maybe it's worth considering?

Lots of whys.

1) When the token is locked it shows the path and the distance in feet they already moved. We are Brazilians so we are used to the metric system where every square is 1,5 meters.. This helps us better visualizing the distance in feet, because my players still use meters in their sheet so we can slowly stop using metric and try to use the standard distances in feet to speed up play.
2) my players tend to forget difficult terrain, etc; that would save us lots of time adjusting and repositioning tokens and facilitate for me to see if everything is alright.
3) My TV is big but not THAT big. Sometimes it is hard for the most distant players to see the grid to count distance, as some of them wear glasses. By showing the distance moved it will solve this problem.
4) Because i find it a cool feature.
5) Because my players can all move their tokens to show where they want to go to plan their strategies se they can better plan a surprise round -or try to create one -
i can just then aprove it quickly or press esc so we can roll initiative.

[LordEntrails]

Why use FG at all at that point then, just use real minis?

...
so either by projecting the map for players to be able to see on a surface, or using a TV to clone the desktop on to see the map, it offers the advantages of FG without unfurling some large grid map to show the sme thing, and hundreds of plastic-crack. Which gives you the advantages to play in most places that you would needing full 4'x8' table to sit around.
...
I think it was you that said FG reduces the amount of setup work required to play when I mentioned it increased it?

but that is just why I would lock the tokens with FG in in person games.

I'm confused if you are disagreeing with me or supporting a related point. Though at no point was I suggesting Henrique not use FG for face to face play so I'm still not sure what you're getting at. Let me address a couple points you might be commenting on;

Why use FG at the table top?
- Because I can have thousands of maps and millions of tokens rather than the few dozen printed battle maps and hundred of token I have. And the digital versions take up much less space, are easier to organize and quicker to deploy onto the play 'space'.
- Because combat with the CT is much faster than real dice and paper.
- Because pets can't mess up the tokens/mini's
- Because we can stop in the middle of an adventure or battle and not have to "record" anything and picking up where we left off at a later point in time is painless and quick.
- Because I can perform a digital search of the rule books.
- Because there are numerous other advantages as well.

Yes, I was one of the people that said prep in FG is much less than time intensive than in pen and paper. I'm not sure if you are trying to imply such an opinion is flawed, but here's why it's not;
- Because if I make a custom map, I don't have to print it, all I have to do is add the image file to the module or campaign. (Note, comparing a professional quality custom map created with something like CC3+ is NOT comparable to sketching out a meadow or building on a dry-erase mat.)
- Because I can assemble an encounter including all NPC stats and calculate the CR and XP in moments (or if I setup random encounters, in a 'click'). I can search for NPCs by type, CR, or name in second rather than flipping through multiple printed books or some unofficial reference list and then copying those stats to a central location or flagging each page with tabs.
- Because I can generate 44 TRILLION unique room descriptions, and use those to create a unique story entry in a fraction of a second. These descriptions can include boxed text and GM only text/information.
- Because I can generate a treasure in moments, either by using a random treasure table or by searching and filtering numerous digital references with capabilities and benefits similar to NPCs.
- Because I can create custom NPC's with copy and paste from other NPC's. And when creating these I have all the digital search and filter tools mentioned above and again don't have to flip through multiple printed books and browse hundreds of pages from multiple books.

Now, if I insisted on creating everything on paper, or in Word, or in Excel or some other method that is not FG, and then entering that information into FG or any VTT, it would certainly take longer than just generating it on paper and using directly from that source.

To address the potential comment or rebuttal about the time it takes to setup something like the 44 trillion dungeon room description generator. Absolutely it took me time, maybe something like 40 or 50 hours. And yes, that's a ridiculous number of descriptions. But it took me less time to create that generator than it would to create the ~4000 unique room descriptions I need for the adventure modules I'm working on. Even if I could have created room descriptions as quickly as 1 minute each (which in reality is more like 4-5 minutes each), that would still have taken me greater than 65 hours and making the generator saved me at least 15 hours and 25%, if not more like 200 hours of prep!

Of course, any one of those points can be argued with and examples of why or when they might not work or save time. But, if you are willing to use the tool in the way it works best, if you are willing to change the way you do things rather than insisting on doing things the way you always have, then you can indeed save substantial amounts of game prep time. It's the same exact approach that engineering companies had to come to terms with when switching from paper and drafting boards to computer CAD programs. There are things that change, but if you are willing to change, the benefits are huge.


Lots of whys.
....
Lots of good reasons :) Makes sense for the way your game flows. Mine doesn't flow that way so I those reasons didn't occur to me. I love seeing/hearing how others do things, gives me something to think about and maybe incorporate into my game playing.

[Henrique Oliveira Machado]

I'm confused if you are disagreeing with me or supporting a related point. Though at no point was I suggesting Henrique not use FG for face to face play so I'm still not sure what you're getting at. Let me address a couple points you might be commenting on;

Why use FG at the table top?
- Because I can have thousands of maps and millions of tokens rather than the few dozen printed battle maps and hundred of token I have. And the digital versions take up much less space, are easier to organize and quicker to deploy onto the play 'space'.
- Because combat with the CT is much faster than real dice and paper.
- Because pets can't mess up the tokens/mini's
- Because we can stop in the middle of an adventure or battle and not have to "record" anything and picking up where we left off at a later point in time is painless and quick.
- Because I can perform a digital search of the rule books.
- Because there are numerous other advantages as well.

Yes, I was one of the people that said prep in FG is much less than time intensive than in pen and paper. I'm not sure if you are trying to imply such an opinion is flawed, but here's why it's not;
- Because if I make a custom map, I don't have to print it, all I have to do is add the image file to the module or campaign. (Note, comparing a professional quality custom map created with something like CC3+ is NOT comparable to sketching out a meadow or building on a dry-erase mat.)
- Because I can assemble an encounter including all NPC stats and calculate the CR and XP in moments (or if I setup random encounters, in a 'click'). I can search for NPCs by type, CR, or name in second rather than flipping through multiple printed books or some unofficial reference list and then copying those stats to a central location or flagging each page with tabs.
- Because I can generate 44 TRILLION unique room descriptions, and use those to create a unique story entry in a fraction of a second. These descriptions can include boxed text and GM only text/information.
- Because I can generate a treasure in moments, either by using a random treasure table or by searching and filtering numerous digital references with capabilities and benefits similar to NPCs.
- Because I can create custom NPC's with copy and paste from other NPC's. And when creating these I have all the digital search and filter tools mentioned above and again don't have to flip through multiple printed books and browse hundreds of pages from multiple books.

Now, if I insisted on creating everything on paper, or in Word, or in Excel or some other method that is not FG, and then entering that information into FG or any VTT, it would certainly take longer than just generating it on paper and using directly from that source.

To address the potential comment or rebuttal about the time it takes to setup something like the 44 trillion dungeon room description generator. Absolutely it took me time, maybe something like 40 or 50 hours. And yes, that's a ridiculous number of descriptions. But it took me less time to create that generator than it would to create the ~4000 unique room descriptions I need for the adventure modules I'm working on. Even if I could have created room descriptions as quickly as 1 minute each (which in reality is more like 4-5 minutes each), that would still have taken me greater than 65 hours and making the generator saved me at least 15 hours and 25%, if not more like 200 hours of prep!

Of course, any one of those points can be argued with and examples of why or when they might not work or save time. But, if you are willing to use the tool in the way it works best, if you are willing to change the way you do things rather than insisting on doing things the way you always have, then you can indeed save substantial amounts of game prep time. It's the same exact approach that engineering companies had to come to terms with when switching from paper and drafting boards to computer CAD programs. There are things that change, but if you are willing to change, the benefits are huge.


Lots of good reasons :) Makes sense for the way your game flows. Mine doesn't flow that way so I those reasons didn't occur to me. I love seeing/hearing how others do things, gives me something to think about and maybe incorporate into my game playing.

Please do not fight, guys D:

I understood that you only wanted to share your experience with the software. I thank you.

I ran the game with unlocked tokens last time because of precisely the same motive you just wrote. My players asked i locked it again so they could see it all their movement and all those points i shared in my last post.
So i figured i wanted to make approving movement faster so everyone could be happier.