New GM with questions about .ext and stuff

[Fing]

Hey Fantasy Grounds,

Fing here and I'm new to FG, these Forums and although I'm not new to D&D, I am new to 5e and haven't really played since the early 90's.

I have a few questions and hope the hive mind can set me straight...

1. I was watching Digital Dave the DM or whoever on youtube and there was some talk about some extensions that I think I need. Specifically the one that saves the UI layout and one that increases the font size to something readable when you scale the UI to 70%. Been messing around with the app and I don't see any way to do those things yet so I assume they haven't been added to the application through updates (the vid was 2 years old so I thought it was possible - but apparently not). where can I find these .ext and instructions on how to load them?

2. Buying digital content through the store> I bought The Lost Mines of Phandelvin (spelling?) through the store and my paypal receipt indicated my shipping address and got me wondering do I also get a hardcopy of the things I buy through the store? That would be a way cool bonus that I would not have expected - but wont be disappointed if not - so - just want clarification.

3. Is there a way to hide the headers on the images you share with players? Like in a encounter and I want to show an image of what the players see coming out of the dark and they don't yet know what it is -except for the header that says "Goblin" or whatever... No Bueno. I've tried the mask but it doesn't hide the header text (checking from a second application using localhost) - the players will still se the name of the mystery creature which isn't a mystery if its named - get it?

4. What else do I need to know - I don't even know what questions I should be asking at this point - I've watched a ton of things on youtube, subbed, messed around a fair bit with the app, bought some content and DL'ed it and am getting fairly close to feeling like a can run my friends through the starter kit adventure (my friends are very forgiving and hold a low bar of expectations - lol) So what do I NEED to know -that I don't yet know that I need to know it? - LOL


I've talked to long - just wanted to say hi and if anyone can help me out I would appreciate it - thx

peace
Fing

[damned]

Welcome Fing

If you look in the forums for the ruleset specific forums you will see some stickied posts towards the top of the page. Most extensions are linked in one of those posts.
Extensions need to be copied to the fantasy grounds data folder and into the \extensions folder specifically
Show some restraint... know exactly why you are loading an extension - dont load lots of extensions untill you know what you are doing with the base product

All content is digital only and pretty much all content requires Fantasy Grounds to use or even view the content

Once you launch your GM instance, launch a second instance of Fantasy Grounds and choose Join Game. add a nickname and use localhost as server address/alias
This will connect a player instance to your game
Create a character with a name dont worry about any other stats just yet
Share an Image to the player
Then experiment with the ID options from the GM side and see what they do. Find what works for you.
Do the same for NPCs once you work out the images.

Start small/slow. Its a big program to learn. You cant learn it all without using it for a long time.
Learn PC creation, Module Loading and Combat using the Combat Tracker
Learn using Stories, Chat and Images.
Start playing. Dont worry about everything else until these are going pretty smooth.

[Tyrannosaurus VeX]

No problem. First, if you use Discord, may I HIGHLY recommend you join the Fantasy Grounds College, as there are literally THOUSANDS of members (usually several hundred active at any given moment) who are dedicated to helping people learn how to do amazing things with Fantasy Grounds.

Fantasy Grounds College Website: https://fantasygroundscollege.net/
Fantasy Grounds College Discord: https://discordapp.com/invite/Ew6nYyw

But I'll answer these one at a time:


1. I was watching Digital Dave the DM or whoever on youtube and there was some talk about some extensions that I think I need. Specifically the one that saves the UI layout and one that increases the font size to something readable when you scale the UI to 70%. Been messing around with the app and I don't see any way to do those things yet so I assume they haven't been added to the application through updates (the vid was 2 years old so I thought it was possible - but apparently not). where can I find these .ext and instructions on how to load them?

The easiest way to find most extensions is by either navigating here on the forums to the Extensions Subforum (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/forums/forumdisplay.php?96-Extensions), or do a google search, usually starting with "Fantasy Grounds Extension XXX" where XXX is the key words that might identify the extension. In the case of the one you're talking about, it's probably "Window Saver," "Window Saver X", or "FG Tabber". All three of those do what you're talking about.

As for loading extensions, the .ext file goes in the Extensions subfolder of your Fantasy Grounds Data directory and when you load a table, you check the box for that extension before you load it.


2. Buying digital content through the store> I bought The Lost Mines of Phandelvin (spelling?) through the store and my paypal receipt indicated my shipping address and got me wondering do I also get a hardcopy of the things I buy through the store? That would be a way cool bonus that I would not have expected - but wont be disappointed if not - so - just want clarification.

No, no free physical copies. That would be cool, but it would probably increase the price by at least 50-75% too. I'm sure you'd rather just pick and choose which you buy physical and which you buy digital/FG format.


3. Is there a way to hide the headers on the images you share with players? Like in a encounter and I want to show an image of what the players see coming out of the dark and they don't yet know what it is -except for the header that says "Goblin" or whatever... No Bueno. I've tried the mask but it doesn't hide the header text (checking from a second application using localhost) - the players will still se the name of the mystery creature which isn't a mystery if its named - get it?

YES! There is! Next to the image name is an area for the name players see when the image is shared IF the image is not identified. Whatever you type in the second box, if the ID tag is RED, the players see the 2nd box's text. In the image below, the players would see "Cover", while the GM still see's "Art: Cover".

https://i.imgur.com/mlG8HTs.jpg


4. What else do I need to know - I don't even know what questions I should be asking at this point - I've watched a ton of things on youtube, subbed, messed around a fair bit with the app, bought some content and DL'ed it and am getting fairly close to feeling like a can run my friends through the starter kit adventure (my friends are very forgiving and hold a low bar of expectations - lol) So what do I NEED to know -that I don't yet know that I need to know it? - LOL

I think if you're willing to learn, that's step 1. I'd say you should join Fantasy Grounds College. I believe Laerun (the founder) now has over 7000 members. But the college offers classes on everything from building a character to DMing and Coding, I'm even starting classes very soon on map-making. It's a pretty awesome community and the #ask-the-experts channel is very active and knowledgeable people are always willing to answer questions.

[Fing]

Hey Fantasy Grounds,

Fing here and I'm new to FG, these Forums and although I'm not new to D&D, I am new to 5e and haven't really played since the early 90's.

Just wanted to introduce my self :)

Peace
Fing

(actually edited my original post 'cause it was reproduced elsewhere)

[viresanimi]

Welcome!

Don't be afraid to ask questions around here. We're peaceful. Totally!

[JohnD]

Welcome Fing. If you played in the early 90s it was probably 2e... be sure to check out the beautiful "AD&D Classics" content... it plays really well.