CatDadCode
March 6th, 2020, 21:19
***Updated 3/26***
My group and I are already enjoying FGU! It seems to finally be to a point where it's quite usable. The only freezing issues we've had are while browsing the asset manager, so I try to get that out of the way early before I invite my players and then everything has worked fine. I figured I'd make a post with our compiled wishlist of items. I intend to keep editing and updating this post as we come up with more wants/needs going forward :)
Note: I know many of these are known issues. This is just a place for myself and my group to compile the things we care about most so far. Feel free to browse it and provide feedback if you choose but you guys are busy and it's not expected :) I just wanted to provide a peek into our experience for anyone interested.
Map Synchronization
FGC allowed me to go to the share menu and synchronize the players to my map view (position, zoom, etc.). Currently we work around this by unsharing and re-sharing the map, but it's a bit jarring because unsharing it closes the map for everyone and then it re-opens. Even cooler would be the ability to hit some sync lock button or something and have the map perspective synchronize in real-time between me and my players. While perspective is locked they would just always see what I see on a given map. But that's an unneeded extra. The minimum we need would just be a sync button like we had before.
Works now! Woohoo!
Mac updater opens behind other windows.
Very tiny issue, but two of our people use Macs and they both thought FGU crashed when they clicked "Check for Updates". Really the updater window just opened up behind their other open applications and they had to click the FGU icon on the dock to bring it to focus. I went to my Macbook to check and sure enough it did the same. Very minor, but very confusing for new peeps.
https://i.imgur.com/4ywdZ8a.gif
Eraser
The eraser tool in the painting tools is fine because I can adjust the size of the brush. However, the eraser in the basic drawing mode accessed through the right-click menu is pretty tedious as it only lets you erase tiny lines. We miss the old eraser tool where we could basically draw an area to be erased.
The normal draw eraser now has a wider radius which seems to help (though I still miss the old eraser), but now it's the GM brush eraser that doesn't seem to be working. When you first select the eraser tool it shows a little circle but once you click to erase it goes away and nothing is erased.
https://i.imgur.com/Q3THUd2.gif
Locking Tokens
I miss the ability to lock tokens. My players can't help themselves. They will draw everywhere on the maps and mess around with tokens without realizing how much it's throwing me off my DM game, lol. I can lock drawing down which is nice but I cannot lock tokens down yet. I believe this one is planned and not yet implemented so no biggie. Just tracking it here.
FX Layer
It seems odd that I have to manually add an FX layer to use effects. If I start drawing with the draw tools it will add drawing layers. Seems like the tool should auto-add an FX layer if there are none when I select an effect from the dropdown. Very minor issue but totally not intuitive at all. Had to search this forum and the wiki until I found a mention of the need to add the layer first.
https://i.imgur.com/bkrxvaP.gif
Clear Chat Context Menu
This one's not a big deal since there's a /clear command but I love the little radial menus in a pinch and boy is it hard to get the right context menu to pop up when the chat window is full of rolls. I have to click around the edges and stuff until I can finally get the menu to pop up with the option to clear chat. Just a little header bar on the chat window or something that always exposes that particular context menu when right-clicked would eliminate that frustration.
https://i.imgur.com/aXYiC67.gif
Note: This was an issue in FGC as well.
Ctrl + Mousewheel on combat tracker initiative field
This is minor once you train yourself to stop doing it, but I often adjust number fields by holding the CTRL key and scrolling the mouse wheel. This works great everywhere except for the initiative field in the combat tracker. The entities in the tracker are sorted by initiative so as soon as you start CTRL+scrolling it changes the sort and suddenly you're now CTRL-scrolling a different entity's initiative field. This cascades through the whole list very quickly. In one or two seconds you can completely screw up the initiative rolls for all entities in the tracker.
https://i.imgur.com/eUOgGUQ.gif
This could be solved by adding a delay to the re-sorting of the entities. Add like a 750 millisecond delay after the field is modified before triggering a sort and I believe that would prevent this issue. An easy alternative would be to just disable CTRL+scrolling for the init field altogether.
Note: This was an issue in FGC as well.
Color Palette
I absolutely hate the color palette tool. I would much prefer a standard color picker. This is a nitpick and I'll survive if it never changes, but yeah, it's a monstrosity.
Script error when rolling on tables
Console opens to reveal a script error whenever I roll on any tables in FGU. Though the roll does appear to succeed in spite of the error.
Script error when adding characters from other campaigns
This one half succeeds despite the error. The sheet seems filled out but the portrait and token do not propagate.
Appears to have been fixed :)
Languages are invisible while you type them.
On 5e character sheets if you go to add languages to the abilities tab the text is invisible while you're typing. You have to unfocus the field before the text appears.
Fixed!
5e Character Sheet intermittent layout issues
This bug manifests in a variety of ways. Two of them are the most frustrating. Twice now I've seen a character sheet's skill tab be completely invisible. i.e. I can't see any of the skills or their modifiers. The second version of the layout bug often ends up hiding the weapons on the actions tab. It's as though the weapons field is scrollable and is scrolled down so the weapons are scrolled up and hidden behind the weapons header. However it's not technically scrollable and so far the only way I know of to get it to show up is to restart the entire game.
Haven't seen this issue in a while. Going to assume it's fixed for now :)
Adding categories to the maps/images window is super janky
At first I thought clicking the plus button to add a category did nothing. Had to come to the forums before I found out that it adds a category called "Group 1" and you have to scroll through the existing categories to find it. The UX here could use some tweaking.
Still a bit janky with the way it refreshes the whole window but it does correctly scroll to the new field and place the cursor inside now.
FG has a steep learning curve
FG would GREATLY benefit from an interactive tutorial when you first load it. I have found myself putting together custom videos, screenshots, and even tutorial sessions with my players. An interactive tutorial would really show off just how fun and powerful FG is as an RPG tool. Show users how the combat tracker works, the party window, the chat, the shortcuts, the dice, the modifiers, the modifier stack (didn't even know that was a thing until I read the wiki), the syntax for effects, the character sheet, how to level up a character, etc. There's so much here that the learning curve becomes very steep and my players are continually surprised by things I show them. They didn't even know we could be using targets until recently. I also didn't even know I could drag the combat tracker faction icons onto the map to move a bunch of enemy tokens all at once. It's so nice!
Character Sheet Rewind
This one is a big ask and I understand it probably won't ever happen, but it's on the wishlist anyway. DnDBeyond has spoiled us. Being able to add class levels and pick abilities then change your mind and simply reduce the level and have the abilities and features just disappear with it is sooooo nice. In FG it's easier to start a sheet over completely than it is to try to identify what a new class level added to the sheet and remove it all. If we could make 5e character sheets work more similarly to dndbeyond we'd be over the moon!
Exit to Main Menu
Going between campaigns or tweaking the cloud entry for my server requires killing the game and coming back in. Would love an option to quit to the menu.
Preload Images
Some of my maps are big and in FGC there was the ability to force the images to pre-load onto player machines before I share it for the first time. Currently I have no choice but to share something for the first time and then have everyone wait until they can all see it.
That's all I got for now! Thanks so much for all your hard work, guys!
My group and I are already enjoying FGU! It seems to finally be to a point where it's quite usable. The only freezing issues we've had are while browsing the asset manager, so I try to get that out of the way early before I invite my players and then everything has worked fine. I figured I'd make a post with our compiled wishlist of items. I intend to keep editing and updating this post as we come up with more wants/needs going forward :)
Note: I know many of these are known issues. This is just a place for myself and my group to compile the things we care about most so far. Feel free to browse it and provide feedback if you choose but you guys are busy and it's not expected :) I just wanted to provide a peek into our experience for anyone interested.
Map Synchronization
FGC allowed me to go to the share menu and synchronize the players to my map view (position, zoom, etc.). Currently we work around this by unsharing and re-sharing the map, but it's a bit jarring because unsharing it closes the map for everyone and then it re-opens. Even cooler would be the ability to hit some sync lock button or something and have the map perspective synchronize in real-time between me and my players. While perspective is locked they would just always see what I see on a given map. But that's an unneeded extra. The minimum we need would just be a sync button like we had before.
Works now! Woohoo!
Mac updater opens behind other windows.
Very tiny issue, but two of our people use Macs and they both thought FGU crashed when they clicked "Check for Updates". Really the updater window just opened up behind their other open applications and they had to click the FGU icon on the dock to bring it to focus. I went to my Macbook to check and sure enough it did the same. Very minor, but very confusing for new peeps.
https://i.imgur.com/4ywdZ8a.gif
Eraser
The eraser tool in the painting tools is fine because I can adjust the size of the brush. However, the eraser in the basic drawing mode accessed through the right-click menu is pretty tedious as it only lets you erase tiny lines. We miss the old eraser tool where we could basically draw an area to be erased.
The normal draw eraser now has a wider radius which seems to help (though I still miss the old eraser), but now it's the GM brush eraser that doesn't seem to be working. When you first select the eraser tool it shows a little circle but once you click to erase it goes away and nothing is erased.
https://i.imgur.com/Q3THUd2.gif
Locking Tokens
I miss the ability to lock tokens. My players can't help themselves. They will draw everywhere on the maps and mess around with tokens without realizing how much it's throwing me off my DM game, lol. I can lock drawing down which is nice but I cannot lock tokens down yet. I believe this one is planned and not yet implemented so no biggie. Just tracking it here.
FX Layer
It seems odd that I have to manually add an FX layer to use effects. If I start drawing with the draw tools it will add drawing layers. Seems like the tool should auto-add an FX layer if there are none when I select an effect from the dropdown. Very minor issue but totally not intuitive at all. Had to search this forum and the wiki until I found a mention of the need to add the layer first.
https://i.imgur.com/bkrxvaP.gif
Clear Chat Context Menu
This one's not a big deal since there's a /clear command but I love the little radial menus in a pinch and boy is it hard to get the right context menu to pop up when the chat window is full of rolls. I have to click around the edges and stuff until I can finally get the menu to pop up with the option to clear chat. Just a little header bar on the chat window or something that always exposes that particular context menu when right-clicked would eliminate that frustration.
https://i.imgur.com/aXYiC67.gif
Note: This was an issue in FGC as well.
Ctrl + Mousewheel on combat tracker initiative field
This is minor once you train yourself to stop doing it, but I often adjust number fields by holding the CTRL key and scrolling the mouse wheel. This works great everywhere except for the initiative field in the combat tracker. The entities in the tracker are sorted by initiative so as soon as you start CTRL+scrolling it changes the sort and suddenly you're now CTRL-scrolling a different entity's initiative field. This cascades through the whole list very quickly. In one or two seconds you can completely screw up the initiative rolls for all entities in the tracker.
https://i.imgur.com/eUOgGUQ.gif
This could be solved by adding a delay to the re-sorting of the entities. Add like a 750 millisecond delay after the field is modified before triggering a sort and I believe that would prevent this issue. An easy alternative would be to just disable CTRL+scrolling for the init field altogether.
Note: This was an issue in FGC as well.
Color Palette
I absolutely hate the color palette tool. I would much prefer a standard color picker. This is a nitpick and I'll survive if it never changes, but yeah, it's a monstrosity.
Script error when rolling on tables
Console opens to reveal a script error whenever I roll on any tables in FGU. Though the roll does appear to succeed in spite of the error.
Script error when adding characters from other campaigns
This one half succeeds despite the error. The sheet seems filled out but the portrait and token do not propagate.
Appears to have been fixed :)
Languages are invisible while you type them.
On 5e character sheets if you go to add languages to the abilities tab the text is invisible while you're typing. You have to unfocus the field before the text appears.
Fixed!
5e Character Sheet intermittent layout issues
This bug manifests in a variety of ways. Two of them are the most frustrating. Twice now I've seen a character sheet's skill tab be completely invisible. i.e. I can't see any of the skills or their modifiers. The second version of the layout bug often ends up hiding the weapons on the actions tab. It's as though the weapons field is scrollable and is scrolled down so the weapons are scrolled up and hidden behind the weapons header. However it's not technically scrollable and so far the only way I know of to get it to show up is to restart the entire game.
Haven't seen this issue in a while. Going to assume it's fixed for now :)
Adding categories to the maps/images window is super janky
At first I thought clicking the plus button to add a category did nothing. Had to come to the forums before I found out that it adds a category called "Group 1" and you have to scroll through the existing categories to find it. The UX here could use some tweaking.
Still a bit janky with the way it refreshes the whole window but it does correctly scroll to the new field and place the cursor inside now.
FG has a steep learning curve
FG would GREATLY benefit from an interactive tutorial when you first load it. I have found myself putting together custom videos, screenshots, and even tutorial sessions with my players. An interactive tutorial would really show off just how fun and powerful FG is as an RPG tool. Show users how the combat tracker works, the party window, the chat, the shortcuts, the dice, the modifiers, the modifier stack (didn't even know that was a thing until I read the wiki), the syntax for effects, the character sheet, how to level up a character, etc. There's so much here that the learning curve becomes very steep and my players are continually surprised by things I show them. They didn't even know we could be using targets until recently. I also didn't even know I could drag the combat tracker faction icons onto the map to move a bunch of enemy tokens all at once. It's so nice!
Character Sheet Rewind
This one is a big ask and I understand it probably won't ever happen, but it's on the wishlist anyway. DnDBeyond has spoiled us. Being able to add class levels and pick abilities then change your mind and simply reduce the level and have the abilities and features just disappear with it is sooooo nice. In FG it's easier to start a sheet over completely than it is to try to identify what a new class level added to the sheet and remove it all. If we could make 5e character sheets work more similarly to dndbeyond we'd be over the moon!
Exit to Main Menu
Going between campaigns or tweaking the cloud entry for my server requires killing the game and coming back in. Would love an option to quit to the menu.
Preload Images
Some of my maps are big and in FGC there was the ability to force the images to pre-load onto player machines before I share it for the first time. Currently I have no choice but to share something for the first time and then have everyone wait until they can all see it.
That's all I got for now! Thanks so much for all your hard work, guys!