best way to learn

[Bilbobolen]

Hey guys

I am a fairly computer literate user (I know python, Fortran, Mathematica and C) who has never played rpg's on line. What is the quickest way to get upto speed?

[superteddy57]

If you are looking to learn the program itself to run RPGs, then a great place to start would be the wiki.
https://fantasygroundsunity.atlassian.net/wiki/spaces/FGU/overview?homepageId=294914

If you would like more of a demonstration to learn it visually there is the Fantasy Grounds College
https://fantasygroundscollege.net/

Seeing programming languages in your post might indicate learning how to create content for Fantasy Grounds and would recommend checking out some of the tutorials on starting with themes and extensions. A good run down of the various elements available within Fantasy Grounds can be located in the refdoc.
https://www.fantasygrounds.com/refdoc/windowclass.xcp

[Trenloe]

Welcome to the FG forums Bilbobolen!

The links provided above are very useful. Except I'd leave off looking at the programming side until you're familiar with Fantasy Grounds general use and features/functionality. :)

[Tommycore]

What @Trenloe said. I made the mistake of getting into modding before I understood the whole range of functionality of FG, and it confused me a lot.

Also, if you're coming from OOP, you should know that FG works a little different. You don't have your typical classes, which you define in files and then can instantiate and work with. You basically got a XML file using nodes (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/refdoc/databasenode.xcp) and child nodes to store values, and when developing for FG, you create windows that interact with this XML DB by storing and reading data in there. So instead of making and instantiating a Hamster class with variables like hp or size, and methods like eat() or sleep(), you must define a window that latches onto a node in the db.xml, and give it fields to interact with. For example a numberfield (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/refdoc/numberfield.xcp) where you can enter the hp. And then you can attach a Lua script (https://www.fantasygrounds.com/wiki/index.php/Developer_Guide_-_Rulesets_-_Scripting#Scripts_in_Window_Classes) to run functions on the specific node the window points towards.

Maybe I should start a dev blog, posting about my successes and fails, so others can learn from it...