Second Instance question and proposal for FGU

[FierceViking]

Hi!

I came across this FAQ on kickstarter:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/smiteworks/fantasy-grounds-unity/faqs

Will FGU support multiple monitors?
...
Option 2: You can run a 2nd instance of Fantasy Grounds and Join Game to the 1st instance. For the alias name, choose localhost. This creates a Player View that is still controlled by the Gamemaster and host of the game. The GM can place this on a secondary monitor/projector/tv that the players can see if they want.

I was very happy to read that and wanted to give it a try, but then I realized FGU only has a Join Campaign button, not a Join Game button (FGC)... The Join Campaign button does not provide username/alias selection, also connecting to localhost does not work for a cloud game. (maybe the FAQ is outdated there)

Then I found out, it works automatically even when joining a cloud game, but then I realized it does as written "creates a Player View", even if the gm connects.

So why not one simple solution. If the GM connects a second time to a game, it is a could be a Player View with automatically all shared content. This could even be a simple option. Should be easy enough to implement and would help a lot.

Another solution could be to share things only with one player but looks like that is just a missing feature currently. I would use the second window for informational purposes and some rolling and chatting mostly, no need to change items etc.

P.S. I know about the stretch solution but I have a 4k and a 2k monitor, also it would be nice to be able to alt-tab the second monitor to a browser.

[Bonkon]

Good Day FierceViking :)
I believe in FGU you can only use localhost when running a LAN game, not a Cloud one. :)

[Zacchaeus]

You can join a cloud game with your second instance. Just click on Join Campaign; find your name on the list and select it and then click join.

[FierceViking]

Thanks for your both replies!


Good Day FierceViking :)
I believe in FGU you can only use localhost when running a LAN game, not a Cloud one. :)

My server also runs on my own machine, as I understood the cloud is only about sharing connection data like dynamic IP. So joining a cloud game also via localhost would not sound that far from possible. Depends on implementation details I guess.


You can join a cloud game with your second instance. Just click on Join Campaign; find your name on the list and select it and then click join.

Hi, I understood this after being confused for a few minutes back then, because the Kickstarter FAQ text is outdated in this regard. I though my story of confusion would inspire you to update the "For the alias name, choose localhost" text.

My actual question/proposal was about joining as second GM or at least unlocking all modules in player mode for a client with same Account name as the GM. Player mode with all local modules available if connected Account name is same as GM should be very easy to implement and would be a big help for the GM. -> That way a GM could deal with references, story, additional maps chat and other stuff in the second window.

(Sorry for the wall of text and this got lost in it)

[LordEntrails]

I think what you are suggesting is to allow the second GM instance to act as a GM instance by allowing that instance to do GM functions?

If it's just a player view with more stuff shared, then you can share content to a single player by dragging onto their PC portrait (so the second instance would have to claim a PC, even if it's a dummy one).

If it's the other (first) idea then that causes problems because now you would have two processes trying to write to and "own" the campaign database. Something that currently would cause data corruption and is hard to code/prevent because FG is a flat file database and not something like an SQL database that can handle transactions from multiple controlling sources.

[Trenloe]

It would be a big architecture and code rewrite to allow a second GM instance. It’s a nice idea, but something we’re probably not going to see anytime soon.

[FierceViking]

I think what you are suggesting is to allow the second GM instance to act as a GM instance by allowing that instance to do GM functions?

If it's just a player view with more stuff shared, then you can share content to a single player by dragging onto their PC portrait (so the second instance would have to claim a PC, even if it's a dummy one).

If it's the other (first) idea then that causes problems because now you would have two processes trying to write to and "own" the campaign database. Something that currently would cause data corruption and is hard to code/prevent because FG is a flat file database and not something like an SQL database that can handle transactions from multiple controlling sources.


It would be a big architecture and code rewrite to allow a second GM instance. It’s a nice idea, but something we’re probably not going to see anytime soon.

Hi!

About the Co-GM Instance, it could send the changes to apply, rolls to make etc. to the main instance which then updates the database and/or game state. Conflicts on the same content item could be prevented by that unlocking mechanism - only one can unlock. Of course that's easier to implement if the code already uses the command pattern as base for all changes, because with it, it does not matter whether the commands are coming from the UI or via network or anything else. Bonus: This also allows easy undo-redo implementation.

BUT the tip with dragging content on a dummy PC already helped me with what I wanted to do, thanks!!