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will9k
May 12th, 2020, 20:12
I have been fighting with the Traveller deck plans that are published with Mongoose products for some time now. To get them to work well with Fantasy Grounds (Unity or Classic) you either have to find 2d versions of them (the best option) or figure out how to make use of the existing iso version.

For many of the products, there is simply no 2d version anywhere. Examples abound, but for my purposes I will use the Rift Hauler from Deepnight Legacy (part of the forthcoming Deepnight Revelation campaign).

There is no 2d version of these plans anywhere, and I don't have the time to redraw them for Fantasy Grounds Unity.

So to start with we have Example 1, these are the deck plans imported straight into Fantasy Grounds Unity. They are only marginal usable as the grid is iso, not a true grid. You can set the grid to be iso in Fantasy Grounds, but then you find out that the deck plans are a DISTORTED iso.

My solution is to stretch the original image prior to importing it into Fantasy Grounds Unity.

To do this, follow the procedure below.

* * *

With care, measure the distance between the two horizontal points of the grid, then measure the distance between the two points of the vertical grid. Divide the larger number (horizontal) by the smaller number (vertical). This gives you the ratio between horizontal and vertical distortion. Open the image in a program that will permit you to stretch it. From your chosen image program find the number of vertical pixels in the image. Multiply the vertical pixels by the ratio number you got earlier. That is how much you will need to stretch the image too.

For the Rift Hauler I found my horizontal was 58.5, while the vertical was 33. 58.5/33=1.77272.

In my image program, the Rift Hauler is 1100 pixels high. 1.77272 x 1100 = 1950.

I had the program stretch the vertical to 1950 pixels, saved the image, and loaded it into Fantasy Grounds Unity.

Example 1 is the image before stretching, Example 2 is the image after stretching.

Now the iso grid is a true iso rather than a distorted one. Remember that that the accuracy of your measurements will control how close you get to a true iso grid in your final product.

Will9k

MadBeardMan
May 14th, 2020, 13:57
Very nice work.

BackwardOracle has been making some pretty awesome 2d maps, I'll contact Mongoose again and with VTT being the way these days, ask if they can make 2d versions for VTT useage in the current KS at least.

Cheers,
MBM

alfarobl
May 16th, 2020, 13:35
BackwardOracle has been making some pretty awesome 2d maps, I'll contact Mongoose again and with VTT being the way these days, ask if they can make 2d versions for VTT useage in the current KS at least.

There are also requests on the latest Deep Night Revelation Kickstarter (T Devon comment) about more VTT support with regards to the 3D maps they currently provide. So you are not alone on that request:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1990654819/traveller-rpg-the-deepnight-revelation-campaign-box-set/comments

MadBeardMan
May 16th, 2020, 22:16
There are also requests on the latest Deep Night Revelation Kickstarter (T Devon comment) about more VTT support with regards to the 3D maps they currently provide. So you are not alone on that request:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1990654819/traveller-rpg-the-deepnight-revelation-campaign-box-set/commentshttps://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1990654819/traveller-rpg-the-deepnight-revelation-campaign-box-set/comments

I've also added my thoughts on that, I'll speak to Matt and remind him that the 'sort of' Isometric maps aren't much good for VTT.

Cheers,
MBM

backwardoracle
May 17th, 2020, 00:35
I tried this out, as a small side project,

It might be useful to you.

cheers

will9k
May 17th, 2020, 16:23
Backwardoracle, you are awesome at map making. I think I will be using these in our game if you have no objection.

I would love to see your process for making these, and know what software you are using.

If Mongoose declines to support the VTT community I will need to make a LOT of these maps. I am running the Deepnight Revelation game (although my players don't know that yet) and the deck plans for the Revelation and her sister ships are weak at best.

Will9k

MadBeardMan
May 17th, 2020, 20:58
Folks,

Got a reply from Mongoose. VTT deckplans are something they're looking into but aren't able to do much at this moment, I suspect they're working on new material as that pays their bills.

Maybe BackwardOracle should email Mongoose and offer to do them, in exchange for a free PDF copy of every product they do that has spacecraft in (doesn't hurt to ask)!

Cheers,
MBM

will9k
May 17th, 2020, 21:54
Honestly that would make good sense on the part of Mongoose. Getting support for their products done by the players themselves can have wonderful results.

Heck, if BackwardOracle had a patron page I would drop a dollar for every deck plan of his that I made use of.

Will9k

MadBeardMan
May 17th, 2020, 22:20
Honestly that would make good sense on the part of Mongoose. Getting support for their products done by the players themselves can have wonderful results.

Heck, if BackwardOracle had a patron page I would drop a dollar for every deck plan of his that I made use of.

Will9k

That's a good idea, I'd back it and suggest others do so he can get some reward for his awesome work.

Cheers,
MBM

MadBeardMan
May 17th, 2020, 22:21
Honestly that would make good sense on the part of Mongoose. Getting support for their products done by the players themselves can have wonderful results.

Heck, if BackwardOracle had a patron page I would drop a dollar for every deck plan of his that I made use of.

Will9k

That's a good idea, I'd back it and suggest others do so he can get some reward for his awesome work.

Cheers,
MBM

esmdev
May 18th, 2020, 00:28
To be honest, if you wanted to convert the 3D deckplans to 2D you could probably release them in groups of 10 or so (PDF & JPEG) on DriveThruRPG under the TAS license for a few dollars a group. You could also do modules for FG of them as well. If you spend the time on it might as well reach as wide an audience as you can. VTT is good but mini players and tabletop is a much larger audience.

garrion_sw
May 18th, 2020, 12:31
You do know all that stretching and measuring is not needed unless the distorted view just bothers your aesthetics. FGU allows you to change the dimensions of the iso grid. It is just to the right of the iso grid selection on the interface.

backwardoracle
May 18th, 2020, 13:25
Thanks for the kind words, a patreon page would be lovely of course, as I could put many of my other maps there too.

However putting "official" deckplans there or elsewhere, would possibly incur problems with licensing especially if money was involved. The sheer size of some of the deckplans would be a very time consuming task, which I don't currently have as I run 6-7 games a week.

MadBeardMan
May 18th, 2020, 19:12
Thanks for the kind words, a patreon page would be lovely of course, as I could put many of my other maps there too.

However putting "official" deckplans there or elsewhere, would possibly incur problems with licensing especially if money was involved. The sheer size of some of the deckplans would be a very time consuming task, which I don't currently have as I run 6-7 games a week.

Chap,

Throw an email to Mongoose, they may allow you permission - saves them doing it! Worst they can say is no.

Cheers,
MBM

alfarobl
May 19th, 2020, 17:33
At least Matt says that 2300AD will include proper VTT maps!

https://forum.mongoosepublishing.com/viewtopic.php?f=89&p=943842#p943842