FGU Trivia of the Day Question

[Iceman]

I have spent a ton of time searching for the answer to this query but to no avail. As such I think the answer is that it cannot be done. But a part of my brain thinks that it should be a “natural” and so I must be missing something.

So here is the FGU trivia twister of the day. If you purchase one of the many modules that has BOTH a PC version and a GM version of the map (with the GM version showing locations of traps, secret doors, etc.) is it possible to layer these maps?

I know that if I make the maps from scratch I can do exactly that and ADD the stuff to my GM map and make it viewable GM only.
But what about all those modules with BOTH maps already made? You would think it would be as easy as drag and drop so you wouldn’t have to have both maps open and try to keep track of the players on both.
Any help from an FGU genius or trivia master would be greatly apprecitated!

[Zacchaeus]

Open the player map and then open Assets > Images and find the DM version of the map and then drag it directly from there and drop it onto the player map. Switch to Layers and you can then resize the DM map to be the same as the player map. Then make the DM layer visible to only the DM.

Note that the DM maps are generally much smaller and lower quality than the battlemaps.

[Trenloe]

You can drag any image from Assets onto an existing image. Open the player's map and then go to Assets -> Images and find the GM version of the map - then drag/drop from the assets window onto the opened player's map and go to the Layers menu - set GM visible and resize as required to overlap correctly. If you want to, you can change the opacity (A channel) of either layer via the layer Tint option.

[LordEntrails]

And the trivia winner today by 2 minutes is Mr. Z!

[The Decepticon]

Question I have is when I drop an image onto the existing map is there an easy way to size the image to the map? Dungeon of the Mad Mage maps are pretty generic, so I am overlaying an image of a better map on the one WoTC provides with walls, line of sight, etc. It is really, really hard to lay the image exactly on the provided map. Just curious if there is an easier way to do this or I have to eyeball it as close as I can get?

[LordEntrails]

You can size a layer either with the drag handles or with the size fields.

[Zacchaeus]

Question I have is when I drop an image onto the existing map is there an easy way to size the image to the map? Dungeon of the Mad Mage maps are pretty generic, so I am overlaying an image of a better map on the one WoTC provides with walls, line of sight, etc. It is really, really hard to lay the image exactly on the provided map. Just curious if there is an easier way to do this or I have to eyeball it as close as I can get?

Switch to the layers section and select the layer of the image you dragged in. You'll see the little white dots. You can move the image in any direction using the dots on the side. So to make it longer pull one of the white dots in the middle of either side. To make it taller pull one of the dots in the middle of the top or bottom. To change height and width drag a corner. Whilst doing any of the above hold SHIFT whilst dragging to preserve the size ratio between height and width. For fine control hold CTRL and use the arrow keys to move the image. You can move the whole image by clicking and holding inside the image (but not on the white dot in the centre) and drag the mouse. You can also switch off the grid snap relative but use that with caution since you can easily make the map misshapen if you drag the wrong thing with that off.

You might want to make the map a bit more see through by clicking on the colour picker and sliding the Alpha (A) channel towards the left so you can see the underlying map through the one you are resizing.

But there's no quick one click way that I know of (but I'll bet there is some magic secret way of doing it - I just don't know it). By the way I tried just changing the size fields of the map I added when I was testing this before posting and that did not work. The map I added once it was stretched to fit the original had a different size to the original so I don't know what's going on there. But it's possible that this will work for you. You'll see the size at the top of the layers menu when you select the layer.

Also a lot is going to depend on what size and ratio was used for the new map. It might be quite tricky to get a map drawn at a completely different scale to fit an existing one. Also make sure you don't add in maps that are too big. The DotMM maps are fairly hefty as it is; adding a huge colour map might just make things unplayable if you go overboard.

[Griogre]

@The Deception - It's one thing to lay a GM map over a player one which you can make semi transparent and you don't care how it looks, and it doesn't matter if the walls and doors don't line up exactly right for LOS.

If you put a player map over another player map you need the maps to have the same ratios and proportions for it to work. Are the walls the same thickness? Is the map length and width ratios the same in both maps. The odds are against that.

You might be able to get it too work, but you also might have to stretch or contract your new map so that it doesn't look better than the included player map.

[The Decepticon]

Thanks everyone!

So, I have been doing that with the white dots, just takes forever. Will see how it goes. The team goes into the dungeon either this week or next. If it slows things way down then I will have to either break up the maps or just get rid of the colored image. Was looking for that magic spell, but not one to be found.

[LordEntrails]

Try the layer size boxes, you can input decimal values.

[Iceman]

This really is a pain in the butt that needs to be fixed. Even using the layer size boxes when you change one it changes the other to keep the ratio the same. So even though it is almost UNIVERSAL for modules to use GM and Player maps I still get a map where my players say their icon is in a wall and when they correct it then they appear to be in a wall to me. There should be a simple way to identify two maps as identical in size and then anchor those maps perfectly together so the GM can see what he needs and the players see their map and the tokens dont appear to be in different places.

[Trenloe]

Even using the layer size boxes when you change one it changes the other to keep the ratio the same.
That's because the Aspect Lock is on. Click on that to allow you to freeform resize.

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